Four Kingdoms

[Kaistern]

Once, long ago, there lived Four Kingdoms of different races who made up the world. They were always constantly fighting, wanting something they never had.

There lived the Elves in the East who were very prideful. They had the power over nature, able to create a tree from a single seed, and even crafted the bow and arrows with the wood from their strongest tree. They always believed themselves better then the others, but they could not produce children as quickly. Only once in a hundred years could a woman have a child.

To the south lived the Dragons. Vain they were with their jewels and glittering scales. They held power over fire, able to control even the flow of magma if they chose to. From the magma they created the strongest of armor, about to withstand any kind of attacks. But even with so much of their strength, they were always hungry. For no life could be sustained in such a hot environment.

In the west lived the Dwarfs. Stubborn were their men for they lived deep in the mountains. They mined from the earth, able to move it at their will. They crafted the ore from the mountains and created strong swords that could strike any man or beasts. But they always lived in the dark, and longed for the light.

And in the northern cold held the humans. Resourceful were they for they lived in such harsh elements. Unlike the other three kingdoms, they were not given power over the elements. Instead they created fire from wood that they found, crossbows from watching the elves, and swords from the ore that they could find. And though they learned quickly from watching the others, the only thing humans wanted was warmth from their cold winters.

It was only a matter of time before war broke out between the four kingdoms. Four ten years, and ten days they fought in the center of the four kingdoms. A place where demons dwell and feasted on the bodies of the fallen. The wastelands. They fought with neither side winning or losing, though the death was getting higher and higher. Finally, on the tenth year, of the tenth day, on the tenth hour, while the two kings, and two queens fought against each other, there was a large flash of light, knocking everyone to the blood soaked ground.

A large Phoenix appeared before them, her fiery gaze watching them all. She spoke to them all, telling them that this war was pointless and while they fought against each other, their kingdoms would fall. So to stop the war, she gave the two kings, and the two queens each a brilliant feather. For the elves, the feather gave them the ability to produce more children, the dragons were given prey that could live in such heat, the droves light to see in their underground kingdoms, and humans a warmer climate to live.

With that, the Four Kingdoms signed a peace treaty swearing never for war again. But not all was well. A hundred years later tragedy struck. All four feathers had gone missing. Each of the Kingdoms blamed the other, but once they looked, none could find any trace of the feather. It was then realized that they might been stolen and taken to the Wastelands in hope for another war. So the Kings and Queens decided to send only one from their clan to retrieve the feathers. Two sons, and two daughters. In hopes that they would be able to save their Kingdoms.

*******************

Aiden sighed as he leaned against the tall pillar of the four kingdoms. Honestly, he could do without being there in the elf kingdom, but this was where he was told to wait for them. Figures his father would send him instead of his brother. After all, Aspen was the heir to the throne where he was just the only prince. Though he felt that he couldn't completely complain. He was traveling with two other girls. sure, they weren't of his race, but it was better then going with three guys.

"I think I came a bit too early." He muttered, resting the back of his head on the large pillar. He tended to forget how fast he could fly when he was in his dragon form. He still remembered the argument with his father about this mission. He wanted to go at it alone. But apparently it was important for all four to go together.

[julia]

Ithilwen approached the pillar and heard the man standing there mutter something about arriving early. "No, you seem to be fine on time," she explained and stood with proper posture in front of him. This man was obviously of the dragon kingdom, she could see by his demeanor and his clothing. She gave a bit of a bow.

"I am Ithilwen," she said, then stood back up with her strictly trained posture. "And you must be the dragon prince... or at least one of the sons of the dragon king. I don't know your background," she scoffed then looked around, scratching her ear lightly.

[Kaistern]

Aiden looked her up and down, giving her a small nod. Yea, he could deal with this if the elven princess was this pretty. Aiden Nightfire." He said with a small nod. "The third princess of the Dragon King. Unfortunately I was the only one he could afford to lose on this journey. So I suppose we're just waiting for the other two to show up. A dwarf and a human. Should be fun." He sighed, running his fingers though his hair.

[Zodacus]

"Whoa!" Awoken as he slid on his saddle, just catching himself before falling off his ram. “Going a little fast there I think.” Duerain petted the head of Draig'cyfail, his trusty stead. “I was having a good dream too...about that small elven village I visited a year ago.” He thought to himself. “Lets see how close are we?” He reached around to a side pocket on his saddle, opening the top to revel many, many scrolls. “This one? No....no...no...yes!” Finally finding the correct map, her turns around and looks forward for the first time, seeing the Pillar of the Four Kingdoms, just down the road.

“Oh, I guess we're here aren't we boy.” Storing the map, he looked toward the Pillar. He had wondered if he would be the first one here, guess not this time. He continued traveling toward the Pillar and the two figures near it.

"Greetings!" He aid to both of the figures once he got close enough. His voice full and booming. "I am Duerain Deepstone, first son of the Mountain King." Giving each one of them a little bow from atop his ram. "It seems we might be short one?" He reached into a pocket and picked out a cigar and some flint and steel. Lighting the cigar and placing it in a practiced place in his mouth.

[Riika]

Nerves settled deep in her stomach, her heart pounding beneith her armor. Liliandra stood there, eyes on the three figures by the pilliar. A dwarf. A dragon. And an elf. All royalty. All destined for this. Then then there was she. A human, daughter of a general. She wasn't royalty. She was simply lucky. Or maybe unlucky. A puff of breath was felt on her shoulder. Turning her head, Liliandra was met with the calm eyes of her mare, Dari. She gave a small smile, patting the Appaloosa's nose in thanks. Taking a deep breath, she made her way over to the three there. She stopped before them, clearing her throat nervous.
"Hello. My name is Liliandra McArther. Daugter of John McArther and represintitives of the humans. Pleased to meet you all," she said.

[julia]

Ithilwen made her greetings and introductions to both the dwarf man, and the human girl. Although she wasn't one of the tallest creatures to walk the earth, the dwarf man seemed to have made a pun about height without knowing it, making Ithilwen laugh under her breath. She then turned to the human.

"I agree. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Is there anything that we need before we get moving? I know of a little store not far from here, and I'd be more than happy to lead the way if anyone needed any last minute preparations," Ithilwen explained, keeping her hands folded neatly in front of her. She made a glance over at the Dragon Prince, and gave him a quick up and down look, then turned back to the dwarf and human.

[Kaistern]

Aiden grabbed his bag from the ground and threw it over his shoulders. "Its a pleasure to meet you all." His eyes glanced at the human girl, wondering her story. She wasn't royalty. Last he heard, the human king only had sons. Which meant that she was someone else's daughter. It didn't matter though. As long as they had a human with them to get their feather, then that's all that mattered.

"It seems like the two of us are without a ride Ithilwen. Unless if you have a horse that I'm not seeing. We should probably get one for you need that shop." Horses never liked him. At all. Probably because of the fact he was a dragon and horses were pretty much prey.

[Zodacus]

Duerain smiled slightly as the elf laughed at his very intentional height jab. He took the cigar out of his mouth and tapped a few ashes on the ground. “Aye, that sounds like a good idea. I don't know about ye, but I can do with something other than the jerky and berries I’ve been eating for the past few months.” He gently patted his ram, never having bothered to get off it as it gave him the same height as the other three. “Me and Draig'cyfail here are always ready to travel!” He looked over at the Dragon Prince, wondering if he knew that the ram was named Trust in the old dragon tongue.

[julia]

Ithilwen nodded as she looked to the dragon prince. "I'm sure we can find you a mode of transportation that won't force you to either hit the dirt of change back and forth. From what I've heard, changing forms, because of the movement of bones and such, can be painful. Even if it's not painful, it seems bothersome," Ithilwen stated. She then popped a few of her knuckles. "Shall we? I'll lead the way," she explained.

Ithilwen started towards the little shop that she had mentioned earlier, glancing behind her to see if the group was following. "Well come on, we are loosing daylight!"

[Kaistern]

Aiden glanced at the dwarf, a smirk on his face. It seemed there were others who knew his ancient language. "We should head out. After all, its a long way to get to the demon realm..." He sighed, running his fingers though his hair. "Are we even certain its there?"