The smooth stone walls that surrounded the city of Coeur d'Homme stood two stories high, and were well patrolled by uniformed guards, who eyed them as they passed through the massive wooden gates. The wall itself was easily ten feet wide, if not more, and solid except for the passages to the top. Though late afternoon had given way to early evening, the cobblestone streets were bustling with activity.

Carriages, wagons, riders, and all manner of foot traffic scuttled and scurried about. Vendors peddled their wares from mobile wooden carts, and the various shops displayed their goods on long tables covered with brightly-colored cloths. The locals bickered and haggled amongst themselves, and children giggled and darted here and there, disappearing down the narrow side streets.

The massive, white stone castle loomed ahead of them, reflecting like a shining beacon in the sun. They rode straight through the city to the castle's enclosed front courtyard, where Jasper quickly dismounted and handing his reigns off to Soren. He jogged to the pair of royal guards posted at the doors to the castle, and the stepped forward with shields raised and swords drawn.

"Stop there! State your business!" The older-looking of the two guards shouted.

Jasper raised his arms to show his empty hands. "We seek audience with the King. The lost is found." He said in a hushed tone.

The guard straightened with a shocked expression, turning to his younger comrade. "Go, now!"

With no further instruction, and not an ounce of hesitation, the younger guard sheathed his sword and ran to the large doors that led into the castle, disappearing inside. The older guard turned back to Jasper, glancing behind him to the three still mounted. He turned his head and brought his fingers to his lips, blowing a loud, shrill whistle that echoed off the courtyard walls, summoning two stable hands who jogged out to take the horses.

"You three, inside!" The guard shouted, and they quickly obeyed, running to join Jasper and the guard as he turned to lead them into the castle. "Put your hoods up." He ordered, as he opened the wide, heavy door.

They were led through the labyrinthine castle, coming to a stop at a narrow door at the end of a long corridor. On the door, almost unnoticeable, a tiny silver design was painted with a small, red oval stone in the center. This little detail almost escaped Victoria's notice except that she had seen the same tiny design etched into the vembraces the guard wore. It was also the same as the silver clasps they all wore on their cloaks. This room was specifically for Seeker business.

The guard produced a key from around his neck, unlocking the door and motioning for everyone to go inside. They filed into the small room quickly, and the guard fell in behind Astrid, turning to lock the door behind him. The small space was mostly bare, except for a dark, round table with eight matching chairs set around it, another narrow door on the opposite side of the room, and a wide fireplace centered on the left wall, over which hung a crest identical to the one at the de Perrin manor.

"Wait here." The guard pointed to the table. "His Majesty will be with us presently." He spun around to stand guard in front of the locked door.

The low fire in the fireplace crackled as several tense minutes passed, and Victoria fumbled nervously with the stone beneath her shirt. The silence felt like it stretched into eternity before the dull, muffled thud of footsteps, several sets of them, echoed in the stone halls outside the room. The sound of movement and a key turning the door's lock signaled for them to stand, and the door swung open.

Another Seeker guard entered first, "Announcing his Royal Highness, King Nicodemus de Terrevant." He bowed as he stepped aside, allowing the King of Elyrium to stand before the group of four who now bowed before him.

He was a tall man in his early forties, with short, light brown hair sprinkled with grey, and hard silvery eyes. He wore a full-sleeved tunic of deep, forest green, with elegant silver and gold embroidery, and gold satin peeked from the slashes at his shoulders. Soft black velvet britches clung to his well-muscled thighs, and his black leather boots were polished to a high shine. A thick black belt with a large gold buckle hugged his waist, and from it a long elegant sword hung at his side.

Another figure entered behind the king. A much older man, with long grey and silver hair, and a lengthy beard to match, and clad in flowing dark grey robes moved to stand just behind the king's left shoulder. Dark blue eyes like sapphires observed the strangers who stood before them. The guard shuffled quickly to close and lock the door behind them, taking up his position to mirror the guard opposite him.

"Rise, countrymen. This is my advisor, the High Wizard Ozan Agarus. Please, the stone?" Nicodemus held his hand out to Jasper.

Jasper turned to Victoria, and she carefully but quickly withdrew the heavy pendant from her shirt, pulling it over her head and handing it to him. He stepped around the table to present the stone to his king, who took it gingerly, as if he might break it. The king held the stone up to the light briefly before handing it over to the wizard Ozan. The old wizard held the stone in the palm of his left hand, waving his right hand over it and chanting something beneath his breath.

The stone began to emit a pulsing red glow, and Ozan ceased his chanting and turned to the king. "It would appear, Your Highness, that the Dragon Stone has indeed been found." He handed the glowing pendant back to Nicodemus.

He stared intently at the stone for several moments, and his face betrayed nothing, but his eyes evidenced the wheels turning behind them. With a look of victorious determination, he tightened his fist around the stone, and turned to face his subjects.

"My lord de Perrin, you have this kingdom's gratitude. Gerard," Nicodemus inclined his head to the guard who had brought them there. "Please escort lord de Perrin and his family to the treasury, and see that they are generously thanked for their service. I give you my greatest thanks, you may go now." As he finished, he turned to leave the small meeting room.

Victoria panicked. "Wait!" She exclaimed.

The three men across the table stopped abruptly, caught off guard by her sudden outburst. "Excuse me?" Nicodemus stared at her incredulously. Ozan watched her with veiled interest.

"I-I'm sorry, Your Highness, I meant no disrespect." Victoria shuffled nervously, fidgeting with her fingers. "It's just...I'm not from here. That stone brought me here. And from what little I understand, the only way for me to get back home is to...destroy it."

"Young lady," Nicodemus said slowly, inclining his head, "this stone holds the power to wipe this entire kingdom off the map. For nearly three decades, I, and my father before me, have had our Seekers scouting every inch of Elyrium to--" His words were cut short as the wizard Ozan laid a hand on his arm.

"Your Highness." Ozan said to him quietly before stepping forward and facing Victoria. "Tell me what you have seen."

Victoria's eyes darted nervously between the wizard and the king just steps behind him. "Um, I found it in a box, then a dragon said that the stone is a prison and I have to destroy it, then I woke up here a few days ago. Mr. de Perrin and his family found me and brought me here."

Ozan's brows rose a fraction at the mention of the dragon. "What can you tell me of this dragon? Did it give you a name?"

"Well...I didn't see the whole thing, just the head." Victoria replied timidly as the wizard's sapphire gaze bored into her. "But it looked like it was made out of rock and lava. Its mouth didn't move when it spoke, its voice just sort of...came from everywhere. Something 'the Eternal.' Zarg, Xangar..."

"Xareig the Eternal." Ozan stated.

"Yeah that was it! He said something about the First Magic put him there and only the First Magic can release him. I have no clue what that is and he didn't bother to tell me before everything went all swirly and black and I woke up here." She held her hands up defeatedly, having nothing else to tell.

Ozan regarded her curiously for several moments, searching her eyes. His own deep blue eyes swirled almost imperceptibly as he turned to face the king. "Your Highness, I believe that this girl speaks the truth. There are few of us left who even know of the First Dragon, and fewer still who know His name. If the beast himself has charged her with this task, then it must be done." He held his hand out, gesturing for the king to relinquish the stone.

"Surely you jest, Ozan! You of all people know what this means, and what we must do with it! The plan has been laid for years!" Nicodemus exclaimed, gripping the pendant tighter and pulling away.

"Yes it has, Nicodemus." The old wizard continued calmly, "But it was never foreseen that one not of this world would be the one to bring it to us. Who are we to defy the powers that brought her here?" He leaned in closer. "The destruction of the stone would assure that Assyria could never possess it."

"Ozan!" Nicodemus hissed.

Jasper also reacted to the name Ozan spoke, jerking his head to attention with a look of incomprehension. Victoria looked to Astrid and Soren, who exchanged confused glances. Though they didn't express it so openly, the guards also bore shocked expressions.

"Plans have changed, Nicodemus. As a part of this, they must know." Ozan looked levelly at the king.

Nicodemus stared coldly at the wizard before looking away and heaving a heavy, defeated sigh. "Are you sure? How are we to know that it can even be done?"

"I know of one who would know." Ozan replied. "But first, there are things they must know." He turned, gesturing to the four confused individuals still standing watching them.

Fists on his hips, and staring at the floor, the king struggled with something inside himself for several moments as he paced the room. He returned to his place by the wizard, sighing again before addressing the guards. "Gerard, Prescot. You are Dismissed."

Obediently, the guards unlocked the doors through which they came, slipping through and relocking them from the other side. Nicodemus and Ozan moved to seat themselves at the round table.

"If there is only one way to deal with this, there are things you must know. But before another word is spoken, if any of you here do not wish to take part in this, you are free to leave now. This will be dangerous, and it will most likely not be easy." Nicodemus looked to each of them individually, his hard silver gaze coming to rest on Victoria. "It would seem that you have no choice in the matter." When no one moved to leave the room, he gestured to the chairs across from him. "Then sit, please."

Once all were seated and he had their full attention, Nicodemus proceeded. "Lord de Perrin, you would likely remember my sister's death?"

"Yes sire, I was my son's age then." Jasper replied solemnly. "She became weaker as she grew, contracting the wasting sickness and succumbing to it before she was to accept her future duties as Queen."

The king shuddered another sigh before he continued, as if his next words pained him. "This was never true. Assyria wasn't the frail, broken creature our parents wanted everyone to think she was. She was...unstable. By the time I was born, my father had dismissed the nursery staff because Assyria had begun tormenting them. She'd put broken glass in their slippers, or jab sewing needles point-up in chairs. It got to where the staff who did still see her were sworn to silence on punishment of death. They conjured the story of her declining health when they stopped allowing her outside." He paused to look at the stone he still held before tossing it into the center of the table. "Throughout our childhood, she obsessed over that damned thing and what possessing it could mean for her as Queen. She never failed to detail how she would use its power to destroy anyone who dared stand against her. By the age of twelve, she had started dabbling in dark magic, thinking to find in it a way to reveal the stone's location. As the years passed, our parents observed a dark shift in her behavior. Mean childhood antics became cruel and unnecessary pranks at the expense of any who crossed her fancy. The suffering of others in any magnitude seemed to be her greatest source of joy."

The king paused for a moment, letting this knowledge sink in before he continued.

"This of course, caused a great deal of concern for our parents, who had begun to fear for the future of their kingdom under her rule. On the day that we presumed to be the day Assyria would accept her future role, she and I were ushered to the Chamber of Audience to stand before our mother and father, and every noble of import." He paused again, lowering his head as he sighed. "My father declared Assyria an heir presumptive, naming me heir to the throne before every peer of the realm." He stood now to pace the room, hands clasped behind his back. "As you can imagine, my sister didn't take this news very well. She ran from the castle, shouting proclamations of vengeance, and my father sent the guards to pursue her. They never found her, and he announced to all in attendance that from that day forth, as far as the kingdom was concerned, Assyria had perished, driven mad by the wasting sickness, causing her to flee the castle, expiring as she fled through the forest.. The next day he publicly announced her death, and proceeded with the three-day period of mourning, as is tradition. He knew how fixated she had always been on the stone, and during that time did some of his own digging. After reading into the legends and learning what the stone was supposedly capable of, the Seekers were set in place as a precaution, with the single order that if the stone should be found, it is to be brought to the king without question and with all haste." He leaned his palms on the mantle of the fireplace, hanging his head between his arms.

After several moments, Ozan broke the silence. "Since that day, it was decided that should the stone be found, it would be taken and hidden away in secret. But," he turned to Victoria, "circumstances dictate that those plans be changed. Did the dragon tell you anything, specifically, that must be done? A means?"

"No." Victoria replied helplessly. "All he said was 'only the First Magic can release me,' and that's the reason I was 'summoned.'"

The wizard quietly pondered her words, absentmindedly stroking his long grey beard. Nicodemus returned to his seat at the table, waiting to see what Ozan had to say next; he too lacked much knowledge beyond the legends regarding the stone.

"All I know of the First Magic is that it was the original source of all magical things. There is one who would likely have the information you seek. The witch Lillaine, on Half-Moon Island." Ozan said. "She's what you might call a...living library of the arcane." He turned to Nicodemus, "Your Highness, I would advise a journey be prepared for."

"If you'll excuse me, Your Majesty," Jasper said to the king. "there may be somewhat else. Victoria was attacked by imps that gave chase in the light, and she and my son were watched by a strange raven while we travelled here. We thought perhaps they sensed what she carried and that was it. Knowing what we know now, I fear that may not be the case."

The king and the wizard exchanged glances before Ozan spoke, leaning forward with worried interest. "What can you tell me of this raven?"

Jasper turned to Soren, nodding for him to answer.

"It was enormous. Far larger than any raven I've ever seen or heard tell of. And it had one red eye." Soren pointed to the center of his forehead. "It circled over us a few times, then it came lower and circled a few more times before it swooped down at us and flew off. To the northeast."

Alarm flashed in Ozan's dark blue eyes as he turned to the king. "She may already know it's here."

Nicodemus thought to himself for a moment. "What do you advise we do, then?"

"It would be my earnest suggestion, Your Highness," Ozan stood as he spoke, "that we leave immediately.

The king's thoughts went inward again as he considered the rapidly escalating danger of the situation. His cold silver eyes flashed with resolve as he stood. "Then let the orders be given." He turned to face the four. "At first light on the morrow, you will leave for Astheas."

* * *