A/N: Like I think I've said before, but just to be sure. I'm writing this as if it were to be a sequel to Radiata Stories. Some things might not make a whole lot of sense, but it's just the direction I'm taking it in. This chapter especially I'm trying to get creative with it although I'll be the first to admit I'm not very good at this, but I'm having fun with writing this so far. Also I'm sorry for the weird names. Trying to think of original names for characters was a lot harder than I thought.
Chapter 4: An Old Story
"The beginning…meaning the beginning of time?" Larks asked curiously
"You could say that I guess, but please Lord Larks, allow me to tell you the whole story before you start asking questions. That goes for you too Jack, not a word." She looked at Jack sternly, and he looked offended, but he could tell she was dead serious so he just nodded.
"Understood, please continue your story." Larks asked politely. As she was about to speak again, a knock came at the door. "I'm in an important meeting at the moment. Please do not disturb us until further notice."
"I have direct orders from the King himself sir! He says he wants the meeting with Jack Russell and Ridley Silverlake to be held in the conference room with himself and the guild leaders of Radiata! Everyone is currently there waiting for your arrival!" The knight saying this stood by waiting for an answer. Larks stood up and went to the door.
"Tell them we will be there shortly, no need for an escort." The knight saluted Larks and then made his leave. "Well I should have seen this coming. When we get there, please allow me to tell them the first part of your story. That way you don't have to repeat yourselves and can get on with the details of the book right after." They nodded to him as they walked out the door and Larks closing it behind him.
The conference room was only a short ways from where they were so it did not take them long to arrive. As they entered Jack caught sight of his old guild leader, Elwen. He quickly looked the other way, still feeling guilty over leaving without saying anything to the guild. Among those there was the king, sitting at one of the far ends of the table, Head Priest of the Olacion Order the Priest Guild Cain, representative of the Void Community the Thieves Guild Ortoroz, and Senior Professor of the Vareth Magic Institute Curtis. Larks took his seat next to the king, and Jack and Ridley went to the other end of the table.
"Sorry for interrupting your meeting with these two Lord Larks, but after you sent word that Lady Ridley was able to read the book, and that it could have great significance, I insisted we all hear what it had to say first hand." King Jiorus said this with much dignity and respect as he looked at Larks and then at the rest of the guild leaders. "I would also like to thank all of the representatives of the four guilds we have in Radiata for meeting at such a short notice." They all nodded in respect for him.
Larks decided to speak at this point, "I have heard the journey these two have been through, and can tell you the short version of it so that we can hurry to the book if you don't mind," Jiorus thought for a second and then gave his answer.
"Actually, I think we should skip that for now and go straight into the details of the book. I would like a detailed report of their story later." Larks agreed to this. It worked better for him anyways. "Now then" Jiorus continued, "Lady Ridley, please tell us of your findings in the book." All eyes shifted to Ridley. There was a feeling of uneasiness in the room, but Ridley looked unstirred and confident.
"As I started to tell Lord Larks, this book tells of a story even older than that of the Gold and Silver dragons. It tells of five celestial beings that came upon an uninhabited world. It doesn't say where these beings came from, only that they have amazing powers and strength beyond mortal capabilities. What it does give is names though."
Ridley opens the book and sets it on the table as she continues. "The first being was known as 'Torgaies, crafter of the mountains and valleys' as the name suggest, Torgaies is credited with molding the very ground of the world and giving it the shape. It says Torgaies had a mighty hammer, and if he swung his hammer in one area, the impacted area would create a giant valley, while the other side of the world would spring up giant mountains."
"The second being was known as 'Lynseiraus, creator of the seas' this being is credited with bringing water to the world that was void of any. Lynseiraus had a staff of exquisite design which it would channel its powers through."
"The third being was known as 'Aeronomuse, bringer of the great winds' this being is credited with bringing wind to the world. From gentle breezes to mighty hurricanes, there was no force that its great fan couldn't create."
"The fourth being was known as 'Pyrasheer, energy eternal' this being is credited with giving the world energy at its core. Breathing energy into a world that was absent of power. The spear it carried controlled all flames and was as hot as the sun."
"The fifth being and the strongest of them all, 'Mihaiory, the life giver and supreme judge' this being is credited with giving all the other beings the powers they hold. If any issues arose among the other beings, with its great sword, Mihaiory would be the judge of the affairs and decide what the best choices of actions were."
"After the other celestial beings were finished, Mihaiory decided to bring new life into the world, and created the creatures known as humans. The being gave them the knowledge to create buildings, grow crops, and swordsmanship. Mihaiory also created life for the oceans, land and sea and gave the humans authority over them all. The other celestial beings came to Mihaiory asking for the gift of creating life as well and it was given to them. Torgaies created the dwarves and gave them the love of crafting and drinking. Lynseiraus created the Orcs who originally loved the water, but a dispute that happened between Lynseiraus and Pyrasheer, caused their area to dry up. The Orcs refusal to leave the area caused them to adapt to the area. Pyrasheer created the goblins that were always a little dim, because Pyrasheer believed the less you knew that happier you were. Aeronomuse created the light elves, giving those long lives and the means to even extend their lives. It was thought Aeronomuse did this because Mihaiory created the humans with having very short lives, and thought doing so could make his creatures superior to the humans. This thought was made into the light elves minds and eventually resentment started to arise between the two different races."
"The world was peaceful for many centuries, but behind the scenes, the growing hostility between the humans and the light elves grew. War between them was inevitable. Mihaiory was busy trying to find the best solution and brought the other beings together. The last thing Mihaiory wanted to do was to wipe out his and the others creations, but it seemed that the best thing to do was restart. Then a new thought came to mind. Mihaiory created four small stones and put them before each of the other beings. From the others he extracted a part of their life force and put them inside each stone. With that he created the four dragons to protect and guard each of the beings respected creation, with the primary goal to keep the balance between the races safe. Mihaiory then created the Gold and Silver dragons that were to watch over the human affairs as well as protect them. Bringing the dragons down to the world from the dimension that the beings reside, Mihaiory told all the creatures that they were to be the guardians, and if any of them were to act out in aggression, the dragons would be the ones to solve it by any means necessary. Mihaiory then gave the four stones that he created the other dragons from and gave them to the Silver and Gold dragons, telling them that if for whatever reason the other dragons started to rebel then they could be sealed back into the stones. Mihaiory also warned them that they themselves were not made from stones, and if they were to be slain, they would not be sealed, but have their energy sent back into itself."
"Every race was okay with this new form of being guarded by except the humans. They wanted all the power, and that meant going after the one who gave them life. Four warriors from the humans were able to steal the four stones that were kept in the temples of the Gold and Silver dragons and then they set off to seal the other dragons. Even with the stones, the dragons were not easy to seal away. They had to be decently damaged first before they could be sealed. The four warriors were highly skilled though and all in one night the dragons were each taken down."
"With the dragons sealed away in the stones, they knew they had to go after the other celestial beings first if they wanted a chance at taking down Mihaiory. Each warrior equipped the stone filled with the souls of the dragons onto their weapons and struck the ground. The stones glowed at each of their locations until a passage way into another dimension opened. They each came face to face with four of the celestial beings. Having equipped the stone onto their weapons, not only were they able to reach the dimension of the celestial beings, but it gave them a power boost to match the power of that of the celestial beings. After a long battle that seemed to last for days, each of the four warriors were able to subdue the celestial beings, but just barely. Striking the celestial beings into their core, the warriors were able to absorb most of the powers from them into the stones. Weak, but unable to die, the warriors left the beings where they were with the next target being Mihaiory. In order to gain access to the dimension that Mihaiory was in, they had to return back to their home for that is the only place he could be reached at."
"Noticing that the stones were missing, the other dragons sealed, and that the humans who stole the stones were returning after absorbing most of the other celestial beings, the Gold and Silver dragon reported to Mihaiory. Mihaiory had already sensed the others powers being sealed away, and didn't even know it was possible to do so with the stones created. Mihaiory ordered the Gold and Silver dragon to take out the warriors before they had a chance to open the dimension in the humans town, and then to return the stones to it to restore the powers to the others. However it was too late. The four warriors had already made it back to the town with remarkable speed and were now standing in the dimension of Mihaiory. The twin dragons were quickly removed from the situation, not being a match for the warriors. It was Mihaiory up against four of his own creations. Even with the new powers gained, the four realized after awhile that they were no match for Mihaiory. The powerful sword as well as the technique used by the ultimate celestial being far outclassed anything they could do. For such heinous acts of rebellion, Mihaiory took little time to judge these beaten warriors, extracting their weaken souls from their body and erasing them completely. The bodies slowly withered away."
"Having stopped this rebellion, Mihaiory sent the powers of the others back into their bodies and had the Gold and Silver dragons slaughter the remaining humans. Their souls would not be destroyed, but the humans as a whole must be restarted. The other celestial beings came to Mihaiory angry that they were given such a weak point with the stones, and demanded they have more power. Feeling responsible for everything that had happened, Mihaiory called forth the Gold and Silver dragons. Mihaiory split the power up within itself to those of the other beings and into the dragons. Each being had much more power now than before and having been satisfied, went back to their respected dimensions. The dragons got a smaller power increase, but then were given the responsibility of being the new judges. Mihaiory, in giving away so much of its power, was in need of a great rest. Mihaiory told the Gold and Silver dragons that they must not be slain at the same time, because then the other celestial beings will stop the human race from ever returning. The now tired celestial being made it so that only one of them could exist at the same time in order to help prevent that. If the humans were to act up again, then it was their job to restore balance by making the human race start over. Then it put the Silver dragon's soul to rest and lay dormant until the time came to restore balance by awakening through a human. The Gold dragon was put in charge first to watch the humans. Their roles would switch every time balance needed to be restored. Mihaiory named this the balance of Tottaus."
"When Mihaiory finally went to sleep, the four other dragons awoke, being released from the stones. This was to happen whenever the balance was restored. The Gold dragon told them of everything that had transpired and let them know their roles. They were to be the guardians of this new order of Tottaus. Whenever the humans try to take over the other races, the dragons would be the ones to step in. If that alone does not stop the humans and they get sealed away again by the stones, then that would meant the balance of Tottaus was becoming unbalanced and the humans must be destroyed and forced to rebuild. If somehow, both Gold and Silver dragons are slain before the balance is restored; the other celestial beings will take over and destroy the humans permanently. This is not the will of Mihaiory who hopes that one day there will be no need for this type of balancing system, and everyone could live in peace. The only way to restore balance at that point would be to seal the powers given to the other celestial beings again using the power of the stones and to bring them back to Mihaiory to awaken its sleep."
The whole room was grave silent, from the start of Ridley's narration of the book, till the very end. Nobody knew what to say or even how to respond at this point. Jack was the first to speak.
"Well, let's say that everything you just said was true…as long as the Gold dragon is still inside you then we have nothing to worry about right?" He said this nervously and with hesitation. Ridley was looking down at her hands after she finished speaking, unable to speak as if she was hearing the story for the first time herself and couldn't speak out of shock.
"Yes, it still lives inside of me for now…" Ridley said as her voice trailed off.
"What do you mean for now?" Larks spoke out. Ridley looked up at him, and then put a hand on her heart.
"I mean…I can feel the Gold dragon inside of me getting weaker and weaker. Eventually it will fall asleep which is the same thing as dying for the dragons. If this prophecy is true and the Gold dragon dies…we are going to wish the Gold dragon had returned and wiped us out with the chance of our race still being able to rebuild. Now we are on the brink of mass extinction and in order to beat it we would have to defeat celestial beings with god like powers."
"Not only that" pitched in Jiorus, "the story said that with the power boost of the stones, the warriors were barely able to defeat the celestial beings. We don't know where these mystical stones are, and even if we did, now that they have the power boost from Mihaiory, we probably couldn't find the warriors needed to defeat them." At that moment, Larks pulled out a blue glowing orb from his pocket and showed everyone. Jack saw it and recognized it instantly.
"Hey! That is my dad's! After he died, the only thing my sister got was some money, his sword, and that orb. Give it back!" Jack shot out of his chair as he said these things, looking angrily at Larks for taking his things.
"Believe me Jack, that's something I plan on doing." Larks responded, "I remember after a certain mission, Sir Cairn had comeback with this orb in his possessions. When asked why he picked up such a random item he merely responded with an 'I don't know, it just seemed special to me.' If I remember clearly, the stone had no color to it, and Sir Cairn had modified his swords hilt in order to place the stone in it. After he defeated the water dragon, the stone on his hilt had turned into this glowing blue color we are seeing right now."
"Are you saying that this is one of the legendary stones told in the story?!" Jiorus asked excitedly and in unbelief. "If that's true then how come Sir Cairn was able to be killed if he had such power in his hands?"
"Because, the day he was killed, he didn't have the sword on him. He was just going for a walk. Plus after his fight with the water dragon, Sir Cairn removed the orb from his sword. He said that he didn't like that it glowed." Larks adjusted the glasses on his face. "Even so, we aren't sure this is even the orb. Could just be a coincidence." Jack was tired of them talking.
"I don't care if that is the stone or not! I said give it back already!" Jack's teeth were clenched, one hand in a fist on the table and the other fist in the air shaking.
"Jack, stop shouting! This is much bigger than just your personal feelings right now! You are being selfish!" Ridley remained seated, but was looking up at him saying this trying to calm him down.
"No, it's okay Lady Ridley" Larks said calmly as he tossed the orb towards Jack who snatched it out of the air. "If we are to get through this, I feel like he is going to be one of the ones needed. Before you ask, your other belongings, including your father's sword, are back in my chambers. You may get them when the meetings over. Is that okay my Lord?" He looks at Jiorus as he says this who nods his head.
"Yes, that will be fine. I also believe that Jack will be one of those needed if we are to protect ourselves from extinction. Now the only things left to be done are find the other three warriors and the remaining orbs. Since the other dragons have already been slain, the warrior who killed them must have the orbs."
"Sir Cross was the one who slain the other dragons. If he was killed by the Silver dragon like Jack and Ridley say, then I doubt that he had the orbs on him. Also it seems that the orbs must be physical equipped for the power to be used that way according to the story. Just having them on person might be enough to seal the dragons away, but it was noted that the warriors had to equip the stones on the weapon before they were able to fight on equal level with the celestial beings. If we check Sir Cross's room, we should find the remaining orbs."
"Sir Jack and Lady Ridley, although it seems we have decided for you, it is still your choice on whether you are prepared to fight these so called 'celestial beings' or not. What will you do?" Jiorus looked at both Jack and Ridley while asking this. Jack looked over at Ridley who looked up to him with her big emerald eyes that seemed gentle now.
"If it means protecting the ones I love" Jack started to say, "Then I'll do whatever it takes." Ridley simply nodded in agreement. Elwen, who remained quiet during everything just as all the other guild members had, smiled beneath her helmet when Jack said that. It reminded her of something the love of her life once said.
"Thank you" Jiorus said humbly, "The entire human race will be in your debt. I ask you to look towards the other guilds and knights of Radiata in choosing the remaining two people for this dangerous mission. I again want to thank all the guild representatives in coming on short notice and to help Sir Jack and Lady Ridley in finding the right warriors for the job at hand. Lord Larks, please find the remaining orbs as soon as you can. Today's meeting is adjourned."
Everyone gets up and does a slight bow to the king as he leaves first and then everyone else starts to leave. Jack is about to call out to his former Chief before being interrupted by Larks.
"Please, come back to my chambers to get the rest of your things." He leaves, and then when Jack looks to find Elwen again, she is gone.
"What's the matter Jack?" Ridley asks seeing the concerned look on his face.
"Nothing, I was just hoping to apologize to my old Chief for leaving without saying anything."
"Oh I see, well we can go down to Theater Vancoor later after we get our things and see if Cross had the orbs in his room." She looks at him with a gentle smile which comforted Jack and sort of confused him at the same time. She had been very serious during the whole time being captured, which was understandable, but now that she was being nice again, he didn't know how to react. He gave her an uneasy smile as they walked out of the conference room. So much has been going on ever since Jack joined the knights, and to hear that something even more dangerous than the Silver dragon is coming, he felt a little intimidated about everything. Could he really do it? Would he be able to protect the ones he loved? Would simply wanting to protect them make him strong enough? All these thoughts raced in Jack's mind as he and Ridley walk down the hall in what could be one of the last few peaceful moments they have with each other.