Author's Note: Here is the first chapter of Part Two! I can tell you now that Part Two will be much longer than the first, for several reasons that you will soon discover. Enjoy!

The Legacy of a Hero

Part Two: A Path is Chosen

Chapter One

Raven lay on something soft and warm. The cold was gone, the pain was gone. Am I dead? She wondered. Raven opened her eyes and a wooden plank ceiling stared down at her. Turing her head, she saw an off white stone wall in the distance, but between her and it were several fully armored knights lying in cots similar to her own. Pushing back the covers, Raven slowly sat up, expecting pain to generate from her side but was both surprised and pleased that it did not. Feeling a draft, she looked down to see her black robe was torn and her side exposed where she had been shot with the arrow. A thick bandage, the same color as the walls she noted, covered the wound.

Raven gingerly touched the bandage, and winced. Her wound was tender to the touch, but otherwise seemed fine. She could walk, maybe even run without too much trouble.

"Feeling better now?" A voiced asked. Raven turned and saw a man dressed in the armor of a knight, minus the helm. His red hair was combed neatly, and he wore a doctor's head mirror, used for illuminating dark areas on his patients such as the mouth or ear. "Much, thank you." Raven replied. The doctor held out his hand and said. "I am Sir Junn, and you are?" "Raven." She answered, taking his hand and shaking it.

"You gave us quite a scare Raven; I almost lost you because the poison had spread so far. You are very lucky to be alive right now." He said seriously. "We had to tear your robe to tend to the wound, but hopefully it can be easily fixed." Sir Junn handed her a needle and a spool of black thread to repair her armor with. She almost declined, she had repaired her robe many times before with magic then remembered she didn't have a weapon to channel her magic. "Thank you for saving me Sir Junn." Raven said, her gratitude genuine as she accepted the needle and thread from him. "You are most welcome Raven. Now if you will excuse me, I have other patients to attend to. The Darkwolf bandits have been very active lately, as you and several others unfortunately discovered." With that, the doctor walked to the cot next to her and examined the knight laying on it.

After several minutes, Raven was finished repairing her robe. Though she was gifted with many talents, sewing was not one of them and she frowned at the "fixed" hole in her robe. I will just buy a staff and repair it with magic so it will not look so bad. She thought as she got up and started walking toward the door. "Raven? Where are you going?" She turned to see Sir Junn looking at her. "I need a new weapon; my other one was destroyed in battle." She explained. "Very well, but do not go far, the Captain wishes to have a word with you." Raven nodded once then walked out of the infirmary.

The first thing she saw when she walked outside was two knights and a catapult. One sat in the bowel which normally held stones for launching and was talking about launching himself with the catapult to increase traveling speed. The other stood next to the catapult and agreed with the first, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

Raven continued on, looking for a weapon shop and saw a shield with two crossed swords hanging above a doorway. Realizing this must be the armory, she walked inside.

The room looked exactly like the infirmary did, only instead of shelves and cots full of medical supplies and injured knights, every wall and shelf was lined with rows of weapons. There were mostly swords and axes, but Raven saw a few daggers and staffs hanging on the far wall. Nodding in greeting to the two knights selling the weapons, she walked over and examined the staffs. She noted there was only eight of them to choose from but wasn't surprised. Oaklore Keep was one of many defense posts scattered across Battleonia and as they were issued by the king, knights were the ones responsible. The staffs and daggers were mainly for travelers passing through, such as herself.

Raven frowned; there wasn't a staff with an element of darkness, the element that came most easily to her. The majority was metal, but there were two fire staffs, one energy and one light. Sighing, she pulled one of the metal staffs from the shelf. It was made of red cherry oak wood and had a metal band on the top, holding a ruby the size of her fist on top for focusing magic. Though she would have preferred to have a scythe, or at least a sword, Raven sensed that she would not have time to enchant a sword to channel magic and the keep did not sell any scythes.

Paying for the weapon, Raven walked outside and almost bumped into another knight. "Sorry." She said, as she walked around him. "Are you Raven?" He asked.

Surprised, she looked up and saw a knight dressed in elaborate armor. The plates were far bigger than that of a regular knight, and far more detailed. On his right shoulder stood a piece of metal shaped like a dragon's wing in mid flight. He wore no helm, his blonde hair left free and green eyes shining. Rather than a sword, he carried a large gold and white hammer.

"I am." She said, answering his question. "You are the mage that had a run in with the bandits a few ours earlier, correct?" Raven nodded. "I am Captain Rolith of the Pactogonal Knights here at Oaklore Keep." The knight said, introducing himself. "Sir Valence tells me you said my name and something about a Priestess before you went unconscious. Is this true?"

Raven nodded again. "I met the Priestess and her moglin friend on my way here, we had some trouble with a gorillaphant, but both were unharmed." Raven could see that the captain was growing nervous. "Why did she not come with you to the Keep?" He asked urgently. "She said she was going to take a short cut." Raven responded. "WHAT! The forest is crawling with bandits that are looking for her! She is in grave danger and all my knights are either injured or off fighting bandits." Rolith looked her in the eye and said urgently. "You must go after her before it's too late!"

"Yes Sir!" She said hurriedly as she whirled around and raced out of the Keep.

After several minutes of running, Raven was forced to stop and catch her breath. She had no clue where Lady Celestia and Twilly were and did not know where to look for them. I would give anything to have a ranger with me right now. She thought. Rangers were well known for their ability to track.

But wait, I'm a mage. I can use magic to find them! She thought, berating herself by losing precious time not doing this earlier. Raising her staff, she chanted. "Ungas Gletto Fingas Brigten Ethco Frago!" In the palm of her left hand, a black orb floated. "Lead me to the Priestess!" She ordered it. The orb sped of in a southerly direction, weaving between trees with Raven right behind it. They continued for some time, and Raven was about to order the orb to stop so she could catch her breath when she heard voices through the trees. Slowing, Raven silently crept up on the owner of the voice. Peering through the thick branches, she saw the orb hovering above the object of her search.

The Priestess stood in front of the same black box from earlier, protecting it. In front of her, Twilly crouched, ready to do anything necessary to protect Lady Celestia. Guarding their escape was…Drakath?

Remembering the conversation between him and Sepulture, Raven emerged from the trees.

"Give us the box Priestess, and we'll kill you quickly." Drakath taunted. "Raven! We must protect the black dragon box at all costs!" Lady Celestia said urgently. Dragon box? Raven thought, looking at the gold and black box behind the Priestess. Is that the same dragon box that holds my dragon? It must be! Sepulture sent Drakath after it. Raven frowned and turned toward the Darkwolf leader. I will not let him take my dragon! She thought venomously.

"Leave them to me Lady Celestia." She said. Drakath glared at her and said. "I am the rightful ruler of this land! That box is the key to my throne and there's no way that I'm letting a peasant like you keep it from me. Stand down or like the trash that you are, you will be blown away by the winds of my great destiny!"

Raven narrowed her eyes. He did not just call me that! She thought. "We will see who gets blown away!" She hissed. "Windgras!" She shouted, waving her staff. A mighty wind blew through the trees and hit Drakath in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Suddenly, two bandits emerged from the trees behind him. "Get her!" He yelled at them.

Raising their spiked maces, they charged. Raven blocked the attack from the first, the mace slamming into the base of her staff. The second bandit came from behind and swung his mace at her head. Raven dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, the bandit's mace hitting his friend's head and killing him instantly. The bandit stood in shock at what he had done and Raven used this opportunity to crash her staff into the temple of the bandit. He collapsed to the ground unconscious and she turned to Drakath.

He swung his sword at Lady Celestia and she jumped out of the way, clearing a path to the box. Drakath dove for it, but Twilly was ready. With a high pitched warcry, Twilly hit Drakath in the face with his staff. Enraged, Drakath tried to slice him in two, but Twilly was too quick. He dodged the attack, and then brought his staff down on Drakath's foot as hard as he could.

Drakath dropped is sword and held his foot, as if that would stop the pain while he hopped on the other to keep his balance. "Firica." Raven said and a black fireball flew from her scarred palm and hit Drakath, knocking him to the ground.

Raven bent down and grabbed his sword. When he tried to get up, she pointed it at his throat. "I should just kill you now and be done with you." She hissed. As she touched the blade to his throat, she saw a flicker of fear in the man's eyes and was given an idea. "But I won't." She said with a cruel smile. "I want you to crawl back to Sepulture and tell him you failed. I want you to tell him Raven is alive, and she has the dragon egg." She leaned in closer. "Remind him of the oath I swore. 'My soul will not rest until your lifeblood has been spilled.' Raven raised his sword as if to kill him, but slammed it into the ground next to his head so that it stood on its own.

"Now get out of my sight." She hissed at him. Drakath scrambled to his feet, grabbed his sword, and fled into the forest. She looked over to see Twilly helping the Priestess to her feet. "Lady Celestia! Captain Rolith warned me of the danger you were in; I'm glad I got to you in time." Raven said as she approached. "Thank you, I am grateful for the rescue." The Priestess said. "Alas, the box was taken by a sneevil while you were busy smack-talking." "What! Why didn't you say something?" Raven exclaimed. My dragon was kidnapped by a sneevil of all things! She thought.

"Well, you were really on a roll. I didn't want to interrupt you." Lady Celestia said. Raven could only stare at her in disbelief. "You must recover the Black Dragon Box before it falls into the wrong hands." No kidding. Raven thought dryly. The Priestess continued. "Travel to the town of Falconreach, Twilly has friends who will be able to help you find that Sneevil." Raven looked at Twilly and he said. "I bet Robina knows where to find that sneevil."

"Alright, we will go to Falconreach…but what about you?" Raven asked. Lady Celestia thought before responding. "Well, if you and Twilly are going after the box, then I am going to teleport back some and have some tea." Tea? My unborn dragon might fall into the hands of Sepulture and all she can think about is…tea? "Your dragon amulet will lead you to the dragon you are destined to bond with. Trust it, and it will not fail you." With those final words, Lady Celestia disappeared.

Despite her annoyance with the woman, Raven decided to take her advice. She also couldn't help be impressed with Lady Celestia's magic. Teleportation? I hope she can teach me how to do that someday. She thought.

Twilly walked over to her and said. "Don't worry Waven; we will get back the box." Raven smiled at the little moglin. "I don't doubt it, with you by my side." She told him. Having the moglin with her would not only be helpful in battle as all moglins are expert healers, but having someone to talk to would help fight the loneliness that was left in Mark's absence.

Raven lifted Twilly on her shoulder and started walking back to Oaklore to inform the Captain of the latest developments before heading to Falconreach. I must be careful not to grow attached to Twilly, or I will lose him too. She thought. After losing everything she owned and everyone she loved, Raven decided that the only way not to be hurt anymore, was not to love. She would enjoy Twilly's company while it lasted, but the first opportunity she got…

…she would continue alone.

Author's Note: Next chapter Raven gets meet the famed Hydra, then continue on to Falconreach. But has she bitten off more than she can chew? When Sepulture receives Drakath's message, do you really think he will take that lying down? What will he do about it?

Also, I decided to merge the plans for Part Two and Part Three, so you will get to meet the Ancient Dragon of Time in this Part, and get a little glimpse into the future. Is Raven the Savior of Lore, or the Destroyer?

A Path is Chosen…