Dragon and Phoenix

Part I

            The sun was scorching hot, and the heat was burning my skin. The sky was like a furnace. I felt something watching me. Not out of hostility, but out of curiosity. I looked around, but could see nothing. I felt like time was running out. I was supposed to be doing something, but what? Suddenly, the scene around me changed. I was no longer in the desert, but by some abandoned ruins in a coniferous forest. Something else was watching me now, and it felt hostile. Before I could find where it was coming from, something dove out of the sky and the hostile creature was gone. The hostile feeling disappeared and the curious one returned.

Before I could do anything, I was carried up into the sky. Nothing was holding me up. I looked down and became dizzy. I have a fear of heights. I lost control and started falling back to the ground. Just before I hit the ground, I woke up. I was so relieved that it was just a dream. Oops, I guess I never introduced myself. My name is Taemar. I am fifteen, almost sixteen and a part of the tribe of Semryst. There are only a few tribes left now. About fifty years before I was born, there was a huge war between the four continents, Ionan, Volcantru, Aerio, and Maltrox.

Somehow, Volcantru developed a strange weapon using dark magic. Volcantru was the only of the four continents to use dark magic. Once activated, this weapon was supposed take out an entire continent. Well, something went wrong. The weapon was vastly more dangerous than anyone anticipated. It blew up, wiping out Volcantru, Aerio, and Maltrox. Even the magic of the elves and dragons of Aerio couldn't stop it or slow it down. They all died in the blast. The dwarves on Maltrox were able to escape to Ionan. Soon after the blast, however, the tainted air reached Ionan. It caused a devastating sickness that spread relentlessly through the land. The majority of the population was killed. Some say that the dwarves went back to Maltrox, but no one knows for certain.

Now there are only five major tribes left. Zavnric is the largest. Konoba is the next, then Trunsken, and then Semryst. Zavnric is an actual city. Konoba is an old fortress in the cold north. Trunsken and Semryst are just little more than villages.

Okay, enough about history, now back to the present. I got out of bed and got dressed. I was outside eating breakfast by the fire, when I felt something watching me. The sun wasn't up yet, but there was a faint light in the east. I turned around and stared out into the darkness. I see a pair of eyes reflecting the firelight. I sigh with relief. It is just one of our neighbor's hunchback cows. I turn back to the fire and finish breakfast.

When the sun comes up, news of an Explorer runs through the village like wildfire. Explorers are people who roam and explore the forsaken lands. They also sometimes go to Maltrox, where the taint has mysteriously vanished. The Explorers have gliders, and they island hop from island to island to get from Ionan to Maltrox and back. Some Explorers say that there is a hidden dwarvish city on Maltrox. Volcantru and Aerio are still covered with the taint, or so they say, because nobody ever returns from going there.

When the Explorer finally shows up, it is around midday, and the sun is high in the sky. The Explorer arrives looking tired and haggard. The odd thing is, he is coming from the south, from Zavnric. Usually the Explorers drop their stuff of at Trunsken, the nearest place to the islands, and then they head back to Maltrox. The Explorer heads straight to the center of the village. Everyone was whispering as they gathered around him, to hear what he had to say. He held up his hands to quiet the crowd.

"I have bad news!", he cried, "Zavnric has been destroyed. The Seven Magi that have governed the land are no more. Only one was still alive when I reached the city, and he was nearly dead. In his hand, there was a scroll. Before he died, he said, 'Prophecy...scar...ring...two...save...world.' That was all he said until he died." By now, all the people were whispering among themselves.