Taltros, the very name itself was restricted to the Platform of Wyrms, with few outside of that circle even knowing of its existence. Even among them, only those who had been present in the Council during the end of the Last Great Dragon war knew what it truly was, and they were sworn to secrecy before Io. It took Lord Sutton repeating the island's name to finally jog my memory and place it. As expected Lord Sutton knew little other then it was an island, and that all other information was restricted regarding it.

     Taltros Island did not exist. That is what every map of the Blood Isles would tell you at any rate. The island itself was simply never visible, always cloaked from sight. It was a small island, only a few miles across and a few miles wide. Located a half days flight to the north of All Clans Isle. It was guarded by its own special detachment of dragons and vassals, lead by Mistress Bell. The ancient Bronze Dragon had been war mistress during the Last Dragon War. It had been her responsibility to make sure that those hatchlings raised by the Council were taught to fight. With the end of the war she had obviously fallen out of favor, and her position had been shifted to guarding an island that few knew existed.

     As to why the island itself was so heavily cloaked and restricted I knew only rumor and hints dropped by Lord Sutton's father. A final weapon to be used against all of the Council's enemies. Some way to end the war before another draconic life was lost. Whatever it was there had been an accident in its first test run. Whatever happened, when news reached us, only the Platform of Wyrms was called into Council Chambers, and they did not emerge for another day. When they did emerge the island was declared off limits to any other then the new set of guards who were sent out to guard the island, its last set having disappeared. Soon after came the end of the War, with the disaster at the City of Fountains. Since then I had heard nothing regarding the island, and it was indeed a surprise to see its name written in Mykell's kindred's blood.

     We flew through the night, and into the early morning hours, only pausing to rest a few times on clouds. Lord Sutton's side was hurting him, and I could tell that he was starting to fatigue by the time we crossed over the open ocean where Taltros was supposed to be. It took three more low level passes to finally pass through the Cloaking shield which shielded the island from unwanted visitors. One moment we were flying just above the waves, the next Lord Sutton had to desperately backflap with his wings to come to a halt before slamming into a cliff face head first. Warily we gained a bit of altitude and set down on the rocky edge of the cliff face. Before us was spread Taltros Island.

      The entire island was mostly circular, with a few bays here and there. In the center of the island, thrusting up out of the forest which shrouded the rest of the island was the granite base of what used to be a mountain. Its top had been shorn off, and now all that was left was a five hundred foot tall plateau. Built on the center of which was the reason Taltros Island was so closely guarded. The thousand foot tall crystal tower gleamed in the bright morning sunlight. The multifaceted crystal stood impossibly straight, its blue surface shimmering as the morning light reflected from it.

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     The silver dragon, and the elf astride its back, both stood silent for a moment as they stared upwards at the single piece of crystal which towered a thousand five hundred feet above them. It was almost impossible to imagine something like that staying upright through time and storm, but it had managed it. Almost as if he was sedated by the knowledge that such a thing could be built, Jean slowly made his way into the lush forest which cloaked most of the island.

     "Laureine, what was this place supposed to do? I know what you told me, but you must have heard more then that. My father must have mentioned something, please, what is that thing for?"

     Laureine was silent for so long as they headed into the forest towards the plateau, that Jean began to think she was not going to answer. When she finally did, her answer was not what he had expected.

     "Taltros was to end the war. I think.... I think it was designed to destroy all humanoids within several weeks flight from here." Her voice was so quiet that he had trouble hearing her, and had to stop walking to listen. "Any humanoid not protected by a Clan would be killed. I don't know how, but that's what Im pretty sure it was meant for."