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An original story by AshessFox. Based on the Dungeons and Dragons Mythology.

Also, No-Yiff, Just Story, and it's not finished yet, so let me know what you think! =3

The Legend of "The Ruby Dragon"

The Dragons Heirs:

Well before the land of today, even before most of the Gods found their place of power, there was a dragon, the first dragon to ever live, that ruled over a vast kingdom in peace. His scales were as vibrant as rubies and he was able to harness all the elements of the universe as a source of his near limitless power. He could also take the form of a young human monk so that his immense size would not frighten those who would visit him at his palace.

He ruled for many centuries at the request of the people of the land until one day he was visited by a traveling story teller, who told him a story of a greedy merchant who was never kind to anyone and hoarded his riches until the day he died. On that day, the people of his village rejoiced and looted his shop, spreading his wealth evenly around so that they could all live their lives as comfortably as the greedy merchant.

The Ruby Dragon realized that without an heir, even though he shared his riches amongst those who needed it, if he ever past, there would be no one to rule the land as honestly as he. So he organized a celebration, where he would announce to the land his intent to use his powers to create an heir to the throne.

The day of the celebration, the Ruby Dragon walked amongst the people of the land and talked to as many as he could, to find out what they would like of there new ruler, but so many wanted different things. Some wanted there next ruler to be fair and even handed like the Ruby Dragon, but others wanted a ruler who could protect them against those who would do no good and punish them with relentless might.

So come that evening, the Ruby Dragon had decided he would create two new rulers; one to guide and nurture the people of the land, and the other to protect them and punish those doing evil. Together, they would provide harmony throughout the land until the day the people have grown to be able to lead themselves in the same way.

The Ruby Dragon stood before everyone and announced his decision, which everyone cheered in agreement to. Changing into his dragon form, he let out a mighty roar and used his powers to pull down two stars from the night sky. Those stars floated down to the people and took the form of young human children, a boy and a girl. The Ruby Dragon announced that the stars have told him that one day, when the children have learnt all they need to know about the people and the land, they will take on there dragon forms and the rule of the land will change, and the Ruby Dragon himself would move on to watch on as no more then a spectator as a new land takes shape. And until that day they will travel the land, living life as they would normal children.

When the people asked the Ruby Dragon the names of the children, he replied that they will be named after the elders of the two main villages of the land, the boy would be known as Bahamut and the girl as Tiamat. The people of the land once again cheered and celebrated with the children well into the night, before heading off into the land the next morning.

A Dark Part in History:

Over the years that followed the creation of the two children, many more dragons started to venture into the Ruby Dragons land, most just to meet the children and pass on there knowledge of the world, but there were some that tried to take their lives. Luckily, if any one or anything entered the land with ill intent for the children, the Ruby Dragon sensed it and was able to turn them back with relative ease.

One day the Ruby Dragon received a secret message from an anonymous sender, stating that they would be able to stop any further attempts on the children's lives. The message didn't include what would be expected in return, only that they would discuss the matter further in a private meeting. The Ruby Dragon ignored the message, confident in his own abilities to keep the children safe.

As time went on though, more and more attempts were made on the children's lives. And though the Ruby Dragon stopped all of them, he came to realize that he needed to stop who or what was sending them into his land. So using the instructions of the secret message, he was able to contact the one who sent it and set up a meeting.

Within only a few days, a small imp arrived at the palace, claiming to be the one who sent the message. Though confused as why a devil, a creature that would have been taught from birth to hate dragons and everything else in the over worlds, would want to help keep harmony in the Ruby Dragons land, he granted the imp private audience anyway.

The imp explained that he worked for high level demon, that being jealous of his older brothers, has been trying to expand his power by any means. Having discovered the ability to control the minds of young dragons, he's the one responsible for the attempts on the children's lives, as he wants to harvest the powers the Ruby Dragon had imbued in them.

The imp went on to say that it believed that the demon had gone too far in his quest for power by invading lands outside the lower planes, and that it had seen what can happen in a conflict with demons. Even being an evil creature that the imp was, it did not wish for its demon master to gain power that was not from his own kind. The Ruby Dragon told the imp he would need to think about his proposal and to return in one day for his decision.

At the same time on the following day, the imp returned for the decision. The Ruby Dragon thanked the imp for his information, but will continue to guard his land on his own, as the demon had not ventured to it himself, it was not his place to do anything directly to him. But instead will be able to protect the minds of all other dragons in his land, so that harmony can be restored. The imp protested, saying that it was not good enough, and demanded that he be given the power to seal the demon away. But the Ruby Dragon had heard enough, and used his powers to send it away instead.

Weeks past with no more attempts on the children's lives, only dragons with the intent of passing on knowledge now entered the land. But one night, a messenger came running into the palace followed by the imp. The demon had found a way to enter the Ruby Dragons land undetected and had brought a small army with him in search of the children. Several small villages had already been destroyed, and many more were under threat.

The imp offered his services once again. If the Ruby Dragon would lend it the power to seal away the demon, it would be able to do so without the demon knowing until it was too late. Not being able to find the demon himself, the Ruby Dragon granted the imp this power, creating a orb that would turn the demon into a small statue, sealing his soul within it.

Upon giving the orb to the imp, the Ruby Dragon realized what was now going to happen, but to late. The imp smiled and snapped its fingers and a large demon appeared, wielding a sword sparking with lightning and a whip engulfed in flames. The imp then handed the orb to the demon just as a group of the demons minions came crashing into the palace, dragging a cage with the dragon's children inside.

The demon then used the power of the orb on the Ruby Dragon, laughing as he exclaimed his victory. As the Ruby Dragon slowly got sealed away into statue form, the demon told him that it had been a ruse from the beginning, to steal his near limitless powers and take over his vast land.

Just before the Ruby Dragon was completely sealed into a small red statue, he was able to release the full power of the children. The cage they were in burst open as they grew into there full dragon forms. Bahamut grew into a massive, long and sinuous dragon with silver-white scales and blue catlike eyes. Where Tiamat grew into a five headed dragon, each head a different color and a multicolored hide to match.

By the time they had finished changing, it was too late, the demon had already picked up the red statue that was the Ruby Dragon, and had absorbed most of its power. With the Ruby Dragons protection gone, and the demons control over dragons enhanced, Bahamut was no match for him, and was forced to kneel down to his new master. Tiamat on the other hand, with her five minds, was too much for the demon to control, so with a clap of his hands, he sealed her into one of the lower plains, where she would be tormented by evil for many years to come.

The demon declared himself king of the Ruby Dragons land, and anyone that wasn't able to escape in time, were turned into servants and slaves. He also constructed a special dungeon, designed especially to lock away the statue of the Ruby Dragon, so that no one could try and set him free.

Besting the Evil:

There were many years under the demons rule as king. Slavery had become normal to the people of the land, though a few small farming villages were mostly left alone, as long as the majority of there harvest was sent directly to the demons palace. Most the labor was done by women and the elderly, as the demon would take all young men and either have them beaten into submission to serve his evil will, or have them locked into the dungeon where they would only be set free in there frail old age.

Most of the people of the land had never been properly taught about the Ruby Dragon, as all written history had been destroyed, so all that was passed on were bedtime stories to the children. But even so, the true story was fading as time went on and the people started to forget.

It was in one of the small farming villages though, where a small underground movement had started, in the hopes of one day over throwing the demon on his false throne. It was run by an old man named Tobias, who used to be a warrior until the day the demons army captured him during a failed uprising and threw him into the dungeons. He now trained the children to be able to defend themselves, as well as a few other tricks he picked up durung his years of being locked away with other men like him.

He also raised a young girl, whose family was killed by the demons henchmen when they refused to give up there son. Tobias raised her as if she were his own, having known her parents for some time before there demise. He taught here everything he knew about them, making sure she would always remember her family name of Silverkin.

One day, a rumor reached the village that one of the undergrounds members had reached the demons lowest dungeon, but was unfortunately captured when he tried to steal a key to a heavily guarded chamber within. Not long after, an elderly man made it to the village after finally being released from his life in the dungeons, with a message for Tobias from the man who had made it so far in the demons dungeons.

The man had passed away after being tortured, but not before passing on the knowledge of what he was trying to accomplish. He had discovered that a room in the deepest part of the demons dungeon lays a treasure that is said to be the source of the demons immense powers. The only way in is with a magical key held by the demons head guard, a huge silvery white dragon.

When the young Silverkin girl heard of this, she saw this as her chance to get revenge for her family. Tobias saw this in her eyes and new their would be no stopping her, but instead convinced her to wait till she was older, and train every day until her 18thbirthday.

After three years of training, the day came where she would attempt to break into the palace and steal the treasure within its depths. Tobias and the other underground member gave her their blessings as well as the finest equipment they could ever craft.

The girl traveled with a caravan of foods for the demon and hid in a cart filled with the worst of the foods, which would surly be destined for the prisoners in the demons dungeons. She laid in wait while the carts were sorted by the slaves of the demon, almost being discovered when a henchman ran into the cart, knocking out some of her cover. Luckily one of the slaves, an older woman, spotted her first, and was able to create a distraction while she recovered herself. The woman was then able to take the cart straight to the dungeon and stopped near an unoccupied section of hall ways before letter her know it was safe.

The Silverkin girl was able to get information about the dungeons layout from the woman slave and was able to sneak into the head guards private chamber undetected. She hid away for hours, waiting for the dragon to return. In the dead of the night the door was flung open, and the huge dragon entered, throwing his armor aside and hanging up his weapon. He also placed a small box behind a decorative helm on a shelf up near the high ceiling. The girl knew it must contain the key and waited till the dragon was asleep before leaving her hiding place.

After the dragon had finally fallen asleep, the Silverkin girl pulled out some climbing gear from her pack, and quietly started to scale the rough stone wall. After several near falls she made it to the shelf, and worked her way along to the helm. She found the box and pulled it open, inside was a heavy looking iron sigil, the size of a small shield, of the demons mark. It would be to hard to climb back down the wall with something so heavy, but she knew she couldn't hesitate, as the sun would soon rise.

The girl started the slower climb down, but the sigil was much heavier then she'd expected and starting to loose her grip. She had slowed down even more to compensate for her lack of grip, but the dragon started to stir. She had no choice but to speed up again, but lost her footing and started to fall.

With some fast thinking, she pulled out a punching dagger form her pack, gripping the handle backwards and jabbed at the wall. She slid down a fair distance, but managed to slow down enough to grab back onto the wall. She made it the rest of the way down just as the dragon started to wake, and ran back to her hiding spot to tend to the scrapes she sustained from the fall.

The dragon woke moments later as the first light of the day shone through the window. He grabbed all his gear and the box that had contained the sigil, but luckily didn't check it before leaving the room. The girl waited a while until the coast was clear before setting out into the dungeons depths. Sneaking around corners and ducking into unoccupied rooms and alcoves when patrols were near.

She eventually made her way to the deepest dungeon, where after hours of searching, she found a door guarded by a hefty looking devil. She hid away and watched the door, devising a plan to access the room beyond. The only thing she could think of was a sleeping potion, but she didn't have one available. She thought back to her encounter with the salve woman that helped her, and decided to try and find her again for assistance.

Making her way to the slaves quarters, she found the woman that had helped her. She was glad to help, but knew it would take a full day to concoct a sleeping potion strong enough for a devil of that size. So she helped hide the girl away, slipping her a bit of food until the potion was ready late the next day.

Once the potion was ready, the woman arranged the devils next meal and delivered it personally, with the Silverkin girl sneaking along behind. She waited for the devil to eat and the slave woman to get away to safety. It wasn't long before the devil dropped his tankard of ale and slumped over to one side.

The girl carefully went over and examined the door, finding an indentation where the sigil would fit. Pressing it against the door, it clicked and creaked open slowly. Beyond the door was a dark empty looking room, but she spotted a small glimmer of red on the far side. She made her way across, being careful not to make any more noise, and found a small ruby statue in the shape of a dragon.

The girl remembered the old stories of how the demon had gained his powers from a red dragon statue, and realized that this must be it. As she picked it up, it gave her a shock and she stumbled backwards as a small red bolt shot out from it and hit her in the stomach. She picked herself up but felt unharmed, so she placed the statue in her pack and started the even more dangerous journey to get out of the palace alive.

She eventually made her way out by hiding in a pile of rubbish that was destined to be thrown out beyond the palace walls. From there, she made it back to her village, with the statue secure.

Unfortunately, for the next few days the girl grew ill, being sick all through the morning, barley getting better in the evening only to have it start all over again the next day. Tobias came to the conclusion that the statue must have been cursed and went to destroyed it. But in doing so, it released another, considerably larger red spark, this one shooting right up into the sky.

A group of the demons henchmen saw the spark and invaded the village to investigate. Threatening to burn everything to the ground and kill everyone, Tobias stepped forward and claimed he was the only person involved with the spark, trying to convince them it was a harmless firework. But the henchmen didn't believe him and beat him within inches of his life before dragging him back to the demons palace, where he was never heard from again.

Over the next couple months, the Silverkin girl took over leading the underground, though she never got much better. Many healers couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, but one finally came to the conclusion that she was experiencing a magic induced pregnancy, and sure enough, a few months later, she gave birth.

The child was a boy, but not fully human, he had features of a dragon. The girl realized this must have been the result of the shock she received from the ruby statue, and raised the child in secret. He was named in the honor of those the girl loved, Adoven, after her real father, Tobias, after the man who raised her, and Silverkin, to continue her family heritage.

Finding a Way:

Over the following years, Adoven grew up healthy and strong. As he passed his infancy, his draconic attributes became more prominent. He developed hard black scales all over his body and his eyes changed from his mothers blue to a brilliant gold.

As he reached his early teens, it was harder to keep him concealed in safety and was forced to stay in the catacombs that the resistance had constructed under the village. Though he was able to train freely and even learn shadow arts from the thieves and assassins that hid there between missions, it was cramped and he longed to be outside under the warm sun and to see the night sky again.

One day, while helping a construction team that was expanding the catacombs, they broke into a large cavern. The cavern was perfect for an emergency shelter for the resistance with a natural spring flowing through it, but what caught Adovens eye was a cave system that seemed to wind its way towards the mountains.

Initially, it was safer to block off the caves, just until they were able to secure it properly. So in the coming days, Adoven volunteered to search that caves. With his ability to see in the dark and keen sense of smell, it would be easy for him to do so. And with the aid of a couple of the town guards watching the entrance and channeling a magical beacon that he could follow to get back, it would be safe enough for him to enter alone.

With is agile abilities, Adoven was able to make easy work of all the caves twists and turns, jumping chasms, climbing up the walls to get to different sections of the system. And after a few hours he had managed to roughly map a fair bit of the immediate system. A lot of it looped around on itself or was just dead ends, but one section in particular connected to a long straight tunnel that seemed oddly formed, almost like it was already part of the towns catacombs.

By this point he though it would be best to bead back to town, since he'd been away for several hours. But before he did, he decided to find his way back to that one odd tunnel and try and block it off with some loose rocks from the area, just incase there was something down the other end.

While doing so, he felt something strange, like a presence calling to him. He wanted to follow it, but he was able to keep his mind clear and finish blocking the tunnel enough to be reasonable safe. He then set off back through the tunnel system to get back home, stopping every now and then to meditate to sense the beacon and confirm he was going in the right direction.

As he drew closer, it seemed that the beacon was becoming harder to sense, as though only one of the guards were channeling it, and when he reached what he thought was the last split path where he wanted to confirm his direction he found he was unable to sense the beacon at all. He found this quite worrying, as he knew his mother wouldn't do anything to compromise him being able to return. So after doubling back slightly to recheck his sketchy map, he set off at as fast as he could in the direction he was sure would take him home.

Adoven was making good time running through the caves, but stopped abruptly when there was a loud bang that echoed from up ahead. He knew that something had gone wrong and had started to push himself even harder to get there. When he reached the cavern, the guards had left their post and the workers were no where in sight. There was another loud bang, which we clearly in the town above, so Adoven rushed to the closest exit from the catacombs, only to find it was collapsed. Frantically, he ran from exit to exit, only finding they'd been destroyed. He was down to the last one, one that was just out of town, and he hoped it would be intact.

With a brief moment of relief, he found the last exit clear. He pushed open the trap door and pulled aside the camouflage to come out under a tree in the nearby forest. Leaping out of the tunnel he ran in the direction of town, only to stop after a few steps.

The town was ablaze under the twilight sky. The demons army had invaded and were destroying everything in sight. Adoven saw several towns people still fighting, but were quickly being flanked and wiped out.

Skirting the town, looking for a clear path so he wouldn't be spotted, he found entrance through one of the towns smaller farms. He snuck his way from building to building, trying to find anyone alive, but to no avail. It looked like the town and been either dragged off as prisoner or killed where they stand. Every secret hide hole and emergency stash had been raided then burnt, not even the one in the abandoned farm house had been spared.

Adoven was determined to find someone alive though, he wouldn't accept being the last one left. He made a bee line for his house by the town hall, dodging several troops of demonic soldiers along the way. Creeping in through a side window, he searched every room, only to find it the same as everywhere else in town. He then snuck through a crawl space that connected to the town hall, climbing up into the roof to scout from the rafters.

Once there, he spotted a tough looking demon that was clearly the leader of army with what could only be described as elite soldiers. And in front of them were his mother and the leader of the towns guard.

"You fought well, but not well enough. There was never any way you would defeat me with the power of the king on our side." Said the demon.

"Your master is no king, he is a fraud that needs to be put down..." replied the leader of the towns guard. Only to be met with the already bloody steel of the demons blade, his head rolling across the floor.

"This really isn't how you should be speaking about our king. Now slag, do you have any last words before you join your friend in the eternal void?" The demon had a cheap smile on his face, thinking of his impending victory.

Mean while, Adoven had stealthily made his way through the shadows of the rafters and was trying to catch his mothers eye. She had just looked up, about to respond to the demon, when he noticed a momentary flick of her eye, showing she had spotted himin the shadows. But instead of saying what she was originally planning to, she instead lowered her head and shook it slowly, as signal to Adoven to not interfere.

"So you've given up then?! The so called Dragon Lady of the resistance, I thought you'd have more fight in you. This title of yours is about as insignificant as how you got it. Just because you managed to steel a tiny statue from our kings castle, doesn't make you any different from the scum that follow you, you all die just the same."

Even though Adoven really wanted to jump down and try to take out the demonic soldiers, he knew his mother had a plan and waited for another signal from her, but it never came. The demon raised his sword and Adoven was waiting for his mother so suddenly leap aside a pull out a hidden blade of her own. But the demons sword swung down and she didn't even flinch.

Adoven just sat there, shocked, he wasn't sure what had just happened. His mother had seen him right? He didn't just imagine it? Did he just let his mother die when he had the chance to save her? It felt like the sword had pierced him too, as though he was the one now lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

He sat the frozen, unable to move an inch as the soldiers just left. His mother had been killed, just as it seemed that everyone else in town also had. He eventually managed to pull himself together just enough to drop down from the rafters and crawl his way over to his mothers body, clutching to her and screaming out in a pain that he never thought possible.

Eventually he picked her up and carried her out to the forest, where he proceeded to dig a hole under a large tree. As he went to lay her in the hole, he noticed she had been clutching something in her hand, it was a necklace she always used to wear, a small ruby shard. He placed the necklace into his pocket before saying a small prayer and carefully pushing the dirt over his mothers body.

That night was a lonely one, having moved some supplies into the catacombs, he spent a lot of the night lying under a tree near the entrance, starring up at the stars. He wondered how he could carry on, as far as he knew, everyone in town was dead. His mind kept on coming back to how the demon kings army had known about the resistance there, someone must have told or even a spy maybe. But there wasn't anyone he could think of that would have done such a thing, it may be the one thing he'd never find out.

He eventually forced the thoughts out of his head and made his way back into the catacombs, being careful to make sure no one was watching him, casting a shadow sight spell to sense what might be lurking in the dark of the night.

Laying down a few old blankets for comfort, he soon fell into a restless sleep. Dreams of his mother being slain by the demonic soldier kept swirling through his head. Suddenly waking to what he though was the distant sound of someone fumbling around deeper in the catacombs, he snuffed out his lantern and crept off into the darkness.

His snuck around every passage, unable to find sign of where the noise came from. But then he heard a whisper, barely audible, but he was sure he heard it. He listened harder, almost holding his breath to keep as quiet as possible, and he heard it again. Still not loud enough for him to understand, but he knew that somewhere in the catacombs, someone was whispering.

He very slowly worked his way through the passages once again, listening for the faint echo of the whisper. He eventually found himself at the big cavern, and the whisper seemed to be coming from the caves on the other side. Not knowing how a whisper could travel so far, he made his way over to the cave entrance, sitting behind a rock to one side and listening once again.

When the whisper echoed by, he still couldn't make out what was being said, but was actually startled by a sudden tugging feeling on the pocket of his trousers. He dived away from his hiding spot, swinging his head around to see what was there, but there was nothing. He felt the tug again, this time he swatted at his pocket, but his hand only met his side. Looking down, he noticed something strange, there was a faint red glow coming from his pocket.

He carefully reached his hand in, but was relieved to find it was actually his mothers necklace that was causing the issues. The ruby shard was the source of the glowing, and it also seemed to pull in the direction of the caves. Looking closely at it, the ruby had gone more slightly see through, and the light was swirling around inside it like leaves in the wind.

It was mesmerizing to watch and Adoven almost couldn't keep his eyes off it. He then had a flash of a vision, pictures of a rock pool under a red star filled his mind. The necklace started to pull away from him a little more forcefully as the whisper echoed through once again, this time though, he could understand it. It was calling his name, telling him to follow the necklace. He realized he got the same feeling from the whisper as he did from the tunnel at the other end of the caves.

He put the necklace on and set off into the caves. He still had a rough idea where to go, but the necklace was helping him along, pulling in the direction he needed to go, eventually leading him to the tunnel.

Adoven pulled aside the rocks he had used to block the tunnel off, before slowly heading along it. He didn't know if this was some sort of elaborate trap or not, so he took every step with care, making sure not to trigger anything that might be hidden in the walls, floor or ceiling.

He traveled for almost for the rest of the night before he found himself at an opening behind some thick blackberry bushes. He pushed his way through, the spikes not bothering him bother due to his thick dragon like skin. He had come out on the side of a mountain overlooking a vast desert with the sun not long of breaching the horizon. He had a rough idea of where he might be, having heard stories from the scouts of the resistance of far away lands.

The necklace was pulling him up the side of the mountain, towards what looked like another cave. Climbing his way up, Adoven found a short tunnel that opened into a small chamber with a pond in the middle, the water shimmering in what little light that was coming from a hole in the ceiling.

Making his way over to the pond, at first glance, he didn't think there was anything special about it, but he noticed a reflection in the water of a red star that was still holding onto the remaining night sky. Its light seemed to pierce through the light of the yet to rise run, bathing the pond in a strange glow.

Noticing the necklace was starting to pull toward the water, Adoven took it off and carefully dipped it in. There was a bright flash of red light that startled him and made him drop the necklace completely into the pond. When he leant over the water to see where it had landed, he noticed that it was actually growing. It very quickly started to take the shape of a small dragon, the golden chain of the necklace melting away to form its eyes.

When it stopped growing, it rose out of the water and hovered mid air about it. It then started to glow slightly and a beam of light shot up into the sky, seeming to connect with the red star. Adoven then heard a deep calm voice.

"Adoven, do not be afraid. I know of the demon posing as a king and what he has done and I am here to help you." Said the voice.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?!" Adoven replied, trying to resist the tremble in his voice.

"I do not have a name, yet I also have many. Most would just call me the Ruby Dragon. I once ruled over the lands where you live, but I underestimated a demons true lust for power and I was trapped in a statue like the one before you. An old man that knew your mother set me free, unfortunately at the cost of his own life, and I have resided with the stars ever since, watching over my people, helpless in do anything else.

But since it was my power that created you, you were able to connect me back with your world."

Adoven didn't know what to think. "What do you mean it was your power that created me? My mother was human and she said my father was too, a soldier that fought against the demons army but died in battle. And that she had been cursed before she knew she was carrying me."

"That is only half true," continued the voice of the Ruby Dragon. "Your mother did carry you as she would have a normal child, but she had been with no other. She found me in my statue form within the depths of the demons castle. When she picked me up, I used what little power I had left to try and create a telepathic link with her, but it failed. Instead, the power stayed within her, settling at the core of her soul and soon after created you.

You see, Adoven, you were created from the last of my soul on the physical plane, that makes you particularly special. Though you only hold a small portion of my power, that should be all you need to send the demon back to the lower planes."

"But how?" Adoven asked. "I've not any special abilities other than the ones I've been taught by the people from the resistance, and even then, I'm still years off being able to do anything of a paragon level."

"You are wrong again my son. The only reason you've not fully developed is because you've not known how to reach my power. My power is drawn from the cosmos itself, it requires a great will to be able to truly master it. For a normal human, it would take a lifetime just to understand where to start, but for you, with my guidance, it will take you 1 year."

"A year!? But every day people are being killed for not giving up there only food to the demons armies. It's already been to long!"

"Be patient my son. Even though it will take a year for you to be ready, this too will be the best time to strike. You see, the demon has been constructing something deep beneath the surface of the land. It will not be completed for just over another year. The moment he finally activates the device, he will be at his weakest. You'll be able to take advantage of this and throw him threw a portal between the planes that it'll create."

"A portal? What exactly is he trying to do? Do you know?"

"I can't tell for sure, but by the looks of the device, he plans to channel as much energy from this plane as he can, and use it to pull forth the nine hells. I believe he wishes to use the power he stole from me to merge the two planes and rule them both.

This will not be easy and will surely drain him just to open the portal. It'll be up to the device to create the merger.

Once the device is completed though, it will automatically start drawing energy from its surroundings. This means you'll need to deactivate it as soon as the demon is dealt with, and this is unfortunately the hard part."

"The hard part? I'll just smash it with a rock if I have to. How hard could it be?"

"Unfortunately this device isn't something you can just destroy by such a simple means. In this world, people have come to call it an Arcane engine, and its size is always proportionate to the power it needs to channel. In this case, the demon has built in into the land itself and it stretches right between its borders.

The only way you'll be able to destroy it, is by removing part of the tunnels that connect the different focus points. When it is time, you'll need to use all your power to remove a portion of the land itself."

"Remove the land?! Are you crazy?! Even if I knew how, where would I put it? On top of someones village?"

"I will teach you a teleportation ritual to do so, and it will need to be teleported far away from the rest of the device. You can send it hear, into this desert where not a single creature lives, it is the only way."

Adoven sat down, thinking, trying to comprehend what was being said. Not only was he not the person he thought he was, he has to move an unknown portion of his home land part way across the world.

Eventually, he stood back up, a determined look in his face.

"Alright..... I'll do it! The demon has already taken everything from me, so it's time to do the same to him. What do I need to do?"

"Simply step into my light and I will share the knowledge of astral travel. You will then be able to step into a pocket dimension where I can teach you freely."

Adoven waded through the water and into the light. For a moment he felt at ease, right before there was a flash of light and millions of images of divine magic filled his mind. He didn't realize it at first, but he had started moving his right hand, drawing a pattern in the air. A circle of runes formed in the water around him, glowing a brilliant bright blue. He realized this was the portal, and once he willed it, he would be transported away for a year. But he knew he would be back, the demon had to pay for all the suffering was inflicting. Thoughts of his mother filled his mind and he made a promise to himself, if he was going to succeed, it would be for her.