Tales of an Ancient Empire

By Kimberly Adkins

It very well might have been 1982 in my living room that evening. Candles radiated a warm and comforting glow that lent a little mystery and magic to my ordinary domicile as the incense sparked to life and I slid the movie into the DVD player.

Could it be, after all these years, the miracle that was Netflix has brought home to me one of my most cherished childhood experiences? What would it look like 26 years after the memory of a young girl filed it away as one of the most magical and inspirational occurrences of her life?
I allowed my mind to wander as the player queued and I think I remembered the brilliant strength of the Hero, Talon, and his amazing sword of steel. I braced myself for the eerie beginning of a king and a witch who raise a sorcerer from his tomb, but mostly because I have chilling recollection of screaming faces and tortured souls that lined the coffin. This was the stuff that adventures were made of! This was the evil that spawned a hundred Dungeons and Dragons games...and I was immediately captured by the 'Sword and the Sorcerer' in the same way that I had always been.

I was a little girl again, in love with the Hero and wishing I were the woman he risked his life to be with for one night. I realized then how much the movie had influenced my writing as I grew into the process; how many games it inspired me to play along the way and how it set the bar for the fantasy worlds I would come to write.

The credits dwindled away and I watched every single one, of course. At the very end, when I knew it would be over, I saw a special message! Did they just say to watch for more of Talon's adventures in 'Tales of an Ancient Empire'?

I rushed to the internet, the glorious connection to all things great and small in the universe...And therein I found a special announcement. Albert Pyun, the original director of the 'The Sword and the Sorcerer' had indeed announced a special sequel, 'Tales of an Ancient Empire' to be released in 2010!

I don't know what it's about, and my only regret is that I didn't have a chance to work on the project in any way. I do know, for sure, that I'll be there with bells on. After all, two years is nothing after I've waited 26 for this occasion.