Chapter 1


On Galantry, peace is upheld through the use of a Grand Council. All of the rulers of the various countries (in the alliance that is) make their way to “the heart of Galantry,” otherwise known as Valohima. This is not to say that Valohima is the capitol of Galantry, but rather it is where the rulers of the world meet to discuss the issues of the time.

Why Valohima? Not even the historians know anymore; the decision was made long ago, at the beginning of Galantry—then called Hima—before writing was widely used. Besides, even if writing was widely used at that time, between all the various wars (one large enough to be termed the apocalypse), writing that ancient would’ve been lost anyway. A sad loss in history, but tradition has stood long enough that no one questions it, because they all know that each country is just as important as the other. But back to the matter at hand.

Today was one of the days the Grand Council met. It wasn’t the annual meeting, as the world was at war, and therefore the Council often met at least bi-annually. Today, however, was neither. It was an emergency meeting. The Dragons had been informed that their most ancient and powerful technology had been stolen by the Chids, the beings that the world was fighting. They informed the Humans, as Dragons are very picky about who they communicate with and—in general—humans are easier to communicate with, and King Jaren—King of Chiron, where the Humans and Dragons reside—called the emergency meeting.

“Well, Jaren, you called this meeting, what is this about?” the Elf King of Kor—King Akir IV—asked.

“Are you aware of how the mountains surrounding Kantar came to be cursed?” Jaren asked.

There was a small murmur of assent, but Jaren felt that wasn’t enough. It wasn’t a very widely known story, after all.

“Before the evil of the ‘AKab’Tr came and infected our world, the dragons played with their magic, creating things we wouldn’t even think were possible. Many times, their most powerful weapons were hidden in the caves of those mountains, often guarded by one of their own. The ‘AKab’Tr, thirsty for the power of that weapon, sought it out. They killed the Dragon guarding the weapon—the oldest, wisest and most powerful dragon—but, thankfully, they were killed. The damage had been done, however; they had killed a dragon on their quest for power, and the dragon’s body cursed the mountains themselves.

“Now, centuries later, the Chids have somehow stumbled across that same cave. Likely they weren’t searching for the weapon, as no one knows where it was because the cave had collapsed. They might have been mining for materials or some such thing.”

“Get on with it, Jaren,” implored the Dwarf King of Arkell, King Entir.

“Right, I apologize. Anyway, whatever happened, the weapon has been found and stolen by the Chids. They now have it in their possession. Thankfully, they only have one amulet, as the other five were scattered across Galantry when the cave collapsed. That’s the good news. The bad news is: they have the amulet of Shadow. If they somehow find a way to find the amulets and properly power up that beast of a weapon, life as we know it will end,” Jaren finished.

“Then what do we do? Do we go get the rest of the amulets and keep them here, safe from the hands of the Chids? They can’t possibly use it without the four basic amulets,” asked King Rajin—the Kasiru king of Valohima.

“I don’t think that would be smart, Rajin. The Chids are allied with the Nighthawks, a very technologically advanced race. We may think that the amulets are the only way, but who’s to say that the Nighthawk scientists won’t discover another way to make the weapon work?” Akir pointed out.

“You have a very valid concern, Akir, but what are you suggesting? That we send in someone to destroy the weapon? Even if he survived the guards, he’d be destroyed in the process. I may not know much of the weapon, but I know enough that unless those amulets are in place, balancing the elements, the weapon is unstable and dangerous for all use, even dismantling,” the Centaur Chief—Chief Kentzil observed.

“What if he was to obtain the four amulets first? We’d be pressed for time, but at least it would ensure that the amulets are found and kept from the Chids as well as ensuring the possibility of destroying the weapon,” suggested Chief Oran of Elatia, the land of the Sphinxes.

“That still doesn’t account for the fact he’d be dead before he made it to the weapon,” argued Kentzil.

“What if we put together a group? Obviously this young man that has the ability of disabling the weapon, and a sharpshooter—a bodyguard of sorts; a group would give him added protection, not only on the journey, but also in the city itself,” Akir suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea, Akir,” Rajin mused.

“We’ll need someone that can plainly understand a dragon’s instructions; do you know anyone, Jaren?” Entir asked.

“I believe I do, actually. His name is Ryan; his family owns the oldest and largest dragon stable in Chiron. He may not be the best Dragon Rider, but he raised his dragon from birth. If there is anyone that can listen to a dragon and understand complicated instructions, it’s him. Plus I believe he studied dragon magic and technology in school. How he did it, I don’t know, but I believe he can do the job,” was Jaren’s answer.

“What about a sharpshooter? Preferably a wind elf, they tend to be the best sharpshooters. The worst wind elf is still ten times better than everyone else” Rajin asserted.

“I have someone. She’s my son’s bodyguard. Her father was the best sharpshooter I’ve ever seen, history has agreed with me as well,” was Akir’s answer.

“And what about your son? What’s to become of him without his bodyguard?” Entir asked.

“He is a marvelous healer. Considering the severity of this mission, I don’t believe I should pick anyone other than Allegria to accompany our young hero. We’ll simply send Jaden along as well. He certainly won’t be dead weight” answered the elf.

“Is that it, then? The fate of the world rests on three people?” Entir asked.

“Of course not, Entir, how about you send along a Dwarf for some strength? I know someone who is very skilled in magic, I’ll send him along as well” Kentzil offered.

“I’ll send along my son and his bodyguard as well. They’re both very skilled in fighting. Tira, especially, is marvelous at being able to detect dangers before they’re made known. She’ll be useful on this quest, I’m sure” Rajin answered.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll send out a summons to these warriors, and then we’ll fill them in when we arrive” Jaren answered and turned to Rajin, a sign that the business for the meeting had been accomplished.

“Very well, meeting adjourned until our warriors arrive” Rajin concluded.

Chapter 2


“Hey dad, what’re you doing back so early? Allegria asked the captain of the guard.

Kevin didn’t answer right away, he simply handed a note to Allegria “go track down Jaden, your presence is requested in Valohima. More details will be given there, but suffice it to say that you have a very important job ahead of you,” he explained.

Allegria blinked as she read the note “alright then… I’ll go inform him of the news,” she answered and walked away.

It wouldn’t take her long to find him, she knew. She’d grown up in the palace, seeing as her father was good friends with the king as well as being the captain of the guard. Not only did she know the area extremely well, but she’d grown up with Jaden. Yeah, they were separated save for summers for about four years during their advanced training, but she still knew his habits, where he liked to go, his secret places, etc. The fact that she was also his bodyguard was only a minor advantage.

However, today he was unusually difficult to find. She’d checked every inch of the garden, stables, and his room. She’d even checked the library (even though he was rarely found there).

“Alright, if you’re going to play hide-and-seek, as the other worlders call it, then be prepared to be found” she muttered and knelt on the ground to meditate, looking for disturbances within the atmosphere.

As a wind elf, she had the ability of finding objects, animate or inanimate, by finding what the air shapes itself around. The only hard part would be if he was surrounded by a crowd of people. She’d only be able to find him because she knew him well enough to know when a body likely belongs to him.

She never found him, though, until it was too late. In an instant, she was pounced by an unknown force. Quickly recognizing her attacker as the brat of a prince that was her best friend, she willingly entered the wrestling match that her prince had started.

She may be strong and trained for battle, but he was larger than her. When Jaden seriously applied himself, it was always a toss-up between who would win their various matches.

Unfortunately, Jaden knew Allegria just as much as Allegria knew Jaden. That meant that he knew all her weak spots, including that she was extremely ticklish, a fact she hated other people to discover. She was tough, a weakness like that was just too humiliating.

Before she even had a chance to stop him, Jaden’s fingers were dancing across her stomach and she had erupted into giggles as she squirmed for a way to escape her attacker.

Jaden grinned at Allegria and finally let her go. “So what’s up? Why were you looking for me?” he asked.

“Apparently, we’re wanted in Valohima” was his answer as Allegria handed Jaden the note “from the looks of it, we’re involved in a council decision, beyond that I don’t know anything.”

“Well… perhaps we should pack our things and head out,” was the prince’s suggestion.

~O~O~O~O~

The journey was a long one, to be sure, and it was basically only Jaden and Allegria. Of course, Kevin was acting as an escort as well, but the young elves still had a lot of alone time on their hands.

They were used to it, however, having grown up together and now Allegria being Jaden’s bodyguard. Jaden, of course, always loved getting alone time with the Allegria; after all, it wasn’t exactly a secret that he was in love (though some debated how seriously) with his friend. He couldn’t do anything about it, of course. He’d been given a choice: Allegria or a boring bodyguard. By choosing Allegria, at least he could ensure that he had as much alone time with his favorite person as he wanted. The only downside was that as long as she was his bodyguard, he couldn’t actually do anything to further their relationship.

Not that she would ever consider romance, no she wasn’t the type. She was focused on protecting her prince. Romance never crossed her mind. But that didn’t stop Jaden; he still flirted as much as possible. If he could get her to stop being his bodyguard and choose him, he would gladly take any replacement that was sent his way. So, despite the fact that the woman he loves is putting her life on the line to protect him (a fact that unnerved him greatly) he didn’t feel discouraged in the least. After all… women could only put up a fight for so long before they succumbed to his charms.

The trip went by without much incident and with the help of magic the trio was able to make it to Valohima within three days. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by a young Kasiru—a human that had the physical characteristics of a tiger.

“Welcome! We’re only waiting on two others, but they should be arriving either tonight or tomorrow morning. Once they arrive, we’ll find out what this whole thing is about, I guess. I’m Drakonis” was the enthusiastic greeting.
Jaden smiled pleasantly, “a pleasure to meet you, I’m Jaden, this is my bodyguard and good friend, Allegria."

No titles were exchanged between the two, because the royalty knew the members of all the other country’s royalties. In a formal setting, titles would be given, but given that Drakonis had left off his title, Jaden picked up on the hint that this was meant to be an informal introduction.

In response to her introduction, Allegria smiled and bowed in a feminine way. During her training she’d been given the choice of using the bow that the men used, or using a more feminine bow. Although she was a warrior, and had little desire to be anything else, she still chose to keep her feminine identity, and therefore opted for the feminine bow.

Drakonis bowed as well, though not so much as to have disregard for his status “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Allegria. Shall we head to the castle, then?” he suggested.

Jaden gave his assent and soon enough they were being led to the lounge area where a human was relaxing. He sat up when he heard the doors.

“Ah! Someone else has arrived!” he observed.

“Yes, I’m Jaden, prince of the elves. This is my bodyguard, Allegria” Jaden answered, not bothering to even so much as incline his head out of politeness.

Allegria, although upset with Jaden for being rude, didn’t comment on his lack of manners. Instead, she approached the young male. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she told him.

The human smiled at her “I’m Ryan” he said and then leaned in to whisper “what’s up with the prince?”

“He’s recently entered into a habit of being a rude, spoiled brat. Since he’s the prince, I, unfortunately, cannot correct him of his lack of manners” was Allegria’s answer.

“Ah… I see… well he sounds lovely” Ryan observed.

“He can be when he wants to be. How’d you get here before us?” Allegria asked.

“I flew on Strike, my dragon. If you’d flown you would’ve beat me,” was Ryan’s answer.

“You’re a dragon rider?”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that. My family owns a dragon stable, and I raised Strike from an egg, but I’m not really too important”

“Then why are you here?”

“Why are you here?”

“You have a point there”

Jaden walked up to the pair, a sour expression on his face “Allegria, come on, let’s go get settled,” he practically demanded before walking away.

Allegria sighed, shrugged a farewell to her new friend, and turned to follow Jaden.

“I don’t like him,” Jaden muttered as he practically dragged Allegria away.

“Why? Because he smiled at me? Honestly, you’re acting like a spoiled two-year-old who doesn’t know how to share. I know you can act better than this,” Allegria chided.

“You’re angry with me”

“No, but I am disappointed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get changed into something more feminine for dinner” Allegria said before shutting the door to her room.

Sweet story! Can't wait for the next part. I was so happy you put in a dwarf too! They are my favorite characters, and they kick some serous #$%! I like the story line a lot to, reminds me of The Lord Of the Rings. I also giggled when you said how the worst shooting wind elf is still 10 times better at shooting then everyone else ha. The only question I have is what kind of technological age is this story set? I notice you said the hawks got some tech advancement so I am just curious. Anyway good story, I want to read more lol. :XD

there are some definite influences from lord of the rings, simply because most fantasy stories have some sort of element from them. as for the technological age... difficult to explain. technology doesn't really work on galantry because of the magic, so they have magical counterparts. for all intents and purposes, the age is medieval, but there is some serious magic going on. the next chapter iss... in progress but school has demanded my life and the life of my first-born so... unkown as to when it will come into existance

Yea, Lord of the Rings does that lol. Magic is always fun to mess around with in stories. Medieval age setting is always entertaining too. Hopefully school doesn't over ride your progress and I would rather you occupy your first born then to continue. I can wait, I am a patient guy hehe, looking forward for more! Happy writing.