A single lightning bolt tears the night sky, ripping down from storm clouds that have yet to drop their heavy load of rain. As the low rumble of thunder echoes in the still air, the first drops begin to fall. Within seconds, the world is being drenched in torrential rains.
An angry yell echoes through a seemingly empty forest. The slight shimmer in the air is the only thing to betray the fact that a large castle is concealed by a magic shroud here. The voice shrieks again, followed by a loud crash as a table in the highest tower is thrown against a wall.
“How?” a tall man growls to himself, his long robes swishing quietly as he paces from one side of the tower to the other. “How could both of my dragons have been defeated? My beautiful tools of destruction, gone.” His step gets more agitated still, and he whips a wand from inside one of his huge sleeves, slashing it at the wall. Stones cascade down from the tower as a large hole is blown clean through the wall.
With another wave of his wand, the table he had thrown earlier is righted, and he sits down at it with a heavy sigh. Cradling his forehead in his free hand, he snarls, “All I wanted was to see the world swallowed up in darkness, one piece at a time. Is that so much to ask?” Staring with an empty gaze at the wall, he murmurs, “Then I could have risen from the dark and ruled the world. Everyone would think me a hero and do whatever I asked.
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“But no!” he shrieks, slamming his fist against the table. “That stupid Clockwork Dragon had to get involved. He keeps choosing heroes to thwart my every plan. For thousands of years I have toiled against him, and for thousands of years he makes my plans fail. That dragon needs to die!”
Swishing his wand in an angry fashion, the dark wizard summons a clear crystal ball to the table before him. Slipping the wand back up his sleeve, he trails his long fingers over the glass, gazing into the smoke inside as if he can find answers there.
Suddenly, he freezes before grabbing the ball hastily and holding it where he can see it more clearly. After a few moments, a wicked smile grows on his face, and with a short laugh, he sets the ball down and gets to his feet.
“Better yet, I will control that dragon. Instead of ruining me, he will help me. I will destroy the world with the very thing he hoped would save it.” He begins pacing again, waving his wand absentmindedly to fix the hole in the wall. A small chuckle begins in his throat, growing until he’s laughing manically.
Walking over to the window, the wizard looks out at the stormy skies, and the clouds flee from his gaze to reveal millions of stars. The full moon seems to shiver as he sets his evil gaze upon it.
“The time has come for a new Clockwork Heart to be chosen. I’ve seen the boy. I will take him and raise him as my own. He will grow in the dark and belong to the dark.” His voice raises into a triumphant shout as he yells, “Finally the Clockwork Dragon will be mine!”
As his laugh echoes through the dark trees, the forest itself seems to tremble in fear of the man in the tower. A single lightning bolt slashes the cloudless sky, tearing apart the heavens themselves.