The Dragonlord's of Thane
Prologue-
The corridors echoed in spite of his short halting gasps of air. Baldric coughed. The air was musty and stale. The walls were covered in spider webs as thick as reeds and stickier then any material he had ever seen. The darkness that surrounded him threatened to devour him, just as it had so many before him. Baldric shivered. He had known that he was walking the ominous corridors of The Tomb Of The Ancient Kings. His torch lit the way dimly, and he knew that he would have to leave soon or he would suffocate slowly, slipping into subconscious. The path he walked was covered in centuries of dust, that also had a certain slipperiness to it. If Baldric had been thinking straight, he would have realized how surreal this place was. It was to dismal to be real, but was more of a illusion then reality. Baldric didn't care, and didn't give it another thought. He walked and something nagged at his mind, his awareness of everything around him seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Paranoid didn't even come close to how Baldric felt. He had reason to fear this place, because of a curse that had haunted the hallways of the dead. The words came unbidden to his mind, making him frantic. Those who disturb the peace of the dead will suffer eternally, never quite dying, never to live again. The thought sent another involuntary shiver through his body.
A slight misty shadow passed over Baldrics torch. Everything felt even colder, so cold, he thought that death might even have warmed him up. As if in answer to his sarcastic wish, a cold hand touched his shoulder. The hand was a rotting, decayed thing, yet was less than substantial somehow. The Tomb Guardian had found him. Baldric didn't think twice about his decision for there was no time. Baldric ran, not for his life because he knew that even now he should be dead. He ran to save his soul from being stolen and from being fed to this monster of another age. A door blocked his way up ahead, and the ghoul was nearing him. He threw himself against the door and broke the plank that was locking it in place. Having no other real thing to use to lock the door again, Baldric blocked it with everything he could find. Surprisingly, the ghoul didn't seem interested in following him. For a guardian that killed everyone that dared to came into its gloomy pathways, it sure seemed reluctant to come into this particular room. Young Baldric decided to investigate the room further. There were old swords, shields on the walls, with what seemed to have been delicate and intricate tapestries of knights with their armor burning in the intense heat of a Dragon's deadly breath. Another portrayed a group of knights trying to anchor a particularly big Dragon to the ground, without success. Slowly turning around to look at everything he found golden ringlets and jewels of all kinds. This was obviously the tomb of some powerful and wealthy king. He found a well worn cloak covering something which turned out to be a throne of such grandeur that he was simply awed at its magnificence. Dumbfounded, Baldric stepped back and tripped on a ruffled rug, staggering into something hard. Turning around Baldric found something that was so out of place it screamed to his senses that it was wrong. It was a suit of armor that was dented and even torn in places. Fur lined the armor and some kind of material that he could not place. It was almost like scales, but they were too thick and strong for any living creature known to the young man, oddly enough, they looked polished, and upon touching the scales he found them flexible, but nowhere near delicate. Baldric looked above the worn armor and saw a sight never seen before. A man actually riding a Dragon, and it seemed that the Dragon was fine with it, almost calm. Even though it was impossible to tame one of the wild Dragon's as proposed in the artwork, its seemed almost natural. Humans and Dragon's side by side. It must be a wonderful thing to fly in the open sky, riding one of the most fearsome beasts known to man, and yet not fearing anything. Once again looking at the armor, he thought of a ridiculous idea that the scales might have once come from a Dragon. Laughing to himself he found that he was at peace in here, while just outside the room he had feared a Ghoul was going to rip out his soul and devour it. The laughter echoed and died almost as soon as it left his mouth. A stale taste filled his mouth as he looked upon a once unnoticed, fairly large leather bound book with gold script on it that Baldric couldn't make out. Taking the book in his hands he felt a great warmth fill his body.
Touching the Tome must have enraged the Guardian because he sifted himself into the room and glided straight towards Baldric. Hefting the tome in front of himself to ward off a attack, he found that none came. A bone chilling voice crept out of the nightmares mouth," I esnes eht doolb fo eht elbon esuoh dnuora uoy. Yam eht ecaep fo eht lanrete snogard wollof uoy llit eht dne fo ruoy syad." Not understanding what the Guardian had said, the young man did what any other man would do when faced with a horror that was expected to rend apart your soul. Baldric fainted.
Baldric awoke with his head hurting. Peering around he found that he was near the entrance. Figuring it was better than being dead, he didn't question the obvious. Why wasn't he dead? Why was he here? Baldric searched around for his belongings. He found his torch, a short yet dull knife, his cloak, and a large book bound in leather. It was the book from the room. Maybe it was because of the book that the guardian attacked him, and maybe it was the book that protected him. The throbbing in his head increased as he thought of these possibilities. There was a large, large bump on his head from when he had fallen. Walking unsteadily towards the opening, Baldric stumbled out into the painfully bright sunlight, and into the arms of forty Royal Guards. Taking the boy, the knights pushed and shoved their way to the leader of the group, a snarling, one eyed brute of a man said to have been in more battles then thrice his years. His face had a rugged look about it, like he had been away from anything remotely civilized for several ages. The man towered over the young boy, but even though he looked fierce, his eyes showed a great sadness that followed him in every battle, and forever afterwards. Caught by surprise the ugly knight grinned at him." So, we finally found you, eh? Think you could get away from d' Royal Guards of Thane did ya?" Baldric could almost taste his breath, the man was so close.
"I seemed to have for a moment," Baldric said arrogantly," and if it hadn't been for your son Cramford, then I'd have been able to go about my business as I wished. Now out of my way!" Standing there trying to look imposing failed miserably against the ugly knight who kept trying to hold back a chuckle. Seeing Baldric getting agitated at this only made the knight burst out laughing.
"Aye," The old knight finally managed to say," Tis good to see yerself again as well, me young arrogant Prince!"
That was many years ago, before Bendrik had died and left his son, Prince Baldric, The Empire of Thane.
