Chris, Alex, and I were tired of the same old good hero and despicably evil villain story, and would often complain about the lack of good bad-guy stories out there. But it was one fateful day after religion class for Chris that created the character of Xanatos. Some of the minor characters, and general ideas for the world are in my notebooks dating back to 1999 and 2000; but it was Chris’ vision of a character that had a scar on the back of his neck because his soul had been ripped out that put all those pieces together. We picked up Alex from basketball practice and on the drive home, worked out the basics of the character and our ideas for the direction of the story; Xanatos was born.

Three very hard years later, Forgotten is complete, and I’m hard at work on Destiny. There were times when it got really rough, the character of Lex for instance. Originally, Xanatos was traveling with a younger boy, and he was supposed to fall in love with the Silver Dragon. He was a fire mage, and Chris had already figured out how he would fight with small orbs of plasma, but Alex was the one who suggested that we make it a girl; thus Lex was born, and the story is the better for it. Obviously, you’ll see how these other elements found their way into the story, but it was that core piece that was missing. It’s why the story works so well, the three of us worked together to created really dynamic, fluid characters that seem to live on their own. Of course, at one point Xanatos just laid down and took a nap because I was trying to force the story along some literary lines; in the end, he and the others took on their own life, and no matter how hard I tried, they would eventually shine through anyway.

D. M. Arney is the former math and science teacher for Chris and Alex Freeman; they met in his classroom. He has since become a family friend and considers them both to be his little brothers. He holds a masters degree in clinical psychology, and is currently working as a tutor specializing in learning differences. He lives in Lake Forest, Ca.

Chris Freeman will be attending Pasadena City College this fall, and hopes to transfer to Otis where he will pursue his area of excellence, graphics and graphic media. Chris lives in Pasadena, Ca.

Alex Freeman starts his senior year of high school at Don Bosco Tech this fall, and also plans to attend Pasadena City College after graduation. Like his brother he is a superb artist, and specializes in vector images created in Adobe Illustrator. Alex lives in Pasadena, Ca.