The Lost Empire

The Lost Empire



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The Lost Empire

Chapter one
Into History

As Lenore approached his hovel, with its dirt floor, and its mud coated walls, interlaced with willow and reed with its thatched roof, he wondered if this poor man’s hovel was what his life would amount to. This small hut Lenore called home, other then his small collection of books which he stored elsewhere was all he had. Lenore built his hovel on this spot cause of the view it offered him of the expensive and mysterious forest beyond. For reason, which Lenore did not yet understand, he had always had a passion for this forest named “The Forest of Virtues.” This forest is what Lenore spent all his spare time investigating, but the villagers of Alkalis feared this forest for generations. There were those from the village that did not look kindly on anyone that would interfere with the sleeping evil of the forest. Alkalis, a modest sized village with its tavern, and the inn where at harvest time merchants would stay until their business with the peasant farmers, and the blacksmith was concluded. Alkalis faced away from the Forest of Virtues, this is to say that every building front was built opposite the Forest of Virtues. The elders of the village have told for many generations that Alkalis is the oldest city of the age of the ghost, and that the progenitors of Alkalis came from an age of long ago. The buildings in Alkalis were built of stone with their shingled roofs, and the Goth Cathedral was the oldest known church in the Kingdom of Haven. The Goth Cathedral from the entrance which is located at the center curved gently backwards until they came to a point at each end. Each end of the cathedral went one and twenty-five feet, and from there the back of the Cathedral had equally spaced points, five of them from the center outward. Between these points were gentle curves that housed massive windows which looked back on the Forest of Virtues. Leading up to the entrance to the Goth Cathedral is this beautiful flag stone walkway, each side of which curved, from the entrance the walkway had gotten narrower the further from the cathedral you were. When you entered the Goth Cathedral, the first thing you saw was a pedestal made of granite on which sat nothing. The only features on this giant sized pedestal were these shallow impressions, which ran to the front edge where they ended with deep gauges three in each impression. After you passed this pedestal you entered the church auditorium, where row after row of ornately curved pews built of oak gradually dropped as you neared the pulpit. As you neared the pulpit, which was centered on the central point along the back of the cathedral, there were other pews more ornate then the pews that lead you here. These pews are for the chorus, from where they sang those heaven inspired songs on the day of worship. Anathema, a process in which the church uses to excommunicate those they say are heretics. This, is one of the processes the elders of Alkalis used in controlling the fear the villagers had of the Forest of Virtues. Rarely have the church elders used this process of anathema, but in the past they have used it, and on one of those occasions it involved Lenore and his parents. Lenore never knew his parents, he was raised by a family of importance, and was never told a thing of his parents. Lenore didn’t know the names of either his mother or father, and he made a promise to himself that one day he would found out who they were and what happened to them. The folks that reared Lenore, they were loving parents to Lenore, and they gave him the same love they gave their other child. A daughter the same age as Lenore, she was an invert, where as Lenore was a more out going. Her name is Danielle







Chapter Two
The storyteller

In the virtuous forest malevolent stars shimmer through the canopy of giant old growth oaks where the evils that men do live after them. Where one goes with trepidation, a place that history tells us evil lingers. From a distance one sees the animals going about their day’s routine, a bird and the insect, or the squirrel with his acorn. None of which tell you of the harm that befalls you if you enter the forest of Virtues. The legends that prevail tell of the many stories both of man and beast. They tell us tails of creatures of great size and strength, and some that fly. These legends pass from generation to generation, and they are passed on in the folklore of the storytellers. A storyteller is a person, a man or a woman that has traveled to many distant lands, where they have interacted with the cultures of these great lands. Though during whose travails they are not thought of as a storyteller, they could have any number of progressions they have worked at throughout their years of life. As they travel, they listen and learn, they learn the different legends that the folklore teaches as the storyteller from that community recites his stories. Sometimes they recite their stories too just a few, or at other times they may recite their legends at a yearly festival. The ones of the few are usually future storytellers who in turn will pass on what they were taught by their predecessors. In the second age, the age of the ghost, in the small village Alkalis which is near the forest of Virtues lives one such storyteller with a passion for the forest of Virtues. Amos Stalker is his name, a middle-aged man, with this look of a man of great knowledge. Amos moved to Alkalis shortly after his forty-ninth birthday, and in the years following he became more and more a part of the community. He started with little gatherings of two and three folks from the village telling of some of the legends he had learned over his years. Amos did not start out meaning to become a storyteller, but the more Amos recited these legends and the more the folks listened to them with fascination. This was the same reason Amos had learned these legends in the first place, and it fascinated him as well. The residence of Alkalis grew fond of Amos and wanted to know more about him, but Amos would always keep his past private. All he would say to the villagers was that he was a traveler of many years and nothing more, but because Amos had honor and trust, the villagers of Alkalis did not press Amos any farther. All accept one that is, and this one was a twenty-year-old whose path in life he had not figured out as of yet. This lad Lenore for some reason intrigued Amos, for Amos had heard rumor’s of this lad, a young fellow wondering into the Forest of Virtues. The people of Alkalis, though their village was near the Forest of Virtues never ever under any circumstances entered the forest. The forest of virtues was as foreign and unknown to the villagers as was the moon. Amos heard the tavern keeper Burke Simons telling some of the town folks one night that Lenore was seven days and six nights in the Forest of Virtues. Burke Simons, a man in his early fifties, with his coal black hair and twisted mustache, starting to gray, along with his large waste line gave a calm impression. Burke had said that he never heard what Lenore had done while he was in the Forest of Virtues, just that he was scared on his arrival back to Alkalis. After every one of the villagers had gone on their way, when it was just Amos and Burke left in the tavern Amos introduced himself to the tavern keeper. Burke Simons already know who Amos was, but he did not know Amos on a personal level. Amos had one reason for moving to Alkalis and one reason only, and that was the Forest of Virtues. To that end Amos would do what needed to be done to find out anything he thought was of interest when the Forest of Virtues was concerned. When he went to the tavern to get a drink and some interaction with the villagers Amos over heard Burke telling of this young man wondering to and from the Forest of Virtues. This is when Amos had decided to befriend Burke Simons, and Amos made it a point to spend as much time getting to know Burke as he thought he could help him with any thing concerning the forest of Virtues, and Lenore. Over the next few months Amos slowly learned that he could trust Burke Simons, and Amos decided to confide in Burke his reasons for moving to Alkalis. Amos began by telling burke, of the night he was telling of Lenore and his seven days and six nights in the Forest of Virtues. Amos asked Burke do you remember a few months back, I came in for a drink, it was the first time I entered your tavern. Burke told Amos that he did remember, but Burke said to Amos what does that have to do with what you are talking about. That night you and some other fellows were talking about different things, and you know as I do that your voice carries in a tavern such as this, and Burke nodded in agreement. As I was sitting having a drink, I overheard you talking about the Forest of Virtues, and you said that a young man named Lenore was heard to have been in the Forest of Virtues for seven days and six nights. Burke said to Amos that he did hear and past on what he heard about Lenore and the Forest of Virtues. There were many times in the past where you would hear of Lenore having done something that involved the Forest of Virtues. Burke sat in thought as he considered Amos, why are you so keen on the Forest of Virtues Burke ask Amos? It has to do with the Lost Empire Amos told Burke, the reason I tell you this Burke is that I trust you, and I know you will share with no one what I am about to tell you. What is the Lost Empire Burke had ask Amos? The age we now live in is called the Second age, Amos had said to Burke. Yes it is Burke said in reply, well before the second age we now share there was a first age, the age of the dragoon. In this age there was a race of people, not as we are, these were called the Elfin, they were the dragoons friendly folks that shared a language with the dragoon’s. That language has been lost to the folks of this age, which is lost to all but a few, and I am one of only three people that could read or write in the language of the dragoon. People of the second age have never seen, and would not know the language of the dragoon’s if they saw it. The Elfin empire, is the Lost Empire, and nothing has been seen of their culture or civilization for hundreds of years. There are only a few people that know of this empire, and less that try to find what happened to the Elfin people. Some say that the dragoon’s and the Elfin people both vanished in a war with some foreign enmity. I have studied my life long on the dragoon’s and the Elfin cultures, and I know little of then. Burke said to Amos what has this to do with the Forest of Virtues, and Amos told burke this. In my studies of the Elfin people I came across an old and faded map, I came to this map from listening to a storyteller many years ago. This storyteller told me and one other gentleman this legend about a forgotten city where it was told the entire city perished from an enemy of great power, that the last of the dragoon’s were defeated also. After the storyteller had finished reciting this legend, he went to another room, and when he returned he handed over an old and tutored parchment. On this parchment was the language of the dragoon’s showing a city which was the capital of the Elfin people. Although I could read the language of the dragoon’s, I did not know the terrain which it described. A lot of time has past sense this map was made, and many things have changed. This map is the reason I moved to Alkalis, and the Forest of Virtues. After years of research I have pinned down this lost city of the Elfin people, and I believe it awaits us in the Forest of Virtues. The one with the dragoon, of whom it is written will give birth once again to the Lost Empire, in this the second age, the age of the ghost, and will lead me to the Lost City of the Elfin Empire.







Chapter Three
Seven days and six nights

In late spring when the trees are in their full glory, their leafs a bright and fresh shade of green, and the sun’s ray flowing downward through their full bloom as they impart a feeling of happiness to any who appear in their presence. Such were the spirits of Lenore as he neared the edge of the Forest of Virtues on this the first day of his adventure into the forest witch he has entered many times in the past. In the past Lenore had explored parts of the Forest of Virtues, but he never did wonder more then a few hours from the edge of the forest. He had searched many times, and has never found a thing that told him to keep searching, much less search for something life changing. Lenore's reasons for exploring the Forest of Virtues were simple, and he wanted to find what the villagers of Alkalis were so afraid of. On this occasion Lenore made up his mind, and he would go deep into the Forest of Virtues, to find that which would tell him anything about the history of the forest. As he started his search, Lenore seen the same things he had in the past. Trees of every kind, shape, and size, but the deeper into the forest Lenore had gotten the fewer trees there were. Of the trees that were there were giants, hundreds of feet tall and hundreds of years old. To Lenore they seemed to be out of place for reasons that were not yet clear to him. The trees were far apart, and the further into the Forest of Virtues Lenore went the further apart the giant oaks and redwoods were. It appeared to Lenore that the landscape of the forest was not that of randomness one would find in a great forest such as this, but that of a town or city that has been lost to time and distance. The layout of the forest is such that one could imagine many streets, houses, and Lenore could see in the layout of the forest a City scape. In his spare time Lenore loved to read, and he like to read of big adventures. That involved far reaching subjects. In his reading Lenore read stories the described the great expense of many different forests, and all were described by the author in a way that was different from what he was seeing here in the Forest of Virtues. The authors of Lenore's reading had told of their forests in a way that said the further in their forest you went the more dense their forest became. The Forest of Virtues Lenore knew was massive in it size and scope, and that this forest is a real forest, and not some made up stories by some author that never seen a forest. This forest was as Lenore expected when he first entered with the giant oaks, chestnuts, redwoods, sycamores, and the small dogwoods surrounded by all sorts of underbrush. With all the ground cover from the year’s before laying thick on the ground what Lenore was seeing before him was just as he had read about. Now that he was deeper into the forest then ever he was before, and seeing what he was not expecting Lenore did not know what to make of it all. He was expecting to find a dense cluster of old, knotty, vines entangled trees that looked as much at home this deep in the forest as they were where he entered the Forest of Virtues. That was not the case with the Forest of Virtues this forest is completely the opposite of what Lenore was expecting, and that in part influenced Lenore all the more to learn the history of this place. The Forest of virtues Lenore noticed had character, a foreboding presence of evil. It’s as though Lenore could hear the Forest of virtues speak the history of the forest to him. Lenore was not afraid of what he felt, but it made him uneasy and more aware of his surroundings then ever before. On Lenore's third day into the Forest of Virtues he made camp under a giant redwood tree who had to witness the entire history of the forest. After setting up camp, Lenore had for a while sat thinking of what he was going to do, and what it was he had to search for while he was in the Forest of Virtues. What came to Lenore was this taught, and this after time was the only thought he had, and this kept coming back to Lenore. Why are all the folks of Alkalis so afraid of this forest that after hours of thought is what Lenore had came, too? What would make people afraid of this forest is what Lenore was going to find out, and so doing he had to consider what and how he was going to do this. What is it then that I should be searching for, Lenore thought long and hard, considered many different avenues of thought? What is in a forest that an entire village would be so afraid of? That generation after generation would pass on the fear of the place to the point where they fear the name of the forest itself. Lenore came up with all sorts of crazy idea’s he had considered, such as ghost or mammoth size dragons. There were varying old stories in the lore of the forest that spoke of this vary subject, yes dragons, but to Lenore that was absurd. Dragons never existed in the Forest of Virtues or in any other part of the realm of Haven. These were the considerations Lenore was thinking, as far fetched as these ideas are they were the things the young mind of Lenore was thinking. Now Lenore had to go deeper into the forest to find a realistic reason that explains the fear of this place by so many people. By this point it was late afternoon, and Lenore didn’t want to hike to far from his camp so he wondered a few hours from camp looking at the different thing he found of interest. As he was doing so Lenore realized that there was little or no wildlife. This got Lenore to thinking when he first entered the forest, where he witnessed the many species of birds, squirrels, and many different forms of wildlife. Now here deep into the forest of Virtues on this his third day could see no wildlife whatsoever. This Lenore thought had to somehow tie into the fear the villagers carried of the forest. Lenore hiked a few hours into the forest when the sun was about to go down behind the horizon when he noticed something strange. He was ready to head back to his camp for the evening, when out the corner of his eye he saw something which seemed to be out of place, as so many things of this forest did. At first glance it looked as if it were an over grown mound of some sort. That in and of itself was not so strange, but the strange thing was that it looked as it was a triangle. The corners of which were symmetrical, and of the same size, this Lenore wanted to investigate, but it would have to wait for tomorrow. Lenore returned to camp, tired from a day fuelled with heavy thought and a long distance hike. After he had gathered some wood to build a small fire, Lenore cooked up oxen’s meet and an ear of corn for dinner. Afterwards he reflected on the day, about the strange way there were no wildlife, and the mound which were shape like a large overgrown triangle. With this Lenore was off to sleep where he dreamed of this city which was built of stone, and the rulers were as gods, and had warriors which flew on the backs of dragoons. This dream of Lenore's speed by as if it were an arrow lunched off a bow. Lenore seen in this dream a history of this old city, and the dream seemed to have gone on for ages. In his dream Lenore was amazed at the many items he had seen which referred to dragoons. He saw in this dream one generation to the next, Lenore had seen as the years went by how the clothing of this people had change. Their custom had done the same, from one generation to the next Lenore witnessed in his dream the changes in their customs. Also Lenore saw what he thought was language of some kind carved into a triangle shaped building, and the language of these people was one he had never seen before. From what Lenore could discern from this dream that was one of the causes that lead to the end of this empire city. This dream faded into nothingness, all the people, and the buildings, they all disappeared into nothingness. Like their civilization had a time limit, and they had arrived at this period in time when their time was up. The next morning Lenore had awoken tired, he figured it must have been so from all the tossing and turning he had done because of this dream. Lenore rekindled the fire from the previous day to cook himself something to eat, and afterward he broke down his camp and prepared to move onto that triangle shaped mound he saw the day before. Like the day before it had taken Lenore a little more than two hours to reach the area from which he saw this strange mound, and another hour and a half to reach the triangle-shaped mound. As Lenore approached the mound, he noticed his footsteps had gotten louder and louder. Lenore raised his leg high off the ground, then with all his strength stomped his foot to the ground, and than Lenore had heard what he expected, a loud thud. After this Lenore got down on his knees, and he started sweeping back the years of dried up leaves and dead tree branches with his hands. What Lenore saw was what looked like a flag stone walkway. So he then took a few hours to clear an area around ten feet square, and this was the same flag stone walkway Lenore had saw when he first started. Lenore had done the same with the triangle-shaped mound, and he witnessed the same sight, but the stone on this building were no small, flat flag stone. These stone’s Lenore had seen were of great size and weight, but the surface of the one stone he had uncovered was not a flat surface, it was contoured. With this Lenore spent the next day or more removing the years of overgrowth from one side of the pyramid. What Lenore saw stunned him, he stood there for hours speechless just gazing at what he uncovered. What Lenore had uncovered on the side of this pyramid was one of the sights he had witnessed in his dream just a few days before. The sight he witnessed in his dream was this same pyramid, and on one side of which was this strange, and long forgotten language. One other item Had-had saw on this pyramid was a large fierce looking dragoon with his wings spread wide in the sky. Above the dragoons large wings, Lenore saw this long forgotten language. Whoever built this pyramid had put on the side Lenore uncovered some sort of message. Lenore had to find some way to copy what he saw on the pyramid so he could take it back to alkalis with him. He went to the place where he uncovered the flag stone walkway to pry one of the smaller stone out, on which he would etch what was on the pyramid. With this done Lenore made up his mind to head back to Alkalis, he wanted to finish removing what overgrowth remained, but with his supplies running low, and with what he already found he was satisfied. On the seventh night of his journey Lenore arrived back at Alkalis frightened of what he found, and knowing that the villagers feared the Forest of Virtues as they did. Lenore kept what he found to himself until such a time he deemed it safe to do otherwise. What bothered Lenore most of all about what he had discovered was he know what this etching he made of the temple was saying.















Chapter five
Secrets

Amos was putting the finishing touches on the meal he was preparing for the event of this evening, he was fixing a roast with all the fixing, and some imported wine he had bought from Burke Simons. Burke Simons and Amos had become very close friends’ since their conversation at Burke’s tavern, and Burke would be among the guests of tonight’s event along with a some other Amos had befriended. Burke and Amos had a reason for this dinner and story which Amos would delve into this evening. Amos was told by Burke, on one of their many conversations sense they’re first meeting at Burke’s tavern, what he knew of Lenore, and the bits and pieces of the story of his parents. Burke told him that the church elders were involved, he said he had no idea of what brought this all about, that all he knew was that Lenore's parent Leo and Nora Trinity one day were taken away and never heard of afterwards. Lenore, he said afterwards was kept at the Goth Cathedral until someone could be found to raise Lenore as their own. Amos asks Burke, did you know Lenore's parents? Burke sat in thought, for what seemed to Amos an hour before he answered, Amos, his question. Well yes I did Leo Trinity was one of my closest friends, he and I grew up together, and as a youth we both were fascinated by the Forest of Virtues. Later as we both gotten older, I grew out of that youthful intrigue, but Leo never did. The forest of Virtues was what brought Leo and Nora together, the Forest of Virtues had a hold on Nora as strong, if not stronger, than the hold it had on Leo. Have you ever spoken with Lenore about this, or told him of his parents, Amos asks Burke? No after the church adopted him out to the Welters family I didn’t see much of Lenore. The Welters aren’t the type of folk that associate with the likes of a tavern keeper, or the folks that visit his tavern. After a few years had past it was mostly forgotten about, until Lenore developed the same intrigue for the Forest of virtues that Leo and Nora had. Back in those days, said Burke, there was a document that someone had brought from somewhere that I never heard of, and can’t at the moment recall the name of that place, the church elders were in a frenzy. I saw this document one time, and what I remember of it, it had a pyramid on it, with some strange creature, and with some language I did not recognize. This was on a small spot in the upper right corner, and the rest had this same language scrolled on the rest of it. This disappeared around the same time that Leo and Nora were taken away. Like I said after a few years this was all forgotten about, and Leo and Nora were also lost to the years since. Both Amos and Burke sat quietly, and after a few minutes Amos stood and walked to a shelf of books, on the bottom row Amos pulled out the first book on the left. Dragon Lure was the title, and as Amos pulled out this book, Burke heard something like a lock being unlocked. Then Amos went to a picture hanging over his fireplace and opened his iron safe, and pulled out an ancient scroll. Amos sat back where he was just a few minutes before, and reached out with the scroll and handed it to burke. Burke asks Amos, what is this? Amos told Burke to open it, and see for himself, what he had just handed him. Burke had done so, and with a look of angst on his face, Burke asks Amos, where have you gotten this? Is this the same document I seem all those years ago? Where did you get this from? Why do you have this in the first place? The first question I will answer is, where did I get this. I received this from the hand of Leo and Nora Trinity. They were both being hold in the capital city, where they were being tried on crimes against the empire of Hoaxers the Great. At the time, I was working as counsel for king Hoaxer’s defense ministry. Part of my job as administrator was running the investigations and the prisons, and in this I was in charge of the prisons that housed political prisoners, which Leo and Nora were. So I looked into the charges against Leo and Nora, if you want to call them charges. They were already guilty of treason before they were ever taken in front of king Hoaxers, tribunal. As I told you in our fist conversation, I had an interest in the Lost Empire or the Elfin Empire if you please, and as I looked into these charges and found out that Leo and Nora were brought to this point because of this place named the Forest of Virtues, I befriended them both. I gained their trust, and with what little time they thought they had to them, they told me what had happened in the Goth Cathedral, and what little they knew of this Forest of Virtues. Before this, I knew of the Forest of Virtues and the Elfin culture. Leo and Nora taught me a great deal about the Forest of Virtues. They told me how this village of Alkalis Wanted nothing to do with this forest, and how the church wanted them out of their community. What did King Hoaxer’s do with Leo and Nora, Burke Asks Amos? Amos looked as though he was lost in the past as he considered his answer. Well as you might think they were both put to death, King Hoaxer’s tribunal had them both put to death for treason, they were beheaded. Before this took place they told me of this document they had, but could not read it for the language it portrayed they could not read. Its called the Scroll of Ham iota, and later they told me that in the Goth Cathedral I would find this document in a recess behind the giant pedestal. This is the reason for my moving to Alkalis, And after I had gotten settled in, I went to the Goth Cathedral, and looked around for this pedestal that Leo and Nora told me of, all those years before. I found the Scroll of Ham iota where they said they had hidden it, and you are the only person, besides me to know of this document. This Scroll of Ham iota was the reason King Hoaxer’s had Leo and Nora put to death, not because they had it and never gave it up to them, although that was part of it, they were killed for what it said. Burke sat strait up in his chair, what did this document say that would cause King Hoaxer’s to want Leo and Nora both dead. They were two simple villagers, from a sleepy little village, and what could this document say about them, anyway. Well, my friend what it says in short is this, it says “two will become as one, and will bring forth anew the lair of the Dragon. One who will bring the kingdom of darkness to an end.” What has this to do with Leo and Nora Burke asks? Amos said to Burke in a tone that said with honesty; Two will become as one! What does that mean asks Burke, and Amos said, in the scroll of Ham iota it states “When two will become as one, and will bring forth anew the lair of the dragon. One who will bring the kingdom of darkness to an end’, the one with the dragon, the one of two. What I tell you now must never be told to another soul, he told Burke Simons. The one of the two is Lenore, and the two are Leo and Nora, their names, write out exactly the right spelling of their names after the scroll of Ham iota is translated.3

In the last days of the Elfin empire, I the High Elfin prophet Ham iota had a visitation by the First Dragon Mankato. He gave to me his testimonial, the last days of the Elfin Empire, and in his testimonial he prophesied that a power from an unknown kingdom would rise up and destroy the empire of the Elfin people, along with the death of the last dragons. This kingdom, lead by kings of darkness, the masters of the dark arts. They will be the kingdoms of power, and will be the kingdom of power until the age of the ghost, until the second age has come. When two will become as one, and will bring forth anew the lair of the Dragon. One who will bring the kingdom of darkness to an end’, the one with the dragon, the one from two. The one who speaks the last earthly words of Mankato, he will inherit the sword of Mankato, and in his vein's pump the blood of the Elfin monarchy. His heritage, of which he knew nothing, will be his gift from lord Mankato. He will create a legacy which will echo threw ages not yet come. He is the One of Two, he is Lenore of Leo and Nora, whose own legacy will be a great Forest of Virtues. The one will lead worries on backs of dragons, a great flew of blood, of many people will stain the Kingdom of dark magic. He will be the last of his line, he is the last of the first age, the age of the Dragon. He will see what others, are unable to see, read what he cannot read, he wheedles the great sword of Mankato from the back Of Mankato. Where in the Goth Cathedral, he will speak before the pedestal of Mankato the last earthy words Mankato spoke. Once done the sword of Mankato will burst forth from the pedestal of Mankato. This will be that start of the last age of the dragon, an end of the kingdom of dark magic. There will be no weakness in the one, for he will have a great teacher that has traveled through many age to lead him on his journey into history. He is the father of the Elfin People, he’s traveled from the age of the Dragon, to this the age of the ghost, to reveal his people, once more to the nations of the world. Where they will share themselves with the other races of the earth and not forsake other as they have once done. This is the last testimonial of lord Mankato, First Dragon of the Elfin people.











Chapter Seven
Legacy

Lenore awoke at last after a night filled with dreams, and images that ran through his journey into the forest of Virtues. One thought that seem to come back more times then not was why was it he could read this ancient, and unknown language. Who was this Lord Mankato, and what does the engraving of the dragon have to do with this Lord Mankato? He was tired and wanted nothing more then to go back to sleep, and not dream or think about what he had learned. Lenore pushed himself to get up from his bed, washed himself and ate a few day old biscuits when he heard a knocking at his door. No one ever comes to see Lenore, not even his parent, who could this be, Lenore thought to himself when a second knock made him realize he needed to answer the knock. As Lenore opened his door he recognized Burke Simons, but a second gentleman he did not recognize. What may I do for you two gentleman, Lenore ask? Hello Lenore, Burke says to him, you know who I am, and I would like to introduce my close friend Amos Stalker. Come in, come in, and make yourself at home. As they sit Amos notices the stone etching Lenore made of the temple from the forest of Virtues, and without saying a word. Amos picks the stone tablet up; where have you gotten this? Lenore turns to see what Amos was talking about, and to his surprise he see’s Amos standing there with the stone tablet. Unsure of weather he wants to tell them, Lenore stands there thinking when Amos asks, do you know what this is. Lenore finally decides to tell them, yes I know what it is, but how do you? Amos tells Lenore this stone has to hundreds if not thousands of years old, when Lenore interrupts him. Saying that may be, this stone being hundred of years old, of that I have no doubt. What is etched on this stone on the other hand is just days old. Where have you gotten this stone, Amos ask? I brought this back from the forest of Virtues less then two days ago, and the etching that the stones held I put there. I copied this from a Giant stone temple, or pyramid. What it says is, The one with the Dragon we await, and it says Lord Mankato and beneath that, there is this Huge Dragon. Amos stands silent for a long while before he ask how he knew this. Lenore tells him, I don’t know how or for what reason, and all I can tell you is that when I uncovered this temple this is what I found on one side, there is more. The night before I uncovered the temple I had this living dream, where I saw these people and their culture, and how they were destroyed by a powerful enemy. When I uncovered the temple, part of my dream was this temple, and what was written on it. Lenore, we need to sit down with you and discuss something, and I want to hear about your journey into the Forest of Virtues. I would prefer talking about this at my house, there I have something I need to show you, these things I have already discussed with Burke, and now I need to do the same with you. If what you have seem and told me are what they seem to be, you are on the verge of great change. We are approaching a time that has been prophesied at the end of the first age. For now, I will explain what it is that you have etched on this stone. The one with the dragon, this I will not explain here I will do that when we get to my home, but Lord Mankato, he is the dragon, the first dragon. He is the one the prophesied, the one with the dragon, which I never really understood until this moment. Burke turns and stairs at Amos with a look of enlightenment, and asks is this why you have been wanting to learn all you could about Lenore? Yes my friend, and what you are thinking is the same as I.







Chapter Eight
Coming Of Age

Amos asks Lenore, and Burke, would you both like to go to the Forest of Virtues; to the place where you uncovered the temple of Lord Mankato. We could remove the remaining overgrowth and if there are any other carvings or features. We could investigate to learn what it or if it has something to tell us of the Elfin Empire. After we finish this we could go inside the temple where we would be the first people to see the temple of Lord Mankato for over a thousand years.

What lye’s inside the temple, is it as it were a thousand years ago, or have the Elfin people destroyed it? Or have the minions of king Hoaxer’s the great destroyed the temple? If we go to the Forest of Virtues, to the temple of Lord Mankato, and you Lenore will lead Burke and I as you will someday lead others against Hoaxer’s the king of dark magic. Lenore this just may be the beginning of your legacy, your journey back to the age of the dragon. Amos why are you so sure I am the one of two, the one with the dragon? Well Lenore after we arrive at the temple of Lord Mankato, that which you have rediscovered. When we have finished what it is we have to do; I believe all three of us , Burke, yourself, and I will all know one way or the other if you are indeed the one with the dragon.

Amos, Burke asks, what is it you think we will find in this temple? Yes Amos Lenore cuts in, what is it you think we will find in the temple of Lord Mankato? An answer, we will find an answer Amos replies! Lenore if you are the one with the dragon, the one of two spoken of by Lord Mankato. If you speak his last words before his pedestal Lord Mankato's sword in your hand will answer our question.

The pedestal of Lord Mankato is in the Goth cathedral is it not, why would we have to travel all the way to this temple so Lenore could speak words he does not know Burke says. That which is housed in the Goth cathedral is not the pedestal of Lord Mankato, that is of dark magic, and is meant to mark the one with the dragon for death. You see the one of two means more than just Leo, and Nora Trinity, and there is but one pedestal of Lord Mankato. There is however those that think the pedestal in the Goth cathedral is the real pedestal of Lord Mankato. On the same subject there is a third meaning which I will go into greater detail later, but first let me finish what I was telling you.

King Hoaxer’s forefathers knew of the prophesy of Lord Mankato, and in an attempt to put an end to the one with the dragon they created a replica of Mankato's pedestal. Knowing of this prophesy and what it was prophesying they lazed this replica pedestal with dark magic so in the future if there was an one with the dragon, and if he stood before what was the pedestal of Lord Mankato and spoke Mankato's last words he would be put to death by this curse. So you see, to the Forest Of Virtues we must travel, to the temple of Lord Mankato, where inside stands the only pedestal Lord Mankato has ever perched himself upon.

Lenore if in your heart you believe you are the one of two, you will know the last words spoken by Lord Mankato. Amos, asked Burke do you know the last words spoken be Lord Mankato? My friend I will not tell you how or why, but in time it will be apparent to you how and why. Yes I do know the last words Of Lord Mankato, I am other then the one of two the only person who does know his last words. Will you share what they are? I cannot share with you what has not been spoken, sorry my friend. One more thing, you said there was a third meaning to the one of two; can you at least share that with us.? Yes Burke this is the most important of these three meanings.

The first I will explain once more, and that is Leo and Nora Trinity and they're first born. The second is the two pedestals of Lord Mankato, the real one in his temple, and then there is the replica bathed in dark magic. The third is this, and it is that Lord Mankato is the other of the two with the dragon. As Amos was telling Amos of these things Lenore sat with a quizzical look on his face. Amos asks him if there was something bothering him. You said Leo and Nora and they're first born, and this lead me to think I have a brother a sister. Amos do I have a brother or sister? Yes Lenore you do have a twin brother, and he I know little about. What I do know is he was born after you, and your parents for reason they never told me wanted it knew you were second born and Dorado your bother would be known as the first born. Yes Lenore that is his name Dorado, and this is not his given name that I cannot tell you. Lenore that is all I know, and if you want to find out more about your brother you will have to find the priest from the Goth cathedral from the time you and your parents were separated. His name is Cosmotron, and he is now an old man living in the village of Midol.

will we going to the Forest of Virtues, and the temple of Lord Mankato, I await your answer. First I have to say sense we first meet at my tavern you have completely changed my way of thinking with all you have shared with me, and taught me. For answers to these questions you have raised in me I have to head to the place where legend tells is the home of great evil. Now here you are, telling me this is the home of a magical race of people. On top of that you say this lad Lenore whom I i at his birth is distend to be this great paladin warrior. I need go just to find if what you are saying is for real or just fantasy.

What of you Lenore, will you go to the Forest of Virtues with Burke, and I. It seems this decision has been made for me many hundreds of years ago. Am I the one of two, am I the one with the dragon, am I the other of the two. I must find this pedestal Of this Lord Mankato in his temple so I can do something which I have no idea of what, yes I will go. I will show you everything I have seen on my last voyage in the Forest of Virtues. Amos said ok, so we will meet here in the morning, bring with you you're hiking pack, and two weeks of supplies.

The next morning the sun was just starting to climb over the horizon, and with a soft breeze coming from the west as Lenore, Amos, and Burke headed out on their journey. They were expecting on at least two weeks on their journey into the Forest Of Virtues. Which meant a lot of supplies, they would not be able to carry in a back pack. Burke being a tavern owner meant be has to have a wagon and mules to go get the liquors he sells. They could not take his wagon, but the mules they could, and this they would. They used Burke’s mules to carry all the supplies it would take for a two week journey into the Forest of Virtues.

Lenore lead the way, and he went the route he had taken on his journey of seven days and six nights. As they had gotten further and further into their journey Lenore would explain what he saw and what he had done on his last journey in the forest. He took his time to show Burke, and Amos as they entered the Forest of Virtues the many types of trees and wildlife. See they're the chestnut, and over there the giant oak, and over there a vary old redwood, and look at the many species of birds and the squirrel.

There is a reason I am telling and showing you all these things. Lenore spent the first few days showing and explaining the things he did , saw, and thought on his first trip to this place. As they had gotten further into the forest on the second day Lenore ask Burke and Amos, have the two of you noticed any thing different here in this part of the forest; different with when and where we entered? It was late on the second day and Lenore ask them not to answer if they were not sure, we can make camp here and after we have eaten and relax I will ask you this again.

They made their camp, sat up their sleeping gear, and after this as Amos sat in thought not paying any mind to what Lenore or Burke were doing as they gathered wood for their fire on which they would fix their dinner. Amos made some of his tasty rabbit stew for the three of them, this is not my best cooking, but it will have to do he said. As they were enjoying their meal as the sun was sitting, and the air giving a small chill as Lenore again ask them if they noticed any difference as they had gotten further in the forest about them. Amos was the first of the two to answer when he answered he had noticed that the wildlife was non existent on the second day deep into the forest. Anything else Lenore ask him?

Before Amos could answer Burke said yes there is. What is that Lenore asks? A city said Burke, this seems as if it was at some point in the past a city. Yes said Amos; this seems as if once upon a time as if a great city sat upon this ground. Lenore said I noticed the same when I was here last, but could this be the lost city of the Elfin people you told us of recently Amos, Lenore ask? Burke you remember the map I mentioned during one of our many conversations, yes I do said Burke in reply.

Well in all my research of the topographies that map held, and the topography of the surrounding forest this may well be the lost Elfin city. In fact I would have to say with conviction that this is in fact the lost city of the Elfin people. If for no other reason then Lenore finding Lord Mankato's Paladin warrior temple. If this was the location of the legendary Elfin city, where are the buildings, or the remains there of. When I was here last like I said I saw these same things, these things which speak of an ancient city, and as I got closer to Lord Mankato's temple I never saw more than what we see here.

I n my dream the city I witnessed was a great and powerful filled with many people. The buildings were of beautiful architecture built of enormous stones cut so precise one could see no defect. They were of every shape and size, and the city was flat with the building becoming grander and grander the closer to the temple you were. The temple of Lord Mankato was the centerpiece of the great and powerful Elfin city. In my dream the city was laid out with the temple in the center and four streets going outwards from the temple to the corners of the city. The city was a perfect square, and from these streets going from the center to each corner was other streets running square with the city. Everything about this city I saw in my dream seems out of place, and the odd thing at least for me was that the city and its people all seemed to be relaxed, a little to relaxed. The streets were all paved in flagstones, and were vary neatly kept. The entire city was neatly kept, it was clean orderly, and vary quiet.

This may not have been the way the city really was in time passed, but in dreams this was the way the city was up till my dream ended. Lenore what happened to this city in your dream? I do not know, at the end of my dream the city and its people just faded away into nothingness. Lenore, Amos ask what is the one thing you remember more vivid then any other from your dream? Simply that was their culture, and the way it changed. At the start of my dream they and their culture existed with a purpose. At the end of my dream it was as though they had no reason for existing. Why this was I do not know, I cannot even say if what I took from my dream is what the dream was meant for me to take from it. These folks that traveled through my dream from beginning to end; they started out a happy people, and ended a sad people with no reason to exist.

By the time Lenore had finished telling of his dream it was getting late, and they wanted to get an early start in the morning. What you say we turn in for this evening, Burke said with a tired look on his face. Tomorrow I will show you from where I spotted the temple of Lord Mankato, and from where we will reach the temple in just a few hours. The next morning the morning of the third day the three of them had gotten up early, and ate some left over cold rabbit stew from the night before. They got the mules packed up after they broke down their camp, and was soon on their way.

A few hours into this day journey Lenore pointed out a giant redwood tree beneath which he sat his camp the night of his dream. Amos stopped immediately when Lenore said this, and said not a word to the other two. They watched Amos as he stared at the giant redwood tree as if it were a long lost friend. As Lenore looked on he thought he saw Amos saying something to the redwood tree in the ancient language of the Elfin people, but he said nothing of this to either Amos or Burke. After this the three of them continued there journey to the temple, and within a few hours they would reach the area from which Lenore had seen the vines entangled pyramid.

Lenore stopped ahead of Amos, and Burke, and he turned and said to the two of them, gentleman there is the temple of Lord Mankato. They came to a stop beside Lenore, and the three of them just looked on as the sun was now at its highest point in the noon sky. From here we will reach the temple in an hour and a half. Fellows if you look closely you may see the side of the temple which I uncovered on my last journey here just days ago. Though they could see this, they could not see any of the details of which Lenore etched on the stone.

Amos ask shall we be on our way, and with that they were on their way. As they neared the temple Lenore showed them the flagstone walkway he described earlier, and the one side of the temple he had uncovered. On which was carved the image of Lord Mankato. Lenore, Amos, and burke for a few minutes discussed what was carved on the wall of the temple. Lenore and Amos taught Burke how to read a few words of the Elfin language that was on the temple wall. In doing this Lenore realized he may just be the one Ham iota spoke of in the Mankato's prophecy when he spoke of the one with the dragon. Everything Amos has told him fits and works together. After they were done teaching Burke the Elfin language, Lenore suggested they make camp for the evening was close at hand.

With their camp set up they sat by the fire thinking of how they would go about what they were going to do. When Burke asks, just what are we going to do? We will first finish uncovering the overgrowth which I started to remove, and this I think will take at least a full day maybe more. For the moment lets concentrate on doing this, and when we finish we can discuss what we shall undertake afterwards. Again Amos made a stew for their dinner, but this time he would let it simmer for a few hours, and as he did treated Lenore and Burke to one of his many stories to pass the time and take their minds off the temple and the forest.

After they ate a wonderful stew they turned in for the night. As they have done the morning before they ate reheated stew for breakfast, but this time they were not going to break down their camp. They headed off for the temple where they prepared to start working on removing the years of vine growth and tree roots, and layer upon layer of dead leafs. The three of them did the rest of the day, and well into the next. They labored for nearly two full days when they finally reach the surface of the remaining three sides of the temple. The way they approached the mass and height of the temple which was massive was they started at the top and worked their way to the ground. As Lenore had done on his first trip to the temple, where he started at it highest point and work downwards.

He explained this to Amos, and Burke, and they sat off each of them would pick a side of the great temple of Lord Mankato. Where they climbed to the top of the immense pyramid to bring back to life that which has been lost for many centuries. After they finished this it was late on their fifth day in the Forest of Virtues. All three were fatigued, and dirty so Amos suggested the three of them take the rest of the day to refresh themselves.

In this unknown part of the forest no one knew if any water ways, such as a river or a creek, or even a small stream. Lenore, Amos, and Burke discussed this, and they ask one another if they know of any waterways that ran in or near the Forest Of Virtues. Burke was the first to respond when he said the main road north of Alkalis where it splits, and one road headed toward Creedal, and the other road headed toward Chesterfield which lye's just beyond the rapids of Ton dew. Burke went on to say that the Ton dew rapids should from the contour of that surrounding land and the way the imperial mountains ran the Ton dew river should run in or near the forest we are now in.

On that old map you told us of Amos, did it show a river which ran in or near the Elfin empire capital city, burke ask? Yes there was said Amos in a surprised tone of voice; I should have thought of that. On that may there was a river that ran near the outskirts of the Elfin capital city. As the river neared the city it went underground, and as for where it goes from there I have no idea. On the map it shows a waterway, a river if you please, but this river does not reappear any where on the map. Lenore cut in and said listen it would be good if we had such a river to clean and refresh the days from our clothes, and our bodies, but we do not. Lets just take the rest of the day clean ourselves up with a little of the water we have, and take the rest of the day to relax and enjoy the forest. It makes little sense for us to search for this river, and if we were to find this river we would have to refresh ourselves from that excursion. Amos, and burke nodded in agreement, and beside that Amos went on we are sitting besides the temple of Lord Mankato.

We will do as you suggested Lenore, and on the morrow we shall undertake our mission in searching, and researching Lord Mankato's temple. They spent the rest of the day sitting by the fire drinking some spirits Burke had brought from his tavern. The three of them were feeling pretty good by the time the sun was sitting. It was vary late and the sun had already set, and a soft breeze was starting to blow as one by one the three of them fell asleep. The next day as the sun rose on the sixth day Amos, Burke, and Lenore awoke feeling the effects of the spirits they had put down the night before. As had been the case each morning of this journey they would have for breakfast reheated what they had for dinner the day before.

After they ate and tidied up their camp they went about trying to find an entrance into this temple. The three sides of the temple they removed the overgrowth from also had carvings as had the side Lenore uncovered. These were all different, and the four sides of the temple all had a different inscription carved on them. The three sides they had uncovered had a one word inscriptions which were life, death, and honor. On the side of the temple which read life was carved a tree, a giant tree, and on the side that read death was etched a sword. On the remaining side of the temple was carved another dragon which they took to be Mankato, and between the legs of this dragon was the entrance they were searching for.

Lenore studies the temple door for a few moments for a hit as to how it opens, but he found no sign. Amos said to Lenore stand aside my friend, and let me approach the entrance. As Amos approaches the temple door he turns and faces Lenore, and Burke then says gentleman what we are about to witness is for the first time in ten centuries the opening of Lord Mankato's temple. We will be the first to see the inner workings of this temple sense the fall of the dragons and the Elfin Empire. Amos turns and faces the temple door, and raises his hands over his head and joins his hands. As he spoke these words in the language of the dragon; I am Amos Paladin warrior suddenly as the dust from a thousand sleeping years stirs the temple doors starts to rumble. Slowly the temple door rises, and when it came to a stop Lenore, and burke looked at Amos with astonishment. Lenore ask Amos, how are you a Paladin Warrior? Amos replies to Lenore, this is not the time or place, but you will learn of this in the months to come, and with that said Amos says shall we enter.

The first thing they saw was a long corridor with a vaulted ceiling, and on the walls were lanterns which Amos lit when he said in the Elfin language firelight. Amos kept going down the corridor on whose walls Lenore read name after name, and somehow he knew these names were past Paladin warriors. Lenore followed Amos, and Burke followed them both. Amos stopped at the end of the corridor of memories, and on the wall were what looked like a hand print where Amos place hiss hand. As he removed his hand the floor begin to lower. When it came to a stop Lenore could see nothing so he did as Amos had done in the Hall Of Memories when he said firelight in the language of the dragon.

As in the Hall Of Memories the lanterns one by one lit , and Lenore seem the largest room of his life. Lenore asks Amos is your name written in the Hall Of memories? I am not Amos answered for I still live; until I pass from this age my name shall not appear in the Hall of memories. One day your name Lenore shall also be written in the Hall Of memories, and Lenore nodded in agreement. As the room lit up Lenore could see they were surrounded by crystal clear blue water. Amos, Lenore asks is this the Ton dew river? Yes Lenore this is the Ton dew river, But in the age of the dragon it was named something different During the age of the dragon The Ton dew rapids were referred to as the Lemur river.

What is this place Lenore ask? This is where for the present we part company, this is there you will come of age my friend. This is where you will fulfill Lord Mankato's prophesy. Amos, Lenore ask what am I to do, where am I to go, what am I to say? Lenore you are in the great and awesome temple of Lord Mankato. Ask me no more, Burke and I must go, but we will see you after you finish what you must do. Amos took Burke bye the hand, and in the language of old said water walker and upon the water they went and were gone before Lenore realized what had happened. Lenore wasn’t sure what it was he was supposed to do so he stood where he was, thinking why he was here, and how it was he had gotten here.

Why only a few short weeks ago he was just a man with no skills for a lively hood, just a passion for an immense forest that everyone was afraid of. Then he hears rumors of this storyteller asking question about him, and Lenore avoided him cause he didn’t know what he wanted. After he returned from the forest he made up his mind when he decided to confront this stranger upon his return home. Amos beat him to it, and now he finds himself standing upon a giant slab of granite having been told he would be this great warrior representing an age past. Where on the back of this dragon named Mankato he would bring down the empire of king Hoaxer.

Lenore spoke aloud saying Lord Mankato what is it you want from me, and what is it I’m supposed to do. What Lenore spoke next would forever change his and many others lives. I am he you spoke of, I am the one, I am of Leo and Nora, I am the one of two you spoke of in your prophesy to Ham iota. I read that which I cannot write, Lord Mankato I am one with you, I am the other of two.

A great and blinding light burst forth, and the entire chamber was flooded with this light, and Lenore saw coming up out of this crystal clear body of water the first dragon. The lord of all the dragons, and the chosen people, the Elfin people. With a voice that had a roared Lord Mankato said to Lenore; together we are one. Lenore we together will bring a forgotten and misunderstood age to the forefront of this age the age of the ghost. Together we will bring the evil and darkness of the past to an end. The empire of Hoaxer’s the great will be no more.

While Lord Mankato was telling Lenore this he listened, but he had one question he wanted to ask Lord Mankato. Lord Mankato Lenore began, but Mankato cut him off before he was finished what he was he was going to ask him. He said to Lenore I am not your lord, I am your equal, and you are my equal. Now what was it you were going to ask me. How are we going to defeat he who has never been defeated. My friend we can discuss this at a later time, there are many things you must learn. You will learn the art of my sword, and the art of the dragon, and our language.

You see Lenore the language of the dragon is a magical language which we dragons and the Elfin people used for good. There is however a dark side, for everything good there is an opposite, and in this case, evil. The dragon language can be used for evil if the caster of word is evil at heart. This is what happened, and what brought the age of the dragon to an end. Lenore cut in, But you are still here so the dragons must not have come to a complete end. You speak wise Lenore, and you are right. The only way the dark magic king Hoaxer’s and his forefathers used can exist, and work as they intend it to is a dragon has to live. You speak the language of the dragon, but the magic comes from a dragons stone. What is a dragons stone Lenore asks?



No more Secrets

As Lenore approached the home of the old, and retired priest his mind went back to the days of his youth. A time of his life when things were simple, a time when the Forest Of Virtues was a place of differing birds and animals a place of relaxation. A memory of him being toast in the air and being caught by his dad Leo came to him, and he wondered why and from where this memory had come from. A strange sense of not being alone clung to Lenore as these old memories came back to him one after another. Then came the memories that would confirm what he was told by Amos, that he had a twin brother. This scene in which Lenore was envisioning looked to him as though it was the same moment in time in which Lenore was being toast in the air by his dad. This time Lenore saw the same scene, but from another viewpoint. This hit Lenore like a hammer blow, and left tears in his eyes. Lenore saw that it was not he being toast in the air with a smile on his face, but his brother. For the first time in his life felt connected to someone, and he felt great joy and sadness at the same time. What is your name Lenore ask, where are you, and do you remember me? My name is Cosmotron, and I do not remember you came an unfamiliar voice. After Lenore came out of his daydream he saw the old priest standing at his door saying something. Lenore after a few moments of gathering his thoughts ask the priest if he would answer a few questions. I am from Alkalis, and many years ago you also lived there where you took part in an Anathema tribunal Lenore told the old priest. This old priest Cosmotron looked at Lenore with a knowing look on his face. The priest in his seventies looked at Lenore threw half moon spectacles with faded blue eyes. His hair was long, down past his shoulders, and was a dirty white with age. The priest was well kept in his appearance, and he wore a long white robe with a cross, embroidered over his heart, and along the sides ran a narrow purple stripe. Lenore looked at the priest waiting for him to say something, when finally the priest said to him I have been many years waiting for this moment Dorado. As Lenore heard this name Dorado a look of surprise came over his face. Lenore didn’t say a word as the priest went on. You are Dorado, your birth father was Leo Trinity, and your mom Nora Trinity, and you were their firstborn. As Lenore was listening to the priest he for the first time-heard Mankato speaking to him in his mind where no one else could hear. He was saying to Lenore, honesty Lenore and no longer are there secrets. As the priest fell quiet Lenore said to him, and this was the reason for Mankato’s words to Lenore. No I am sorry Lenore said to the priest I am not this Dorado fellow you speak of, but you are correct in saying Leo and Nora Trinity were my father and my mother. I am Lenore, and the priest cut in asking are you Dorado’s younger brother? I am not Dorado’s younger brother Lenore said to the priest I am the first born of Leo and Nora, and I am the one of two. I am the first born of the twin you helped to separate all those years ago, and the prophecy you and king Hoaxer’s the great tried to stop has been fulfilled. I am the one of two, I came of Mankato, and as Lenore was saying this he ask Mankato to shoot fire in the sky as a show of proof. The old priest with a like of terror saw flame erupt high in the morning sky as Lenore told him that is Mankato saying hello. So you can see I am telling you the truth, and being honest with you, and I want the truth from you. I am asking you for everything you know about my brother. First thing I want to know is his birth name, and second is the name he is known by now. The old priest looked at Lenore for a long time before he spoke when he said, are you telling me that Lord Mankato has returned. I am saying that I am of Mankato, and we are one. This cannot be said the old priest, your brother was the first born, not you. I can assure you I am the first born, and because of what you took part in all those years ago my family was taken from me. You now will help me gather my family, a family I have never known. You are not the first born of Leo and Nora Trinity, this cannot be. Lenore from down deep inside himself felt an immense anger, and before he had realized what had happened he spoke in the language of the dragon these word “ Raven”. Suddenly a streak of lightning flashed across the sky, and in an instant Mankato’s sword appeared in Lenore's left hand. Lenore took one step toward the old priest, and then he froze unable to move. Lenore Mankato asks, what is it you are going to do with sword? I mean to do nothing with your sword, and what happened came out of anger toward this priest for not telling what I ask. Has Amos told you of this Mankato ask Lenore? Has Amos told me of what Lenore says in reply? Mankato says to Lenore the way in which you just called forth my sword, my steel. No he has not said Lenore, I just spoke the word, there were there in my mind. Mankato says to Lenore this you should not know; this is an art Paladin warriors do not learn until late in their training. Mankato there was one other that came to me also, could I ask you from where it came and what it means. I will ask you anything you ask me Lenore, there are no more secrets, remember, now what is it that came to you. What does nidalap riorraw mean? With a voice as serious as Lenore has yet heard Mankato speak he ask Lenore what have you just spoke. Nidalap Riorraw Lenore answers. Mankato Lenore asks with a touch of fear in his voice, what do these words means? This is not the place for this question Lenore, Mankato says. I will explain back at the temple, but I must ask you not to speak those words to anyone in any language until I teach you what these words mean. Mankato spoke not another word, and than he released Lenore from the hold he had on him. Lenore still had the sword named raven, and its point was just inches from the old priest Cosmotron’s throat. Lenore stared at the old priest, and said to him I will ask you one last time, be honest with me or die. Your brother Eronoel, and yes that is his birth name, and as I have already told you he is known as Dorado. Tell me hoe and why all this took place, and who it was that tore apart my family. Come Lenore ask Mankato, and with thrust of has massive wings he was off, and with a soft touch he had landed beside Lenore. Need I say anything further, does he answer you doubts? The old priest was startled by the sudden appearance of the massive dragon with an appearance like that of the raven. Mankato is black with shades of purple that sparkled in the bright sun. Running up his back are ivory spiked horns, and on his feet are talons as sharp as razors. His eyes are a piercing shade of gray. I am the first born of Leo and Nora, and I am the one with the dragon and now you will till me what you did to my family. Ok, ok said the old priest, but first may we go inside as Mankato leapt into the air as the priest and Lenore went into the priest home. The home of the priest was small, but cozy and built of fieldstone with a thatched roof. The inside was made up of oak plank broads, and in the sitting room were row upon row of books. The priest ask Lenore to have a sit, and offered him some tea. Lenore accepted the tea from the priest with grace, and he apologized for the manner in which he attacked the priest. Lenore started their conversation off by explaining how this all started for him just weeks earlier.
When this all started I was just an average boy with no skills in which I was to earn a living. I am the adopted son of the Welters family, and I could not remember a thing of my birth parents except that they had a passion for a forest called the Forest Of Virtues. This passion they must have passed on to me because that is what I spend all my spare time. If I weren’t reading all I found on the Forest Of Virtues I would be traveling to this forest where I would try and find what it was that everyone said was so evil about the place. What I found was not evil, but good. Also a few months ago a fellow moved to Alkalis named Amos, he is a good fellow who never said much of himself to others except that he was a traveler and a storyteller. He made his living in Alkalis by telling his stories to anyone who would listen. For some reason this storyteller started going to the local tavern, owned by this man named Burke Simons, and I started hearing rumors of this Amos asking Burke or anyone else he found of interest questions about me. This went on for week, and Amos also had an interest in the Goth Cathedral. This made me wonder why he was trying to found out about me, so I decided went I got back from a trip I had planed that I was going to confront this Amos. I wanted to find out what it was he was so keen in trying to find on me, this I did not have to do, you see when I had gotten back from the Forest of Virtues I had what it was he was searching for. That was a flagstone and myself, and on the flagstone was etched something that Amos wanted to see. The reason he wanted to see me was this, what was etched on the stone I had put there. You must understand Cosmotron that up to this moment I never heard any of what I am about to explain to you. Have you ever heard of an elfin high priest named Ham iota, Lenore asked the priest? Cosmotron looked at Lenore as if he didn’t want to answer, then Lenore put his hand on the priest shoulder and said to him in a soothing voice, no more secrets. The time has come for truth and honor, no more secrets. As Lenore took his set, and the priest said in a small cracked voice, yes I have heard of him. Well you must know that it was Ham iota that wrote this prophecy. This prophecy that says in an age to come there will be one of two. He will lead an army of warriors and bring down the empire of Hoaxer’s the great. Lenore, Cosmotron says I never heard of this prophecy before, never. Cosmotron I have kept no secrets from you, and I have ask Mankato to come and revile himself to you, I have kept no secrets. You are telling me you never heard of this prophecy written many a hundred years ago by Ham iota, which I have shown you proof of. The priest says he has heard of a high Elfin priest named Ham iota, and that he did write a prophesy of Mankato. The priest went on to say that this prophesy says the first born of Leo and Nora Trinity, and that Eronoel would come and lead this army, and that they would once more put to death the evil that once roamed the earth in the age of the dragon. This prophesy also states that Mankato is of evil, and that Eronoel would be the one who would kill him, and all the dragons for all time. Lenore tells the priest that prophesy you speak of cannot be true, and for one simple reason, and what is that Cosmotron asks Lenore? this one reason is the dragon stone, the dragon stone is that which brings forth a rider magic. The magic of the Elfin people, and the dark magic of King Hoaxers Empire.