Many years before the great darkness, another story took place on the opposite side of the world. Here, a fire spirt by the name of Dante lived with his friend/assistant Belgarion, the kangaroo. Dante was another one of the few great spirts that decided to live in the physical world, though his reasoning is unknown. Unlike Rau and Nala, Dante has the appearance of a black fennec fox. He is very small in stature with short bat wings, maroon colored eyes, markings of crimson and deep ocean blue on his lower legs, sides, underbelly, and the tips of his large ears which crowned his minuscule head. He also boar a jet black collar, almost indistinguishable from his fur if not for it's tag resembling an elegant flame. A treasured artifact that he displays with pride, wishing all to know of his ancient power and status. Not that most really cared. He resides within a volcanic desert, a near barren landscape save some oasis hot spots along the river, and few large empty meadows where other animals will often gather for food and water.

After many centuries of living off mice and other small creatures Dante felt rather resentful towards his inability to hunt larger prey. His size and coat had their stealthy advantages, but they did him no favors when it came to strength. As a powerful spirit surely he should prove capable of subduing more challenging creatures. He was not so simple as those larger beast whom only relied on their brutish strength and luck. He was clever and cunning, and had been greatly gifted by the magnificent Laron! At least that's what he told himself. One day ambition overcame him and despite his marsupial friend's warnings he decided to pursue a flock of sheep. The sent of a potential meal led him into a field. There he spotted a lone sheep separated from its flock and decided that it would be an ideal target. The sheep, spooked by the small jet black fox darting towards it, promptly ran away while Dante, made chase.

Unbenounced to both Dante and the sheep, the flock was currently under siege by a marauding pack of dingos. They were on a collision course, and Dante's eyes widened as more and more sheep suddenly manifested before him. Hurtling past at high speeds to escape the larger canines' jaws. Midst the chaos, he absentmindedly collided with a dingo over twice his size and was nearly trampled. Narrowly dodging the canines claws. The dingo recovered himself quickly from the encounter. He turned towards Dante and shouted crassly, "Watch where you're going ya bite sized pipsqueak!" Dante's inner rage was sparked, he lit himself ablaze and launched at his insulter. In an instant, the dingo couldn't tell which was worse, his torn ear or his singed back. Humiliated and severely burned the dingo withdrew and fled from the tiny fire ball with the rest of his pack trailing behind him.
Shock and fear plastered on their faces.

Dante cooled his flames and the sheep rejoiced at the sight of the dingo's retreat. He became a hero in their eyes immediately and they thanked him for saving their flock. Completely oblivious to his original intent. Now Dante was in fact just as clever as he was greedy, and being the greedy little spirit he is he thought to himself, "Why settle for just one sheep when I can have the whole flock to feast on." So he smiled and said, "Those fleabags won't stay gone forever. Come with me, I can take you somewhere you'll be safe." The sheep were very quick to trust him without question seeing how he had just saved their lives. They weren't very bright, and despite the fact that Dante chased one of their own in front of them, the thought that their new "savior" could be trying to trick them never even crossed their minds. However, there was one who saw past Dante's facade.

His name was Daniel, and he was just a young ram, but he happened to also be the same sheep that Dante had pursued before the dingos interference. He tried to warn the rest of his flock not to trust Dante's words so blindly, but they ignored him. Riddled him off as merely delusional. With no one by his side and no proof to back his claims. There was nothing he could do to convince them of the danger, so he decided to take matters into his own hooves. He couldn't challenge Dante directly. Should it turn into a fight his puffy self would be no match for the fire spirit's inferno of rage. Therefore, his only plausible option was to outsmart him.