Dragon Quest - I - Chapter 1, Parts 0 + 1

Our soon to be hero... (pp 13-17)

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Chapter 1 - He With the Blood of the Hero Loto

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In the middle of the northern part of Alefgaard, there is a treacherous mountain range that runs east to west and stays covered in snow even in midsummer - the Alefgaardian Range. Though currently inactive, the people that live in the area still fear the mountains after the sudden and enormous eruption in 1348, believing it to be the home of a fire devil.

In the southern part of the Alefgaardian Range stretches a great desolate expanse of hills - the Radatome Plains. Amidst these plains, near the sea, lies Radatome, which is comprised of the venerable castle of the Ralus royal family and the surrounding castle town.

Once, Radatome was the glory of Alefgaard, acting as the heart of politics, art and trade throughout the entire continent.

That all changed after the battle with the Dragonlord in 1348. Once the armies that he sent out began to invade, the town was transformed into a battlefield. Calling it the ‘capital’s last defense’, Ralus VIII, as the head commander, summoned reinforcements from the neighboring countries. At the end of the violent battle, they had just managed to defend the town, but it had marked a turning point for the kingdom. All vestiges of Radatome’s prior glory had disappeared like an illusion from past and become nothing more than legend.

Presently, in Radatome, an only boy has been raised in a blacksmith’s shop, a shop handed down for generations.

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The boy was bright, energetic, always thought of his parents, and had a strong sense of justice.

The boy’s name was Aleph.

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Volume 1 - Chapter 1 - Fifteenth Birthday

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“Dragonlord!” Aleph cried, jumping high into the air.

“Prepare yourself!” he yelled, swinging down his handmade oak sword with all of his might.

Bong!

A satisfying echo resounded through the darkness of the before-morning sky.

The cold of the Radatome Plains in midwinter is harsh. That of pre-morning is even worse. The freezing wind coming down from the Alefgaardian Range blows with a roar and without mercy. His breath was smoky and white and he had almost no feeling in the tips of his fingers.

But this morning, Aleph held his grip all the more tightly. Today was to be his fifteenth birthday. He was one step closer to being an adult, and his heart was soaring.

“I’m going to defeat the Dragonlord when I grow up! Just like the hero Loto,” Aleph was fond of saying, even as a child.

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Who could blame him? Instead of lullabies, children in Alefgaard were born and raised with retellings of the ‘Legend of the Hero Loto’. The legend of how Loto, using the Jewel of Light, entrusted to him by the gods, defeated the Demon Lord and returned peace to Alefgaard.

But his friends only poked fun and refused to play with him. A legend is just a legend, after all.

When he was nine, Aleph’s father Gaul would say something similar. “Enough of this foolishness!” he had yelled, and threw little Aleph against the wall.

Since then, Aleph stopped saying those things in front of other people. But as he grew older, those feelings only grew stronger. Three years ago marked the day when he began his sword training here, at the top great cathedral’s tower, in the center of town.

The top of the tower was isolated and surrounded by a sturdy wall about waist-high, so he could practice in safety and without worry of anyone coming and seeing him.

With thoughts of battling the Dragonlord running through his head, Aleph continued his training, whether wind, rain or snow, without a single day’s rest.

In the beginning, his handmade oak sword was so heavy it was all he could do to lift and thrust, but now, with his own style and grace, he could swing it around ably with only one hand.

“Tyaah!”

Aleph cut a path through the air in front of him with all of his might.

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His body was covered in sweat. A white steam was coming off of his entire body. The sweat that dripped down his forehead felt good. He had been in constant motion for the last half-hour, but his breath still came steady. A faint light began to shine from the eastern sky.

As always, Aleph hid his sword in its hiding place on the roof, sprinted down the steps to the tower, and ran out of the cathedral’s back door into the alley beyond. Just as he did, the cathedral’s bell rang out. It was the first bell of the morning.

When he had returned home and snuck in the back door to his kitchen, his father Gaul had already finished breakfast and was preparing to leave for the castle.

On certain days, Gaul, as the blacksmith, headed to the castle to perform repairs on swords and spears and other weapons. On those days, Gaul got up very early. Aleph had forgotten that one of those days was today.

“M, morning. I was out for a walk. I woke up earlier than I expected,” he stammered out, flustered, using the first excuse that came to mind.  

“Hurry up and eat and get ready,” Gaul said, pointing his chin at the lunch basket filled with black bread.

“G-get ready?” Aleph asked, surprised. “You’re taking me with you?”

“You’re fifteen today, aren’t you?” stated his mother Jessica, walking over to slowly

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pour warmed mountain goat’s milk into Aleph’s mug.

“You’ll be expected to help out at the castle one day. You’ll need an introduction there eventually, and the sooner the better, right?” she asked, glancing at Gaul with a faint smile.

“All right!” Aleph exclaimed, unable to stop himself.

This was completely unexpected. Aleph had wanted to leave town since a small child. Up until now, Aleph, and indeed all of the children of Radatome, had never stepped one foot outside of the thick walls of the castle town. Because of all of the monsters lurking outside, a law was enacted such that no child, until turning eighteen years of age, could leave the boundaries of the city without their parent’s permission.

Now he could leave. The walk to the castle was barely a fifteen minute walk, even for a small boy, but the outside was the outside. Aleph was grateful for his fifteenth birthday.

However, something unthinkable would be waiting for Aleph.

His fifteenth birthday would be the day his fate changed forever.