The Dragon's Gate. The last time he was here he was just a small child, yearning to see the world on the other side. How his view of this world had changed since that fateful day so many years ago, the day his dragonstone was shattered. For centuries he wandered the land as nations rose and fell. Then Nergal arrived, gathering the lives of men into his hands and using them to build an army of destructive creatures and to bring about the return of dragons. Now though, Nergal was dead, but he had left behind a valuable resource. When he learned that a dragonstone had been left behind, he was quick to sail out. But he wasn't foolish, he knew that he needed this essence as well, or as Nergal had called it: quintessence. But whatever he had called it, this was necessary to restore the dragonstone that belonged to a dragon who had died and so he too learned how to harvest this energy and to create morphs, and finally, after several years he had enough morphs and enough knowledge to restore the stone. Finally after all these years, he would attain the power he once held, even though he was never able to find Arcadia. Ascending the stairs with his small army of morphs they reached the first landing. A skeleton was there, wrapped in black and red robes, a sense of dread hung thick in the air as he approached the skeleton, even his own morphs, which never showed emotion seemed anxious as he approached it.
"Nergal, what did you think would happen, tampering with the might of dragons? You acquired such power but still you needed more, yet you couldn't see that you had more than you could handle. Even your bones are filled with the power you had remaining at your death… What a fool, but you served your purpose for me," he said. Once he had finished his tirade he bent down and picked up the skull. He started laughing. A morph stepped in behind him.
"Master Alatum, are you pleased," the morph asked him. Alatum turned and looked at him.
"Oh yes, I am quite pleased, there is great quintessence lingering here, and Eliwood should be here before long, he will be an excellent supplement to what Nergal left me. Before that though I need to find that dragonstone… or rather you need to find it," Alatum said. The morph bowed.
"As you command master. May I ask where I should start looking," the morph asked. Alatum pointed towards the top of the stairs.
"Beyond that staircase is the mouth of the Dragon's Gate. That is where the dragon was killed, that is where you should find the spent dragonstone. It will appear to you to be a simple rock, except it will be translucent white, but be careful handling it, dragonstones are sometimes quite fragile," Alatum said.
"Thank you master, I will keep that in mind," the morph said as it took a few steps towards the staircase. The next moment it leapt up the stairs with the grace and ease of a gazelle. Alatum stared up at it for a few moments as it ascended before he too began climbing the steps and the remainder of his morphs followed him. The morph reached the top before he did, and when it arrived he heard it shout.
"Master, someone got here before us," it shouted at him.
"What," Alatum responded in shock as he arrived at the top of the stairs,
"I said that someone-," the morph began, but Alatum cut him off.
"I heard you. Everyone fan out and search for that stone or our unwelcome guest," he shouted. Immediately his morphs began working, combing the Dragon's Gate for any sign of the dragonstone. Meanwhile Alatum went to the center of the landing. The entire place was covered in dust, webs, and various forms of debris. However, in the very center was a human shaped clean spot. He knelt down and ran his fingers along the cold stone floor.
"This is where the dragon was killed. It's stone lay here undisturbed for a great while. I can still feel it's power, faint though it is," he said to himself. Then he stood up and walked back over to the stairs. Again he knelt down and picked up what appeared to be a small flake of rubble off of one of the steps.
"My morphs won't be able to find it. But I know now that whoever has it went this way, and dropped it. A pity there's not enough power in this fragment for me," he said as he placed the small fragment in a satchel. The morphs who had apparently heard him, had gathered behind him and were now staring at him.
"I suppose it is time for us to regroup. I was foolish to think this would be simple. You all in the first team come with me, we are headed back to Bern. As for those of you who remain. The Marquess Pherae will likely be here before the moon rises tomorrow. Take this time to prepare for him a welcome he won't soon forget," Alatum said with venom in his voice. Immediately many of his morphs sprang into action covering up traces of their presence. The remainder followed Alatum out of the Dragon's Gate and vanished with him into the dense forest. Back at the gate, the morphs were finishing their preparations. One of the morphs walked up to a hooded figure siting on a piece of rubble before the gate. It spoke to him and as they conversed briefly it could be seen that the hooded figure had blood red lips, pale skin and a burgundy mustache. It smiled wickedly as the morph turned and left. Once again the Dragon's gate appeared as though nothing had been disturbed for years, save for a lone figure before the mouth of the gate sitting patiently on a large piece of rubble.