Long ago, a battle raged. In The Great Prairies of Greater Calrunia, knights shed their blood in a bloody, gruesome battle against an undefeatable army of tens of thousands of creatures who yearned for the blood of their enemies. The creatures couldn’t stop; wouldn’t stop until they could lay their hands on the greatest treasure of all. A treasure greater than any mortal man could fathom. A treasure so great that it could absorb men into itself, where they would stay until summoned by the owner of the treasure. The treasure even had the ability to grant immortality to the most pure of heart or it could produce dark magic for any who asked. To destroy it would thrust an even greater evil upon the land. If it fell into the hands of the attackers, no knight would be able to stand against the evil it possessed.
 
            As the battle roared with creatures pressing in from all sides, the youngest knights battled harder than they had ever fought before. With a blow of his horn, the king commanded his soldiers to retreat back into the forest behind them. The king’s soldiers obeyed and followed the king and his steed into the safety of the wood. As they did so, a stream of arrows flooded into their small numbers. Slipping from his black horse, the king let out a cry of anguish. Few knights halted to assist the king in his final moments.
 
            “Your Highness!” one whispered hoarsely, kneeling beside the fallen leader.
 
            “The medallion!” the king stuttered in a raspy voice.
 
            “What of it, Majesty?” the knight pressed frantically.
 
            “Defeat the army,” the king pushed out. “Use it-wisely!”
 
            “But sir! Where is it?!” the knight gently shook the king. “Sir?”
 
            “My-brother!” the he managed to whisper before shutting his eyes. “My brother-will know.”
 
            “Your Highness!” the young soldier shook the king once more. “Sir!” he exclaimed, roughly shaking the king. The lifeless king fell limply from the knight’s hands and onto the course ground. Reluctantly, the young knight hoisted the corpse onto the dark horse. Pulling himself up behind the king’s body, the knight galloped into the protection of the woods. He raced through the forest and through the kingdom’s gates.
 
            The peasants gasped and stared awestruck at the knight and their fallen king.
 
            “He’s dead!” a man cried, falling to his knees. The words echoed through the group. Men fell to their knees and women began to weep. Confused children looked around, asking their parents what was wrong.
 
            “Where is the prince!?” The knight yelled above the chaos. He strained his neck to catch a glimpse of him. “Out of my way!” he exclaimed, steering the king’s horse towards the castle entrance. The floods of people slowly began to part as the knight and his horse swept through. Riding through the entry, the knight found his way into the throne room where he thought he might find the prince. Seeing no one, the he leapt off the horse and hurried to the king’s throne. “Where is it!” he circled the throne room, finding nothing.
 
            “Looking for this?” a voice drawled slowly. Laughter echoed through the room as the knight spun around. The golden medallion dangled from the prince’s fingers on an amber chain, the jewels in its center glittering.
 
            Dropping to his knee, the knight responded, “Your highness, the kingdom is in great danger. We must use the medallion. Please sir.”
 
            “Why should I?” was the cold response. “All these years I’ve waited for the throne to become mine, but we all knew it was a hopeless cause. Why would my brother give up such a high place? The medallion, an entire kingdom for himself, immortality if he wished it! No, he wouldn’t give it up, but now, it is mine. A dead man cannot use immortality, can he?”
            “Sir, we must save the kingdom!” the knight pleaded.
 
            “But the power! Wouldn’t that use all the power in this treasure? Why should I risk it for the kingdom?”
 
            “Sir, please!”
 
            “No! It’s mine!” the prince snapped, drawing his sword and placing the medallion around his neck.
 
            Shocked, the young warrior’s hand flew to his own sword. “I cannot fight you for it, majesty.”
 
            “You are the only challenger to my prize! I will have it for myself and none other!”
 
            “Sir, don’t do this. Please!” the knight pulled his sword out in front of him, prepared to fight.
 
            “I’ll do as I please.” The prince shouted and lunged towards the knight.
 
            Blocking the blow, the knight swung his sword at the prince, letting their swords clang. With a clash, the swords struck each other again with more force. The knight lashed out at the prince, slashing his arm. Blood began to drip down to the marble floors of the throne room. The wounded man cried out and lunged again at the knight. The swords hit an inch above the knight’s head.
 
            “Fool!” the prince laughed. “You can’t win!”
 
            The knight grimaced and kicked the prince with his foot. Stumbling back, the prince toppled to the ground. The knight stood over his opponent and held his sword as his throat.
 
            “Give me the medallion.” the knight whispered.
            “Never!” the prince scrambled to get up. The knight kicked him again. Blood spluttered out of the fallen prince’s mouth.
 
            “You’ll still be king without it!” replied the knight, grasping the chain around the man’s neck. With that, the knight hurried toward the throne room’s great balcony. He held it above his head, facing the oncoming army of creatures. The medallion’s jewels began to glow and grew hot to the touch. Unable to withstand the heat, the knight dropped the medallion on the balcony ground. He looked at his hand. The jewels had made a deep, red imprint on it. He reached down to take up the medallion’s amber chain. The knight grasped it tightly and held it up before the army. The jewels glowed brighter than ever as the army approached. Slowly, the evil army began turning into particles of silvery dust and flying towards the medallion. As each creature dissolved into dust, they flew faster towards the small medallion and the frightened knight.
 
With the final members of the army flying towards the knight, the prince pushed himself up, letting out another spluttering cough of blood that splattered on the marble floors. “Give me-my-medallion!” he stuttered, coming up to the knight from behind, he made a quick cut on the knight’s arm.
 
The knight cried out in pain and dropped the medallion just as the final creature was flown into it. The medallion clattered to the ground. The prince stumbled towards it, ready to take back the treasure. He picked it up with the tip of his sword and smiled to himself. The medallion was finally his.
 
The knight watched as the prince smiled at the small treasure that now held over one thousand creatures. If the prince unleashed them again, there was no telling what would happen to Greater Calrunia and her provinces. He silently walked toward the distracted prince.
 
“You’ll kill me, won’t you?” the prince asked without turning around. “I’m dead anyway, aren’t I? None of the people saw the pain this medallion inflicted upon my brother. He wasn’t strong enough to bear it. But I am. I will be.” he paused for a moment to cough up a bit of blood, “I am stronger than my brother! I’ll be an even greater king than he ever was!”
 
“No. No mortal man can bear it. Not even you. Have you not learned at least that by now?” the knight asked, slowly drawing his sword. The medallion was already beginning to destroy the prince. Could this be the first time he had worn it? It hardly seemed possible that the medallion’s power would have found a place in his soul already. No, the prince had worn it before and probably used it as well.
 
"I can! And I will.” the prince exclaimed in a whisper. “It has already taken hold of me. There will be no stopping it.” Blood spluttered from his mouth and onto the floor as he paused and drew his sword, “Only by my death will it stop. Perhaps that is what you should have learned by now. Have you-”
 
The prince was swiftly cut off as the knight drove his sword through his back. With more blood spluttering from his mouth, the prince dropped the medallion before him and fell atop it. The tip of his sword landed on the center of the treasure, causing it to break into three golden parts, each with a shining jewel in its center. The knight yanked his sword out of the fallen prince’s body and collected each piece of the now broken medallion.
 
“I believe I have.” the knight muttered solemnly as he strode away in shame. In one day he had witnessed the deaths of the king and the prince and one by his own hand.
As for the medallion, the three parts were divided amongst the lands of Greater Calrunia.
The first part of the medallion with a sapphire in the center was sent to the dragon overlords in their mountain caves set high in the north. There, the dragon’s portion was handed over to their king, Maprowsa, the highest of the overlords, who ruled the entirety of the dragon kingdom. The dragon king wore the medallion on a golden chain, forged from the gold in the dragon caves in his palace at the top of the highest mountain in Greater Calrunia.
 
The second part of the medallion was sent to the Pegasus realm in their icy homes deep within the snow in the far south of Greater Calrunia. There, the Pegasus’ kept their portion of the medallion on a pedestal in the center of their great throne room where the diamond jewel glittered when the sun shone through the hole in the ceiling. It was placed on a silver chain, made from the strong hairs from their manes.
 
The third and final part of the medallion remained with the humans on their vast lands. A new king had risen to power: the knight. The late king and his brother had never had children. The knight placed his portion of the medallion on a bronze chain which he wore around his neck day and night, careful to keep the bright emerald center hidden from the villagers who believed the medallion to have been cut only into two pieces.
 
All creatures of Greater Calrunia who refused to join the humans were banned to an island to the West of Greater Calrunia by the name of Lesser Calrunia. Gnomes, Elves, Wizards, Dwarves, Centaurs, Goblins, the Cyclopes realm, and many other creatures were sent to the island by the king in hopes of a free, peaceful land. Few creatures were permitted to stay. The dragons, Pegasus’, phoenixes, and fairies were included as they had pledged their allegiance to the medallion holders.