On Aeris, over 5,000 years ago, when the Age of Dragons was at its peak, the Creator breathed life into a new race of beings. They were called men and were given some of the same features as the elder races of elves and dwarves. Those that were left of the Gods took favor to the new beings and blessed them with rapid growth in mind and body. The race of Dragons became suspicious and jealous of what was being done with man. The Age of Gods had passed, it was the Dragon's time to rule over Aeris. They would not allow men to be the tools of the Gods to take over the world again, and thus enslaved the entire race.
For 3,000 years man lived under the tyranny of the Dragons, who were masters of magic and absolutely invincible to any craft that the inferior races possesed. Yet at the year of 3269, men did not need to liberate themselves alone. For the Dragons had begun a civil war. They too were an enslaved race, a secret kept hidden since the beginning of the Age of Dragons. Until that year the devil god Nutas had kept his presence hidden as the secret ruler of the Dragons. Keeping his tight grip on the throats of all Dragon chieftans and using his Demhar priesthood to maintain control. But the Dragons would allow it no longer, war had begun.
Dragons that kept loyal to Nutas fought beside the Demhar priesthood, making the rebel Dragon factions no match for their combined foe. It was then that they turned to the lesser races for aid. Elves, Dwarves, Men, Orcs, and many other races formed an alliance with the Dragon rebels. Together they fought for a free realm of Aeris, and for several centuries the rebellion went on. Yet no victor could emerge, the dragons proved too powerful to overcome on both sides.
There was one man, a great wizard, who realized that this war would not end as long as dragons fought. Stealing the great magical secrets of his Dragon masters he met in private with Nutas and intended to bargain a deal. Using the sacred oaths of Dragons the wizard and Nutas made a deal and devised a way to strip Dragons of all their power. When the seal was cast and their power lost, all Dragons were forsaken. Betrayed by their former allies and fearful of their newfound vulnerability the Dragons fled to unknown lands.
The wizard was killed by Nutas before he could return to his lands, after he died a scroll was found by one his apprentices. Written before he left it had prophesied that one day the Dragons would return. "Look to the birth of the Eye of the Dragon, through his dream the power will return." The prophecy told of the birth of a human with an eye of a dragon, and that such a human would unite man and Dragon against the evils of the world. Told by the prophecy to seek a land of dragons, followers sailed in search of such a place and waited for the day it would come to pass. They had succeeded in finding an island, which they called Breala, that had a settlement of Dragons but it would be almost an age before the prophecy would come true.
Over a thousand years passed and most of the descendants of those followers had completely forgotten about their origin and the prophecy. However it was at this time that the prophecy appeared to be true. The son of the High King Davnon Arnsday, Vlad, was born. His right eye, red with a black iris, was proof enough that he could be the child of the Dragon Eye prophecy. For a while, Vlad lived peacefully under the care of his father, the High King and his mother, the Queen. Yet there would be no lasting peace for a child of such importance.
Soon reports of a landing force came from the southeastern coasts of Breala. An invasion by an unknown enemy. An army was dispatched to confront the invaders and investigate their intentions. It was not a long or difficult battle, the invaders destroyed the army and marched towards Chandrille, home of the Dragon Eye child. The invaders', believed to be the ancient, evil Demhar priests and their minions the Chaotics, goal was to find the Dragon Eye child and kill him. To keep the child of prophecy safe, the High King put his son under the protection of Minos, one of his knights, and ordered him to flee Chandrille and protect Vlad until his destiny could begin. Minos took Vlad to the kingdom of Agamar, and waited for the time Vlad would be able to fulfill his destiny. Now, that time has come.
This is the tale of Vlad and his companions' journey to rid Breala of the Demhar and let prophesy come to pass.
All literary works Copyright (C) 2003 by Donald Christensen
