A/N: This is the prologue to this story. Oh, and, er, I do not own the Inheritance Cycle, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Star Wars., though I do own the character Andalvr (I am not sure of the name), I own the dragon, Vermundr (his name is a Norse word, actually), and this story. Duh. I wrote it. It's mine; my own; my precious! (I do not own Lord of the Rings, either). Without Further Ado, the prologuge to my not-so-fantastical story!

31 years earlier

Andalvr sprinted through the burning town of Bullridge. He had to stop these Urgals or he would risk losing his honor. Vermundr, his dragon, swooped over head, blowing fire as he went by. Andalvr drew his sword, Draumr Adurna, and charged the nearest Urgal. The Urgal swung its large pick axe-like weapon straight for Andalvr's head. He blocked the blow with ease, and with a flick of his wrist disarmed and impaled the Urgal. He moved on to the next one.

He had no idea how long he had kept up the repetition of slice, jab, block, slice, stab, roll, but it was all in vain. He could see he was losing the town. If the Urgals got to the town hall, all would be lost. He had to keep fighting. Summoning extra reserves of strength from the jewel in the pommel of Draumr Adurna, he muttered five words in the Ancient Language, instantly killing twenty-seven Urgals.

Smoke rose from the town hall. He had lost. There was nothing to do but go back to Ellesmera and tell Queen Arya of his failure. He could only hope she was forgiving enough.

Vermundr! We have failed. We must report to Arya Drottning, he said.

Have we lost? I prefer to think of it as a slight setback, Vermundr replied.

Vermundr, ever the optimist. Whatever punishment Arya sees fit to give us, I will take it. You do not have to. I will not ask you to join me in my disgrace.

Andalvr, we both know that it is as much my fault for failing as it is the fault of a criminal who claims he has been influenced, said the dragon.

Perhaps you should have earned the title "The Wise" instead of me.

Vermundr the Wise… Yes, I rather like that.

"…Do whatever you see fit," finished Andalvr, after telling Queen Arya the tale of his defeat.

Arya's eyes flashed dangerously. "Tell me, Andalvr… Do not the Riders consider you one of their greatest assets?"

"I believe so, Drottning."

"Then why, oh great and fearsome Rider, have you failed on a mission any regular elf could accomplish?"

"I do not believe that any elf, not even you, oh Drottning, could have succeeded in defending that town alone," said Andalvr.

"Ah, but you weren't alone, were you? Surely Vermundr went with you?"

"…Yes, your Majesty, he did."

"Then how did you fail?"

"It was the middle of the battle. I had a vision, O Arya, of a young human boy, perhaps twelve years of age. He called my name. He said, 'Andalvr, son of Tinúvial, of the House of Valinor, listen. You must come where the four elements are united, yet split into four different groups. There, you will learn the ancient arts of—' And that is when Vermundr woke me up. I recall now that the lad had a strange imprint upon his head and hands. I cannot remember clearly what that imprint was now. When I looked around me, the town was burning."

"That is no excuse. Falina! Yora! Take him to the punishment chambers. Thirty lashes. And then…" Arya paused for effect, "brand him as one who has lost his honor. Andalvr, you have lost your honor. There is but one way to redeem yourself. You must accomplish a feat so impossible, you will likely die instead. Any last words until you are punished, scum?"

"Yes. You are old are you not?"

"What kind of question is this? A disrespectful one, I'd wager."

"No! Answer me. You are old, yes?"

"Yes, I am. What of it?"

"A millenium, correct?"

"1510 years, to be precise."

"We are no longer in such times as in your youth. Why punish me like some outcast?"

"You speak the truth," said Arya. "We are not in such times as then. That is why we punish our citizens. We did not in millennia past."

"My lady, would you like us to take him down to the punishment room now?" asked Falina.

"Yes," said Arya, staring at Andalvr absently.

Falina and Yora each grabbed one of Andalvr's arms and dragged him down stair after stair. Finally they stopped. He detected the stench of dried blood. He heard criminals screaming in agony.

"You are forbidden to remove the scars that will be on your back," declared Falina. He began preparing the whipping area.

"I am sorry, Andalvr," said Yora, as she proceeded to help. Andavlr realized this must be maybe more painful for Yora than it was for him, for they had been friends since youth.

"I am sorry, too."

Scarred and branded, Andalvr stood before Arya once more.

"I will redeem myself. I will."

"In what way would you accomplish this task?" asked Arya, s slight smirk on her face.

"By locating and opening the portals of Tinúvial."

Arya paled. "You wouldn't dare! I forbid you!"

"It is my right."

"You have no such right!"

"I am the only heir of Tinúvial. I have the right as his heir to open the portals."

"But you will never find them."

"I believe I will," whispered Andalvr. "My father told me something when I was younger, 'to find a way to another world, find my portals you must.' Then he told me a riddle, 'Where rivers meet, there are none. Where water falls, where small meets, large meets large.'"

"No one could figure that out!"

"You forget, Drottning, that it was your Royal Highness yourself, who bestowed the title 'the Wise' upon me. You do not have such a title, so I believe you are not wise as I am. I can figure it out with the combined wisdom of Vermundr and myself."

"Our time for talking is over. Yora, let the crowds in."

"No, your Majesty," responded Yora.

"What?"

"No. I will not have Andalvr humiliated in front of so many people."

Arya reddened. "Falina, let them in. Then give Yora 10 lashes for insubordination."

"Yes, your Majesty."

Falina opened the large doors, letting the crowds in.

"Andalvr, I hereby banish you from the elven city of Ellesmera, until you redeem yourself," proclaimed Arya, with a stern bearing.

5 years later, 26 years ago

"Vermundr! I have it! The answer to our riddle! Where do rivers meet?" exclaimed Andalvr.

The ocean?

"Think smaller."

…Lakes.

"Yes. See?"

But that doesn't explain the line, there are none.

"Yes, it does. Not all lakes have rivers leading into them."

Oh, you are on to something.

"Yes. Now, I think I know the name of the lake. Small meets tall… I think it means that what is small to us is tall to where this lake is. Where water falls… Obviously a waterfall. Large meets large… There is only one answer. Kostha Merna in the Beor Mountains."

Andalvr, you are a genius.

"That doesn't explain why it took me 20 years to come up with an answer."

Just a slow thinker, Vermundr corrected himself.

Andalvr stood dripping at the edge of Kostha Merna. "There's no portal in there." He slid a hand down his face. "What was I thinking that I would find a portal in a lake?"

Think Andalvr. Did he say you would find a portal? No, he did not. Maybe it is simply a map to the portals that is hidden here.

"Good point."

And Andalvr? How do you know you want to find this portal? Your father never even told you what it is.

"I have to try." Andavlr dove into the lake, muttering a phrase in the ancient language that would enable him to breathe underwater.

Swimming deeper, he noticed something he had not noticed the previous time he had gone into the water: swimming downward, the rock that held the water made a hidden turn. He followed the turn, rather then going deeper. The tunnel he was in made him go upward, till he was out of the water again. He looked around him. He was in a cavern. An eerie glow served as the only light. There was a glowing disk set between two large brightsteel poles that changed color every five seconds. He walked up to it; he noticed a desk with a large, dusty book on it. On the cover of the book were 9 words written in a language unfamiliar to him. Even as he looked, the words made sense to him, until they appeared to be written in the ancient language. They said (translated to English, of course) "The Book of the Portal to the Four Nations."

Vermundr, I found a portal.

I am sorry if it did not make sense… But that's what the review button's for! Yay for the review button! Also, please let the review button know if my grammar was off at any point, thank you!

Thanks for reading! (If you even read this)