Several weeks ago - Kedarethorn, Outskirts of the Dragon Sanctuary

The ragged party of five people stood outside the city of Kedarethorn, as small city at the foot of a valley in front of two large mountains. Four men and a woman. The patron, the woman - the one who gave the mission - Azure T’valor - and four guards. A standard ‘adventurers team’ - Healer, Wizard, Priest and Paladin.

The mission - escort Azure (the blond woman from earlier) to explore an ancient set of ruins. The rumoured Dragon Sanctuary. They would get the treasure — she would get any books.

It was sunset.

Kedarethorn was the last city before arriving at The Black Ruins. An ancient battlefield - a remnant of the of the greatest legendary creatures to walk the Gemworld - Blackwing.

Azure spoke: ‘So many people’. She played with a necklace absentmindedly.

It was still busy even at dusk. Scores of pilgrims, belonging to different classes, categories and species were arriving.

The Healer replied: ‘It’s amazing that they all managed to make it here alive.’

It was a long journey. Most of the pilgrims were regular people. Not a fully decked out, 3 star party of adventurers. These regular people had made it here. On foot.

Although the city wasn’t big. It was tidy. Simple stone walls. A gate. A patrol walking around.

After walking through the gates — paying a token fee — Azure spotted a kindly looking old woman and asked for directions.

‘Pilgrims?’ asked the kindly old woman. ‘If you’re looking to go to the Ruins you’re gonna have to wait till morning. Go to the Temple - just walk down the main road - tour leaves in the morning. Four silver.’

‘No. We’re looking for the Dragon Sanctuary.’ Replied Azure.

The old woman rolled her eyes. Her enthusiasm reduced.

‘Oh, in that case. Go to the Adventurers Guild - on the main road next to the Temple. Speak to one of the receptionists there. They normally give adventurers directions.’

Azure gave a semi-formal bow in response - before she caught herself.

‘Thank you very much.’

Walking down the main road revealed one thing — Kedarethorn was a well organised tourist trap. A packed market - selling trinkets. Taverns, Inn’s, even a Theatre - promising a retelling of the great battle. The two biggest buildings on the were the Temple and the Adventurers Guild.

The Guild hall was quiet. A stark comparison to the touristy parts of town. Although the city seemed busy. It wasn’t dangerous. Not a lot of need for adventurers. There was one receptionist. A young man - name badge read ‘Nate’.

After swapping pleasantries back and forth.

‘Please tell us about the Dragon Sanctuary?’ asked Azure.

Nate gave the party the rundown. Perhaps because people came here all the time. It was a polished spiel.

The City was a partial-tourist-trap - it had started out as a farming village and still kept its roots. Farmland all around. Cows. Sheep everywhere. Rolling green hills.

The Lord who owned the land, was a follower of the Mother Goddess and he lived faraway - preferring a hands-off approach. The Steward he appointed was a local and kept the city orderly.

Nate told them about the Ruins. Although they had heard some of it - there were some new details.

In the ancient times there was a Dark Lord who attempted to take over the world. An expert in necromancy - he summoned many dragons - including the legendary Dragon. Blackwing. The greatest and most powerful of the dragons.

Blackwing’s introduction came at the height of the Ancient War, as The Dark Lord’s forces were on the verge of defeat. In this final stand, The Dark Lord unleashed his dragons for the first time in full force, with Blackwing leading the charge.

The impact of this army was devastating; the Elves and their allies were driven back by the sheer ferocity of the dragons’ attack. The winged dragons, led by Blackwing, took to the skies, causing catastrophic damage to the forces opposing The Dark Lord.

Blackwing was described as being the greatest and the largest of the dragons. His wingspan was so huge that when he flew into the sky - his wings blotted out the sun. It was said during a battle - he melted a mountain in half.

After the Dragons first appearance they pushed the battle line all the way to back the capital city of the Humans - a fortress carved out of a mountain peak. It was that mountain that Blackwing blew in half. It was an incredible sight. A dragon so huge it blotted out the sun. Breath so powerful and endless - it felt as if the sky was melting. A terror.

Blackwing’s reign only ended when the Mother Goddess of the Elves, blessed a party of Heroes with divine light and power to fight the Dragon.

It was an epic battle. It lasted two full days and nights.

But the Heroes were successful and defeated him. Blackwing’s massive body fell onto the The Dark Lord’s greatest fortress, crushing the towers in his death. Nobody is sure exactly where Blackwing fell.

It was also this battle that closed out the Age of Dragons. Blackwing’s death symbolised the beginning of the end for The Dark Lord’s reign of terror, as his greatest weapon had failed.

The Black Ruins weren’t that mountain where he fell. That mountain vanished. Historians believe that the Black Ruins were a different mountain on the outskirts on the main battlefield.

The Black Ruins bore a singular, haunting feature that proves the battle was real—a colossal claw mark seared into the earth, believed to have been gouged by Blackwing himself during the final battle. Historians believe the ruins of the castle belonged to a small Lord, the details of who - lost in time.

The tour followed a standard approach. Nate pointed it out on a map hanging on the wall.

(1) Enter the valley of shadows. Walk down to see the claw mark.

(2) Climb up the mountain - past the claw mark - to the top of the mountain to visit the remains of the mysterious Lord’s stronghold.

(3) At the top - look in the distance - seeing the remains of the Dark Lords Towers - in the mists.

(4) Walk over to the Memorial Wall of the elves. Look down and see the claw mark in its entirety.

‘Do you think it’s worth a visit?’ asked Azure - turning to the group.

The adventurers all looked at each other. Before all shaking their heads.

‘See one ruin, seen-em all’ replied the Paladin. They were tired. Azure took in their reluctance before turning to the Nate.

‘Any rumours? Anything else to look out for?’ Azure asked.

‘Feel free to explore everywhere else - the claw mark is off limits. Its fragile due to its age, and researchers are continuously studying it. You have to go on tour if you want to see it.’

‘Also there are local legends about strange sights at night, so visitors are advised to stay in the town overnight. If you want to explore — please register here and check-in before you go in case we need to send a search party to look for you.’

‘What about the the Dark Lord’s Towers?’ Asked Azure?

‘A mirage.’ Replied Nate. ‘Especially don’t go chasing after them. Nobody has ever returned after looking for them.’

‘Any clue as to why?’

Nate shrugged. ‘Nobody knows for sure why.’

***

The party settled down in an inn down the road. They gathered in Azure’s room. It was the biggest. Big enough to have a table, some chairs and a fireplace. The fireplace was lit - so everyone took of their cloaks and top layers.

Azure laid out two maps on the table.

The first was the pilgrims map. The map Nate had explained to them earlier.

The second was a much older map. An heirloom. It was of the grounds. It didn’t just contain the four areas that Nate had pointed out - but a fifth area. A secret passageway leading to a set of tunnels underground.

Azure overlaid it over the tourist map. It matched.

‘See, it’s real.’ Azure smiling happily.

The other party members all looked at it each other before staring at the map.

‘When should we go?’ Asked the Paladin.

‘Tonight?’ Asked Azure?

As they spoke they were unaware of the dark clouds that had begun to obscure the sky. There was a sudden clap of thunder.

Following the thunder came sheets of rain forcing pilgrims and people to seek shelter.

At the noise of thunder - the priest spoke for the first time. His bald face showed an expression for the first time in a long time. Confusion.

‘Something’s wrong.’ The priest picked up his cloak from the chair and ran outside.

***

It was the comet that had summoned Thomas over to Gemworld. It flashed through the atmosphere with an incredible burst of light.

The party huddled in the doorway. The clouds and the rain obscured the light of the comet breaking through the atmosphere. But they felt it. A feeling of magic going wild. Chaotic.

That night there were a lot of magical disasters.

Deep in the Shimmerwind Desert. A monster sandstorm started. One not seen for a thousand years. Up in the Floating Isles. The wind blew. The wind never blew. It blew so hard it started to move the Floating Isle off its typical century long route. Volcanoes exploded. Monsters stampeded - driven mad with rage by magic.

But that was far-away. What they did see - was the gem breaking through the layer of clouds in the sky - before crashing into the mountain range. No - to the illusion of a mountain range of the Black Ruins.

The illusion barrier flickered after the gem flew through it. Revealing - the Dragon Sanctuary.

It was only a few seconds - but they saw it.

The jewel hanging on Azures neck reflected the image of the Dragon Sanctuary. Glowing blue. Before it changed back to a normal stone. Then the faces of the five people were lit up by thunder.

Their eyes glowed. Both in anticipation and in the rain.

***

It rained at Kedarethorn. An unnatural and overwhelming amount. It caused a lake nestled in mountains that ringed the The Black Ruins to overflow its banks.

Within hours, it’s icy waters brought down a huge mass of debris and loose rocks down on the city.

The debris also landed on on the party too. After they had seen the illusion flicker they had dressed and ran out to climb the mountain. Climbing it with all haste. Everything in the path of the torrent - dwarves, men, women, children, horses, houses — was forcefully carried away into the surging waters. A colossal boulder had hurtled down, coming to a halt just in front of the Temple.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The party using ropes, magic and brute force eventually arrived at the Black Ruins.

Under the glow of lightning and the sound of thunder - the runs looked more frightening than they normally did. The charred and cracked slabs of stone, seeming to turn into monsters. Scorched runes of protection, faintly glowing, lit up. There was dark magic in the air. Renewed by the comet.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance — the gem on Azure’s neck lit up. Glowing blue. Her entire figure was outlined in blue and she vanished.

Leaving the rest of her party members there.

***

Weeks later.

I was sleeping in a cave. It was warm and sunny. I had been following the usual routine of wander - sleep - wander sleep.

I heard another noise.

The pad of footsteps. A clank.

Some creature had tripped over something. It woke me up. I looked over.

It was a person. A female human.

European features. Long blond hair that fell to her waist. Blue eyes. She was dressed like a witch.

Ragged black robes with flowing skirts. Long sleeved and turtle-necked. A blue ring and pendant glowing with magic. Daggers and misc. Items on hanging on a belt on her waist. Practical leather boots. No pointy hat. Just a battered cowboy hat.

She had four circles. I couldn’t tell what specifically. I used [Appraisal] on her to find out more:

=== Azure T’valor

Mana: 800

Power Level: ★★★★

★ [Arcane Grasp]

★★ [Comprehend Languages]

★★★ [Identify]

★★★★[Arcane Eye]

===

A new ability. Not a dragon one - but a system one.

I understood what the stars and circles meant.

The magicians of this world could only learn only one spell per level, and each choice is permanent. This limits wizards to six spells in total if they reach the highest level.

Each star was a spell. 4 star wizard. 4 spells. 4 internal magic circles.

You could cast each of the spells as much as you wanted. So long as you had a power source, whether Mana or something else. But you were limited to only those 6 spells for the rest of your life.

Looking at the spell specialties - she was a scholar. Who else would waste a permanent spell-slot on something as useless as [Comprehend Languages], [Identify] and [Arcane Eye].

She had tripped over something and was picking herself up. She hadn’t noticed me yet.

The cave was dark enough that I had blended into the darkness. My scales seeming to merge with the cave walls. The only thing that glowed in the light were my eyes. I dimmed them.

In the air next to her floated a scroll with a pen writing notes on it’s own.

I appraised it.

=== Quill of Transcription

A magical quill that records conversations or takes dictated notes. It might be useful for wizards or scholars.

===

She continued to talk to the [Quill of Transcription].

‘In her two volume work The Dragon Temple, a work that is a cornerstone to the study of Dragons, Historian Estelka Khrimara made many great points. But the most significant one being - a temple was not merely designed as a place of worship - but as a sanctuary for divinity - for dragons. The size of the Sanctuary built to force people to contemplate the majesty of Dragons — but’

She paused to touch the walls. Specifically the scar marks. I had recently made them.

‘But — that makes no sense. Based on the current evidence — Dragon sanctuaries weren’t built for people to contemplate Dragons. I think Dragons actually lived there.’

She was quiet. She had touched the wall in the same spots that I had. For the same reason.

The mural.

A huge red dragon blowing fire on a mountain. It seemed lifelike. As if it was going to leap off the wall. I had touched it and it had crumbled a bit. Leaving a claw mark. The magic was fading.

A bit of dust got into my nose.

‘Achoo.’

I sneezed.

Azure turned from looking at he mural. She looked up and up and up until she saw me.

She wasn’t surprised. She didn’t faint.

She seemed - enthusiastic.

***

It had been three hours and she hadn’t stopped talking at me. First she had tried to become my servant. I refused.

She had bowed. Kneeling. Head to ground.

‘I am a Dragon Keeper. Oh Mighty Dragon. We have been awaiting your return.’

She gave me the backstory. I heard the story of Blackwing. After his death — several religions had risen up. The Dragon Keepers — who wanted the dragons to come back and rule over everything. The Dragons of Destruction. Who also wanted the dragons come back to destroy everything. The Mother Goddess. Who had become the mainstream religion.

Crackdowns over long periods of time had caused the other two dragon-related religions to shrink and become extinct. Her family was dead as a consequence.

They had been the main bloodline of the Dragon Keepers.

Azure T’valor.

Somehow they had found some records of my name and had named themselves after me. All of the families of the Dragon Keepers had all taken the names of different dragons.

Fate.

After learning the ‘family relationship’ — ‘Could you take me as…y-your apprentice?’

I refused.

***

Eventually we had tea. It was all she had. It was magic tea - sold in bricks. Tasted terrible - but it was enough to keep adventurers going.

I had found an old dining set. A chair and a table. Some old gold goblets from somewhere. And we drank from them. I kept a wisp of my breath floating in mid-air for light and heat.

She drank. I merely tasted.

Terrible. I thought to myself after levitating the goblet into my mouth.

‘Tell me about the necklace?’ I asked her.

I had appraised it more than once and got stone-walled by the system.

===System Notification:

This information is out of scope of the system. Please gather more information and try again.

===

Something was wrong.

‘The necklace.’ She twirled it in her hand absentmindedly.

‘It was — is — was a family heirloom.’

It was a gemstone. A blue sapphire. Cut into the shape of rectangle. Mounted on a silver fitting. It probably had a silver chain - but that had been replaced by leather.

Her family first acquired it at an auction. Several hundred years ago. From a famous sorcerer. At first nobody thought anything of it - but every generation, it resonated with someones bloodline. Causing a strange feedback mechanism.

Power amplification. Small at first. Half a star. Then bigger and bigger. At its peak it bumped up the wearer 2 stars.

The T’valor’s became a powerful family with the use of the gemstone.

It was a cursed item. But at the time - they though it was a blessed item. A gem that amplified magic was rare. Especially that level.

Then came the consequences. A later generation bearer snapped one day and went on a rampage. He murdered every T’valor descendant except for a handful of people.

The T’valor were almost royalty. All gone overnight. Thousands of people.

You couldn’t even get rid of it. No matter how or where they threw it away. Whether it was one side of the continent deep in the ocean. Locked it away in some forgotten ruin. It always came back.

It was as if it was trying to communicate - but the communication led only to madness.

In the end - they figured out a way to keep it contained. Find the bearer, whoever resonated with it the most and destroy their magic. At least they would maintain partial sanity and the consequence wouldn’t be too severe.

She had explained that it had been last been held by her grandfather. Then he died. When it was her generation’s turn tragedy struck. It was given to her brother.

Not by choice. Normally when the gem picked. It tended to pick those weak in magic. And I was far inferior to my brother. He was a soldier of the Empire. A decorated veteran. A powerful magician. After the last campaign he had returned engaged to the Generals daughter. He was the pride of the T’valors’. My father saw the rise of the family again in him.

There were only three people left of the ancient noble house of T’valor now. Her father, brother and her.

The gem chose him. It was to powerful. It seemed to bewitch my brother. It broke him.

‘I remember when he first got the thing. I slept badly. I kept waking up. Imagining that there was a shadow wandering around. It broke into my room. I woke up and searched everywhere. I called my father. They all searched but, nothing.’

The next night there was a loud scream. Then came the servant girl knocking at my door.

‘It’s your brother.’ Said the servant girl sobbing and trembling, ‘My poor master. He’s dead.’

I ran to take a look. My father was already there. A crowd had gathered there as well. Four priests were in the room, examining all of the details. Making notes.’

My brother wasn’t dead. He was only unconscious. He was pale. Stiff. Turning blue. His eyes were wide open in horror. As if he had seen something unspeakable.

They had covered him with a quilt. But I could see blood seeping through it. Later. When everyone had left. I peeled the quilt off him. I saw claw marks. All up and down his body.

He never recovered. He was driven insane. They ended up putting him in an asylum.

It broke my father. He sat in the chair in the room. Drinking. Sometimes late at night I saw him crying.

It broke our family as well. The last of our finances went to keeping him in that institution. Really a jail. Jail for the most powerful and evil of men.

‘Imagine. A man who lived his life serving the empire ending up imprisoned. He was too powerful to be taken anywhere else.’ A tear slid down her face and she wiped it.

My father rarely visited him. I visited him weekly. Near the end almost daily. He had one fixed idea - he was being chased by a shadow. Being sucked dry by it.

One day - he simply snapped. He was normally calm. He cried. Screamed. He begged me to take it away.

‘Take it away. He kept insisting. Help! Help!’

‘Surely there was someone who could have done something?’ I asked.

‘The stone was alive’ she said. ‘If someone other than the family tried to do anything - it would play dead.’

‘After burying my brother, later that winter I buried my father. I ended up with the stone. The stone didn’t seem to affect me that much.’ She gulped down the last of her tea.

‘It helped me. It kept pointing me to certain things. That’s how I found the map. I sold everything and the gem lead the way here.’

Hmm. I felt the gem with my Dragon magic. [Appraisal]

===Mordrath’s Stone [Primordial Gem]

A stone that Mordrath is using to come back to life. Binds the soul of its master, capturing it upon death and holding it within until dark rituals restore them to life.

===

Mordrath? Probably the Dark Lord.

‘Give it to me for a second.’

The gem floated from her neck up into her hand. I closed my eyes. My consciousness floated into the stone.

I arrived to a massive space. A cavern of infinite size. It was filled with the shape of a white dragon curled up.

‘Who are you?’ The dragon questioned me.

I had turned into the shape of a black dragon. Equally sized.

‘How can you be here?’ Question Mordrath. ‘You aren’t from here.’ He answered his own question.

He looked closer at my head. A purple gem glimmered in between my eyebrows.

‘How do you have a [Primordial Gem]?’ He asked.

‘Not sure.’ I replied.

At that Mordrath laughed. ‘You have a [Primordial Gem] and you don’t even know how to use it. I still have a chance. The Heavens are still on my side.’

He attacked. ‘I’ll burn you to ash.’

Mordrath spit a white flame from his mouth.

Yes. I agreed to the notification floating in front of me.

===System Notification:

System has discovered a new source of energy. Would you like to input it?

===

A purple light - almost like a tractor-beam flashed from my gem towards him.

‘No.’ He flew in the air trying to dodge but it locked onto him. It eventually caught him.

‘I don’t understand…’ The purple light started to suck his energy dry. All of the energy he had spent millennia trying to accumulate was taken in by the system.

I watched the process. Mostly a bystander.

‘You can’t kill me. Why should I, the greatest of all Dragons, bow to the constraints of another’s design? I am not content.’ He was frozen in place by the purple beam of light.

‘I gave the world it’s freedom. The others would have had a world locked in stagnant peace, un-moving, like a pool with no currents. But I brought fire, life, movement. If that is wrong, then let them call me evil.’ He began to fade. Slowly growing more transparent.

‘And tell me, what is ‘good’ and ‘evil’ but a convenient lie to keep power out of my hands? Why should power not belong to those strong enough to wield it, those willing to face what lies beyond? I have always been the greatest of my kin, the one who could see further, think deeper, reach beyond this stagnant realm.’ He continued to grow more feeble and more transparent.

‘But know this: my vision is the truest, boldest vision. And I will not be bound by their small and shallow ideas of creation. It’s you. You are the one. You shall accomplish my vision.’

He laughed maniacally before he turned into nothing. The laugh echoed long after he had disappeared. The purple beam of light retreated back into the gem in my mind.

Why do villains spend so much time talking? Always the same thing too — I I have to make everyone do what I say. The world will only be perfect if everyone listens to me.

How boring. Spending millennia to force people do what you want. A millennia to become a micro-manager. So dumb.

Just go find something interesting to do. There are a lot more fun things to do other than trying to boss people around.

As soon as the magic faded a way. Memories flooded in. It made my already conflicted self even more conflicted.

I took control. I forced the system to lock away the memories away. Putting them in a corner of my mind. Keeping only two things.

Undead magic.

Transformation magic.

Yes. I did a fist bump in my mind.

Undead magic was useless. But I was super happy with the second.

I knew Mordrath couldn’t have been a human. He was too powerful. It was suspicious how he sprung up out of nowhere. He was like me. A sleeper who woke up too late.

But at least I had a solution for something I had been looking for. I could transform into human form.

The memories were unsettled. Like an oil slick on top of water. It would take time for them to sink into my mind. I would have to sleep to process them. Make them mine.

I opened my eyes. I felt a lot calmer.

Azure sat watching me.

I smiled at her.

‘Was there anything wrong with it?’ she asked.

‘There was a spirit attached to your gem. He was trying to come back to life. Sucking clean the souls of the gem bearers.’

She looked appalled at the news.

Tavalor sighed. ‘It was a cursed item. The power amplification was only a lure. But I’ve got rid of it.’ I floated it back to her. ‘It’s nothing but an ordinary gem now.’

She looked sad. She sighed. Everybody was sighing.

‘Can I touch you…your scales I mean?’

I was surprised at the question.

‘OK.’ I didn’t mind.

She walked over. She was as tall as one of my hands. I was lying down. My head on top of my folded hands. Tails and wings tucked in behind me.

She walked up to my head. Stroked it. Her hand felt warm.

=== System Notification:

Special Ability unlocked [Ancient Scales]

Hint: Your scales do more than shine. They hold secrets against even the harshest attacks.

===

‘Are the Dragons really not going to come back?’ she asked again.

‘We left because magic changed.’ I said. ‘It could no longer sustain us. The Age of Dragons has been over for a long time and it’s never coming back.’

‘But what about the prophecy? The signs? You’re a dragon. You came back’

I laughed. ‘I don’t fit the prophecy. I never left - I was only napping.’

She was startled at the thought. Several millennia of time was just a nap to me.

‘So you’re the only one left too?’ she looked up at me ‘Don’t you miss the other dragons?’

I thought about it. ‘A bit.’ I replied. It would have been cool to be with other dragons. ‘But not that much.’

‘I miss my family too.’