The Dragon of DarkWood Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Back in the early days of Darkwood, there was peace in the valley. Most of the different races got along with each other, with the dwarfs living in the different mountain ranges and the elves and other races, including the humans, all living throughout Darkwood valley.

It must have been fifty years ago when King Soulis and Lady Elona were the rulers of humans in Darkwood forest and they were gathered at the annual Darkwood festival when the different races of Darkwood would get together to celebrate the end of the year and the upcoming new one. King Soulis was talking with King Edwyrd and Lady Elnora when there was a terrible screech and flames soared over the tops of the trees as a large dark image flew past at a great speed,

“What in the world was that?” Soulis asked and everyone around was standing dumbfounded as they didn’t know. Lady Elona then cast a spell which put out the flames because she was half-elf and then turned to Edwyrd,

“That’s not what I think it was, they have never been in the valley and the last time anyone has seen one was many miles west of the Ashen mountains. Why are they here?” she said and Soulis just looked at his wife,

“What is it, my dear? You look like you saw a ghost,” he said.

“Not a ghost Soulis!” Edwyrd said, “but a dragon.”

“A dragon! What is a dragon doing here in Darkwood? There has never been one spotted around here before, so why now?” Soulis inquired.

“I do not know, but I intend to find out. Something must have driven them from the west. Elydyr (E-lid-e-r), get the pegasus ready for flight and a couple of the best flyers we have.” He then turned and looked back at the others. “Soulis, I would like you to accompany me and we will be back in no time,” he said as he saw the worry on the lady's face. Soulis then went and embraced his wife,

“Do not worry, we are not going to do anything stupid and try to attack it, we just need to follow it and see where it is nesting and then we will be able to figure out what to do with it,” he said and kissed his wife and mounted the pegasus. Edwyrd and the others were already in the sky when Soulis urged his pegasus on, then joining the others they were off after the dragon. Once they cleared the trees, they could see the destruction the dragon caused and just had to follow the destruction path which led them to the black river and the spire foothills. They followed the path for a couple of hours when it backtracked back to the Ashen mountains where they lost it and landed.

“We should return here tomorrow with more scouts and soldiers and search this area better,” Edwyrd said and they all agreed and returned back to Darkwood forest. Just as Soulis was getting ready to leave something caught the corner of his eye and when he turned there were two giant rock trolls running towards him with their clubs raised. Soulis dropped to his knees and took Darkwood bow from his back and when he pulled back on the string an arrow appeared and when he released it, it struck the troll in the chest knocking it back twenty feet and killing it instantly as the other fell as Elydyr swooped down and chopped off its head. After they examined the corpses Edwyrd turned to Soulis.

“They never attacked with no reason before, you ever hardly see them out in the open. Something must have forced them from their caves and I have a feeling we know what. The dragon and if it’s near I do not want to be around when it appears, so let's leave this place and we will return with more people the next day,” Edwyrd said and soon they were all in the sky returning to Darkwood.

As they returned to Entwine, Edwyrd noticed a large group has gathered in the courtyard and when he landed, he noticed it was the Battlerough clan from the Ashen mountains. As they dismounted and went to join them Beldin, the chief of the dwarfs came to greet them.

“Greetings my old friend, it has been a long time,” Soulis said as he shook Beldin’s hand.

“It has been a long time, but I fear that I have not come for the celebrations. There has been a lot of turmoil in the Ashen mountains. There has been a dragon spotted in many different caverns and the dwarfs are scared and a couple have gone missing. I have come seeking aid to get rid of this beast, for all we have done, it seems to be a losing battle my friend,” Beldin explained.

“Beldin my friend, I have never turned down giving aid to a friend and I will not stop now. We have just come back from tracking the beast and in the following days, we will have a plan to rid you of the problem. It seems the rock trolls are on edge as well, a couple of them attacked us when we were at the Ashen mountains earlier. We will send some scouts tomorrow and with the help of your guides we should be able to track this monster and drive it away or kill it.” Soulis said and the rest agreed with him with the hopes of a quiet night and rest.