by Ryan Johnson
Flavius released his grip from Vaeludar’s wing and embraced his younger sister. Wonomi and Monico dismounted from the Griffin.
“Hey, Galvin, wake up,” roared Vaeludar.
“WHOA!” Galvin woke up by Vaeludar’s dragon roar. His eyes blinked in a flash and were confused about what had happened to them while he was asleep.
Vaeludar smiled at his work and walked away from the sleeping knight.
He looked at the landscapes of mushy lands and foul skunk-scented air. There was grey, rainy clouds circling in the sky. Black, burnt mountains were dozens of miles away. A handful of fireplaces small as fireflies were dimly lit miles ahead of them.
Vaeludar gazed at the distant mountains; they looked the same as the image his sword showed him a few days earlier.
We must be close, hoped Vaeludar. That must be the place must be where the princess, the Ice Serpent, and the armor artifact was. The sooner we get that armor artifact, the sooner we can go home and take a three-day rest. I hope we can make it there without having to come across another sort of danger, but the chances of that are very, very slim.
“Where are we?” asked Wonomi.
“I don’t know,” said Flavius. “It looks like more dangerous lands to travel across. At this point, we may end up running into a secret army that could be stashed away up here.”
“Don’t give up hope yet, people,” said Vaeludar. “We’re still alive and breathing. Just get some rest people; I want to be moving before dawn.”
“Why so early?” asked Naìra.
“Because we are in unknown lands, and we won’t get far if we are attacked again by mythical creatures of evil. We would have better find cover if we walk at twilight before the dawn.”
So they fell to sleep on the hard ground without any covers. The bags they had they have lost in the crashing boat. Their food, their blankets, their firewood. Everything. All were gone. Not to mention Marina who didn’t emerge from the water.
Vaeludar blew a fire on the ground without any wood to keep everyone warm. He knew his dragon fire would burn without any wood; dragon fire could burn any sustenance than just wood.
Flavius had Naìra close to him, placing his arm around her head, hoping she would be comfortable. Wonomi and Monico laid close the fire. Galvin was already sleeping. And Marina wasn’t back yet.
Vaeludar could only stay awake and wait for her return.
MOVING OUT AGAIN
V
aeludar stayed up all night again to keep an eye out for any danger. Fortunately, no monsters, witches, or any piper or any Shadow King had appeared through the night. His high hopes had paid off and no danger came to them. The biggest thing was they were alive and death had not struck them yet.
A gleaming dawn was approaching but due to the rain clouds blocking the light, there was a small gleam of light appearing from the east. It was another dull dawn just like in the mountains.
“I’m starting to hate these parts of the northern parts of the island,” said a girl’s voice.
Vaeludar sighed: Marina had arrived. When she came crawling from the water, she was carrying a few bags. She came walking back with the bags that gotten dumped in the river they were sailing from.
“I managed to save some bags,” she said, cheerfully. “The blankets, the fruits, and a bag of fish are what I saved. The bag of meat is long gone. Aren’t you guys lucky? I found some fish as a protein substitute for the meat we lost in this river.”
“It’s better than just plain fruit,” stated Vaeludar. “From what I see, we have enough one day worth of food. We will have to spare some throughout two days at the most if we can. I know I can last months without food.”
‘I’m not sure if they can,” said Marina, walking to Galvin. Marina purposely dropped the bag of fish on his face.
“Whoa!” shouted Galvin. He got up if he woke from a nightmare. “Can’t you wake me up without dumping something on me?” he demanded, standing up.
The others were awoken by the alarming sound of Galvin’s scream.
“To wake others so that way I won’t have to wake everyone differently,” said Marina.
“Enough with the wakeup calls, Marina,” said Vaeludar, shaking his head. “I know you want to spare yourself from getting everyone up, but we are in the wilderness. And we don’t know if there are any evil creatures lurking here. Any sudden noise will attract any unwanted attention, and I don’t want to be fighting any other creatures today or tomorrow. I want to get to our without taking a tooth to the body.”
“Alright, all-powerful leader,” said Marina, mockingly.
“And don’t mock me,” he complained. Vaeludar exhaled smoke from his nostrils.
“Ok, I’ll remain silent.” Marina grabbed the bag of fish and dropped the two other bags and walked away.
“Why did you save her when you first met her?” asked Galvin.
“I was twelve back then. I kept my distance away from human life. Back then if I would do something heroic like the White Knights or Valverno did, I thought I would have welcomed by any society.
“But when I found out Marina was a Siren, a species with a bad reputation, I would have been hated by the villagers. However, I rescued her because I wanted to have people around me instead of them looking at me.
“When I was four, I went to go play around with other kids and dragon youngsters. But what they saw wasn’t a playful hybrid, they only saw the hybrid. In all my life, people were judging me by my appearance instead of my actions. I had remained far away from human society until I killed the Minotaur.”
“So rescuing the Siren you thought would bring people to like you?” asked Wonomi.
“In a way, yes,” answered Vaeludar. “But the only witnesses were Geraldus, and King Uragiru. There were no other eyewitnesses to witness me saving her. About a year later, the witches and the Fluting Piper came in. After that incident, I was moderately accepted. From there on, I managed to thrive, but I was still an outsider.”
“I thought you grew up as a hero,” said Monico.
“You thought wrong. I was not a hero nor am I. The only time I was hailed as a hero was when I killed the Minotaur. Now I just want people to get to judge me better than just having being stared at.”
“What better way to waste time talking here than moving on,” said Galvin. “Enough talking about outsiders, outcasts, and pasts. Let’s get a move on.”
“I agree with Galvin,” said Vaeludar. Vaeludar stood himself on a high rock to get everyone’s attention. “I want to be going to the next five minutes. If you’re not ready, I won’t be waiting for you. I can tell our destitution is over there.” Vaeludar pointed at the distant mountain ranges with glimmering fires miles ahead of them.
“If we go that way, hopefully,” Vaeludar contiuned, “we could find a non-dangerous village by day’s end and get some food supplies. The few bags of food are all that we have left. We have enough for a day’s journey. That is it. The bag of meat and firewood are long gone, drowned in the river. We only have my fire breathe and the bag of blankets to keep us warm. So be ready to leave in five minutes.”
Vaeludar jumped off the rock and walked to a very weary Naìra.
“But it’s still dark,” yarned Naìra.
“I know,” said Vaeludar. “We are in lands I know nothing about. The dark lands here are going to be different than our homeland. The sun is not going to show itself because it is behind the clouds. Just get ready.”
Vaeludar told Flavius to look after Naìra before walking to the bag of fruits. He picked it up and heaved it around his shoulder. His wing curled up the bag that way it won’t slip off his shoulder. He tightened the strap of the scabbard because it was loose.
With the bag curled in his wing, Vaeludar strapped it tighter. He knew the sword was a powerful (if not the most powerful weapon) he didn’t want to lose. Keeping this weapon would prove useful if he ever came across another the Shadow King again. Once before,
Vaeludar met the king in his Spirit form at the island’s capital city. Then as a hallucination, which wasn’t the king but only the Banshee’s voice sounding like the Shadow King, in the fog.
When the five minutes passed, everyone was ready to move out. Naìra was still tired from moving on, so she was piggybacked on Flavius. Everyone was ready to go.
Then they were on their way towards the black mountains.
All day they traveled with no stops or breaks. For they were lucky, they walked a flat terrain stretching out for a hundred miles. Dead plants with long branches grew no leaves. The air wasn’t foul but smelled like a frog’s breath for miles around. No animals such as squirrels and rabbits were seen. No sounds of a single bird were heard. The lands were very quiet, but for a small gush of wind blowing in the travelers’ faces.
The group passed a few ruined towers along the way. They looked like remnants of watchtowers posted every two miles. There was one point where they saw a ruined wall connected to a ruined watchtower. They had appeared to be a wall built to protect the land from an invasion. The watchtowers would have fire beacons to bring a warning an army was coming.
Or so thought Vaeludar when he gazed at them.
The light above the everlasting clouds showed it was around midday. A perfect time for lunch. So they stopped at a ruined watchtower and devoured most of the fruits and part of the fish. Vaeludar only ate a salmon he cooked with his dragon fire, along with the other fish his group went eating. Nicely crisped, he ate the fried fish and chucked the head, the tail, and the bones.
After their little lunch break, they continued their journey to the mountains. Naìra was wide awake and she was able to walk on her own. Now Flavius wouldn’t have to carry his younger sister.
Galvin was standing and lean and strong enough for ten battles. Wonomi and Monico had enough energy they could walk the whole island of Shimabellia. Flarefur was flapping his wings like crazy because he was used to flying instead of walking.
Marina used her siren voice to keep the Griffin’s wings to stop flapping his wings. This slowed their progress a bit. Her voice was echoing into the air and throughout the distant horizon. Once again, if they were being followed, her voice was sending the unwanted stockers the wrong direction while the group would be walking in the right direction.
After Flarefur managed to stop his wings from flapping, they continued on their journey through the flat terrain.
As they walked on, they found themselves walking through more marshes. Water and hills were mixed were intertwined as they walked on the dry paths. Not a single tree was seen. The plants there were small dry weeds and dried grass. The air was less foul but a lot thinner. They spent several hours walking slowly. With very small air to breath, they had to walk slowly to conceive their walking energy. They would stop every one mile they traveled for five or ten minutes before continuing.
Naìra was carried by Flavius again. She was not used to traveling far away from home and she was never in the habit of traveling on foot. The Griffin offered to carry her for Flavius who couldn’t refuse. Naìra rode on the Griffin’s back and Flavius walked beside them.
With the sun hiding behind an endless view of clouds, none of them could tell what time it was. And with no sun showing them their shadows, no one was able to know what exact time it was. Wonomi, Monico, and Flavius were worried it was passed a small break time, but Vaeludar didn’t spare any time for breaks. He wanted to get to the valley of fires before they ran out of food.
With little fish and fruits left, they may make it for half a day. The food supply was low and both bags were barely empty. There was enough to last half a day or less if they kept eating nonstop.
As the day grew darker and more lifeless, the mountains grew bigger and wider. The distant fireplaces grew brighter more by the mile. Vaeludar look like they were about ten miles away from the far off fireplaces. He hoped they would be a village where they could use some rest and resupply their food supply. Only if they can it by the end of the day or by the next morning.
Once they succeeded in making it through the marshes, they walked through an endless view of dirt hills with no single plant life. Over and under and over another hill, this journey was taking them. Walking at different paces, fast and slow, was tiring out the group.
Vaeludar kept seeing the mountains rising even higher. The base of the mountains was blushing in green colors and different sections. The mountains had flourishing green plants with some black burnt parts. As they walked closer, the mountains were about eight thousand feet high.
The day was growing darker and darker. The clouds were losing their grey color and being turned into darkness. The landscape began to be swallowed by a shadow from some unknown evil. The mountains’ peaks were covered in sheer blackness.
When they passed another hill, they saw the fireplaces big as a house. With so much relief they have, they could feel the comforts of home as they passed the over last hill. Pass the hill, they saw buildings all built one two opposite sides. But before their eyes they saw something they did not expect to see: a village with so much dread.
A DREADFUL VILLAGE
T
wo-story houses were built with rocks and carved stones. One big road had spread out the two sides of the houses by sixty yards. Each house faced the other if they were reflected from a mirror. Among the stoned houses were ruined buildings that collapsed by many earthquakes. There was a strong stench of dead pigs and rotten farmlands.
On the far end of the village, there was a large crowd gathered around a dragon statue, which was built near a stone wall, in a peaceful position: all legs standing with grace, wings folded like a flamingo’s wings, a tail grazing down in an S shape, and a head in the shape of a bear, crocodile, and a bird.
The crowd around the statue was bowing to the dragon statue like a god. They seemed to be worshipping to the statue if there was a god in the dragon statue. They were chanting:
Oh, come and show us your light
For we are afraid of the night
For long we wanted to see the light
Now we pray, O Mighty Dragon
For many a year we lived with death and suffering
We hope you can give us the light by accepting this offering
To this we offer so we no longer have to suffer
To this girl we give to you to give us the light
Oh, come and show us the light
For we are afraid of the night
For long we wanted to see the light
Now we pray, O Mighty Dragon
The chanting brought the group over slowly. Vaeludar ordered his companions to walk slowly and carefully; he didn’t want to intrude in a place of worship.
I wonder what they are doing over there, thought Vaeludar, curiously.
Vaeludar drew closer to the dragon statue. In his own eyes, he saw a stoned staircase going up to a walking platform before another staircase went up to a walking platform. Basically, there were two levels of staircases, going up to the dragon statue. On the second level, four torches were lit and placed in a square shape.
Vaeludar had never seen a gathering like this: people standing in front of a large statue. He was curious as to what these people were doing. He just hoped it wasn’t a dark cult worshipping Lusìvar in a dragon form. If he did come across such a cult, he would only hope he would have to resort to a salutation that wasn’t going to be violent.
In the center of the four torches were a man dressed in a white robe, carrying a golden staff with an eagle’s head and a girl also dressed in a white robe. The man appeared to be in his sixty’s, and he appeared to be the priest of the cult. The girl appeared to be around ten or eleven years old.
Vaeludar’s mind was sparking with a horrifying realization: the young girl was the sacrifice. A girl was going to be sacrificed to this dragon god. “Oh, no,” he exclaimed.
“What?” his companions said at once.
“This girl
you see is about to be a sacrifice to this dragon god of theirs,” he answered. “I’m going in and stopping that girl from being sacrificed.”
“But, Vaeludar,” said the Griffin.
“I know I would be breaking their tradition. But at times, certain exceptions could be made. We have morals too, right? If I don’t have morals, then I won’t be doing this.”
“Vaeludar, it’s too risky,” said Flavius. “You may have to reconsider this.”
Vaeludar didn’t want to reconsider this. He had morals just as other human beings. He was human himself, despite being half.
“Why should I back away? I am going to save that girl from sacrificed from this pagan dragon god. She does not deserve it.”
“You don’t mean that,” said Wonomi. “We would be insulting them if we jumped in.”
“I do mean it. In fact, I am going to jump in there. And I wouldn’t be insulting them. Do you know why?”
“Aie, no,” answered Wonomi.
“Because I am half dragon, which is also why I can’t believe I am doing this.”
Vaeludar jumped in the air with wings flapping high as the second level where the girl and the priest was.
“Are you ready to put your life down for the greater good of the future?” asked the priest.
Vaeludar heard the priest’s question and flew fast above, impacting a wind of furry on them. He did this four times before landing between the priest and the dragon statue, with the winds putting out the torches. The darkness covered his body.
“What force of nature dares to disturb the sacred ritual!?” snapped the priest.
“This force of nature,” said Vaeludar, in his dragon voice. Two fireballs lighted the torches from his dark view. In the light, Vaeludar stood tall and lean, with his body with spikes, claws, and horns. In his left hand, he held his white glowing sword.