Chapter Three- Destiny

The Oath By Kiss:

Like a blade of a sword I am forged in flame Fiery hot Tempered steel fire-bright to the night I take I fear not Now compelled by something I cannot see I go forth surrendering to history Your glory, I swear I ride for thee Your power, I trust it rides with me Your servant, I am and ever shall I be

Through a dream I have a come to an ancient door Lost in the mist I have been there a hundred times or more Pounding my fists Now inside, the fire of the ancient burns A boy goes in and suddenly a man returns

I gave my word and gained a key I gave my heart and set it free There's no turning back from this odyssey Because I feel so alive suddenly And I wonder, is this really me?

Light's first rays touched the sky giving the forest floor a dappled pattern of gold and green. The bird song filled the world with life, and the elk's bugle whistled eerily through the thicket.
So peaceful this forest was. The game here made it a virtual Mecca to woodsman and hunters alike. This place, renowned for its large bull elk and mule deer stags, drew human big game hunters here like flies to carrion. Other hunters interested in grouse and woodcock came also often with trained falcons.
But those days are gone. The elven queen in her 575 years of life had never seen this forest devoid of human life. She wondered to herself as she roused from trance, "Have the orcs destroyed the human settlements? Or are the humans the cause of this destruction once again?"
She thought back to her youth, how a human warlord had ravaged the land. She remembered how her parents relied on a young human man named, Moebius, and his advice. Only to be betrayed and finally slain by that warlord. She later found out that Moebius played the warlord like a puppet. He used her, the warlord, in his corrupt plans of utter destruction. Moebius' goal, she found, was the complete annihilation of the elves.
The elven woman turned from her musings as one of her maidservants entered the room. "My lady," her maidservant, a beautiful woman with long chocolate brown hair and eyes the color of a stormy sea. She kneeled, and her voice had a note of fear within it. Not for her queen, but for the advancing orcs. "The arch wizards and generals have met in the war room as you have asked."
The queen looked down at the servant and smiled, "Excellent. Tell them I will be there in a moment."
The major players of the elven army sat impatiently, murmuring with each other about the current state of the army's readiness. Laura was not among them, she had left early with her mount, H'jord, in hopes of discovering the orcish village. Timothy, however, sat among them.
At last the elven queen arrived. As she took her seat she voiced a question to the congregation. "Have our rangers been able to discover the orcs? Have the wizards?"
An ancient elven wizard spoke. The man's skin leathery with age, and his once chocolate brown hair now gray, but his eyes were alight with the fire of life. "No, my lady, our divinations have thus far proven ineffective." The man leaned forward as he continued, resting his arms on the table. "I'm afraid our rangers fair little better."
The scarred elven general spoke next. "Aramil is correct. We've found tracks and bodies of their victims, but little else."
"Have the human settlements been sacked?"
"Yes, my Queen." answered the scarred general solemnly.
"I see." she leaned back in her chair sadly before speaking again. "Where have you seen the signs of their passage?"
The scarred general answered, he stood to get a better reach then pointed to the map engraved on the table. "Here, here, and here." He said pointing south east of their city. "We were also able to find a former campsite here. I believe, should we send our next patrols here around the area of the human settlements and their former camp, we should be able to find them." He sat down and waited for the others' thoughts.
"Very good, Heian, you have my blessing to send as many rangers as you need. If anyone hasn't anymore news, I believe we are done here? Heian, you have your orders." the queen said as she stood to leave.
"Good Queen." Timothy called out. "May I have your permission to join with one of the ranger parties? I would like to be of some help to your people."
"Timothy, you are more than welcome to accompany the rangers."

It had been hours that Laura had been riding, already it was noon. The sun was high and the shade from the trees did little to dampen the sun's hot rays. Long ago, she had been forced to remove her armor and strip down to her undershirt.
She wiped sweat from her brow and brushed a stray lock of sweat- matted hair from her cheek. "Sheesh, did someone think it would be a good idea to open a gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire?!" she exclaimed deep in the throws of heat exhaustion. "If we don't find some water or someplace cool, I'm going to melt into a bloody lemure!"
Lemures, the pathetic petitioners of Baator, lowest of the baatezu, the creatures resemble hairless melted humans, their faces twisted in agony.
H'jord laughed good-naturedly. "You think this is bad? My last bonded led a crusade into The Hells' fourth layer, Phlegethos. I had a Ring of Fire Elemental Resistance... but resistance is along way from immunity, friend!"
"Fiery Phlegethos, huh? Hope you brought your marshmallows."
"No... But we had everything else."
They continued on awhile, sweat pouring off them. "You know." Laura spoke. "If I ever meet the gods, I'm going to have to have a talk with them about making paladins heat immune!"
She stopped H'jord a moment. Something caught her eye. "Do you see that strange ruin?"
They came closer to it. The ruin, thousands of years old, apparently, and seemingly untouched by time, only minor abrasions and the growth of trees and vines trying vainly to crush it. They studied it further. Whoever built it showed little creativity as it was rectangular and box shaped. Unlike other ruins she had happened upon in her travels, this one was devoid of all art work. It seemed cold and lifeless.
As she came to the door, she dismounted and came near. Only a handprint decorated its surface. Intrigued, she made to enter. "Wait here."
"Okay, but if I die from heat stroke you can count on me haunting you!" H'jord threatened his voice playfully stern.
"Fine, but if I'm with a man, take a hike!" She laughed as she reached forth her hand to the print. As her palm came in contact with it, a minor earthquake shook the place as the stone door slide open.
She drew her sword reflex fully and entered.
The building she found to be lit by hundreds of touches. The artwork within was breathtaking and seemed to tell a story of creatures she had never before seen.
A mural upon a wall depicted a woman, one of the black winged humanoids of myth, riding a colossal winged reptile which seemed to be made of pure gold. Underneath the mural, written in Celestial, was engraved "The Dracolite. Lady Kristen and the Great Gold Wyrm, La'merix".
Another depicted that ancient race, the winged humanoids, together with various elven races in war against two other races. In the sky winged reptiles battled each other.
One of the two races was familiar to her. They are the illithids or mind flayers, as they are often called. Humanoids from a place below the earth that is deeper than deep. They tend to stand about six feet tall with rubbery mauve skin glistening with slime. Their heads resemble four tentacle octopi with bulbous white eyes. Many have lost their lives to these powerful creatures, their brains sucked and devoured from their skulls.
The other not quite as familiar, in fact only the most basic knowledge was known to her. Myth speaks of a time when the winged humanoids warred with an alien race of fiendish beauty. Horns curved upwards from their backs and bony plates rose from the sides of their heads. These, she deduced, must be that other race.
"If the Dracolite is riding the wyrm in that other mural why would wyrms is fighting each other in this one?" she wondered aloud to herself. "Are the wyrms unintelligent and animal like? Did these races domesticate and train them for war? And what is a 'dracolite'?"
As she continued through the ruin she came to two machines. The machines, made from steel, were twice the length of a man and half as tall. Each had a hologram or projected image floating above it.
Both were long sinewy wyrms which flew, slept, and even attacked invisible enemies, but never leaving the confines of the machine that produced the image. The first appeared to be made of pure platinum, his wisdom and kindness evident in his azure catlike eyes. Engraved on the machine were the words, "Bahamut the Platinum Dragon. Lord of the North Wind. King of the Metallic Dragons".
The other seemed playful and covered in deep red scales which resembled rubies in all ways. The inscription read, "Sardior the Ruby Dragon. Master of the Gem Dragons".
"So the wyrms, like the illithids, go by an alternate name- dragon. And these two seem to be two of their gods."
As if to confirm her hypothesis, she came to another mural depicting dragons and those winged humanoids offering incense to Bahamut. Seven gold dragons, his vassals Laura guessed, surrounded him. And in the far left of the picture Bahamut's holy symbol, midnight blue covered with stars, like a galaxy, a much larger star in the top left of the symbol.
Another mural she found had a large ruby on the far left, alight with an inner glow. Sharing the mural was a male of the winged humanoids. The mural depicted a slow transformation into a kind of half ruby dragon. Their once sky blue skin covered in scales of ruby. Brass eyes turned to ruby like crystal, and a tail sprouting from their backside. Their raven like wings remained the same. The inscription underneath, like all the others was written in celestial and reads, "Sardior's Ruby Disciples".
Another mural found her down a corridor. It had many dragons on it. At the top was a magnificent multicolored dragon surrounded in a multicolored mist, underneath it, like the others, read an inscription. "Prismatic Dragon". A nearly invisible dragon was next; under it it said "Force Dragon".
Then the artist began a new line with five more dragons on it. These were the metallic dragons: brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver dragons. These ones seemed noble and pure like their god, Bahamut.
The next line contained dragons that appeared to be made of gems of different sorts. Amethyst, crystal, emerald, sapphire, and topaz dragons. These appeared wise in their continence.
Then an inscription under the gem dragons read, "The Fell Drakes". They were three, all wingless. One was green with a yellow crest. It stood on two legs like some predatory dinosaur, and appeared very much like one. Its inscription read, "Crested Fell Drake".
The next was a gray brown color, long and snaky, in spite it being a quadruped. From its open maw a line of green was painted out words. Under it it said, "Spitting Fell Drake".
The Last was another bipedal creature, all violet with four gray wickedly curved horns. "Horned Fell Drake", was its inscription. Under all of them was written, "Dragons of the Alliance".
"It's good to know that whoever named these dragons was creative. Each of them is simply named after what they look like." she derided. "This one has horns, let's call it the horned fell drake!"
She turned to continue on, and saw a beautiful ornately carved stone alter. On the north side's corners were two dragon's heads, one on each side. Each made of pure platinum, obviously a depiction of Bahamut. On the south side's corners were two carved from ruby, Sardior. In between the head was an enormous rectangular diamond housing something within it. On either side of the alter was an iron statue holding a down pointed sword between its legs.
Another mural was behind the alter. It depicted a blonde hair, blue eyed woman atop a mighty silver dragon an army of alliance dragons behind her. They appeared to be passing through some sort of portal, entering Nosgoth.
The mural made her feel uneasy, as if this ruin was built to teach her of Nosgoth's past- and her destiny. "Is that me?" She thought. "It can't be she shares characteristics with the winged race- cloven hands and feet."
As she neared the whole of the building began to shake and dust and rock began to fall from the ceiling. Those twelve foot tall iron statues were not the harmless statues she thought they were- they were iron golems. Their purpose, destroy any who would near this alter.
She cursed to herself, something about how she just bought this sword, and redrew her blade. Standing at the ready, she waited for them to near.
With each step the weight of the golems would send a tremor through the building bringing down more dust and rock and knocking her off balance. She cursed again as she realized that she would have to dodge not just the golems, but the falling debris as well.
"You wouldn't be nice enough to stand still while I destroy you would you?" she said. As she did the golem's heavy sword came crashing down, she rolled quickly to the side. She felt the sword's wind as it struck the ground with a loud clank, sending shards of the stone floor through the air.
She rolled gracefully to her feet and struck the leg of the golem. Sparks flew through the air as did half of the sword's blade. "Damn." she cursed, as she threw the rest of her sword at the golem. It bounced loudly off, but did little other than make noise.
She rounded the construct, her eyes continually on it. Running was only an option if she could get behind it. Were she to run now, it would be easy for the golem to split her down the middle.
Her plan of escape was just about in fruition, as she was finally able to get behind it. Just as she turned to run, she found the other golem greeting her- its sword well on its way.
She rolled again and growled as its sword grazed her flesh and loudly slashed into the back of the other golem. Holding her hip, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the golem pulling its sword out of its fallen friend.
But the laughs would not last, for the last iron golem was coming towards her once more. In striking distance, she had maneuvered it to strike a pillar that is if her hip would allow her to get out of the way. The golem had other plans though. It stopped short and opened its mouth.
She watched curiously as green gas seeped from its open maw- green poisonous gas. Holding her breath she ran behind the pillar and continued running, the golem following behind her.
A loud crash echoed through the ruin as the golem walked through the stone pillar. Thankfully, without the support beam some of the roof was quick to collapse burying and destroying the golem.
Laura stopped and remembered her throbbing bleeding hip. "I'm too old for this." she complained as she slowly limped her way back towards the alter.
Sure that she was alone she began to heal herself; soon the wound was little more than a memory.
The alter, she found, also had an inscription. Carved into the stone and inlayed with gold leaf was this, "And the Dracolyte shall come and lay her hand upon the alter. And the alter shall deliver up the silver dragon child of Bahamut and they shall be one soul."
Like a compulsion she reaches up her hand and lovingly stroked the large diamond. As she did the complex began to shake once more, at its climax the diamond exploded in a flash of light. Where the diamond once was now lay a large mottled gray egg.
"Great." she complained. "What's going to happen now? Is something going to hatch out of that and burrow its way into my body?"
"Not exactly." from behind her was heard a deep and commanding voice of pure love. She turned to see its owner. The being was beautiful and goodness seemed to drip from its person. She narrowed her eyes to get a better look of the creature standing upon the balcony. He stood nine feet tall, and resembled a human made entirely of silver. His head was bold, and his eyes were two glittering yellow topaz gems. Two gleaming white wings immerged from his back.
"What are you?" she asked as her eyes continued to scan the creature. What she found with her continued search was a scabbard quiver combination strapped to his back.
"I am a solar, one of the angels." the angel continued has he walked along the balcony. "My name is Saul. Long ago the architects of this place bound me here until the Dracolyte should come."
"You have been held prisoner here?"
"No, Laura. When you activated the golems you in turn summoned me. Eons ago, at the close of the Great War, the vampires of Nosgoth foresaw many things. One was the coming of the Dracolyte, the other the coming of the Savior."
"And I am this 'Dracolyte'?"
"Perhaps... The Dracolyte in its purest meaning is a nondragon who worships one of the dragon gods, Bahamut, Tiamat, or Sardior. In this case, not only is the Dracolyte called by a dragon god, but is called to restore the dragons of the alliance to Nosgoth."
"And these vampires have seen this? Are there any left? Or are they just a memory?"
"Yes, one. Just as there is one remaining dragon. The vampire's name is Janos Audron, the dragon's, Trist'mkll, a prismatic dragon."
One remaining. This disturbed her. The destruction of these races, but why? "Why does only one remain of the dragons and the vampires?"
"Humans slew them. All of them." He said a note of sadness evident in his voice.
"All of them? That really makes my race sound attractive doesn't it?"
"You must understand, Laura. There are dark forces at work in Nosgoth. Creatures worse than the fiends of the infernal planes rule your race. The vampires, the dragons, and now the elves teeter on the brink of extinction because of the Hylden. They say jump. Your kind asks how high and how long."
"The elves?!" she exclaimed, her eyes widened with fear. "They too are on the brink of extinction?"
"Yes. Only that city remains of their race."
Without warning the angel drew his bow and fired arrow after arrow, as Laura danced around them.
A solar's bow is a deadly weapon. It enchants normal arrows into Slaying Arrows keyed to whatever enemy the solar is firing upon. The strange construction of the composite longbow somehow relies as much on the wielder's strength as it does on momentum. In short, an incoming arrow from a solar is often the last thing a being sees before the darkness of death.
"What in The Hells are you doing?!" Laura yelled, as she dodged another arrow. Only the twang of the bow and the ricochet of an arrow answered her.
As the last arrow was fired, the mighty solar drew his sword- a Dancing Sword as long as Laura is tall. And leapt down to the attack.
Saul was a master of the weapon, and Laura tried vainly to dodge his attacks. Each stroke of the blade seemed to be quicker than the one before, and soon Laura was exhausted and out of breath.
Her strength gone she collapsed to the stone floor, her lungs heaving vainly trying to catch her breath. She looked at the angel bravely awaiting her death, but it never came.
"Well done Dracolyte." Helping her up he continued, presenting the sword and bow to her. At last she was able to examine the weapons. They appeared to be made out of a silvery metal akin to steal, but it gave off light as brightly as a torch. "I was commanded to give these weapons to you, Laura. They are made from a metal mined from Celestia's fourth level, Solania. It is called solanium truesteel. May they serve you well."
Looking at them a moment, she looked up dumbfounded. "Why? Why did you attack me?"
He looked down on her with love and respect. "One never really knows someone until they fight them." Placing his hand on her shoulder for emphasis, he continued. "You must cross the great ocean and head to the western continent- the land of the Pillars. There you must find the dragon. Learn from him. Your destiny awaits you."

"I can't leave, not yet. The elves may be attacked by the orcs at anytime. I must stay and help them."
"Laura. I tell you this. Should the elves stay to fight the orcs, both they and the last of the orcs will be wiped from this planet. There kinds shall be extinct. And should you stay and fight, so shall you. If they are to survive as a race, they must abandon their forest home."
She looked down sadly, those elves have been so friendly to her, and she loved them dearly. How was she going to convince them to do something she knew they wouldn't- leave their forest?
"That egg and the dragon contained therein is your responsibility. Care for her with your life. Learn about Bahamut, who called you. He is your god. Now go. Take the egg and travel to the dragon. Do what he says." And then the angel disappeared in a flash of light leaving Laura alone.
"I'm going to have to resize the hell out of these straps." she said as she tried on the scabbard quiver the solar had given her.
"I must look totally ridiculous!" she cried as the straps drug along the floor, still the scabbard quiver did not fit her. That's when she heard the soft sound of cracking. The egg was hatching.
The egg rolled and quivered as the dragon inside struggled to free itself from its calcium prison. At last, after an hour or so the little dragon was free. It cried for a moment, as it tried vainly to stand on wobbly legs.
Laura was mesmerized, never had she seen anything so cute. The little blue-gray scales shown in the light and the silvery highlights reflected the light like a rock in the sun. The dragon looked at her with big mercury eyes. Her heart immediately fell in love with the little two foot long dragon. Isn't it strange how the large eyes of little ones do that?
"My name's Laura. I think I'll call you..." she looked around at the murals, then back down at the little wyrmling. "Zik'tll. That sounds like a dragon name don't you think?" Zik'tll only looked at her for a moment before climbing up her "mother".
"I guess that means you want to go? I think you are going to like it out there; we're going to go exploring. Exciting, huh?"
They walked slowly to the door which opened on its own accord, as it shut electricity went down the whole of the door, fusing it together into one single slab of immobile stone.
H'jord was still there waiting. The poor unicorn trying vainly to overcome his boredom swatted at flies. When the door closed he rose to his cloven hooves. "What took you so long? Great Gulgrin's sack, that's a wyrmling silver dragon!"
"What? There is? Where? I want to see!" Laura turned looking into the sky.
H'jord wasn't quite as amused, he had just spent several hours bored and incredibly hot. He kicked with his front hoof, sending a shower of dust, twigs, and leaves over Laura. "Real funny, girl." Laura just laughed playfully. "Where did you find it? And those... are solar's weapons. You officially have a story for me." He said narrowing his eyes and laying his ears back threateningly, as if to say "You don't want to know what I'll do to you if you don't tell me!"
"Eh. You won't believe me even if I told you. But here's what happened." She told her story as the trio rode back to the elven city.
They arrived late in the night. She would warn the Queen in the morning then ride off to the west.
The morning came. It was a day similar to yesterday, destined to be another hot and sticky day. The elven children played outside, it broke Laura's heart to know that they would all be dead if they don't heed the angel's warning.
She arose, and a lone tear graced her cheek. Sitting on the bed she lost control and wept. How was she going to going to convince these people to leave?
Like a touch of Celestia, or an angel's embrace, little Zik'tll rubbed her small head lovingly and comfortingly up and down Laura's side.
Laura smiled through her tears, and reached down and stroked the little dragon's head. "Thanks Zik'tll. I needed that. I guess now is as good as anytime to talk to the Queen. What do you think?" The dragon only looked at her with those big mercury eyes. "Will you be okay here, little one?"
She left, and found the Queen conversing with one of her servants. "My Queen!" Laura called out, interrupting them. "I must speak with you!"
Laura told her about her meeting with the solar, Saul. How the elves were sure to be destroyed should they stay. She begged the elven queen to move her people, but the queen would have nothing of it. They were born here, and they would die here.
"If my race is to be exterminated, at least we will bring the orcish race with us. Perhaps that was our purpose all along."
"My Queen, no!" she yelled exasperatedly. "Do you wish the destruction of your race on your soul? Do not make this choice yourself. Hold a vote. If the people say move, than you move. If not, you are to go to your doom as the solar said."
The queen thought a moment, and then agreed. A vote was held that very day. It was unanimous. They would stay and die.
Laura couldn't handle the stupidity. Such willingness to go down into history. She ran weeping from the congregation. Slamming the door behind her, she hid her face in the mattress of the bed. She cursed them, cursed them all. That's when a knock came at the door.
"Laura?" it was Timothy. The rangers had returned moments before. "May I come in?"
She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave him permission.
"We found the orcs' village. The elves are preparing for war as we speak. Shouldn't we ready ourselves?"
"We're not going with them. We're leaving. Heading west and we're doing it now. Pack your bags I'll explain on the way." she commanded as she hurriedly began packing her things. "And Timothy, hurry, we're leaving in fifteen minutes."
And so they left that place, to a land unknown- where destiny lives. Leaving the elves to their deaths at the hands of their enemies, may their gods have mercy on their souls.

There it is kids, chapter three! Next chapter is the extinction of the elves. Please review, I don't want to have to hunt you down.