Twilight of a Hybrid

by Ryan Johnson

  Then the door opened. Marina had entered the cottage. She wore the neckless of sapphires pearls that matched the Siren’s eyes. And she seemed to be wearing a noblewoman’s dress completely made from rich silk and strangely seaweed; the strange-mixture-of-cloth dress made her beautiful and very attractive made Marina look like princess of the seas, and the coloring matched her scale colors.

  “Vaeludar,” she gasped.

  “I was wondering where you could have been,” said Vaeludar, leaning forward. “I have some urgent news I need to tell you.”

  “Did you find your next armor artifact?” Marina asked.

  “No, but I was close. I was within a few miles of the main base. Where I strongly believe it is being held, and I would have found the place until we received news from King Uragiru. So I had to withdraw my search by a few days or maybe a week. Er, I can’t ever be left alone, not like the old days before I killed the Minotaur. I’m beginning to miss those old days.”

  “You have slain a Minotaur and a Dragon with five heads, Vaeludar. Every girl in the kingdom would want to have you as their husband,” said Marina.

  “Well, those other girls in the kingdom aren’t going to be lucky as you are. We’ve already engaged, and we’re going to be closer together in the next few days. And believe me, I would take a Dragon right now instead of an army of girls trying to come frolicking to my toenails—” Vaeludar paused and looked at his dragon feet. “To my claws. And I want no other female to be with, other than you. You have traveled with me to the north and back. You showed great emotion when I saved your life years ago. I don’t want us to die young than we are.”

  “Oh, my love, you worry too much,” said Marina. Marina sat down to her groom-to-be and bent her head on his shoulder. The Siren rested her head near Vaeludar’s front shoulder. Her hair had drifted over her side, covering Vaeludar’s chest that partly covered by dragon scales. “Try to think about us. Think about our wedding in a few days.”

  “Our wedding in a few days? But I was going to tell y— you asked King Uragiru to have an earlier wedding!”

  “Surprise, surprise. I wanted to have an early wedding. A Siren’s anxiety can be less handling for their body and we deal with stress less bearable than a human body. My body isn’t resistible to sickness like humans. I always feel so sickly and weakly every time I keep seeing you fly away, not knowing when you may come back or get captured by an enemy that could be stronger than you. I don’t want to lose the only hybrid human who saved my life years ago.”

  “Oh, Marina,” signed Vaeludar. “Is there one thing you can do without asking the king for anything?”

  “Afraid not,” answered Marina.

  “I was close on my search you wanted to have an early wedding? I mean, I could have found the next armor artifact within the day. Now my search has to hold for the time being. Couldn’t you wait maybe at least two more days more, before I had to come back here?”

  “No.”

  “By the magical powers of the Crystal Dragon, why must I agree with this? So close yet now so far.” A hint of anger began to swell in his mind. Close to powering his hybrid body, Vaeludar couldn’t believe Marina had requested an early wedding. Before standing up, Vaeludar gently twitched his shoulder so Marina would move her head from his shoulder he was leaning on.

  Marina could see the small anger on Vaeludar’s face. “Are you mad?”

  “I was close to having the armor,” said Vaeludar, fiercely but controlling his anger. “I needed less than half-a-day to have it within my grasp. Once a plan has been made, I don’t want it to change. I want to have more power than Lusìvar. You saw the power he wields: the Dragon with five heads. But that was a mere fragment of his true power, and I need to be stronger than him. Having this next armor will greatly enhance my speed agility. Speed seems to be my most desired power right now.”

  Vaeludar got up and walked to a window and looked gazed at the beautiful cliffs of chalk rock that stretched into the ocean tides.

  Marina got up and joined her soon-to-be husband, in hopes of easing his anger of her request of having an early wedding. “Don’t think about power. Don’t think about any ancient Dark Lords or kings. Think about us.”

  “Marina, I do love you, but there are choices we both need to agree on. But consorting with somebody else without letting me know can show of how unfaithful you can be.”

  “But you do know about the news.”

  Vaeludar twitched an eyebrow. “What an obvious answer from a female Siren.”

  “What an obvious reaction from a hybrid the Siren is in love with.”

  Vaeludar signed as he twirled his eyes. He leaned toward the window as he placed his hands on the windowsill. His ears could hear the pounding shores of the ocean waves against the rocky cliffs. He could just fall off the edge and fly with the soaring wind and fly off in the distance horizon.

  “Well, if you already requested an early wedding, how will I be able to argue with the king if he already approved?” asked Vaeludar. He still wanted to precede his search. With supplies they will need, the attendants, small tournaments knights will be fighting on horseback, noblemen and women, and invitations they would need to send to highborn people, they do have days to set up. “I may not be up for it, but I’ll resume my search when the wedding is immediately done.”

  “Don’t forget the places we plan to visit,” stated Marina.

  “One thing at a time. First, the wedding. Second, the search for the next armor artifact. Third, the honeymoon.” Vaeludar then pounded his head on the windowsill. His wings lazily flopped down. “I swear, if some kind of interruption happens again, I swear I will—”

  Marina pulled Vaeludar from the window and kiss him to shut up his negativity. Vaeludar’s mind exploded. His fallen wings got right back up into the air. “Shut up your nonsense. We are going to have this wedding in three days.”

  “Early wedding, huh? Then let’s do it.”

  Marina smiled big; her hybrid was now agreeing with the early wedding. It seemed the only way to cure a hybrid’s negativity was to kiss him and his mind would change all of a sudden. And it happens to work all the time to Vaeludar. The Siren hugged Vaeludar tightly around his neck. Her grip was strong enough to chock a human. However, Vaeludar’s neck was strong enough to resist chocking but still feel the Siren’s tightness of her arms around her neck. “Okay, I’m glad you’re agreeing now. Otherwise, I was going to use to teeth to convince you.”

  Vaeludar kept his hands back and his eyes gazing toward the ceiling. He didn’t want to touch her that close, before the wedding. “Marina, aren’t you a little close right now?”

  “This is how Sirens are supposed to do when they’re in love,” she answered.

  “Well, un, shall we get going before this day’s over? It is a long flight back to the castle. I don’t want to be fighting monsters in the night.”

  Marina released her grip from Vaeludar’s neck and backed away. “First, I need my afternoon feeding. A Siren can’t travel far without eating some food first.”

  “I’ll get my wings ready for you to take your dive. I’ll see you near the cliffs.” Vaeludar exited the cottage and walked toward the cliffs, right where the grass is cut off from the cliff. He stood inches away from a great fall that could end his life. Cautious as he is, Vaeludar kept his balance as he foot was less than an inch to fall. He widened his wings and then he fell. Vaeludar fell headfirst, gazing at the ocean straight below him. His wings were wide enough for him to dive like a falcon, and he fell hundreds of feet toward the water top, without stopping or flying.

  Then he angled his wings at a different angle, curving him into a perfect angle that he went from vertical to horizontal in two seconds and barely touching water splashes in his face. Soon enough, he was flying right above the top of the top water of the ocean. Vaeludar turned his head and saw Marina standing on top of his back; she was surfing on him. Vaeludar turned his head in forward position.

  Then Marina jumped fro
m Vaeludar’s surfing-like body and dived into the water.

  Vaeludar halted immediately. He soared a few feet above the waving water, waiting to see where Marina will emerge from the water. His wings flapped softly as he moved from one position to another, seeing in the shadowy darkness of the deep blue ocean. Within the next few minutes, fish became to jump from the water and birds began to dive into the water to catch the fish. A long pod of killer whales soon joined in the feeding on the fish. Prey and predators came along within minutes after Marina dived into the water. It’s a trait for a Siren is around, the nearest underwater creatures would show up around a Siren. Sirens would communicate in a strange vibration, music-like sound they make with their mouths, making nearby creatures in the water lose their sense of control and telepathically follow the water vibrations to the source: Marina.

  Vaeludar placed some distance from the underwater traffic. Suddenly, his eyes caught the site on the Siren swimming hastily near the surface of the water. He flew fast as Marina’s rapid swimming. He dunked his hand into the water against the soft waves. Then Vaeludar felt weight of his arm being dragged into the water, but he stayed above the water, knowing Marina has grabbed his hand. With one small lift, Vaeludar flung Marina right now of the water and carried by her waist.

  “Had your big feed?” asked Vaeludar loudly, as he was still flying at high speed.

  “Enough to last me three days. I’ll be hungry again when our wedding day comes, and I’ll be ready to place my life on your wings.”

  “Then we’ll be on our way to the castle. But don’t expect we’ll be living our ‘happily ever after’ until I drive the Shadow King back into a black hole to the stars above this world and to the gods. When I am living here in the Mortal Realm, I want to make do without some ancient dark being ruining this perfect life.”

  Vaeludar whisked his flying to a higher altitude. His flying momentum drew his body higher over the cliffs and his cottage home, and he flew toward the castle at a slow rate, with him gliding with the wind.

  ARRIVAL AT THE CASTLE

  It took nearly several hours for Vaeludar to reach the capital city, while holding Marina in his arms. His new home was near high cliffs overlooking the sea and some small beaches and far away from civilized life. Miles and miles away from his old home, Vaeludar’s new life with Marina seemed to be lonely at times. Even though it was just her and him living at the cottage and all the nature beauty wonders that surround his home, Vaeludar sometimes misses his old home.

  The shouts of people attending a party and the cutting of wheat plants and mules prowling in the wheat fields, the playful cries of little children running in the fields, the watchful eyes of full grown Dragons watching their young hatchlings play with human kids and sometimes cause mischief for the full grown human adults, and the faces of Geraldus and his sons and daughters are all what Vaeludar seemed to have been missing during his time at the cottage and his search for the next armor artifact.

  Even though he was missing the old life, his new life with Marina was very enjoyable. Vaeludar was getting to like the quietness of the beauty of nature and its wonder of untouched of human hands. They both lived in the cottage through the cold winter, and both survived the coldness. During the cold winter, Vaeludar would leave and always resume his search for the next armor artifact or go hunting for that seemed to be scarce.

  Marina’s body was very sensitive to cold and couldn’t adapt to the bitter coldness of the snow. Her body was very fragile and weak against a very cold, freezing temperature. Not wanting to leave Marina in the cottage in winter, Vaeludar would always use his dragon fire to heat the fireplace. Dragon fire is a special type of fire; dragon fire was considered to be magical and could heat at a length of a hundred feet wide, while regular fire could warm at a length of a few inches, and dragon fire would take days to die down.

  When Vaeludar always leave the safety of the cottage, he would always ignite the fireplace with dragon fire being able to warm the entire cottage for several days. Knowing that Marina would be warm from the bitter cold, Vaeludar would be able to resume his long search. But, in the cold snow, always hard to resume his old tracks with hard snowfalls and snowflakes burning his tracks and signs he last remember going to before withdrawing his search.

  This winter was long and colder than the usual winters. There fewer snowstorms and falls in the past seventeen years. Since his battle with the Five-Headed Dragon, the weather seemed to be changing a lot. So, Vaeludar spent the entire winter with Marina, and the hard work fell to him to find wood and food for their little cottage, and they manage to survive the cold. As soon as the spring season sprung, Vaeludar resumed his search and traveled with Flavius.

  As Vaeludar drifted down to the capital city’s top level, a small band of city guards gathered in unison. They stood facing him and moved aside, making a direct pathway that lead to the throne room and lowered their spears diagonally; a way of saluting to a celebrated hybrid.

  Vaeludar placed Marina on her feet. Seeing how a greeting party was saluting him (or the couple), Vaeludar and Marina marched forward.

  The guards wore silver armor and helmets covering their bodies from the eye’s view. Their silver armor reflected the sun’s light brightly and their shields were bronze ironed into a tiger’s face.

  Vaeludar lead Marina through the alley of soldiers. Two lines of the soldiers had their spears tilted, raised above the heads of Vaeludar and Marina. Vaeludar felt suspicious the soldiers would thrust their spears onto the two walking lovers. Vaeludar rushed Marina through the soldiers and directly to the throne room entrance. Two guards standing by the door opened the door for Vaeludar and Marina and they walked in, as the guards closed the doors behind them.

  The throne was massive high and columns of limestone pillars stretch over a hundred feet high. Three statues of a dragon, a male human, and a female mermaid stood high above a long seat blossoming in gold and silver, with the backside reflecting wings and the handles of claws of a Griffin.

  The couple saw King Uragiru sitting on the large throne, and Geraldus was standing next to the king.

  “You have approved Marina’s request to have an earlier wedding while I was close to find the second artifact?”

  “Yes,” said Geraldus and King Uragiru.

  “By the graces of the gods,” complained Vaeludar, “why do I have to be outnumbered by people who want to have an early wedding than wait a little while longer? On the verge of my search, I get distracted by an early wedding. What’s next on the unexpected list?”

  “I also requested Teutates, King Uragiru’s distant relative, to come to our wedding,” said Marina.

  “You got to be kidding me. That man is descended from a traitorous prince. There is no way I’ll have Teutates on this wedding day. No way, no how. I can’t believe you’re going behind my back without consulting with me on these changes, Marina, and these changes are starting to make me feel uneasy.”

  “How are these changes starting you felt uneasy? I felt the same way every time you left our new home by the sea. I was worried you would die, or I would come under attack and you weren’t there to save me in time.”

  “I stayed with you with the entire winter season. That shouldn’t make you feel uneasy.”

  “Well, it did, my future husband, and I always grow anxious very easily, so I needed to have this planned wedding at an earlier time than we originally planned. I need to have an early wedding, so I don’t have to been worried too much about you leaving me to die alone. I don’t know what kind of live I would have without you.”

  Vaeludar looked blanked of the Siren’s wariness. It was obvious the king and Geraldus would side with Marina and not the hybrid. And if Vaeludar would deny the early wedding and resume on his hunt, Marina would have her heart broken and risk a gravely devastation. On the other hand, if he agrees with the early wedding, then Marina would be happy, thus delaying his hunt for the next armor artifact.

  He signed. “Even though I am against
this idea,” he said, “if it makes you happy, then let’s go the early wedding, but you better hope it’s going to be a long oath-taking, because it is going to be a very, very short ceremony.”

  Marina smiled and wrapped her hands around Vaeludar’s neck. Vaeludar doubted the early wedding would be a great event, because he was having a dreadful sense Lusìvar would launch an attack during the wedding, and Vaeludar would have to be ready to counterattack, if he wants to stay alive long enough to deliver a final blow to Lusìvar’s dark heart.

  THINGS HAPPENING BEFORE THE WEDDING

  Three days have passed for Vaeludar and Marina to have their early wedding set up. Preparations for the wedding were underway, and everything had to be ready for the wedding for it was going to last from the afternoon until late in the evening. The wedding was to be planned as a half-a-day event and it was going to be hosted in the great honor of Vaeludar; he is still being celebrated of slaying a Minotaur, which hardly can be killed by a single human.

  Marina seemed to be happy with her own appointments with the fashion dressers, people making her wedding dresses from blue and cyan coloring. Vaeludar wasn’t pleased with his fashion outfits; his spikes dragon on his body ripped through all clothing material. The servants dressing him replaced the ripped materials with new ones tried the dressing process all over again. The hybrid would stand on a stool for hours, as several people tried to maneuver around his tail and wings with claws and spikes.

  Vaeludar was easily annoyed he had to stand in the same spot for hours and for nearly a day-and-a-half. Two entire mornings were spent on what Vaeludar was going to wear, how he was even going to wear clothes, and the servants needed to make sure Vaeludar was dressed as a traditional man getting married. And as the second as was passing into the afternoon, Vaeludar dismissed the tailors and stated their designed clothing wasn’t working for him. However, one certain tailor had a different kind of material that was used before: leather plated-like clothing that was almost like armor. The leather covered his arms and spinal areas, covering all the spikes that did threaten to rip any silky clothing placed on the hybrid.