The Legend Of Krakket The Dark

In the world of Avilion, many wondrous things are known to happen. But one tale is remembered by every dragon in the land: The legend of Krakket. The tale begins many years ago when the earth was young. The clouds watched over the land as peace ruled. In the town of Teret in eastern Avilion, dragons had been vanishing without a trace. (Which is difficult considering that dragons are quite large) A group of local farmers and villagers were unhappy with this for the dragons were their friends and if someone had been killing them, he was to be stopped. This was considered illegal for nobody had ever managed to kill a dragon before. The villagers looked everywhere they could and the farmers searched every inch of their land for this whoever was doing this but they never found any trace of him. One night on the 23rd of December, long after the group of locals had given up the search, a 12 year old farmer’s boy named Jarred went out into the woods to gather wood for his family for he did not wish for them to work on Christmas Eve.  After gathering the wood for the next two days, he put it all in his sack and proceeded to drag it back to his home. On the way there he noticed an eerie red glow on his left. He looked over to where he thought the glow was coming from and was startled to see a large stone. He walked closer to the stone and he noticed that someone had carved runes in the middle of the large rock. He did not understand what they meant but the image of the runes burned itself into his memory. He looked around the area and walked away from the stone. He looked back and saw that the red glow was coming from the stone itself. In his panic, Jarred set off in a sprint away from the stone but he tripped on a log and twisted his ankle. He tried to stand but he could not move his foot. In the distance, he could see and dark hooded man wearing a cape and wielding a sword. The sword was glowing with the same eerie red glow as the stone. Jarred watched as the man walked up to the stone and put his hand on it just above the runes. The eerie red glow seemed to vanish as a shockwave coming from the stone appeared to clean it out of the air. The shockwave blew off the man’s hood and Jarred could see that this was the man from the wanted posters. This was the man the locals-including his father- had been searching for. The man looked upon the stone with a grin and said:
‘’I have come with tonight’s catch’’
‘’Good lay their heads upon the ground before me.’’ A deep voice said seemingly from the stone.
The man pulled out from his cape a small bag. He emptied its contents out onto the ground before the stone. Jarred was startled at what he saw come rolling out of the bag: The heads of small dragons. The man stepped back and flames engulfed the dragon remains. A dark figure appeared before the man as the dragon remains burned. The dark figure said in the same voice as the Stone:
‘’You have done well. Their souls are mine now.’’
The Man kneeled before the figure and said:
‘’My lord. What of my reward?’’
The dark figure laughed with such an evil dark maniacal laugh that the trees shivered.
‘’You shall have your reward’’
The figure said as the Red glow slowly returned to the area. In the glow, Jarred could see the dark figure. It was the devil himself. At this point Jarred’s panic was taking hold of him. His heart beat faster and faster. Satan pointed his finger at the runes on the stone. The runes seemed to tear off the surface of the rock. They floated gently in the air at the Devils command. The Devil pointed at the man and the runes floated over to him. The Runes carved themselves into the man’s chest. He screamed in agony. The Devil laughed in his face and pulled the man’s sword out of its sheath and stabbed him through the heart with it. The man let out a wicked loud wail and fell over on his side. The devil grabbed the sword again and pulled it out of the man’s chest. On the sword, the man’s heart sat Skewered. The man opened his eyes and Jarred gasped as the man stood up. He could not believe the man was still alive.
‘’From this moment on you shall be known as Krakket the Dark’’ The Devil said.
‘’Thank you, my lord... I will continue to bring you the souls of the guardians.’’
By ‘’guardians’’ Jarred assumed he meant Dragons.  The man bowed before the devil and picked up his sword with his heart still skewered on it. The devil removed the heart from the blade and the wound healed. The devil conjured forth a chain and took the heart of the man in one hand and it shrunk and turned to metal.  The Devil hung the chain around it and gave the newly made necklace to the man.
‘’Lose this and you will lose your immortality’’ The devil said.
‘’I understand’’ The man replied.
The man turned around and walked off. The Devil remained and looked around the area.
‘’Come out, boy. Do not try to hide from me’’ the devil said, looking straight at Jarred’s hiding place behind the log.  Jarred was scared but he still stood up and looked the devil straight in the eye.
‘’You should get home. Your family needs your help now’’
Before Jarred even had the time to ask why, the devil vanished in a ball of flame. Jarred dropped the wood and started limping home as fast as he could. Jarred was in pain. As the trees of the forest cleared up around him, he could see his home. It stood in flames. He could hear the screams of agony from inside the building. His parents, his brother and his two sisters had been asleep when it happened. Jarred began to cry and fell to his knees. In the distance he could see the shape of a dark, hooded man wearing a robe and wielding a sword. The sword had an eerie red glow about it.
The man was not seen again for thousands of years..but a few months ago..a European mountain Dragon name Rich’ared was attacked by a dark, hooded man wearing a robe, wielding a sword with an eerie red glow around it…

The End?                                                                                                                    Þorsteinn Grétar Eiríksson