He could see the tops of the towers of a large castle in front of him looming high above the mist. "Hello!!," he yelled, but all that was heard was his own voice returning to him. He walked forward toward the huge mysterious castle.

He started to feel scared. If this was the afterlife was he in heaven or hell. He had always expected heaven to be a wonderful place where he could meet the mother he never knew, but only people who have lived good lives may be allowed to go there. He had always thought all of the others go to hell. It wasn't my fault my life ended so quick, he thought, if I would have lived longer I might have been able to live a good life. This isn't fair.

He reached the towering gate house of the castle. As he approached the huge doors he could see they looked damaged as if by a battering ram. One door hung diagonally from one giant hinge. He looked around but still no people could be seen or heard. He headed to the main part of the castle ahead. The ground was so incredibly dusty, as he walked he left foot prints in the dust.

He walked through another pair of large doors that were also damaged. It appeared a battle was fought here and this castle was raided, but he couldn't figure out where the people entered the city from. It was solid rock walls that rose almost 100 feet all around, and he never remembered seeing a gate through the city walls.

The doors opened up into a large hall. There knelt hundreds of people. They all seemed to be pay homage to the man sitting in the throne in the front of the hall. He rushed to the closest one. He noticed it was a man dressed in armor. Probably a knight from some army. "You have to help me, I don't know where I am," he pleaded to the man, but he just knelt quietly as if he was ignoring John.

Frustrated he grabbed the man, "Aren't you listening…" he stopped and pulled his hand away. The man was abnormally cold. He looked at the man's face and saw his eyes were rolled up into the back of his head, leaving them totally white. Oh no, I must be in hell, he thought.

He look at the front of the hall. There sat a man dressed in gold armor with a helmet in the shape of the head of a dragon. His right arm rested in his lap and his left arm laid upon the arm rest. "Come forward," called the man. His voice echoed though out the hall. It scared John half to death.

He walked toward the knight being cautious. If it was hell then he probably was the evil lord of the underworld. John was more terrified than he ever had been in his entire life. "This isn't fair, I don't belong here," he pushed out. It was hard to talk considering how scared he was.

"You are where you came from."

"What do you mean?"

"It does not matter. You will soon understand what I mean."

"What am I doing here, am I dead, is this the afterlife?"

"Enough with the questions. Time is running short. All of us are souls doomed in this limbo. We cannot escape. You are our last hope. John, you must help us."

John slowly opened his eyes. His shoulder was in incredible pain. He scanned the room. He was in a bed in a stone room. Nothing is making any sense, he thought. The room was plain. He rolled over in bed and tried to get up, but he was too weak. He tried hard and finally rolled himself over. He lifted his upper body and turned so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His shoulder ached with every movement. Finally he pulled himself to his feet. He balanced himself by holding on to the bedpost. He slowly paced over to a mirror on the wall. He examined the wrap on his shoulder. I guess if I feel pain then I must be alive, he thought.

Suddenly he heard a key hit the lock. He tried to rush back to his bed, but the quick movement caused his shoulder to erupt in pain. He collapsed to his knees clutching his shoulder. He struggled to get to bed before he was caught.

"Oh no," said a soft female voice from behind him. He was in too much pain to turn and look. "You should not be out of bed." He felt two soft hands gripped him around his abdomen. Her touch was warm, affectionate and familiar like a mother's touch.

She lifted him up and on to the bed. He rubbed the tears out of his eye which resulted from the pain and took several deep breaths. An image came into view. Sitting on the bed next to him was the girl he had caught trying to break into the armory. For a moment his pain disappeared and as he looked at her and felt true happiness. She genitally laid him down on the bed.

"You need to stay in bed in rest," she said.

"Who are you?"

"You mean you do not remember."

"I remember when I caught you trying to break into the armory. What are you some kind of thief."

"Of course not. Do you not remember our proposition?"

"You mean your Princess Karena!!"

"Yes I am."

"You lie. Princess Karena is repulsively ugly. Who really are you?"

"I am the Princess. Let me explain. I may be a princess, but I hate it. I want to be free. I want to see other places besides Dunlock. I want to live, but my father does not agree with me. Ever since the death of my mother, he has become overprotective. He will not even let me out of the castle. He thinks I will fall in love with a peasant and embarrass him and the kingdom of Dunlock. I guess since he has done this some rumors have started." John flashed a disbelieving look. "You must believe me."

"Well your story sounds believable, and no thief talks as perfect as you do." He pulled himself up. He was starting to feel a lot better.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting out of her. The deal is off, Princess. You promised I would be off that border before anything happened, and now look at this."

"I am terribly sorry. I never wanted any harm to come to you…"she gazed into John's eye and turned away quickly, "but you can not leave now. Your still too weak. When they brought you her you were barely alive. They had stopped the bleeding, but you still were extremely weak. You needed to rest, and do not forget, you are still a fugitive"

John had forgotten about that. "All right, where are we anyway."

"We are in the lower levels of Dunlock Castle. Listen, rest now and I'll show you how to get out tomorrow night." She was so beautiful. He laid there for a few moments lost in her eyes. She stood up and walked out of the room. John shifted himself into a more comfortable position. He decided he would head back to his house in Tandin when he left. No one in Tandin would know about his conviction.

"John, wake up," whispered a soft feminine voice. John rubbed his eyes and rolled over to see Karena standing at the edge of his bed holding a candle. She reached over his body to help him out of bed. Her touch was affectionate and tender.

"Here, wear this," she said as she handed him a brown, hooded robe. He put it on being careful of his shoulder. She pulled the hood over his face to conceal it. She then handed him a sack of food and other items. She opened the door and peaked out. Once sure she turned back to John and gestured for him to follow.

They walked out of the room into a narrow, dark corridor. It was lit by a few torches on the wall. They tiptoed down the hall trying to be as quiet as possible. They reached the end of the hall and continued up several flights of stairs. Finally they reached the main hall of the castle. It was dark and empty. They turned and headed to the castle entrance.

"We have to hurry. If we leave too late we will look suspicious," said Karena.

John stopped in his tracks. "Wait a minute," he said, "what do you mean 'we'?"

"I am going with you."

"Like hell you are." He said this contradicting what he felt deep down inside. He really wanted her to come along. He didn't want to be apart from her ever again.

"I do not care how you feel. I sick of being locked up in this cold, lonely castle. I want to runaway and have fun. I want to live."

"No way. I am in enough trouble with the law as is. If your father found out you ran away with me, he would have me hung. The answer is no, Princess. What did you have some pathetic argument with you father about what to wear. Go back to bed." He couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I am not some superficial, weak, little princess." She quickly slugged John across his face.

He stumbled backward stunned stroking his jaw. "What was that for!!"

"Who goes there?" yelled a voice from down the hall.

John grabbed her and pulled her close till there faces were only an inch apart. "Listen, don't argue with me. I don't want you getting hurt. Now go, before you get caught." He turned and ran toward the entrance. He hated to leave her again.

Karena watched him flee into the darkness. "Be careful and come back to me, John," she said to herself. Then she ran and hid as the guard came running by.

As John sprang out of the entrance of the castle, he caught the eye of another guard. "Halt," yelled the guard. John tried to pick up speed, but the guard blocked his exit. He ran straight at the guard.

"Wait a minute, you're supposed..." he said just as John as threw a forearm across the guards jaw. The guard fell to the ground. "Help!! An intruder!! Help!!"

Guards appeared from hidden posts. John threw off the robe, dropped the sack, and ran for the gate house. The portcullis was quickly closing. At the last second John dove and rolled under the portcullis. The portcullis slammed down with a bang sealing the guards in the court yard.

"Stop him!!" yelled one of the guards. A guard on horse back turned and charged John. John kept on running. He began to feel the strange feeling run through him once again. He leaped at the guard and knocked him off the horse. He picked the guard up off the ground and jabbed him in the face knocking him unconscious.

John grabbed the reigns of the horse and mounted it. He turned the horse and charged for the city gate. He blitzed through the gate and knocked over two unprepared guards. He then rode toward Tandin.

"What is going on out here," yelled King Davias.

"My lord, the fugitive boy has escaped the northern and was caught sneaking about in the castle," responded.

"How did he escape form the border?"

"I don't know, your highness."

"Did he have my daughter with her?"

"You mean the princess is missing."

"She wasn't in her room when I last checked and..."

"Father, what is going on?" asked Karena as she emerged from the upper levels of the castle.

"Where have you been."

"I was in my room. Why?"

"You weren't when I checked."

"I got up when I heard the noise. You must have missed me."

"I..." he stopped to think for a moment, "I must have."

"What happened?" asked Karena.

"A fugitive has escaped from the northern border and was found here in the castle," responded the guard.

"Did he get away?" she asked.

"Unfortunately yes, but we'll track him down."

"This is of no concern of yours, Karena. Now head back to bed," ordered King Davias.

"Yes, father." She walked back up the stairs and let out a sigh of relief. She was glad he was safe and her father believe that he missed her in her room. She knew if he caught her sneaking around the castle she would be in punished severely. "I'll track him down before you do," she said to herself as she headed to bed.

John waited until night before going home just to be safe. He had let the horse go outside of the town fearing it would make too much noise. He slowly crept toward his house keeping out of sight. He found the spare key David always hidden to keep John from being locked out.

John open the door. The old rusty hinges let out a loud creak. "Damn hinges," he spoke.

"Who's there?" came a voice from within the house. An older man appeared holding a torch in one hand and a sword in the other.

"Father, I'm finally home." David dropped the sword, put down the torch, embrace John with a hug.

"I have heard about what happened to you at the academy, and about your sentence on the northern border. I feared the worse."

"Except for a deep wound to my shoulder I am okay."

"Why would you attack ten Dunlock guards?"

"I really don't know. A lot of really strange things happened to me. It was strange every time I was in a fight this strange feeling came over me. I found myself fighting with techniques and courage that I never thought I had."

"Oh," David said not sounding too amazed.

"Do you know what is going on with me?"

David stared straight at John.

"Father, are you okay?"

He snapped out of his trance. "Yes I'm fine. No I don't know what's going on."

"Father, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Nothing at all."

It was obvious to John. His father's attention was some where else. "Anyway I got this while on the northern border," he said pointing to his shoulder, "while I was unconscious I had the weirdest dream. I dreamt I was in this city that was surround on all sides by huge rock walls with buildings lining them stacked on top of each other." David looked at John with his eyes wide. "Then I walked into the castle and this knight in gold armor with a helmet shaped like a dragon's head was telling me that I'm their last hope. Pretty strange, I must have been in shock form the injury." David just stood with a stunned look in his face. "What's wrong, father?"

David took a deep breath. "What is wrong, John, is just that."

"Just what?"

"I am not your father."

"What? What are you talking about? You have been my father my whole life."

"John, listen to me. Sit down and I'll tell you the story." They sat down at a table. "A long time a go there was a land called Sierra."

"You have told me about the legend of the Gold Knights before."

"Yes, but this is different. You see the legend is true. The Gold Knights did exist. A long, long time ago a man, a farmer, climbed the Tierrian Mountains. At that time the world was in total chaos. He wanted a place hidden from the terrors of the world where he could raise his family. He wanted a place where he could teach his sons proper values without having to worry about them being corrupted by the evils in the world. He found a small opening in the top of one of the mountains where he decided to live. He started a small city there that he called Sierra. On that founding day he invoked the greatest law of Sierra."

"I know, you have told this story a thousand times. 'No one in Sierra is allowed contact with the lowlands, except when finding a bride for marriage.'"

"That's right. This was the law of the land for decades. His city grew. Since the Sierrans were good people they never wasted time quarreling or fighting. This gave them a lot of time to think and exercise. Well this went on day after day, and on each they thought of something new. The training also became more and more skillful until they decided to start a legion of knights they would call the Gold Knights. The citizens were against this. They felt that this promoted violence, but Torus, a descendent of the founder who was the lord of Sierra at the time, convinced the people it would only be used as entertainment and if an evil were to arise that was beyond the power of the people of the lowlands."

"What does this have to do with me and my dream?"

"Torus' grandfather was one of the first to start the training even before they had the knights. Some how Torus had developed a natural courage and raw ability to fight from his father. He could fight even though he was never trained and could beat most men, but a fully trained man could beat him since his talent was crude. Torus then had a son, named Marcuss who became lord of Sierra. He also possessed the same talent."

"Get to the point."

"All right, be patient. When Marcuss was lord he broke the law of Sierra by descending from the mountain with a group of Gold Knights. He justified it by claiming the Dark Ones were an evil that the lowlanders could not deal with. Well, he did so and brought two lowlanders, Dunlock Knights, back to Sierra. The citizens didn't object much to it a first, but the lowlanders brought the downfall to Sierra."

"How?"

"Well not directly. They stayed in Sierra for a day, but then the next day the end came."

"During the night hundreds of angry people stormed the city. They were all just commoners, but someone had corrupted their minds probably the two knights that visited. Marcuss refused to fight them because he felt they were innocent. He ordered me to take his only son and flee from Sierra. I grabbed the infant and never returned. That infant was you, John. I raised you as if you were my own I was hoping you would live peacefully, but I guess you must follow your heart. You are the son of Marcuss, that explains the mysterious talent and courage you posses. You must become a Gold Knight."

"This is all so hard to believe." John paused for a moment to take it all in. "What happened to my father?"

"I don't know. Once I fled I came here to Tandin and started my shop. I never thought of or mentioned what happened as ever again." He stood up. "Come on go to bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Why what's tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow we have a long trip. I think it is time we went back to Sierra."

The entrance into the mountain was filled with rocks. David examined the blockage.

"I think we can move it," he said as he climbed the pile. He bent down and began to move some of the rocks. "Here help me," he said as he handed one down to John. One after another they pulled rocks from the pile until there was a hole large enough to fit through. They climbed through the hole and into a cave. David pulled a torch from his sack.

The caves were damp and filled with spider webs and dust. It was obvious no one had been through here in years. It had many dead ends and circles it took them several hours to find the right path. David apologized admitting that he had never been through these caves in his entire life, except the day he escaped.

They stepped out of the cave and into sunlight. Sierra looked identical to the city in John's dream. The only difference was it was missing the mist and the darkness.

"Somebody is here or has recently been here," remarked David as he gestured to some footprints on the ground.

John looked at the footprints . The path looked familiar. "I think it was me," he said. David looked at him puzzled. "These were the exact steps I took in my dream, at least I thought it was a dream."

They continued through the city square. David stopped suddenly and stared at one of the buildings.

"What is it?" asked John.

"Nothing. This is just where my old shop used to be. I used to design the best weapons in all of Sierra. When I fled with you to the lowlands I couldn't design the weapons I used to because I would give the lowlanders designs to weapons and armor they must not have. Your father always said that the worst thing to happen was a lowlander getting our technology because he would inevitably abuse it." He closed the shop window.

They continued walking toward the castle. The gate house door hung diagonally on one hinge identical to John's dream. Even John's hand prints still remained on the door.

They walked through the gate house and toward the main castle. The light of the sun was a strong contrast to emptiness of the castle. They stepped into the main hall of the castle. The hall was empty. "In my dream there were hundreds of people kneeling here." John walked about showing David his dream. "They were all cold as if they were dead. They all looked like they were worshipping the throne up there." He stopped suddenly as he saw the man sitting on the throne. He was still sitting with his right arm in has lap and his left arm on the arm rest. "David, look."

David turned to look at the throne. He ran up to get a closer look. "Oh no," he said, "this can't be."

"What's wrong? Who is it?"

"I'm sorry John. It is your father, Marcuss, and he's dead."

John froze. Tears began to fill his eyes. "It's not fair. I didn't even get a chance to know him." As he stepped closer he could see the skeleton that remained under the armor. He turned to David and his sadness turned to anger. "Who did this? Who did this?! I want to know!!"

"I don't know who did this. Besides seeking foolish vengeance will just lead to your death. Your father would never want you to die foolishly." He looked at the body. The armor had a huge gash along the chest plate. He pulled open the left hand exposing a note. It was written on a piece of cloth. The cloth was frail, but it still held together. "John, look at this."

John opened it. "It's a little smudged, but I think I can read it."

My son,

If you are reading this letter than I am dead, and David has told you the truth. I must confess I made a terrible error in bringing the lowlanders here. The people of Dunlock were the ones who raided Sierra, but they did not hurt any one. When they came there were Dark Ones among them. The Dark Ones killed all of us. They must be stopped. Their power is far beyond that of the lowlanders. It is too late for us, but you still have time. You are our last hope. Good Luck and I will always love you.

Marcuss

John turned and looked at David. David's face held a serious look. "You now know what you must do," he said, "you must fight the Dark Ones."

"No, no way, there is no way I am going fight the Dark Ones. I already tired once and look what it got me." He pointed to his shoulder. "Maybe Marcuss could have beaten them, but I'm no Gold Knight."

"But you have the natural talent of your father…"

"But there is no one left to teach me. I'll have nothing more than raw talent to help me and that just isn't enough." He picked up the rest of his things. "Come on were leaving."

"You can't leave. It is your destiny, John."

"I don't believe in destiny."

"John, listen to me." David ran in front of John keeping him from leaving. "John listen, there is a way."

"What do you mean 'a way.'"

"Follow me," he said as he started walking toward the throne. John followed.

Behind the throne was a door with engravings on it. David led John through the door and up a stairway. They went through double doors, both larger than the first. It opened into a long corridor. The corridor seemed to go on forever until it ended outside. They stood on top of a ledge which overlooked a mist covered valley.

"What is this?" asked John.

"Down there is the Valley of Ordeals."

"Ordeals, you mean the test a squire must pass to achieve knighthood."

"Exactly," he responded, "Instead of a chamber like most kingdoms of the lowlands, we have an entire valley."

"That doesn't matter. I can't pass the test if I have never been trained."

"Listen to me, your ancestors set up the valley. Your father attempted the valley with out training either and passed. I know you can do it."

"All right, what do I have to do?"

"If I remember correct there are fourteen trials in the valley. Each trial contains a gem. You must recover at least seven gems to pass the test."

"What if I recover more?"

"It is said that the more you recover the more powerful of a knight you will be."

"Has anyone recovered all fourteen."

"No. Your father recovered 11 and I believe someone before him recovered 12, but I'm sure no one has recovered all fourteen."

"How many did you recover?"

"I never attempted the valley. I feared it. Only a citizen of Sierra can see the valley. If you fail you are banished from Sierra, and you have no memory of the existence of Sierra and of any talents or abilities you might of had because you were a citizen. I was afraid of failing."

"It sounds easy. How do you fail?"

"It is a lot more difficult than you think. When the sun hits your face as you stand here on this mountain the valley will appear. You have exactly one day to collect as many gems as you can. When the sun rises again and hits this ledge, if you haven't collected at least seven gems and made it to the end of the valley, you fail. If you die in one of the challenges, you fail. There is one rule. No weapons, armor, items, or magic may be used in the valley. Not even food is allowed into the valley. All you are allowed is simple clothes and your heart. Now a good thing is that what ever you find in the valley you may use."

"Well, what are the challenges?"

"I don't know. Your supposed to find out as you go along."

"I'm not so sure about this. If I fail then it is all over."

"You won't fail. Just be strong, resourceful, and never give up." John looked out into the valley. "Your father wasn't much of a knight before he entered the valley, but once he passed the test he became a powerful warrior. I guess the valley gives you power, if you succeed of course." John stood still staring into the valley. "At least do it for your father and all the citizens of Sierra. John, I'm too old to attempt the valley. Your the last hope. If you give up, then the Dark Ones will surely conquer the world."

If I succeed I can put an end to this evil and all of the lives it has taken, he thought. "You have taught me to follow my heart, and I can hear what it is telling me loud and clear. I'll do it."

"Excellent. Tomorrow morning it will begin."