While our people can claim to have lived in these green and good lands for many a generation, several millennia in fact, it must be said that we are not, contrary to belief, the first peoples to live here. No, that honour goes to the mysterious race known as the Drakes.

I am sorry to report, however, that we know very little of these ancient peoples, although I can say with certainty that their imprint has been left upon our world many times over. Several ancient structures, pre-dating the arrival of modern Greenlanders, have been discovered throughout our realms. Structures like the fortress nestled amongst the North Peak, or the great sea castle on the eastern coast. Some have even suggested that some of the old structures found within the Everfree Forest are of Drake construction, given that they share similar appearances, such as black stone and unusual design flourishes. Nothing can be said with certainty, however, as their people and their ways have been lost to us.

What we do know, though, is that during their time in this world, they ruled an empire that spanned over all of what we now call the Green Lands. Some have even gone on to theorise that they went much further, colonising the vast lands to the west, prior to the days when the Everfree Forest existed. It is a fascinating thought, to be sure, and one that causes a chill down one's spine when we consider it, for if such an empire truly existed, then these Drakes were mighty indeed. And their might was not merely in the span of their lands or in their mysterious nature, but in the one thing we absolutely know about them for sure; their connection to dragons.

Now, while these impressive beasts have long been the source of many an exciting tale, told to generation after generation of boys and girls, we must never forget that they actually did exist in our world. Colossal creatures that took flight and breathed fire, our proof of their existence lies within the many bones found strewn about our lands, and, in particular, the structures built by the Drakes. As for their connection? We know from what little we've gleamed of their ruins that the dragons served the Drakes in some way, acting as a great force to use against whatever enemy they saw fit. Armies, cities, it mattered little, for the fire and flight of dragons gave all foes pause.

However, some amongst my colleagues have gone on to suggest other connections between that ancient people and the dragons. For while we knew there was a link between them, the murals and images we know of have never once depicted the Drakes as actually riding the beasts, as a man might ride a horse. Instead, the dragons were simply depicted fighting the enemies of the Drakes, with their masters nowhere to be seen. This has led some to speculate that the Drakes actually were the dragons, and that, by way of some dark magic, they could transform into the creatures themselves. A bold claim, certainly, and yet, given how little we know, it may well be within the realm of possibility.

Yet, for all our theories and speculation, it is all for naught, really. For the Drakes are no longer of our world. What happened to them, none can say, for there seems to be no indication from records or their ruins that some war or plague took their people's lives. And yet, some cataclysm did occur, one that wiped all Drakes from the face of the earth in a single day, leaving only crumbling castles and dragon bones behind. Some have claimed that it was divine punishment, and that they were destroyed because of debauched practises such as the aforementioned use of darker magics. Others say that they simply chose to migrate to pastures new, perhaps to lands far across from the great eastern ocean.

Whatever the reason, it is likely that such thoughts will, like everything else, be kept to the fields of mere speculation. Nothing of the Drakes is certain. We know they existed, we know they were powerful and we know they had a connection to the similarly now-extinct dragons. They have left a permanent mark upon our world, and our lands in particular, and while the young boy in me would like nothing more than to meet one of their kind and speak with them of all these mysteries, the adult I have become must content himself with the knowledge that such a thing will never come to pass.

Author's Notes:

Well, this is it for now. I'll be sure to think up some additional chapters for this side-story when I get back to writing the main Journey story proper.