Twilight of a Hybrid

by Ryan Johnson

  A Tale of a Human Dragon Hybrid

  TWILIGHT OF A HYBRID

  RYAN JOHNSON

  TWILIGHT OF A HYBRID. Test copyright © 2019 by Ryan Johnson

  Map done by Najla Kay.

  Cover done by Fahad Dar.

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Johnson, Ryan

  Twilight of a hybrid / by Ryan Johnson

  (A Tale of a Human Dragon Hybrid; 2)

  Self-published, 1st edition

  ISBN: 978-1687579928 (Paperback)

  Summery: The hybrid sets out to find the next armor artifact and soon discovers a dark secret as to who he is and how it may affect the ones he has come to love.

  Works by Ryan Johnson:

  A TALE OF A HUMAN DRAGON HYBRID TRILOGY:

  Dawn of a Hybrid

  Twilight of a Hybrid

  Only available on Amazon Kindle as EBooks:

  SMALL LEGENDS OF BIG WARRIORS:

  Legend 1: The Warrior of Fire

  Legend 2: The Warrior of Earth

  Legend 3: The Warrior of Water

  Legend 4: The Warrior of Ice

  Legend 5: The Warrior of Air

  Legend 6: The Warrior of Dust

  Legend 7: The Elemental Warriors

  Short Stories as Ebooks and paperback on Amazon:

  The Legend of the Dragon Hunter

  Twilight of a Hybrid

  This book is for all those people,

  Who felt they had a dark chapter told in their life

  CONTENTS

  A Gorgon In A Village

  Forest Spirits

  A Cottage Near The Shoreline

  Arrival At The Castle

  Things Happening Before The Wedding

  The Hybrid And The Siren

  A Wedding Ruined

  A Heating Discussion In The Throne Room

  The Search Continues

  A Dark Secret Revealed

  The Meaning Of A Name

  To The Ruined Fortress

  Into The Underground Chamber

  An Unusual Reunion

  Underground

  The Underground City

  Battle With An Ancient Creature

  A Twilight Rises

  Many Thruths

  Vile Betrayal

  A Stiff Standoff

  On The Beaches

  The Next Step

  The Northern Village

  Gathering Allies

  Battle In The Village

  Face Off With A Witch And Shadow Ghosts

  A Great Shock

  Saving A Captive

  A Dark Power Unleashed

  A Gathering Of Knights

  Prepping For Battle

  Marching Forward

  The Uprising Battle

  Fall Of A King

  Curtains For A Witch

  New Leadership For The Island

  The New Ruler Of An Island

  The Hybrid Ascends

  About The Author

  A GORGON IN A VILLAGE

  Winter had come and gone in six months. Vaeludar was overlooking a farming village near the base of surrounding snowy mountains. The villagers were living in fear. Seldom would a person want to leave the borders of this small village that consisted of poor hay houses and badly structured stone houses. Some three hundred people lived in this village, and there wasn’t much productivity in this simple farming village. And if a farming village isn’t producing any harvesting props, food production would be low and people would die slowly from hunger.

  Vaeludar’s body had changed a lot: spikes rolled on his spine and elbows, a layer of dragon ears grew behind his human ears, a few shining scales grew on his chest and back, two, few-inched, back-curved horns sprouted out of his hair like plants, and his right arm was armed an artifact that changed both his arms and gave him more dragon scales that stretched to his shoulders.

  Ever since Vaeludar’s battle with the Five-Headed Dragon was over six months ago, he has been upping a campaign against the Shadow King’s forces all around the island of Shimabellia. But the six months had harsh winter and the snow wouldn’t melt. So, Vaeludar had to stop his search and wait for the winter to die down and wait for spring to sprout.

  He was standing behind a tree, looking at the villagers. He inhaled and exhaled with great concern over the livelihood of these farmers. If the village doesn’t get any food, starvation would kill them all. And he was determined to get this village back on their knees and start their farming ways again.

  Behind him, his second oldest foster brother, Flavius, walked to the side of him. “What do you see?” asked Flavius.

  “Fear,” answered Vaeludar, with an emblematic humanized-dragon voice.

  “I mean, do you see any soldiers? Any creatures?” corrected Flavius.

  “No. I don’t see any Dragons or soldiers. I wonder if Banshee could be lurking here.”

  “Banshees seldom come to this center of the island. It needs to be some kind of creature that roams in these lands.”

  “There are many. So instead of guessing theories, let’s go ask the villagers what’s going on in this village. And we’ll take care of it. By sun down, this village will be a happy village, and they can get back to working on the props. Tell me did you bring any soldiers with you?”

  “I brought a few,” answered Flavius. “Why?”

  “Because they would have to stand way back. I do mean: some distance.”

  “Why?”

  “Cause I found out why there is so much fear in this village,” said Vaeludar, looking behind his brother. “It’s right behind you.”

  Flavius turned and saw a human statue petrified with fear. The arms were waved out if a thunderbolt shocked it. A deep crack was shown on the chest. It appeared to be a middle-aged man.

  “A Gorgon, brother,” stated Vaeludar. “A Gorgon is what we are dealing with. And be looking at that big crack in that man’s chest, we’re dealing with a Gorgon that doesn’t stone people with its eyes but with its tail. And I mean the attractive females that are dressed in wedding dresses and lure boys and men to stony deaths.”

  “Great,” signed Flavius. “I’ll tell the men about this and order them to fall back. Just don’t take too long with this Gorgon.”

  “You know me: immune to anything that touches me.”

  Vaeludar started down the hill and walked slowly towards the fearful village. In his left hand, he pulled out a brown rag and squeezed it thrice. Enchantingly, the brown rag sparkled and wrapped around his body, sprinkling tons of sparkling dots over his wings and legs like a Fairy moving around his body.

  The hybrid turned more into a rich, handsome peasant prince. He looked dressed as a nobleman but clothed in peasant gowns. If Vaeludar needed to get the attention of a Gorgon he thought would be terrorizing this local village, he would need to look like a proper rich person.

  Gorgons were like Sirens and Mermaids; attractive female creatures that lure any male to their deaths with their beauty. They were dressed in human gowns. But beneath those gowns lie a serpent body ready to strike the men’s backs and they are turned to stone in two seconds.

  Vaeludar could feel this village was going to be free in half a day; however he knew they were also male Gorgons. So if he was going to face a male Gorgon, he would have to improvise of how to kill the Gorgon if one was living here.

  And Vaeludar had many advantages of winning this fight, one of which he has the Crystal Sword. And the second is his great strength, which he received from
one of three armor artifacts. With his great strength, he was ready to fight.

  Vaeludar strolled out of his hiding place and walked into the village with ease. Once he walked into the village, not many people looked at him or didn’t seem to care. The villagers seemed to going about their daily lives. It seemed there was no fear here, but Vaeludar could smell it; he could fell it in his tight, tucked wings.

  Though, a few curious eyes looked at him as he was strolling through the village. Vaeludar gazed at the people looking at him from a large hay house that looked too big for a hay house. Turning his head, he saw peasants walking by other peasants without grinning or saying “hello.”

  “I guess I’ll get a warm welcome in a graveyard,” said Vaeludar.

  As the cautious hybrid kept walking towards the center of the village, a dozen more curious, but frightful eyes stared at him. Now he was starting to fell a warm presence.

  While his head was turned, his body slammed hard into stone and fell. Didn’t feel anything, Vaeludar looked up.

  A statue of a screaming man in a panicked state as if the man had seen a ghost of the dead stood in front of Vaeludar’s startling, nerve-blinking eyesight.

  Vaeludar knew it; a Gorgon was living in this village or somewhere nearby. He wasn’t going to leave until the creature was dead. He got up and scrapped off the dirt with his right arm. His left arm was tucked under the robe. Walking around the statue, an open field with tall grass caught his dragon vision. He dashed toward the tall, grassy field.

  Reaching up to his hips, the grass was blossoming with emerald greens and proper white daisies. Amid the tall grass, about more than three dozen statues stood frozen within fifty yards from where he was standing. Vaeludar heard hundreds of people moaning and groaning at different statues. He wasn’t dealing with just a Gorgon; he was dealing with a Gorgon turning humans to stone for sport, for personal entrainment. Feeling the wrath of a fire-breathing dragon destroying a castle, Vaeludar breathed with heating air.

  Bending his right hand towards the Crystal Sword’s hilt hanging from his back and readying it for battle, Vaeludar walked towards the statues. As he passed each one, a small group of people stood by a statue representing a man or a teenage boy. He was ready to let lose his inner fiery core on the dirt. Vaeludar heard “Why, oh why?”, “How could this happen?”, and “Why my son and not me?” from all around him.

  Vaeludar was listening to fathers and mothers who lost their sons.

  Suddenly he heard a shouting of a clear warning. “Don’t go to her!”

  Reacting quickly, Vaeludar pulled out the Crystal Sword. The blade glowed its magnificence bluey cloud, which calmed Vaeludar’s inner anger. Looking at where the shouting came from, Vaeludar dashed into the trees. Pushing and cutting away the plants and vines in his way, Vaeludar ran and jumped among the trees so he can see where he was going.

  “That is a deceiving monster!” the voice warned again.

  Vaeludar knew he was nearing the sound; he was heading in the right direction.

  “Turn away! Don’t look in her deceiving eyes!”

  Vaeludar’s wings ripped out and flew amongst the trees to go faster before the Gorgon got its next victim. In order to go fast, he wings smashed through any branches or an entire tree to get there.

  “No, don’t try to kiss that monster! No! No! NO!”

  Vaeludar halted and listened. He heard loud sobbing nearby. “My boy. My dear boy.”

  Vaeludar signed heavily. He was too late; the Gorgon got its next victim. He floated down to he could hear the heavy crying. As he touched the ground, he saw a straight pathway in the middle of the forest. Walking to it, he saw a man hugging a statue. Both had their backs turned to Vaeludar so he could tell how old each person would be. Vaeludar headed towards the crying man.

  “What happened here?” asked Vaeludar.

  The man kept crying.

  “What happened here?” Vaeludar asked louder.

  “Beasts. Monsters. Snakes. Claimed lives. My son.”

  Vaeludar placed the Crystal Sword back where he got it. “Where is this beast?” asked Vaeludar.

  “Deceiving Gorgon! Why did you have to take my son?”

  Seeing how he wasn’t going to get any information about the Gorgon, Vaeludar was going have to find the beast before it strikes again. When he took one step, he felt a small slump under his dragon claws. He looked down and saw a large paving that he could tell looked like a snake’s crawling. It was about a yard wide and dug deep into the dirt. The slivering trail went off the path and towards uphill.

  “Why is this curse still happening?” cried the man’s voice.

  Vaeludar halted. When he heard the word curse, he’s thinking this Gorgon has dark magic given from the Shadow King. He shook his thought away and proceeded to follow the trail. He trailed the trail higher in the ridge. Coming towards the endpoint, the trail went straight toward a ridge of colossal rocks.

  About a dozen more statues were standing. Vaeludar could smell the scent of a snake close by. Vaeludar swung out the Crystal Sword again and headed for the colossal rocks. When he made it there, he climbed out and down about the rocks to find if the Gorgon had any layers or caves to find in but to no luck. He could only find more statues and more rocks. Vaeludar was feeling depressed about finding this one Gorgon.

  How could one slivering Gorgon move so fast? It was like this demonic serpent was slivering fast as a cheetah.

  Vaeludar really had strength but he didn’t have the speed and he wished he had the speed, which was why he was in the forest: to look for the second armor artifact to give him speed. For months, Vaeludar wasn’t just aiming at evil creatures but for the armor artifact.

  So far, he has one out of three. He looked deep for the Greenwood Forest on his own but not a single spec of a ruined building was seen in that forsaken forest. But just when hoped seemed fragile, his path led him to the village surrounded by the dreadful forest. Vaeludar brought Flavius with a handful of his father’s honorary guards with him.

  Flavius indeed has been companioning with Vaeludar since they both traveled to the Northern Region together. For a short time, Vaeludar had his foster brother traveling with him all these long distances. And when heavy snowfalls arrived, Vaeludar had to postpone the search and wait for the arrival of spring.

  After the snow melted and the plants growing under the warmth of the sun, Vaeludar resumed his search. Now, he was searching for a Gorgon and he was walking through the ridge of colossal rocks.

  After a distressing five minutes of searching, Vaeludar halted in his search. He could only guess and a sudden thought struck his mind. His head started to spark with a dreadful thought: the Gorgon in the village.

  With great haste again, Vaeludar pushed into the air and winged through the trees, pounding them like weak sticks. His heart was racing with anxiety. If the Gorgon was in the village, it would be turning the entire village to stone.

  The villages aren’t natural trained fighters, but trained to crop in the fields. And Vaeludar wasn’t going to let that going to happen.

  Escaping out of the forest, Vaeludar gazed at the village. He didn’t hear shouts or frightened people running. They were just kneeling down. Vaeludar trotted toward the village and hid behind a hay house. He turned back into his peasant disguise after he hid.

  From the other side, he could hear a clear female voice speaking like a human.

  “So who am I to choose next? A peasant boy? How about a peasant girl? Nay? I need girls to make more boys? So many hard decisions to make. How about I just take the youngest?”

  “Or how about you just die, creature of darkness?” shouted Vaeludar, exposing himself to the female creature and sheathing the sword.

  Vaeludar’s eyes gazed upon a beautiful woman, looking like in early twenties, with hair shining as the sunlight and wearing a dress white as snow and glimmered the sun’s light. This deceiving woman, who he knew was the Gorgon he has been searching, looked at the disguised hybrid.


  She took notice how the unknown hybrid came out of nowhere and seductively smiled. “Well, well. Now here is a handsome man with frail eyes.”

  “Your eyes deceive you,” said Vaeludar, walking towards her.

  The woman starting walking toward him, with a seductively look. “Come to me. I can see a great future that lies ahead.”

  “A future I see is a nasty one and it won’t be pretty.”

  “The future of a man who soon will be one of many to join a great crusade for the fight for a simple woman.”

  “A woman with deceiving looks can’t work on me,” said Vaeludar, drawing to a halt. He wanted the woman to come to him and touch him.

  The woman walked closer and was right under his chin. She touched Vaeludar’s chest with a seductive smile turning into a nasty smile. “Maybe if you relax, the day will turn into a wonderful day.”

  “I have to tell you something before we start,” said Vaeludar. “I’m not here for fun and games.”

  “What are you here for?” she seductively asked, crossing her arms around his neck, just ready to kiss him.

  “I’m here for one thing but yet another thing to do while I’m here.” Vaeludar bent his right hand to reach for the Crystal Sword’s hilt. “A minor event pushed forward to me I need to do before I move to the next location.”

  “What may that be?” she asked, losing the smile.

  “To save this village from you: TO KILL A GORGON!”

  Vaeludar quickly head-butted the Gorgon and pulled out the Crystal Sword again.

  The disguised Gorgon flew across the village like a rock rolling downhill. Her snake body revealed from under the dress. Slithering like a snake, the undisguised Gorgon sprung out her snake tail and torn apart her ruined dress; her true nature has been shown to Vaeludar.

  Determination shined in his hybrid eyes. Vaeludar growled fiercely.

  Slithering fast, the Gorgon was heading towards her attacker. She was going cheetah-fast. Faster than Vaeludar could fly. The Gorgon came at lightning speed Vaeludar didn’t have much a chance to dodge or to strike. The Gorgon slithered and bitten fast just like a snake.