Golden Valley

-Prologue-

Yanley watched the waves crash against the rocks of the beach below him, splintering into a white cascade of droplets. Sitting above the shoreline on the ragged cliffs, watching the sun dip itself into the ocean each evening was his nightly meditation ritual. The wind, caught in an ever-present updraft along the cliff-side, blew across his bare face and hands. He closed his eyes and let the air tangle and twist his hair like the grass in the valley. The wind created a symphony of sound, roaring up the cliff in harmony with the crashing of the waves, whistling past his ears, and the natural sway of tree branches in the forest. This was nature in its raw form, beautiful and powerful. He longed to join the forces of the elements in their mysterious dance. Yanley opened his eyes as the reality of his life pelted him like the waves below. He would never have the opportunity to dance with his earth mother. As far as he could tell, he and all of his brothers in the valley below were no longer Mother Nature?s children. They were not a part of the circle of life that nature so carefully cultivated and tended. Their bodies, and now even their very souls seemingly corrupted by the demon mineral they were enslaved to mine.

Yanley laughed softly to himself. Perhaps he was tied more closely to mother nature than he had originally perceived. The Draun, the mineral taken from the earth through his sweat and labor, was the only thing that would sustain his life. In fact, it had become the life of both he and his brethren.

Yanley untied a small beaded leather pouch from his belt and opened it. He placed his hand inside and gathered up a few berries he'd collected earlier. He placed the berries in his mouth and chewed them slowly, enjoying their sweet taste. He began to think about what the future may hold. Recently, over half of his brothers had broken away from the original clan. They moved back to the old cave although it only held enough Draun to sustain their lives.

Hollan, the greatest friend he had ever known had left with the uprising faction as their leader. Yanley tried desperately to persuade him and his followers to stay, but Hollan had too many different ideas about their laws and how the clan should be structured. Hollan wanted to change things that Yanley believed were essential for the clan's peace and prosperity. Yanley believed it was best to maintain old laws and customs. Because of this, Hollan began to view Yanley as weak and narrow minded. The two grew apart. Although their views differed so much, Yanley couldn't understand why Hollan, with his radical ideas, would wish to leave the valley and return to a place they despised. They would be reminded of their ancient pain and suffering when they were made into slaves and had their families taken from them.

Yanley didn't wish to think about those days. The days when they were still a part of nature's plan even as outcasts.

The days before the change.

They lived across the ocean in a place now named the Netherlands, but at the time he only knew to call it home. Yanley and his family lived in the picturesque village of Drisdan. The village was located far from the other towns of the land, in a place where they could no longer be ridiculed or oppressed for their appearance. The elders could remember the pain of being laughed at and persecuted by the townsfolk before they moved as a clan to Drisdan. They also knew the horrible tales mothers would tell to their children about their kind, and it pained their gentle souls to the core when children would run screaming to their mother's skirts upon seeing them. Most people called them "the eternal children", or "dwarfs", and they were viewed as less than human and because of the constant torment they eventually moved to Drisdan, where they could live, work, and prosper in their lives, as they could never do when mixed among the townsfolk.