The Secret of Kemble'ohd

by ~LyraAlluse

The Secret of Kemble’ohd

Chapter One: The Guardians of Mydaah

Levella Ellerwood, or Levey for short, lived with her grandfather in a small village called Addenkori that rested beside the banks of the Faymorren River. Her grandfather, Pap’ar Gossa, was an inventor, and spent all day tinkering with this and that inside a workshop he had built for himself, in the spare bedroom of their modest dwelling.

Pap’ar didn’t like company, unless it was an old friend or his granddaughter. So many years back, he had decided to build their small cottage made of limestone and Gambin tree wood outside the boundaries of their village. That way, he wouldn’t be obligated to talk to passing villagers or risk getting interrupted by the noisy hustle and bustle of the small town, while working on one of his latest ideas.

Levey enjoyed helping her grandfather build his inventions in his workshop, and had even come up with a few inventions herself. Whenever Levey came up with a new idea, Pap’ar would laugh and give big smile. “You’re just like your mother; you have a quick wit about you and a fiery ambition. I must be the luckiest man in all of Addenkori, to have such a wonderful granddaughter!” Levey would smile and give her Pap’ar a big hug.

Pap’ar was like a father to Levey. She had lived with him ever since she could remember. The whereabouts of her parents had remained a mystery for years. It was said that they had journeyed to the east to do trade with the clerics…and had just vanished. A man from her village had seen them disappear in a cloud of blue smoke as they had ventured deeper into the forest of Kemble’ohd. By the time he had made his way back to the village to tell Levey’s grandfather it had been too late. The young couple was no where to be found.

Because of this, the people of Addenkori were advised to travel by air ship or by horse when they traveled outside the village boundaries. The forest had a reputation of picking on travelers who ventured alone. So the citizens never traveled too deep within the forest of Kemble’ohd without bringing along a trusted companion to back them up just in case they ran into some trouble along the way.

Levey was not like the other villagers. She always followed her heart, and used her intelligence to evaluate how she would go about pursuing her ambitions. Her heart told her that the wood was not as bad as everyone said it was, so she would often go on many adventures through the forest of Kemble’ohd. But just to be safe, she never went alone.

Levey always traveled through the forest with her best friend, Kallia Drenelscow, who she called Drenny for short. Drenny would often visit Levey’s small dwelling at the edge of town and accompany her on day hikes. Pap’ar had told the girls to stay out of the forest on more than one occasion but the girls would never heed his advice.

Though the girls would promise him that they’d stay within the village, their curiosity always got the better of them. After a few hours of playing card games inside, they would find themselves standing at the entrance of the forest and slowly being lured in by its beautiful scenery and unusual wildlife.

Each day they would wander further and further into the forest. They had explored everything from a series of caves they had found to the east, to an exotic area to the west which was covered with tropical plants and housed many ancient buildings and temples.

On one particularly sunny day, the girls journeyed out to the ruins, determined to find some artifacts to show their friends Agga My’na and Nalu Da’la. Their friends had asked them to bring back some souvenirs from their journeys in the Kemble’ohd forest, since they were too afraid to explore it themselves.

Levey and Drenny had promised their friends that they’d bring back a few artifacts from the temples, and had set out early that morning (while Pap’ar was still sleeping), to explore the ruins.

As they drew near to the western portion of the forest, Levey pointed her chin to the first chain of ruins on her right. “We’ll split up. You explore the ruins over there and I’ll go left. I bet with a little digging, we’ll find plenty of artifacts to show Agga and Nalu.”

Drenny nodded. “You’re right. In fact, I thought I saw some bowls and things in the temple at the edge of the ruins a couple days back. But I didn’t go in so I’m not completely sure.” Levey’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Really? Then we should explore the temples first! But we should still go in opposite directions. You take the ones over there, and I’ll start with this one here.”

Drenny smiled. “Ok! If I find anything I’ll give you the signal.” Drenny shaped her hands in the shape of a dove and positioned them above her head so they would cast a shadow on the ground, forming the large image of the magnificent bird by her feet. Levey nodded. “And I’ll give you my signal if I find anything.” Drenny shaped her hands in the shape of a sun, and raised them above her head so they would cast a large shadow by the dove Drenny had cast by her feet below. The girls giggled over their shadow masterpiece, and then split up to find the bowls that Drenny had seen while exploring the ruins a few days ago.

After a while of exploring, Levey found two necklaces under a pile of rubble outside the entrance of a temple with large statues of griffins on either side of its entrance. The necklaces were simple in design; each held up a blue crystalline stone and had a thin leather cord, with small golden rings on each end to clasp it into place. Levey examined the necklaces for a few moments and then formed a shadow of a sun outside the temple, to inform her friend of her find. Drenny found the pots she had seen the other day at the same moment Levey had cast the symbol on the ground, so she gathered the five hand-sized pots and ran over to show her friend.

When the girls regrouped, they exchanged artifacts and gazed at each of their finds with wonder. Levey held up the pots Drenny had found to the sun and spent a few moments admiring the craftsmanship. Each was the size of her hand and had intricate carvings of the different creatures that made their homes in forest of Kemble’ohd. “This is so neat! I like the pots you found, Drenny. Their so pretty!” Drenny smiled and waved the necklaces around with delight. “Well I like the necklaces you found. We should put them on!” Levy nodded and set the pots on the floor of the temple where she had found the strange artifacts.

Drenny handed Levey one of the necklaces, and they put them over their heads at the same time. As soon as the small artifacts were placed around their necks, the crystals began to glow a shade of light blue. Both girls stared in disbelief as the necklaces began to hum an unfamiliar tune and started pulsing with the rhythm of the song. Before they had time to react, the girls were pulled by an unseen force to one of the pillars in the back of the temple. The crystals continued humming and all at once the pillar fell, revealing a flight of stairs below.

Without warning, the girls were pulled down the large flight of stairs to a room which had large statues of Dragons and Griffins lining the walls. When they reached a large doorway with two carved images of wizards on either side, the crystals stopped humming, and returned to their normal state. Both girls waited for something else to happen, but the necklace’s remained dormant. “What…just happened Levey?” Drenny asked as she let her eyes fall on the amazing sculptures and statues around the room.

Levey shrugged and stared at the intricately carved door way with awe. “I don’t know…but I bet there’s a reason we were led to the particular door way. Look at the figures on the door; they are wearing our necklaces!” Drenny leaned closer to get a better view of the door and grinned with excitement when she saw the carved images of two women who wore the same necklaces that she and Levey had found only moments before. “You’re right! But what does all this mean?”

Levey examined the door closer and noticed that the necklaces on the two women were the same size and shape as their own…but they were not upraised liked the rest of the images on the door. “Look at the two women; their images are upraised, but their necklaces are not. I wonder if we could fit our two necklaces in the grooves that were carved to make the image of the necklaces in the picture. Maybe something would happen.” Drenny grinned and placed her necklace in the first groove. “It makes sense to me! Hurry; put yours in the second!” Levey put her necklace in the second groove and stood back.

At first nothing happened, but then all at once, a loud creaking noise rose up from behind the door, causing the walls of the temple to shake. Every statue and figurine in the room vibrated with the intensity of the sound as the grand doors crept open to reveal a small room within. The doors came to a sudden halt, just before they reached the carved wizards on either side, and the noise receded, bringing the room back to its tranquil state.

When the doors were completely open, Drenny and Levey removed their necklaces from the grooves in the door and walked cautiously toward the center of the newly discovered room. As they walked further and further in, the girls noticed that the room was quite bare. The walls of the room bore no color or markings, and there was little furniture. The only thing of interest was a large throne that rested against the far wall. On top of the throne, sat a large statue of a dragon holding a grand staff. Its jewel studded eyes seemed to peer at the girls as they made their way to the back of the room. When they reached the throne they looked up at the dragon and stared at its unusual garb with curiosity.

“This stature wears different clothing than the others. And look! It is wearing a real crown! It isn’t carved! Oh how magnificent! Maybe this was their king.” Drenny said as she inspected the statue a bit closer. Levey nodded and looked up toward the dragon’s jeweled eyes. As she stared deeper, she noticed that the scales around the eyes seemed very life like. If she didn’t know better, Levey would have thought that the dragon was real.

But that was preposterous. Dragons had gone missing from her world many moons ago, leaving a great amount of mysteries of the ancient world unanswered. No one was quite sure where they had ventured to, but one thing was certain; no one had seen or heard from a dragon in a thousand years, so they were no doubt all in hiding or else an extinct race.

Levey was so engrossed with her thoughts of the ancient world, that she hadn’t noticed Drenny’s completion turn pale. Her thoughts were interrupted as Drenny let out a blood curdling scream. Levey turned around to see what was wrong, to find Drenny pointing a shaky finger towards the statue of the dragon. “Drenny! What’s wrong?” Levey asked, as she made her way to her friend. Drenny continued to point at the statue with a look of horror on her face. “It…went…there…then moved!” Was all Drenny could manage to say through her chattering teeth as she continued to stare ay the dragon with a very pale face.

Levey turned around just in time to see the grand dragon rise from his throne and come stomping towards them. She turned a shade paler than Drenny and froze where she stood. “It’s…a dragon…don’t move! Maybe it won’t notice us if we’re still…” Drenny nodded and stood as still as she could manage. Levey stared at the ground and gritted her teeth. She curled her hands into balls and stuck them at her side, refusing to move one inch.

The girls heard the dragon stomp around for a few seconds and then let out what sounded like a huge laugh. “Do you girls think I am stupid? I see you there. Don’t worry; I don’t eat humans. In fact, some of my best friends were of the human species. Come now, I won’t bite; dragon’s honor.” Levey lifted her gaze from the floor of the temple, to see the dragon sitting only inches from where she stood. It was staring past her toward Drenny, with a curious look on its face. “Is your friend going to be alight? She looks like she ate an unripe piece of Kuondella fruit.”

Levey glanced back to see her friend staring wide eyed at the dragon. In almost a whisper, Drenny glanced at Levey and said; “That…that thing is talking to us. What do we do?” Before Levey could answer, the dragon put its head close to the floor to get a better look at the two young girls. “Hmmm…very interesting. I guess you two will do. Well, little brown girl, (he was referring to the color of Drenny’s hair), I suggested you stay here and let me spin you a tale. That is why you two have come, isn’t it? To take your places as the guardians of Mydaah, yes? Well you have lots of training before you can take on your duty as priestess; that’s for sure.”

Drenny’s color returned to her face, and she exchanged glances with Levey. “Excuse me Mr. Dragon…sir…we don not know what you are talking about. We found these necklaces in one of the temple ruins above. We didn’t come to be the...Myd…Mylaahg guardians…or whatever you said.”

The dragon narrowed its eyes and drew its head closer to the children. “Ruins…what are you talking about? I am the guardian of this city. I’ve been the guardian for thousands of years. I just saw the emperor the other day….or at least I think it was the other day. Well anyway, he was looking for the guardians of Mydaah, and then who should show up but you two. Come now girls; you can not fool an old dragon.”

Levey stared into the dragons eyes with the most sincere look she could manage. “Drenny is telling the truth. I found the necklaces in a pile of rubble in the temple ruins above. This city has been abandoned for years.” The dragon lifted his head from the ground rand toward the grand staircase with a look of sadness on his face. When he reached the top of the stairs, he gasped when he saw the entrance of his grand temple in ruins.

Vines covered the ground where the Mordian people had once danced and celebrated the summer solstice. All of the wonderful stories he had written on the columns to share with the village children were now faded and dull. A deep frown appeared on his face when he saw the rest of his magnificent city, lying in ruins below. Levey and Drenny climbed up the grand staircase in time to see the dragon weeping as he sat at the base of his temple.

The girls exchanged glances and made their way to the dragon. Levey approached the dragon cautiously and moved as close as her nerve would allow. When she was right at the dragon’s front limbs, she gazed up at the dragon’s eyes and smiled reassuringly. “Mr. Dragon, I am sorry about what happened to your city. Is there anything we can do to help?” The dragon wiped the tears from his eyes and stared down at his tiny companion.

“If the city is in ruins, then it means the resistance failed. The evil will rise again. The only way you can help little ones, is if let me train you in the arts of Genna, and become the Guardians of Mydaah. If you do not, then your village will suffer the same fate as Mordia. He will make sure of that.” Drenny looked up at the dragon with eyes of curiosity. “Who will make sure of it? What is this evil you speak of? We have never heard of a great evil…or the guardians of Mydaah.” The dragon raised one of its boney eyebrows. “You have never heard of…Zaylathan? The dark wizard of the south? How can this be? Don’t tell me you have never heard the tale!”

Levey shrugged. “We’ve never heard of any of this. It’s all foreign to us. We come from a different age. Most people have heard of a great war many ages ago. But the details are sketchy, and most dismiss it as legend.” The dragon growled and rose from the ground in a huff. “Legend? Legend they say! Fwwaa! Legend indeed. That war really did happen; I was there!”

The dragon peered down at the two girls with a hint of frustration in his eyes.
“Well I guess there’s no use complaining about it. I’ll have to tell you young ladies the tale if we’re going to get anywhere. I’d sit down; this might take a while. Why don’t you hop up on my back and I’ll tell you the story while I get a good fly in. I haven’t flown in ages! It will be good to stretch the old flying muscles.”

The two girls smiled with delight and climbed on top of the dragon. “Imagine Drenny; we get to go flying…on the back of a dragon! Agga and Nalu will never believe this!” Said Levey, as she held on to the dragon’s neck sails and situated herself at the base of its neck. Drenny chuckled and situated herself behind Levey. She held on to her friend’s waist, to make sure she wouldn’t fall off as the dragon positioned it’s wings to catch the wind. “Yeah, I know! I hardly believe it myself! I hope this dragon knows what it’s doing. It would be dreadful to fall…off!”

Drenny was jerked forward mid sentence as a sudden gust of wind traveled beneath the dragon’s wings and set the trio floating up and up toward horizon. “Hold on little ones; take offs are always a bit bumpy.” The girls did as the dragon instructed and held on tight to his scales. When the shakiness receded and they both let go and cautiously looked off each side of the dragon. Levey giggled with delight when she saw all the trees grow tinier and tinier below her feet.

“We’re really flying! We did it! Thank you so much Mr. Dragon!” The dragon rolled his eyes and flapped is wings twice, in protest. “You’re very welcome young lady, but you know, I do have a name. You can call me Ark. I was always called that by the emperor. He couldn’t pronounce my real name.” Levey smiled. “Ok Ark. I am Levey, and this is Drenny. We’d give you our real names, but you probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce them.”

The dragon chuckled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Now, I am going to take you to a very sacred place. But you must promise before you get there that you will take the responsibility of being the guardians of Mydaah. It is not coincidence that we met little ones. It is your destiny.” Levey and Drenny nodded and said in unison; “We promise.” Ark smiled. “Good! Now hang on…this might get a bit bumpy.” The girls held on as tight as they could manage and were filled with excitement as the wind pushed them closer and closer to a set of mountains looming in the distance where their new found destiny awaited them.

To be continued...