Dragon Quest - I - Chapter 1, Part 3

A sudden crisis... (pp25-32)

3 - The Sun Stone

“The light has faded!?” shouted Ralus XVI, bursting up from his throne upon hearing the guard-captain’s report.

The shock was so great, he couldn’t find his next words. Ralus’ entire body shook, and he took several deep breaths. “Bring him here!” he finally managed to order.

Ralus glared down at Aleph with his fiery gaze as as he was escorted into the audience chamber by two guards. Besides Ralus XVI and the guard-captain, there were three other guard-lieutenants present, sitting in lowered seats next to the throne.

26

Aleph was placed before the throne, and the two guards retreated to a corner of the chamber in wait.

“Name! What’s your name, boy?” Ralus asked after calming his excitement, not taking his eyes from Aleph.

“I am Aleph. I’m the son of the blacksmith that comes and goes from the castle,” he replied in a steady voice, holding his head high and looking straight into Ralus’ eyes. Prepared for any punishment he deserved, he stood still and strong.

“Aleph, then.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ralus stared into Aleph’s face.

He still showed youth, but he had fine features, eyes that belied an early wisdom, and a strongly set jaw. Not only that, but the sure manner in which he gave his responses -- exactly as Ralus had imagined the one who he’d been waiting for. Gradually, Ralus’ expression grew brighter, until his face was filled with joy.

“A true pleasure to meet you!” he cried jubilantly, eyes shimmering.

“Ye with the blood of the hero Loto!”

The words which he had dreamed many times of being able to utter aloud.

27

“L-Loto!?”

Aleph, taken aback, couldn’t believe his own ears.

Me? The blood of Loto!?

“What are you saying!?”

Unnerved, Aleph looked to the captain. He assumed he would have offered some objection. But the captain, back straight as an arrow, simply glanced at Aleph with his piercing eyes and nodded. Ralus had already told him. Aleph was the only one taken by surprise.

“I can understand your surprise. However…”

Ralus XVI reached over and plucked a small white parcel from a dais near his throne and approached Aleph.

“The light vanishing from the Sun Stone is undeniable proof!”

With a flourish, he plucked the cloth from what he was holding to reveal the beautiful red stone from the treasure chamber.

“The Sun Stone?”

“Indeed, the Sun Stone. It once belonged to the hero Loto. After Loto brought peace to our world, a sage that fought alongside him came to our kingdom. He presented to us the Sun Stone, and along with it the words of Loto. When Alefgaard once again falls into chaos, one who will take away the light of the Sun Stone will appear. That person will save Alefgaard. That person will carry my blood. So he said,” explained Ralus.

28

As Aleph gazed at the Sun Stone held by the king, he began to wonder what exactly that light was it emitted when he saw it in the treasure room. Was it some form of Loto’s soul placed into the stone? Or maybe a form of the gods…?

“A long time elapsed,” continued Ralus XVI, “and that which Loto had feared came to pass. After the we lost that tragic battle of 1348 against the Dragonlord, many who heard tell of the stone gathered here from all across the continent and tried to extinguish its light. Yet nobody could do it, and eventually it was forgotten. Until today.”

Aleph took the Sun Stone from Ralus and held it in his palm.

The smooth, slick surface was slightly cool, and it gave a faint impression of pulling at the skin of his palm. Perhaps the same energy that condensed that beautiful glittering light back into the stone was also tugging at Aleph now.

“However, Aleph,” said Ralus, strengthening his tone, “I never gave up. I had always believed that one who would extinguish the stone, a true descendant of Loto, would one day appear. That time has finally come!”

Large tears began to form at the corners of Ralus’ eyes.

29

The last two hundred years of Alefgaard’s history were years of disgrace, endurance, and despair. But now, seeing the young boy before him, it felt like a bit of that despair had faded away. A small flame of hope began to burn within his chest.

“Aleph!” Ralus cried, taking Aleph’s hand in his own. “You are the descendant of Loto! The Sun Stone belongs to you! Only he with the blood of the hero can find the way to cross to the Dragonlord’s isle! Go forth and defeat him, and return the Jewel of Light to us! Bring peace back to Alefgaard! By your own hands!”

Ralus squeezed Aleph even more tightly, so strongly it felt like his fingers were going to crack.

“Yes, highness!” he replied, returning Ralus’ grip.

Aleph had no idea if the blood of Loto actually ran through him, but his resolve had been made. The Sun Stone had been waiting a long time for someone like him to appear. Someone like Loto. One that the hero himself had chosen. Perhaps it was his fate, or duty, or destiny - either way, the Sun Stone contained all of those secrets within. So he believed.

Through all of this, one of the guards standing in the chamber’s corner was looking at Aleph with a vicious stare.

30

His black eyes glinted with a disturbing light, and then flashed red. Of course, nobody noticed.

“By the way, how old are you, Aleph?” asked the king.

“Fifteen, highness.”

“Fifteen…” Ralus’ face grew dark.

“Is something wrong?”
“No, no… It’s nothing,” he said, smiling sadly.

Just then, the guard pulled his sword from his sheath and thrust out at Aleph.

“Wagh!”

Aleph rolled into a somersault, barely dodging the attack as the captains and lieutenants rushed to Ralus XVI’s side in his defense. The guard readied himself to strike again as Aleph struggled on the ground.

The youngest lieutenant present threw a dagger, and it pierced the guard’s right leg. He let out a small groan and collapsed on top of Aleph, who kicked him off in panic.

31

“What are you doing? Have you lost your mind!?”

In seconds, the three guard lieutenants had their swords drawn to the man’s throat.

A deep chuckle came up from his throat as his face, as everyone watched, began to be covered in wrinkles.

All as one, the blood drained from the faces of those looking on. They began to tremble in fear. Nobody had expected that one of the Dragonlord’s servants would be able to infiltrate the royal guard.

In the span of a mere moment, the guard slapped away the lieutenant’s swords, and his skin, along with his uniform, fell in pieces away from his body. He had transformed into a ghastly skeleton knight, and redoubled his attack on Aleph.

But Aleph, reading its movements, was too fast. He grabbed Ralus XVI’s sword and jumped into the air, weapon held high.

“Yaah!”

Aiming to cleave it from the nape of its shoulder to its chest, Aleph brought down the blade.

The sound of metal cutting through bone echoed through the audience chamber with a crack.

The undead soldier’s glowing eyes opened wide and glared at Aleph as it used the last of its strength to raise its sword. But that was as far as it got. With its weapon still held aloft, the skeleton began to quake, and with a hollow clatter, it fell to pieces, forming a pile of bones on the floor.

The monster had returned to the form it once had before the Dragonlord’s dark necromancy had magicked it into its slave.