A Brief Tale of a Brave Heart - Page 3

Chapter 3 – The Reason. The Legacy. The Burden.

The armies afflicting Delphinea were formed by large and violent dragons. They were led by a maniacal black dragon named Darklek Domalis, user of dark magic and colder than ice in the winter. Under his command and own claws, many perished. Humans, gryphons and even dragons alike saw their demise and the demise of their beloved ones by the clutches of Darklek. Those who were not with him were exterminated on sight in the most brutal ways. Some even say that Darklek was sadistic enough to decapitate the heads of his victims and keep them as a sort of prize. Darklek attacked Delphinea in two different occasions but it was only on the second attempt that his attack focused on the kingdom’s capital city: Dolphinport. This last attempt was the peak of the Shadow Wars.

At the time, Delphinea was ruled by two dragons, a king named Ael Braveheart and his queen, Auren Lin Braveheart. The rulers had a son, the prince Michael Braveheart. Just a young drake at the time. In his final attack, Darklek murdered the queen himself while she attempted to protect her offspring. Ael was on the floor, deadly wounded but struggling to get up and defend his family. He was not a king at the moment but just a father fighting to protect his family. During the days of the Three Elders, when they met in the cave, three created a magical object they called “The Kzzar’s Amulet”. Forged in gold and silver by the gryphon elder, the elders, who also happened to be wizards, deposited in the object all of their magical power, giving the amulet immense power. Their idea was to have it as a defense weapon in case things didn’t turn out well as they planned. It should be used only in a moment of extreme need when all other options have failed. The amulet was spliced in two and each piece contained enough power for great things, both good and bad, but it was only when both pieces were put together as one that it’s true power could be unleashed.

As a safety measure to ensure it would not be used for evil biddings, the old wizards, the human and the dragon elder put a spell on the amulet that should prevent anyone from abusing of its power. The amulet would still be possible to use by anyone, but only those pure of heart and proper preparation would be capable to survive its usage. The reason was simple… the elders built the amulet to drain the power from its user to strength itself in order to unleash its magic. The purer the heart of the user, the less the amulet would take from the user. But even so it would not prevent the user from suffering the consequences of using such magical device. Their power and vital force would still be drained, especially if the user is not powerful enough and not well prepared to handle such advanced level of magic. The stronger the spell cast with the amulet, the more it would take from the user.

The elders separated the pieces of the amulet to make it harder for someone to misuse it but eventually, once the other elders have passed away, the Elder Braveheart had to take both pieces for safe keeping, and thus, became its guardian. Guard the amulet has become one of the main duties of every single Braveheart since then and all of them studied wizardry to their best in order to use the amulet if it ever became necessary. For many times some Bravehearts considered making use of it either for need because of hard times or just out of plain temptation. It is unknown if any actually ever did, though. The amulet has always been what some would call “a family secret”. Despite of that however, the word about the existence of a magical object capable to giving amazing powers beyond belief leaked out and started to spread all over the kingdom and eventually, even outside of its borders. Stories told but never confirmed. The existence of the amulet became a sort of legend but some believed it was real. And some desired that power for themselves. And that is what caused some of the wars Delphinea had to face. And that was Darklek’s main motivation. The dark dragon was seeking the Kzarr’s Amulet. With it, he should have the power to take over the world.