Disclaimer: I do not own D&D or Eberron. The rest I do own.

Prologue: Rebirth

A black shadow, glimpse of violet rays descended from the dark sky.

The river flows through quietly, silently under the purplish light. A small wooden boat floated upon its slow-moving surface. A black mist covered everything, everywhere. The only thing that one could hear is the calm sound of rushing water.

Every now and then, a curtain of silverfish light would flash down, showering upon the unfortunate drifter lying helplessly, hopelessly on the boat, floating down the river in an endless tunnel of darkness. His eyes opened, staring into the dark heaven, into the source of the purple lights, into the glowing curtain of white. In his hypnotized-like state, he was deaf to the dead and to the world around him.

He was blinded, blinded from the truth.

He was deafened, deafened by the lies.

He wanted to hear nothing, to see nothing. There was no escape from the realities within the illusions. The words still echoed in his ears.

"A player that can no longer play the game deserves nothing but a game over."

A faint smile appeared on his pale face. His black eyes looked at the endless stretch of darkness, and he listened to the low whispers of the flowing river beneath him, his right arm stretched towards the end of the boat, dunking his hand into the cold water. He could sense the coldness running through his hand and flowed into his heart.

After what seems for an eternity, he closed his eyes once more and lay there, waiting. His white shirt was covered with a crimson liquid, while he was still wearing his blue jeans with its fading color. He never thought of this… Dying when he should be playing sports with the guys back home, when he should be studying at school so he could get to a nice college after high school, when he should be dating his girlfriend.

"You wanted life, isn't that right?" A feminine voice whispered to him, accompanied with a slight giggle, like a girl with a hidden mischief. The boy nodded his head so slightly that one could mistake it for an illusion, but whoever that had spoken noticed his reaction. Weak, and subtle.

"There is one way, but are you willing to receive this gift? There might be dangers…"

"Do I have a choice?" He answered with a wintry tone. He had been enchained by circumstances since he was young. Did he even have a choice? A girl's youthful laughter echoed within the darkness, and for a moment he thought he could sense the whole world around him rocking.

"Brave, but foolish. You don't understand who you are talking to, do you?" This time, it was the voice of a female. The voice of someone mature, just like her, soothing and deep. "Or what I am talking about, do you?"

He could only smile as a chilling wind suddenly passed through, its haunting sound howled in the air. Again, the question came to his mind. Did he have a choice? He remained silence as the taunting continued. "You might as well leave that cynical world behind. After all, even the person you trusted most-"

"Shut up!" He yelled, his voice filled with rage and violence as he suddenly sat up and his eyes focused to the source of the light. He gritted his teeth as he felt the fury hidden so well in him, until the last moment began to stir. "You know nothing so stop talking like you know everything about me!"

"Silence." The voice said in a calm and clear voice. This time, it sounds like an old woman's stern utterance in his ears. "You just say you have no choice in the matter and yet you protested like a toddler when I stated my opinion."

A flash of white light descended from the sky and he quickly block the rays with both his arms. "So be at ease, my child. Be at ease." In that moment, he felt someone embracing him and someone's breath at his neck. He felt… warm.

"So sleep."

The light began to disappear as everything began to blur. His vision, his hearing, everything began to be clouded. He felt his energy leaving him, his strength and his sense of feeling. He wanted to sleep, but he was afraid, afraid of everything leaving him again, just like before. He was desperately trying to cling on something material. Anything…

"This time, you won't live in a false hope. So sleep." He could still feel that someone's embrace. He tried to hold the hands, but he felt helpless as his conscious began to slip away.

"I don't want to… again…" He murmured as he finally closed his eyes, his stable breathing was the only thing that was heard in the dark world. The 'someone' finally disappeared, so was the stream, the lights. Only the boat remained, but it too, slowly disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the boy in the stuff of darkness.

The towering figure looked at the twilight sky, her eyes glimmering with ancient wisdom as she gazed at the twinkling stars above. There was something unsettling about the Prophecy for the past few days, and the ancient silver dragon was quite shaken at the sudden change in the Prophecy. "By Io's name…" She growled in Draconic and extended her pair of great wings into the air, and folded them back promptly.

After all the years observing at the Prophecy, there she thought that it would unfold its secrets slowly… but the sudden change in its formation forced her to rethink her theories. The younglings were already complaining to the elders, saying that they must be more vigilante and they must act now before the great shift in the world began. For a moment, she stood on her four feet and her silver scales shook as she growled lowly and her trained eyes looked into the dark.

There, on the sands of the beach… A human was lying there, drenched in the salty sea water… The dragon shook her head in disbelief. Exactly what kind of foolish human had tried to reach Argonnessen this time? She had just about enough of intruders, especially when she couldn't figure out the little puzzle the Ring had just placed in front of her. She dived into the air with a quick and strong jump, unfolded her wings and glided her way in the cold air of the night. She would have a long, long talk with the elders the next day about the recent intrusions by the lesser races…

The boy opened his eyes once more, and the sight that welcomed him was the beautiful night sky, with twinkling stars all over. He had never ever seen such a clear night before… Never in his life. Hell is much more beautiful than described in the Bible. He told himself sarcastically. He could also smell the salty scent of the sea, and his left hand on the sand, the cold water washing it again and again. The chilling wind suddenly swiped over him.

Hell is also much hotter in the Bible. He whined as he sat up, took a deep breath and stood up. Where ever he was now, the air was no doubt a lot cleaner than the city. "But I am supposed to be dead, aren't I?" He asked himself as he looked down his stained cotton shirt. The red was still there, never fading away. Just like the final moment of his life.

Suddenly, he heard a huge 'thud' behind him, and the sound of a creature growling behind him. A lion? He turned around, slowly, trying not to stir whatever creature that was behind him. Then, he saw two huge eyes looking at him, with a big nose, and a lot of sharp teeth. The head began to raise into the air, and the boy took a few steps back as the creature unfolded its wings again. If he wasn't in such a state of shock, he would have been fascinated by the creature's beautiful silver scales…

The creature raised its gigantic paw into the air as he stood there, and a quick 'woosh'. He felt himself flying through the air and blacked out.

Author's note:

Well, here's my first D&D fic. I was hoping for you guys to give me a few comments here and there and to correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this fic.