//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Dragon's Heart // by Jet Howitzer //------------------------------// Cramped, tight, closed quarters. The nearly suffocating closeness of my environment seemed wrong in every way. I struggled against my confines, but to no avail. I knew that I had to escape, but no amount of struggling yielded any results. I could hear some faint voices coming from outside my confines, but nothing came through clear enough to decipher. I tried again to escape, but the results were much the same. I frantically beat my tiny fists against the walls, but nothing came of it. Panic fueled my attempts, and soon I heard a crack on one of the impacts of my fist. Spurred on by my success I pounded harder and harder. With a final desperate attack I fell from my prison, into the vast expanse of the world. The intense light of the world blinded me, and so I shut my eyes against the light. I heard a gasp as I tumbled from my cell, and I knew that I had been spotted. Despite my lack of experience in these things, I assumed that the gasp I had heard was not a good thing. I tried to stand, but something was off about my body. It was similar, and different from what I was used to. I feel a force trying to push me down, but I fight against it, determined to rise. I didn’t just escape a prison to be put into a new one. With a burst of strength I broke free from this new pressure. I finally opened my eyes to the world, and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks. There, before me, was a horse. Now, in most cases this wouldn’t be a real problem, since I knew, somehow, that horses were herbivores. What made this a problem was the expression on that horse’s face, and the vicious looking horn coming from its head. That horn, an incredibly sharp horn, mind you, was pointed directly at my chest. Well, this is a warm welcome. The horn never wavered, but the expression on the horse’s face slowly changed from intense anger to confusion. I took advantage of this change to try and get a stock on my surroundings. I was in a rocky locale, and there was a sun high above. Sadly, before I could examine further, I felt a small prod from the horn. I resisted the urge to slap it away, for fear of being impaled. The horse’s gaze narrowed, and the confusion vanished, to be replaced by a look akin to anger. “You are no true dragon. Speak. Tell me your name.” I could tell immediately, from her voice that it was a girl horse. A mare, I believe. In response to her demand I just stared. A talking horse. Horses don’t talk, that’s just absurd. And she called me a dragon. Can’t she recognize that I’m not a dragon, but a… Shit. What am I supposed to be? “You can think in coherent thoughts, dragon, so speak.” That demanding tone was just a bit too far, so I decided to lay down the law. “I’m not a dragon, crazy talking horse lady thing. I don’t know what I am, but I’m not a dragon.” My voice sounded off, even to me. The look on the horse’s face was priceless. She looked surprised at my response, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. “And, I don’t much care for being threatened after escaping that prison, so why don't you just relax yourself.” Well, that sounded better in my head. A small chuckle escaped the horse, and she raised her head, and, more importantly, the horn attached to it. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief, but then I focused on the horse again. She was tall. Really tall. I mean, like, colossal. She was easily four times my height. I took an involuntary step back, and struggled to look her in the face. As I got a better look at her I could see that she had a large flowing mane of three different colors. What made this even more bizarre was the fact that it was flowing. Without any wind. I finally met her gaze, and in those eyes was a small spark that hinted at the immense power within her. I felt an urge to kneel before her, but I fought off the urge. I bow to no horse. Under her intense scrutiny I felt as if I was being judged. After just a moment the feeling passed, and her expression softened. “You are no threat to this land. You are one of the wanderers, here by mistake. A mistake that cost you your memories.” She must have seen the confusion on my face, because she proceeded to elaborate a bit. “The wanderers are incredibly powerful beings who travel between worlds. You are one of them.” “What?” I’m always at my best when I am confused. “It will become clear in time. But now, I must go. By the old laws I am forbidden from granting you aid, so I will go now. But fear not, for we shall meet again.” That said, her horn glowed fiercely for a moment, and a shadow passed over me. I saw a purple egg shaped object float nearer to the horse, and with a small smile the horse vanished. “The hell is this? Not even an introduction? Freakin’ horse thing.” I added a few more choice terms to my tirade, and then I took the time to really examine my surroundings. I was on a cliff, amidst many bones, and egg fragments. As wonderful a place to start as any, I suppose. I picked my way through the eggs and bones till I reached the edge of the cliff. I looked over the edge, and I saw that I was actually quite high up. I took some steps back from the edge, and then I explored the cliff a bit more. Nothing really special enough to note, so I decided to examine my private prison instead. Now that I was actually looking at it I could see that it was an egg, much like the one I saw that horse take. Except that this one was snow white, with some small black veins running along its length. A cursory inspection revealed nothing about the egg, and I was content with a cursory inspection. I looked down at my body, finally taking the time to see what I looked like. I was pure white on the outside of my body, but the inside, that being the chest and stomach, I was a grayish color. At the end of my hands were tiny black nails that matched the color of the veins on the egg. I wasn’t whatever I was before, that much was certain. Despite all this it only struck me now just how strange this all was. And at the same time it struck me just how calm I was acting. And, with that thought, the panic set in. I can’t really say just what I did, considering that I wasn’t really consciously aware the whole time. When I finally came to, though, I was lying next to the egg that I came from. The sun was setting on the horizon, so I did what any reasonable person would do in such a situation. I slept. Mornings… I hate mornings. With the rise of the sun I was woken by its glaring light. Lucky for me, seeing the sun rise set my internal clock, so I would be set for the rest of my life for knowing the time of day. Strange little perk dragons have. That aside, I stood up, and began planning my day. First order of business is getting down from here. Then getting something to eat. But I decided to take things one step at a time. I explored the entire cliff edge, starting at one side and going to the other, until I found a small path leading down. With no better options I began to trek along the path. It was long, and winding, but after an hour I had made it to the base of the mountain. The forest at the base of the mountain was quite thick, so it was difficult to travel through. Determination won out, though, and soon I found myself emerging into a large clearing. In the distance I could make out some buildings, so, with no place else to go, I began my cautious approach. What seemed a short distance, turned into a long walk, and when I finally made it to the buildings I was disappointed to see that they were abandoned. I rummaged through the ruins for a while, till I eventually found some food, and even a few gemstones. The food consisted of a few carrots, and an apple, found in a small weed infested garden. The gemstones came from a loose floorboard in one of the buildings. I ate all the produce greedily, and then I turned my attention to the gemstones. A part of me screamed that they were valuable, but the instincts of my body won out, and I guzzled them down greedily. Delicious isn’t the word for it. They were the best thing I have ever eaten. Thusly fortified I continued walking, exiting the ruins, and re-entering the forest. I spent several days walking through the forest, scrounging up what I could for sustenance. It wasn’t until a week later that I found another sentient being. I had crawled up a tree the night before, to sleep, and I woke with the sunrise to the sounds of a voice coming from below. I glanced down, and I saw a small horse, blue in color, walking along without a care in the world. Fate can be cruel, and it was especially so this time. With a small misplacement of my right hand I tumbled from the tree. A sharp yelp escaped your lips, and the horse turned in fright at the sound. I landed in the most elegant heap ever, and pain coursed through me. I began to fade, unable to hold onto consciousness through the pain. The last thing I saw was the horse approaching me, concern and fear mixed on her face.