Legends
Among the dragons, ancients and even the refugees there are some amazing tales. Here are some of them. I will add to the list over time.
Kaeldra and Kyden
Kaeldra slipped down the stairway that lead to the dungeons. She grabbed a torch and held kept a good grip on it just in case she needed to light it. There was just enough light to see, but she prefered more light. She walked silently to the cell where a well-known convicted murderer, Kyden, was kept.
Kyden was leaning against the right hand wall, looking in the other direction with a stubborn look on his face.
He's never going to get free by himself... Kaeldra thought.
She took out her master key and opened the cell door.
Kyden whirled to face her and scowled at her.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"I am Kaeldra," Kaeldra replied.
"The Fire Elven princess," Kyden snorted. "Right. How do you expect me to believe that?"
"This is how." Kaeldra lit the torch, filling the cell with flickering light and lighting up her unmistakable face.
Kyden stared, then scowled again.
"What is it you want with me?" he said.
Kaeldra tossed her long, thick, glossy hair out of her face.
"To free you," she said.
Kyden looked suspiscious.
"Why?"
Kaeldra smiled slightly.
"Because I believe in second chances," she said softly.
Suddenly they heard the door to the dungeon open.
Kaeldra winced in frustration.
"Come on!" she hissed.
Kyden shook his head.
"We won't make it out," he said.
"Yes we will!" Kaeldra snapped. She grabbed his hand and started racing through the halls.
She skid to a stop at a dead end. She leaped up and grabbed a rope, as she landed a trapdoor opened.
Kyden gave her a withering look.
"Very good but how are we supposed to get up there?" he said.
"I'll give you a leg up," Kaeldra replied.
Kyden gave a short bark of laughter.
"That's a first!" he said. "A princess waiting on a convicted murderer!"
Kaeldra shot him a dagger look.
"I gave up the royal life years ago," she said. "So do NOT call me a princess again."
Kyden raised his arms in mock surrender and Kaeldra rolled her eyes.
There were shouts somewhere.
"It sounds like the guards have discovered their missing prisoner," she said. She looked at Kyden. "It's now or never."
She got him up through the trapdoor, and then he pulled her up as well.
Kaeldra led him through a series of secret passageways until, finally, she pushed open another trap door nd lead Kyden into a clearing outside the kingdom's walls.
"Here," Kaeldra said. "You're free."
Kyden frowned.
"Thank you," he said. He looked away. "I guess this is good-bye."
"Perhaps," Kaeldra said. Then she smiled. "Or perhaps not."
"What?"
"I left the kingdom a while ago," Kaeldra said softly. "I now live in the Bad Lands. In a castle carved into the mountain near the Dragon Crags. Where I run an Academy."
Kyden shook his head again.
"I can't go anywhere near the Dragon Crags," he said.
"You can if I take you," Kaeldra said. "The dragons are my friends."
Kyden sighed and shook his head.
"I will find your academy," he said. "But not now. I can't take chances."
Kaeldra nodded. "I understand. When you do come, there is a secret passage into it. Near the abandoned ogre keep."
Kyden nodded. "Farewell," he said.
"May those who have been before stay with you," Kaeldra said, the old farewell blessing always leaped from her lips when she left someone.
And thus ends the tale of how Kaeldra of the Dragon Academy and Kyden of the Shadow Elves met and parted.
