The Dragon King

Prologue

EMBERHELM, VRINIAN

The legendary stronghold city of Emberhelm is full of pure joy and laughter. The newly fallen mountain snow lay in drifts, with the tallest reaching an adult's knee. The children living in the valley of the Imperial Mountains are excitedly running and playing in the white crystals. Three of the children are that of a lieutenant and his beloved wife. Jonan and Aohlee Argos are known throughout the city for many things, but their children are local celebrities. The only triplets born in the town hold an extraordinary beauty on the inside as equally on the outside. The three children are nearly identical, with the only separating distinction being the shade of blue that lies within each of the child's eyes.

The most apparent difference between them is that one of them is a boy. His name is Zircon. He is tall for his age, lean and growing in strength, with dark hair and eyes the color of the most transparent blue sky to have ever been in existence. The bravest of the three, Zircon is fearless and showing great promise in strategy and combat, like his father to whom the boy idolizes wholeheartedly. He often finds himself the center of most of the attention of the other girls both his age and younger, though he hardly notices at all.

Zircon is the opposite of timid Topaz, who has never refused an order or a request from anyone. Selfless Topaz, with eyes the colored mix of blues and greens on a peacock, is as gentle as any person could ever be. Zircon is determined to better the world through combat. Topaz is determined to better the world through kindness. She has expressed her desire to study with the sisters at the Church in the Mountains and will say the vow to join them one day. Last spring, Topaz made the journey and began her studies, though she has returned home for a week, her last vacation for a while. The family is determined to make the most of it.

The final of the three is the imaginative Aquamarine, or Marnie, as most people call her. She has enough faith to fill everyone's hearts in the entire kingdom and still has enough to spare. Zircon takes after their father in bravery and skill, while Topaz takes after their mother in ideals and gentility. Marnie Argos has an equal mix of their father's stubbornness and spirit of their mother, with a belief in all things good and beautiful, mysterious and natural. Her eyes, the color of the gleaming ocean on a perfect day, see the magnificence of the world like no one else, and there is nothing she does not believe.

Young Marnie tilts her head back, staring up into the white sky as the snow falls with a smile of pure bliss. She laughs, extending her arms wide and spinning in circles, feeling as though she is flying. While the other children of the stronghold take part in a heated and harmless snowball fight, Marnie is off to the side. Her mind is far gone from this place and dreaming of the world that lies just beyond the Imperial Mountains she has grown to love with each passing day. She ceases in her spinning long enough for her mother to see the questions in the young girl's mind. "Mother, where does snow come from?"

"It comes from a great dragon." Aohlee Argos imagines, casting another glance at her daughter, who looks up at her in amazement, seeking more knowledge. "The dragon lives at the very tip-top of the mountains, watching over not only us but the whole realm, keeping us safe and happy."

Marnie smiles to herself and looks up at the mountains, feeling blessed for such a gift from a creature so wonderful. She tries to envision the dragon flying in the clouds above the realm, but the child has never been outside the city before and has difficulty imagining it. "Is the realm truly as big as you say it is, Mother?" Her mother nods with a grin, hoping one day her children get a chance to explore it as she had. "But, if the realm is as big as you say, then there are so many people in it. How does the Ember Stone know?" The young girl's hope dwindles for just a moment as she looks down at the stone hanging around her neck.