Chapter 1
Something was wrong, though the helmeted figure could not put his finger on what exactly it was. The air seemed off somehow, a shifting in the very taste and scent of the currents. It was subtle, and no one else around him seemed to sense it. The nape of his neck prickled, and he felt as though something had skittered over his flesh. With a shout he jumped aside, the others around him all leaping away from him as the chandelier fell to the ground, the ornate iron ringing out as the cut class shattered across the massive ballroom floor. Dust billowed from the impact, and the cobwebs throughout the room seemed to dance in excitement at the destruction.
With a muttered word, one of the members of the party lifted its hand and light sprang forth. "This is foolish, Cedric." The voice belonged to Cassandra, a member of Cedric's small group and his sister. He glanced over his shoulder at her and smirked. "Scared of the dark, Cass?"
The the young woman scoffed lightly, her features hidden behind her helm, only her long blonde hair, tied back in a tight braid, was visible. "You wish, Cedric. The sooner you-" From behind them both came a sharp hiss, and they turned to their third companion, his own powerful frame encased in similar armor to Cassandra. Hugo glanced at both of them and spoke. "Quiet, both of you." There was a whisper of power from him, and his hand wrapped around the handle of his greatsword. The other two quickly called upon their own weapons and shifted their stances. Extending his senses, Cedric was just able to pick up what normal senses missed. "Cass, move!"
Lunging forward, Cedric brought his weapon to bear as his sister leapt to the left, Hugo catching her around her arm, throwing her across the room as the shadows danced and coalesced into existence. As a horrific chittering sound began to fill the air, Cedric's blade brought low their first opponent, the wraith-like monstrosity cleanly parting in two before its form began to dissolve into nothingness. Hugo's own massive blade was soon at work, hewing down multiple opponents in single swathing blows, while Cassandra's graceful dance swept aside her opponents with minimal effort. As sudden as it had started, the battle was over, and yet the sick feeling in the air persisted. "Hugo." Cedric did not have to voice the order further. The companions had been together for years, and their work was seamless like cogs in a clock. The large man nodded once and moved out of the room, back into the ruined mansions foyer. Turning his gaze to his sister, Cedric nodded, and she went out the shattered glass doors to the balcony beyond.
"The air is clear out here," Cassandra's voice drifted in with a breeze of fresher air that did not relieve the feeling of wrongness. Hugo's voice rang out, reverberating off the walls. "Down here as well." Cedric nodded to himself. The sorcerer was here, hiding somewhere among the wreck and ruin of the room. Slowly moving to another corner, Cedric barely felt the shift in the air in time. He threw himself to his right, but the massive beast that the sorcerer summoned still clamped its vice-like jaws on his arm. Blinding pain seared through the soldier as the monster fully solidified. Corded muscle flexed underneath iridescent black scales flecked with gold. Hanging limply from its jaws, Cedric watched as the beast turned, its tail flicking out and shattering the outside wall. Everything seemed to pass in slow motion for him. Cassandra had barely turned and taken two steps toward the room when the tail struck her, knocking her into the air and over the edge of the balcony.
The room was falling apart, the rafters tearing wide to allow for the beasts massive form. Hugo's footsteps thundered in the corridor as he raced toward the room. The door shattered from its hinges in the same instant a flare of golden light seared in the room. Between the beast and the hulking fighter stood their target: the sorcerer Alexander Ciel. The man laughed as Hugo surged forward, the huge sword swinging down in a blow that would cleave the sorcerer in two. At first it seemed the strike had succeeded, the floor collapsing around the sword from the power of the blow. But where Ciel had stood just moments ago was nothing but a flickering image. A horrible whispering of power came from behind Hugo, and a moment later his armor parted as a blade of ice, now tinged red with blood, ripped through Hugo's chest. Around the weapon frost began to form, the sound of flesh and metal freezing a horrifying sound as Hugo's body slumped slightly before ice solidified his form. Laughing, Alexander tossed aside the body and moved toward the balcony.
The beast that held Cedric in his maw was finally no longer growing, but its bulk took up most of the room, with vast wings that were far larger than its body length. Its head was as large as Cedric was tall, narrow, and compact. It had a short, stout neck and a three-forked whip-like tail that trailed on the ground nearly thirty feet below him. Alexander was smiling down at the prone figure of his sister on the ground, his hand extended as he began to muster a spell. Cursing, Cedric writhed in the clutches of the dragon, whose own attention seemed held by the evil monster down below. Dropping his sword, Cedric reached to his waist and drew a slim, glistening dagger. The sword's length was his own enemy at the moment, he had not the leverage for a decent blow with it. The dagger, however, was a superb tool for this job. Marshaling his strength, Cedric brought his arm up swiftly and crushed the knife into the dragon's snout. The eyes were not in reach, but the blade slid easily between the scales. Roaring, the dragon shook his head, and Cedric felt himself flung against one of the few remaining wall beams that remained. The armor around him crumpled roughly, the force expelling his breath explosively. His vision blurred and darkened, but he did not let himself linger in the pain.
Cassandra needed his help. A single glance told him the sorcerer was tied to the dragon, for the man was clutching at his face, blood streaming between his fingers. The dragon had recovered much more quickly, and as Cedric stood the beast attempted to once more clamp his jaws around the soldier. Diving underneath the snapping maw, Cedric rolled, coming to a stop beside his sword. Grasping the hilt, Cedric swung wildly and scored a deep wound on the belly of the dragon. Rearing, it howled in pain, and the mage quickly cut his link with the animal as he felt a mirror of the injury start to form in his abdomen. Cedric, half-stunned and losing blood, was not quick enough to avoid the dragon's claws as they caught at him. The blow tore at his armor, easily cutting through it and into his flesh below, marking his back and ribs with ribbons of crimson. Cedric felt his feet lift off the ground briefly before he struck the floor, rolling several times. Pain was the whole of his existence; he had dropped his sword again, and his left arm hung limp, useless and numb at his side. Outside, he heard someone screaming and knew Cassandra was trying to help him.
The last attack from the dragon had dislodged his helmet, sweat blurring his vision and burning in his eyes as he watched Cassandra land on the balcony, a spell already releasing from her hand. Alexander laughed despite his pain and grabbed the blue fire thrown at him, wrapping it around himself. The flames grew, burned black, and returned to strike at Cassandra. Hearing his sister scream as she flew again from the balcony, Cedric yelled incoherently at Alexander, attempting to rise again to his feet. The sorcerer stared disdainfully at his opponent, curling his lips before making a subtle gesture with his fingertips. Cedric heard the dragon roar and turned to watch the black monster's open mouth shoot toward him.
From somewhere within him Cedric was able to feel the faint silvery-moon-lit threads of magic, and reaching out he grasped one with all his might. Lightning arced briefly around him, and in a blink he was teen feet away, the dragon crashing into the wooden floor. Quickly changing its angle, the dragon threw itself once more towards the little soldier who its master wanted dead. Bellowing in rage the monster brought its teeth to bear, biting again at Cedric. The dragon's target was staggering, but still already on the move. He crashed into the dragon's neck, his foe now snarling as it tried to bring its head around.
The dragon's neck simply was not flexible or long enough, and a moment passed as Cedric reached for his dagger where the two stared into each other's eyes. Grasping the hilt of his dagger Cedric wrenched it free, showering himself with hot blood. The monster roared, but could not escape its fate as Cedric drove the blade into its eye. Cedric leg go of the handle, fisted his hand, and struck the pommel, driving it deeper into the beast as it thrashed in agony. The black monstrosity howled and writhed, its body snapping about in its death throes. Somehow Cedric managed to stay upright in the midst of its writhing coils, clinging to the animal's scales. As it fell dead he turned to look for his sword. Blinding white power flared in his eyes, and through the ringing in his ears and the pain of slamming into the dragon, he recognized another howling. The sorcerer Alexander stood over him, breath heaving as he surveyed the dead dragon and the torn and bloody knight.
Cedric's body lay slumped against the jaw of the dead beast. Somewhere in the fog of pain and his muffled hearing he heard somebody outside crying out to him, and faintly he realized that Cassandra was still alive. Clinging to the hope that she at least might make it, Cedric focused on his foe's malevolent eyes.
"Ruined!" the wizard spat. "You have ruined my pet!" Slowly his hand began to lift, arcane power crackling along his arm. "I'll make you pay for this. And then, when I'm through with you, your precious sister will make a fitting bride for me!" The sorcerer went from livid to mocking as he spoke, his laughter cracked with insanity and his eyes burning strangely. "This world has no idea the power I have unleashed! And soon with it I will control-" Cedric could not stand to hear anymore. With one final, monumental effort, Cedric snapped his arm up, pulled the knife free of the dragon's eye, and in the same fluid motion, he threw the weapon at Alexander. The mage was not expecting it, his eyes barely widening in shock. The blade pierced his hand with enough force to slam it into his face, the dagger landing point first directly between his eyes. The sorcerer's body went slack, and Cedric sighed as blackness consumed him.
Around Cedric's unconscious form lines of magic began to glow, circling ever outward. The dragon disappeared, as did Alexander's body. Cedric's body slowly lifted into the air, then began to disappear in bits of light and shadow as the Heart Crest formed on the floor beneath him.