Chapter 1: A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
"Hmm... wonder where everybody is." The young man slouched under a tree muttered to himself. "They're usually out of there by now... Sara's sermon must be unusually long-winded today." He muttered an irritated curse as a particuarly strong gust of wind flipped his hair over his head and into his face. He wore it to shoulder-length, so there was a lot of it. "Argh... maybe Sara was right about me cutting this stuff, though." He shoved the blue mane back into place. "Nah. She'd be disappointed if I actually listened to her instead of letting her talk about it more. Maybe in another month. Ah, here they come... about time." Across the street from his tree, people filed out of a small, marble-white dome building. An old man frowned at him disapprovingly as he passed.
"Skipping church again, Ryu?" The frown turned into a sly grin. "You're going to catch it from Sara when she comes out of there."
"I'm looking forward to it, actually." Ryu grinned back. "We haven't had a good fight since I skipped it last week. Something's had her mopey, and this should bring her out of it."
"Hey, Ryu! Sara's looking for you!" A young woman giggled. Ryu saluted mockingly.
"Message recieved, Tessa. I'll deliver my response personally. Wear earplugs. This might go on for a while."
"Ryu! Ryu! You weren't there today!" A little boy was jumping up and down. "Why not? Didn't you want to see the Dragon God?"
"Of course I do." Ryu laughed. "But I prefer the idea of private worship. I'm not very good at public speaking, and whenever I go Sara always seems to want me to help her out." One by one, the rest of the villagers walked by, at least half of them with some kind of comment. Ryu just kept smiling and responding flippantly, though inside he wondered why they weren't used to it by now. Or maybe they were and that was the problem.
Drogen was not a big town by any means. On the contrary, it was just barely above a village. There were only a couple shops in town, and no inns; there weren't nearly enough travelers to the tiny town on a remote peninsula with nothing to recommend it to make it even remotely worthwhile to open one here. That, of course, was the idea. Even the few passersby didn't notice that the inhabitants were anything but human, since most of them dyed their hair to keep people from noticing that their natural color was, to a man, deep blue. Only Ryu and Sara kept their tresses undyed. Ryu's musing on his home was broken when he noticed somebody standing directly in front of him. A young woman in pure white robes, with blue hair longer than his and a normally serene face that was now covered in a great deal of irritation.
"I see you decided that attending the service was unneccessary again, little brother." Sara observed. "Tell me, what kind of hastily fabricated excuse do you have for yourself this time?"
"Believe it or not, sister dear, I actually have a good one." Ryu bowed flaboyantly.
"Shocking." Sara murmured. "I think I may faint. What is it?"
"It's too crowded in there." Ryu pointed at the dome. "I mean, look. It's barely twenty feet wide. You can barely cram everybody else in there at once as is. I shudder to think what it's like in the big cities. And look, it's blazing hot. Not to insult our neighbors, but when you put those two factors together, the result is NOT pleasant. I think one of these days I'll track down whatever brain-sick architect it was that decided that THAT was an ideal size for temples and set him on fire or something."
"Those temples were designed by the Dragon God, stupid." Sara fought to hide the smile she felt coming to her face. Ryu, however, saw it anyways.
"Oh, really? Good. That makes things a lot simpler. What's that statue of him in there made of, and how flammable is it?"
"Har. Har. Har." Sara gave up and let the smile show, but her eyes remained serious. "Keep dodging service and talking like that, bro, and you're gonna have hard luck when you go on your pilgrimage."
"I told you already, I'm not going on the pilgrimage." Ryu's smile faded away. "I'm just not. It's as simple as that."
"And I've already told you, you don't have a choice in the matter." Sara snapped, then sighed. "Look, bro. For the rest of the people here, it's a choice, yeah. They're just ordinary Light Dragons. But you and me... we're descendants of HIM. The one you're named after. Why do you think you WERE named Ryu? We've got a duty. That's why we don't dye our hair like the others."
"Why YOU don't dye your hair." Ryu retorted. "I do it because it looks cool."
"Sara's right, grandson." The old man from earlier said as he walked up. "The pilgrimage isn't a matter of choice. It wasn't for any of us... for me, for your mother, for Sara... and it isn't for you. My brother Gaspar still serves as one of the High Priests, you know."
"Yeah, I know. I know all too well." Ryu snorted and gave them both a cold glare. "I know that this town has no need for more than one priest... or priestess, sister. I complete that pilgrimage, swear my life to the service of Ladon, and a million zenny says before the year is out I'm moved out to some city on the other side of the world to lead a bunch of fat merchants in prayer for the rest of my life. No, thank you. I've lived here in Drogen my whole life, and I am fine with living here for the rest of it."
"Seeing the outside world isn't too bad, grandson." An old woman said as she joined her husband. It was Esma, Ryu's grandmother. "If Theo had never left on his pilgrimage, he never would have met me, and I wouldn't be here with you all now."
"I'm still not doing it." Ryu persisted stubbornly. Before the others could continue the argument, they all heard frantic footsteps accompanied by heavy breathing. A few moments later, another young man entered the village, eyes wide with fright.
"The Dragons... the Dark Dragons!"
"Hey, hey! Take it easy, Luke!" Theo yelled. "Stop, catch your breath, and then tell us what you found out up north. What about the Dark Dragons?" Luke gulped in a few breaths before speaking again.
"The Dark Dragons... their army has taken Nanai!"
"WHAT!" Ryu screamed. "Nanai? But that's just north of here!" The old woman frowned.
"The Dark Dragon army... yes, this is ill news indeed..." Unlike the Light Dragons, the Dark Dragons had not attempted to hide themselves after the great war; indeed, they went in the opposite direction, building their home town of Scande up into one of the most prosperous cities in the world. Still, things had remained peaceful.. until their current leader, Emperor Zog, had taken the throne. Under his rule, the Dark Dragons had formed a mighty army, greater than any other in the world.
"That fool Zog... is he trying to conquer the planet?" Theo whispered. "What runs through his head...?" Sara laughed bitterly, without any trace of humor.
"I've met Zog. Sanity is not one of his strong points."
"What? You met Zog!" Ryu stared at his sister. "When was this!"
"At the end of my pilgrimage." Sara told him. "He had never seen a Light Dragon before, and was curious, so when he heard about me he went to the third Great Temple. It wasn't very pleasant." She turned to the scout. "The army. Who's in command? A Knight, a Captain, a General? It can't be their millitary leader, Admiral Cean, can it?"
"Worse..." Luke moaned. "It's one of the Tiamat Unit!" The others hissed sharply in surprise. "I can't be certain, but rumors were that it's the Gold Lord himself!"
"The Gold Lord... Zog's second-in-command..." Sara mused. "No, it can't be him. Zog's not exactly stable, but even he wouldn't send the Gold Lord personally just to occupy Nanai."
"What if Nanai's not the main goal?" Ryu wondered, suddenly scared. "What if they're going to come... here?" His family looked sharply at each other before laughing nervously.
"Oh, no... don't worry about that, Ryu!" Theo shook his head. "The Dark Dragons don't even know this place exists. There's no way they'd come here."
"Still..." Esma thought. "Better to be on the safe side. We should probably leave the town for a little while."
"Tomorrow." Sara declared firmly. "Give everybody one more night of peace. Luke, I trust I can count on you to keep quiet about this?" He nodded. "Good. Starting a panic won't help anything. I'll tell everybody tomorrow, and we'll take a week and hide out in those caves to the west. Until then, though, we should probably head home. The sun's setting."
That night, Ryu dreamed of the temple. He was walking down the streets of the town towards it, and for some reason, everything had a sooty red glow to it. Something deep inside screamed at him that this was horribly wrong, but he felt an odd detachment from it all. He didn't even blink when soldiers with sharp weapons dripping blood ran across the path; he just waited for them to pass and continued on. The normally pristine white temple was affected by the red light like everything else, almost a blood red. Above it, a humongous figure crouched, bigger than the entire town. Scales shifted and breath hissed, but he ignored it and walked into the temple. Inside, he walked down the tiled path and stopped in front of the statue at its center. About eight feet tall, the statue was carved out of a dark, almost black-green stone and represented a dragon reared up on its hind legs. Ryu kneeled in front of it and closed his eyes, bowing his head in prayer. A cold hand placed itself on his shoulder, and he looked up to see that the statue had come to life. That place in the back of his mind was shrieking warnings even more, but Ryu remained calm as its eyes glowed with blue lights.
"It is time, warrior. You must go into the world once more. The time has come for you to emerge again, Ryu."
"Uh... warrior?" Ryu's mind, half-asleep as it was, struggled with that concept. "I'm not... a warrior..."
"Indeed you are. You have been a warrior since birth." The statue smiled briefly. "You were named Ryu for a reason. Go forth, Ryu. Return yourself to the world and push back the darkness!" Throughout the conversation, the red glow had grown more and more pronounced. The statue looked around as if noticing it for the first time. "Enough of this! There is no more time!"
"Huh?" Ryu muttered. The statue grabbed his other shoulder and stared straight into his eyes.
"Wake up, warrior! Disaster has struck! Your people need you... the world needs you! It needs the power of the Light Dragons once more!" The red glow was suffusing everything, and now it was getting hot... hotter... Ryu stared as the statue was covered in fire. "Wake up, warrior! Wake up!"
"Ryu, wake up! Hurry! Wake up, Ryu! You'll die if you don't wake up!" Esma was shaking him frantically. He jerked upright in bed.
"Huh? What is it?" He looked around, horrified, to see flames everywhere. That part wasn't just a dream.
"The entire village is on fire! Everything is burning! We need to get out of here, now!" Esma shouted. Ryu's room was in the basement, and nearly everything was wood. Ryu jumped out and grabbed a robe, shoving it on even as he and his grandmother ran. As they passed Sara's room, Ryu stole a quick glance inside and noted with relief that she wasn't inside. A loud cracking noise up ahead drew his eyes front and center just in time to see a flaming beam from the ceiling fall down, seperating him from Esma.
"Aw, hell."
"I'll take care of this fire!" She held her hands out and concentrated, muttering a few words. A moment later, ice burst from her palms and covered the beam, putting out the fires. Ryu moved forward to catch her as she slumped forward.
"You okay?"
"Just give me a moment..." She straightened up. "Whew... I didn't think I had gotten this bad... fifty years ago, I was one of the best magicians in the world. And look at me now, barely able to douse a small fire..."
"We can't talk about this now, grandma. We need to get out of here now!" The two of them ran upstairs to the ground floor. Everything was stone here, and the fire hadn't reached the roof yet. Almost all the villagers were gathered around, and Theo was trying to calm them.
"Whew... up here, we should be safe from the flames for a little, at least." Esma sat down heavily in a chair. Ryu nodded and walked over to his grandfather.
"What happened, grandpa? Why is everything burning? This can't be just because of some accident with a torch or anything..."
"We don't know what caused the fire." Theo shook his head. "The good news is, everybody's safe... well, almost everybody... Luke hasn't shown up yet..."
"The fire's so intense... it can't be natural." One villager spoke up. "We need to get out of here before it gets worse. Esma's magic can hold it off long enough for us to escape, right?" Ryu and Theo both turned to stare at him.
"Look at her, buddy! Just putting out one beam almost made her faint. Hell no, she can't hold it off! She's in her eighties!"
"O... kay." The villager sighed. "We woke up surrounded by flames... what did we do to deserve this? No telling how long this building will be safe..."
"What about Sara, then?" His wife suggested. "Her magic can protect us, right? She's a priestess of the Dragon God..." Ryu suddenly realized that Sara wasn't among the crowd.
"Wait... where is Sara?"
"Out looking for Luke. She'll be fine, Ryu." Theo assured him. As if on cue, the door slammed open, and Sara and Luke stormed in. The young man's face was filled with raw fear and terror, but Sara's features were locked in an icy fury.
"Sara, what is it? What's happening?" Ryu asked her. She stopped for a moment to get control of herself before responding.
"This fire... it's the Dark Dragons! They did it!" Everybody in the room went white. "Their army is surrounding the town!" Theo swore loudly and smashed his fist against a wall.
"They knew we were Light Dragons... they came here intentionally to wipe us out!" Luke stepped forward.
"I heard some of the soldiers talking... if they were right, Emperor Zog is going to try and conquer the world! We're just one of his targets!" Theo swore again.
"Zog is an insane fool!"
"Why are they coming after us?" Ryu demanded. "We haven't done anything to the Dark Dragons in thousands of years!"
"Zog fears us, that's why." Esma walked over to her husband, eyes glittering. "He doesn't know that Sara's the only one of us still able to use the power of the Dragon God, and he's not one to take chances! The Light Dragons fought the Dark Dragons once, and he's trying to make sure we don't do it again!" Theo stalked over to an old cabinet and pulled out an ancient sword, jaw clenching and unclenching rhythmically.
"I won't sit by while Zog's armies march in here and destroy our home! I say we act now and fight back! They've got us surrounded, so we can't escape, and that means there's only one thing to do! We may not have the Dragon power, but we can still fight!" Esma slowly nodded.
"I'll... use my more powerful magics against them, even if it costs me my life! Let's go!" The other villagers began to murmur in agreement. As they turned towards the door, one person stood in their way.
"Wait!" Sara held up her hand. "We can't do this. They're trained soldiers... we're just villagers! We'd be slaughtered!" Luke stepped forward.
"We can't just give up, Sara! And we've got no choice anyways! Let's show them the power of the Light Dragons!" Sara bowed her head.
"No... there is one other option. I must do this alone... I'm the only one who can do anything... I'm sorry..." Light burst from her palm and knocked Luke back, freezing his expression of shock on his face even as he turned stiff and grey. Theo examined the statue with horror.
"Sara... granddaughter, what have you done?"
"I have turned him to stone... these fires are not hot enough to burn it." She looked at them all gravely. "Remember... me and Ryu are not the only ones with responsibilities. We are all Light Dragons. Some of us must survive."
"But stone or not, they'll still find us!" Theo ground his teeth with frustration.
"That... is what I shall take care of. Forgive me..." She raised her hands again, and one by one, all the villagers became statues as well. Ryu and Theo were the last to be affected.
"No... why does it have to be you...?" The old man croaked.
"Because... I'm the only one who can. You have all suffered enough... I'll get rid of the army. Goodbye, grandpa... grandma..." She walked over to Ryu. "Little brother... be strong. Now, you truly have no choice..." She tucked a slip of paper into the statue's hand, then kissed him on the cheek. "When you're a warrior... you will bring peace to this world." Sighing, Sara walked towards the door, then turned towards the villagers once more. "May the Dragon God bless you all..." She left the house. Outside, every single building had at least some fire on it. Sara gritted her teeth and walked forward. It was only a few moments before a pair of soldiers noticed her.
"Hey, a girl!" They ran up. One of them leered.
"A pretty one, too... maybe we should take her back to Scande with us..."
"Wait, look at her." The other one frowned. "Blue hair... she's a Light Dragon! Lord Jade was right... and she's wearing white robes... she's a priestess!" The first one recoiled in fright.
"What do we do?"
"Take her to Lord Jade..." The second one said after a moment. "He'll know what do with her." Sara nodded.
"Very well. I won't cause any trouble... to you, at least. Shall we go?" The first soldier started to raise his fist, but thought better of it and called two more soldiers over to help.
"We'll finish searching the area later. Have everybody gather south of the town now!" Sara kept quiet as the soldiers marched her through the south exit of the town into the center of the armies. They stopped in front of the leader. "Sir! We've captured a Light Dragon priestess!"
"Hmm... very good." The man murmured. He looked Sara over, then blinked, as if recognizing somebody he had seen before. "Aha... so, now it comes... release her, then step back, all of you." The soldiers hastily complied, and he bowed stiffly with a mocking smirk. He had long, blond hair and he wore a pure white cape over fancy armor. "Excuse me, your holiness. Soldiers are rough by nature. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jade, the Gold Lord." The man introduced himself, fingering a stone of his namesake on an amulet he wore. "I'm the leader of the Tiamat Unit of the Dark Dragon Empire, and the second-in-command of Emperor Zog." His features were nice, even handsome, but lined with cruelty, and his eyes were empty of all emotion. "And you?"
"Priestess Sara of Drogen." She replied shortly. "Enough with the pleasantries. Obviously, you're a Dark Dragon yourself. Why have you set fire to our village? What have you to gain by this?"
"Ah! You have a point!" Jade nodded. "Really, I sympathize. Attacking small hamlets isn't my style at all. And you Light Dragons have gotten so weak over the centuries that I doubt you're any threat to us. But... my orders were to destroy the hometown of the Light Dragons. And when Emperor Zog gives orders, only the insane disobey. Soldiers, have her holiness escorted to the palace at Nanai." The soldiers nodded and surrounded Sara again.
"I'm sorry, your holiness... please don't blame me. I'm just following orders." Sara narrowed her eyes.
"Don't worry... killing ordinary grunts isn't MY style at all. However..." She raised her hand, and thunderbolts streaked out of the smoggy sky to strike at the feets of the soldiers. Screaming and cursing, they jumped away, Sara methodically blasting them all back until only she and Jade remained. "You. Our town has been destroyed, and YOU led the strike!" She struck with the thunder again, this time aiming for the head, but Jade disappeared from her view so fast it looked as if he had teleported to the side. The Gold Lord whistled at the size of the crater where he had been standing, and his eyes showed a faint flicker of interest.
"Wow... not bad, your holiness! Not bad at all... you're quite strong. Much moreso than an ordinary priestess... you need to work a little on your speed, though..."
"How about this, then? Come on!" Snarling, Sara attempted to strike him down again, but again Jade dodged, moving behind her.
"I don't think so. Getting better, but still not enough!" He shook his head. "This is all futile, unfortunately. No matter how good you are, I can't let you interfere with Emperor Zog's plans. It's nothing personal... you know how these things go." Sara spun on him.
"Same to you, pal! Nothing personal, but I'm going to stop Zog's plans here and now!" She called down the lightning again, this time striking a glancing blow to the armor on Jade's shoulder. "Whatever he's up to, your involvement in it ends here!" Jade laughed darkly.
"I don't think so, your holiness. Our plans go beyond your current comprehension. For you see, our plans... are the Goddess Keys." Sara froze, staring at him.
"What! The Goddess Keys! You're as insane as Zog is!" Jade calmly walked towards her.
"That may be so. I wouldn't know. But it's beside the point. We already have one of the Keys, and will be acquiring another momentarily. And we know where the other five can be found." He shook his head again. "You're a pretty good scrapper, your holiness. Best fighter I've seen outside of the Dark Dragons in a long time. But you're no match for me, I'm afraid. Not yet..." Sara blinked, suddenly realizing his proximity.
"Ah! Don't come any closer!" She backed away and flung more lightning, but Jade easily stepped aside and advanced on her. "What do you plan to do with the Goddess Myria, anyway? Are you so foolish as to release her upon the world again?" Suddenly, without warning, she struck multiple times at the spot where Jade had been.
"Futile... like I said before." The voice came from behind her, and she whirled around to see Jade, without a scratch. "It's all over, your holiness." He raised a gauntleted arm and flung a cloud of noxious smoke her way, but Sara jumped back. As she expected, he followed her, and as he was moving, she raised her own arm.
"Take this, slime!" The priestess crowed triumphantly as she released a blistering stream of fire straight into the Gold Lord. "Burn, like our home!" The flames hit Jade and exploded, covering the area around him in fire. Sara frowned. With his speed... "You didn't even try to dodge?"
"Of course, your holiness." Jade responded calmly as he walked out of the fire unharmed. "I wanted to make it as clear as possible how much of a difference there truly is between your power and mine right now. Tell me... have I done so? But I must confess, I thought you had more than THAT... come on, is that really all you've got? I thought you'd be tougher than this..." Sara just stared at him, fear etched on her face. Jade threw back his head and laughed.
"I suppose so... I have no choice, then." Sara's eyes shone, and Jade stopped laughing, eyes burning with interest anew.
"Oho! So, you're going to show me what the pilgrimage does for Light Dragons... well, then, your holiness, bring it on!"
Back in the center of the town, the fires still did not touch the large stone house at its center. The statues inside remained safe and silent. They did not hear nor see the dreadful struggle between the Priestess of Drogen and the Gold Lord. Some time later, the soldiers moved towards the building.
"Lord Jade, shall we search here?" Jade shook his head.
"No... there's no need. We've completed our mission... we've got what we came here for. And maybe even more besides... I think the rest of the Tiamat Unit will be very interested in this. Let's move out, soldiers!"
"Sir!" Saluting, the soldiers formed up in lines and walked away. But the flames of Drogen continued to burn long after they had gone.
It was a long time before the fires went out of their own accord. Not until the next day had begun did the town of Drogen become cold and dark once more. The instant the last ember died, the people of Drogen had been returned to life. Now, they clustered around Theo and Esma. The Dark Dragon army had left, leaving none behind... and there was no trace of Sara either. She was gone.
"Sara saved us..." Luke muttered, speaking for all of them. "We have to fight back! For her sake, if for nothing else!"
"No, you don't." Esma shook her head bitterly. "None of you have gone on the pilgrimage. You all renounced the power of the Light Dragons. You have no more power than ordinary humans, and no fight with the Dark Dragons... any of you!"
"No... we are still the same people, the same clan!" The villagers continued to rally. "We must fight for Sara! And for the pride of the Light Drag-"
"ENOUGH!" Esma slammed her foot down, and the whole building began to shake, floor cracking and ceiling falling down. "You are not warriors! You are farmers, villagers! And you must think of survival! This entire town is in ruins; soon, it will be nothing but rubble! Go now! Salvage what you can, and escape this place!" Still they hesitated.
"GO!" Theo boomed, and as one, the Light Dragons turned and ran. All save one. Ryu had not moved since he had learned that Sara was nowhere to be found. He crouched in a corner, face completely blank, rolling a piece of paper back and forth in his palm. Esma turned to look at him, about to speak sharply, but stopped herself and turned back to her husband.
"Blast it... there is no Light Dragon clan anymore. Not really. All that's left is powerless villagers... there will never be another hero from our clan. We should leave as well..."
"I don't think so." Theo shook his head. "I think there is one here who would dispute that theory of yours... right, Ryu?" His grandson remained motionless for a moment more, then slowly stood up.
"I am leaving now." He looked at both of them. "I'm going on the pilgrimage. I'm going to master the power of the Light Dragons." Theo nodded.
"I know I should try to stop you, Ryu... but I can't. I'd go with you if I wasn't too old..." Esma started to say something, but stopped again and shook her head.
"Ryu, just let me ask you... why?"
"Sara wanted it." Ryu responded without any emotion. "She left this in my hand... it's directions to the first Dragon Shrine. She had planned to give it to me on my next birthday, but when this happened..." He rubbed his eyes. "I have to go. She was right all along. I'm going to use the power of the Dragon God... I'll find her. There was no body... she's not dead. The Dark Dragons still have her. Wherever Sara is, I'll get her back from those stinking savages..." The young man's eyes blazed. "And then I'll kill Emperor Zog!" Theo blinked.
"Zog? You think you can kill him, Ryu? It's not possible!"
"In my present state, no." Ryu agreed. "But once I've unlocked the Light Dragon's power... I will. Don't try to stop me, either of you... I've made up my mind on this. I'm going, and I'm doing it now."
"We won't..." Esma promised. "Maybe I was wrong... maybe the Light Dragon bloodline hasn't gotten as weak as I had thought. You might just have a chance. Here..." Digging into her pocket, she pulled out a pouch and gave it to her grandson. "It's not much... only three hundred Zenny. But it's all we've got... take it. Go to the city of Camlon in the north... you can buy equipment and supplies for the trip."
"Speaking of that..." A voice came from the door. The three of them turned to see all the villagers coming back in. Luke cleared his throat. "Ryu... I'm sorry. Theo and Esma are right... none of us would be able to help you if we came along."
"We heard where you're going, Ryu." A lady who had formerly run a store continued talking after him. "But we have to help you somehow... so we all chipped in. Like Esma said, we don't have much, but this is all we can do... we just hope it helps you." She laid down a package, apparently a mass contribution from all the villagers, and opened it. A small, thin sabre, an old, weathered red cape, a wooden shield, a few medicinal herbs, an antidote for poison and some meager food supplies. Ryu looked it over, then gave them all a thankful grin.
"This is great, all of you... thanks... are you sure you can stand to lose all this?"
"Promise us something in return, Ryu." Her husband, the former weapons dealer for the small town, growled. "Bring back Sara to this town... and that madman Zog's head on a spear too!"
"I will." Ryu picked up his new sword and saluted them. "I swear it by the Dragon God himself." He turned back to his grandparents. "Camlon north of here... right. I'd have to go that way anyways to get off this peninsula... but after that, I don't know. These instructions don't mean anything to me at all... look." He showed them the note Sara had left in his hand.
South of the silent guardian,
Across a snake of blue,
The first Dragon Shrine
Will be waiting there for you.
"Yup... that's correct, all right." Theo grunted. "Same instructions I followed when I was your age."
"But what do they mean? I need to know, grandfather!" Ryu protested. The old man just shook his head.
"I'm afraid I don't rightly remember, my boy... it's been too long, and besides, part of the pilgrimage is solving that yourself. The Dragon God was the one who wrote the instructions, and every dragon who goes that way has to figure them out themselves. All I can tell you is that it's in the east... head north to Camlon, then east."
"Right... I'll do that, then." Ryu sighed. "Once I reach the first Dragon Shrine, will they have directions to the next one?" Theo nodded. "Okay. I'd best be off, then... the sun's rising, and I want to get in a full day of walking to start."
"Goodbye, Ryu..." Esma whispered, tears in her eyes. Theo nodded as well, unable to speak. Ryu just smiled sadly.
"Goodbye." Hugging each of his grandparents, he then shook the hands of all the villagers before leaving the house and then the village. The sun was rising behind him as he left by the west gate, and its first rays caught on the old red cape he now wore. "Sara... Zog. Wherever you are... I'll find both of you."
