Humanity was far different from the other elder races, such as the Elves, Dragons, Fey, and Dwarves, for they were not unified by our blood. Men were a race of people that sought to find an explanation for everything in their world and themselves. While other races banded together through their birth, creating racial empires, man was divided into many factions and cultures.

When the dragons of old flocked under one king, humanity sought individuality. While the Elves focused on purity and ancestry, humanity sated their unending curiosity with the world. Man fought for love, passion, and a drive to grow, other races looked down upon them for fighting over such trivial causes.

The other elder races chose to ignore humanity and stay within their domains. The Elves had legendary forests, the Dwarves had great mountains, the Dragons had vast nests, the Fey had the spirit realms. Humans were perceived as odd creatures, but short-lived and harmless.

The view of humanity changed when man's curiosity drifted towards the domains of the other races. The Dragons welcomed humanity, for humans truly admired their beauty and power, awed by their titanic size. The Elves and Dwarves pushed humanity away, thinking them lesser beings. Humanity never quite found the land of the Fey.

Because of the ignorance of the other elder races, humanity exploded in population. The only race to notice this boom, was the Dragons. Not wanting to be swept away by the tide of mankind, the Dragons vowed to eternally protect the tiny beings. Humanity and Dragons forever stayed deeply rooted within each other's societies and cultures.

The Elves and Dwarves were not ready for the unification of the lesser race. Their arrogance was cowed by the unstoppable tide of man, destroyed by their ignorance.

The first heroes of man obliterated all resistance. Dragon riders, mages, berserkers, knights, and fighters from all ends of the world brought siege to the kingdoms of the foolish 'old ones'. Nothing could match humanity's capacity for individual might, and humans were exponentially more populous than the stagnant numbers of the other elders. Nothing could stop them.

When humanity rose as the victor over the empires of the old ones, the Elves and Dwarves were systematically eliminated or assimilated, eventually fading into obscurity. Arrogance, the downfall of what was once great. The young species, like the beast kind and spirit folk, joined humanity, being accepted with open arms.

To celebrate the victory of humanity, the Kahn, king of the Dragons, forged 13 artifacts to forever seal humanity's rule. Taking 2000 years to complete, blessed by priests, enchanted by mages, marked by runescalds, treated by blacksmiths, and names by heroes, 9 swords were created. Along with the swords, four spheres were crafted, one representing each of the four base elements.

But the Kahn failed for the same reason as the old ones, arrogance.

Magic is wielded through emotion, thus magic has a personality of its own. Magic is not tamed but generously lends its power. With the amount of magic and emotion attached to the artifacts, they grew their own intelligence. The artifacts created avatars to cherish and care for themselves. The avatars became sperate intelligences, eternally bound to the artifact they wield. The Great Kahn thought he could subjugate this raw emotion, he was wrong.

After learning of their purpose, the artifacts cast themselves out into the world, becoming legend. For they did not wish to be weapons of false judgment, power symbols for those that did not deserve their majesty.

Our story begins a thousand years later, in the kingdom of Mesonia. We follow the avatar of Nightingale, the 9th sword.

(A/N: There are hundreds of races in the world I plan to build. Humanity and Dragons are just the 'elder' races among them. I didn't want my story to be about racial conflict, even if that's realistic, so humanity is accepting(though arrogant and prideful) in my world. This is my fantasy, I'm an optimist.)