Prologue: The Mission

            "Hurry up, will you!"

            "Don't rush me!"

            "You need to grow longer legs."

            "Oh hush!"

            As midday passes, these two travelers walk tirelessly through the Mysidian Woods.  They've been out since the early rising of the sun.  They're tired, they're hungry, and they would like nothing more than to be at home.  But this outing is no ordinary one.  As they enter a clearing in the woods, they stop to take a breather.

            "Palom, why do you think the Elder wanted it?"  The young woman points at the brown, leather knapsack on her companion's shoulders.

            "I don't know.  It must be really important though," Palom says as he removes his knapsack, lays it on the ground, and opens it.  "You know Porom, it's not like the Elder to just send us out on a mission without giving us the full details."  He reaches in and removes a fairly large, gray rock from the knapsack.  The rock has no edges and is very smooth all around.

            "It must be something special if the Elder wants it that badly," Porom stretches out her legs and leans back on her arms, the sleeves of her green tunic brushing against the blades of grass.  "I mean it did come from Mount Ordeals, and that place holds some strong magical properties.  I wouldn't be surprised if this field trip was part of our training."

            "Maybe, but we really had no trouble at all getting it," Palom says as he tosses the rock in the air a couple of times.  "Reading some of the Elder's spell books is harder than that.  Besides, ever since the war ended, the monsters have been far and few between."  He turns the rock over many times to examine it, but finds nothing unusual.

            Seventeen years ago, during the great battle with Zeromus, Palom and Porom met a man--a dark knight.  At the Elder's command they accompanied the knight on his mission, and along the way they met the most powerful magician known throughout the land.  Tellah was the magician's name, and with his help, Palom, Porom, and the dark knight fought their way up the dangerous Mount Ordeals. 

            Later, a tragic turn of fate would end the life of Tellah, but without his help, history might have been different--for on that mountaintop, a great change took place; a change that may have turned the odds in the favor of good.  It was here where a young and confused dark knight was transformed into a heroic paladin, the true leader who helped save the world from destruction.

            That was seventeen years ago.  Palom and Porom were only eight years old at the time.  Now they're all grown up and once again they find themselves on another mission.  The course of this one is unclear though, and that has them both worried.

            "Well, guess we better go the last two miles so we can get back home," Palom puts the rock back in his knapsack and closes it.  With a deep sigh he picks up the knapsack and stands up.  "Besides I want to be well rested for my date tonight."
            "Oh that's right.  You have another date with Lyrca.  Doesn't she know she's too good for you?" Porom stands up and brushes off some grass from her clothing.  "I really don't know what she sees in you anyway.  You're such a nuisance."

            "Thanks for the vote of confidence sis," Palom says blandly.

            Suddenly Porom turns around.

            "Did you hear that?"

            "Yeah.  Sounded like someone's voice to me," Palom lays his hand on the hilt of his short sword.  Porom reaches for the small, metal staff strapped to her back.  "What do you think?"

            Twins through and through, Palom and Porom can usually sense what the other one is thinking, what the other one wants to do.  Years of being at each others side has given them a kind of telepathic ability which has come in very handy during battles.

            Porom stays silent as she eyes the brush surrounding them.  Aside from the swaying of a few tree branches, nothing moves, and no sounds are heard.

            "Come on Porom, lets get out of here," Palom releases his grip from his sword.  "It was probably the wind or something."

            Porom takes one last look around, then eases her hold on her staff and relaxes a little.  "Ok, let's go."

            "You know, I've been thinking sis, when are you going to get a boyfriend?"

            "Oh hush!  And will you stop walking so fast?"

            "I told you, you need to grow longer legs," Palom grins and quickens the pace with Porom running after him.

            As the voices of the twins start to fade, two tiny figures reveal themselves to the light of the sun.  As one brushes off the leaves from the bushes, the other hits him sharply on the head.

            "Ow! What was that for?"

            "I said that you were talking too loud!  You almost gave away our position!"

            "Well excuse me!" the other says as he rubs his head.

            "What would the captain think of your behavior? You have no idea how important this is," The little man goes over a piece of paper he's holding in his stubby fingers.  "I thought coming upon those two would be of great importance, but they didn't say much that was worth writing down. Just some talk about a dumb rock."

            "That dumb rock is important information my little imp."

            A large shadow is suddenly cast over the two imps, and as they slowly turn toward it's owner, they already know whom it belongs to.

            "Master Drakhen," whisper the imps.

            Hundreds of years ago, dragons of all kinds, of all species, were plentiful, filling the skies with bright colors and displays.  As the years passed, dragons were becoming endangered.  They were being hunted and killed for their skin, for their blood, and for whatever reason one could think of.  Many had thought a dragon was more useful dead than alive.  Dragons had almost become extinct, but just before the war with Zeromus, an uprising of dragons had begun.  No one knows why, but it's been theorized that a nest no one had known about was created somewhere to the west, near the town of Toroia.

            Recently, dragon sightings have increased.  Though they haven't attacked any towns or people, citizens have been kept on strict guard because dragons are very unpredictable.  Not really ones to care about the lives of other creatures, dragons take sides at their leisure, when it suits them best.  Few dragons are friendly, most are just rude, but all of them are dangerous.

            That includes this one--Drakhen.  If there were ever a dragon to be put on the extinction list, it would be him.  No one has ever seen a gold dragon for many years, for they were the most menacing and most destructive, and because of that, they were the first to be hunted.

            "This information will bode well with the Lord.  You have done an excellent job my pudgy little friends."  With not so much as a glance at them, Drakhen walks towards the middle of the clearing, where Palom and Porom took their rest.  With each of Drakhen's steps, the imps can feel the vibrations in the ground signifying the golden wonder's mass.  With a wingspan of over fifty feet, he could easily cast a shadow over the clearing he's now standing in.

            As he bends his long neck to the ground, Drakhen starts sniffing the area; getting the scent of the two young travellers for future remembrance.  A rock from Mount Ordeals, he thinks to himself.  The Elder of Mysidia is conjuring up something.  Is it possible that he knows?  I wouldn't doubt that the old fool does.  Drakhen turns towards the imps, who have noticeably lengthened their distance from him.  At this, he gives a wide grin, knowing that his very presence scares even the bravest of souls.

            "Return to the communion at once, and tell the Lord that I shall return shortly. I have some business to attend to."  And without an answer to his command, Drakhen opens his great, gold wings, brushing the trees on both sides.  With a short bend and a large leap, he soars into the sky, and within seconds the enormous creature is just a dot amongst the clouds.

            As ordered, the two imps make their way back to their home, still shaken from their meeting with Master Drakhen, the golden dragon.