by Ryan Johnson
“There was the Colossal Age, the Frist Generation of Living Life; it was the time when large, mountain-sized Titans ruled the lands. Then there was the Prosperity Age, the Second Generation of Living Life; that time was when Pangaeans lived in harmony with no or little fighting, despite Lusìvar ruling the first few early years there. Now, there is the Third Generation of Living Life, with no name and it is still considered a relatively new age. No name which has been made, but I had thought it could be called the Balanced Age; the age where a perfect balance exists and no monsters or magic to interfere.”
Alfhild walked closer and placed the bucket down. She saw the tree Valverno stood by and saw it blossoming with the greatest envy-green leaves and cherry blossoms in small pedal forms waiting to take shape when the moment was right. “I remember walking through this forest and never remember seeing this plant before. How did you come by this? Did you plant this tree here?”
“No, this was a dying plant surrounded of trees and left to die,” said Valverno “Basically, the runt of the litter.”
“The runt, huh? Runts usual don’t last long on being alone. They are often as shrouded as the outsiders of a group or what the High Priest tells me.”
“Which is what I’ve always have been for seventeen years, until a monster came into the village I was raised in and brought me out sulking in the corner. I’ve been an outsider of my life, or my third lifetime. The first lifetime: Demon Prince. The second lifetime: a Pangaean. My third and current lifetime: a human dragon hybrid.
“I lived through three different Generations, and my body seemed to age backwards into a young infant twice. The first one was from my mother and the second from Lusìvar’s minions, the Shadow Men. Now, here I am with the last of the Pangaeans who survived into this age, and I have no idea who as to what I am. A lost hybrid in a lost world with a lost civilization. A hybrid that survived death many times and has come back again on top of things. I don’t see how I’ll be able to get back on top of things this time without the use of magic.”
“You seemed to have a long road ahead of you,” said Alfhild. “And a very, very road. A long road larger than the biggest continent with the biggest landmass, no doubt.”
“I find it was no mistake I have been brought here,” said Valverno. “If I can focus the time I need to rethink my life and see it through, I will find a way to unleash my divine power and use it against Lusìvar. Then, finally rid the Mortal Realm of the lunatic Titan. I see it as a redemption of which I created. I did destroy the Titans, and caused a darkness to ‘awaken’ in Lusìvar.
“But not only did I turn him into a spiteful Titan, but I started a chain of hatred as well: between him and me. And the chain has been keeping growing since he decided to keep going. I started the chain, and I need to be the one to cut the chain of hatred from ever growing. Or else the Mortal Realm will be doomed and the gods will have no other choice, but to resort to the Mortal Realm’s destruction. Something I have heard from legends they destroyed the Titans.
“I mustn’t let such a nightmare became a reality. What I can do right now is the next step forward and find the knowledge I need to rise up again. Otherwise, I would have proven to my deceased loved ones and the gods how much of a failure I am to keep the balance in the Mortal Realm.”
“You are overthinking these things, you know. You know, I’ve heard of something before that you could be a demigod. Something I’ve heard from the High Priest.”
“Really? How could that be? What did you hear from him?”
Alfhild’s sighed with a soft exhale and she spoke with loud tone:
Through the fires and ashes of the land,
A great evil will rise from within,
It will feel the wrath of the demigod’s hand,
And then the great battle will begin.
The day when conflict is in adjourn
The demigod whom all have awed
Shall have a fire rise and burn
And from the ashes shall rise a god
“That is a prophecy I always kept hearing him say. I don’t know what it would mean, but I do know it is something that will happen in the future. When despair is in the air and all hope is lost, you will pop out of nowhere and save the Mortal Realm. There is no doubt you will fulfil your duty and be the demigod you are meant to be.
“I guess you need to keep looking and gazing toward the sun’s light and stay clear from the darkness. You’ve been shrouded in darkness for a long time, and now you should embrace the lightness that shine’s over your head. Your… lovable wife may have left this Realm, but her soul remains and lurking beside you like a ghost. Don’t be ashamed of what you lost, embrace what’s happened and keep moving forward. And from your talk, you’re not a monster; you are a human dragon hybrid.”
Alfhild bowed her head and picked up the bucket. Then she walked off through the forest and toward the river.
Valverno watch the elf walk away from him and looked back at the blossoming tree. “That’s what Marina called me just before she died: a human dragon hybrid.” Valverno turned and trailed from the tree but suddenly halted at one tree surrounding the smaller one. Valverno turned his eyes back at the small tree and said, “Thank you, Marina.”
Then he turned his away again and walked forward and back to the Pangaeans’ encampment.
A STORYTELLER
Valverno got back to the settlement to see the tents were back up. He didn’t bother to attend to their festival party of the Spring Equinox, although he didn’t miss much. He seen only saw a many lanterns from a few tents’ roofs and the people dancing around big, wide fire pits. It was all the same as Valverno he spent his first night with the Pangaeans; the Pangaeans partied and danced and walked with many couples.
Pangaeans have always partied in their old, ancient homeland before it got destroyed by a man Titan that also killed an island with its entire population.
When Valverno got back to the settlement, he saw the population was back at their usual life like how he saw humans’ lives in Geraldus’s village. But that village had more thousands of more lives than the one thousand Pangaeans the hybrid was with.
He walked through the many of tents set up and the people talking and helping knitting tapestries. Many Elves worked with small human figures with large beards; they had to be the Dwarves the hybrid was told about. He saw the Dwarves cracking stone and making small figures. Their skills in many arts were remarkable as they could carve stone figures in seconds, while it took humans days-to-weeks to carve a wooden figure and days later to paint fine details.
The lost civilization took the deepest commitment and devotion of their work. Valverno felt like he was still walking in Geraldus’ village, with him being the outsider. He couldn’t figure out how he would fit in a lost civilization lying low for ten thousand years. He was only a kid back in the ancient days, with his mother, a stepfather, and his half-sister he considered four years younger than him. With his family, he never himself to be considered an outsider to anybody, but now he still considers himself an outsider to the last Pangaean survivors.
As he passed he saw to be the largest tent, he heard the voice of the High Priest. “And through the skies, my children, was a beast unlike any has seen before: a wing-lizard.”
A winged-lizard? A Dragon?
Valverno trailed to the tent’s entrance and found the High Priest in front of a crowd of demihuman children sitting on the ground, looking at the High Priest. He seemed to be telling them a story.
“A winged-lizard that could fly in the air and cast down fire from its very breath. It soured through the air where no weapons can pierce it, and it is thought to have armor strong as a tall mountain. It can fly and soar through the night and day without tiring and can so for a long time. This lizard could be a monster if you threatened, or could be a friend if you showed kindness toward it. But above all, the winged-lizard can al
so talk to other mortals.”
“Wow!” said the kids. “What’s the name that giant lizard, High Priest?”
“I’m not quite sure,” answered the High Priest. “I’ve seen a lot of them, but I’ve never got a chance to learn more about their nature.”
“They’re called Dragons,” Valverno called out.
Then the High Priest and the demihuman children turned to see Valverno standing in the entrance.
“Sorry for disturbing you, High Priest,” said Valverno, bowing his head.
“There’s no need for that,” replied the High Priest. “Since you know about this beast, would you care to share to these kids about this Dragon?”
“Yes, and more than that. Can I have paper and some kind of liquid to write with? Words mean one thing, but if you showed them pictures, then such words can become believable.”
“Of course. As a matter of fact, I was expecting you sometime today, but you appeared earlier than I expected.” The High Priest got up and walked over to a table and picked up a scroll and a bottle of what looked like ink. Then the High Priest picked up a strange pierce of furniture and made it stand on three legs and with a backend leaning diagonally. After of which, he unrolled the scroll into a flat plain and placed the flat piece of paper on the stand. “Go on. Show us what this Dragon looks like.”
Valverno nodded and walked over to the stand. “I’m not going to need any brushes for this painting, but only my hands.” Valverno dipped his fingers into the jar and ink and he started dripping over the paper with his inked fingers. Many scribbles and lines and shapes he made with his bare hands, and he went fast at it.
And after many seconds, he finished the painting and he saw his masterful work: a Dragon. It was the splitting image of the Dragon King.
“Now take a look at this, children,” said Valverno. He turned the stand toward the children and they gazed at the dragon picture in great wonder. “This is what a Dragon looks like. It is a large beast with massive wings, four legs, and a tail. The scales serve as its skin instead of having skin like yours and me, demihumans.”
The eyes of the children Valverno saw before him were awed by the detailed art he gave and made the picture convincing the painting would rip out of the paper and come to life. He heard voices the kids were all gasping in excitement, and he knew they were stunned and awed by the appearance of his artwork.
“So cool,” they all exclaimed.
“If you think that was cool, kids, maybe you kids should have a closer look at me.” Valverno took off his kimono and showed the children his body. He should them his entire body, mostly his legs, his right wing, his tail, and the scales on his hands.
“These red things you see on are scales. They serve as skin for a Dragon. Dragons have always had two wings, which I once had but it was shot off. They could use their wings to fly from the ground. And they walk on four legs, unlike me. And each Dragon had their own color of scales, but the most common of color for Dragons are red scales like mine. And remember kids, I have half dragon, so don’t think I am anything special, for my father was a certain type of Dragon and my mother was someone special in a divine province.”
While he showed them his dragon scales attached to a half human torso, Valverno covered the scar on his chest and a dragon-scaled hand was just big enough to cover the scar. He didn’t want to show the kids in front of him the reality of much of a deep hole it looked like, other than the one scar slashed across his eye.
“Excuse me?” asked a girl demihuman, one with catlike ears.
“Yes?” said Valverno, pointing at the girl.
“Have you killed any Dragons?” asked one of the kids.
“You bet I have, and was it massive and a total monster it was. A massive, mountain-sized Dragon with five massive, snakelike heads!”
There was a spark of interest that shot through all the kids’ eyes, making their excitement grow even more so. Valverno knew their curiosity would get the better of them since kids mostly like to hear of tales that happened to heroes.
Then, Valverno went back to stand and placed the paper on the opposite side that hasn’t been painted. And he did the same thing and painted with the Hive-Headed Dragon as he always would remember the images that ever left his brain. It took him ten minutes to paint the picture with black ink and made the splinting image of the Five-Headed Dragon and showed it to the kids.
Once again, the kids gasped in amassment at the drawing of the Five-Headed Dragon.
“There I was, going against the Five-Headed Dragon,” Valverno started his story. “I fought against such a terrible foe and five heads with ten eyes. This beast did only have one body, but it had five heads with five massive long necks, and each head had its own magic power. And with all their strength they had, I, alone, was in no match for this five-headed beast; I had help from a noble person who gave her life so I could slay the beast.
“But how did I have the certain power against this monster? That answer, my children, lies beneath the ground. A small band of companions followed me into a dark, damp cave that was filled with golden objects and mountains of earthly treasures that were guarded by two Dragons. In this cave, we went and snuck around every obstacle and didn’t risk bother touching anything that belonged to the Dragons, and it would mean a grave disaster will strike us. And deep into the cave we went, and we found a large domed-shaped cavern and what we went in the cave to look for: an armor artifact.
“Alone, I climbed to the top of a large hill where the armor artifact was being held. Once I go to the top, I grabbed hold of it with no trouble. But suddenly, before I could slip on the magical artifact, one of my companions grabbed hold onto an evil weapon and awoken the two sleeping Dragons and the cave started to collapse. I, with two wide wings, began to fly and carried my companions on a rock floating behind me and tried to make our escape through the falling cave with the two Dragons flying in close behind us.
“As we tried got to the exit, the Dragons came close to my companions, and I quickly went back to kick it. But, one suddenly grabbed my tail and brought me down into the collapsing cave, but my companions on the flying rock made it out of the cave. I was the only one who went down in the collapsing cave.
“However, I still held onto the armor artifact and manage to fly it on while my tail was still attached to the Dragon’s mouth. I slipped the armor on my wrist and a blaze of power guzzled through my body, and the two Dragons that chased me retreated quickly; I lost my sights on them. I was alone in the cave that stopped collapsing, and I was lost.
“But a trail of light sparked my way through a maze of a large underground tunnel, and I followed after it. For a short time, I followed the trail of light and found myself suddenly shallowed by a bright light. And I found myself back on the surface and in the eyes of four witches, a Piper, and the mighty, awesome Dragon with five heads. My companions were nearly beaten and killed. I showed up out of nowhere and readied myself for battle.
“I led my fighting companions into battle against the most evil opponents. My greatest ally, known as the White Knight of Charity, joined me as we fought together against the Five-Headed Dragon. But even against this mighty beast, my strength and the strength White Knight of Charity weren’t strong enough against this beast; she was quickly swiped away and I briefly lost my ability to fly. But we tangled it to the ground.
“And in doing so, one head blew out fire and I was surrounded by it. I was surrounded by a terrain of poisonous flames in a mountain range. I climbed to the top of a mountain’s peak and the Five-Headed Dragon, which didn’t have the ability to fly like I did, used the jaws of its five heads to snipe a bite at me and drove me to the edge with nowhere to go: I was cornered like a cornered mouse facing its fate against the eyes and jaws of a cat.
“But the White Knight of Charity charged from nowhere and flung her weapon, and my power was suddenly doubled. But, in order so, one of the
Dragons’ heads severally wounded the White Knight and sent her flying down through a canyon. I felt the greatest grieve of seeing such a stranger giving her life for another stranger they’ve only known for less than a day.
“From that one selfless sacrifice, I drew out what the power of the White Knight of Charity’s weapon, which was a spear, and conjured it with a sword I already carried throughout the treacherous journey. With both weapons in my hands, I flung the spear deep into the Dragon’s body, and it fell from the sky and to the land. It tried to take me down with it, but I plunged through all the heads and cut deep into the body with my sword.
“Then I got my ability to fly again and took to the sky. I watched as the Dragon plunged deep into a ravine and disappeared in a large cloud of smoke. And once the smoke cleared, the body of the Dragon had turned to a pile of ash, with the spear of the White Knight of Charity sticking up from the ground. The Five-Headed Dragon was vanquished! Defeated by two small people.”
Then the kids cheered in excitement from Valverno’s epic tale of his battle with the Five-Headed Dragon, which he may left or changed a few details from the actual event that took place years ago.
“Um, excuse me?” cried another demihuman child, with dog ears.
“Yes, child?” replied Valverno.
“Why did the White Knight have to die?”
The kids’ excitement died down when the question was asked.
Valverno didn’t quite expect a child from the crowd to such a serious question: a question about death.
“Listen well, kids. Sometimes we plan certain events or a goal we set to reach. And there are paths in order to reach that goal. And we walk those paths or roads to that goal, and there will be such obstacles that get in our way. They won’t be nice or friendly like you and me, kids. Not every person, demihuman, Elf, Dwarf, or any other person you know or come across will get their own happily ever after. Only a few will have their own and others won’t, and not every road you take will end up going your way.
