An Unexpected Awakening

As Aris walked through the door and crossed the threshold of the house he couldn't help himself, he stopped and looked around. Surrounding him in the massive main hall were intricate paintings with frames that appeared to be made of different precious metals. The paintings themselves were what truly caught his eye though, depicting creatures from the fairy tales back on earth. Dragons larger than entire cities, tentacles emerging from the deepest depths of the ocean that're taller than any skyscrapers known to mankind.

Although Aris had stopped, those who were following did not, with Roland bumping into him and waking him up from his stupor.

"Sorry! I couldn't help myself, these paintings, this building, it's incredible," Aris hurriedly blurted out, his face reddening from embarrassment.

Roland laughed, placing his hand on Aris' shoulder. "Don't worry about it kid, I was the exact same way," he said, chuckling and leading him further in.

Roland's attention was on a certain painting though, the largest painting in the room, hung in the center of the back wall. Perhaps hung in the center of the back wall isn't entirely correct, as it basically was the back wall.

The massive piece of art depicted what looked like a massive battle, soldiers dressed in shining silver armor, numbering in the hundreds of thousands on the left, on the right there were three monstrous dragons, each the size of a small city, both sides in front of a massive mountain that would make Mount Everest seem like a pebble. The dragons were red, green, and a blueish-white color. In the center of this battle was a river, with both sides charred and devoid of life, a green mist hovering over it. In front of the dragons there was a massive ice wall, despite it's size towering over the soldiers it only came up to the top of the dragons claws, each claw as long as a cruise liner. The river in the center, rather than running blue, ran a bright scarlet, dyed with the blood of fallen soldiers.

Aris approached the painting, in utter disbelief of it. The detail, the time that had to have been put into it, it was beyond anything he had ever seen before, almost like the painting was alive. A golden plaque sat below the painting, etched into it were the words 'Battle of the Frozen Peaks'. He couldn't help but stare at it, he was joined by both Roland and Lord Redmont, admiring the piece as well.

"Ah yes, the Battle of the Frozen Peaks. From what Roland told me you may have actually been able to see the peak of the mountain itself from where you landed," Lord Redmont explained to Aris, prompting him to turn around with wide eyes.

"The mountain I saw, that was THAT mountain?!" Aris couldn't contain his shock. "Does that mean... This battle.... it actually happened?" If a battle like this had happened, if those creatures were real, then this truly was a world of magic.

Lord Redmont and Roland both looked at him quizzically. Roland was the first to speak up.

"Of course it happened, why else would it be hanging on the wall?"

The way Roland worded it drew another wave of shock through Aris. 'Why else would it...' Aris said inwardly. He slowly spun, examining the room once again, slowly looking at each and every painting. 'That means... then.. every one of these creatures...'

Before he could finish the thought he collapsed, the thought of such creatures truly existing sending shockwaves through his body.

Roland dashed forward, a faint smoke trail following close behind him, catching Aris before he could hit the ground.

"Ah, the poor lad. He's definitely not from around here is he?" Lord Redmont stated casually. "Roland take him to the guest room on the second floor, make sure the servants prepare food and have a water pitcher taken to his room as well, he'll need his strength if he's to stay."

With that he spun around, entering the large double doors into his study before seating himself behind his desk. Roland looked down at Aris, limp in his arms. "Don't worry lad, the Three Great Dragons have been sleeping for millennia, there's nothing to worry about." With that he took him up the stairs, setting him in the bed before leaving to give the servants their orders from Lord Redmont.

-----

"General, the child appears to no longer be here on Earth, we're not sure where he is at this time but have teams working to determine where the vortex took him," Tulongzhe gave his report, fearing that she would lose her temper again.

"It appears that not all went bad," the woman said calmly, noticing that Hypolyes' Blade had grown once again. "It's even a deep crimson color now, how peculiar." She tapped her fingers on her desk, making the steel ring despite it being more than an inch thick,

"I still wish we could have gotten an answer before things escalated how they did," he said with a long sigh. 'Old friend, there surely must have been a reason?' Tulongzhe couldn't think of any reason as to why, but his friend had never pulled anything like that before, never stolen anything in their homeland, wouldn't accept handouts. No matter what he couldn't find a reason.

"Indeed, it is unfortunate. I know the two of you used to be close, I'm sorry you were the one to take his life, but it is the job soldier."

Tulongzhe shook his head, his brow furrowing. "No I don't regret it at all, if anyone had to I'm glad it was me, that way there would be no suffering."

The general nodded her head, for once agreeing with something the other said. "Come to me first thing if you learn anything about the location of the child, we must return the Amulet of Arawn."

Tulongzhe gave the general a salute, crossing his arm across his chest before turning around and leaving.

'I'll find him, perhaps he may know something about why his grandfather took it.' With that thought he set out, now more determined.

-----

'Aris, wake up. Aris! ARIS!!!'

A voice boomed in Aris' head, making him shoot awake. He looked around the room, but there was no one around. He scratched his head, trying to figure out if it was just a dream.

'It's not a dream you fool, you're just looking in the wrong places,' the voice sounded again, Aris noticing it seemed to be appearing directly in his mind rather than a physical voice. Looking down he noticed the amulet glowing brighter than it ever had before.

'There you go! You finally noticed me.'

Aris stared at the amulet, his mind not believing what he had just heard. 'There's no way, no way at all. It's an object, objects can't speak, much less speak WITHOUT speaking...' Aris tried dismissing it, shaking his head and pinching his arm, thinking all of it was a dream. He noticed a pitcher and glass sitting beside him, he poured himself a glass of the water and drank it hurriedly, assuming maybe that was it.

'You're much slower than the old man, I must say. Let me show you.' With that the amulet gave off a burst of blue light, the glow making the room look like it had been lit up by the sun.

Aris mind was filled, visions of people wielding flaming swords, throwing massive fireballs, calling lightning down from the heavens. They did all of this with almost no effort whatsoever. These people fought dragons, massive bears with blue flames radiating off their backs, elemental creatures held together by blue mana strands, a never ending flow of enemies rising up only to be struck down. Every vision flew by in Aris' mind, filling him with awe and a wish to be more powerful, to be able to defeat the powerful creatures he'd seen, protect the amulet left by his grandfather.

As quickly as the vision had started it suddenly came to an end. Aris fell to the floor retching on his knees, sweat dripping off of him. 'What was that? What's happening?' Those were the only two thoughts now on his mind.

'Well, it's really quite simple, Aris, you're the last of the Dragonlords, the original magic family.'

Unable to hold himself up anymore Aris laid on the floor, drifting off into the abyss once again.

The amulet gave off one final burst of light, exploding into a sparkling blue powder. This powder wrapped itself around Aris chest, merging with him and fading, becoming a black tattoo in the shape of the amulet itself. 'This kid's going to be interesting...'

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Author's note: Just for a clarification if the words are wrapped with a ' ' then it's not being spoken aloud but is rather a thought the character is having, while " " is the character speaking aloud. Will be important moving forward so just wanted to clarify that!