Inferno Legacy: Valor of the Dragon (Book One)

Prologue

Prologue

            Flamidar stumbled through the massive doorway, falling face-first onto the rocky floor ahead. He slowly stood, wiped his sweaty brow, and gazed up at his master, who was not at all pleased with him being late. The Master was heavily clothed, wrapped in an eerie black cloak that had some tears in it, revealing pale grayish flesh beneath. He sat in a terrifying throne made from petrified black and silver wood. Part of the room gleamed silver from the small bit of moonlight that shone from a hole in the ceiling almost directly above Flamidar.

            “I summoned you over an hour ago,” The Master said in a toneless voice.

            Flamidar felt his mouth flapping uselessly as he tried to think of an excuse, but the terrifying humanoid ahead simply held up a bony hand, silencing him. Shaking with fright, the tardy human looked to his right and saw the faint outlines of his two companions. He looked to his left and thought he saw a pile of skeletons, but either his mind was playing tricks on him, or they had been moved. Or maybe they moved entirely on their own accord….

            “For three years and six months now you have been in my debt,” The Master said, standing up and pacing the floor on a slightly-raised platform made from who knows what. “And now I would like to finally use your offer of eternal service.”

            Flamidar bowed feebly to his master. He remembered all too well the night that The Master had spared his son’s life, though it was unknown to Flamidar why he was in danger in the first place. He knew nothing about his master, except that he was a devilishly evil man in many ways, and that was the first time he had actually seen him in person.

            “W-what do y-you want me to d-do…m-my lord,” Flamidar choked out, fear very evident in his eyes.

            The master stared at him carefully before replying, “You and the others need to do something for me. I believe that in a decade or so, a new dragon rider will appear, and no doubt he will be a threat to our existence. I want you to-”

            “But the dragon riders restore balance to the world!”

            Flamidar regretted it as soon as he said it. The master turned sharply to him and hissed, saying something inaudible by Flamidar’s ears, and a growl erupted from his left. It was a terrifying growl, and the human felt tears rush to his eyes as he prepared to beg for his life.

            Too late.

            The Master said something else, a sort of crazy incantation in an even worse hiss, and Flamidar gasped as his body was racked with pain and he crumpled to the ground. He wasn’t dead, but he was for sure immobilized and he was constantly feeling pain in every single nerve in his body.

            The Master slowly strode towards him until his shadowy form completely blocked all moonlight from view, and said, “The riders are a danger to all of us. Either the last one of them dies, or everyone dies.”

            Flamidar felt himself being released from the terribly awful and torturous spell, and he gasped for air, not realizing how much he longed for a painless breath in those few seconds. He gazed up at The Master who seemed even more terrifying than before, with a grey nose sticking out ever so slightly from the hood of his cloak. Red eyes shone from the hood even more prominently, sending terrified chills down Flamidar’s spine. The Master bent down and picked him up by a fist-full of his ragged shirt.

            “Find and kill the rider, or bring him to me, or else you die,” The Master said, dropping him onto the floor again and turning back to his throne.