Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

Lucian.
    “That’s the whole point, kid. You can put anything you want on them. Numbers, letters, swords, girls you dream of. Anything.”
    “I don’t know, Sam. I still think you should go for the crossbow.”
    Samuel was not listening to Lucian anymore, nor to the clerk. He held the dice in his hand, staring intensely at them. They had to be replicas, made with a realistic-looking resin, but somehow he sensed that they were genuine. He could not have explained it, but a voice in the back of his mind cried out to him, telling him to hold on to the dice and not let this opportunity pass by.
    “So, what’s it going to be?” asked the clerk. He glanced back at his comic book.
    “You’re probably right, Lucian,” replied Samuel. “But there’s something about the dice, I can’t tell what it is. We’ll never see anything like these again, that much I’m sure about. Imagine what it would be like to bring these to the cosplay event. They look so real and genuine. We could even set a table for some old dice game and make some money out of it, if we’re lucky.”
    “It’s your birthday, Sam,” answered Lucian, but he looked peeved. “At least get the black ones, though.”
    “No, I’ll take the white ones. They look even more like old bones, dating from the beginning of the world.”
    As soon as they got home, after his father had dropped off Lucian, who was still talking about the crossbow, Samuel thanked his parents for the gift and the wonderful birthday. He then went up to his room for the rest of the evening, bringing his newly acquired loot: a few figurines, five comic books, a plastic goblet that seemed to be made out of a horn and a pair of ivory, irregularly shaped dice.
    As soon as Samuel closed the door of his bedroom, he unpacked the figurines and set them up on the small table his father had put together for him in the corner of the room. It was a neat little working station, where he could paint the figurines without making a mess. He put the plastic goblet on the nightstand. Finally, he set the ivory dice next to his computer, on the desk where he did most of his homework. For a little while, he looked at the bone-like cubes, imagining the symbols and ancient characters he could put on their blank faces.
    He turned on his computer. With a few quick strokes on the keyboard, he found a page that described the history of dice and what they were traditionally used for.
    Apparently, the oldest dice ever discovered dated to five thousand years ago. The original dice were traditionally made out of the astragalus bone from the heel of hoofed animals like sheep. A few more clicks confirmed that the replicas he had purchased earlier in the evening were pretty close to the real thing, almost identical in fact.
    He pushed his research a little further, finding out that the Mongolians still used these bone dice, and other cultures had also used such artifacts in the divination of their deities and gods. Samuel was surprised that such a familiar object could have such a rich history.
    After a few minutes, he remembered the new comic books. He stood up, undressed and quickly slid under the sheets. Stacking his pillows to support his head, Samuel grabbed the first comic book and started reading the stories of mythical monsters and legendary creatures. Around ten o’clock, he turned off the lights and almost immediately fell asleep.
    Had he not, he would have witnessed the dice begin to glow, a red light enveloping them and pulsating regularly, as if it were following a heartbeat. Gradually, ancient characters appeared on each side of the dice, forgotten runes burned into the bones. It was as if the light came from within them, emerging from the sigils.
    Slowly, the signs and symbols became alive, merging with each other and morphing into different ones. Lines bent, circles became triangles and dots appeared while others vanished. Within a couple minutes, every symbol had changed into a new one. Then the pulse of the light slowed and the sigils faded away. The bones returned to their original state.

CHAPTER 2

    The next morning, the sun slowly rose in the sky, covering the landscape with spectacular shades of red and orange, like a painter lovingly bringing his canvas to life. As the first rays of the day caressed the bedroom’s floor, Samuel’s alarm clock turned to six forty-five. The next moment, the sounds of the morning show filled the room.
    Samuel reluctantly opened his eyes, fighting his way