Prelude

I come now to tell you the second tale of the Falconkeepers. The first time we met, however long ago, or however recently it may have been, I began your education in the lesser-known history of this Klithios, and that is of the Falconkeepers. Perhaps it has not happened yet for you, and in such a case I urge you to go to where you retrieved this book, and gain the previous knowledge I held inside for so long- I will wait patiently for your return.

When you came to me for the stories, I began where all things must, and that is the beginning. I taught you of how the ones we call Falconkeepers came to be, of the first to walk this world and carry that name, for it was with them that the legends began. These legends you should know from our prior meeting, however I will recall them another time for the sake of beginnings.

The Falconkeepers had a legend, spoken before even the first was known as we know them now, although it was one who would be Keeper who first spoke the words. It was said that a Keeper would come more powerful than others before. He was to be confined, for his power could unleash as much fury upon the world as that of the Dragon, who was yet another tale. This boy, or this man, whatever he may be, could be helped only by a young woman who held the heart of his own.

For years, it was unknown what this could bring about, and it is to this tale that I guide you through others.

I have spoken to you of the individuals which were the first to bear this name of Falconkeeper, of the actions that gave them their titles. Their natural names were not well-known by the ones I will tell you of soon. Before I told you of a legendary woman, the daughter of one as legendary who came long before this tale did. So was the tale of the Dragonblade’s true wielder.

Now it is time to move on.

As is common knowledge, the Falconkeepers need not hold blood ties, although their abilities are things of the blood flowing through their veins. It will not always be passed on in families, and most often it shows up where it has never been seen before. Sometimes it arrives in the most unexpected of bloodlines.

I will tell you today of those whose gifts may have been the most surprising of all Falconkeepers.

They were of worlds meant never to collide. Perhaps they were in the same one, the same common whole world, yet they were so far apart, and the blend wasn’t destined. In no way was it preordained, in no way was it approved of, and in no way did either of the involved parties care.

These worlds were those located what would seem to be only continents away from each other, but in truth were so different that the distance was much more than that. One was a world of peace, kept for eons a well-known secret. The other was a secret kept, pulling the strings of others from behind the scenes for as long as things which may have had strings existed.

How, you may ask, can something be a well-kept secret? This world, you must understand, had a name which was common, for it was known by the name of its first rulers, yet none knew its location. The inhabitants abided by the laws of Noevre, and more than that, a number of the guardian Maidens to the pool were born in this place. All that was known of this place was the one which could easily have meant it was almost anywhere on its continent, and this was that it was within the confines of a forest. When the girl chosen as the new Maiden was there, this girl would find her own way out, securing the place’s secret for some years longer.

The other world was its opposite: they paid no heed to the pool, and had been this way for so long, their power extending for so far, that it was said the Maidens and Noevre herself had turned away from the entirety of the continent they lived upon. These were those with control over what had become its own place within our grand Klithios. All this world was made of was a continent ruled in more secrecy by a Clan, yet a Clan which had dared to go against Noevre, and in the end succeeded.

If these worlds were so different, your first instinct may be to inquire as to what caused their collision. To this there may never be an entire answer, for those drawn in, those who make up this tale, never did tell any person if there was. We know that there was a war, if it could even be called that. The war did not consist of many battles as the majority of these things do, but received its name from one single invasion. This was all it took for a world to meet its downfall, for another to pull a place with history of the vitality which comes from a love and trust in Noevre, and cut it off from all else.

By this point I doubt it is apparent what involvement the Falconkeepers may have had with all of this. I will assure you, however, that they were there, in a most unprecedented and unpredictable place. If the flowers who were allowed to bear these names had never bloomed after the invasion, it is possible that all would have fallen to chaos before the Keeper with more power than any had a chance to arrive.

Let yourself read on now, and learn of what pain and bliss and coldness a dragon’s heart may hold.

I got this idea when I was thinking of a manga character, and had been thinking up the Falconkeeper Chronicles for a few days. Now, the first one is a follow-up to my current in-progress, 'The Storyteller', so if I wrote it, I'd give away the man Adrienne Harkness winds up with in the end. Can't do that! But the Chronicles are one of those series that could also stand-alone, with one tie-in factor, so there won't be any problems reading this.