When Drayl awoke, he looked around. "The back of my head... what hit me?" He looked around a bit more in shock. "This- this isn't Talonthorn! Where am I!?" Movement behind him made him turn.
"Now, kid, before you yell at me I'll have you know I saved your life." The person who spoke took Drayl a minute to make out, but eventually his eyes focused. It was Thran. "As for where you are, this is the Halidom of Ylisse."
Drayl, slightly confused, started to notice small details in the wooded clearing; the shape of the trees and a species of rabbit unique to the location. "Ylisse? How did i get all the way out here? And how do i get home?"
Thran shook his head and looked down. "I'm sorry, Kid, but your Deeprealm collapsed. I was only able to get you out. You and this blade." Thran reached into his cloak and pulled out the golden blade that Drayl had forged.
Drayl looked at him with disbelief. "Talonthorn couldn't have collapsed... it just couldn't have!"
Thran had a strangely sad look in his eye. "You see, kid, when a Deeprealm is destroyed, it collapses in on itself. What i was truly doing there was trying to kill that thing that attacked you, a Shade."
This caught Drayl's attention. "A Shade? but that was the Hero King, Marth, wasn't it?"
"Yes and no." The big man looked west. "You see, a Shade is a spirit which has malicious intent and can take any form. When i saw they targeted Talonthorn, i had gone in to try and scare them out. I can't kill them, but why they would attack a peaceful town is behind me. My guess is they were searching for someone, possibly an extremely skilled smith i met just earlier that day." Thran held up the sword in the firelight. "This blade is an absolute beauty, Drayl. Whoever taught you how to forge like this, at such a young age, must have taught you a lot."
Drayl, understanding what had happened now, spoke up. "You say they must have been searching for me, Thran, am I right?"
Thran sheathed the sword in a custom carved sheath he had made an hour before Drayl awoke. "There is no way to tell for sure, Drayl, but if I were you I'd make as many friends as possible outside of the Deeprealms. The Outrealms are numerous, almost as numerous as the number of Deeprealms. That would be a good start." A stew had been roasting above the campfire. Thran, testing to make sure it was done and finding it so, served Drayl a bowl. "Eat up, kid. After what happened to you, this must be on your mind. Tomorrow we set out to Ylisse's capital, and get you acquainted with the current ruler. You remind me a lot of him."