Lockial Draenara's Storybook of Heroes

The Dawn Will Come

There once was a very greedy Prince, who dreamed of ruling in a palace made of gold like in the stories. One day somebody summoned him. He graciously went to see what this summons was all about, but when he saw who it was that asked for his counsel, he became irritated and arrogant. The person who had asked for him was a simple peasant man, dressed in plain, dirty clothes, and he asked only that the Prince invest some of his mass wealth to helping the poor. The Prince of course, did no such thing. He sent the peasant away with a disgusted turn-of-face and went back to his chambers.

The next day, the Prince again received a summons, but this time he checked to see who it was before possibly wasting his time again. In his court stood a noblewoman, dressed in fine garments and pearls upon her dignified brow. The Prince entered and listened to what the noblewoman had to say. She asked that the Prince give money to help support the cleaning of the city, reworking roads, maintenance and extra care restoring old forgotten buildings, and renovating gardens. The Prince balked at her request, the amount of money required to do such a thing was enormous, and not at all worth it. He turned the noblewoman away, scoffed, and returned to his chambers.

The third day the Prince received summons, he ignored them. The Prince figured that the person would just want him to spend more money from the treasury on more useless things. And so he ignored the summons, instead sitting on his bed, dressed in a bejeweled robe to protect from the chill mountain air, reading a very interesting novel about drama, romance, and monsters. Suddenly in a flash of bright light, the dark Prince of the north transformed into a fearsome blue dragon, his scales glinting dimly in the crisp sunlight, and horns that stretched far back and pierced the ceiling of his room. In a fit of panic, the Prince-turned-dragon leapt out of his balcony and dove off towards the mountains. He looked back behind him and saw his ruined tower, and from it, felt the voice of a woman whispering maliciously to him.

"Darker days for darker tones, many sins have you grown.
In mountain scape all alone, four years and you'll atone.
A cave a keep all yours to own, but your heart a gem harder than stone.
Only those who haven't known, may break this gem and bring you home."

The Prince shuddered at these words and flew away, his great wings sails to the wind, keeping him afloat on the breeze as he drifted unwittingly towards his new home.

Many years passed since the "incident" and the people of the Prince's kingdom looked to a new ruler. There were none next-in-line, and the Prince had no other siblings to rule in his stead. And so, a popular duke from the south was brought up to rule instead. This new duke ruled peacefully with a firm and guiding hand. He led the poor out of poverty, and put to ease the unrest with other nobles. He made beautiful this city that was so deprived of proper love and care.

One winter's morn he stood draped in furs along the balcony looking out into the snowy mountains. The same balcony that had been ravished by the dragon in years passed. Then the Duke heard a sound unlike any other, it was like wind, but steady, like a heartbeat. The Duke searched for the source of the noise when suddenly great talons wrapped about his body and lifted him into the sky. The wind, the gusts, the source coming from great blue wings the color of raw-cut sapphires, lifted him up. He wriggled and pounded his fists against the claws grappling him, demanding to be released. But the beast did not listen, instead it turned and launched off in the direction of the mountains. The Duke called out for help, but most were asleep at this time of morning, the sun barely cresting the horizon in the distance. And soon, he was too far away for anyone to hear him at all.

When the Duke woke, he found himself laying precariously on a pile of gold. Gems, goblets, and sculptures strewn about him. He looked up and saw the ceiling, seemingly miles high, and it was coated in molten gold. The reflection of light in the room was dazzling, so much so that it was blinding.