Aquaica: The Last Aquaian (Teaser)

Chapter 6: The Lost Hunting Party

Three years later...

Deep in the woods, a young man was sitting with his back against a tree. His arms were resting upon his knees, his face turned upwards as he basked in the meager rays of sun that broke through the leafy canopy. A soft breeze ruffled his smooth brown hair. He wore simple clothing. A sage green tunic, tan breeches and knee-high brown leather boots. In contrast, however, to his unremarkable garments, he also sported a belt depicting the body of a dragon in pure gold gilt, imprinted deep into the length of brown leather. The buckle was crafted from solid gold, and had been shaped into the dragon's head, and, when buckled, it seemed the 'dragon' was biting down on its own tail. Hanging from the belt was an equally ornate scabbard, made from silver with a plated gold Dragon twisting all the way around it, from locket to chape. The mouth of the Dragon opened wide at the top, making the golden hilt of the sword appear as if flames were coming out of its mouth.

The sword once belonged to his father, Sir Gaylord Leighton. He had been one of the strongest men in all of Lorinthia, and served the good King Samarian as his first knight. Sir Gaylord was known by many as the Dragon Knight, a title he earned while defending a village. He had taken a painful blow to the outer thigh and was backed into the doorway of a burning barn. He notice a barrel of lamp oil just inside, so he plunged his sword into the yellow liquid and ignited it on the flaming roof. He fended off his attacker and drove off the remaining bandits. He started to train his son in the ways of a knight, but he later died in an ambush near the borders of Levany, a relatively power-hungry neighboring kingdom just north of Lorinthia. When his father died, King Samarian presented the sword to Gale himself. He always kept it with him, as a reminder of the man he'd once looked up to.

A voice coming from the river broke the silence. "Hey, Gale! Come look at this!"

Gale sighed, Why did I let this noisy friend interrupt my training for this so called hunting trip? You can hardly call two people a hunting party. He shoved himself to his feet and walked over to his white stallion, Baron, who was currently tethered to a tree limb.

"Guess we'd better see what he's going on about, huh, boy?" he whispered as he untied his steed.

The horse nickered softly in response. He climbed into the saddle, guiding the horse towards the river to find his friend.

"Where are you, Ham?" Gale called out as he emerged from the cover of the trees.

"Over here!"

He turned at the sound of his friend's voice, and found Hamilton standing on a large rock in the middle of the river. He was a bit heavier set than Gale, but aside from that, they could practically pass as brothers.

"What did you find?"

"Look, up there," Hamilton pointed upriver, where towering twin waterfalls roared down from a massive cliff wall.

Gale rolled his eyes, "So you found two waterfalls. That's useful."

"There's something above the waterfall, Gale."

Gale squinted and blocked out the sun with his hand. At first he saw nothing, but as his eyes adjusted, he could barely make out the shape of large castle. It sat atop of the waterfall like a great crown. However, even at this distance, it was clear that it had been neglected for years. Parts of the outer walls had crumbled and the few remaining flags were nothing more then weathered rags.

"I see it now," Gale said, still staring at the castle as he continued, "Ham, I think you've gotten us lost again."

"We're not lost!" Hamilton protested. "I think we are in Aquaica."