Guardian Spirit

Prologue

(2782 C.D.)

The man stared in horror as the head of the black dragon came closer. The sheer size of the being was hard to comprehend and its imposing presence seemed to suck away all the hope and light from the world. Its black scales were like large shields. The spread out wings blocked the sun and made the sky seem like a black, leathery blanket. The horns of the dragon were like huge, spiralling trees that crowned the majesty of its horror. As the dragons jaws opened the man found himself wondering whether the wagons he had back home would fit in the beings mouth with one bite.

The horror that had petrified him was broken when one of his comrades ran into him, just barely pushing them both away from the dragons closing jaws. The air current caused by the close encounter blew up sand and pushed the man and his companion further away.

“Remember why we are here! We can not lose you or the sword before the sealing is done!” his companion yelled at him before standing up and running towards the dragon.

The man stood up and looked around him. The black lizard seemed to fill the entire valley they were in. He saw the small figures by the dragons body trying to hit it with swords and arrows. He shook his head. Such weapons would not hurt the dragon in any way. He tightened his grip on the sword in his hand. It was the only weapon they had to fight the nightmare before them.

He ran towards the centre of the valley, doing his best to avoid the dragons attention. As he looked around to the edge of the valley and the hills that surrounded it, he was relieved to see the priests were in position. Some had already began the rite.

The man struck down a cultist with one fell swoop of the sword, barely slowing down his pace. He had no time for such conflicts. Two hundred paces. One hundred. There! The centre of the valley.

He looked around to ensure his own safety. His companions seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the cultists busy and the dragons attention was drawn to a fire elemental that had been summoned. He knew the elemental would provide only a temporary reprieve and as he thought of that, the dragon breathed out a deadly, dark mist, that engulfed the elemental being. Even such a being would not survive and he noted with sadness that some of his companions were caught in the mist as well. All that would be left of them would be their bones.

He shook his head and struck the sword deep into the ground. He grabbed the sun shaped pommel and knelt.

“Loriel, grant us your strength. Your brother must be stopped,” the man muttered in a silent voice before starting the official rite. He could only hope the priests were doing their part.

To his relief he began to feel the energies gather not only from his own efforts, but from those of the other priests. The energies started to become visible to the naked eye as they swirled and gathered around the grounded sword in a dance of blue, red, brown and white light.

The dragons head snapped around and its gaze focused on the sword and the man knelt behind it. It let out a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very ground and darted towards what it deemed to be the greatest threat to it.

The man raised his gaze, only to close his eyes from the horror that was headed for him. He doubled his efforts to finish the rite in time for he knew death would be upon him if he did not. To his relief he felt the last bits of energy settle in their place. He rose from his knees and faced the approaching dragon with a steady gaze.

“Deremoth!” the man shouted in a voice filled with strength. “Your time is at an end!” With those words, the man released the energies.

A multicoloured beam of light shot out from the pommel of the sword and struck the dragon. The mighty lizard shrieked in anger. It tried to move away from the beam, but its movements were slowed down and ultimately stopped by a crystal like casing that was slowly but surely engulfing its entire body.

Realizing it had lost for now, the dragon laughed. It was a horrible sound that would haunt the survivors until the end of their days.

“You think you have won?” the lizard asked mockingly. “You have merely delayed the..” The last words were never heard as the crystal like casing snapped shut around the dragons mighty jaw. Encased in its prison the mighty being still managed to invoke a last rush of power. It shattered the valley floor.

The earth shook, tossing anyone still in the valley to the ground. A deep rumble could be heard from deep beneath and then, the world seemed to explode. Rock, men, the sword used for the sealing – all were thrown in the air, some never to be found.

The ground beneath the imprisoned dragon gave in. The mighty beast fell, splashing down in a basin of molten rock. The lava spewed upwards. For days the ground shook, fell and rose. When it all ended, where there once had been a valley, there was now an ash spewing volcano.

Moroth's Tooth had been born.