Chapters 6-10

6: Christopher

"How did this happen, Christopher?" The Duke shouted at me angrily, he paced up and done the throne room while I stood silently, stone faced. To say the Duke was mad, was a severe understatement. As you can imagine, he wasn't pleased that one of his councilmen had been killed, at his party. "Patterson, dead? At my ball? This is unacceptable, Captain. This certainly isn't the first time this mystery assassin managed to kill someone and evade your eye, is it?"

All I could do was nod and mutter, "No it isn't, Duke Reith, but-," he cut me off before I could go any farther.

"Captain Farthein," the duke continued with a disciplinary tone, "What can I do with you, some are beginning to question the effectivity of a captain who is so... young." He said the last word as if it were an insult.

"Duke Reith please," I began as calm as possible, I couldn't lose my title, I'd worked too hard to obtain it. "I think I might have some idea of who the assassin was?"

"Well go on then!" The duke said impatiently, "Spit it out!"

"It was this girl," I said slowly, trying to remember all the details about the beautiful creature that was Cynthia. "She was wearing a dark green gown, she had brown hair, blue eyes, and she left right after the councilman collapsed." I paused for a second as I took in the Duke's now blank expression. "She was young, she couldn't have been much older than myself."

"Bah," the Duke said, he now looked annoyed, "You're trying to tell me this assassin you've been trying to hunt down is some Adolescent girl?" I stayed silent as the Duke's voice boomed over me, "Did you at least get some sort of name?"

"I think it was Cynthia," I said before quickly adding, "If I remember correctly."

"We need more than this, as I'm sure you understand. We need solid evidence, not leads." The Duke said. "I can't deal with your lack of results much longer Captain, but I have a task I need you to do in the meantime." I nodded, grateful for the change of subject, but afraid I might have framed Cynthia for something she had never done. "One of our ambassador's is leaving today for the Copper City. I need you to escort him there."

"Of course," I said quickly, eager to get away from the Duke's chambers.

"Let me finish," he said, "Make sure no harm comer to the ambassador, the roads are covered in snow and often plagued by raiders and deadly animals."

I nodded, "Anything else?"

"Please head my warning." The Duke said very seriously, "Be extremely careful, this journey especially." I raised an eyebrow at the Duke. "There have been reports of a dragon, around Copper City and roads leading to it."

The color drained from my face a little bit and the Duke smirked as I shouted, "Yes, sir!"

I quickly walked out of the throne room thinking to myself about what the Duke had told me. A dragon! He couldn't be serious, could he? I could deal with the few raiders and animals on the road, but a dragon? Impossible, dragons haven't plagued the region for ages. I had seen one once before when I was a small child many years ago. I still remember it clearly, the majestic blue scales, the fire from its mouth, the roar that seemed to make even the very sky rumble in fear of its somehow beautiful power. No matter how majestic the creature may be, I still remember the destruction they could because, I'm certain nothing good could come with more dragons. We would rely on those who could wield magic in order to keep them at bay, yet it seemed that as the dragons vanished, so did those with the gift of magic. I shuddered again, magic certainly was exciting, but also dangerous, I'd heard tales of single men who slaughtered entire armies. I both balked in terror, and longed, for magic to return. The world seemed safer since it had gone away, yet there seemed to be a depressing sadness that couldn't be cured. No longer did children run happily through the streets of Cyphol, children that remained in the city streets often called to me with weary eyes, hoping for food or a piece of silver.

I exited the castle and mounted my horse. I headed for the road at the north edge of Cyphol where the ambassador should be waiting to head to Copper City. She was there, as I expected, in a carriage, wearing an outfit definitely not suited for traveling through the mud and snow. Several guards were already there, horses loaded with all the supplies we'd need for the journey.

We headed out from Cyphol nearly as soon as I'd arrived, the journey would take four days, and that's if everything goes smoothly. There was already a thin layer of snow on the roads and I knew it would only get deeper as we trekked towards Copper City. Hopefully we wouldn't have to ditch the carriage...

As we continued traveling I kept glancing up at the sky, searching for a sign of anything, odd, anything dragon like. Every time I looked I was relieved to see the sky looked as normal as ever, but I just kept checking, paranoid one of the magnificent beasts would swoop from the sky and end our journey in a fiery blaze.

One of the guards must have noticed my constant glances at the sky and he asked, "Everything alright cap?"

I nodded, "Yes, nothing to worry about, just admiring the sky." The guard looked at me a little oddly considering he sky was overcast, but I didn't want to worry the guards. I didn't think they knew about the dragon that apparently occupied this road to our destination.

The rest of that day of travel was uneventful. Fortunately, the dark skies withheld any snow from falling that day and we set up camp in a small clearing. I, and the rest of the guards had set up camps so many times before we worked like a well-oiled machine, setting up tents, building a fire, and cooking dinner. The guards and I sat around the fire as we ate bowls of beans and rice. The ambassador refused to leave the carriage because of the snow so I brought her, and a sulking guard who had to keep watch on her, a bowl of food so they didn't starve. I enjoyed spending time out here with the men. I hadn't done anything like this in a long time, hadn't journeyed anywhere since assuming full time captain of the city guard. I had been too focused on the assassin to leave the city. Maybe this would clear my head so I can continue the hunt when I get back. I assigned Veyron to keep searching for the assassin, we couldn't just stop the search altogether for several days. Veyron may be frustrating at times, but he was a loyal soldier and I trusted him to do his best on the hunt for the assassin. I turned in along with most of the men as soon as the fire began to burn out, we still had a long few days of journeying ahead of us.

The next day passed similarly to the first as we journeyed to the city. The snow was getting worse, but the carriage had managed to get along, and there were no shattering roars in the sky.

The third day started out like its predecessors, but in the late afternoon we were attacked. We were moving along like we had been when over the small hill on our left side came a group of raiders wielding swords and daggers, charged our position. It wasn't atypical for travelers to fall victim to the marauding hordes along the road, however I hadn't actually found myself in the heat of battle since serving as a soldier the two years before I became captain. Our few guards armed with bows began shooting at the raiders, taking a few of them down before they were upon us. I grabbed the eagle hilt of my sword as I pulled it from my scabbard prepared to take down anyone who dared attack us.

Four of the six other guards pulled up alongside me, two on each side. The other two guarder the ambassador as we charged the remaining raiders. I broke into a gallop as I pulled up alongside the nearest raider, he attempted to lunge towards my horse but I quickly pierced his chest, killing him as I moved on. The horses were our main advantage in the fight, we quickly dashed back and forth fighting off the raiders. We were definitely winning as I looked upward for a second, one of the guards' horses had been impaled by a raider and the horse fell, crushing the guards leg. I thought I saw a smile on the raiders face as he buried a dagger in the guard's throat. I quickly charged the raider, no one, I repeat, NO ONE, kills my men and lives. The raider barely turned around before I brought my sword down upon him, catching him in the neck. His head didn't quite fall off, it dangled to the left, but he was certainly dead. A few raiders fled the scene into the woods out of range of the archers. I looked at all the raiders bodies and honestly, one death is actually pretty fortunate for the amount of men who attacked us. Fortunately, the rest of the guards had survived with their horses. If a dragon had attacked we would certainly all be dead, seven men certainly couldn't hope to take one down. We had lost time fighting the raiders and it had begun to snow lightly. We needed to get as far as we could before nightfall. We quickly moved forward, not setting up camp until late that evening.

At camp, we buried the fallen soldier, leaving his quickly constructed headstone as a reminder of the battle. His death had certainly drained the morale of the remaining men, most of which hadn't witnessed a soldier's death since the last war with the orcs.

As the men talked and told stories about their fallen comrade, my thoughts drifted to the War of Eighths. I can't remember why it was called that, the most recent war between the human and orc kingdoms, I just remember serving briefly at the very end of the war. The War of Eighths had been over for a little over a year now, and had left both sides lost and bitter. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and still a deep hatred ran between the majority of humans and orcs. I only fought in a minor battle, as the war was ending, but I still remember the sickening amount of bodies that were strewn all across the frontline, mass graves and bottomless pits it seemed could never hold the number of dead.

On the fourth day however, what should be our last day of travel, we were trying to push through to Copper City through a bad storm.

"Who has cursed us with this weather?" One of my guards moaned, "It must be the work of the sorcerers."

I chuckled softly, "Come now, we both know there is no magic here." I certainly hoped so. I'd been told magic used to thrive throughout Werdyn, throughout the continent really, but ever since the Elven kingdom was destroyed it had seemed to slowly disappear. People used to be able to heal others with just their hands, but there were also those who had used the power they had been gifted for evil. The dragons had disappeared at the Elves fall as well and their supposed return was odd. Could magic possibly return to the land?

My thoughts were cut short as I looked at the carriage, stuck in the snow. We quickly tried to push it out but it was impossibly stuck. After much convincing and much the dismay of the ambassador, she was on the back of my horse and the carriage was left in the snow. Hopefully we could collect it when some of the snow melts later in the year. We pushed for Copper City through the storm in the sky, and the storm of complaints from the ambassador.

7: Cynthia

Well, I've made my decision: I was going to Copper City! Isn't that exciting? I've been cooped up here in Cyphol for so long, I think it's time I went on vacation, even if it's in a super cold and snowy city. I'm not going crazy, right? I needed to at least see if what I saw in my dream or vision is real. Time to meet this Darkeen fellow my mother had spoken of.

I didn't want to travel as the same as the ambassador and her guards, for the obvious reason of being an assassin. I toured Cyphol's stone, snow dusted streets for the next day and a half before departing. I didn't have my own horse, I mean, where would I keep it. Fortunately for me, I'd arranged to deliver some mail to Copper City and was given a horse to borrow for the journey. It was a tall powerful beast, it's fur was a shiny black and seemed to neigh happily as I stroked his nose.

"Ready to go, boy?" I asked the horse. He looked at me as if saying "What are we waiting for?" I quickly mounted the horse with my supplies for the journey and galloped out of the north gate. I'm only one person, so I should be able to make the journey in three days if all goes well.

That first day I camped in the woods and ate a can of beans, no fire, I don't need to encounter an army of raiders on the path. Not that I couldn't handle them that is.

My second day was equally uneventful as I rode through the snowy path to Copper City. The third day however, I had gotten up early to begin the last leg of my journey when I encountered it. A few hours in I came across what can only be described as a massacre. I hopped off of my horse to examine the bodies. They were raiders all right, a lot of them too. I continued searching and found a horse lying in blood stained steel armor, one of the guard's horses, not a raider's. Who could have accomplished this though? The ambassador didn't have that many escorts, even with horses it would take a masterful battle master to defeat all these men.

"Water," I heard someone groan weakly and I jumped slightly in surprise.

Behind me was a raider, lying on the ground, but I could tell he was still alive. I pulled out a dagger as I walked towards him. Raiders are not to be respected, they are uncivilized brutes living in the continent's wastelands, killing travelers and taking anything of value. I know, I know, Cynthia? Isn't that what you do for a living? Is what I thought to myself. However, I tried once again to convince myself that I was different, I only kill those whose death would benefit everyone else. I turned towards the raider, putting the man out of his misery would be doing everyone a service.

"Please," the man said, it looked like he might just die on his own. "Don't kill me. I need help."

I smirked evilly at him, "Why would I ever help you, a raider? Too bad whoever did this couldn't get all of you. Good thing I'm here."

"You don't understand," the man said. "We weren't trying to kill the ambassador, we were running."

"Excuse me, running?" I asked, it was very puzzling, what could all these raiders be running from? No armies had been sent to kill them. "From what, exactly?"

The man's eyes widened as he whispered the last word he'd ever speak, "Dragon." the man's head slumped to his side and he breathed no more.

What, the actual, hell? Dragon? I must have heard him wrong, I hadn't seen a dragon since before my parents died. Surely, we'd know about this, if the dragons were coming back. He was wrong, he had to be wrong. Magic had died with the elves, without it, the dragons might be unstoppable. I had to get out of here, had to. Is this connected to my vision somehow? I don't know for sure, but if what this man says is true, let's just say Werdyn, and possibly the other kingdoms have a very... exciting... future ahead of them.

Anyways, I need to keep moving, I should arrive before nightfall if I don't have to stop again. The sky was cloudy, I wouldn't be able to spot any winged beasts, not that there were any of course, that man was worth nothing, and dragons were tied to magic, magic had been gone since I was very young, since my home was destroyed. I have to stop thinking about this, next stop, Copper City.

After pushing through one hell of a storm, I finally was approaching the city wall. Near the end of the road I found the top of a carriage poking out of the snow. It was probably the ambassadors. They were stupid for trying to bring a carriage through that path, what a snob that ambassador must be.

I decided I would head over to the first inn I found. I'll probably need a place to stay while I search for the Darkeen. My mother didn't exactly give me an address to his front door. Luckily, you become fairly adept at finding people when you're in my line of work. I decided that will be tomorrow's quest however. My journey had been exhausting and I desperately needed food and rest.

The next morning, I woke up and quickly dressed before heading into the inn's main room. I strolled up to the dwarven innkeeper and asked, "Have you seen an orc named Darkeen."

The innkeeper laughed, "It wouldn't be hard to spot, they must be twice as tall as us."

I leaned forward, stone faced and said threateningly, "Answer the question."

The innkeeper stopped smiling, fear sparked in his eyes, "Look, I was just messing around, there was an orc who checked out a little while ago."

Hmm, that's not all too helpful, "Do you know where he was headed?"

"Not a clue," he said, "He just left with nothing."

This guy clearly wasn't going to help me anymore. I left without saying anything and rushed outside. If he left with nothing he shouldn't be going anywhere far. Time to start searching. If I were him I'd probably head to the market to get supplies. If he was leaving in a hurry he had somewhere to be, and if this guy is connected to my mother and the elves, I can guess it probably wasn't to a business meeting.

At the marketplace, I stayed in the back, observing anyone tall enough to be an orc. I think I found him, a tall cloaked figure quickly purchased a half-sword and some food before walking in the opposite direction quickly. Stealthily, I followed him from the market until he turned down an alley and reached for a door.

"Ahem," I said from behind him, my hood covered my face.

The figure turned around, newly purchased sword in hand, "Who are you?"

The man's canines stuck out from his lower jaw and his grayish face shone in the light. Both of these confirmed my suspicions, he was an orc. "I'm searching for someone named Darkeen, that's you, isn't it? I know you're searching for an elf."

"If you're one of them, I'll kill you," the orc snarled angrily, "You've messed with the wrong man."

What he said more or less confirmed that this was indeed, Darkeen, and he was searching for an elf. Whoever he was talking about might be the Chammelon assassins who hunted down surviving elves and those who supported them. It was a risk, but if he was searching for an elf, and my mother sent me here, it might be the only way. I quickly looked behind me before slowly lifting my hands to my head and put my hood down. My blue eyes shown in the pale cloudy light, my hair spilled out down my shoulders and back, and, my ears poked through my hair, clearly letting Darkeen knowing what I was.

Darkeen's face shown with surprise and he quickly opened the door he was standing next to, "Inside, quickly."

I followed him into the house where we sat at a small table where Darkeen began to speak, "Tell me, how did you find me?"

I thought about how to say this, he'd think I'm crazy if I told him my dead mother had sent me through a vision. I settled with, "I heard from someone, you're someone who can help."

Darkeen laughed, "I'm not some kind of travel agency, I'm searching for one elf in particular. No games, how did you find me?"

"My mother," I began, and his face told me to continue, "Through, a vision."

Darkeen nodded, "So it is you, you have no idea how long I've been searching, been waiting."

"Waiting, for me? What do you mean?" I began, "What does an orc have to do with any elven affairs?"

We spent several minutes talking and Darkeen tried to answer my questions. Then the sky shook.

8: Christopher

We had only been in Copper City for less than a day when I saw it. As if out of a dream, the sky shook as if the heavens themselves quaked. From the clouds, a magnificent creature covered in blue scales roared and unleashed fire from its mouth as it descended. There was no mistaking its figure, it was definitely a dragon, confirming the duke's suspicions. I knew we had to do something, run or hide, there's no way I was going to take on a dragon, but I just stood there and looked in awe as it torched the roof of a house a short distance away.

"Sir!" one of my guards shouted in panic, snapping my attention away from the powerful beast above. "We need to get out of here!"

"I couldn't agree more," I replied as I turned to follow him, but something caught my eye.

Out of the burning house came an orc, and, Cynthia? I must've mistaken her for someone else, what was she doing here? No, that's definitely her, there's no mistaking those lips, and her bright blue eyes.

The two ran from the house but the dragon didn't seem finished with them. There was a cringing sound of claws on stone as the dragon barreled through the city streets towards them. I saw Cynthia duck into an alley with the orc and the dragon turned to face them. It couldn't fit in the alley way, but the dragons fire definitely could.

I looked around and found a short metal spear lying on the ground where one of the city's guards stood before the dragon attacked. I picked it up and ran three steps towards the dragon before letting the spear fly. I watched as the spear flew through the ear before lodging itself between two of the dragon's blue scales. The creature turned my direction and roared. To me the dragon's roar sounded more like it was angry rather than injured. It seemed to walk towards me slowly and behind it I saw Cynthia walk out of the alley slowly, she looked surprised when she saw me in the distance. I need to deal with this dragon right now, Cynthia isn't the top priority, especially when a flying reptile the size of a large house is walking towards you, a 6-foot-tall man with skin that can be stabbed, ripped open, or burned. I wouldn't say I was all too optimistic at this situation. As the dragon neared I drew my sword from its scabbard. I know this piece of metal wouldn't be much help, but it made me feel calmer.

The dragon towered over me, I almost thought it was smiling, but that would be ridiculous, right? The dragon stopped before me and I took in the enormous monstrosity before me. I looked at its wings and got an idea, it was my only chance. The dragon swiped at me with its left claw, wing, or whatever you want to call it. At that moment, I ran straight towards the dragon but quickly switched directions and turned right, towards its other wing. The dragon was smart though and seemed to realize what I was doing, and began to turn away. Too late for the creature unfortunately I jumped up and tore a cut about three feet wide through the right wing of the dragon. This time the dragon roared in pain and I turned around to see its tail hit my stomach and I flew backwards before hitting the stone wall of a building with a grunt and tried to stand up.

With some effort, I pushed myself up to see large drops of black blood drip from the dragon's wing. The dragon turned towards me, and looked me in the eye. It was only about ten feet away from me and I could see hatred in its black, colorless, eyes. The creature's dagger like teeth parted and I could see a light growing brighter in the back of its throat. I closed my eyes as I prepared to be consumed by flame. I heard the rush of fire for several seconds, but I didn't burn, I felt a rush of energy exit my body draining me, however. I opened my eyes to see the outline of my eagle hilted sword in the dragon's mouth. The sword parted the flames around me and burned the stone around me. With another roar, the dragon stopped trying to fry me and reeled back. As it roared I could see more of its black blood pooling on its tongue. The dragon flapped both its damaged and undamaged wing, and managed to get airborne, and flew south- west away from the city.

I turned around and leaned against the unburnt part of the wall and took a deep breath. I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me," I turned around to see Cynthia, I looked over her face and saw, she had delicately pointed ears, that can't be right, she's not-, "I believe this is yours."

Cynthia handed me my sword and eyed me suspiciously, somehow the blade had survived perfectly, the pure metal was as pure as ever, there were no signs of blackening from the fire, hell it wasn't even bent in the slightest. Not to mention I wasn't even scratched, I had a massive headache though. I slid the sword back into my scabbard so only the handle and the eagle remained visible. "Um, thanks," I said as I looked at her again, "Cynthia, you're... an elf?"

"Don't act so surprised," Cynthia said dryly.

"But at the dance-," I began.

"Get over it," Cynthia said, "It was all a costume, I was the one who killed the chairman."

"You're the assassin," I started, I was bewildered, I couldn't believe it was her, and why would she tell me this so plainly. "But-"

"Christopher," Cynthia began, "Yes, I'm the assassin I kill people for a living, I'm an elf, what're you going to do about it?" She paused for a second and I remained silent, "Exactly. Nothing."

I didn't want to do this, but I had to, as a service for my country, "Cynthia, as captain of the guard of Cyphol, I arrest you for multiple charges of murder, and other illegal activities in the name of the Duke, our glorious king, and his kingdom of Werdyn, please come with me."

She started laughing out loud," You're funny Christopher."

My cheeks turned red, "I'm serious."

"Oh, Christopher," she said with a smirk, "You think you, yourself are going to arrest me? Werdyn's most notorious assassin? I could take you down without a scratch, even if I didn't have this big fella here too help." I hadn't even noticed the orc brandishing a massive war axe several feet away.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, this certainly wasn't the Cynthia I remembered

"Well first of all," Cynthia began, twirling a dagger of the likes I had never seen in one hand. "You're going to answer some questions. That blade, do you know what is it? Where did you get it?"

"My sword?" I began, as I looked into her blue eyes, "I-I don't know what it is, I inherited it from my father years ago." She didn't look impressed with my answer.

"Well I can assure you every blade I've encountered, would've melted into a puddle by a dragon's breath, why not yours, how did it hold so perfectly? And you, you're not burned either. Tell me, what do you know of magic?"

"I don't know why this blade does what it does!" I shouted, angrily. "As for magic, I've never encountered it, I was told it died with the elves." I quickly glanced at her ears, "But your still here, what about the other elves?"

Cynthia sighed, "There out there, hiding, trying to keep away from the Chammelon assassins. That's why you never see us. As for you though Christopher, I feel as though there is more to you and your eagle sword than either of us know." I had an odd feeling that she was correct.

"Now what are we going to do with you?" Cynthia said, more to herself than to me. "We certainly can't let you scurry off to your duke and report me. Hmm. This is going to require some thinking, and thinking requires energy, and believe it or not fighting a dragon's quite tiring." Cynthia produced a rope and tied me to a wooden pole as if I were a dog. "There we go, time for a nap."

"Wait-," I shouted but she had already disappeared through a door, leaving me here with this orc. I sighed and turned to the orc, "So... how did you wind up here?"

"My travels are none of your concern," the orc said dryly, "Do yourself a favor and shut up, we've got to stand around and wait for Cynthia, to finish napping."

"She's quite random don't you think," I said to the orc who didn't reply. "Oh well, guess we'll see what Cynthia has planned when she wakes up."

The orc remained silent and turned his head, I could see a long scar on the corner of his face, "How'd you get that scar?" I asked nervously, "At least tell me your name?"

"Darkeen." The orc grunted dismissively, "As for the scar, it's from the War of the Eights, of course."

"You fought in that war?" I stated wearily, worried whether this connection could help him open up to me or drive him away, "I did as well."

Darkeen smirked at me, "What did you do? Serve the general coffee? You're just a boy." He pounded his chest triumphantly, "I fought at Farakeen! I brought honor to myself and my family," His face changed to a sadder expression, "Back when that stuff mattered."

My stomach squirmed slightly, Farakeen was by far the bloodiest encounter in the war, over 20,000 men killed by the Orc legions. I decided not to press Darkeen further, and we waited in silence for Cynthia to return.

9: Cynthia

I had been enjoying a peaceful nap when my mother decides to have a chat with her daughter. I know I should be excited to see her, but let's be honest. Last time I obeyed her I ended up fighting a creature most believed extinct so, let's just say I was not to excited about this.

"Hello, Mother," I began irritated, "Thanks for the dragon. How'd you know how much I enjoy being burned alive."

"I need you to calm down Cynthia," my mother said calmly despite my attitude, "There are things you don't understand yet."

"Then explain them to me!" I shouted, "Why are the dragons here? why did you wait so long to contact me? I was a child, growing up without parents in a foreign land being hunted down and you just neglected me?" I was on the verge of tears,

"Oh, Cynthia," my mother said sweetly and embraced me, "Don't be upset, I know this is hard, but I can't explain these things to you, it can't come from me, not now, and not here. You'll understand eventually, but now I need you to be strong, can you do that."

I looked up into my mother's eyes, they were the same color as my own. I nodded and said slowly," I can do that."

"I know you can," she said, "Now I need you to listen," she stepped back from me and continued, "After you injured the dragon, it flew south-west, into orc territory. I can only assume it lives in solitude in the dagger mountains, perhaps near one of the volcanoes. Now, this is deep inside of the orc kingdom, it will be dangerous-"

"Mother, wait." I said worriedly, "What exactly do you want us to do? Go hunt down a dragon?"

"Precisely," she continued, "You can do this, I know you can."

"How?" I said, startled, "You want me and Darkeen to go walking up the dagger mountains to find a dragon and then try to kill it."

"Not just you two, sweetie, you'll need the captain as well." My mother said with a smile.

"Him?" I said surprised, "How am I supposed to trust him? I'm an assassin."

"As you said earlier," my mother said, "there's more to him than you or him know. However, I cannot elaborate, me traveling to this realm is already risky as it is. I have to go now, but trust me dear child. The three of you must travel to the mountains, and find this dragon, and slay the creature. There you will find many answers. And remember, darling, I love you."

"I love you too," I mouthed as my mother disappeared and I was returned to reality.

I walked outside to find Christopher and Darkeen exactly where I left them. Christopher raised an eyebrow at me and smirked, "Nice hair." I blushed as I lifted my hands to feel my hair. Let's just say I had a severe case of bedhead.

I stood on a small crate and shouted to the only two people in the area, "I have an announcement!"

Christopher turned towards me and smiled, "You have the audience's full attention."

I smiled back at him and spoke, "We are going to the dagger mountains! Isn't that exciting." The look on Christopher's face was golden, he looked like I just told him we would be drinking poison for dinner.

"May I ask what you want over there?" Christopher asked.

I smiled a crazed smile at him, "I wanted to return the favor our large fire breathing friend delivered us!"

"Well," Christopher said, "Nice to see you, I'll just be heading back to Cyphol."

I'll admit, I was loving this, "You wish, cap. You have the honor of joining Werdyn's most glorious assassin on an epic quest to kill a creature whose breath can melt steel. Except your steel I guess." I gestured to his sword we had taken and put against a wall several feet away.

"Are you serious? Why me?" Christopher shouted, "Where'd you get this idea anyway?"

"My dead mother of course, where else?" This was too much fun.

"What. The. Hell," he said, "You're crazy."

I pretended to get really serious for a second, "Crazy? Is it because I'm an elf? Racist."

Christopher choked on his words, "No, I, I didn't mean like. It's not because, it's just-"

"My god Christopher I'm joking," I was laughing now, Darkeen stayed stone faced through all this, he clearly knows how to have a good time. "There are all sorts of elven prophecies, lucky you! You get to be part of one! Isn't that exciting."

"That's just exquisite," He said flatly, "Let's begin. I can't wait to get started." He smirked.

"You're a good man Christopher," I began, serious now, remembering what my mother told me, "Joking aside, I know you must be crawling with questions, but believe me, they'll be answered in due time. Now I just need to know, do you trust me?"

Christopher stood there for a second, he appeared deep in thought, eventually he replied, "Yes Cynthia, I believe I trust you."

"Great!" I said as I cut the rope from the pole and handed him his sword.

I handed the end of the rope to Darkeen to pull him around. I didn't need to explain this to Darkeen, he understands that my mother sends me visions. Christopher began protesting when I handed Darkeen the rope, "But, I said I trust you."

"Now, now, Christopher," I began with a smile, "I'm so happy you trust me, you make me feel so special! If only I trusted you the bridge would be complete! But until I can trust you, just stand on the edge of your half of the bridge. Maybe one day I'll build my half. You know, if I get around to it." Before he could reply to my poor analogy I shouted, "Now, let's stock up on supplies for our adventure! Fortunately, all the dead and deserted citizens have left us a good amount of horses to choose from!"

After we quickly gathered supplies we were able to find three horses, one brown one, a white one, with grey patches, and a dark black mare. We put saddles on the horses and I hopped onto the black horse, it seemed eager to leave the pen it was in.

I led our threesome on a road west from the city. The plan was to enter the orc kingdom from the north where there shouldn't be as many orcs, most of the orcs live around Saarkon, the capital in the south. Orcs dislike snow for the most part, and the crossing from the dwarven kingdom to the orcs is quite white. Darkeen followed behind me, with Christopher taking up the rear. He still had a rope tied to him which was attached to Darkeen's horse.

"If I may say once again," Christopher began complaining, "This is a very, very, bad idea. Even without the dragon, orcs hate humans."

"This one certainly will if you don't stop complaining," Darkeen said flatly as he yanked the rope, causing Christopher to holler.

"Hey!" said Christopher, "I'm just trying to knock some sense into you all."

"Reading you loud and clear," I said, "And, not giving a s**t." Christopher clearly isn't as tough as he is handsome. We have a long journey ahead of us, and he's becoming less attractive with each complaining word out of his mouth. It'll take several days to cross into Drakkrif, travel south to the dagger mountains, and then climb the mountains to find and slay a dragon. Whew, for all this travel I would actually be upset if we don't find a dragon hiding up in the mountains.

Our first day of travel was uneventful and we camped in the snow on the side of the road. There aren't usually any raiders up here, we should be safe. Unless, you know, another dragon decides to come out of extinction.

At about noon the next day we came across a large man with red hair and a large red beard on the road. In a strong northern accent, he spoke, "Hello there friends, you must come with me. We have food, drink, fire." Having been on the cold snowy road for over a day, we decided stopping for a little couldn't hurt.

The man led us off the road and into a small forest. We followed him cautiously, ready for any danger that could emerge. After a few minutes, we arrived at a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a large tavern. It seemed suspicious to me, a tavern this big in the middle of nowhere, I hadn't even heard of anything like this... It seemed so warm and inviting, I was drawn towards it, it seemed to have the same effect on Darkeen and Christopher. The man led us to the front of the building where we dismounted our horses and tied them to posts outside of the building. There were several other horses as well, whatever this place was, it was definitely busy.

As I entered the building, something seemed to take over, my vision became fuzzy around the edges, and time seemed to pass in flashes. Despite this I felt oddly comfortable, a large fire burned in a fireplace on one of the walls. I lost track of Christopher and Darkeen, lost track of time. Someone handed me a drink which I couldn't resist as I drank one, then another and another. My brain become fuzzy and I couldn't think straight. I tried to sit down but I was wobbly and my I was having trouble focusing on anything. I stumbled around confused for a few minutes before collapsing and blacking out.

10: Christopher

When I awoke I didn't recognize where I was. I remembered the tavern, the warmth, and the drinking. I also remembered blacking out. Now, I was chained to a green and gray stone wall across from Darkeen. Now I'm not trying to be a prick, but I said going to hunt down a dragon was a bad idea, and here we are, chained to a wall. Hell, we aren't even in Drakkrif, the orc kingdom, yet, at least I don't think. I'm not sure how we got here, but I do know that from the moisture in the air, we're most likely underground. That or we've been asleep a long time and someone sent us on a surprise vacation to an island in the Southern Ocean. The former seemed much more likely.

Darkeen opened his eyes and looked up at me, "Where, are we?" He said demandingly.

"I'm as clueless as you are pal," I replied sourly and rolled my eyes.

"We need to get Cynthia and get out of here." He said slowly, ignoring my last comment.

"I agree," I said to him as I lifted my hand causing the chains to ring out against the stone floor, "But you see these, were not going anywhere... Wait," I pulled the chain again and found that although connected to the wall, we were also connected to each other. Darkeen quickly figured out what I had just found and smiled. I leaned as close as I could towards him and we formulated a plan as best we could.

A guard soon came to bring us lunch, which was a piece of bread and a glass of water. As he entered, Darkeen and I both raised our hands as high and far apart as we could and raised the chain in the center a few inches. That was all we needed though and the surprised guard tripped over the chain and toppled to the floor. Not wasting anytime, we worked in unison to bring the chain around the guard's neck. He struggled and tried to reach his sword but we kept pulling until we choked him out and he lay motionless on the cell floor. After a short struggle, I managed to grab the key on the guard's belt. I unlocked Darkeen's chains and he quickly pushed himself up and did the same for me. Free we prepared to get Cynthia and escape this damned place.

Darkeen pulled a half-sword out from under the guard before we continued. I peered out from around the cell door to find no other guards in the area, just more cells, some filled some empty. Darkeen pushed the door open as quietly as possible and we crept towards the stairwell. Despite being unarmed I took the lead up the short stairway and halfway up spotted another guard wearing a black mask. He turned towards me, brandishing a sword with an eagle at the hilt. Wait, that's my sword! He pointed the weapon at me and charged.

"Go!" I shouted as I turned around, nearly sending Darkeen flying down the stairs. We rushed to the bottom and I turned to press myself against the corner of the wall near the stairwell. I heard the guard coming and stuck out my leg into the stairwell at the last second. The guard tripped over it and crashed face down on the floor. Darkeen walked towards him and buried his sword in the guards back before he could move.

"I'll be taking that," I said to the dead guard as I removed my sword from his waist and attached it to my own.

We went up the stairwell again and found no resistance this time. We entered a very plain, square room, with a large wooden door on all but one wall. As I paced through the room Darkeen waved for me to join him at one of the doors. I listened quietly to the door and heard screaming from the other side.

"Should we, go in?" I asked him hesitantly. I had a feeling I didn't want to know what was behind the large wooden door in front of me.

"We have no choice," Darkeen said lowly, "Cynthia wasn't down there," he motioned to the door we had just come through, "She might as well be in here."

I took a deep breath and nodded as I drew my sword. The shiny metal seemed to grow dull in the darkness of this place. Darkeen kicked open the door revealing two guards armed with crossbows who turned around, surprised. I rushed forward and impaled the guard on the right. The other guard lifted his crossbow at me and I quickly turned the guard on my sword towards him. I heard the which as the arrow was fired and the thunk that came as it hit its target. Fortunately, the guard I had stabbed had caught the arrow for me, what a nice guy. However, he hadn't caught all of it and the tip of the arrow was about half an inch deep in my shoulder. Oh well, nothing I can't handle. I ripped the arrow out from my shoulder and assessed where we were.

We seemed to be in a large dome like room with the same green and grey stone of the room we had woken up in. I looked around and found cells all around the room like ours, but they were all filled with people strapped to some sort of machine, and each with a guard as well. The chamber echoed with the screams of people strapped to the machines. This was wrong, why would anyone do this? Then I thought of something that sent me running forward. Cynthia, was somewhere in this room, and the same thing could be happening to her.

I'd have to just go cell after cell, until I found her. I burst through the closest cell and took off the guard head. Blood splattered on the victim's face. I quickly unchained the woman from the machine and ran out before she could say anything. Not Cynthia. I continued this process for a few cells until I came to a cell with a young man screaming his head off. Combined with the screaming, the busy guard hardly noticed me as I plunged my sword through him. What I didn't notice was the second guard behind me who I heard charge. I turned around to see his sword chasing my throat. He never made it that far though as an arrow through his neck splattered blood on my chest and sent him crashing to the ground. I looked to see Darkeen several cells away wielding a large crossbow. I nodded my thanks as I continued through the cells.

I came across a cell that already had two dead guard in it. I was confused until I looked around to find Cynthia wielding two daggers, smirking at her handiwork.

"Oh, stop staring." She said with a smile.

"My, my," I began, "I was coming to save you, but looks like you already saved yourself."

"It's the thought that counts, right?" Cynthia smiled and gave me a friendly kiss on the cheek that made my cheeks turn slightly red. "Now let's get out of here."

We found Darkeen and began to make our way out when I stopped suddenly, "I'm going back."

"You want to go back in there?" Darkeen demanded,

"I can't just leave these people like this!" I shouted, "I won't let the men rot in that dungeon either."

"I agree," Cynthia said seriously. "I'm not sure what those machines do, but there's no way it's a good thing."

"We have to get to the dagger mountains," Darkeen said impatiently, "That's what's most important. We can't take unnecessary risks."

"Oh, boo hoo," Cynthia rolled her eyes and we ran back towards the cells inside the dome room.

We cleared out the room efficiently and set all those inside free. We found Cynthia's weapons in a back room where she went in and quickly strapped them to herself. As we climbed to the square room we found a gash on the back of Cynthia's leg. Nothing serious but she shouldn't go into the other dungeon.

"What did I tell you about risks!" Darkeen shouted.

"Darkeen," I said as calmly as I could, "Stay here with Cynthia, I'll go into the dungeon, there weren't even any guards when we were down there."

Darkeen nodded and I ran down the stairs to the dungeon we had been locked up in. In the room, I found no guards. I quickly unlocked the cells and the men ran out of the room. After a quick inspection, I found a guard facing the wall in the corner of the room. I slowly walked over, sword raised, when from the corner a seemingly invisible force sent me flying to the ground on the opposite side of the room.

I rose up angrily when the guard turned around and in a hauntingly calm voice said, "Be still Christopher." I nearly collapsed again. This was no man, it was a mage's robe suspended in the air with a skull for a head, and the skull was talking.

I was scared, whatever this was, it didn't feel like it belonged in this world, "What the hell are you!" I shouted, not trying to let my fear show.

"Don't be scared Christopher," the creature said in its bone chilling voice, "I am not your enemy."

"Then what are you?" I demanded, confused.

"I am your mentor, Christopher," the skull said, "You have a gift Christopher, whether you know it or not, you have the gift of magic in your veins."

He must be lying, magic had been gone since the dragons, even if the magic returned with the dragons, I was only human, generally only elves are blessed with the gift. "Impossible,"

"You may believe that is so now," The creature spoke, "But, you simply don't know how to use your gift, and growing it without proper training is dangerous. Remember your miraculous encounter with that dragon? It was not simply luck that you survived, unburned. I understand this is much to take in, but I swear it is the truth. Soon you will find that with your power, your allegiance will lie with the order, and not with that elf. You don't believe me now, but you will. Don't worry, when you're ready, we'll find you. Goodbye Christopher." The creature raised the sleeves of the robes and disappeared with a flash.