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'I can't believe I fought with him.'

Flame, could not stop thinking about that, about the fight he had been involved in, and the unexpected ally who had turned up to help him. The dragon was flying across the land, heading to meet with the Dark Dragon Knight, the one who had aided in his rescue of his love, the dragoness, Rizna.

'He certainly came to our aid when he did,' he thought, 'Those sand leeches nearly overwhelmed me.'

As he flew through the sky, the dragon thought back to that event, the one that had occurred, only just earlier that day...

'How did I get in this mess?' the dragoness thought; she was wishing she hadn't been investigating noises she heard. If she had, she wouldn't have gotten into the predicament she was in now. 'Rizna... how will I get away from it?'

She couldn't do much to get out of it, not with a creature like this working all over her; a sand leech. It's slimy, mud coated body was wriggling over her own, wrapped around her arms and legs, keeping her kneeled on the ground. She couldn't do much about it, for it had slid itself into her, one end in her mouth, stuffing it and forcing her to suck on it, the other sliding into the soft folds of her sex.

'Ahhh!!! This thing is unbearable...' Rizna thought, watching it work within her mouth, while feeling it slide into her body's sex. She could see the thick pink ring before her mouth; the same as the one near the other end just mere inches from her soft folds, where just outside it, upon the tail, it had two red dots.

She hadn't run into a common sand leech; it was an adult one, but the markings made it a special one. She had run into one of the king sand leeches, and one of their most notable acts, was often to practice their mating techniques on other creatures, preferably females, before they would approach a queen. And Rizna was really wishing she hadn't run into this one; she knew of creatures like it that were just as bad.

'Please... not in there!!' she thought, wishing the creature would leave her; a highly unlikely occurrence, 'I don't want to be taken by this.' She could feel the fear making her eyes form tears.

"RIZNA!!!!" she heard called out, and watched, as from the undergrowth, leapt out the one individual, her heart was glad to see; her mouth formed a smile at the sight of him; her love, the dragon, Flame. "Grrrrrr!!!!" he snarled angrily to the creature, approaching it carefully.

But the leech king could sense him, and feeling threatened, while it was in its 'practice' with the female trapped within its body, it let out an ear piercing scream. And not long after it did so, several sand leeches had burst out from the ground around and near it, all of them ready to protect their leader from harm, to the death if needed; such creatures would for the king or queen.

Flame stood his ground, snarling at them all; his only thought was get Rizna to safety. "Hang on, Rizna!!! I'm coming!!!" he called out, as he started to approach her, baring his fangs for the leeches to see.

With another scream emitted from the king, one of the sand leeches quickly sprinted (well more slithered quickly) into action, moving much faster than a snake, but still like one, towards Flame. When it was close enough, it leapt out to strike at Flame. The dragon braced for it, except, out of nowhere, a shadow passed him. Before he knew it, the leech had been cut in two and before him, stood someone. From what Flame could see from behind them, whoever they were, they were slightly taller than him, and on their black mantle stood the emblem for the Dovahreich.

"I'm not here to fight you," their voice spoke; Flame could tell it was a male, but wondered why they had done this, as they continued, "...but I'm here to save this dragoness, Rizna. And I will do so, with your help or without it. What will it be?" the figure looked back to him staring at him.

Flame was amazed by their skill in bringing down the leech, but the question was a fair one for him. He answered swiftly, "I just want to save her. Please... help me..." He stood beside the figure, grateful for the aid; as he did so, he snarled at the king for its attempt to attack him.

"Then I will, but I will need you to do something," he responded, readying his weapon. He glared at the leeches, as he continued, "I will cut a way to their king for you. When I do, I want you to free Rizna and fly her away to safety." The figure cast a glance to the dragon, and before Flame knew it, a dagger was pressed into his hands.

"And take this dagger," the figure explained, as he looked towards the leeches, "I will not need it now, and it will be more help to you against the leech king; far more than your own claws and fangs will." Flame was about to prepare to move, when he felt another item being pressed into his hands, a small bottle. He was puzzled about it, until the figure continued to explain, "And once you do, give this antidote to Rizna when she is truly safe. It will help her recover from her ordeal and stop the leeches from tracking her down, for a while."

Flame nodded to the figures instructions, and readied the dagger. In an instant, he found himself using it to cut down a couple of leeches before growling to the king. He paused for a moment after this; he had to be careful in dealing with it.

"Hang on Rizna," he cried out to her, before using the dagger to cut his way to the king, his ally aiding him in the way he had explained he would; slicing a path for the dragon.

"And Flame," the figure called out to him, as he stood ready with his weapon, "Call me Knight, ok?"

Knight jumped out, slicing several more leeches and damaging several more around them. His actions had provoked the rest, who focused on attacking Knight. That left Flame with the opening he needed to get close to the Leech King. The creature had sensed how close the dragon had gotten to it, and feeling threatened, it had pulled its front end out of Rizna's mouth; the dragoness gasped and sighed softly at having had that removed from her mouth.

It didn't take long for the King to start defending itself, the front of its body swinging quite fast from side to side, forcing him back; the effect did not last, and Flame stepped closer. Sensing that that had failed, it decided to use its body to squeeze Rizna tightly within its grip, hoping to put her in danger, in the hope that Flame would back off.

It did, as the dragoness felt her body been constricted by the leech; she was trapped in its grasp, with no way out, as she started to beg for help. "Flame, please!!!! Ohh... get it off of me!!!! I...can't....breath!!!"

The dragon felt powerless; if he attempted to get close to remove the king, the creature would constrict and tighten around her, threatening to kill her. He could not risk it, and began to feel conflicted in what to do.

"Flame!!!" he heard being called out. Knight was shouting to him, as he sliced another leech; more were fast approaching him, and their numbers were getting greater by the second, "Hey Flame!!! I can't keep these things at bay, forever!!" Knight noted the hesitancy in the dragon's actions and how in danger Rizna was in, and knew what to do for him, "Flame!!! A hint; cut the King's head off, just below where his pink mark is. If you do, it will die fast, and then you can get away from here with her!! But, hurry; time is running out for us all!!!"

Flame nodded, feeling confident that he could do it, as he snarled to the creature, waiting for an opening to strikes, as his he felt greatly concerned and fearful of Rizna's safety; all he could think of was saving her now. Finally the opening appear; the creature let it's guard down, and taking advantage of the moment, the dragon sliced below the king's head, right where he had been told to do so. The blow to it was fatal, killing it quickly. With the King dead, it was easy for him to pull the rest of its body away from the dragoness, who sighed in relief and joy that she had been rescued, although she was quite weak from the ordeal.

Remembering what he had been told to do, he quickly grabbed hold of the dragoness within his arms, stretched out his wings, and launched himself quickly into the air, holding her tightly to his body as he hovered above the area.

"Knight!!" he called out below, "I got her, and she is safe. Thank you for your aid. I only hope that I can return the favor to you someday." Knight nodded, motioning to him to go, as he continued fighting the leeches. With that, Flame flew away, the dragon hoping to bring Rizna to safety. After several miles, he landed in an open field, laying the dragoness gently on the ground, before helping her to sit up, and offering her the antidote.

"Rizna, please... you need to drink this," he spoke, praying in his heart that she would, as he put the open neck of the bottle to her lips.

Rizna was quite weak, but spoke, "But, Flame... I feel so tired." She was slightly woozy from the ordeal she had been through but smiled, "But... ok. If you say I must, then I will." She carefully and slowly drank it, feeling the antidote slide down her throat, before feeling some of her strength return. Once enough of it had returned, she looked up to the sky. She sighed, grateful for the dragon's aid, and that of their unexpected hero, only to spot a smoke cloud slowly rising up into the sky.

"Flame do you think this, "Knight" as he called himself... do you think he survived against those leechs? Hmm?" she asked him, looking up to him as he cradled her caringly.

Flame looked towards the rising cloud she had spotted and sighed. "I hope so, Rizna," was his answer, which hid well his uncertainty; though deep down he prayed that Knight had. "He came to our aid, with selfless drive. I truly hope that he does, for I hope that I can return the favor, one day, for him."

He held Rizna in his arms, nuzzling her lovingly, as he continued. "I truly would not want to lose you, Rizna. I love you, with all my heart," he spoke. As he did, a tear flowed from his eyes as he spoke the words his heart gave him.

"And I love you too, Flame," she replied, smiling to him. "I always did know that it was you that was going to save me. Thank you," as she said this, she looked deeply into his eyes and removed the tear from them, smiling warmly to him. "Flame... you can take me home now. It will be safer for us both there. This has been such a hard encounter for both of us today."

Flame nodded; she had good wisdom in her words, and, holding her tightly in his arms once more, he launched them both into the air again, his wings helping to carry them to her home.

Only one thought remained in his mind, as he flew back. As they flew back, Rizna had to struggle to not fall asleep in her hero's rather, comfy grip. As she did so, she noticed how deep in thought Flame was in; not enough to not concentrate on getting her home, but enough to make her concerned about him. "Got something on your mind, Flame, hmm?" she asked him, "Would you care to tell me?"

Flame sighed a bit, before gripping her more tightly, but gently, as he answered, "I'm praying that I'll never lose you, for I fear that my heart would break if such a day would come and that would happen." He smiled softly to her as he continued, "Rizna, I want to be there for you, always..."

"Flame," she responded, "You can't let that kind of fear take over you. Because I will always be in your heart, just as you will be in my heart as well. I love you, Flame, ever since we met for the first time. I love you, because no other dragon has been as nice to me before you."

Flame felt his smile grew as the words touched his heart. "I love you, Rizna," he spoke, kissing her lovingly, as they arrived at her home; a large hut within the land, to which he landed gently before the door, "If there is anything you wish me to do for you, I will always do so, for you are the gem of my heart, one I will always treasure deeply."

Rizna blushed to his words, flattered by them. She smiled warmly to him, as he help her to stand upon her own feet. "Flame, you have done more than enough for me today. All I wish now is to get some rest, so maybe we can see each other later, okay?"

Flame nodded, smiling, as Rizna looked towards her door. He heard her gasp, as she noticed pinned to it, a note. Rushing over to check it out, she looked back to him. "Hey, Flame, this note is for you. The dragon was puzzled as to how someone could have known he would be here; that was an unlikely chance, one with great odds in it. As he thought over this, the dragoness handed him the note. It was on fine paper, and the dragon cast his eyes to the writing on it, reading it:

"Dear Flame,

You have done well. You have past my first and only trial with great courage, skill, loyalty and honor. Congratulations.

You are deemed worthy, to visit Dragonstone, and to see me at any time that you want. I hope that you do think about visiting me, for if you wish to, I would help to train your fighting skills, and to better prepare you to be able to protect your love. Should you wish to find me, just follow what is marked on the dagger that I did give you; it will lead the way for you. I look forward to meeting you again

From

The Dark Dragon Knight

PS I did survive the fight with those leeches."

Flame was stunned by what he read, before looking at the dagger in his possession. Just as the note had said, he soon saw a map engraved on it, pointing the way to the location, to where the Dark Dragon Knight did reside. Taking a moment, he looked back at the note in his hand; he decided there and then to check it out.

"Rizna, please rest well, my love. I will be back later to see you," he spoke, kissing her once more, smiling to her, before he launched himself into the air once again, and began heading off to find the note's writer.

He could sense, as Rizna's home soon disappeared behind him, that this was the beginning of things to come...

As Flame's mind refocused on the present, he looked ahead, glancing to the map on the dagger to get his bearings. He had flown over many places in Dragonstone, some he had never seen before.

Eventually, he found what he was looking for, the place had been directed to; a large, and magnificent waterfall. When he approached the natural wonder, the dagger in his hand was tugged by an unknown force, wanting freedom; in fact it wanted it so much, that it jerked itself out of Flame's hand, and flew down towards the ground.

At the base of the large waterfall, was a massive pool, with a rock outcropping stretching out from the shore. Upon it, lay a marble pedestal, and as the dagger reached it, it plunged itself into the hard surface, becoming fully embedded into it. As if in response to such an action, the rumble of the waterfall died down, becoming quieter, as the water stopped cascading over the edge down the center. In doing so, it had exposed a pair of huge metal doors, and upon them, was what looked like to be the same emblem that had been upon Knight's mantle.

Just as the doors had appeared, they suddenly sprang into life, slowly opening up, as if expecting him; it had been a hundred years since it had done that to the last person to visit in the same manner that Flame was doing right then. What the doors opened up to was a long, wide hall that was lit well within by rows of torches along the walls, while upon the floor, running down the center, was a big red, yellow and grey carpet with that looked like to the same Dovahreich color pattern. The whole length of the hall inside it was eerily quiet and spooky.

Flame, seeing that there was no other choice to make, if he wanted to meet the Dark Dragon Knight, stepped from the rocky outcropping onto a bridge that had formed when the door had been revealed, leading towards it, before slowly entering into the hall, taking note of just how quiet it was inside.

"Hello?" he called out, not hearing a response. He continued calling out the same greeting, remaining cautious, as he was not certain what to expect to happen next. He continued to walk down the hall, until he heard something from behind him. "Who's there?" he called out.

Nothing, though, was there when he turned around; the whole passageway behind him was empty. But when he turned back around, there before him, was a big, red snake; he couldn't understand how it'd had gotten there without him noticing. But there was something not normal with this snake, for atop its head, it had two horns, like those of a dragon, while it did not have the usual patterning of any snakes he had seen; upon it neck were two black stripes and upon its tail, two more, shaped into what looked like to Flame, to be two black hourglasses.

The snake hissed defensively, before the dragon got a shock; it spoke with the voice of a male. "You must be one of my brother's evil servants!!!" it hissed out, baring its fangs, "Well, you will not bring harm here!! Prepare to die!!!"

Flame began to move into a defensive stance to protect himself, but in the last second before the snake attacked him, Knight rushed in from nowhere, and stood between them, facing the snake, which stopped in its tracks, still hissing.

"No Arrancard!!!" Knight shouted out, "He is an ally!! Do not attack him!!! He is the one we have been expecting. This is Flame."

Arrancard stopped hissing, calming down, as the snake looked over Flame, before giving an inquisitive look to Knight, as if to ask if this was correct; Knight responded with a nod to his, and the snake, looked round to Flame, this time with an apologetic look in his eyes, as he lowered his head.

"Sorry," he finally spoke; a tone of shame could be heard in his voice. Flame could understand why he would feel like that, "I thought you were an enemy."

"Well he is not," Knight responded, standing aside Flame, before he continued, "But where are your manners? Are you not going to introduce yourself to our guest?"

"Oh, right!!!" the snake replied, lifting his head, "Hi, my name is Arrancard, but if it's too long for you to say, then just call me Arran. And I'm sorry if I tried to attack you. I should have asked who you were first, but with an evil force growing stronger in the lands around us, myself, Knight and the others... we cannot take any risks. If an enemy spy should ever find this place, we will be history."

"That was better, Arran," Knight spoke, his voice calm and reasonable for the snake, before looking to Flame, "I hope he didn't scare you too much, Flame." Flame shook his head, before Knight looked back to the snake. "Arran, I want you to go and fix this place up properly for our guest."

The snake nodded in response, "Right on it, boss!!!" He slithered off down the hallway and was soon out of sight.

"Good," Knight nodded as the snake went off to perform his chores, before looking to the dragon, "Flame, please follow me." As Knight and Flame walked further along the hall, the dragon was asked if he had any questions he wished to receive answers to. Flame thought over this for a while as they walked. He had questions alright he wanted to ask, but each one was, within his mind, demanding to be answered. Only one made its voice to be heard quite clearly; one, which he had to ask.

"Knight... who exactly are you?" he asked, thinking back to the note that he had read at Rizna's home, "It was signed "The Dark Dragon Knight". Is that... you?" his words had a hint of caution within them; Flame may have been a dragon, but every living creature had to have some fear nestled within their heart, and he was no exception, as he glanced to Knight. "I only ask, because... I was curious about the emblem and such that I saw," he continued, as he felt a curiosity creep into his mind, eager to know more about the figure who had aided him and the dragoness.

Knight stopped in his tracks, and stood still for a moment before he gave his answer, "Yes, I am, or were the Dark Dragon Knight. It has been a long time since people knew me as that, but that name is still my name. I hope you will understand, to know, that I changed my life around a lot to move away from those days. I am no longer evil, and I have dedicated my whole life to help people in great need, until I give my last breath on this land." He paused for a moment again, before continuing, "I have to tell you, that I still have my very evil, dark powers within my soul; powers that are dormant, sleeping, that no one, not even you, would be able to understand. And know that if my soul should ever go evil once again, that only my own blade, Trinity, is the only thing that can stop me and finally vanquish my evil soul that my dark master created for me." After speaking these words, he started to once more, walk again down the hall.

Flame nodded to his response as he followed along; the thought that he still had evil sleeping within gave his heart a chill that ran along his spine, but he held his nerve. This was someone who understood what they had done, and knew what had to be done if they ever returned to such ways again.

"Why then, do you believe in training me, Knight?" he asked him, as he walked along with him. "Do you think I could do just as well as you, for the inhabitants of this land; to do great and noble things?"

"I believe you will be a great replacement for me, if such bad stuff were to happen to me or to Dragonstone," Knight answered, "And... no, you still lack the skill and my powers to do so, but with some training, I believe you will be good enough. But then you most discover an even greater skill in yourself, one that will be of great aid for all or you will likely fail for all who would depend on you."

As he stopped talking, he and Flame had moved out of the hall, and entered the Dark Dragon Knight's throne room; it was a gigantic round room with a throne resting in the back and two gigantic statues that looked like two dragon warriors, both of whom, seemed to salute their master with raised swords, both positioned on either side of the throne. As Flame looked around, he could see that there were lots of antique weapons held within several racks on one side of the room, while upon the floor, lay a carpet, which had been placed in the middle, to symbolize what looked to be an arena. His eyes, however, took in one thing that stunned him with amazement. Hanging down from the middle, from the ceiling of the room, is a big, magnificent crystal diamond. Flame took several moments, just to look at all this. As he stared in amazement, Knight walked away from him, to take his place upon his throne.

"Flame!" he shouted to the dragon while he was sat in his throne, "Go, and pick one of my many blades that I have made in my forge. But only one of the blades here will be perfect for you, so you must choose wisely, young Dovah."

The choice of weapons on the racks, were astounding. Some were big, heavy weapons, sharp swords that looked deadly, while there were others that looked well-made, lavishly designed, and with much beauty to them. Flame felt overwhelmed with the choices before him, that he couldn't decide upon which one to choose. His heart, however, spoke to him, urging him to choose the one that suited him, that spoke the truth about him. He felt himself close his eyes, and began drifting his clawed hand over the handles of each blade, before finally he stopped it over one.

"I chose this one," he responded, taking a deep breath, and opening his eyes. They soon spotted what he had stopped his hand over; a well-made blade, strong, but not deadly, but, from what he could tell, was well-balanced, and given much attention to being a good weapon. His hand grasped the handle, pulling it gently off the rack, as he looked it over. 'Have I chosen right?' he thought, as he examined it carefully.

"You have chosen most wisely with your heart, Flame," Knight responded, as if answering his question; he probably could sense it. "Good. Now... venture forth to the carpet and let us see what you can do with that blade in real combat.

Flame nodded, grasping the sword tightly in his hand, as he walked out to the center of the carpet. All of a sudden, all the doors leading into the room closed, with a mighty bang in unison with each other. As the dragon looked around, wondering why it had been done, his answer came, as Knight spoke once again. "I don't want anyone to disrupt the battle you are about to commence. Are you ready, Flame?" he asked him.

Flame looked around, still cautious, but nodded, as he readied the blade in his hand. "I'm ready, Knight," he answered, assuming a defensive stance, not knowing what to expect. "Whatever you have for me, I will fight with honor. I will fight..." his eyes closed as he thought of the one person he cared deeply about, "... I will fight for Rizna's honor."

"Good," Knight replied, "But it is not me that you will fight, only my phantom self. As you are ready, then let the battle begin!" And with a snap of his fingers, Flame blinked, as a flash of light occurred around him, before he found that he had been transported into another world. A world that Flame found was coved in fear and darkness.

"Knight!!!" he called out, looking around for him, before shouting out, "Where am I? What is this place???"

"You are in a phantom zone," Knight responded, or merely his voice; the dragon could not see him anywhere, "I brought you here because here you will fight forever within it or until you show me such impressive skill with your blade. That or if you get yourself into trouble. But know, that in this zone, time and space and death are not present, but such things as pain are, so if you get hit within that zone, it will hurt you even stun you a bit, but you will not die. You should know that in real combat, one mistake is all it takes to bring disaster; you should see what such a thing did to my eye." Knight's voice sighed, before continuing, "But enough talk, here is your first enemy to deal with!!"

A pile of darkness began to emerge; a slight bit away from Flame, growing in size, until after a minute, a dark, corrupted skeleton stepped out from the pile, ready to strike the dragon with its dark corrupted blade, a sharp and deadly looking weapon.

Flame remained poised, his blade ready, before the dark creature screeched loudly, and charged him. The screech had made him wince, forcing him to take his eyes off the skeleton for a moment, and only when he returned his focus to it, did he see it charging towards him. He just barely had enough time to dodge the blow, the creature rushing past, before stopping and facing him. It charged again, and the dragon dodged once more, before making an attempt to counter, swinging his blade at it. His weapon missed, but only by mere inches as he maintained a defensive position, blocking and parrying each blow the skeleton tried to land on him, the dark creature wailing in such an unholy voice, that only his thoughts on Rizna, and being there for her, kept him going. Only after so many strikes, did his feelings for her give him the courage to make his blocks more effective, until finally, he blocked one blow in such a way, that there blades were locked with each other. With great strength he pushed back against the creature's weapon before finally forcing it back away from him, making it stumble. This gave him an opening to strike, and quickly, he laid in a few decisive blows upon the skeleton, his blade hitting hard against the corrupted creature's bones, while the skeleton was unable to react fast enough to his attack, as he struck with a fierce determination to prove himself, until finally the creature wailed in pain and collapsed, the bones slowly turning into dust.

"Phew... what a... creature," he spoke, panting a bit from the fight, as he tried to recover from the fight, easing his muscles.

"Good...good...but this is just the beginning," Knight's voice spoke, "Now, try two of them at once. Do well, and after this, there will be a short break for you to recover. But for now, keep fighting!!!"

And as Knight finished speaking, there were now two piles of darkness forming a bit away from Flame. But unlike the one before, they formed faster, and in no time at all, two more, dark, corrupted skeletons emerged from their respective pile, and quickly surrounded him. One skeleton was in front of him, while the other one stood behind the dragon; both skeletons were ready to strike.

Flame managed to dodge the first when it charged him, but the second, the one behind him, he couldn't prepare for, as it struck him hard, hitting him with its blade upon his right shoulder. He winced in pain, hissing loudly, as he turned around, he managed to block the next blow, holding back the attack, but that left him open to the first one, which lunged forward at him. Only quick thinking, and his fast feet, made him pull back just in time to dodge, as he once more went back into a sequence of parrying and blocking motions between the two, never getting a chance to counter each, except when they stumbled, and became open to an attack, but never a moment to fully attack them.

"Flame!!" he heard being called out to him. It was Knight's voice, "Try to make one of them charge you in such a way, that when you dodge him, it will lead it to smash into the other one. That will leave them open for an attack of your own."

Flame took the advice, grateful of the unexpected help, and placed each in line with the other, while being in-between them. He watched and waited for his moment, before hearing the one behind him charge at him. Quickly, he dodged, and watched as it ran into the other, smashing into it, and making both skeletons stumble about. With the opening Knight said he would have, Flame gripped the handle of his blade firmly, raised it, and leapt into the air at them, bringing the blade down on both with much force, that the two creatures couldn't react in time, allowing him to swing and strike them more, his blade hacking and slashing into both, before they wailed in pain, and collapsed, their bones turning into dust like the last one.

"Phew... that was even tougher.... but I got through it," he remarked, panting a little more than before, as he checked his blade, before resting up.

"Excellent!!" he heard being called out, "You have passed this combat training well. Now, I want you to train in improving your accuracy and speed, so let us move to another location for this."

And with that, a huge flash of light appeared around him that blinded flame for a second. When it disappeared, the dragon noticed he was now in a room that looked like an ancient samurai training home, complete with bamboo stalks that such warriors would to cut to pieces with their blade. But he was not alone in this place, not this time, for before him, Knight had joined him.

"Now, we will train your accuracy and speed," Knight spoke, moving up to some of the stalks, "I want you to cut these bamboo stalks in the right way. You will see, that they should have a red line, which indicates where they can be cut, which is not hard to miss. Cut it anyway else on the stalk, and it will not be cut at all. Do this well, and show me that when you can, you can cut it like this."

Knight moved away from the stalks, and walked right up to a huge stone. Once in front of it, he stretched out his right arm and opened his hand. A beam of light appeared and soon formed into a sword, his sword; Trinity. Once ready, he struck at the stone with such great speed and accuracy, that when was done, he turned and walked away. Flame noted that it still seemed intact, but watched, as the huge stone soon collapsed into four pieces. Within one, he put Trinity into it, leaving it within what was left of the stone.

"Now, Flame," he continued speaking, "Get busy cutting these stalks. I will be back soon to see what progress you have made. If you do such a good job of this, I may be able to teach you a new move to use; a promise I will honor."

Flame nodded, watching Knight disappear, before setting himself up for the task he had been given. His movement was swift, and several stalks were soon cut down accurately. Of course, no is ever perfect, and some he cut completely wrong, forcing him to do them again. The one thing his mind couldn't forget was how well Knight had managed to cut the stone up so precisely, his eyes glancing to the pieces that were left of the stone, as he kept working to cut down the stalks.

He lost track of the time, as he felt his arms tire, and his movement being slowed, though he had done well, to cut down a fair sized amount of the stalks, panting heavily, as he made another slash at the next stalk of bamboo, watching as the cut was perfect, though the stalk remained in place. He watched curiously, before the piece finally slid off and landed upon the ground with a dull 'THUD', before joining the others he brought down.

"Whoa..." he remarked, amazed that he had finally achieved that.

"Ah, good work, Flame!" he heard behind him, as Knight applauded his effort, "I see that you get to be more and more skillful, every time that you train. So as I promised you, I will teach you a new move. It is called the 'Gliding Cutter'." Knight stood beside Flame as he continued explaining, "In order to use it, you have to be fast with your feet. Then, you have to glide under your enemy's attack. When you are behind him you can cut him in half, since an attack from behind is often harder to defend against. This method can be used to cut many enemies... like this."

Knight had equipped himself with Trinity, and started to run towards two bamboo stalks he had set up, prepared in such a way, that they looked like enemy soldiers, but these stalks were able to swing a stick like a weapon towards Knight. But as he had stated, the move allowed him to easily glide under the attack of both stalks, before Knight lifted up and quickly one stalk in half. And then, still with the same speed from his glide, he aimed at the other bamboo and just like that, it was also cut in half.

Knight grinned at how well he had done, taking delight at how stunned Flame was to his moves, as he spoke, "Now then. Let us see if you can do the same."

Flame nodded, as he readied himself, as two more bamboo 'enemies' appeared. Quickly he rushed them, soon gliding under their attack, but his movement wasn't as smooth as Knight's; he overshot his glide, making him mess up his chance to strike.

"Damn!!" he exclaimed, as he watched the bamboo stalks turn to face him. He continued again a few more times, missing twice, overshooting once more again, and even getting struck by one. It took patience and perseverance, before, with a deep breath, he focused, and eventually performed the move, in the same manner as Knight had, bringing down both stalks.

"Good, Flame," Knight compliment him, "You have learnt well. But now, this is all training you will get for today. You are most welcome, however, to stay here. In fact, I took my time, while you were training, and I told everyone here about you. So no-one will think you are an enemy or something to that effect. And..." he handed over a key to the dragon, "...here is the key to your room in the sleeping quarters. Whenever you feel like it, you are free to go to our training area to practice more. Or go to the kitchen, to eat good food and drink good drinks. Or go to the library, to read up about the land's history, to learn about ancient warriors and their skills. Or you can go to the armory, to forge your own blade and armor. Or if you desire, you can go and adventure outside into the land; although I don't recommend that you go alone, if you do. But tomorrow, at dawn, I want you to be in the training area for I wish you to meet your training partner, so don't be late.

And before Flame knew it, another flash of bright light occurred, before he found that he was back at the throne room, like nothing had actually happened. Even time had not past a single second since he had been taken away for training.

Flame blinked, before noting the key that he held in his hand. His own room; now that was something he didn't expect. As he looked around again, he could not see Knight anywhere in the throne room, and sighed.

'I guess I better get a meal, and then some rest,' he thought, before feeling how sore his muscles were from all the training. He had wanted to read up on the history of the region afterwards, but with all the training he had endured, he decided to hold on that notion, and rest for tomorrow. Only one other thought went through his mind as he stepped back to the hall. 'Training partner? I wonder who that will be?' he thought. He pondered these questions, as he made his way to the kitchen; he could easily find it in this place, as his nose picked up the smell of the good food he'd been told about.

As Flame walked inside the kitchens, he stopped to look at the decorations around him. When he had stepped in, it was like he had been transported back in time, back to the age of the Vikings. The dragon noticed that the walls where decorated with symbols from that era. Within the center of the room, lay two very long tables, upon which were plates of various sorts of food. Flame also noticed that there was a sign, upon which was written ¨Valeria¨. As he stood there, looking around, someone came to greet him.

"Hi," the person spoke, in a cheery, female voice, "You must be Flame, right? My father told me about you. He said to expect you here."

Flame, who had been too engrossed in knowing who this "Valeria" was on the sign (he could guess it was a name), didn't realize he was being spoken to, until his mind snapped his focus back, and registered the words that he had spoken to him.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't realize there was another here, and... Wait!!! Did you say father???" he asked, turning around. When he did, his eyes caught sight of the owner's voice; it was a female as he had heard it, but quite an unexpected sight.

"Well... yeah," she answered, "My father is the Dark Dragon Knight. Don't tell me that he didn't say that he had a daughter, let alone two sons as well; well, did he?" she asked. Flame shook his head. She giggled, before remembering something, "Oh!! By the way, my name is Vera. I see that you have notice that sign there." She pointed to it, as she continued, "The kitchens our named after my mother, Valeria. And I work here, at the kitchens.

Flame blushed as he looked at Vera, while she spoke. She was, in his eyes, a gorgeous dragoness, as beautiful as Rizna, and just as attractive. He found her green scales, the pearl white underbelly, and her horns to be rather wonderful to behold, but as his eyes wondered over her, they began gazing at her chest a bit, before he had to look away; he didn't want to betray Rizna, the dragoness his heart belonged to.

"He didn't say anything about any children he had," Flame continued with his answer, still blushing at how awkward he had felt staring where he shouldn't have. He did eventually look back to her, smiling to her. "You do have such a wonderful name," he continued, "I... well... I almost thought that you were Valeria. I didn't know it was your mother's name." His smile grew as he looked around at the food, seeing the various dishes that were laid out on them, and feeling a low rumble in his stomach. "Did you make all these yourself, then?" he asked, pointing out to the plates on the tables.

"Thank you, Flame," she replied to his words, "Dad always says to me, that I look just like my mother sometimes. And that is why my name is the way my father named me; he named me after her. I mean... if you take away "alri" from Valeria, it will then read "Vera" on it." Vera smiled, before following where flame pointed with his fingers. "You mean the food?" she asked, seeing him nod, "Well, today I got help with the food from someone. She helps me when she is not training nor has something else she needs to do." She could sense a curiosity in the dragon's eyes and shook her head, smiling, "But I can't tell you her name. Dad told me not to tell it to you.

Vera looked towards Flame, and saw on his face that his smile had grown; even his tongue seemed to lick over them. "Well I can see with that look on your face, that you are hungry, right?" she asked, seeing him nod. "So, go on then! Take a seat and dig in; you can eat as much you would like. There is no shortage of food here in the kitchens."

Flame nodded, "Oh, I will. Thank you, Vera." And with that, he walked over and took a seat at one of the tables, before starting to eat. He was amazed with what was on offer there for him to enjoy. From good, juicy, succulent meat, which was tender and really filling, to wonderfully made bread, crispy and crunchy, and to sweet fruits and fresh vegetables; he ate quite his fill of it all.

'Mmm... This food... it is so good,' he thought, as he tucked into a rather juicy steak, 'Wow... I've never had meat this good... and the fruit...' he bit into an apple, taking out a sizable chunk which he chewed on, '...it is so fresh.' He smiled with joy as he ate a little more, before looking around for Vera.

"Vera? Is there anything to drink, to wash down this wonderful food?" he asked, before a loud burp escaped his mouth. "Pardon me... that came out without warning," he spoke, covering his mouth up, while smiling to her, a little embarrassed at what he'd done.

Vera smiled and giggled. "It makes me happy that you like the food that much," she answered, "Don't worry, Flame. It is okay to burp like that; it fits the era these kitchens are based on. And it also shows me, how much you like the food." She smiled more, before continuing on, finally answering his question before the burp had come out, "And yes, Flame. There is beer, wine, or mead to drink. What would you like to have?"

Flame smiled, as he felt happy she didn't mind how he had acted. He thought over what to have, not certain what to drink at first, before his mouth uttered the choice, that for it, seemed about right, "Beer, please."

"Right," she nodded, "I'll go and get it for you." She sauntered off to the storage room and in a short time, she returned with a large metallic jug in her hand. "Here you go, Flame," she replied. "Here is your beer that you wanted." She poured the beer into a metal cup, one of several on the tables, before adding, "Drink up!"

Flame held the cup within his hand, taking one look at the beer, noting the frothy head on top, and then drank a little. The taste was unbelievably good, and he soon drank more of it, burping loudly out of joy, while having to utter, "Pardon me", each time that he did. When his cup was empty, he smiled to Vera.

"That beer was wonderful," he spoke, complimenting it, "I never tasted something as fine as that before." He watched as Vera smiled in delight to his satisfaction, as he continued, "I think..." He stood up, feeling rather full from the food and drink, "I think I'll get some rest now. Please, would you tell your father that I enjoyed the food, and that he has such a wonderful daughter; will you tell him that for me, Vera?" He smiled to her warmly.

"Okay, I will do that for you," she replied nodding her head, before looking to him curiously, "But... are you sure that you know your way around this place? I don't want you to get lost or hurt. You see, my father's home contains a lot of secret rooms, as well dead ends and various traps."

"Well..." he began, her words had quite a good amount of truth to them; it was only luck and a good sense of smell that had led him to the kitchens from the throne room. "Perhaps... could you, maybe, show me around? It would be good if I knew where everything is around here," he asked, smiling to her.

"Well I thought you would agree," she answered, giggling, as she headed for the door, "Let's go first to the library, because it is close to us, from here. Please, follow me Flame. That's if you can walk or would you need a hand?" she asked him.

Flame shook his head, "It's alright. I can still walk. Please," he smiled walking up to her, "...show me the way." He followed her out of the kitchens, and back into the long hall. As they walked down it, he wondered about something. "Do you get any others come there, to the kitchens, Vera?" he asked; he was walking behind her, and had to keep his eyes in front of him, since he found it difficult not to ignore how good she looked from behind.

"No, not right now, but later in the day, the others will all eat there," she answered his question quickly. "Oh, but not dad... he... he can't eat food or drink." She looked back to Flame as they walked, "That's the other thing. He was quite nice to you, today. Because truthfully, you were not exactly supposed to have stopped training so early, but, since you are new here, I think he decided to cut you some slack today." She looked back ahead of herself, smiling, "Ah. We are almost there now."

Flame was quite surprised to hear those words. He had guessed the training would have been tough, but he hadn't expected to be given any slack. As they neared the library, his curiosity grew again; as did the questions he had shouting out in his mind.

"Vera? How big is this library? And who else comes here?" he asked, as they entered the library; he wondered if amongst those who visited, Rizna was perhaps one of those who did. His heart yearned for it to be right.

"Well..." Vera began answering, "The library holds almost every known book of Dragonstone's history. That and those on its relics, weapons, warriors, leaders, battles, myths, even those from outside the lands of ours; any book you can think of, I could tell you we have. So I guess it is big. But how big, well... even I don't know how exactly big it is. Dad tells me that it is quite endless. And every book that resides here in Dragonstone, is written automatic by magic, even the story being written about you is being written in here," those words made Flame go wide-eyed, as Vera continued, "But dad says you should never look into a book about yourself. It can ruin your life to see what horrible things that will or has happened." She smiled though, as she continued answering his questions, "The library, though, is always open to all, and everyone is welcome to come inside. There is even someone that works here and protects the books. Come, Flame. Let us find her."

"Really?" he remarked, as he entered the library with her. He wondered who it was that helped to protect the books he saw upon the shelves; it was quite a large room as he'd been told, but no telling if it did end somewhere or not.

"You wait here, Flame," she spoke, "I will go and find her. But please, do not venture off, okay?" Flame nodded as Vera headed off amongst the shelves, trying to find the person who worked in the library. After what felt like hours, she finally returned with someone beside her. "Ah, good, Flame. You are still here. Please, allow me; this is Selina." Selina smiled, and waved to Flame, the dragoness greeting him with a simple, "Hi," as Vera continued, "Selina works her when she is not training. She is one of the leading researchers into Dragonstone's history and culture. But not a great fighter, though.

Selina pouted a bit, before teasingly flicking her tail at Vera, rather playfully, much to Flame's amusement, "Hey!! I'm still better then you, Vera." She giggled as Vera jumped a bit, before smiling to Flame, "And you must be Flame, right?" The dragon nodded, as she continued, "I welcome you to the library, Flame. I hope you like history as much as me."

Flame was quite taken in by Selina's beauty as well, finding himself blushing, as he smiled, before greeting her. "I will, Selina. I would love to know more about the history of this land," he spoke, looking around at the various books. "This is quite a collection of tomes that you have here. You must enjoy looking after these, right?" he asked, as he looked to her again, admiring her green scales, her chocolate brown underbelly, her horns and stripes, and her well-formed face. The pair together, side by side, made him feel quite weak in the knees; they were as beautiful as Rizna, but his eyes wandered over their bodies and once more gazed at their chests. He blushed again, even more, and gulped, as he smiled, turning his head to the side, slightly embarrassed; even more than before. "Sorry about this... It's just..." he tried to utter, finding it awkward to explain, "It's just... you two, you look as... as..." He couldn't find the words, his tongue becoming tied, the words knotting it tightly, that he couldn't speak again; he was worried that he might be tempted to betray his love for Rizna at the sight of the pair.

"Yes, I do like looking after them. In fact I...," Selina noted his face and body language and was quite puzzled, "Erm... are you okay, Flame? You're blushing very hard, it seems." Selina attempted to look him over more.

Vera grinned; she could guess exactly why Flame was like this. "I know what is going on, Selina," she replied, "I think he is in love with someone, and I guess we look so good before him, that the thought of his love and the sight of us, it's making him blush so much." Selina gasped and nodded, agreeing with Vera's deductions. "Well," she continued, "if he does love her, then I guess he must want to not betray her, even if he thinks about how sexy we look to him. Whoever it is, they must be so lucky to have him," she sighed joyfully, "Seeing such a noble honorable dragon like that, I wish I had someone like that, who loved me as well. What do you think, Selina?" she asked her friend.

"I totally agree," Selina answered, sighing joyfully, "It has been such a long time since I got some love as well." As she said this, she blushed, not realizing she had spoken out her heart's desire, and not sure how the other two would react.

"Well my father doesn't want me to be in love with someone else," Vera replied. "He doesn't want me to spread his dark gene any further. I mean, it was passed on to his first born son, Arakabaki, then his second born son, Arran, and then finally me. I mean, even when my father always says, that the most important thing a living being can do is to make sure to create a new generation through a loving relationship, or something like that."

Flame listened carefully to their words, and smiled; his embarrassment had gone, as his good, kind heart began to show itself to them. "I believe that both of you will find someone to love you, eventually," he spoke, smiling, before turning to face Selina. "Selina. I think in time you will find someone who will love how beautiful you are. Someone, who will love you for who you are, and whose heart will belong to you, just as mine belongs to Rizna, because every time I think about her, she... she..." he sighed blissfully before he continued, "She makes mine skip a beat." He smiled, before facing Vera, "And Vera. I can understand your father's concern. He's just trying to protect you, to keep you safe. Whatever this dark gene is, he obviously doesn't want it being spread, but he can't stop you from finding someone to enjoy and spend the rest of their life with you. I'm sure in time, he will understand that he cannot stop you from finding someone to love you, someone, who will understand the burden you have, but will still love you and be there for you." He smiled to both, as he felt his heart skip a beat; he felt good about himself for comforting and giving hope to both of them.

Selina blushed at his words, quite surprised by his kindness. "You think so?" she asked him, rather liking the hope that she now felt, "I...I need a moment for my shelves." As she walked away, back to them, Vera thought she could her with a smile on her face.

"Well... you are right Flame," she responded, smiling to him, as she continued, "And your wise words are probably the reason why dad chose you; or maybe, for your good heart. But who knows. Come, we shall continue our tour to the next area, which is the combat arena." She headed back to the hall.

"Very well, Vera," he replied, "Lead on." As he walked behind her, following her out of the library, he took one last look back at Selina, smiling at how good she was feeling as she continued her work, before continuing the tour with Vera. "So... this combat arena... what's exactly do you fight in it?" he asked her, as they walked along the hall. "I mean, you already have a training area, but an arena? I sense it must have some other purpose."

"Ahh!!" she exclaimed, as they walked down the hall, "You mean my dad transported you to the phantom zone, did he?" Flame nodded. "Well... that is not our training area; the combat arena is where we actually train. You see, we can train our magic moves or combat moves or both there. And what's more, the arena is what it is; an arena where two individuals fight, but only one will win."

She smiled as they entered a large room. "And we are here now. But this," she pointed out as she explained, "...is the first room we train in. Over there is the door that leads into the arena."

As Flame nodded, looking at the door, he looked around. The room was quite large; along one side was placed several targets where Arran, was practicing his magic. Nearby, lay several scrolls and diamonds, filled with magical spells, all set out upon a large oak table, along with a grouped collection of various potions as well. Next to the side of it, was a well-sized blending table, upon which they were a variety of different herbs and ingredients to help create more potions. As Flame looked to the other side, he noticed another was training; a yellow scaled female was practicing her skills in unarmed combat. As he watched, he noticed that behind her, there was a forge and behind it was a rack holding several cheap weapons; nothing like the one that Flame had in his possession.

"My... this is quite an extensive setup, Vera," Flame replied, as he looked around, examining everything. "I can't believe what you have here." He noted the blending table in the room, which had caught his interest greatly, and walked over to take a closer look at it. As he examined it, he nodded his head, as if approving something. "My... this is much better than the one I have, back home," he remarked, taking a look over the table and the ingredients on it, "I do a bit of alchemy back home, you see. Just a hobby really, nothing major," he explained to Vera, before his eyes looked towards the female nearby. "Oh! Who's this Vera?" he asked her, pointing to the female.

"Yes, dad did not cut any expenses when he was making this place to be the best," Vera answered, although she failed to hear Flame for a second, only catching him pointing to the female, and looking to her. "You mean her? Her name is Triana," she continued answering, "She comes here to train mostly. I have heard that she has a sister somewhere around here. But other than that, that is all I know about her, really."

"I see. She looks to be quite the fighter, I mean, in the way she is training," he commented, watching her work on improving her skills. "I think I'll not bother her, she seems quite focused on her training. Vera, could you show me more, please?" he asked, walking up to her, smiling.

"Sure," Vera replied, nodding, "Follow me." She began walking towards the big door. When she got there, she pushed down on a lever next to it, and it began to open. As it slowly opened up, Flame was able to finally see the arena. It was an incredible sight, as it looked like the ancient Coliseum, but much bigger and intact. No-one was fighting in it, but its sheer size and ancient details, were incredible to see. "Well Flame," Vera spoke, as she looked back to him, after leading him in, "...was this what you meant by more?" She smiled to him.

"Wow... ancestors, this place looks incredible," he remarked, his eyes opened wide, as he stared in amazement, while he looked all around himself. "How did your father manage to create such a place? It must have taken him years to make it look as amazing as this."

"Well he has been around for thousands of years, Flame," Vera answered him, "So he had a lot of time to build this place. And people that dad saved all over this world, came to help him with building it."

As Vera watched him look around, she picked up something from the floor, an item called a time stone, which she examined, before looking to Flame. "Wow, look at the time!! It is almost nightfall. Are you not supposed to be here at dawn, Flame? For your training tomorrow?" she asked him.

Flame nodded, "Yes. Your father said I would need to be up at dawn. I guess you better show me where my bed is then." He smiled, as he glanced at his key, before looking back to her.

"Of course Flame, right this way," she responded, and she and Flame walked out of the combat area and back through to the hallway. All the way down to the door that led into the sleeping quarters. "Well," Vera said, smiling to the dragon, "...from here you should be able to find your room. Its number is written upon the key you have." Vera pointed it out to him, showing it on her own key, before yawning, "Well... I guess I shall go to my room and get some sleep as well, so... good night." She walked down a corridor through the quarters, before glancing back to him, waving, and taking a left turn, and was soon gone for the day.

Flame glanced at his key, and noted the number on it. "Six," he read upon it, and searched around for the door. When he found it, he used the key, unlocking the door, and opening it. When he walked in, he was amazed by the sight of the room he had. "Wow," he uttered, looking around as he entered.

His room had a soft bed, quite a bit of furniture and some statues, all laid out in an organized manner within; even a miniature fountain of a dragon was placed in one corner. A wardrobe for clothes and a chest for personal things were placed next to the bed, while on the wall was a rack to hold his blade. And the room was greatly decoration, with many fine, and appeasing items upon the walls. The room was a delight for any hero, knight or visitor, for it had no lack of space in it whatsoever. Flame smiled, as he settled his blade upon the rack in the room, and then moved over and laid down upon the soft bed, sighing at how comfortable it was.

'Wow! This is so soft,' he thought, as he stretched out on it, enjoying how good it was beneath him. As he rested his head upon the soft pillow on the bed, his thoughts turned towards what would be happening in the morning, the training that he would do. But then, they turned towards one thing in particular.

'I hope Rizna is safe,' he thought, sighing, 'I wish I could see her again soon.' He smiled, as he slowly drifted to sleep, thinking about her, her beauty, how much he loved her, his heart yearning for her. He hoped she would be alright, that she and he could bring their love together, as he slept peacefully, while waiting for what trials lay ahead in the morning...

End of Chapter 1 - The Adventure Begins