| abstract | - Tarnum had lived with the elves of AvLee for about twenty years, when the green and gold dragons, collectively known as the good dragons, suddenly failed to show up for the Spring Festival one year. Growing worried at their absence, the Ancestors contacted Tarnum and asked him to investigate the mystery. He was then given an army by King Eldrich Parson of AvLee to complete his task. Tarnum decided to seek out the Dragontalker, an ancient elf that had lived with the dragons for centuries and knew them better than anyone. When he finally located her, her house was under attack by a pair of green dragons. When they had been defeated, the Dragontalker told Tarnum that the dragons had been drawn from their caves as if pulled by an unseen hand, forced to fly toward Nighon. They suspected that Mutare, the Dragon Queen of Nighon, had somehow gained the ability to control the minds and wills of all dragons, giving her an army that could take over the world. Aspen, a wise old elf who was Tarnum's advisor, suggested that Tarnum should seek out the Vial of Dragon Blood, an ancient artifact that could possibly break Mutare's hold over the good dragons. While searching for it, they located Valita, one of the king's captains that had been sent out to look for the same artifact. She had been captured by demons, but Tarnum freed her from their dungeons, where she had been tortured for more than three months. With the artifact in hand, Tarnum decided that the best way to free the good dragons was to free the ten Dragon Mothers - the ancestors of all the good dragons. They had a magical link with their offspring, but Mutare kept them locked up in an underground cave. As Tarnum searched for their prison, Aspen told him that he was convinced that they had a spy in their midst. He suspected Valita, but Kurbon, a dwarf who was Tarnum's Master of Supplies, told him he has absolute faith in her. Tarnum managed to free the Dragon Mothers, which also freed the rest of the good dragons from Mutare's control, but he learned that Mutare had now taken control of the deadly rust dragons. While Tarnum faced their forces, Aspen noted that the Elf King's forces were ambushed more frequently, which was further proof of a spy. Soon, Mutare had also taken the crystal dragons into her forces, and launched an invasion of Erathia. With the aid of the knight Sorsha, Tarnum was able to push them back. Realizing that he needed aid to combat Mutare's dragons, Tarnum sought out the elusive faerie dragons. While he was searching for them, Aspen managed to capture an enemy harpy that was carrying messages from their camp to the enemy. The harpy told them that she collected the notes from the top of a tree, where they had been pinned by an elven arrow with black and green feathers. Kurbon confirmed that Valita was the only one that used those colors, strengthening Aspen's suspicions. But Tarnum believed that they'd been deceived, and planted a false letter for Aspen to find. When the elf brought it back to camp, he was shot by Kurbon, who was the real spy, and needed to slay Aspen because he was the only one who could read Mutare's codes. The dwarf managed to escape, and Aspen was dying of his wounds. When he had secured the aid of the faerie dragons, Tarnum decided to take back the land that AvLee had lost, but Mutare had gained the aid of the massive azure dragons. While her army was powerful, Tarnum realized that she'd spread her forces too thin, and hoped to defeat them while they were unprepared. When they received news that outlying farms were being raided by a small group of dragons, Valita wanted to go after them. Tarnum was reluctant, believing that it was too risky, but in the end, he let her go. She left camp with a small group of elves to hunt the dragons. Tarnum managed to drive Mutare's forces back to Nighon. With her back to the sea, Mutare decided to focus what remained of her forces on Tarnum. While battling her, Tarnum learned that Kurbon had captured Valita in an ambush. The dwarf sent him a message, asking for a private meeting, where he hoped to ambush and kill the Immortal Hero. Tarnum arrived, but when Kurbon sprung his trap, Tarnum blew a wooden whistle to have his sharpshooters fire from extreme range. The ambushers were slain, and Kurbon only survived due to his armor. The dwarf managed to escape on a black dragon. A few days later, Tarnum saw some of Mutare's forces fighting each other, and learned that Kurbon had taken Valita from Mutare's dungeons, no longer following the Dragon Queen out of fear. Kurbon was mortally wounded, but he managed to hold the enemy off until Tarnum arrived to free Valita. In the end, Tarnum managed to defeat Mutare, and she fled back to Nighon to lick her wounds, where she was soon slain by someone else. Tarnum and Valita traveled back to AvLee, where they lived happily together until the Ancestors called him away.
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