Twilight of a Hybrid
Page 26
“This is what drove me to change my appearance,” said Valverno. After the demigod opened the book to a random page of the two different creatures, Valverno slid the book to the king, so he could see what made Valverno change in his sudden, dementing appearance.
King Uragiru slowly glimpsed from Valverno’s demonic appearance to the book, still having an eye on the hybrid. The king looked at the two creatures on the two pages being shown to him. “What are those? Drawing you made when you were a kid?”
Valverno stared.
“Not me. Belverda and Ralenskrit!”
The king tilted his head to gaze at Valverno. “Belverda and Ralenskrit? Those two scientists created drew these pictures?”
”Not just these creatures, all these creatures written in this book.” Valverno turned a page over and showed the king two more multi-embodied creatures created from already-dead animals and creatures supposed to be dead and turned over many more pages.
As he turned one page after another showing the king the creatures Ralenskrit and Belverda brought to life, the demigod explained that each of the resurrected creatures had been labeled as failures.
Each undead animal was one failure after another failure, laying out the big details of body parts Ralenskrit and Belverda used: bodies of creatures: Centaurs, Dragons, Fairies, Griffins, Merpeople, Pegasi, Sea Serpents, and Unicorns. But not just the good creatures but also evil creatures: Banshees, Basilisks, Black Dogs, Chimeras, Cyclopes, Harpies, Manticores, and Minotaurs.
Valverno slowly explained how the two scientists tried to bring the dead back to life using the DNA of the main source to bring the dead back to life: Valverno. Valverno was used as the main source to bring the dead creatures to life, with Valverno as an embryo. His DNA was somehow extracted from his embryo form, even his body wasn’t fully form for blood to be withdrawn out.
Valverno explained of how he was used as a science experiment to bring the dead creatures to life, only to become monstrous, soulless beasts. And the final part Valverno added was the last few pages of the last project: Project Vaeludar.
“This is where I have changed and discovered who I am,” said Valverno. “There are no pictures, but large notes written by the two scientists I thought to be my parents. You can read these and see what they did to me and what had happened.” Valverno walked a few steps from the king and have the king himself read what was written on the last few pages.
For the next few minutes, King Uragiru quietly read what was written in front of him while Valverno, Marina, Geraldus, and Sora stood quietly, waiting for the king to be done and discover what has been done to the hybrid. Then the king had stopped reading and looked up, closing the book on its back hardcover.
“So that is what you really are… Valverno?” asked the king.
The hybrid nodded.
“Ralenskrit and Belverda were never my parents; the Crystal Dragon and the woman from the legends every human has heard of: Celestreá la Mùne. I am a demigod born in the ancient land of Pangaea and the Second Generation of Living Life, with the other girl you saw: Sora, my half-sister and the original White Knight of Charity.
“The legends which you heard of are all true. And I have been chosen by the Crystal Dragon to wipe out Lusìvar before he does the unthinkable, releasing a greater threat worse than he is.”
“What bigger threat can be bigger than Lusìvar?” asked Uragiru. The king strolled over to get a goblet filled with wine and walked back to the others. “He showed up once around here with a small army. And you did say you fought him as a Five-Headed Dragon?”
Valverno nodded his head.
“Then there is nothing to be about or to be afraid of an ancient being from ancient lands of ancient time. He power is just little, and we are allies with the creatures. They all live in the Valley of Mythical Creatures, and those allies are: Centaurs, Dragons, Fairies, Griffins, Merpeople, Pegasi, Sea Serpents, and Unicorns.
“Their powers are greater when they all fight together. With the magic flowing through our allied creatures and an army of humans with them, we can overcome the threats of the dead Shadow King. What do we have to fear or yet what other threats could be Lusìvar possess?” Then Uragiru took a sip of his silver goblet after he asked Valverno of the threats.
“Unlike me who the gods chose me to counterattack against him, Lusìvar has been chosen by larger, deadlier, ancient creatures from the long, distant past, King Uragiru. Lusìvar isn’t just a spirit, a creature, or a person; he is a child of the real threats buried somewhere below the seas.”
“What do you mean?” asked Marina. “When did you know about anything about an ancient spirit? The Shadow King is the only threat the islands face?
“I saw it in the eyes of the Leviathan, the King of the Titans, while I was drowning in the Pool of Shadows, and brace yourselves for I am about to say.” Valverno paused and took a deep breath and said, “Lusìvar is a Titan!”
The king suddenly spat out the liquid he was sipping from his mouth. Then he could cough out small drops he inhaled into his throat. “What? Lusìvar is what?”
“A Titan, the first creatures made by the gods: The ones who revolted against their creators in order to obtain godly power only gods only have. Lusìvar has been chosen by them to bring them back from a prison believed to be buried underwater somewhere.”
“Then why was the Leviathan, the first Titan, the King of the Titans, the most powerful Titan managed to be so easily defeated by three figures small as houseflies?” asked the king. “Titans are powerful giants with enough power to sink both islands beneath the seas, even five thousand Dragons couldn’t able to kill a teenage Titan. Answer me, Valverno: how did the Leviathan fall before us when it is considered to be the most powerful Titan of all the Titans in the First Generations?”
They all had wondered faces, wondering what answer was the best or the right one or if there was supposed to be an answer at all.
“I’ll tell you why as I read from the Leviathan’s mind,” answered Valverno. “Lusìvar is the son of the Leviathan, the Prince of the Titans.”
Realization was coming to everyone around him.
“Yes,” Valverno continued, “The Leviathan’s son is Lusìvar, and Lusìvar is the one to bring back the Titans from their imprisoned lair the gods put them in. And with the death of the king, the heir becomes the new king. The Leviathan’s dead, and Lusìvar’s the new King of the Titans.” Valverno paused again to catch his breath before he would continue again. “Lusìvar is the Catalyst into freeing the Titans from their prison, and I am the Catalyst of the gods to counter against him. He was chosen by the Titans to free them, and I was chosen by the gods to stop him from fulfilling his mission. I need to find the last armor artifact, attach it to my body, and kill him.”
“Just how many Titans are there?” asked Sora.
“Speaking of the only surviving beasts, which are about five-to-ten thousand feet from a human’s foot,” said Valverno. He gathered his thoughts for a short moment before turning to the king. “There are about seven living, breathing, imprisoned Titans.”
Sora listened as a small scent of fear struck her face.
Seven Titans!
And all of them still living were horrifying for her to hear. The Leviathan was bad enough, but going against seven giants bigger than the mountains would be catastrophic for her to handle yet along with the power of four White Knights wouldn’t be enough to stand against those odds.
“Life, as we know, it will come to an end if the Shadow King does fulfil his mission, and I’m the only mortal with godlike power to cast him away, but my power is still two-thirds restored,” said Valverno. “I have only one left to find. Then I’ll be powerful enough to somehow cast Lusìvar away for good.”
“You sound more confident than I thought you would be,” said a female voice.
Geraldus, Marina, Sora, and Valverno were startled by the hearing of a woman’s voice coming from a nearby pillar carved from floor to ceiling. They saw a
woman coming from behind the pillar of a surprise look.
The woman had long silver hair spiraling down from her head and over her shoulders. She seemed to be in her mid-thirties. She wore a glittering robe and wearing an emerald crown shimmering with small sapphires, emeralds and silver diamonds. Her eyes were those of a dragon’s eye: with a long diamond-like pupil.
Valverno’s eyes sparked a flame, growling at first sight of the hiding woman, and grunted with a draconic tone. “Belverda!”
VILE BETRAYAL
A great flame had flared greatly in Valverno’s hybrid eyes. The anger that was swelling in him went from a small glare to an extreme dose of intensifying heating. His legs and his wings could feel his body heat boiling with extreme hatred and anger that he was ready to unleash of a fury of fire across the capital city: a place where a million of people live.
His eyes caught the appearance of the woman he knew to be the one who experimented on him and the woman he had called mother: Belverda. He hasn’t seen the woman all his life and now he was looking at her, in the flesh. The human partner of the dragon Ralenskrit was standing right in front of Valverno and the people standing in the throne room of King Uragiru.
The woman he thought was his mother, the woman who experimented on dead animal body parts and brought unnatural, undead creatures to life was a sight he always wanted to see for seventeen years, but he could not bear to see the woman he once called mother. After Valverno learned he was the legendary Demigod that lived over ten thousand years ago and this woman (or this witch) and her dragon friend were the ones who brought him back via experimentation, he wants nothing more than kill her right there right now.
For the moment, Valverno holding back his anger he was ready to unleash it against Belverda.
However, Valverno was softly growling, which was meaning he was ready to dive in and kill her without a moment’s hesitation. He would fly to her, strike her down, and let his frustration be killed when he would kill Belverda.
Marina could see the anger swelling in Valverno’s eyes; she saw the skin around his eyes grew some kind of big veins. She seemed afraid the hybrid she fell in love with is consumed by a demonic spirit residing in his body.
Belverda stood with grace. Many surprised eyes watched her reveal herself from her hiding place. “My, my. Quite a crowd I have suddenly drawn.” She slowly walked away from her hiding place and slipped to the king’s throne.
Geraldus was in complete shook when he saw his oldest friend standing in front of him. He hasn’t seen her in seventeen years and all of a sudden she comes from out of nowhere in the blink of an eye. The middle-aged man couldn’t find a word of what to say after not seeing her for such a long time.
From his eyes, Geraldus saw Belverda didn’t age a single day. Her facial image hadn’t changed or aged in the rancid of time. He was told by Valverno that Belverda was a witch who knew how to stay young, and was a sister to four other witches; witches Valverno and Marina killed back in the Northern Region. And of all places, Geraldus had never expected to see his old friend in the capital city, yet along in the throne room.
“Geraldus, you haven’t aged a day,” said Belverda. “Although you grew some grey hairs on your head.”
“I could say the same to you, Belverda,” said Geraldus. “Seventeen years it has been. You still look the same as ever.”
Belverda smiled and looked at Valverno; his eyes were glaring with hatred and anger, but she didn’t seem to mind at his evil, demonic appearance.
“And you have grown a lot the last time I saw you.”
Suddenly, without any moment to think or putting any thought in a proper greeting, Valverno latched out so suddenly.
“Wait!” Geraldus shouted for Valverno to stop, but the hybrid had already made up his mind. By the time Geraldus tried to halt Valverno, Valverno charged down the hall, and used his arm to push Belverda against a wall.
Valverno used his left arm to hold Belverda against the wall, nailing her by the throat of the massive force of his arm.
“What are you doing?” shouted the king.
“Brother, don’t give into the anger you’re being consumed by right now,” said Sora.
“Have you people just forgotten?” shouted Valverno. He voice echoed in the entire hall if it was a cold, dark mine. “This is woman tried to play the role of a god. She experimented on many dead animals that needed to stay dead. She is the one who created many ‘failed experiments.’ She was the one who experimented on me when I was an embryo. She used me as a lab rat. Why shouldn’t I kill her right here right now after the many years I thought her to be my mother?”
Belverda shrugged against Valverno’s arm, as if she wasn’t breathing. She could feel the force of Valverno’s might choking against her neck.
“For seventeen long years, I thought I was left behind. For seventeen years, I thought I my mother left me behind as she didn’t want a son. I wanted to see you my entire life. My life I had no mother to live under and you have left me on the doorstep of a stranger’s house. And you were afraid of what I was or who I was, of what I would be able to find out what and who I really am.
“And now the truth has been revealed: I am Valverno, demigod of the Second Generation of the Living Life and you are never were my mother, witch. From your perspective, I was known as ‘Vaeludar.’ A science project you had dubbed a ‘Project Failure.” Me! A failure!
“You had created many undead animals and used my DNA to bring them to life. Soulless Beasts! You created zombies you dubbed ‘Project Failures,’ including me. I lived for seventeen years as a ‘failure’ under the name ‘Vaeludar’: a name of a science project.”
Valverno squeezed his arm harder against Belverda throat. As he did, a small, red mist waved from his eyes like a river floating in the air. His eyes flared with more anger more he ever felt more than minutes ago.
“And the worst part of all; I called you mother for seventeen years, but you were never my mother. You are a witch who tried to turn me into a Soulless Beast to be used as a tool. A weapon for war, but you were dead wrong and that is why you have failed in your last and biggest science project; I am free to do my own thing and you have no control over me.”
“Vaelu, um, I mean, Valverno, that is enough! Stand down!” the king shouted.
“I will not stand down!” Valverno whipped his tail to the ground. The throne room shock like a strong earthquake.
Everyone wailed around the sudden earthquake Valverno created with one small whip of his tail. This was a way of him of showing off of who had the current power. Valverno made sure his tail’s whip was strong enough; to make sure everyone in the throne room he had the power at the current moment. He wasn’t going to let an old man tell him of what to do or not to do.
“I am a demigod, and the son of the Crystal Dragon: the Ruler of the Gods. From what everyone should have learned, the word god is a ranking title. And the Crystal Dragon is a god, and the dragon god outranks all ranking titles on both islands.”
“The Crystal Dragon god isn’t here,” said the king.
“Quite right, but I am and I know the ranking pyramid. The word demigod is a ranking title that goes right under the ranking pyramid. First, it’s god. Second, it’s demigod. Third and final on the pyramid of ranks, kings come next and last. By ranking, I outrank everyone on both islands. I am the son of the Crystal Dragon, which is the Ruler of the Gods, and the ancient legends state I am its son. Do you know that would make me?”
The king’s face glittered with anger.
“I am Prince of the Gods,” said Valverno. “And as a demigod and son of the Crystal Dragon and Prince of the Gods, I order you, King Uragiru, to stand down! And do you know what happens if you disobey a demigod, someone who trained the early humans who to life go from caves to under the light of the sun?”
The king remained silent but anger was shown on his face.
“It would be wise to not question a demigod when the demigod is questioning someone else,” s
aid Valverno. “Geraldus, you told me this woman you was your friend. She is a witch and cannot be trusted of what she has done to me and alone what her sisters have done: stealing youths from little girls. And Belverda is older than anyone in this throne room can expect. She deserves to die!”
Then Valverno lifted his free arm. A black flame ignited and consumed his entire arm, reaching from finger-to-shoulder.
“Wait!” Sora shouted.
Sora charged past the others and went up to her brother. With one swift of a hand, a glowing stick appeared floating above her head and she quickly grabbed it. It turned into a long corseque spear, with a long, triangular blade in the center and two shorter, bent blades formed from an eighty degree angle. She pointed her weapon near Valverno’s right ear.
“Don’t kill her. Don’t give into a great evilness. Don’t become the thing you are striving to get rid of.”
Valverno glared at Sora. Among the people standing in the room, Sora was the only person standing against the hybrid threating to kill an unarmed woman. He saw Sora was having the same glare he was giving Belverda.
Even though she wasn’t born from a god like he was, she was showing a great godlike flare growing in her eyes. And she was the only one holding a weapon against him. He had the impenetrable skin and no weapon could pierce him, but he had always come across a manmade weapon.
The weapon Sora was holding wasn’t made from man but from a strong magic source. She was a White Knight, who was a follower of him from ancient times and a highly experience fighter.
“Why defend this woman? Haven’t you heard me? She has done unholy things against the forces of nature. Once a living creature dies, it’s supposed to be dead for all eternity. Trying to bring something back from the dead is like trying to play god, one of the greatest sins in the Mortal Realm. Why defend this woman after the things she has done?”