Far to the east, a young man wearing worn red armor across his chest walked lazily through sunlit trees, gazing down at his feet, deep in thought. A small leather pack was slung across his shoulder, and a broadsword hung from the left side of his waist. In a nearby tree, a bird suddenly took flight, startling him slightly. He raise his head sharply, his blue eyes lit up by the sunlight. Upon realizing it was just a bird, he looked around, appreciating the beauty of the forest around him. Then returning to his contemplations, he stared back down at the path before him.

After a few moments, he happened upon a large boulder and decided to rest on it. Sitting down, he removed his pack and reached in to grab an old worn waterskin. After taking a drink, he placed it back in the back and leaned forward, remembering the news he had heard from the last village he visited.

"Chance of war..." His deep voice broke the calm silence as he rubbed his forehead, eyes closed. The village had brought news of heavy tension in the country of Serdio at that time. It may have been a while since he had been to his home country, but since he was gone it seemed that a lot had happened. A faction from the south had gathered and amassed strength, seemingly with the intent of revolting. A temporary truce had been settled, but only a slight tip in the balance of power could send the entire country into a bloody war. He thought of the repercussions of such an event and shuddered. He lifted his right hand and ran it through his dirty, shaggy hair, knocking the sandy brown locks to and fro, and muttered, "I hope it's just a rumor," although he was fairly certain it was not.

Suddenly he was shaken out of his reverie by the sound of many horses' hooves pounding the ground. His eyes shot open and looked around him just before he grabbed his pack, slung it over his shoulder, and started through the woods toward the sound. When he finally appeared on the small road winding its way through the forest, he just barely caught the glimpse of a horse's tail before it vanished to the south. Just as he was about to give chase to discover who these horsemen were, he heard the sound of more hooves behind him. Startled, he turned around to see two soldiers ride up to him. A little startled, they stopped in front of him and aimed their spears at his chest.

"Who are you?" they demanded. "Are you Basil filth?"

Without answering, Dart drew his broadsword from its sheath and knocked the spears away, his face showing a strange mix of determination and fear. The two soldiers grew angry and readied their weapons once more, but just then the sound of massive footfalls reached their ears. The soldiers looked around in fear as Dart also searched for the source of the noise. He spun around and peered through the forest in the direction of the sound. As it steadily grew louder, he began to hear the crashing of trees falling in the forest, and then he caught glimpses of some giant beast. He had never seen anything like it. Staring, dumbfounded by this mysterious creature, Dart barely heard the screams and retreat of the two soldiers behind him. As it came through the trees he got his first good look at the beast.

It was light green, scaly, and massive. Dart could never have imagined such a beast in his wildest dreams. Its body was long and linear, with a massive tail. The four limbs were muscular, and the feet armed with sharp claws. Two leathery wings were pulled tight against its body, shying away from the strong trees. It resembled some kind of giant winged lizard, but Dart knew that this threat was much greater. Its dark green eyes peered down at him, and he began to feel his pulse rising. He readied his sword and waited for the beast to strike. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the two horses gallop away just before the beast raised a giant foot and brought it down in an attempt to pin Dart to the ground. But he nimbly sidestepped out of the way. He quickly realized this creature, while immensely powerful, was too large to move quickly; his speed was the only way to survive this encounter.

He readied his sword again and watched carefully. This time as it brought the other foot down, Dart sidestepped and slashed his sword across it. But the attack was useless; the scales covering the beast were harder than the steel of his sword. Dart's eyes opened wide as his sword bounced off, and he looked up just in time to see more claws coming at him. This time he was barely able to move away in time, and a sharp edge grazed his left forearm. He let out a cry of pain and quickly realized he could do nothing to successfully combat this beast. He turned and ran.

The dragon let out a loud roar as it watched its prey flee. It began to give chase, but Dart was too quick for it. He dodged this way and that, deftly jumping over logs and under trees, irritating the creature until it lifted its head high and roared loudly. It tried to move faster through the trees to catch up.

Dart stopped for a second and looked back, breathing heavily. Swearing, he said, "I can't outrun it!" As slow as the beast was, its stride was astonishingly longer than his. Just as he was about to steel himself for another fight he was sure he would lose, something strong pulled on his arm. He was dragged off the path and over behind a large boulder just off the road. A forceful swing slammed him against the boulder and he slid to the ground. When he looked up he was shocked to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and slender features. She held a rapier in the hand that was not pinning him to a boulder and wore deep purple armor with a matching jewel set into the breastplate. He thought it strange; it looked almost like an eye, and seemed familiar. She was looking away from him in the direction of the beast, trying to spot it through the trees.

"Who are you?" Dart said, bewildered.

Without even looking at him, the woman slapped her hand over his mouth and quieted him. She stared intently as the beast approached. She slowly took her hand back, and Dart craned his neck to see what was happening. The beast seemed to be looking for him, but also seemed to be losing interest rather quickly. After several minutes, it roared loudly and started off in the opposite direction, leaving Dart alone with this mysterious woman.

After the footfalls of the beast were mostly faded away, she turned to face him, and her eyes grew wide. Slowly, she brought up a hand as if to touch the side of his face. Taken completely by surprise, Dart narrowed his brow and said, "May I help you?"

Her face instantly changed from thoughtful and curious to emotionally blank. She pulled her hand back, and Dart thought he heard her mutter something about "impossible," but could not quite make it out. As Dart looked over her face, he determined that she couldn't be more than twenty or so years old, but her eyes seemed to carry the weight of generations. As she stared deep into his, he felt like he was looking into the soul of the saddest person in the world. Despite her youthful complexion, he couldn't help but feel that this woman was far older than he was. Instead of answering his question, she merely stared at him, her facial expression still cold but slightly curious.

Dart wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation. So he changed the subject. "Thank you for saving me from that thing!"

The woman stood and said, somewhat coldly, "It was nothing." Her voice was smooth and mature. She turned and faced the direction the beast went. "The key to surviving a dragon attack is to outwit it. They aren't very intelligent."

The word startled Dart; it was a name he had heard only in legend. "Dragon… That was a dragon?" he asked wildly.

"Yes," she replied, "but I don't understand why it's here. That village could have easily been destroyed without a dragon."

"Destroyed? What village?"

"What do you mean 'what village?'" the woman asked, a little harshly. "The only one for miles. It's just over that ridge, to the north, on the edge of the forest."

Dart's heart skipped a beat. "Seles…?" His mind raced in a million different directions. "You mean it was destroyed?"

The woman looked at him and said, "It was attacked last night. You could see the smoke for miles. How do you not know about this?" Her tone was mildly accusatory.

"Because I've been in this forest for three days!" Dart said, his voice rising involuntarily. He shouted, his hands flying to his temple in worry. "Not again!" Memories came flooding back to him. He turned toward the north and started running in that direction. Before he could stop them, flashes of fire and the smell of burning trees jumped before his mind's eye. Fear gripped him.

The woman eyed him as he ran off and yelled after him, "There won't be anything left by now!"

Dart stopped suddenly, turned, and said with a fierce look in his eye, "I will not lose my village again." Anger was written clearly on his face but suppressed in his falsely calm voice. Then he turned and sprinted down the path.