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“I will help you seek what you know not you need find.”
The voice of an elderly woman rasped inside my head, and I slapped my hand over my mouth, looking all around me and finding no explanation for the sudden voice of a stranger.
“Who are you?” I whispered fearfully. There was no hiding the trembling in my voice.
“I am the seer, the voice between worlds. Follow the path I’ve created for you. Go forth and find your destiny,”she answered, her voice hoarse.
This was ancient,powerfulmagic.
This was not magic casted by a sorceress, a sorcerer, or even a wizard, meant to heal or to build, or to destroy like I had read about in the books here. This was something entirely different.
“My destiny?”
The voice didn’t answer again, but the forest tunnel remained. Hesitantly, I took a step in that direction. There was a magical pull edging me forward, as if whatever destination the seer had in mind for me had its own source of gravity. I took another step and then another. The tunnel opened up wider and wider, the greenery all around pulling away as if it was weaving a path just for me.
Vines unwound and slipped away as I walked, until at long last, I reached a small marble stone building. The heavy stone door swung open as I approached it, at least a foot thick of solid rock. Even if I had tried, I wouldn’t have been able to move it on my own.
For whatever reason, the seer was leading me this way.
With a trembling breath, I strode inside the structure. There was nothing inside except for a stone staircase that descended below ground. Behind me, the door drew to a close, and at once, a line of torches lit in each corner as well as the path down below.
I kept going.
The stairs ended in a long hallway. I crept forward in silence, my leather boots no more than a whisper on the stone beneath my feet. Eventually, the hallway opened up to a massive room, and just before I passed through the threshold, a series of runes lit up in a showcase of bright green sigils. The ground hummed and I stopped, watching the steady pulse of magic vibrate before me.
Still, it pulled me forward, and I reached towards it with a sliver of hesitation. The magic hummed louder, sounding like the buzzing of bees before my fingers passed through the doorway.
It calmed then, almost as if it had recognized me.
Tentatively, I crossed the threshold, the magic tingling through me with a fierce, welcoming jolt. I breathed out, took another step, and it passed, leaving me feeling more alive than ever. As if a magical curtain was lifted, bookshelves appeared along the walls and pedestals with vases, weapons, and magical amulets appeared in the massive room. There was row after row of bookshelves laden with leather bound volumes as far as my eyes could see, lit up only by the light of mystical torches all throughout the room.
The sight took my breath away.
Something pulled me forwards towards one of the pedestals, and I stopped short once I saw what lay on its surface. I’m not sure how, but somehow the object felt like it was meant for me.
It was an emerald pendant on a long golden chain. The sparkling gemstone was set in a meticulously crafted gold setting. The vibrant green gemstone glimmered with an ethereal inner beauty, each facet reflecting the light like a myriad of emerald flames. The pendant rested against the marble stone, and I reached out to take it in my hands.
All at once, my entire world flashed with light and faded away, only to be replaced by a vision of everlasting darkness. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Panic swelled deep inside me, but I couldn’t think of anything that might make it stop. Just as the speed started to pick up, the old woman’s voice echoed all around me once again.
“This is only the first step in your journey, human. Should you fail in your quest, this kingdom shall fall into ruin, and those which don’t belong will take it for themselves. When the time is right, I shall reveal the rest.”
I glanced down to see the tops of the trees far below, racing by as if I was traveling at light speed through the realm. Then suddenly, everything stopped and I started to fall.
There was a sprawling city below surrounded by a massive rock wall. All seemed quiet, at least for a few minutes as my gaze searched beneath me.
It was only then that I noticed the corpses of men lining the streets. Vivid red blood stained the white painted stone of the dwellings along the road, evidence that something terrible had happened here. In horror, I watched as young men and women emerged from their homes, every single one of them stilling when a monstrous roar echoed from deep in the mountains.
I jerked my head to the side, instantly noticing an emerald-green dragon perched on a mountaintop.
Instinctually, I knew it was Roken.
Its massive form was covered in iridescent emerald scales. As he shifted, each scale shimmered in the sunlight. All at once, he leapt into the sky, his sinuous body gliding effortlessly through the air. His wingspan was incredibly wide, showcasing a delicate, yet formidable membrane between each talon. Towering, curved horns crowned his monstrous head, while sharp, curving claws extended from each muscular limb. He turned his head and looked directly at me, his eyes pools of molten gold that held a piercing intelligence and an ancient wisdom. Yet something was off. Deep in his golden gaze was the same savage need that he’d shown right before he’d pinned me over that fallen log and taken what he’d wanted from me.
With a roar, he flew through the air and let a brilliant green stream of fire rain down on the trees beneath him.
If I could have, I would have turned tail and run.
With horror, I watched as his feral nature only grew more out of control the closer he flew towards the city. I yelled out for him to stop, but it was as if he didn’t hear me.
