A/N: I gotta admit this by far the most difficult chapter to write that's why it took me quite a while but anyway I manage to pull it through. Thanks for the people who reviewed. We're coming back from our vacation now and everyone's feeling better. Oh well, here's chapter 6… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonfable… If I did, I would've turned it to DFWorlds so everyone could all be online and do quests together!

Chapter 6: The Seed

Dreams always happen to find me wherever I went and no matter what I do. Usually my dreams pass by uninterrupted and I won't be able to do anything except watch and see what happens as events come and go. All those time I would watch it through my dream self's eyes. But this time was a little different.

I was standing in the middle of a room. My room. Or the room I used to have anyway almost a year and half ago. I looked around in fascination. It was a long time indeed and it was how I remembered it to be. I also noticed something different, I knew it was a dream but how come I could move at my will? I could look, smell, hear and go wherever I wanted to like I was a real being in this dream world. This was totally unusual.

It was an early morning. The sun was peeking through the tops of the mountains from a valley on a distance. Its rays filtering through the only windows and illuminating the whole room in the process. I examined the aged gray stone walls, the creaky wooden floorings and the dusty furniture which only consisted of two wooden beds, one of them was occupied with a human figure curled up and looked like it was sleeping. There was also a side table drawer with a dusty top and a large antique wardrobe just like it was back then..

I walked over beside the bed of the sleeping figure only to realize it was me. Sixteen years old, almost seventeen. My dark blue hair still trimmed short. My gray eyes shut tight and I looked so at peace like nothing in the world mattered, so carefree and so innocent I was. I tried to recall the last day I slept like this but I was interrupted when somebody burst through the door and I stood there startled.

"Vince! Hey Vince!" A high pitched girl's voice said as she ran across the room straight pass me like I was made of nothing. It was my sister, Rebecca. She was four feet tall and barely six years old. Her chestnut brown hair tumbled as she skipped beside my dream self's bedside. She wore a simple cream colored dress that matched her fair skin. I missed her even though she was always annoying and mischievous. "C'mon you lazy beaver. Wake up!" She said tugging at my dream self's arm.

"Leave me alone Reb, it's a Saturday and you know that I have a wake up late and stay up late policy on a Saturday." My dream self lazily muttered.

"But it's the twentieth, Erin's coming back today and he's sure to bring lots of goodies and tell us stories on how he beats up bad people!" she insisted while tugging on his arm. Same old Rebecca.

"I'll meet him later." My dream self replied before taking back his arm. I never knew I was this lazy.

Rebecca folded her arms and pouted before saying, "Fine! But I won't leave any honey muffins for you. Hmph!" and with that, she stormed off.

"Whatever" was my dream self's only reply before facing the wall and curling back again.

I guess I should explain about Erin. Well, he's my elder brother, about 2 years older than me and a couple of inches taller. He had long fade blond hair slightly reaching up to his shoulders, he had the same gray eyes as mine and tanned skin and a muscular physique. My mother always said that we both looked like our father, especially me, since I had both his hair and eyes.

Anyway, he was top in sword fighting class ever since he was eight and he entered the militia when he was only fifteen, two years younger than the minimum age reuirement.. His fighting prowess and charisma were known even in other villages. The king even made him an honorary knight and gave him the title of 'The Lion of Locklaven' when he stood and led his fellow militiamen in a simultaneously successful assaults on five major bandit camps in a span of only two days. Our village the least rate of bandit raids especially when he was around.

His handsome and heroic appearance made him every girl's dream and every boy's role model in all corners of the kingdom. He taught and trained people when he had spare time but he never asked anyone out. He told me it would just hold him back and was not ready for a relationship. Even with all the fame and glory on his side, he remained humble and respectful. I never heard him brag about his status nor challenge anyone to prove his skills though many challenge him only to be beaten in less than a minute..

He always told me that one day I will take his place and be an even greater warrior and I believed him. It was my lifelong goal back then. To be better than him. I was always jealous of how he had everything so easily while I have to stumble and fall behind. In sword fighting for example. Everyone had high expectations on me since I was Erin's brother but I was never good with a sword. Mostly because I prefer speed than sheer strength and deal maximum amount of damage in the least amount of time but it was impossible with a sword. A longsword, especially the standard militia sword we used to train was simply too heavy and imbalance for my part. It was four and a half feet long and weighed about fifty pounds. I also prefer to move around and be quick on my feet which the other people find to be cowardly while I consider it a tactical fighting method. All this reasons earned only disapproval and rejection on their part and considered me as a great disappointment.

Despite the king's pleads on him being a general of his army, he simply declined. His only reason was he couldn't leave his village to the mercy of the bandits. It was dangerous times. Our kingdom was on the state of an ongoing war with another kingdom leaving the king's army occupied and the villages left unprotected. Bandits took advantage of the situation and began pillaging village after village. As a solution, the villages united and formed the National Militia and Liberation Forces, or simply the militia, consisting of able bodied men ranging from ages seventeen to fifty years old to fight back the menace and maintain peace and order. I was turning seventeen in a week back then and was dying to prove myself in the field.

I shook off my thoughts as my dream self finally sat up, yawned and stretched his arms lazily. "Time for the biiig day…" He said sarcastically. You don't know how big its going to get, I thought. He changed clothes and went out of the room. I decided to follow him. We walked into an average sized dining room which mostly consists of a simple round wooden table with six seats around it. There was also a dusty wooden shelf filled with ceramics that belonged to my great great grandmother, some rusty old swords from my father, some silverware and a dozen other stuff. A basket of bread, probably brought by my mother earlier this morning after working in the bakery, was sitting in the middle of the table amidst the hundreds of tiny yellow crumbs that smelled suspiciously of honey muffins. My dream self took one raisin bread and chewed on it half-heartedly while looking out the window with me right behind him.

Our village wasn't large. It only has about two hundred citizens including those in the militia. It lay in the middle of two hills where a church stood in the left hill while a barn with a windmill stood on the right one. It was a beautiful sunny day. The fresh breeze coming from the mountains and through the forests and vast green plains sweep across the village and its cool refreshing scent made me feel calm and nostalgic at the same time. I could see my dream self also taking in the scent of the wind. It was one of my favorite things in the village.

I glimpsed at the villagers who were all starting to come out of their houses and doing their typical activities. Children happily ran around chasing each other while teenagers hang out with their friends. Boys brag about their fighting skills and I overheard on of them saying how he took out this guy in practice yesterday and all that while some girls laughed and giggled about how excited they are and what to do once Erin returns. Older men and women were opening their shops, ready for another business day. In all, it was a simple and happy village where people are content with their lives in peace.

The bell on the church tower on top of the hill suddenly rang. The villagers stopped what they were doing and tensed while staring into the church tower but they sighed in relief and were suddenly filled with excitement when the ball rang in slow dings and dongs. Signaling that the militiamen have been sighted and were on the way. If on the other hand, it rings in a fast and urgent manner it means that bandits were sighted and the villagers are to run to safety.

The villagers began to mill around the outskirts and began cheering and shouting, the girls shrieking loudly chanting the name of my brother, as the figures of about fifty men were spotted making their way across the plains. By that time, my dream self and I were sitting on the roof of one of the cottages so we can take a better view.

The man leading the way for the men was no other than the village chief himself whose name was Adaon. He was tall, with buff arms that bore numerous scars from previous battles and his green eyes along with his serious expression made him look like a panther. His long black hair ran down his back, while his long beard cascaded into his chest. He was carrying a large battleaxe broader than my body strapped behind his back. Behind him, a wagon with a white tarp covering its load was being pulled by two other men as they slowly made their way to the village.

The villagers gasped as they saw the wagon. It could only mean that someone from their village has died. Wives and children ran anxiously through the band of men searching for their loved ones and breath a sigh of relief when they found him. My brother was nowhere to be found but I already knew what would happen. My dream self on the other hand, doesn't have any clue.

He stood up from where he was sitting a while ago after noticing that Erin wasn't among the group, and then he jumped down and searched through the crowd. I, on the other hand waited by the side of the wagon instead of following him.

The villagers soon after meeting with their loved ones surrounded the wagon, their faces filled with different emotions: anger, grief ,shock etc. The crowd parted as they made way to my mother, sister and dream self as they made their way beside the wagon on where I was waiting. My mother's brown eyes were wide. Her face was ashen. My dream self just stared at the white tarp with eyes full of disbelief. My sister on the other hand was clinging on my mother's arm with a confused look on her face. "Mom, I still haven't seen big brother yet" she said.

My mother ignored her as her trembling hands began removing the tarp and finally revealing the lifeless body of no other than my brother Erin. She fell down to her knees and let out a horrible, heart-broken sob as my sister joined in after realizing what just happened. The some people in the crowd gasped while others stood in shock or simply mourned the loss of a great warrior. My dream self only stared wide-eyed at my brother's body.

Terrible. That was the word that can describe Erin's body as he lay lifeless on the wagon. His blonde hair was now covered with blood and dirt along with his bruised and cut up face. His eyes gazed blankly into the sky and its color made him look even more dead. His clothes were torn up revealing huge gaping wounds here and there from every kind of weapon I could ever imagine: swords, axes, arrows all of it.

I felt anger surge inside me again. The same anger I had that day that my dream self is feeling right now as he stared into the ground with his jaw and fist clenched. I remembered this day so well. It was the day everything started to come apart. But this was only the beginning. This was the day I swore that no matter what it takes, I will kill every single person responsible for his death. That day, I felt no sadness, no grief, just pure white hot hatred and desire for vengeance.

Without any warning, everything stopped. Literally. Everyone stood frozen except for me. Birds overhead were suspended in mid-air. The sounds of the wind and the villagers' mourning and agonized cries were all silenced. And then I heard a familiar female's voice.

"Was everything the way it should have been?" she said behind me.

"Yes. Just the way it was." I said before turning around already knowing who it was. "Lady Celestia, its good to see you're safe." I said in a formal manner while bowing down.

She lifted my chin so I was facing her and said with a smile. "Seriously, please refrain from treating me like royalty. I'm a priestess not a princess."

"Umm…Yeah sorry about that." I said.

"No need to apologize." She said as a cup of tea appeared in her hands while everything around me turned pitch black. Only the priestess and I were the only things that I could see as we floated into the endless darkness.

"So you were the one who sent me that dream" I said while trying to shake off my uneasiness.

"Mhm" Was her only reply as she sipped from her cup.

"But why?" I asked. Confused.

"Simple. I want you to understand your past and learn from it." She said with another sip. "You always think that your past made you dark and evil so you wish to lock it away and runaway from it forever. But on the contrary it molded you into a true hero"

"But my past made me dark and evil. I was introduced into the world of hatred and vengeance. I learned to hate and made a vow that will destroy my future and so as everyone around me. How could that be so heroic!" I said. My voice a little louder as I was getting worked up but then I realized that she was just trying to help me. "I-I'm sorry." I said as I looked down.

She put a hand on my cheek and looked at me with understanding. "Perhaps you do not understand my purpose of doing this but in time I know you will. Once I show you more, you will understand more. Right now, I showed you that vengeance is never good to begin with and it will lead to one's downfall and you realized that it all started when you made that oath to avenge your brother's death."

"Yes. Yes it all happened this very day." I said as I began to understand her point. "I'm sorry once again for shouting at you earlier."

"As I said, no need to apologize." She smile kindly. "I thoroughly understand the state you are getting into at this time."

"Why are you doing this anyway?" I asked curiously.

"I have my reasons. Well, one of them is its because I see a true hero in you. The one destined to be- never mind." She shook her head.

"Destined to be what?"

"I'm sorry, but we need to keep all things as is, for now. Too much knowledge is dangerous especially for heroes like you. It will greatly endanger the prophecy."

"At least tell me something about it." I said feeling cheated. She's telling me that she knows a lot of information regarding whatever I am about to do and she's not sharing any. The priestess sighed.

"I am forbidden to tell you everything, mind you. The prophecy involves a hero who will decide the faith of the world as light and darkness collide in an epic battle. I'm afraid that's all I am allowed to say"

"How can you be sure it's me?"

"Once again I have my reasons. Alas, its almost daybreak. I may not be able to speak to you for sometime again. Its time for you to rest hero. I'm afraid you won't be witnessing a pleasant sight once you awaken."

"What do you mean by that? I still have a lot of questions to ask you as well." I said with my mind racing with stuff about prophecies and light and darkness things.

"As I said, in time. Now rest and good bye my hero…." She waved her hand slowly in front of my face as she said those words an my vision began spinning and I spiraled into such a peaceful slumber I never thought I'll ever have again one and a half years ago.

A/N: The computer's been broken so I have lots of delayed chapters. No need worry I might be able to update them by tomorrow and might update frequently by then. The Iron Raven taking off!