Prologue X

There, in the midst of the foggy woods of Parva stood the Dragon Knight's tent, bearing the distinctive coat of arms of the lost land of Uthorian. They could see that their searching had finally paid off, after days, if not weeks, of mindless inquiring. They made a pace to the temporary home of Davion, eager to fulfill their given orders.

Dawn broke out once more upon this land. It was something of a cycle, but a normal one as there are worse such situations that are better left not repeated. As if on cue, the woodland creatures and birds in particular gave out their calls, the cries resounding in the cool, fresh air throughout the mist-veiled forest. All is still the same, as usual.

Davion stirred within his slumber, unable to block out the intrusive commotions reaching his ears. Groggy and uncomfortable as he was from the alcohol, he instead chose to rise from his rest rather than tarry any longer. He steeled himself for what there may be to come, as he is uncertain as to what may happen next, be it conniving brigands, foul beasts, or perhaps fate. He wore his armor and shield, both of which are infallible to flame or acid. All that was missing was the sword...

Then, some scurrying was heard. It wasn't the type one would hear from small creatures, it seemed… More threatening than that. It was much more structured, with the pacing in a steady rhythm, like that of a soldier's or maybe... A brainless, controlled creature.

"Hello?" A high, almost squeaky tone said, "Is anyone inside? We need to talk."

Davion remembered his blade was by the entrance of the tent, left in a fit of laziness and misconduct in part of the alcohol's effects. After quickly chastising himself for doing something so foolish, he stepped foot outside, immediately grabbing the blade and anticipating any aggression.

"Who calls-" Davion began to say to the unwelcome vistitors, whom he noticed were green and leafy bipedal creatures of short stature with swords.

"The Dragon Knight!" The one nearest to the knight said, "It's him!"

"What-" Davion said.

"Come here, we won't harm you." The other said.

"Why would I? Your friend, here, might just get me."

"Trust us."

Reluctantly, the knight made his way to it, keeping his guard up the entire time. Once he did, however, the short one bowed at him. That certainly disarmed him in a non-violent way, as he lowered his stance.

"See? It wasn't too hard, was it?"

"...What is it you want?"

"Ah, right." It said. "We need your help."

"What's the matter?"

"Please, just go north of here with us. Just follow the path, beyond the bridge."

"This is likely an ambush, I say."

"Hey, you came over to me. Why not trust us?"

He had a point. Davion would be dead where he stood, if they had meant harm. Grunting, the man tagged along with the two beings. His mule still slept within his own smaller tent just across Davion's. Assured that all was well, they rushed onwards to the smoke further ahead. They found themselves by the bridge and beside it, another green creature.

"Dragon Knight! A powerful fiend is ravaging our outposts! We beg of you, please kill him! Our leader is held up further within the base, he told us to send you on your way should we find you!"

"Very well. Come on, then!" The knight ambled to the distress past the bridge, the boards underneath him creaking from the weight, with his new comrades not far behind.

They saw another monster not too far away, he was red and short, like his companions. He remembered his first encounter with a few, back in the village by Slyrak's den. Without a doubt in his mind, the knight charged true to his target, guiding his blade to pierce his mark's heart. The blade found itself driven into the creature's torso, piercing its spine and its beating organ. The red foe stood, stunned, and as the sword was released from its back, the thing still had the will to strike back, as if the vitals were of no importance to him. The monster's crude weapon impacted against the shocked man's lower body. The blow stung at the knight's armored leg, as even for the adversary's small size, it still packed a punch. Quickly undeterred by his enemy's endurance, Davion countered with his shield, clobbering his opponent's skull with it. It flew back some inches, too traumatized to even squirm for a few precious seconds. Hastily, the dragon-slayer strode to the fallen foe, slashing at the creature and cleaving it in two as the incision spanned across the monster's stomach. It hollered out a chilling screech as it finally came to and saw the condition it was in. The scream, like its life, came to an end, soon after. While Davion's static companions looked on and cheered, Davion then looked at the remains. Unlike the intestines he was expecting to see, inside of it was an oddly-shaped crystal covered in blood. One of the three green pygmies approached the man, saying:

"You'd best keep that – it's very valuable to some people."

Davion took his spoil, trying to wipe it off. As it happens, it seems the crystal is actually not stained in crimson liquid and is actually of a reddish-orange hue. Davion gazed into the crystal, seeing a faint orange glow emitting from its core. It was familiar, and captivating.

"Dragon Knight!" Said a distant voice.

The knight came out of his stupor, looking around and finding that the three were already ahead of him, engaging some more of the creatures beside an encampment. The knight pocketed the loot and hurried on ahead to apprehend the foes.

"No, I haven't seen him, so please let us go! We're just tourists!" The man said, his feet a few inches above the ground due to the cloaked man's grip.

"...Useless!"

The man was tossed aside to the other side of the Parvan bar. The other on-looking patrons stepped the other way to evade the man's body. The dark figure sat himself by the counter's seats once again, contemplating his way to Elze, having been unable to make progress in this Keen port town on the whereabouts of a certain man. Then, the man's companion, a wizard from the city in question, had been preparing her spell until this point and had released the arcane orb of magic to the assailant. As it homed into its target, the man did take notice, but simply didn't care. When the mystic bolt was mere moments away from making contact, the dark brown cloak glowed somewhat, and just like that, the spell was canceled. The woman's surprise was changed to fear as the man stood to face her.

"Heh...That's the spirit." The man said. "Now, I don't need an excuse to leave this wretched hovel of a place as it should be."

The creatures proved to be pushovers, as Davion and the other three took down six of them by themselves. They pressed onward, and on that day, they saw yours truly just ahead. I goaded Davion to come closer.

"Hello!" I said. "Have a look, I'm sure there's something here that might catch your eye!"

Davion gazed at the selection of his fine wares. I had many magical armaments in stock that day, ranging from spherical orbs of red, blue, and purple, to a radiant green blade. All of them had the presence of someone – albeit faint and numerous – as if all of the merchandise had stories of their own to tell. In another section, he saw common paraphernalia for travelers, including flasks of a clear blue fluid, charmed rings, and many other things like back at Farraige. One caught his eye: the green bottle of healing salve, and as his adrenaline started to wear off, he saw how wounded he truly was after the last two encounters.

"Hmm? Oh, of course." I said, noticing Davion's intentions. "That'll be 110, please."

Davion searched his waist, unable to find his bag of gold. Again, I take heed.

"I assume you do have small gems, however?" I said. "Perhaps we can make a trade. Three stones for a life-saving salve?"

Davion turned to his other bag of loot. It housed seven crystals, one of which was taken from a hunched over bipedal with magic abilities. Its crystal was larger, and shone brighter than the rest. He takes up that crystal and two others and hands it to the merchant. I reciprocate in kind with the medicine.

After applying the salve where he can at the moment for roughly ten seconds, he and the others hear a horse's call not far from them. The knight went on ahead, the rest staying back at the reclaimed outpost by my shop. When he arrived, he was found by about a dozen of the red creatures, some of which were wielding staffs and were aiming their energy to him. They charged at him mindlessly, with Davion standing his ground. Suddenly, a flash of blinding brilliance surged forth from his left, forcing the knight to shut his eyes and remain steadfast behind his steel wall. The only things his senses could pick up was the exuberant sensation of relief that danced over his skin, mending it more than a simple rest in bed could have ever done, as well as the sound of many hoof-beats and whinnies from all around him. After that, the brief silence afterward was only supplanted by the sounds of nature, which went on as always. He opened his eyes and looked around himself, finding nothing but a diverging path that leads to darker lands. Most likely where the monsters came from. Before he could investigate further, he heard someone say:

"Ahhh. There we are!"

The voice, and the accompanying set of hoofs were coming from Davion's left. He turned, eager to know the root of all of this. Expecting nothing short of an amazing wizard with an enthralling, auspicious air to him judging by voice and implied prestige alone, he instead saw an old and frail man with white robes, hair, and beard, riding a slim white stallion with an argent caparison on its rear and shiny metal champron on its head. He held by his side a white staff that held a magnificent light within its rounded end, as if it is kept in safe keeping by its bearer so one could merely borrow from its seemingly endless potential.

"You're…" The knight began to say, recognizing the dark horseman's description.

"Greetings to you, Sir Knight." He took a bow on his horse. "I am the Keeper of the Light… Er… Ezalor, yes... Who are you?"

"I… Never mind that. You are the man someone is loo-"

"Please, at least have some manners."

"Ngh… I am Davion, a Dragon Knight." He said, bowing rather hastily.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Heh ha!" The odd man said. "...Now I remember, you're one of the objects of my quest. Silly of me to forget, eh?"

"Quest? Never mind, sir, I need to tell you of what might happen to you. There's a-"

The old man already moved on back from where the knight came, to the east. He shouted to the knight behind him, saying:

"Come, my friend! There is still work to be done!"

A swing of a spiked cudgel put an end to its suffering. The dog's owner fell to dark rider's hand, and the master-less mutt ran away into the city streets, along with many other screaming, fleeing citizens that are rushing down that same path, away from the murderer. The tavern has been reduced to rubble with the help of some undercover creeps under the rider's command. As he forces the weapon's pick unto another challenger, he finally had enough of it. He rallied all of his troops out and had them march onwards to Elze. As the man trod off on his dark horse, he looked back to see that the town was set ablaze as its denizens scattered about to calm everything down in a vain attempt.

"How... Chaotic." He mumbled. He leered at the destruction for a moment longer and chuckled at his words. "How fitting."

A.A.N.

Here it is, finally. After all this time. I do not expect to make more until I find the motivation to go on. What's worse is that I have all of the story ideas written and ready for development. Until then, the most I am willing to do is improve upon what is already here.