“The war was growing worse all the time though, and Khollo managed to convince his father and many of the other lords to let him keep and train the dragon to be used against the kingdom’s enemies. Khollo named the hatchling Kanin, and cared for the dragon while it grew.
“Fortunately for the Sietians dragons grow quickly, or this stratagem would never have worked. Khollo bonded quickly with the young dragon and they learned to fight together. Kanin grew to trust Khollo and they became a fearsome pair. A year after Kanin hatched, they rode into their first battle and dealt a rival empire a stunning defeat.
“Word that the Sietians were using dragons spread quickly. Other rulers sent warriors into the northern wastes to capture and tame dragons, hoping to duplicate Khollo’s success. As a result, the wild dragons were hunted nearly to extinction. Khollo and Kanin, horrified by what they saw as the results of their actions in the war, refused to continue fighting for the Sietian Kingdom and fled to an isolated place in the north.
“The war dragged on and kingdoms and empires were laid low. Nobody ever won, or could win. They just kept throwing more men and resources into the fight, desperately hoping for victory. Starvation and crime became rampant. Lords became peasants, peasants became beggars. And still the war continued, with no sign of an end.
“All of this Khollo and Kanin heard through reports that reached their mountain retreat, away from the fighting. They came to realize that if peace was not made, and soon, civilization would fail. So, they flew south, to the Sietian Kingdom, and presented themselves at the king’s palace. They demanded that the Sietian kingdom withdraw from the fighting immediately, promising they would torch what remained of the kingdom if peace was not made.
“The Sietian king quickly reached out to his warring neighbors, but they refused. They did not care if the Sietian kingdom burned. Instead they were emboldened, thinking things might work out better for them in the long run. So, Khollo and Kanin flew to the capital of each kingdom and empire, threatening fire and death if the rulers did not immediately declare peace. By this time, Kanin had grown large and strong and was the most dangerous predator in all the land. The rulers of three kingdoms, the Sietian, the Kienen, and the Pyrene, forged an uneasy truce among themselves and began rebuilding their kingdoms.
“Khollo and Kanin continued on their way, threatening kingdom after kingdom, demanding peace and warning of the destruction that would come if an agreement was not reached soon. Eventually, only one empire was left to end the war.”
“The Junoman?” Khollo guessed.
“Yes,” Ezraan said. “But don’t interrupt. Khollo flew to the Junoman capital and delivered an ultimatum to the king in full view of the public. Either make peace or die.
“The king refused,” Ezraan said, shaking his head. “He was frustrated that he had never gained anything from the whole affair. But public opinion quickly turned against him. The king was overthrown by nightfall and replaced with a ruling council until a single leader could be decided on.
“With a fragile peace established, Khollo summoned the rulers of every kingdom to a place unclaimed by any kingdom or empire, a place known as the standing stones. It was an ancient monument of some kind, or perhaps ruins of a long ago building. Whatever the case, it was safe for all.
“When the rulers had gathered, Khollo pointed out how close they had come to destroying the world. The rulers recognized this all too well, for now that they were not planning military campaigns they were realizing what a shamble their holdings were in. So Khollo proposed that an order of peacekeepers be established to prevent world wars from occurring again.
“The kings and emperors grudgingly accepted Khollo’s plan. The thought of a young man lording over all of them rankled, but each desperately wanted some protection against greedy neighbors, especially with every kingdom as weak as it was at the time. They signed the proposed agreement with Khollo, and the Keepers were formed.
“With this done, Khollo returned to his father’s castle and retrieved the four unhatched dragon eggs, and began searching for a place to build the Keepers. He wanted a stronghold beyond the reach of the kings and emperors, a place that only dragons could access easily. There was no such place on the continent, save maybe the northern mountains, so Khollo began searching for islands in the great sea to the south.
“For a long time, he found none suitable for his purposes. Some were too close to the continent for his liking, others too small. Some were barren of resources. Finally, word reached his ears of an island well off the coast. Traders from a coastal city not far from present day Narne had been blown off course and nearly shipwrecked. They had seen mountains, and a forest, and plains, a wide river emptying into the sea. Khollo immediately set out to find it, heedless of the risk.
“Three times he flew south from the mouth of the Ranil River, and three times he and Kanin turned back, having become afraid of crashing into the sea and drowning. Finally, Khollo and Kanin discovered the warm air currents and they flew easily to Ethgalin, for Kanin was a very large and powerful dragon by this time. There, on the island, in the midst of the ring of peaks that occupied its southern portion, the first Keepers built a small camp.
“After a month, they decided the location was more than satisfactory for building the Order.
