Chapter 1: The First Tremor

  The entire valley was shrouded in thick darkness; the only things visible were the torches held by the Rovian soldiers as they made their way down the broken road.The grass, which had grown tall and deep throughout the Valley due to the absence of travelers, had become darkened and stained by ash, from wild fires. Behind the Rovian soldiers, several wagons made their way quietly down the abandoned road. The soldiers' heavy armor muffled the sound of the wagon's wheels on the cracked stone of the old road.Each of the Rovian soldiers kept quiet and looked out into the Valley, trying to see as much as possible in the darkness.Captain Rhalden led the procession through the Valley; he had served many years in the Rovian Crown Guard. He had gray hair and a gray beard, along with a rge scar above his right eyebrow. He has learned many things during his years of service, and the skills he has developed will serve him well as he navigates the Valley tonight.Although tonight he is nervous, his thoughts echo in his mind, warning him about the dangers that may lie ahead. He does not like this valley, and the thought of continuing through it makes him uneasy."Keep those beacons high," he told the other soldiers in the procession.A young soldier near him shifted uneasily in the saddle."Sir...why would we come to this awful pce?"Captain Rhalden hears the young soldier, but does not immediately respond. He is too focused on what lies ahead of him in the endless Valley.King Alric Thandor of the Rovians commanded the procession to travel through this pce. Therefore, when the king orders something, no expnation or questioning is needed.This is the most direct route to get to where the procession needs to be, and taking it cuts off many days of travel. The Rovian maps do not indicate any potential hazards or reasons to avoid traveling through the valley; it has been empty since the Rovians settled nearby.However, none of these things seem to matter to Captain Rhalden and the other soldiers in the procession, as they continue through the valley.The air begins to grow colder, not cold as you would feel in winter, but something unnatural that seems to penetrate to the bone. The beacons continue to burn, but now they seem to blow as if in the wind, even though there is no wind present.Then it happens, a slight shaking of the earth. At first, it is almost imperceptible, but after a moment, it becomes apparent that it is more than just the distant fall of rocks. The shaking is gone before anyone can say anything, and the procession continues on.But then, a second, stronger shaking occurs. As the procession continues, it is clear that rocks are moving along the road, creating small puffs of dust from the ruins of the towering relics in the distance.The young soldier riding next to Captain Rhalden reacts quickly to the new shaking and excims, "Sir, is that an earthquake?"Before Captain Rhalden can respond, the Valley splits wide open just ahead of the procession.It feels like the movement of continents, and it appears as if the procession just happened to be in the exact spot where the movement occurred. Captain Rhalden sees that his soldiers are adjusting to their surroundings and that they are all looking toward the center of the Valley.Immediately, another break forms to the side, followed by another a few moments ter. The horses are reacting to the breaking of the ground, and are attempting to pull away from their riders in fear of running."Hold the horses," Captain Rhalden yelled.Throughout the Valley, spiky breaks begin to appear in the ground, and the soldiers notice faint red light emanating from the breaks.The ground was splitting apart.One of the soldiers muttered in a strained voice: "By the gods..."The earth burst upwards, and something massive began to emerge from the chasm in the floor. The explosion sent many of the soldiers tumbling from their horses; only a handful managed to keep their mounts upright long enough to avoid crashing to the ground. The loose horses galloped wildly while the dismounted soldiers attempted to stand up and get back on their feet, only to be crushed by falling rocks.For a moment, none of the remaining soldiers understood what they were seeing, or what had just happened to their comrades.The enormous shape rising from the earth was beyond their wildest imagination or their darkest nightmares.At first, the enormous mass of bck scales rose from the earth, each scale the size of a small Rovian house. More of the gigantic form pushed up towards the surface. The earth continued to crackle and groan as a massive limb appeared, with cws the size of a small horse dragging across what remained of the road.The nearby mountains responded to the movement of the earth.In stunned, horrified silence, the remaining soldiers watched as the massive shape continued to rise from the earth.Slowly, the head emerged, towering above the void.First, rge horn-like protrusions appeared, along with what looked like ancient, healed scars on them.The remaining soldiers froze, unable to move an inch. They were holding their breath, futilely trying to become invisible.The creature took its first breath above ground in thousands of years.The sound of the creature's first exhale was deafening, echoing through the soldiers' heads like a cp of thunder.Terror then gripped the soldiers when two bzing gold eyes flickered to life from within the grotesque visage of the monster. The eyes swept around their surroundings as the dragon finally focused after over a thousand years.The nearest soldier to the beast dropped his spear in terror.He spoke in short, stammering sentences." By... by the gods..." he gulped hard, "it is a dragon..."His words were lost to the Valley, as the beast exhaled again.The dragon's gold eyes turned and focused upon the Rovian soldiers standing frozen in terror, and particurly on the soldier who had spoken.Staring into the eyes of the dragon, the soldier stood motionless, avoiding eye contact, realizing it may be the st time he would ever look at anything. His muscles stiffened, and he whispered a silent prayer to the gods.Something then unexpectedly occurred.The Rovian soldier's eyes twitched; the terror faded from his face. Confusion repced the terror. He turned his head to the sides and to the other side of the valley; his vision was blurry as he searched for something he couldn't quite remember."Where... where are we?" he asked aloud.The Captain looked at him sternly."Are you crazy?" he shouted.The soldier furrowed his brow."I.... I don't know," he said.He gazed down at the ruined structures in the Valley."Why are these structures destroyed?"A creeping, crawling sensation traveled up the back of the Captain, the spines of his armor pricked like icy fingers tracing bone.He looked again – really looked – the truth was evident everywhere. Cracked walls were partially buried in charred earth. Broken towers still stood, fragments of which reached the sky only to cast shadowy silhouettes of what they once were. Remains of old roads began to appear through yers of ash and earth, faint outlines of a city slowly disappearing with time.The Valley was full of ruins, remnants of an ancient city. No matter how hard Rhalden tried, he could not recall what ancient city this once was. As a commander, he was trained to know all roads and areas. He had spent countless hours studying the maps, and he knew he should have been able to recall the name of the ancient city easily, yet he couldn't.The harder he tried to think of it, the farther it slid from his memory. Then a low voice resonated throughout the Valley.It was the dragon; it wasn't speaking. It was the voice of the dragon echoing through the cracked earth, reverberating through the crisp, cold air.And worst of all, the voice seemed to vibrate in the soldiers' skulls, sounding like their own voices. "You have accomplished much," it said.The dragon's gold eyes glowed."It will feed me well."The ancient monstrosity that had once devoured entire kingdoms for centuries zily stretched its talons for the first time in over a thousand years.Captain Rhalden finally realized with bitter confidence that most of his patrol soldiers were gone.Crushed.Buried.Or simply vanished beneath the torn earth.Only seven of his soldiers still stood with him among the ruins.After the impact of the dragon's voice faded, the soldiers didn't stir. The fire beacons burned weakly; only faint fme danced above the chill of the night air. Fmes pped up at the monstrous creature as it rose out of the Valley, and the soldiers remained standing in the broken middle of the road.Some soldiers knelt without purpose; others raised their arms, though no one knew what caused them to do so. There were seven of them left.Captain Rhalden could feel the dragon's heavy gaze upon him. Those golden eyes gazed down on the captain, enormous and ominous. Watching... waiting...The earth of the Valley bucked violently each time the dragon moved, and the ground continued to shake as the dragon continued pulling itself out of the destroyed earth. More roads broke apart and crumbled underfoot, the foundation of ancient buildings cracked and slid apart, and ancient towers toppled to the ground. Great boulders split apart with deafening crashes as the dragon climbed higher, and plumes of ash and dirt burst into the air as it rose. Almost completely free of the earth.The initial appearance of the wings resembled rge, tightly packed ridges that ran the length of the beast's body, covered by thick, bck scales rger than the walls of ancient fortresses. As the dragon rose further, these massive structures changed. The joints creaked open with a slow, grinding motion. Deep, iron-red membranes stretched between thick, ancient tree trunk-sized bone spars. As the wings tore themselves free of the earth, dust and crushed stone poured off of them, stripping centuries of dust and debris from their surfaces.The wings slowly started to unfold. The full expanse of the wings became evident as they swept across the valley like a dark cloud. Boulders tumbled to the ground off the back of the wings as they lifted, the weight of history crashing down in a roar of stone. The air itself recoiled from the shock of the action. An unexpected gust of wind surged from the single action of the dragon's wing movement, and the ash swirled across the valley floor in concentric circles. The dragon paused, partially unfurled and colossal beyond imagination, a monster rising from a shattered ndscape.One soldier dropped to his knees. "Please..." he whispered in terror.None of the other soldiers spoke.The silence among the soldiers felt unnatural. Something was happening to the soldiers, something inexplicable.Something far worse than fear.It would take a moment or two longer for Captain Rhalden to realize the same thing was happening to him.He had trouble thinking; confusion muddled his thoughts.For an instant, he stared at the sword in his hand, trying to remember why he was holding onto it.A long steel sword.Sharp along the edge.He remembered the sword - something he had carried for years.However, for a few terrifying moments, the purpose of the sword eluded him.Across the handful of surviving soldiers, confused, low tones began to emerge."What is this?""Why are we-"The soldiers turned, slowly and bnkly, and stared at their shields, spears, swords, and armor as if seeing them for the first time."Where...where are we?""What road is this?"One of the soldiers walked in a circle, staring at the ruins scattered across the Valley floor."Was there...a city here?"Captain Rhalden's heart pounded inside his skull.He knew there had been.But he couldn't remember the name of the city.The dragon moved once more.The single action of the dragon's movement produced another quake-like event.The ancient stone road could not bear the dragon's weight; it merely colpsed. Each time the dragon moved, the pavement creaked and cracked, breaking off rge sections of rock. Enormous chunks of rock shot into the air as the pavement broke and the road splintered like gss beneath the dragon's cws.The Dragon King paused, its massive body unduting; ripples in its muscles were visible beneath the yer of bckened soot. It raised its massive shoulder, preparing to draw the energy needed to strike.Then it pulled. It was slow, but nothing could have stopped the beast. As it strained upward, pulling its massive tail out of the mud on the valley floor, the dragon emitted a low, rumbling groan.When the dragon was fully clear of the earth, it took advantage of the opportunity to view its surroundings. Its golden eyes scanned the Valley.Wherever the frightening gaze nded, the soldiers trembled in terror, and parts of their minds began to disintegrate.Their memories faded away like morning fog.The captain realized something was amiss.The captain quickly grasped the arm of one of the soldiers and ushered him toward his horse.He shouted to the soldier and the remaining six, who were not mounted, "We leave!"Initially, the Rovians did not budge. They remained stationary, appearing to be in a trance-like state."Go where?" asked one of the soldiers.The captain spped the soldier gently across the cheek and indicated which direction to ride toward his horse.The Dragon King continued to watch as the Captain ensured that each of his soldiers had reached their horses."Run!" Rhalden screamed.The horses galloped southward along the old High Crown Road, while the surviving Rovians fled into the darkness of the night.The Dragon King turned around to look at the fleeing soldiers.They were not pursued.Not yet.The two golden eyes of the Dragon King followed the fleeing soldiers, watching as they disappeared beyond the rim of the valley.Slowly, the Dragon King elevated its massive head toward the sky.The clouds began to shift and swirl.For the first time in many generations, the wind touched the Valley of Ash.And across the world, something ancient began to rise once again.