Index
CHAPTER ONE
Raven
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"The Council of Elders will convene," an authoritative voice called.
Raven heard it just as he woke. He moaned uncomfortably. Raven knew that voice well. It was one of the people from his dreams.
Dream...then this was a dream. Raven thought back; had the portal and the pendent been a dream too? He just wasn't sure. Slowly, Raven opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. Everything was as it had been before; a dimly lit chamber, tall walls with no ceiling in site. The room smelled completely sterile. Even more so than any hospital that Raven had ever been to.
Not far from him, there stood a panel of old men. Two were human, two looked like elves. However, Raven wasn't sure about the one in the center. The old man sat, shrouded in darkness, looking down at him from his bench. This man he knew as the leader of the council, and was the one who had just spoken.
"Arise young one," the old man ordered with more vigor than Raven would have thought possible for him, "Destiny awaits you."
After a moment of hesitation, Raven did as the man had commanded. He looked up at the five "elders" that sat before him. the boy carefully eyed them up; something he had made a tradition several years prior, trying to get his bearings while not betraying any weakness. The men stopped conversing among themselves, and turned to Raven.
The leader of the group banged his ceremonial gavel on the table before him, "This meeting begins now."
More Questions? thought Raven. He really didn't have the patience for questions right, now unless he was the one asking. Raven waited for the elder to begin speaking. He didn't have to wait long.
"You have exceeded our expectations of you, Raven," he began, "You became worthy of the Thunderbolt Pendant a full week before we suspected you would. That is quite a feat my good sir."
Raven merely looked at the man for a moment, trying to absorb what he had said. Finally he managed, "Worthy? What on Earth is going on here?"
Several of the elders burst into laughter.
"What's so funny?" demanded Raven.
The council leader glared the others down, silencing them. "A storm is coming," he replied, turning back to Raven, "It is only on the horizon now, so you have time to prepare, but when it gets here, it will destroy everything in its path, including Dragons Breath and Earth."
Raven shook his head, "I don't understand!"
"Then please," prompted the elder, "Ask us questions to your heart's content. What do you wish to know?"
Raven hesitated again, "I don't know where to start." He thought for a moment, absent-mindedly running his fingers through his hair. Then it came to him, "My mother. She said she tried to protect me from that pendant. What is so special about it?"
"The Thunderbolt Pendant," the leader began, "is an ancient talisman that is considered sacred by those who know its true power. Your mother, stole the pendent in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. She then used it to somehow travel from our world, Dragons Breath, to your world, Earth. It is"
"Whoa, whoa! Back up a second," Raven interrupted, "Another world? Tell me about this 'Dragons Breath'"
"Very well. Dragons Breath is parallel to Earth. It was created centuries ago in order to protect Earth from the dangers that Magic posed."
"What kind of danger?"
"Imagine," one of the other elders prompted, "if magic had been used during either one of your World Wars. Humans would have annihilated themselves ten times over if magic still existed on Earth as it does in Dragons Breath."
Raven thought about that for a moment. The idea made sense.
When Raven nodded, the lead elder continued, "The rest is unimportant at the moment. Others will fill in any other details along the way," he paused, "As for your mother, she never fathomed the responsibility that she would carry when she took that pendant. When she reached Earth, she thought she could forget her past.
"She was wrong. Eventually, she settled down and started a family. But she never told you or your father anything about our world. However, your mother slowly began to realize that she could not run from her past forever. So, she hid the pendant. She could not stop destiny though. The pendant chose you."
"So what's gonna happen now?" questioned Raven. He had now all but lost his cool exterior.
"You will be transported to Dragons Breath."
"There is another like you," began another, "A young girl lives in Dragons Breath. Her mother came from Earth, her father from Dragons Breath."
"Others will help you as well," stated the leader, "You must find them though. It may very well take all of you to overcome the darkness that plagues this land."
Raven was about to ask what he meant, but the elder elaborated, "The darkness goes by many names, Raven. You will find out more as you progress through our world."
"Find items and people to empower you," stated one of the Elvin elders, "The Forest of Illusion contains many treasures, as well as a path to between the Western and Eastern continents. Be careful."
"Who are you people?" questioned Raven.
"We are the followers of the Great Wizard, former of Dragons Breath and creator of the Gate. But the time for questions has ended. You will wake now and your nightmare will begin."
"Somehow that doesn't sound encouraging."
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