Found

I am hundreds of years old. The cedar forest I dwelt in was once young and I can barely recall the filtered sunlight as it warmed the stone entrance of my home. My clan and I lived peacefully with the humans and elves that ran the keep, once a stronghold that was a beacon of peace in the land. But all such things come to an end, and the story I tell is much later in life, after war and strife tore the tower down and the people dispersed to live elsewhere.

I was still rather young and was the last of my clan to stay in the forest. Many had relocated to more suitable climates, hidden away from the rest of the world. But I, I remained to live in solitude away from the politics and the drama. That, however, did not last long enough and yet ended after too much time.

One day I flew to check on the heart of the forest, the tallest and oldest tree at the center whose roots connected the forest together. It was older than I, and I felt a sense of longing and peace when I alighted upon one of its branches. The day passed as I watched the wildlife awake and live their days. Deer and elk grazed. Birds nested and sang their songs. Little creatures traveled the branches, stopping to chatter as they gathered their stores for the coming winter. But a disturbance rustled out, like a ripple effect, from the east and drew my attention. I gathered myself and flew to investigate it for myself. It had been many years since any creature, human, dwarf or elf, had visited these lands.

The leaves rustled as I passed over them, whispering news on the wind. A solemn silence pressed in as I grew closer. Then I saw it, in the middle of a clearing. A small child, no bigger than four years of age, was sitting quietly. This surprised me, for I remembered the children of my old home were loud and raucous individuals constantly clamoring for the attention of their elders. I landed near the small thing. A girl, only as big as one of my hands, with long golden hair and brilliant green eyes looked up at me. Her face was dirty and some of her clothes barely appeared better than rags. Looking around, I realized she was utterly alone and must be far from home. How she got there I didn't know. But her lack of fear of me endeared her to me almost instantly and I lay next to her in the sun. We sat like this for a length of time, until the shadows grew long and the wind blew coolly.

She stood at last and walked with unsteady steps until she was standing eye to eye with me. In the quietest of voices she finally spoke, "What's your name?"

Perhaps she was a truly curious creature, but this was perhaps not the first question I would have thought of asking. All the same, I answered her though I wasn't used to speaking, "Yongmun. And what is your name, little one?"

"Misuni. Me hungry. Do you have food?" I remember laughing. I fear it had been long since the last time that had happened as well.

"I do not have food with me, but if you would like, I can take you to some food." She nodded, almost shyly, and I extended a hand to her. She climbed up and sat in the middle of my palm and I rose on my hindlegs and took to the sky. Gold and ruby colors dripped from the clouds as we flew back towards my home. A bit of the ruins of the castle rose above the treeline. We landed nearby and I carried her to the once neatly kept orchard and we picked fruits until the stars twinkled through the leaves above us. She curled up and was soon asleep as the giant sapphire moon lit the world around us. I walked, twigs cracking and leaves rustling, back to the ruins I called my home. I laid her carefully on one of the still standing couches in the grand hall and went out into the night to gather fallen branches. These I snapped down to size, carrying them beneath the crumbling archway and putting them into the fireplace to start a fire.

It was only as I covered her with a blanket I had found that I noticed her pointed ears.

When morning broke upon the horizon, I woke her. As pinks and purples lightened the sky, we ate of the many fruits that grew in late summertime. We made our way to the great tree and ate berries we came across that I knew were safe to eat. The silence that had followed her presence now abated, the woodland creatures growing accustomed to her. She too began to relax, asking various questions about the things we passed by. I told her the names of the birds and the four legged beasts that ran between the trees. She pointed at the clouds and would tell me their shapes, and I would point out the plants to avoid and the ones that would heal. We reached the Heart Tree, as I called it.

We walked to its base, perhaps the first time I had been there in many years.

Roots as thick as trunks poked through the earth. Green grass and vines carpeted the edges of its mass, creating mazes for the eye to follow. All manner of animals made their homes in the branches and among its roots. Misuni, who I had realized was half elf, walked up to the trunk, it's girth easily four or five times the length of her arms outstretched. She placed her hand upon the tree and green lines glowed outward. She leaned her forehead against the rough bark. We stood, silence once again encompassing us, for an indeterminate amount of time. Suddenly, she crumpled and lay there, almost cradled by the wood.

I have never seen the like, though I had known many humans and elves who could do magic. She looked like a four year old human, but being half elf she was probably about eight or nine. Still too young to have full control of her powers. And yet, I was fully certain that she had communed with the heart of the forest.

She had exhausted herself so I picked her up carefully, cradling her to my chest, and made my way back to the ruins. I was surprised to see the stars beginning to come out. I was more and more intrigued by this tiny creation happening into my forest. I was certain that something greater was at work here. So I raised her, as did the land and the trees and all the beasts who inhabited it.

Years passed before another disturbance interrupted our quiet life. In that time, I had taught her much of what I knew of magic, both by humans and elves. She was highly intelligent, studious, and always ready for a walk through the woods. We practiced together, and I came to care for her deeply. But I knew our happy days could not last forever. Whatever had caused her to be left here in isolation would certainly come back for her. I knew not if it be good or evil.

Indeed, it was just as well I had incorporated defensive and offensive learning into her studies. Misuni was a teenager by human standards but still a child by elven. She grew slowly, as I had guessed, but her magic seemed limitless. It was a day like any other when a dark rider came for her.

We sensed a presence at the edge of the forest at about the same time. It came from the east, the same direction from which I had first found her. Exchanging a glance, she climbed upon my back and we flew easterly. Where the trees grew thinner, the spaces between them wider and more sparse, stood a midnight stallion with a rider all in black armor. Foreboding bore down on me but we landed nearby regardless.

"Hail, Flame Dragon of the Forgotten Forest. I am Sango, a messenger sent by King Harato of Kkoma Yojeong in Xotico." He paused, as though awaiting a response from me. Misuni hunkered herself down, keeping herself from the view of the messenger. "We believe the only child of Prince Zarar, who has been missing these last fifteen years, has been here in this forest. We ask for your assistance in locating the missing child."

I kept silent, unwilling to speak. I could sense ill intent. It had made living in the clan difficult, this ability to sense good or harm in the intent of what one said. It served me well in this moment. The silence stretched between us, until the horse stamped its hoof.

Finally, I deigned to respond, "No child, elven or human or dwarven, has been seen in these woods for many years. If one has been left here, then I doubt it has survived."

A tense moment passed before the armored elf saluted and wheeled his steed about. I did not relax as he galloped into the distance. There was no doubt he had sensed Misuni but he could not have been positive it wasn't my strength that he sensed as she sat behind my neck. He would return, and there would be more of them.

That night was a heavy one, but I waited patiently for the child to broach the subject. I didn't have to wait long.

"Was that man looking for me?" She stared into the flames in the fireplace. I waited until she looked at me.

"Yes. One such as you is a rarity, even in times past. I believe you were left here for me to find many years ago, to keep you from those who would mean you harm for the power inside of you."

"But why would they want to hurt me? I'm just a child, what threat could I pose?" For once, I could not help the frightened look on her face and it wounded me deeply.

"It is not the threat you pose to them as you are now, but the possibility of the threat to their way of life. If they cannot control you, then they would rather kill you. Such is the politics and the reason I stay to myself. You hold more power than you realize."

"But I didn't ask to be this way," she turned to stare once again unblinkingly into the fire.

"No, and that is why I would not help them. You were born of an elven prince, possibly to a powerful human woman. Such a union is already looked down upon in many circles. But add in your magic, and you are more than what they can handle." I paused to let this sink in.

"Misuni," I finally get her to look at me once more. "I know a dragon who once kept all the prophecies of the world. Her name is Dioney. She lives far from here, to the north and east.

"Come with me to visit her. Let them come to an empty forest while we discover your destiny."

It didn't take much convincing. She had been confronted with her fate and she had decided to meet it on her own terms. I recall the journey. We flew high, well above the clouds when they were present, and traveled for a fortnight. We flew over forests and plains, towns and deserts, until finally steep mountains rose higher than I could fly over. They divided the land nearly in two, and once they were called the spine of the world. Dioney had made her home here during the wars that divided the civilizations into what they are now.

Misuni rode on my back. I had told her this morning that we would reach the mountains where Dioney lived before nightfall. We drew near enough that the wind began to force me higher, an updraft that traveled the length of the range. My aim was between two peaks, where an old cedar stood. Dioney had taken the cedar as a sapling from the forest I called home. It stood out among the evergreens that covered the land here.

"Hold on tight, Misuni! I must dive to land," I warned my rider. When I felt her tighten the strap and grab hold of me, I dove. I had to fold my wings in, or it wouldn't have made a difference in the gusts that blew up. I heard Misuni whoop as the ground rose up to meet us. I spread my wings at the last moment, the landing still jarring but not a crash to the earth like my first visit here. Misuni was laughing as she climbed down from my back. I chuckled, remembering my experiences when I first flew and the exhilaration I felt in learning or doing new things. I was going to have to try some of them with her on my back. I had the feeling she would enjoy it.

It was silent except for the wind. It whistled and whipped the young branches about, but hardly anything else moved. It was mostly tranquil here. Behind us, we could see the whole expanse of the horizon as it curved beyond our sight. On either side continued the mountain peaks. Before us, the mountain range dropped into a valley before rising higher still.

A shimmer of green caught my eye, and there she was. Smaller than I remembered, but still the beautiful shimmer of the forest of home in the rising sun.

"Yongmun! Is that really you?" She glided across the ground, weaving between the small evergreens as she drew closer.

"Dioney, it has-been long since last I visited."

"You don't say? You're bigger than I remember."

I laugh, "And you are as happy as a lark, just as I recall." She stood in front of me, almost a foot shorter, her green scales and amber eyes still bright. She looked around and finally saw my friend.

"And who is this? Gold hair? Oh, I love your eyes, they're so green!" She danced about Misuni, who looked startled and shy all of a sudden. "Wait, this isn't a social call, is it Yongmun?" She grew still, looking for all the world like a jade statue.

"No, Dioney, this is not a social call. But I must remember to visit you. I realize now how much I have missed in these years of solitude." She looked at me, a glow in her amber eyes that I did not understand.

"You will visit me again. But for now, let us enter my humble abode." She turned to the girl who still looked a little awestruck. "What is your name, little one?"

This seemed to pull her from her stupor, "I am Misuni. It's nice to meet you." Dioney laughed before leading us to her cavern.

Inside, the walls were covered in drawings. Depictions of wildlife, and the times before the wars, covered every available surface. The ceiling was covered in a mural of the night sky, stars and constellations mapped out across the whole cavern. A green glow lit the back and we made our way towards it. Misuni's head swiveled as she looked, nearly tripping.

"I have the feeling that you are here about Misuni." This brought us back to the reason for our trip. She stood beside an orb, floating above a stone bench. The glow came from this orb and she was quite a sight beside it. Green in all shades pulsed, casting shadows that danced across the floor and surroundings. "I may be rusty, a little out of practice, but for you and my own curiosity I will look into this girl's future."

She placed one hand upon the orb, and a pulse of light burst from it. Her amber eyes glowed before she closed them and her scales cast their own light around her. I waited, hardly daring to breathe, as she saw what the orb had to show. At length, the glow lessened and she removed her hand.

Misuni could take the silence no more. "What did you see?"

Dioney looked at her, straightening herself before she spoke.

"You are indeed a very special girl. Misuni, princess of Kkoma Yojeong and princess of Tsuyoi. Forbidden, but a match foretold long ago. I didn't know that I would live to see it come to pass. You, dearest, will face many hardships. But if you can overcome them and not grow hardened, you will someday bring peace again to this land. You are the last chance this land has to bring love back into this world. You must go to the Temple of Ren. There you will find an orb, much like mine. It is the Orb of Gidae. You will need to go to the Lost Isle of Raha and recover the Staff of Rahu. You will be chased and tracked throughout your journey but until you have these items, you will not be ready to face them. Once you have these, return to the Forbidden Forest. In the castle ruins you will find a set of leather armor. It once belonged to an enchantress and will stop any weapon from harming you. Then you will go to the Heart of the Forest. The land wants to heal, and she will guide you."

We stood, internalizing this information.

"You are certain," I began, but I stopped myself. She had never been wrong in all the years I had known her. She had warned of the Great Wars and no one had listened. It was why she had gone to these mountains so long ago.

Misuni spoke, "I can stop the killing, the wars, and save my own life if I do as you say?"

"Yes. If not, then the world will descend into a darkness from which there is no return, until destruction is all that is left."

"Very well. How will I find these places?" She had a determination and will to match her budding powers, and I admired her all the more for it.

"I will take you," I told her. "You will not be alone as long as I can help you." She smiled at me, relief written plain on her face. She must have felt daunted by the tasks set before her. "It will not be easy, but nothing in life worth having is ever easy. Together, we will make this journey."

Dioney walked between us. She nudged her head under mine, and I found myself almost frozen by her attention. She spread one wing open and pulled Misuni close to her.

"It has been an honor to meet you. Please stay for the night before you begin your journey. There is a small hot spring nearby for you to bathe in. Rest, and then start in the morning."

As Dioney led Misuni through a tunnel to the hot spring, I sat in silent contemplation. I gazed at the stars above, the blue moon a crescent decorating the sky and visible from the entrance to Dioney's cave. Dioney sat beside me, looking up as I did. I looked at her, emerald in the moonlight.

"You will come here again. I saw it. Many times will you visit me with Misuni. But tonight, I ask you for something that has not been seen." She looked at me then, her eyes glowing amber, "Come back to me before returning to the forest, your home. We have a part to play in this future and I will gather the dragons who long for peace and freedom to fly the skies once more."

I nod my assent. I lean my forehead to hers, knowing my eyes glowed green for I saw their reflection in hers. We sat like this for a long time, remembering our past and hoping for the future.

End of book one

The Misuni Saga