<strong><span class="bbc_u">Drache’s Dream</span><br/><br/>Drache found himself standing in the middle of the battlefield that had changed his life. The dead bodies were all about his feet and the late night mist swirled the edges. The moonlight shown down and revealed a dark figure walking toward him. The man was clad in black and rose golden armor with a long black cloak. His loose long black hair bounced as he strode with a wide determined gait.<br/><br/>Vultures circled overhead and let out a loud cry as Ares approached Drache. Ares grabbed hold of a handle and rested a foot atop an impaled body. Drache immediately recognized the body of his father. Ares pulled his spear free of the man with a wet tearing crunch sound as the bone and skin let go. His eyes were both menacing and vicious and he waited, staring at Drache, as Drache dealt with the emotions roiling through him.<br/><br/>“Use it,” was all Ares said for a moment. “Take those feelings with you and go to the Redwood Forest in California. You will need those emotions for your quest. Learn to harness them and use them in battle,” Ares’s voice was riddled with wisdom, sincerity, and harshness.<br/><br/>One of the circling vultures came from above and Ares held out an arm. The vulture lighted on his arm, its yellow beak and beady black eyes turned toward Drache as it cocked its head to focus on him. It stretched its long red neck and let out a screech before spreading its golden tipped black wings and fluttering to Drache’s shoulder. Ares nodded in a gesture of presentation, denoting the vulture as a gift.<br/><br/>Ares balled a fist and placed it over Drache’s heart saying “Use it” in that firm ton once more before turning and walking away, leaving Drache alone on the battlefield with his new vulture.</strong><br/><br/><div align="center">(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/2712592098_26f49fabba.jpg)</div>