Chapter 1

Leaning over his keyboard, Markus entered the password to his freshly created Thaihaelon account. Almost everyone at school played the online game. His friends had arranged to meet him “in Thaihaelon” after he finished his homework. Markus was eager to get started.

After typing the last character of his twelve letter password, Markus hit the ‘Enter’ key. The log-in screen slowly faded away to nothing, leaving a void of emptiness. A colourful scene abruptly appeared of a balcony overlooking a medieval city near the sea. On the balcony stood three empty stands and, when Markus shoved his cursor to hover over the middle one, it flashed between its marbleised colours and white. Impressed with the quality of graphics, Markus wondered how long it would take him to draw something like that… Realising how much time he was wasting, he clicked the left mouse button to continue.

The image zoomed in to the middle stand and what looked like an aged scroll opened in the centre of the screen. The scroll contained boxes to fill in and options to choose, followed by ‘OK’ and ‘CANCEL’ buttons. The first prompt read, “Please enter your character name.”

Markus pondered... What should I be called? ‘Markus…’  Probably not… ‘Markirin...’ Too similar and, it sounds like a girl’s name... Finally, he reached a conclusion, “I'll come back to this later.”

A selection followed, “Male or female?” That was obvious; he selected ‘Male’. No WAY was he going to be a girl. That would be well... anyhow.

The next prompt was “Race?”

Race? Like a running or swimming race? Oh, wait. The options were:

·       Elf

·       Fairy - Fairy? Why should I be a fairy? I'm a boy. Fairies are for five year old girls, not boys!

·       Dwarf

·       Gnome - Aren’t they the same thing? Or no, wait... Gnomes are those things you put in your garden.

·       Phoenix

·       Unicorn - Ugh... another girl-like thing. Isn’t there anything else? Like, I dunno... maybe a non-fantasy thing?

·       Human - Well, I guess it's better than being a fairy, he thought, giggling at the thought of a male fairy. He clicked Human.

Next question... no, wait. Markus was at the end of the scroll but still hadn’t given his character a name. Well obviously there is a fantasy theme here... how about a fantasy-like name? Markus scratched his head and made up a way to generate a name. He typed the first letter of his name, 'M' then typed a few random letters, and finished with the last letter of his last name, 'D'. 'Masadorraed' was one combination; 'Morsabid' was another... Markus laughed at the thought... ‘Hey, Morsabid! Wanna go and fight some monsters?” More like, “How about we go to an auction?" ‘Morsabid,’ what a funny name... Nope, no way am I going for that one. Morsabid was out. Masadorraed… That sounds like a fantasy-type name. How would you say that aloud?

"Mess-a-doo-ray-ed" Markus whispered, half laughing at his attempt. He peered at his door. I hope Mum didn't hear that. She would think I was babbling random stuff... again. His mum didn't open the door and ask why he was babbling, so he tried again. " Mus-a-door-raid.” Hmm, that sounds alright. So, Markus entered ‘Masadorraed’ as the name and moved his mouse down to the ‘OK’ button. As he pushed it, he realised how much time he had spent creating his character so far. Oh-well, at least I have a good name.

A plain boy stood on the central stand - the default character. Time to modify! Not that I'm a girl, but I still wanna make this look good. Hopefully my friends can tell it's me. To the left of the character was the scroll he had just filled in, but this time all the settings were locked. On the right were six more scrolls with titles on them. The top one, the eye scroll, was open. There were three different image options for eye shape - round, almond and angular - and a palette to select colour. As Markus chose the middle shape and bright green eyes, they appeared on his character and began to blink and look around. Cool.

The next scroll was titled “Head.” As Markus clicked it, the eye scroll rolled up to the top of the screen and the head scroll un-rolled in its place. Again, three shape options and a palette appeared: a square head, round head and a head with a sharp chin. Markus selected the 'Sharp Head' as it was closest to his own. The palette contained a multitude of colours from red to purple and beyond. I wonder what I would look like with green skin... He clicked in the green area of the palette and selected an amazingly disgusting green - like the colour of rotten vomit. He let out a tremendous laugh. It looked ridiculous. There was NO WAY in a million years he would go around looking like that. He settled on a more 'natural' skin colour; not too pale and not too dark, just the right balance in between.

The next two scrolls were for selecting shirts and pants… not quite modern-trends. There wasn’t much choice in the clothing department of 'Fantasy-R-Us' for a lowly newbie. The selection was mostly brown sack-like clothing that would be suitable for a vagrant in the medieval era. Markus selected a matching pair of potato sacks and they appeared instantly on his character, which now appeared to be checking out its new apparel.

The last item from the clothing department was shoes. Now THIS would be a truly painful, gruelling and daring experience. Markus couldn't stand to look at the three options, so he randomly clicked one and hoped for the best. As they appeared on his character, they fit perfectly with his messy look. I'm still alive! That was so scary! Markus inspected at his character as it continued to pose on the stand. Something isn't right... The shoes are fine… Clothes are fine. Eyes, head, hai... HAIR!

Markus opened the next scroll. Hair, what a relief! He manipulated the options onscreen to imitate his own shaggy, dark brown head of hair and made it about seven centimetres long. Now it looks right. Finally, I'm done. Onto the game! Markus clicked the ‘OK’ button at the bottom right hand corner of the screen but, yet another scroll appeared and opened in the centre of the monitor.

Now what? The new Scroll simply instructed, “Please choose your profession.” Underneath was a drop down list containing the following options:

·       Archer

·       Swordsman

·       Craftsman

·       Cook

·       Miner

·       Wood-Cutter

·       Fisherman

·       Farmer

Now, what should I choose? Archers when attacked from nearby are pretty helpless. Swordsmen are awesome! I might pick that. I really don't want to just make stuff, besides; people might start to beg me to make things for them if I was a cook or a craftsman. A miner or wood-cutter would probably get boring after a while... Plus I dunno the slightest thing about cutting wood, mining rocks, or stuff... A fisherman or a farmer might be OK, but I don't think I would go for them as my main skill. I think I'll choose... Markus selected ‘Swordsman’ from the drop down box.

An instruction appeared, “Choose your weapon.” Then, a random selection of sword images began to appear in the space below. Most of them looked dull and boring, but sometimes a cool one appeared. Whenever he tried to click one, it disappeared before he was able to get it. Obviously other people are picking swords from the same lot. I wish I got that one... The swords kept getting snapped up - all the awesome looking ones that is. Only plain, dull ordinary swords were left. Once the demand slowed, Markus scrolled through the remaining swords but, none of them looked cool or interesting. Then, just as he was about to select one of the boring old wooden swords, an amazing aqua blue sword appeared. It was surrounded by a shimmering purple glow. Awesome! Markus moved his mouse over it as fast as he could, clicked and shut his eyes. Did I get it? I sure hope I did. This is painstakingly annoying. It's already taken me half an hour just to make my character! He opened his eyes nervously. “Yes!” He shouted, “I got it!” Markus looked at his character as it held the glowing aqua blue sword and began to test its weight. The sword shimmered in the light and emitted a glow of its own.

Markus clicked the ‘OK’ button and yet another scroll appeared.  This one read, “Are you sure you want to finalise your character?” Under the line were two more, ‘OK’ and ‘CANCEL’ buttons. Markus laughed and quickly looked over everything before he clicked ‘OK.’

Finally all the scrolls disappeared, leaving his completed character standing on the central podium of the main screen. The scene looked the same as before only... Wow, this game has a time engine; it's gotten darker since I started!

Markus noticed the menu along the bottom of the screen. It looked like small, torn squares of old worn paper. He moved his mouse over to the one that said ‘PLAY’ and softly tapped his left mouse button. The screen went dark for a few seconds before the loading screen appeared and replaced the blackness that once ruled his monitor.

Soon a colourful city appeared on his screen; it was surrounded by high walls. A dense forest, covered in snow, crowded the eastern wall. The sea was to the west. Men in frosty armour glistened in the sun. They appeared to carefully pace along the top of the wall, constantly on guard in case of an attack …or slipping. In the centre of the city stood a tall square tower that stretched up to the sky, its corners covered in pure shining gold. If the image had not been static, boats in mid-sail would be drifting gently into the dock on small waves, and carts, lead by donkeys and horses, would be wheeling their way into the city. They’re probably merchants coming to sell their merchandise in the market... The screen faded to black again and the void took over the once colourful scene... The game was loaded.

--- ooo ---

The sparking sea glistened under the moon-lit sky. Although she couldn’t feel it, cold air permeated her body. Aluria looked down at her reflection. It rippled, stretched and tore along the steady, gentle rolling waves. The green stone had more effect than she expected. When she had read her father's notes on it and saw “Transform into a dragon” she didn’t realise he was serious. To actually change a human into a dragon would take a lot of computer power... But obviously he had enough to do so. The stone has to be the transformation trigger. Whoever set the stone in place would gain the transformation, she thought.

The ocean reflected Aluria’s new dragon form. Her tail extended behind and her neck was not much shorter. Curved talon-like claws had replaced her hands and feet, ready to catch prey. Large pointed spines protruded from her tail, they looked hard enough to puncture diamond, and ran all the way to the top of her neck. Her face and head had been stretched out, not horizontally but depth-wise. It was now long and pointed. Teeth lined her powerful jaw. Six long, sharp, curved spikes were positioned around the back of her head and faded from the deep green of her scales to a pale cream. Two spikes jutted out of each side like extrusions from her jaw. Between them and the remaining spikes, near the top of her skull, were her long pointed ears that could swivel independently of each other; allowing her to focus her hearing. Enormous wings thrust from her back. They curved outward then spread like fingers at the end and curved back towards her body. In between each long finger, a thin membrane held tight to its frame. It was thick enough that moonlight couldn't penetrate it, but thin enough that sunlight could.

Aluria raised her head, lifting it level with the horizon. The dark blue sky, an endless dome covered with shining stars, was above; and below, the glistening sea. She had been quick to adjust to her dragon form - otherwise she would have plunged to the depths of the ocean and sunk to its rocky floor. She had taken to flying instantly, like a fish to water and a bird to the sky... It was instinct, like she had always been a dragon.

In the distance, Aluria noticed a single small island that appeared to float in the surrounding deep water. Sand didn’t outline its rim, just rock and grass. She flapped her colossal wings one more time before locking them into position for a glide descent. As she approached, the scene enlarged and revealed a rocky outcrop surrounded by trees. She landed with a thud on the grass and walked inland towards the rock formation. The trees were barren. Aluria spotted a cave in the rock face and breathed a sigh of relief as she settled down in it for a much needed rest. As she stared off into the distance, a thought drifted into her mind...

The sword’s been claimed by a squire
          A knight he longs to be
You must be quick, allies he needs
          You’ll find him by the tree

Aluria thought about the words... Alright, so the sword has been claimed... I guess I’d better start looking for him, she moaned, There’s a lot of trees…

She gazed into the distance; the moon was high and glittered like a polished silver plate. A chilly breeze licked the waves as they danced and rolled. The sapphire sea looked inviting so she got up and strode through a gap in the trees. Standing at the island's edge, she peered down into the deep blue water. Not a hint of movement flickered under the crystal clear surface. She dipped her right forefoot into the water, no temperature... or at least, not that she could feel.

Aluria plunged in, the smooth silk like water caressed her scales, but she still couldn't feel a thing. From under the water she could see a flicker of silver above - the moon and star's images refracted through the textured surface. She flapped her wings in the thick water and they propelled her at insanely fast speeds. From above, she would look like a flicker of green rushing beneath the surface. She was moving so fast that you would think it was just your imagination. Aluria gave another flap and curved her wings upward and shot into the sky. Beating her wings rapidly to shake off the silver droplets that clung to her scales, Aluria continued her ascent. Ah, that was the best swim I've had in ages! She thought. Now to find that boy...

 She looked back at the island and knew exactly where it was on the map of Thaihaelon... One of the small missing parts in the upper left corner. She spun herself around to face south east, the direction of land, and dove down into the water again. She was headed in the direction of the cliff.

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