Drakan: Entering the Flame
By Krista Carey
Introduction
By now, all of the humans were forced to live among the sheltered life of a
slave. Forcing them to work and mine, the Orcs grew more wealth than ever
before. But, the Orcs just weren't in charge; they made sure everything was in
order. The real bosses were the Wartoks. They were much more powerful than
any of the Orcs. If one Orc messed with one of the head Wartoks, they would be
sentenced to death.
The humans wore on their duties of mining the Grimstone. The Grimstone
was one of the stones used to force the humans to work. They would grind it up,
and put it into their food. After about 15 minutes, they would be forced to go back
to mining.
Every day, more humans would be captured and put under the spell of the
Grimstone. If an overdose of the Grimstone was digested, the victim would soon
parish. The Orcs were in charge of feeding the enslaved humans. Under the spell
of the Grimstone, the humans could never leave the mines. Their brains are
controlled by the darkening spell of the Grimstone. But some humans were
determined to never be caught and put under the spell of the Grimstone. Rynn
was one of them.
The End of the Beginning
Rynn was an average teenager who wandered the darkening ruins of her
former village, Waleke. Waleke was a nice peaceful town until the Orcs and the
Wartoks came and destroyed it. Rynn wasn't an only child. She had a younger
brother, Dellon. Dellon was only a couple years younger than Rynn, and stayed
close when Orcs were on the prowl to capture more humans.
One dark night that Rynn will never forget, Rynn and Dellon were walking
down a path where they thought that no Orc or Wartok knew of. But they were
wrong. The Orcs ambushed them from the near forest. With the dagger that one
of the Priests gave her, she struck the Orcs and they fell to the deadly ground.
The Wartoks were very angry and came charging with their needle-sharp
wooden spears. Luckily, Rynn just got knocked out, but Dellon was captured.
Dellon screamed, kicked at squirmed trying to get free of the harsh grasp of the
Narokai.
"No! You'll never take him away!" Rynn screamed, struggling to get up.
"Rynn, no! Don't let them take me!" Dellon screamed as he kicked one of
the Wartoks.
"Dellon!" Emeri finally got up and ran toward her captured brother with the
dagger in her hand ready to strike again, but she was caught by one of the Orcs.
The Orc grunted as he pushed her down to the ground hard. Rynn
collapsed as if she had been killed, and fell, devastated to the darkened ground
of Waleke.
"That should teach you, 'Never attack when you are out numbered'!" the
Orc left Rynn barely alive. He hoped she would suffer of distress and hunger. But
when she awoke, she saw and heard the Orcs and Wartoks pushing along the
slaves.
"I've got to get Dellon back!" Rynn quickly got up and carefully walked
back to the village.
When she got there, everything was gone. There were no shops, markets,
barely and houses left and there, as she was gazing around Waleke, she saw the
priest, Atimar pinned to a house supporter by a wooden Orc spear.
"Rynn, help me, Rynn." Emeri cried as she ran weakly over to her side.
"Atimar! Oh, Atimar, are you okay?" Rynn asked with a scared look on her
face.
Atimar coughed up a wad of blood and replied, "Barely."
He looked into Rynn's feared eyes. "Rynn, you must go awaken the great
dragon of the Order, Arokh.
"The Order? That's a myth, isn't it?" Rynn asked in suspicion.
"No, the Order is true; not a lie."
"He is located in the mouth of the Dragon's Cave in Maracou in the cellar.
Find the key to my house in the tavern behind me and then find the book in my
house locked across the river. Open the hidden doors to the cellar and find his
Soul Crystal. Then go to his lair and awaken him before…" and with those final
words, Atimar died.
"Atimar!"
A single tear ran down Rynn's face as she left Atimar pinned to the
supporter.
"I've got to awaken Arokh!" Rynn got up and crept silently into the tavern
to find the key. She hoped that no Orcs or Wartoks were inside the burned
tavern, but she could hear the deep, raspy voices of the Orcs.
Awakening Arokh
Rynn quickly got her dagger out incase of any ambush attacks. She slowly
went around each corner to what looked like a door supposedly "hidden" into the
wall. She opened it and it made a lot of noise.
"Who goes there?" an Orc asked in a startled voice.
Rynn gulped and stayed still.
The Orc shrugged and walked away. In the mean time, Rynn wiped a little
bit of sweat from her fore-head.
Rynn was on her tip-toes walking down the old stair case. She saw an Orc
standing by a door. She snuck up and attacked him. He fell to the ground. As she
entered the door, she saw a gate with a Orc trapped inside. She pulled the lever
over by the gate and let him come out. She stabbed him in his throat and he bled
internally to death. He landed with a hard, thud.
Rynn could see the key on the table, guarded by one of the head Wartoks.
She saw an axe and grabbed it. She knew she would be seen, but took a chance
and charged at the Wartok. He dodged and Rynn landed on the table with the
axe stuck inside of it. Rynn gasped and she rolled off the table. The Wartok
chased her until she finally found an arrow on the ground and jammed it into his
chest. He held his axe high, aiming for Rynn, but when he struck at her, she
pushed him down. Rynn ran back to the table and grabbed the key and exited.
She was scared that she could have died.
Rynn ran across the river to Atimar's house. It was infested with huge
spiders. She killed them all but one that escaped. She grabbed the sacred book
and ran.
Rynn ran toward the ruined city of Maracou. The temple was near the
forest. She could see the tower sticking out from the tops of the evergreens.
Maracou was filled with the spirits and souls of the former people who
lived there. One stood out and said, "Rynn..."
Rynn ran to the spirit's side. It was in the form of a young girl. It looked
deteriorated and looked famished.
"How did you know my name?"
"I've seen you wander the streets of Waleke, and I was in that chain of
slaves with your brother, Dellon."
"You know where Dellon is?"
"I'm not exactly sure."
"Where did the others go?"
"They left about an hour ago to the Barrier City of, Andora."
"How did you die?"
"I was killed by one of the Wartoks for no reason. I was the chosen one."
"I'm so sorry for you."
"I was one of the people who wished to never be caught, like you. But then
that horrible moment came and I couldn't escape in any way."
Rynn sighed and thanked the girl for the information. "But one last
question, what is you name?'
The spirit smiled and replied, "Nami."
Rynn ran to the temple and gazed up. It seemed to go on forever, but it
was just above the trees. She opened the big doors, and inside was a place to
insert the book.
Rynn placed the book and the doors opened. She crept down the spiral stairs.
There were huge axes going in many directions. She made it to the stand
with Arokh's soul crystal. She exited and saw a cave with the mouth looking like
a dragon's.
Rynn started to enter, but before she knew it, a Scavenger came and
scared her. Rynn struck his heart and he died. Rynn entered the cave.
Again, there were huge axes going in every direction. Rynn made it and
came to a place where she had to jump across. She leaped in fright and almost
fell, but she climbed back on her feet.
There was another set of spiral stairs, and there was a statue of the great
dragon, Arokh. Below him there was a stand to insert his soul crystal. Rynn did
and the dragon awakened.
"Who has awakened me?" the dragon bellowed.
Rynn gulped and said, "Rynn."
"Why have you awakened me?"
"Atimar sent me and he said something about the Order of the Flame."
"The Order? How preposterous! Why have you awakened me?"
"I want you to help my find my brother."
The dragon jumped off the ledge and looked into Rynn's eyes.
"You awakened me, Arokh, defender of the Dark Union, and bonded d
dragon of Heron, for that?"
Rynn showed a fist at him. "Listen you scaly dragon, that's the life of my
brother you're talking about!"
"Hmm."
"Very well, Rynn, I accept."
"Thank-you, Arokh. You don't know how much this means to me."
"But in order to me to help you, we must bond together as one."
"So, what do we have to do to bond?"
"Say, 'by fire and by ice I join with thee, in the Order of the Flame'. Once,
bound, we are as one. Whatever hurt I suffer, you will share. And if I die, you're
part will be worse than death."
Rynn thought a moment and went up to the stand with the Soul crystal.
"By fire and by ice I join with thee in the Order of the Flame."
With those words, the lightning stuck and gave Rynn and Arokh, the
bonding as one.
Rynn climbed upon Arokh, and flew out of the cellar. She saw Nami, and
the rest of the spirits in the city. Arokh flew north to the land of Andora.
"A girl said that the Wartoks lead the slaves to the ruined, Wartok
Canyons."
"Nami…"
"How did you know?"
"Her great, great, great grandfather was one of the humans that cured me
in the time of war. The Great War was over 1,000 years ago. I was cast in stony
sleep for a long time. I was waiting for someone to awaken me. When you did,
you startled me. I thought that I was never going to be awakened, and that I
would always be a statue in an old cellar that would soon be forgotten."
The Land of Water
"This is the land of water, formally known as, Andora," Arokh replied.
"It looks infested with some kind of, stone and creatures."
"That stone is nothing but, Noweloke. Those creatures nothing but
scavengers. They're basically transformed humans. They're called; Mournarks
and they do no harm to you accept when they are startled."
"Mournarks, huh?"
Arokh and Rynn flew to the southern part of Andora and saw a bunch of
commotion going on.
"There are intruders! We must capture them!" a Mournark shouted.
"No, we should enslave them!" another one shouted.
"Kill them!"
"Yeah! Show them what happens when they mess with the Mournarks!"
"I think they're talking about us." Rynn feared she was right.
"Yes, they are."
One of them gasped, "Look! A dragon!"
Arokh landed away from them, hoping they wouldn't attack.
Rynn jumped down.
"And it's got a girl!"
Rynn cleared her throat. "I'm Rynn and this is my dragon, Arokh. We're
here looking for my brother, Dellon. He was captured by Orcs and Wartoks."
"Hmm. We may know where to find them but first, you must attempt to
pass a test before we can tell you."
"I accept."
"You are a brave and daring one, aren't you?"
Rynn nodded.
"First, you must go into the temple above us and awaken the Great
Protector. She is the finest dragon ever to come into Andora, but she was
captured in the time of war. You must find her soul crystal in the Nakti forest. The
Nakti forest is one of the forests that has been said of a dark spell lives there. No
one has come out alive. Are you up for this challenge?" the darkest Mournark
evilly grinned.
Rynn thought and finally replied, "Yes."
"When you return and awaken the Great Protector, we will tell you where
the Wartoks went. If you fail, you will die!"
"I will try to awaken this, Great Protector, and if I don't, you may have my
soul."
The darkest Mournark cackled. "Perfect."
Rynn climbed back onto Arokh and headed to the Nakti forest.
"You've accepted a dangerous quest, Rynn. You're giving up your soul if
you fail, you know?"
"I know, but it's worth finding Dellon. He means so much to me."
"I know how it must feel to loose a loved one."
Arokh came to the Nakti forest. It was full of red, glowing spider webs.
They were dripping blood.
"This is the Nakti forest."
Rynn climbed off Arokh and crept to the forest. It seemed to never end.
"What happened?"
"It looks as if that dark spell has been here. We should be careful."
By Krista Carey
Introduction
By now, all of the humans were forced to live among the sheltered life of a
slave. Forcing them to work and mine, the Orcs grew more wealth than ever
before. But, the Orcs just weren't in charge; they made sure everything was in
order. The real bosses were the Wartoks. They were much more powerful than
any of the Orcs. If one Orc messed with one of the head Wartoks, they would be
sentenced to death.
The humans wore on their duties of mining the Grimstone. The Grimstone
was one of the stones used to force the humans to work. They would grind it up,
and put it into their food. After about 15 minutes, they would be forced to go back
to mining.
Every day, more humans would be captured and put under the spell of the
Grimstone. If an overdose of the Grimstone was digested, the victim would soon
parish. The Orcs were in charge of feeding the enslaved humans. Under the spell
of the Grimstone, the humans could never leave the mines. Their brains are
controlled by the darkening spell of the Grimstone. But some humans were
determined to never be caught and put under the spell of the Grimstone. Rynn
was one of them.
The End of the Beginning
Rynn was an average teenager who wandered the darkening ruins of her
former village, Waleke. Waleke was a nice peaceful town until the Orcs and the
Wartoks came and destroyed it. Rynn wasn't an only child. She had a younger
brother, Dellon. Dellon was only a couple years younger than Rynn, and stayed
close when Orcs were on the prowl to capture more humans.
One dark night that Rynn will never forget, Rynn and Dellon were walking
down a path where they thought that no Orc or Wartok knew of. But they were
wrong. The Orcs ambushed them from the near forest. With the dagger that one
of the Priests gave her, she struck the Orcs and they fell to the deadly ground.
The Wartoks were very angry and came charging with their needle-sharp
wooden spears. Luckily, Rynn just got knocked out, but Dellon was captured.
Dellon screamed, kicked at squirmed trying to get free of the harsh grasp of the
Narokai.
"No! You'll never take him away!" Rynn screamed, struggling to get up.
"Rynn, no! Don't let them take me!" Dellon screamed as he kicked one of
the Wartoks.
"Dellon!" Emeri finally got up and ran toward her captured brother with the
dagger in her hand ready to strike again, but she was caught by one of the Orcs.
The Orc grunted as he pushed her down to the ground hard. Rynn
collapsed as if she had been killed, and fell, devastated to the darkened ground
of Waleke.
"That should teach you, 'Never attack when you are out numbered'!" the
Orc left Rynn barely alive. He hoped she would suffer of distress and hunger. But
when she awoke, she saw and heard the Orcs and Wartoks pushing along the
slaves.
"I've got to get Dellon back!" Rynn quickly got up and carefully walked
back to the village.
When she got there, everything was gone. There were no shops, markets,
barely and houses left and there, as she was gazing around Waleke, she saw the
priest, Atimar pinned to a house supporter by a wooden Orc spear.
"Rynn, help me, Rynn." Emeri cried as she ran weakly over to her side.
"Atimar! Oh, Atimar, are you okay?" Rynn asked with a scared look on her
face.
Atimar coughed up a wad of blood and replied, "Barely."
He looked into Rynn's feared eyes. "Rynn, you must go awaken the great
dragon of the Order, Arokh.
"The Order? That's a myth, isn't it?" Rynn asked in suspicion.
"No, the Order is true; not a lie."
"He is located in the mouth of the Dragon's Cave in Maracou in the cellar.
Find the key to my house in the tavern behind me and then find the book in my
house locked across the river. Open the hidden doors to the cellar and find his
Soul Crystal. Then go to his lair and awaken him before…" and with those final
words, Atimar died.
"Atimar!"
A single tear ran down Rynn's face as she left Atimar pinned to the
supporter.
"I've got to awaken Arokh!" Rynn got up and crept silently into the tavern
to find the key. She hoped that no Orcs or Wartoks were inside the burned
tavern, but she could hear the deep, raspy voices of the Orcs.
Awakening Arokh
Rynn quickly got her dagger out incase of any ambush attacks. She slowly
went around each corner to what looked like a door supposedly "hidden" into the
wall. She opened it and it made a lot of noise.
"Who goes there?" an Orc asked in a startled voice.
Rynn gulped and stayed still.
The Orc shrugged and walked away. In the mean time, Rynn wiped a little
bit of sweat from her fore-head.
Rynn was on her tip-toes walking down the old stair case. She saw an Orc
standing by a door. She snuck up and attacked him. He fell to the ground. As she
entered the door, she saw a gate with a Orc trapped inside. She pulled the lever
over by the gate and let him come out. She stabbed him in his throat and he bled
internally to death. He landed with a hard, thud.
Rynn could see the key on the table, guarded by one of the head Wartoks.
She saw an axe and grabbed it. She knew she would be seen, but took a chance
and charged at the Wartok. He dodged and Rynn landed on the table with the
axe stuck inside of it. Rynn gasped and she rolled off the table. The Wartok
chased her until she finally found an arrow on the ground and jammed it into his
chest. He held his axe high, aiming for Rynn, but when he struck at her, she
pushed him down. Rynn ran back to the table and grabbed the key and exited.
She was scared that she could have died.
Rynn ran across the river to Atimar's house. It was infested with huge
spiders. She killed them all but one that escaped. She grabbed the sacred book
and ran.
Rynn ran toward the ruined city of Maracou. The temple was near the
forest. She could see the tower sticking out from the tops of the evergreens.
Maracou was filled with the spirits and souls of the former people who
lived there. One stood out and said, "Rynn..."
Rynn ran to the spirit's side. It was in the form of a young girl. It looked
deteriorated and looked famished.
"How did you know my name?"
"I've seen you wander the streets of Waleke, and I was in that chain of
slaves with your brother, Dellon."
"You know where Dellon is?"
"I'm not exactly sure."
"Where did the others go?"
"They left about an hour ago to the Barrier City of, Andora."
"How did you die?"
"I was killed by one of the Wartoks for no reason. I was the chosen one."
"I'm so sorry for you."
"I was one of the people who wished to never be caught, like you. But then
that horrible moment came and I couldn't escape in any way."
Rynn sighed and thanked the girl for the information. "But one last
question, what is you name?'
The spirit smiled and replied, "Nami."
Rynn ran to the temple and gazed up. It seemed to go on forever, but it
was just above the trees. She opened the big doors, and inside was a place to
insert the book.
Rynn placed the book and the doors opened. She crept down the spiral stairs.
There were huge axes going in many directions. She made it to the stand
with Arokh's soul crystal. She exited and saw a cave with the mouth looking like
a dragon's.
Rynn started to enter, but before she knew it, a Scavenger came and
scared her. Rynn struck his heart and he died. Rynn entered the cave.
Again, there were huge axes going in every direction. Rynn made it and
came to a place where she had to jump across. She leaped in fright and almost
fell, but she climbed back on her feet.
There was another set of spiral stairs, and there was a statue of the great
dragon, Arokh. Below him there was a stand to insert his soul crystal. Rynn did
and the dragon awakened.
"Who has awakened me?" the dragon bellowed.
Rynn gulped and said, "Rynn."
"Why have you awakened me?"
"Atimar sent me and he said something about the Order of the Flame."
"The Order? How preposterous! Why have you awakened me?"
"I want you to help my find my brother."
The dragon jumped off the ledge and looked into Rynn's eyes.
"You awakened me, Arokh, defender of the Dark Union, and bonded d
dragon of Heron, for that?"
Rynn showed a fist at him. "Listen you scaly dragon, that's the life of my
brother you're talking about!"
"Hmm."
"Very well, Rynn, I accept."
"Thank-you, Arokh. You don't know how much this means to me."
"But in order to me to help you, we must bond together as one."
"So, what do we have to do to bond?"
"Say, 'by fire and by ice I join with thee, in the Order of the Flame'. Once,
bound, we are as one. Whatever hurt I suffer, you will share. And if I die, you're
part will be worse than death."
Rynn thought a moment and went up to the stand with the Soul crystal.
"By fire and by ice I join with thee in the Order of the Flame."
With those words, the lightning stuck and gave Rynn and Arokh, the
bonding as one.
Rynn climbed upon Arokh, and flew out of the cellar. She saw Nami, and
the rest of the spirits in the city. Arokh flew north to the land of Andora.
"A girl said that the Wartoks lead the slaves to the ruined, Wartok
Canyons."
"Nami…"
"How did you know?"
"Her great, great, great grandfather was one of the humans that cured me
in the time of war. The Great War was over 1,000 years ago. I was cast in stony
sleep for a long time. I was waiting for someone to awaken me. When you did,
you startled me. I thought that I was never going to be awakened, and that I
would always be a statue in an old cellar that would soon be forgotten."
The Land of Water
"This is the land of water, formally known as, Andora," Arokh replied.
"It looks infested with some kind of, stone and creatures."
"That stone is nothing but, Noweloke. Those creatures nothing but
scavengers. They're basically transformed humans. They're called; Mournarks
and they do no harm to you accept when they are startled."
"Mournarks, huh?"
Arokh and Rynn flew to the southern part of Andora and saw a bunch of
commotion going on.
"There are intruders! We must capture them!" a Mournark shouted.
"No, we should enslave them!" another one shouted.
"Kill them!"
"Yeah! Show them what happens when they mess with the Mournarks!"
"I think they're talking about us." Rynn feared she was right.
"Yes, they are."
One of them gasped, "Look! A dragon!"
Arokh landed away from them, hoping they wouldn't attack.
Rynn jumped down.
"And it's got a girl!"
Rynn cleared her throat. "I'm Rynn and this is my dragon, Arokh. We're
here looking for my brother, Dellon. He was captured by Orcs and Wartoks."
"Hmm. We may know where to find them but first, you must attempt to
pass a test before we can tell you."
"I accept."
"You are a brave and daring one, aren't you?"
Rynn nodded.
"First, you must go into the temple above us and awaken the Great
Protector. She is the finest dragon ever to come into Andora, but she was
captured in the time of war. You must find her soul crystal in the Nakti forest. The
Nakti forest is one of the forests that has been said of a dark spell lives there. No
one has come out alive. Are you up for this challenge?" the darkest Mournark
evilly grinned.
Rynn thought and finally replied, "Yes."
"When you return and awaken the Great Protector, we will tell you where
the Wartoks went. If you fail, you will die!"
"I will try to awaken this, Great Protector, and if I don't, you may have my
soul."
The darkest Mournark cackled. "Perfect."
Rynn climbed back onto Arokh and headed to the Nakti forest.
"You've accepted a dangerous quest, Rynn. You're giving up your soul if
you fail, you know?"
"I know, but it's worth finding Dellon. He means so much to me."
"I know how it must feel to loose a loved one."
Arokh came to the Nakti forest. It was full of red, glowing spider webs.
They were dripping blood.
"This is the Nakti forest."
Rynn climbed off Arokh and crept to the forest. It seemed to never end.
"What happened?"
"It looks as if that dark spell has been here. We should be careful."