The Record of the Saints Caliber (31 page)

Like mankind, Aeoria and Apollyon embodied good and evil within their souls, but the Old Gods vowed to nurture them so that their hearts would be filled with warmth and love. They wanted the same for the earth and mankind and they charged the Dragons with seeking balance for the world. And so it was that the Old Gods gave all their love and attention to their baby son and daughter, and the earth slowly faded from their sight as they nurtured their divine children.

As the ages passed Apollyon and Aeoria grew. The little girl Aeoria would often visit the earth to play with the Dragons. The Dragon Kings in kind loved her and watched over her. They would follow her to the very reaches of the cosmos to be by her side. Apollyon, on the other hand, was fascinated by mankind and how easily they were manipulated and tricked; how easily they could be commanded by using a show of force. Apollyon soon took to fomenting chaos upon the world.

With the Dragon Kings often away in the heavens playing with Aeoria, and Apollyon actively seeking chaos for mankind, the world slowly fell out of balance and dark creatures were born. When the Old Gods again turned their attention upon the world they were appalled. Men had begun to war with one another; creatures of evil walked the lands; even the elemental forces of nature had broken continents into islands, turned mountains to volcanoes, wind into tornadoes and water into tsunamis. The world was a far cry from the paradise the Old Gods had envisioned.

The Old Gods became angered with the Dragon Kings, for they had neglected the earth and allowed it to fall to chaos. They commanded the Dragon Kings to appoint Avatars of men to shape the forces in their stead. It was so that the Dragon Kings exalted one person each to be their Avatars and gave to each of them a weapon and armor made from their very scales. Terragon appointed Dargitan; Marakan appointed Metrator; Felvurn appointed Gambrian; Sirusk appointed Vranick; Formos appointed Aria; Darkendrog appointed Celacia and Rallenar appointed Calavar.

The Dragonborn Avatars walked the earth as heralds of nature, creation, life and death. They helped to restore some balance and order to the world, but chaos had already taken hold and there was no going back. The Avatars were like living gods and were worshiped by men hand-in-hand with the Dragon Kings.

Aeoria too loved the Avatars and often walked with them upon the world. Chief amongst them was Calavar, for he was kind and wise and the people of the earth adored him, for he brought life and love to the world. In Calavar, the young Goddess often found words of wisdom and learned much about the ways of mankind, their fortunes and their plights.

As Aeoria grew older she began spending more time upon the earth to care for mankind. As a gift to the Dragons for their loyalty and love, she lit the stars in the sky for them to play with. It was said that the Dragon Kings loved the stars so much that they arranged them into the constellations so that Aeoria could look upon them from earth and be happy. Mankind could also see the constellations and within them they saw fates and destinies and lights to be guided by. The world rejoiced, and mankind loved Aeoria.

But upon the earth some men despised her and came to hate the Dragon Kings. They felt the Dragon Kings had forsaken them, and they turned away from the Dragons and began denouncing them. Amongst the Dragon Kings, only Formos felt guilt and returned to the earth. The mighty blue Dragon of the seas found a home in the cold arctics and some people followed her and made her their god. These men eventually became the demonic beings known as the Kald.

But Apollyon was jealous. The people of the earth hated him and called him the devil. And the Dragons loved his sister more than they loved him. Formos was jealous too, for her brother Kings had forsaken her and the world. And so it was that in each other Formos and Apollyon found solace. In time the two conceived a child. It was a terrible creature of Dragon and Devil, and Formos and Apollyon gave it to their people to worship as their new god.

The great beast became known as the Kaldenthrax. It was fed the praise of those who worshiped it, and they sacrificed many lives to it. But no matter how much it fed, it’s hunger was insatiable. It was thus that it dug itself deep into the earth in search of sustenance. And that is where it found the Abyss, a hidden realm in the bowels of the earth.

The Abyss was a place not of earth, but Apollyon realized that here came souls of mortals who were lost; souls trapped between the realms of life and death who had died in wrath and hatefulness and could not pass on. And the Kaldenthrax fed upon them.

Apollyon and Formos delighted in this, and eventually got their followers to give up their own souls to the Kaldenthrax. Over the long years this twisted the people into the demonic creatures known as the Kald. The Kald were born soulless, giving their very beingness to the great beast of the Abyss. As the creature grew it became ever more terrible and ever more powerful. Apollyon and Formos loved the Kaldenthrax and lived with their Kald in the cold arctics where they were free to do as they pleased. To the arctics the Avatars turned a blind eye, and Aeoria and the Dragon Kings paid it little heed.

But then it came to be that the Kaldenthrax’s hunger outgrew the souls of the lost and those of the Kald. Apollyon and Formos wondered what great powers it would possess if they were to give it the soul of Aeoria and the Dragon Kings. But Apollyon and Formos knew that the Dragon Kings were powerful and would protect Aeoria to the death. There was one among them, however, who could be persuaded to help. Darkendrog was a selfish and jealous creature and often brooded when Aeoria would play with the other Dragons. They knew he wanted her all to himself and they conspired to trick Darkendrog into helping them.

And so it was that Darkendrog was let in on a secret plan. Apollyon and Formos came to him in secret and told him that they wanted to feed the souls of the Dragon Kings to their beloved Kaldenthrax by using Aeoria as bait. They told Darkendrog that the whole thing was a ruse to get the Dragon Kings all in one place to be killed by the Kaldenthrax. Once all the Dragons were dead, Darkendrog could come in as Aeoria’s savior and take her away and have her all to himself. Apollyon promised Darkendrog that he would not hurt Aeoria, because she was, after all, his sister.

Instrumental in this scheme was Celacia. She, like her master Darkendrog, was bitter. She brooded over the fact that the people of earth adored Calavar and not her. She was hated and feared; a symbol of death, destruction and evil. But of all the Avatars she was most powerful, for nothing could touch her. The fires of Felvurn and Gambrian could not burn her; the stone and steel of Terragon and Dargitan could not cut her; the lightning of Marakan and Metrator could not strike her; the winds of Sirusk and Vranick could not so much as caress her cheek; not even Formos’s own Avatar, Aria, whose very presence was the force of the raging seas could harm her. And so it was that Darkendrog set Celacia loose to kill the Avatars and bring back the one they despised the most: Calavar.

Celacia obeyed her master with terrible delight. One by one she killed the Avatars until only Calavar was left. Calavar alone was immune to Celacia’s deathly touch, for he was the Avatar of life and creation. But Calavar would not raise his sword to Celacia, and she took him before Darkendrog, Formos and Apollyon. Before the very gates of the Abyss they chained him, and the Kaldenthrax screamed out in pained hunger for his soul. Celacia delighted in Calavar’s suffering, but not even she would be spared the schemes of the two remaining Dragon Kings and Apollyon. It was said that Darkendrog himself deceived Celacia and buried her deep beneath the Abyss where not even she could awaken from death.

It was after Celacia’s entombment that Apollyon and his conspirators lured his sister Aeoria to the earth. They tricked Aeoria into meeting them in the Abyss, telling her that they had Calavar prisoner. They warned her to come alone and tell none of the Dragon Kings. When Aeoria showed up, she saw Calavar chained before the Kaldenthrax. So dismayed was Aeoria, that she agreed to take his place if they let him go. Apollyon himself chained his sister before the beast so that it could feast upon her divine soul, but he did not let Calavar go. Instead, he threw him into the Abyss where not even his powers of life and creation could save him.

And now, with Aeoria missing, the Dragon Kings became angry and upset. Darkendrog went before them and told them that he alone knew of her whereabouts. He told them that Formos had betrayed them all and that she and Apollyon had taken her prisoner and chained her before their terrible child, the Kaldenthrax.

Apollyon and Formos knew that the Dragon Kings would now come to her aid and they prepared for the final battle. As the Kaldenthrax fed upon Aeoria’s soul it became more powerful. The Kald were emboldened and decided to come down from the arctics and attack the realms of men, for they knew that each human they killed would be one more soul for the Kaldenthrax. Meanwhile, the Dragon Kings went to the Abyss to fight Apollyon and get Aeoria back.

As the Dragon Kings entered the Abyss, the Kaldenthrax attacked them. Darkendrog came forth from the shadows to do battle with them as well. It was Rallenar who managed to free Aeoria, and not wanting to risk any harm to her, spirited her away to safety. The legends said that after rescuing the Goddess, Rallenar learned of the demise of the Avatars. Angry and upset, the mighty white dragon began collecting all of their fallen weapons and armor.

Within the Abyss, only Formos, Darkendrog, Felvurn and the Kaldenthrax were left. All the other Dragon Kings had fallen and the Kaldenthrax ate their souls and became ever more fearsome. As Formos moved in to finish off Felvurn, Apollyon and the Kaldenthrax turned on Darkendrog, betraying him. Angered, Darkendrog killed Formos and then fled away to lick his wounds. Felvurn was badly injured, and as Apollyon screamed in rage that his love, Formos, was dead, the Kaldenthrax moved in to finish off Felvurn. Just then, Rallenar returned and he had the fallen Avatars’ weapons and armor with him.

The Kaldenthrax was too powerful at this point, having consumed much of Aeoria’s life as well as the lives of the fallen Dragon Kings. Knowing that fighting the creature was now futile, Rallenar and Felvurn took the Avatar’s armors and Felvurn melted them into a single chain. The chain was known as the Elemental Chain, for it was made of the armors of the Avatars and contained the very might of the elements they commanded. As his final act, Felvurn sacrificed himself to the Kaldenthrax so that Rallenar could bind the beast to the very foundations of the earth. So powerful was the chain, having been forged of all the might of earth, air, fire, water and lightning, that nothing save the five elements could ever break it. And so it was, that for all time, the Kaldenthrax would be chained before the gates of the Abyss, unable to escape its bindings.

But there came to be one artifact that could break the Elemental Chain: the Mard Grander.

The Old Gods were furious about what had happened. All the Dragon Kings, save Rallenar and Darkendrog, were dead. All the Avatars gone. The legends said the two Old Gods were so distraught by the havoc wreaked that they gave themselves up to become Heaven and Hell. The Great Father became the domain known as Hell and his son, Apollyon would lord over this domain so that he would forever be forced to witness the souls of the tormented. Such would be his punishment for the evil schemes he unfolded. The Great Mother became the domain of Heaven and placed her daughter, Aeoria, as lord of this realm. The mortals of earth so adored her that it was decided that in death men of good will could forever walk amongst her spirit.

And for the men of Duroton, the Great Gods had one last gift. Duroton had fought valiantly against the Kald and for many ages had held them off, keeping them confined to the arctics. As their final act, the Great Gods took the swords from the fallen Avatars—the swords of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Lightning—and forged them into a single, all-powerful hammer. That hammer was the Mard Grander. Within it was contained all the fury of the elements and the Great Gods charged that it would go to the righteous men of Duroton and they would use it to uphold the domains of men. There was no enemy the Mard Grander could not smite, and they charged that the men of Duroton would use it to uphold the North from the Kald so that all the domains of men would remain safe from the abominable creatures. So fearful was the power of the Mard Grander that the mere idea of it held the Kald at bay.

Egret inhaled deeply and looked upon the Council who all seemed lost in the same legends and myths as he had been. “Celacia is a deceiver. I believe Celacia is here to somehow bring back her master. If Darkendrog is brought back, chaos will reign upon this world. The legends say that when the final star falls from the sky, an age of destruction shall be visited upon us. The stars are all but gone now. I believe Celacia is the herald of this new age and that if she can bring back Darkendrog, that age will come to pass. But I swear beneath the Duroton sky that I will make sure she will fail in that mission. And if it is true that the hammer can be used to awaken the Goddess, then Duroton should see that done as well.”

Balin nodded his head. “Very clever deductions. To be quite honest with you, the Jinn have told us they believe much the same. But, certainly you know Celacia is powerful enough to accomplish her goals without our help?”

“It has crossed my mind more than once.” admitted Egret. “But I also believe we have the one thing she needs, and that is the Mard Grander. Celacia has only agreed to work with us and to deliver the skull because she is seeking a means to reforge the hammer. I do not think it is wise that we entertain any of her ambitions.”

Balin nodded. “She wants the Mard Grander reforged.” admitted Balin. He looked at Egret very severely now. “And we have agreed to give it to her.”