Flight of fire

A rather peaceful time had come upon the land of Minuet. The wars which had ravaged the lands generations ago were long past, and healing was underway. The devastation could have been much worse, but in the midst of the battles, as each side prepared to use their harmonic ankhs, the dragons had descended upon the lands.

Unheard of, nobody knew what to think of these dragons. From the east came Boleron, the great dragon of flame. From the south, the dragon Serenada of the Ice. From the west came Requiem, the dragon of the earth . From the north came Balladine, dragon of winds.

Boleron set ablaze the harmonic ankhs, reducing them to ash, Serenada with her mighty breath froze the wizard flames ravaging the land. Balladine swept away the smoke with a beat of her sky-spanning wings. Requiem caused great domes of earth to surround the wizards whom had been fighting in the war. Having stopped the fighting, the dragons spoke wisdom to the nations and their leaders. Wisdom of ages past.

"Too long we have stayed silent and uninvolved!" Came Belladine, with a roar with the might of a storm.
"Too long has man been consuming all like unquenchable flame!" Came Boleron, with a growl like an inferno ablaze.
"Too long have men's hearts been colder than glaciers toward each other!" Came Serenada, with a whisper like a thousand raindrops.
"Too long has war caused suffering on all the earth!" Came Requiem, with a rumble like a rock-slide.

United, the dragons called out, "We shall tolerate this no longer! Wars have come and gone, and yet still man has not learned! We are as one, our will be that man should learn unity. Should they fail, they may face discord together under us!"

Fearing the dragons, a peace settled over the land, peace which has lasted generations. The elders from that time are dead now, and record remains of the great dragon anthem but it is now only a story. The dragons kept a watchful eye on mankind, but over several years they had withdrawn. Still wary of humanity, they watched from their perches. In the north, Balladine took up residence in the cliffs of Aria. To the east, Bolero watched from the fiery peak of Fugue volcano. In the western valley, Requiem lay deep inside the Nocturne caves. In the south, Serenada resided on Bossa Nova Island.

As all this had passed, it was now legend to the younger generation. No more than fantasy tales spun late at night. Although the stories of the great dragon anthem were now seen as children's stories, war had not visited Minuet. The rulers had taken up the tradition of peaceful trade, all the rulers, except for one.

Spectral, the king of the Clef kingdom in the east, despised the weakness of his progenitors. Feeling it foolish to not take anything he could for himself, Spectral ordered his most skilled wizards to find any lost magics they could locate. The wizards, known as the Fractured, were diverse in their skills and some of the most experienced magic-casters alive. Using magics once thought lost, they discovered the blueprints to a mighty weapon: the harmonic ankh. Under orders from Spectral, the Fractured started constructing one in secret.

A young boy who had no home had made his way up to the volcano. Making several trips down from the cave a week, he would take care of all his needs. Occasionally, he would discover beautiful stones, or even occasionally prisimite or sonorite. When he went to town, he would sell the stones for enough money to buy what he couldn't forage for himself. He had kept a few magical stones for himself. Being on a volcano, he found more than enough fire prismite and fire sonorite to use in practicing magic. Although he had no formal training, he was gradually understanding how magic felt. When he grasped at the concentrated arcana inside the prismite, he could feel the red glow of the fire, and when he touched the arcana inside sonorite, he could hear the flames' crackle. Using this, he was able to learn enough to gain a fair understanding of magic.

The harmonic ankh was completed quickly. In a sudden flash of destruction, Spectral had unleashed the very sparks of war which had caused the dragon anthem years before. Spectral, using the forbidden magic, attacked the northern kingdom of Treble. In days, the peaceful plains and plantations were all but non-existent. The sound of the ankh did more than destroy the farmland of Treble. It also awoke Boleron.

During his daily excursion into the volcanic caves, the young boy heard an unusual sound. He felt the air ring with magical energy, and it felt like death. As quickly as it had come, it was gone, replaced by a new sound. It was the sound of life, the sound of a fire springing to life, and gurgling forth. Curious where this sound was coming from, the boy found a crack which he had not noticed before. Squeezing through it, he followed the sound. When he reached the other side, he saw an amazing sight. Before him was a giant creature, with scales like rubies, and talons of steel. It saw he boy, and came close.

"I sense in you great potential. Tell me, did you hear that loud noise?" The dragon asked the boy.

"It... sounded like death. I was scared, but you sound like life... you're not scary." The boy responded.

"I'm not scary? Even with these fangs, horns, claws? Even with my great size?" The dragon chuckled, like embers bouncing off of stone. His eyes drew close into slits as he looked at the boy. "You should fear fire, boy. It is a dangerous thing! I could toast you right now!"

"But your fire sounds so soft. It sounds like sunshine, and warmth in winter. I want to be close to that, even if only for now." The boy replied. The dragon stared at him for a moment, then he backed away.

"Tell me, boy, do you have a name?" Bolero inquired.

"I don't have one that I know of. I have lived on this volcano for a long time, and I don't have any family."

"Then I shall name you Forge, and ask if you would like to come with me. I have a feeling that I may find your presence useful in the future." Bolero stated.

"I like that name, it sounds warm!" Forge exclaimed, "I'd love to go with you... but what are you doing, and were are we going?"

"We are going to where that sound came from. I recognize it from not too long ago. I know what this must mean, but I doubt that my friends heard it. I did, but only because I was so close, as you were. I see you have the spark of magic in you. I may need you to use it, so I shall teach you the ways of the fire dragon as we travel. Although we dragons normally do not feel the need to rush, I fear that time may not be on our side. Climb upon my back, we shall take to the skies." Bolero called out.

Forge did as Bolero asked, and with a mighty bellow, Bolero took flight, bursting forth from the volcano. In the daylight from high in the sky, Forge saw a plume of smoke rising in the north. Although the sound of it was faint, he thought he could hear crying, screaming, and yelling drifting toward them on the wind. Bolero flew to Spectral's palace.


Bolero reached Spectral's palace, and heard the sound of death once more. A bright light flared out of one of the buildings, and clipped his left wing. The damage done caused him to spiral out of control for a moment, and Forge fell off. Bolero, sensing Forge's plummet toward the rocks below, cast a powerful dragon spell: flight. Forge suddenly floated midair. Surprised, he looked around, and realized that he was being held afloat by magic. Hurriedly, he rushed to Bolero whom was now flying normally again, albeit favoring his right wing more.

"Quickly, get on my back again. The sound of death, the harmonic ankh, is too powerful for me to approach alone. We need to retreat and gather help. If I hadn't gotten hit, I could probably have destroyed it, but the problem we're looking at now is far bigger. Let us go."

Forge, thankful for Bolero's willingness to save him from a fall that would have killed him, felt closer to the dragon than before, and was angry he had gotten hurt. He got on Bolero's back, and they quickly headed north, to meet with the dragon of the winds, Balladine.

As Bolero and Forge flew off to the north, a loud sound came from behind them, approaching quickly. Forge, too curious to just ignore it turned and looked. He saw that they were being chased by another dragon. This one, however, seemed less solid. Looking at the dragon was difficult. It seemed to shift in the air, never keeping its form exactly... and it was not like looking at a real dragon, but rather a shadow of one. Forge nudged Bolero as best as he could to indicate he should look. When Bolero turned and saw the dragon approaching, he seemed immediately angry and on edge. Diving down suddenly, he dropped Forge off on the ground, then quickly took flight again. Forge could do nothing but watch.

For several tense minutes, Bolero and the mysterious dragon of darkness battled midair, talons and teeth shining. The sun glinted off of Bolero's scales, and seemed absorbed by the form of the dark dragon. Finally, after an intense exchange of blows, Bolero shot a white-hot searing blaze from his mouth, incinerating the other dragon.

Exhausted from the battle, Bolero landed next to Forge. He was injured, several scales having been torn away, and although it seemed impossible, given his being a fire dragon, he was scorched where the scales had been ripped away. Taking a moment to rest, Bolero started talking with Forge about what had just happened.

"You're probably wondering what that was, Forge. Am I right?"

"It... it felt like magic, but it wasn't warm like you, it didn't feel like fire. I don't know how you could have gotten burned!"

"You're right, it was magic. You're also correct about how I shouldn't be able to get burned. That was a dragon made from old magics. Ones that we dragons had thought were lost a long time ago. It's natural that when we came together they didn't use it. After all, it takes large amounts of magical power to create a dragon of shadow. Naturally, shadow dragons aren't as powerful as their actual counterparts. No doubt they summoned it because they had struck me with the ankh and thought I would be wounded enough to be vulnerable to it. Because it's made of dark magic, it sears, scorches and burns like no other thing does. I survived because of my thick magical protection provided by my scales. That is why I put you down. Normally, getting touched by one of them will destroy something utterly."

"Wait, so it was... made of darkness? Actual darkness?"

"Yes, and seeing that our enemy is in possession of powerful ancient magics, I am convinced we will need the help of all three of the other dragons. Tonight, we camp while I heal. Tomorrow at first light, we fly to Balladine with haste. I would to go north now, avoiding the shed of more innocent blood, but if I reveal myself now, I might not have the strength to resist another attack. While we wait, allow me to teach you about magic. At the very least, I need to teach you how to defend yourself against dark magic and keep yourself from falling to your death in the event of my incapacitation midair."

"Wait, so you're going to teach me how to fly? Like I did before?" Forge asked, anxiously.

"No, for you, it will not be the same. I am a dragon, my magical capacity is deep. You are a young boy, and you will still need many years before you have the magic to fly yourself as I provided you ability earlier. What I will teach you will be enough to allow you to fall slowly, or at a pace that you desire, but you will fall. Over time, you'll be able to stay airborne longer, and eventually you may have the power to fly freely. That is not for now, however. We start simply, and the most important thing I can teach you right now is how to protect yourself from the dark magic you just witnessed."

Forge looked disappointed, but he accepted that he might not be capable of great feats of magic just yet. For the rest of the day, Boleron taught Forge how to cast a protective shell of light magic around himself. Forge took to the magic fairly well. Boleron was impressed, and seeing Forge's quick advancement, he taught Forge the spell of flight.

Before settling down for the night, Boleron asked Forge what magic he knew from before they had met. Forge showed him a few tricks he had learned using fire sonorite and prismite. Boleron was both impressed and humored.

"You show aptitude for magic, but your technique is so strange. Most wizards do not cast magic in this way. Being able to do it without the use of stones, at that! You might be able to learn a bit of dragonfire magic. Would you care to try?"

"Yes! Yes! But to be fair, although I can cast without stones to aid me, I can't really learn much on my own without them. I have to... know... what the magic feels like or sounds like... before I can really understand how it works."

Boleron chuckled deep inside, producing a sound that seemed like the gentle roar of a hearth. With a sparkle in his eye, Boleron told Forge he saw potential within him beyond most people. He explained that to feel or hear magic of an element, one must only know what the thing feels like or sounds like... at least, for the four elemental magics. Fire was warm, and crackled. Water was cool and soothing, and gurgled. Wind was refreshing, and whistled. Earth was solid, and rumbled. He explained how there were other magics, too. They weren't elemental, so it was more difficult to learn, which is why Boleron was so surprised at Forge's ability to learn the light shield shell.

"Very well, now that I have explained to you some of the basics of magic, let us start with the most simple of dragonfire spells. Follow my directions closely. If you manage to do these steps right, and have the strength to pull the pure warm fire from within yourself and things around you (like me), you will be able to create a dragonfire ball. A dragonfire ball will only harm things with malicious intent." Bolero stated, then he drew a series of drawings on the ground showing the somatic components of the spell.

Forge tried to follow the directions, but he kept forgetting what came next and kept having to look back. The first time he tried, he didn't do it right because he had looked back at the drawings too much. Bolero encouraged him to try again, telling him that the movements would begin to come naturally with practice. Forge continued to practice, and after several minutes, he successfully created a small glowing ball of shimmering fire. It was so small, it seemed only a spark, like a firefly lighting up the evening. And after a few moments, Forge felt a bit tired, and the ball fell from his grasp onto the grass. Forge suddenly panicked, and as he did his concentration lapsed and the fire went out. Bolero laughed, and reminded Forge that dragonfire won't hurt things that aren't malicious.

"Ok, but what if it was used on something evil?" Forge asked. Bolero looked serious, and responded in a grave tone.

"It's not about evil or good! It's about intent. If the caster perceives something as seeking to do harm to them, it will destroy it utterly. I'll give you an example. Look at that tree over there on the ground." Bolero signaled with his tail a log which was rotting in place in the forest. Opening his mouth wide, a sigil appeared in front of it, and then a roaring ball of fire blasted forth hitting the rotting log. After a moment of blinding light, Forge looked at where the log once was. Entirely destroyed, there was no sign it had ever existed. Everything around it was untouched.

"This is the power of dragonfire. I may teach you more, but know this... if you ever use dragonfire for evil, I shall have to seek you out and destroy you, as that is my responsibility for teaching you powerful magics. I must teach you, though, for you are my ally in a war that will shake the world through arcane and mundane alike."

The following day, Forge and Bolero began making their way north. Forge was amazed by the speed of Boleron's healing. Although he was still missing scales, his wing had healed where it had been hit by the ankh, and his other scratches and burns had recovered. As they flew northward, Forge noticed a large number of people riding horses below.

Shortly after the people had seen them, there was a roar, as a spear of black energy arced past them, barely missing Boleron. The men below were wizards working in service to Spectral, and they had started casting dark magic spells at them. Forge thought quickly, and yelled toward Boleron.

"I have an idea, but I need your help! I'm going to jump, you breathe dragonfire at me!" Forge yelled.

"What? Nonsense! I can defeat them alone! Do not unnecessarily endanger yourself!" Boleron roared back, but as he did, Forge had jumped off his back. Angry, and concerned for the fate of Forge, he swooped around and followed the plan reluctantly.

As Forge fell through the air, he put up his light shield. As the dragonfire started flaring behind him, Forge cast a small flare of dragonfire, but it wasn't the sparkling color it had been before. It seemed blue and flowing. He caught the stream of dragonfire that Boleron had spewed toward him in his small ball of light. It was absorbed, and the ball became huge and shifting blue. He turned and flung it toward the men on the ground. It splashed, and when the smoke cleared, they had all been frozen, unable to move but still alive. As Forge continued falling, he stopped casting his armor, and replaced it with the flight spell, and he suddenly slowed to a reasonable pace.

Forge landed on the ground safely, and Boleron landed next to him. His eyes sparkled with amusement and wonder. Being totally frozen, the wizards couldn't move, giving Boleron the idea to see what they could learn. Using his flame breath, Boleron thawed one out. Right away he could tell he was out classed. He surrendered. Boleron asked him several important questions.

"Do you work for the eastern king?"

"Yes, we work for him, but indirectly. We receive our orders from the high wizard of his court. We are the Fractured, and if anything happens to us, there are still others whom will rise up from the Fractured to do the will of the high wizard." The Fractured lackey responded.

"Who is the high wizard of the Fractured?"

"The great wizard: Cacophon. He is the most skilled of us all. Even you dragons would stand no chance against him directly!"

"What is your goal, why are you headed north?"

"We are claiming the territory which we marked as part of Clef yesterday. We're also under orders to stop you from heading north if we see you along the way. Apparently, Cacophon believes you're a threat, but it seems that even you cannot do anything against the might of the harmonic ankh! Oh, and by the way, I must thank you for freeing me."

Suddenly, Boleron realized that answering the questions he had asked was a ploy the enemy was using to distract him from the others being freed. They burst out of the ice, and as a group, they fired their spells at Boleron, whom with a single wing-beat dodged them by jumping high into the air. Sensing the difficulty in hitting him, the wizards redirected their beams of darkness. In unison, they flew toward Forge from all directions. Forge braced himself with his shell of light, but one lone streak pierced him through the chest.

Screaming in agony, Forge fell to the ground. Enraged, Boleron cast a spell at them with the intent to kill. In mere seconds, a dragonfire meteor fell from the heavens, smashing into the Fractured. Hastily rushing to Forge's side, he found himself worried about Forge's life. In horror at Forge's draining life-force, Boleron cried a single tear. When it landed on Forge's wound, Forge was suddenly healed. A few minutes later, Forge awoke, unsure what had happened.

Boleron explained what had happened and also commented on his magical power, to survive a fatal blow long enough for Boleron's tear to heal him. Forge asked if he did well, and Boleron admitted that he didn't expect Forge to come up with such a creative technique as turning dragonfire into a dragonice flare. Showcasing his incredible recovery, Forge attempted to jump onto Boleron's back.

He was surprised when his flight magic instinctually activated, and he didn't simply start climbing, but actually flew up to Boleron's back. Curious at what had happened, Forge asked.

"How... how did I do that? Boleron, have I gotten more powerful so quickly?"

"When I saved your life, I did so by infusing part of my life-force in you. Naturally, with that you'll experience a boost in your magical power. I didn't expect it to be so dramatic." Boleron commented. As they took flight toward the north once again, Forge took a closer look at his chest and saw a strange scar. It was dark black (despite his otherwise tan complexion), and in the shape of a '#'. It didn't hurt, but he was not sure how to feel about it. It was right over his heart, after all.

"Don't we need to get headed to the northern dragon... what's the name? Balladine? Knowing those guys are out in force and with orders to attack you if they see you, we should probably go as quickly as we can." Forge asked, holding on tightly to Boleron.

"Yes, yes we do. And I'm pleased you remembered the name. Balladine of the north winds. My other companions are Serenada of the southern waters and Requiem of the western earth. You should remember their names, in case something happens and we get separated for any reason. After all, we need all four dragons (myself included) to stop the wave of darkness I sense creeping over the land." Boleron sped up, rushing with all haste to the north. The battle ahead would not be easy, but the dragons now had a secret weapon they had never counted upon, Forge.