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The Lost Dragon Saga (Part I)

This is my story. This is the story of two worlds colliding--Two worlds intertwined by a twist of fate. This is a story of fate. This is my story.

The story begins in the mental void.

"I think he's waking up!" shouted an obscured voice. I think it was... Teri?

The streams of consciousness began to flow into me at faster pace.

"It looks like it! Hey!" shouted a less obscured voice. It sounded like Zade.

At last my eyes shed the nothingness. I was again bathed in clarity.

"Are you okay!? Please say yes! What happened!?" I knew that voice. It was Sara's voice.

"I don't know if I'm okay, because I don't even know what happened," I groaned in my lethargic voice.

"You apparently blacked out, and collapsed," replied Zade. "Sara happened to be at the right place at the right time. You had just appeared on her horizon when she saw what happened. She took you back here to your home, and began tending you. She then beckoned us to come immediately."

"I don't remember where I was, why I was there, or how I got there," I said. "For whatever reason, other things are unclear as well. Why can't I even remember getting this house? I guess the answer is that I'm not okay. This is not okay."

"Stay calm. How about we just retrace your steps?" Teri suggested.

"I'm not so sure about that," I replied. "I believe I need some more rest to help the recovery."

"We'll stay with you then," Sara insisted. The others nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't feel right asking that of you all," I retorted.

"You are not asking us, we are telling you," Sara replied.

"She's got a point," Zade appended.

"It's not a problem." Teri smiled.

I knew my friends so well. Zade had a tendency to be flaky, but was poised when it counts. Teri was amiable enough; she knew how to be a friend. Sara was so warm-hearted, you could feel her miles away in a snowstorm. She could light up a room better than any blaze could. I was lucky to have them all as friends.

It was a blessing, albeit a somewhat strange one, to be looked after for once. I spent each day traversing here, and there, far, and wide, helping others and solving problems wherever there was trouble. I was passionate about being the hero who saved the day. My fame had grew so much that people started referring to me as the "Guardian Angel." I got so absorbed in my work that I seldom rested between clients. That was, however, not the reason I fell into unconsciousness. I didn't know what the reason was, I just knew it was something else.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"All morning, and just over half the afternoon," Zade answered.

I started to contemplate whether or not the duration was significant, but my body dealt differently with the answer. My stomach sung the song of hunger. "So it seems my stomach hasn't forgotten that it's been quite a while since I last ate." I joked. Small chuckles ensued.

"Food will do us all good, right?" asked Zade.

The next thing I knew I was sitting at the table with Zade, and Teri while Sara made us all a warm meal. This was the first time we all really had a meal together, and it was an experience I wanted to always remember.

When it was over, my friends helped themselves to some books as I retreated back to bed. I returned to the barren state of mind hoping that answers would be birthed. My slumber was dreamless, yet I remembered all the little things when I was awoken by the early morning's chill. I looked over, and the others were still asleep. It amazed me how they were seemingly unaffected, but I was glad for them. I concluded that I was not going back to sleep, so I draped my blanket over Sara.

I thought about all the help my friends were giving me, and about the reading that they had been doing, and then it struck me. I remembered about the journal that I kept which chronicled my work. There was a chance that the key to the mystery of the previous day's incident was recorded. I located it, and opened it up. It turned out that I didn't have another client yet. I was still in the dark about where I was, and where I was going. I bound myself to deep thought until one by one my friends awoke.

The first was Zade who was slightly envious of Sara for receiving the blanket. He decided to keep himself warm by doing stretches, and exercises. Next was Teri who simply continued to read. When Sara woke up, finding the blanket on herself caught her off guard. She looked at me, and I just smiled. She started to blush which made me blush.

Now that everyone was awake, all attention was back on me. I let them know what the situation was, and they wanted to know what I had in mind about filling in the final blanks.

"All you saw was me fainting, and falling down, Sara?" I asked.

"That's right," she answered.

"That can't be right," I retorted. "People don't just get amnesia from losing consciousness. It's time to formally treat this mystery as a case. It's time to do some actual investigating. I need to be taken to the 'crime' scene."

"Okay, understood," Sara replied. "I'll take you back."

"Thank you," I said.

"Hold on!" Teri exclaimed. "We're coming too!"

"Yeah!" Zade shouted. "Don't forget us!"

"Very well. It's settled then," I responded. "We'll go together--All of us."

We set out, intently traversed the roads, and soon reached the location. When we arrived, a dog was there.

"A dog!" Sara exclaimed.

"Hello, dog," I chuckled. "I suppose you can't help me out." Anyone else would have then heard the dog bark, but I didn't. I heard it speak.

"Maybe you can help me out." It replied. "I'm not actually a dog, I'm under a spell!"

"What!?" I exclaimed.

"What?" My friends inquired.

"Did you all not hear that dog just speak words!?" I asked.

"No. We heard it bark," Zade retorted.

"Don't go crazy on us." Teri giggled.

"Did I just hear you speak words, dog?" I asked it.

"At last!" it exclaimed. "Finally, someone who can understand me!"

"Okay dog, prove that I'm not crazy." I said having conceived an idea in no time at all. "If you can speak, and understand human language, and I'm the only one who can understand you, then bark three times,"

The dog barked three times.

"To verify what I just asked of you, bark three more times, spin around, bark two more times, sit down, and bark one last time," I said.

My friends looked at me like I was crazy, but the dog did exactly what I asked.

"Confirm that you just told me that you are under a spell by standing on your hind legs, and whimpering as long as you can," I said.

The dog did just that.

"Well, I'll be damned!" Zade gaped.

"How can this spell be broken?" I asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," the dog replied. "There's no time to break it though, not now. The situation is far more dire. I fear for the status of my friends, and my lover. My friends, and I had been fighting an evil powerful enough to hold his own against the three of us. We were stalling him so my lover could get away with the artifact that he seeks. I entrusted my friends to manage without me so I could ensure her safety. It was when I met up with her that I suddenly found myself under this spell. She then fled as fast she could. I have since then hurried anywhere, and everywhere for someone who could help. If my suspicions are correct, it is the very same evil who rendered me this way. You must help!"

"Don't worry." I grinned. "You encountered the right man. Helping others is what I live for. That makes you my newest client, uh..."

"Kardonyth. My name is Kardonyth," the dog responded.

"Don't leave us in the dark!" Sara snapped. "What is going on!?"

"I'm not exactly sure myself," I answered. "What I know is that I've agreed to embark on a adventure that may result in my death."

"You're definitely crazy!" Teri shouted. "Listen to yourself! You're helping a dog on some deadly mission! You have to draw the line somewhere!"

"I don't draw a line," I replied. "I can be one of two 'H' words. I can be a hero, or a hypocrite. I refuse to be the latter."

"So you think that changes the fact that this is most likely a fool's errand!?" Teri asked.

"It's most certainly not," I replied. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

"I think you stole my line," Kardonyth said.

"This 'dog' is Kardonyth. Helping him would be helping me," I said. "Who's still with me?"

"Count me in!" Sara shouted with no hesitation.

"Count me out," Teri drawled.

"What!?" Sara exclaimed. "Really, Teri? Friends are supposed to be there for each other no matter what!"

"We've never had to help him with his clients before," Teri retorted. "Why should we do so now?"

"Because it sounds like he, and this Kardonyth need all the help they can get!" Sara replied.

"We don't have time for them to argue!" Kardonyth snapped.

"Sara," I stated. "It's okay. Teri has the right to make her own decision, and she's made it."

"But--Fine," she retorted.

"I'm sorry! I'll find way to make this up to you all!" Teri exclaimed as she ran off.

"Zade?" I asked.

"Uh...I...well...okay then, I'll assist," Zade stammered.

"Right now our main objective is to locate his lover, but..." I said.

"What?" Kardonyth asked.

"We don't know anything about her," I replied.

"Sorry about that," Kardonyth said. "Her name is Crystal. She has short, pale gold hair, and her eyes are a glowing blue. She is wearing a pale blue outfit, and she is a little shorter than you."

I relayed all this information to the others. "Do you remember what direction she ran off in?" I then asked.

"Sorry," Kardonyth answered. "It all happened too fast."

"We still need to go to where you met up with her, and try to trace her steps, " I replied. "However, we should now also search for her along the way."

"Hey, um... Kardonyth? Since you're now a dog, do you think you could try sniffing her out?" Zade asked.

Everyone just looked at Zade. His question did seem truly demeaning.

"What?" Zade asked. "It was a fair question!"

I looked back at Kardonyth.

"I'm unable to," he answered.

"We'll all have to do our best," I said.

Without further delay, we began to search for Crystal. I was truly surprised, and disappointed that Teri did not join us, but I didn't hold it against her. If people themselves aren't perfect, how can a friendship be?

"I'm really sorry that you all got dragged into this," Kardonyth apologized.

"It's really not a problem," I replied. "Better us than others."

"This is still a little hard to believe," said Sara. "Indeed this sounds like nothing more than just a tale, a legend: A man turned into a dog, and separated from his love who is now in trouble."

"Doubt is only natural," I told her.

"This being real makes it all the more sad," Sara said.

"I know," I replied.

We were scanning in all directions for any indication of a location that would be reasonable for hiding. That was unfruitful. We had traveled the path for quite some time before we encountered someone.

"Good morning, sir!" I called out.

"Good morning!" he replied. "Isn't it a lovely day for a stroll?"

"The weather is nice, but I'm afraid I can't say the same for our circumstances," I answered. "We're looking for a frantic young woman who perhaps is also lost. Have you seen such a person?"

"I'm afraid I have not," he answered as we passed each other. "Good luck to you all, though!"

"Thank you!" I shouted back at him, smiling a fake smile. After a few seconds, when my expression returned to its solemnity, I stopped.

"What?" Sara asked.

"Something has been bothering me," I replied.

"What?" Kardonyth asked.

My face then donned a disgusted look. "You...endangered your lover by sending her away with something terribly important, and then you abandon your friends to make sure she was safe? You could have left your friends by going off with that thing yourself, and then your lover would have still been safe!"

"You don't understand!" Kardonyth yelled. "She's more safe now than before. If my friends have indeed failed, then she would have been taken, and used as leverage if she wasn't sent away. The best she can do now is hide as best she can. I did what I had to do! This is a very desperate situation!"

"The two of you could have left together!" I retorted. "Once you realized you abandoned her, you tried to amend that mistake by abandoning your friends. Two wrongs don't make a right."

"I did what I had to!" Kardonyth replied. "I tried to help my friends as long as I could until I could no longer bare Crystal being all by herself. At that point, I trusted them to take care of things without me. I have done the best that I could! You're here to help me, not to judge me!"

"I wanted to be certain of your sincerity," I replied.

"Do you interrogate all your clients like this!?" Kardonyth asked.

"No, but then again this my first time dealing with a lost lover," I answered.

"Let's get back to finding her!" Kardonyth replied. "We've been stalled for too long!"

"It appears we've reached a fork," I pointed out. "Which path do we take?"

"Left," Kardonyth answered.

"East," I told the others as I started walking.

Zade ran up to me. "Don't you think that you were being too hard on him given the circumstances?"

"No. No I don't," I replied.

"Oh, I get it. You're trying to impress Sara, aren't you?" Zade whispered to my chagrin.

"I meant what I said," I replied.

"That doesn't exactly answer the question," Zade retorted.

"The answer is yes, okay?" I sighed. "Now focus."

"I'm no less focused than you are right now," Zade growled.

"Fair enough," I said.

We soon reached another fork in the road.

"Another left," Kardonyth instructed.

"We're staying east," I told the others.

We weren't seeing anybody else, so we went back to searching all around us. That also was still not helping us get any closer to finding Crystal. Some areas at first glances seemed to be good for hiding, but then a closer look said otherwise. "What about over there?" someone would ask. The rest of us would look over, and then when disappointed, would say, "No." Without additional information, we couldn't accurately pinpoint potential locations where Crystal may be. Even though time was of the essence, we had to be thorough. We endeavored, we persevered, we forced ourselves to search thoroughly through all the exasperation.

We did take a break, however, not because of the searching itself, but because of food. Zade, and Sara's growing hunger had made them realize that we didn't have any sort of food for a breakfast, and insisted that we find something to eat with the justification that their hunger would impede the search. I myself can go exceptionally lengthy periods of time without eating, but of course those two were not used to casting aside their needs in the name of helping others. All of us located, and took enough edible vegetation for them to satisfied. Kardonyth, and I both regarded this interruption as selfishness, but said nothing. We were silently chagrined. Our consolation was convincing them to consume the food as fast as possible. When the last mouthful of plant was swallowed, we wasted no more time returning to the mission. Zade, and Sara both did apologize soon after, and I think they both were somewhat embarassed.

"There's something not right about this," I said.

"What?" Kardonyth asked.

"Your adversary, a powerful wizard, could have saved himself some trouble, and turned you, and your friends into dogs from the start and would thus have what he seeks." I replied. What's his game?"

"He enjoys toying with us," Kardonyth answered. "He takes pleasure from our utter desperation. It disgusts me!"

We could tell before that the path we had taken was gradually curving north, but we had now reached the point where it was curving sharply.

"Where exactly are we going?" Zade asked.

"I had met up with Crystal at what I presume to be this region's capital," Kardonyth answered.

"The capital?" I questioned. Its concept was as unclear as my memories had been. I didn't know why. I was surprised that I yet to fully remember something minor.

"The capital!?" Zade questioned.

"I should have known," smirked Sara. "After all, to be this far from home, it makes sense."

"I almost get the feeling from you all that the capital is a bad place," Kardonyth told me.

"Is the capital a bad place?" I asked.

"No," replied Sara. "It's just rare for someone from our town to travel to the capital. If we had known from the start that we were headed to the capital, we wouldn't have needed directions."

I wanted to confess that I couldn't remember the capital or how to get there, but my problems weren't the priority anymore. We had to stay focused on finding Crystal. While we continued our journey to the capital, all I did was wonder if that was my destination when I had blacked out the previous day.

Since we all now knew where we were going, the others didn't need Kardonyth to tell them to stay to the right at both the forks which were right next to each other. We were again headed east. This was the path that was adjacent to the capital. We would soon be there, and I was anticipating promising developments in our search. We started to stare at the capital, but then remembered to look in all directions as part of the search.

Then, we had at long last seen another person on the road. It was a patrolman. I ran up to him.

"Have you seen or heard of a damsel in distress?" I asked him.

"Neither, I'm afraid," He responded. "What's this about?"

"A friend of ours has gone missing," I answered. "She was last known to be on the run from a malicious individual."

"I'll keep my eyes, and ears open, but you should speak to the captain immediately." The patrolman walked away as the others caught up to me.

"No new information," I told them.

We continued onward, and soon hit a small village just off the southern border of the capital. We went up to anybody, and everybody we saw, door to door, from one end of the village to the other, and nobody could help. Even the pub yielded no results. We were unable to help that our hope began to rapidly wane. It was when we were idling in our dismay that we were approached by an old man.

"It's not often you see a party travel through here. Where are you all headed?" he asked.

"The capital," I answered.

"I would stay away from the capital today if I were you," he replied.

"Why?" I asked.

"Early this morning I went up to deliver my fresh vegetables, and a wheel on my cart broke. I just left the cart there, and made it back here as fast as I could. It would seem that something is going to unfold," he answered.

"This news of an omen is the best news we've had yet!" I cheered.

"This is no rejoicing matter!" the old man snapped.

"Thank you, sir. You have given us all hope!" I told him.

"Once again youth, and foolishness go hand-in-hand," the man moaned. "Don't go to the capital! When you get to be my age, your acquired wisdom will fill you with regret. That is, if you'll still be alive."

"It has become apparent that Crystal never left the capital," Kardonyth said.

"Sometimes the proper thing to do is not to run from fate, but to face it," I told the man.

"I graciously gave you my warning! I did my good deed! If you do not heed my warning, that is on you!" the old man ranted.

"It has been nice talking to you," Zade joked.

We all ran to the north end of the village. We crossed the bridge, and passed through the outer walls of the capital. The exterior was filled with people passing in, and out of the city. We made our way through the crowds. Even amidst our haste, we made certain that Crystal was not mixed in with these people. I was surprised at the distance between the outer, and inner walls.

"This is it. We made it," said Sara as we arrived at the inner walls.

"Let's see what awaits us on the other side of these walls," I said.

"Crystal awaits," Kardonyth replied.

I walked up to the city gates, and opened them up. I saw a vast place filled with buildings, and crowds bigger than the ones we had just encountered.

"She's here, but where?" Kardonyth asked.

"Like I said, we need to trace her steps," I responded. "Lead us to where you met up with her."

"I can't recall exactly where it was," Kardonyth replied.

"Yes you can," I retorted. "Stay calm, and think. You had just been turned into a dog, and lost sight of Crystal. You were looking all around for her. What did you see?"

"All I saw was people!" Kardonyth answered.

"Stay calm, and retrace your own steps," I replied. "What direction were you coming from when you exited the city?"

Kardonyth thought really hard. "I don't think remembering that would be any easier."

I then noticed Sara get a funny look on her face. I shifted my gaze to where hers was. She was trying to decide whether or not the person she was staring at was indeed Crystal. It was difficult to fathom, but nonetheless it was still an incredible case of serendipity.

"Look," I said as I pointed at Crystal.

"Crystal!" Kardonyth barked as he rushed towards her.

To be continued...