The Legend of the Dragonrings

Prologue / Chapter One: Renell

Prologue

The mountain was on fire. Not the trees, the grass, or the millions of other things that grew and lived on it, but the mountain itself. It shook with tremors terrible enough to destroy small villages. The birds took all took flight, and the small creatures scurried away, warned by some sixth sense that something even more horrible was coming.

Deep inside the depths of the mountain, trapped by a collapsed cave entrance, there lay one of the most powerful creatures in the land… in old days, they were known as the dragonlords.

They had all been killed thousands of years ago, however… all except one. The red cloaked figure slowly got to its feet, examining the area. The hood of the cloak covered its entire face, except for the eyes, which glowed and burned like flame. Zynyis, the Dragonlord of the east, had survived the purge… and now, he wanted revenge.

Zynyis turned to face the entrance of the cave. Smoothly, he raised his hand and gestured: the barrier of stones crumbled. He smirked, pleased with his success. His triumphant feeling was fleeting, however, as he thought back to his army. He could never raise another army as powerful as his old one had been… the dragons had all been slaughtered years ago. He paced across the now open cave entrance, thinking.

Suddenly, something stirred in the back of his mind. His head snapped up as he stared out of the mountain and over the sea…

Gliding over the water just at the edge of sight there was a great, red winged beast. It flew towards the mountain with remarkable speed, growing increasingly larger every second. Zynyis’s smile returned slowly to his face as he recognized the dragon. Laningar.

So… the dragons were not dead, and they were aware that he was back. The time was ripe for him to achieve his final victory—The domination of all Abenisia and its surrounding lands.


Chapter One

The room was dusty, full of cobwebs and dirt, and had a musty smell. Light filtered in through several slits in the wall that were too small to be called windows. It had an oddly depressing feel, as though it had been neglected for years. That is, unless looked at closely… If given a second glance, passerby would notice that even though the rows of bookshelves were rotting and dusty, the books themselves were spotless. Also, though the entire room seemed filthy and unkempt, there was one small corner that was well taken care of.

In that corner, holding a flickering candle close to the pages of a yellowing book, there was a young man of around twenty-one years old. He sat cross-legged on the floor for lack of a chair, but he didn’t seem to be uncomfortable. He was so wrapped up in his book that he didn’t notice the rather large black rat that skittered across the room right in front of him, or the brown moth that fluttered continuously around his candle flame. He was intent on the volume that lay open across his lap, pausing every so often to straighten the small rectangular spectacles that were sliding down his nose, or to tuck a loose strand of his long brown hair back behind his ear.

He had been reading like this for hours, tucked away safely in an alternate reality where nothing could affect him. No one knew that he was there except for the scruffy brown cat that was curled up on a nearby abandoned chair. This he considered a blessing… if anyone, even a servant, found out that he was here, chances were that they would immediately report to his master. That certainly wouldn’t go down well.

The young man was suddenly jerked out of his book by the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall. He hesitantly set the book down and blew out the candle, listening carefully. The footsteps continued to grow closer, and he became nervous. Hardly anyone used this wing of the mansion, and he didn’t see any reason for them to be down here now…unless someone was looking for him. That particular thought made him begin to feel ill. Cautiously, he got to his feet and edged around so that he was out of sight from the doorway. He quietly slipped behind an old bookshelf, his heart beating slightly faster and his gray eyes shut tight. The loud creak of the door opening nearly made his heart stop altogether. Someone was in the room with him, and he would bet anything that they weren’t here to read a book. Silently, he waited. The footsteps grew nearer, and finally an angry voice shouted, “I know that you’re here, Renell! Come out from wherever you’re hiding!”

The young man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel the sweat running down his face now. Brilliant… Sneaking down here to read was definitely not my most brilliant idea. Unfortunately, he inhaled some dust with the last breath he took. His nose itched unbearably, and he tried to stop himself…but his attempts were in vain. He sneezed.

The moment he made a sound, the footsteps paused for an instant. Then they sped up until they were nearly running to the spot where he was hiding. Renell swallowed and braced himself. A short, slightly balding man came into view, his face an unseemly shade of red. “Where have you been?! Do you know how long I’ve been searching for you? Apprentice? Ha! You’re never around when I need you. I told you that I needed that order picked up from Armen’s shop, but did you do it? No, of course you didn’t. You were probably down here with your nose buried in one of these dusty old volumes, weren’t you?” Renell shifted his feet guiltily and didn’t answer. His master decided to take this as an invitation to continue. “I have half a mind to get rid of all of these old books! If you spent half of the time you do reading on fixing bow strings or sharpening the swords, the job would be done in no time!” And you could run more errands for me. The last part he didn’t say aloud, but Renell easily could tell that it was implied.

“Yes sir, I’m sorry. I’ll remember next time, sir.”

“You had better remember next time, or I’ll throw you out of my home! I have no need for an apprentice who doesn’t listen to the orders he’s given. Do you understand me?” The man’s red face was dangerously nearing a purple color.

“Yes sir. I’ll go pick up your order now, sir.” The man just grunted as a response, so Renell bowed and hurried out of the room. He made his way through the huge mansion that had once been his master’s father’s home. A while ago, Renell had been Jalison Stuart’s apprentice, but when he had died Renell had been made into his son’s, Leneson Stuart’s, apprentice. Jalison had been a kind and fair man, traits that unfortunately had not been passed down to his son. It was Jalison who, when someone left Renell on his doorstep as a baby, adopted him and took care of him. Jalison had been a scholar, and once upon a time Renell had studied under him to become one as well. His son, however, had no interest in books, so when his father died he changed the business to a weapon shop. Renell then became his apprentice, but found that he’d much rather curl up with a book somewhere then help the man take care of his store.

The order that Renell had been supposed to pick up was an order of steel to make the swords from. It was he who, day after day, struggled to get the materials, and then make the weapons. Leneson handled the ‘business affairs’ as he put it. This meant, of course, that he took care of the money. Everyone assumed that the master made the weapons, and the apprentice assisted him…when, in truth, the apprentice was the one who made them without any help. Renell had actually gotten quite good at making swords and bows, but he didn’t enjoy it. Therefore, whenever his master shut himself in his office to count his money or plan more ways to cheat people out of theirs, Renell snuck back inside to Jalison’s old library.

Jalison’s library was, perhaps, the only part of his life’s work that remained untouched. Renell had a suspicion that Leneson only hadn’t sold everything in the library because he didn’t think that anyone would want to buy books. Another possibility was that he kept forgetting about it. Everything else—Jalison’s office, his bedroom, his shop—had been dismantled and the objects in them sold for more money. Renell had managed to salvage only two items from his former master’s shop—a poetry book that Jalison himself had written and was very proud of, and Jalison’s favorite book: Myths and Legends of Abenisia.

Abenisia was the entire eastern land of the humans. It was cut into several different realms; Evandrôs, Linëthe, Niavika, and Vendran. The realm that they lived in was Evandrôs, which also was the biggest of the four. It was bordered in the south by Niavika and Vendran, and in the east by Linëthe and the elven lands. On its west side was the Sea of Dreams, and on its north border were the uninhabited desert lands of Eyrth. Evandrôs was mostly comprised of plains and woodlands, with hardly any uneven ground. It was completely opposite from Vendran, which was dominated by mountains, and Niavika, which was almost all swamplands. Linëthe was very similar to Evandrôs if you looked at Geography, but not climate. Climate wise, Linëthe was hotter and dryer, resulting in less fertile lands. Evandrôs was by far the most populated of the realms.
Renell finally reached the front doors of the mansion, and grabbed his worn green cloak on the way out. His cloak was one of the few possessions he had, along with his former master’s two books, and a few assorted clothes and accessories. He also considered the library as his, because no one else used it. Privately, he thought that it had probably been left to him on Jalison’s will, but the entire document had gone missing upon Jalison’s death, and so all of his lands and affects were passed down to his son. Renell had thought this coincidence was vaguely suspicious, and sometimes he wondered just how much was actually left to him.

He exited through the gate that the guards opened for him and started down the twisting dirt roads that led into town. The town that they lived in, Evzéyn, was an average sized town with all classes of people. There were the poor, who scrounged in the streets and begged for food, the middle-class, who lived in relatively nice homes and owned shops or farms, and the rich, who had the lower class people do all of their work for them and didn’t care about anyone else. Leneson fell into that particular category. Most of the houses were small or medium-sized, and almost all of them were two stories—the top floor the living chambers, and the ground floor whatever store or shop that the people living in the house ran.

Renell was bound toward Armen’s metal shop. Armen sold iron, steel, silver, platinum, bronze, copper, and gold in slabs or sheets of metal. Renell’s master usually ordered steel or iron, but sometimes decided to buy silver or gold if they had a rich customer. Armen’s shop was rather small and dingy, and almost always crowded. If the people weren’t here to buy metal, they were here to look at the jewelry that his daughter made and sold at fair prices. Renell wound his way through Armen’s other customers and to the counter at the front where Armen himself sat.

Armen smiled widely and waved when he saw him. “You’re master’s prepaid order is around back, in the usual spot. If there’s any trouble, ask my daughter for help. I’m guessing that you’re not going to be able to stay and talk this time?”

“Sorry, I’m—“

“Running late, I know. Aren’t you always?” Armen teased, “What book was it this time?” Renell muttered something indiscernible, and the big man’s smile grew. “Well, good luck up at the weapon shop. I can almost guarantee that Leneson is going to be in a bad mood today.”

Renell grinned at their private joke, and replied like he did every time. “Of course you can… he’s always in a bad mood.” Armen laughed and opened the door to let Renell behind the counter and into the back of the shop where the prepaid orders were.
Renell quickly found the steel that he was supposed to pick up and, after waving goodbye to Armen, dragged it outside and began hauling back up to his master’s mansion. A few people turned their heads and stared as he went by, dragging a load that was twice the size of him. Some of them offered to help, but Renell declined, telling them that he didn’t have much further to go anyway.

When he finally reached the gates to the mansion, his muscles were tired and strained. He set the steel down and shouted up for the guards to let him in. There was no answer. Renell groaned and ran a dirty hand through his hair. It was just his luck that he arrived back when the guards were on break.

Renell leaned against the stone pillars of the gate, slumping down until he was sitting propped up against them. He hoped that the guards would get back soon…
Suddenly his gaze was drawn towards a glimmer on the ground. For a moment, he couldn’t find what had sparkled and captured his attention. Then he saw it—trapped between the cracks in the cobblestone road that led up to the mansion was an ivory ring. Wrapped around it was a carved crystal or diamond dragon with mesmerizing pale blue sapphires as its eyes. It had been carved with such detail that the dragon actually looked as if it would uncurl itself from the ring and fly away. As Renell looked at it, he half expected it to blink.

After a moment he came to his senses and leaned over to pick it up. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small ring, and he almost dropped it. Renell flipped it over in the palm of his hand, examining it. From the moment he first touched it, he had an overwhelming urge to put it on. He was about to slide it onto his finger when he stopped. This was wrong…it probably belonged to someone. Renell stuck it into his pocket and decided to ask his master if he knew whose it was. Though his master would probably just say it belonged to him, and then sell it for money…

Renell sighed and got heavily to his feet just as someone shouted down to him. The guards were back from their break. He waved up to them, and the gates creaked open. Forgetting all about the ring he had found, he turned and grabbed the steel and began pulling it inside. The gates groaned closed behind him.

When Renell had successfully transported the steel into his work area, he began to unload it and prepare it to make a sword. When he was just about to start, however, he remembered the ring he had found. Renell hesitated for a moment, and then drew it out of his pocket. After examining it again for a moment, trying to figure out if he had seen it before, and why it was so familiar, he stuck it back into his tunic pocket and left the work room. Perhaps his master would know…but he doubted it. For an instant he considered just keeping it for himself (for surely his master would, anyway!), but then decided against it. Resignedly, he began making his way up to his master’s office.


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Renell knocked softly on his master’s door, waiting anxiously for an answer. After a few seconds an unenthusiastic voice droned, “Come in.”

Renell carefully pushed the door open. Unlike the library’s door, it opened smoothly without a sound. Leneson looked up, saw who it was, then grunted and looked back down at the document he was holding. Without even looking at his apprentice, he muttered, “What do you want? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but I found this ring and I wanted to know—“

“Ring? What ring?” Leneson’s beady little eyes lit up with a greedy glow. “What’s it made of?”

Renell walked resignedly up to his master’s desk and held out his hand, the ring on his palm. For a moment, Leneson just stared at his hand without saying anything. Then, after another pause, he glared up at Renell and snapped, “What, you think this is funny?”
Renell stared at him, and then looked down at the ring in his hand. “What’s wrong with it? It looks like it would be worth something at least… though I originally wanted to return it to its owner—“

“Exactly what ring are you talking about?” Leneson retorted.

“This one.” Renell pointed to his palm. What was wrong with his master? It was like he couldn’t see it…

“Stop playing games, apprentice, and get back to work. I can see quite clearly that there is no ring in your hand…what do you think I am, stupid?”

Renell blinked, confused. Then he got an idea. “Listen closely, sir, you’ll hear it hit the desk.” Then he dropped the ring over the hard oak wood. It hit with a resounding clang…an odd noise for an ivory and diamond ring hitting wood. It fell to the floor and then rolled across the room behind his master’s desk. When he started to retrieve it, however, Leneson stopped him.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?!” He demanded, fuming. His eyes were shooting sparks and his face was slowly changing to a brilliant red color.

“I was going to get the ring that—“

“You’re insane.” This was stated flatly, as if he were stating a fact. “There was no ring in your hand, nothing made a sound, and I don’t know why you want to go back behind my desk but there is absolutely nothing there but dust!”

“But Sir, couldn’t you see—“

“No. Get out. Now.”

“But I have to get the ring—“

“Now!”

Renell hesitated as he cast one last look at the ring that glittered innocently on the floor, and then turned and left. When the door shut behind him, he stood in the shadows for a moment and thought. The ring must be magic—that much was obvious. But why could he see it even though his master couldn’t? Unless it was just ordinary and Leneson pretended it wasn’t there…though he couldn’t tell why his master would pretend that an obviously valuable object didn’t exist.

With a sigh, Renell turned and headed back to the forge to make more swords. Half way there he stopped. Carefully he made sure that no one was watching him. When he was sure that no one was, he changed direction and headed towards the library.


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A/N: The entire chapter one isn't up yet. Hopefully it will be edited and updated soon, and will still be in this entry. Thank you for reading! Please rate, review, and let me know what you think! :)