The boy stands at the glowing gates of Ellerslie, searching for a way in. His golden eyes sparkle with amusement from under his hood.
"This gate was built to keep me out," he murmurs, "but it's about to be used to let me in."
He presses his palm to the gate and smiles. Gold begins to spread across the gate, moving in all directions.
The boys smile grows and he removes his hand, letting it fall back to his side.
The gold finishes on its own, and the boy steps back. He his both hands out and looks down, closing his eyes.
The gate begins to creak and groan, and indents appear in the golden surface. The gate rips off its hinges and slowly floats over the boy, laying itself down in the path used to reach Ellerslie and blocking it.
The boy looks up and his smile disappears. He is staring at a fifty-foot tall human made of rock.
The golem roars and pounds its chest. Two normal-size humans, one male, one female, both with brown skin and green robes appear at the golem's left side.
The boy snorts. "Is this the best you can do?" he shouts to the humans.
The golem raises its arms, the ends of which mold together into a hammer, and brings them crashing down onto the boy.
The girl walks over and the golem raises its hammer-fist, allowing the girl to look into the crater.
The boy is gone.
The girl stumbles backward in surprise and someone grabs her by the arm. She spins around, but has her legs knocked out from under her and collapses onto her back. She manages to stand rather quickly, but freezes because of a hand on her right shoulder.
"This is why they call me Midas," a cruel voice whispers in her opposite ear.
The last thing she sees is the golem and the male guard, both statutes of gold, twinkling in the torchlight from the peaceful town of Ellerslie. Then she's a golden statue.
The boy removes his hand from her statuesque shoulder and begins slowly walking towards the open gate.
His hood had fallen off during the battle, revealing a boy about fifteen with black hair and a cruel smile.
"This is my revenge. Ellerslie, meet Prince Midas, future ruler of the world."