Twilight of a Hybrid

by Ryan Johnson

  Sora was lost for words; she gazed at the looks of Flavius, and she was surprising amazed to see him. At first, she was having a nice friendly rivalry with Marina, but that was considered dead when she spotted Flavius standing next to Valverno.

  Valverno and Flavius blinked when Sora suddenly dashed up to closely Flavius.

  “I’d never seen a perfect specimen until now,” she said suddenly.

  The two men blinked.

  At first, Sora wanted to be with Valverno, but she suddenly changed her mind when she gazed upon Flavius. “I’d never thought primitives would look so… handsome. And I guess this is what people would call ‘love at first sight’?”

  Flavius eyes flashed. A girl he only met for two seconds is suddenly in front of him. “And she is your sister and the first White Knight of Charity?” asked Flavius.

  “I’m afraid so,” answered Valverno. “She always was clingy to me when we were kids, and she always was.”

  Flavius struggled to get away from Sora, who wasn’t giving Flavius some personal space. Sora’s soul lit up in shock when she just laid her eyes upon Flavius. “Can you do something with her?”

  “She’s the daughter of a mortal, celestial being from the Second Generation. Those kinds of beings are always going to be clingy to something they first lay their eyes on. In other words, she gets it from her father, whose name I had forgotten and the person who would be my step-father.”

  “Well, I’d appreciate it if you could remove her from an arm’s length,” said Flavius.

  “I can try, but the same thing happened to me with Marina. If I try to pull her away, she would be like a magnet; she would just snip right back to you.”

  “Would just do it?” asked Flavius.

  “Okay, I will.”

  Valverno stepped between Flavius and an awning-staring Sora. “Give some room for him, Sora. Don’t invade personal space of an individual, or have you forgotten that from Mother?”

  “Sorry,” said Sora. She backed away from Valverno blocking her view of Flavius. “It’s just I’d never thought people from ten thousand years ago would be this… attractive.” Sora blushed without trying to hide her face from them.

  “Get to know him first before you do anything first. It is an order, not as a demigod but as your older brother. Get to know him first before you fall in love with a… caveman.” Valverno walked passed Flavius and headed straight for Geraldus village.

  Marina followed in from behind, grabbing Sora’s wrist and dragged her all the way. “Sorry about that,” Marina said to Flavius. “I, too, was clingy to Vaeludar when I first met him, but I wasn’t this clingy to him.”

  Flavius shook his head of what he just witnessed. The original White Knight of Charity fell in love with him at first sight, but he wasn’t like Valverno and Marina when they fell in love at first sight. He was going to be in one inferno of a night.

  THE NEXT STEP

  Valverno had stayed awake for the whole entire night, knowing in the following morning would be the dawn: a war against King Uragiru. He stood atop the village’s watchtower’s roof. He laid on the rooftop, looking to the sky above him and wondered what the following day would bring.

  Now the morning had come.

  His half-sister, Sora, stayed in Geraldus house. When she came running to him about the lively family she met, who happened to be the family he lived with, she said it reminded her of their mother’s home and how lively they both were when they were small as toddlers. Sora said she slept prosperously through the night.

  At the bleak of dawn, Valverno knew the war of the future would be coming. Although there was a long distance from the capital city, King Uragiru would send a large army to the Western Region to eradicate Geraldus and those who follow him.

  As the sun rose slightly higher past the east from mountains in view and made an early morning, Valverno flew from the watchtower and to Geraldus’s house. He entered it and heard sound silent. Usually, there would be a small sound or the twin boys or the twin girls running around, but no one seemed to be up.

  He saw Sora, Geraldus, and Flavius sitting by the fireplace, whispering to each other. They looked at Valverno for a brief moment as he entered before rescuing back to their whispering conversation.

  Valverno could listen to hear what they were saying, but decided not to. He could tell by their concerned faces it has to revolve around him, since he was the only half mortal being who fell into the Pool of Shadows. And the Pool of Shadows was the place where evil was originally created and anyone thought to have bathed in it would have been born or reborn a corrupted, evil form.

  For Valverno, it seemed to have corrupted his appearance, but not his personality. He still had retained his old personality and didn’t show he became a second version of the Shadow King. Valverno was still going to depose the ancient being instead of joining him. But who is what to say what could happen? Valverno could be hiding an inner shadow somewhere in his body.

  The future remained unknown for Valverno and what may become of his new form. Only time would tell what would happen. He was going to have to let the power of fate choose what is in store for him.

  As the three people whispered continued, Valverno walked upstairs to see what has become of his old bedroom, the room he grew up in. He hasn’t seen it the past six months and wanted to know if it had changed.

  As the Valverno opened the door and enter, he saw it was different. The room was far different: there was a real bed. There hung high emerald curtains made from fine silk around the bed. A head of a male elk with large, pointy antlers hung on the wall. The walls were colored to the grim with gold. Two pictures of a knight and a maiden hung on opposite ends. The window was now a stained glass window instead of being an open window.

  Valverno’s childhood room had changed since he had moved away from the house. It was entirely different the way he left it. Everything in the house stayed the same, but this room was the only thing that has changed. All his life he spent alone in the room, staying away from the gazes of human eyes, had changed, and he thought it would have changed if he had moved out.

  Valverno thought the room had been turned into a guestroom and thought it was where Sora had slept. He knew Marina would stay on the shoreline; Sirens do love the sight of the water and never turn down the opportunity to get to sleep in the water.

  The hybrid smiled small. He was glad there was a bit of a big change to Geraldus’s house. Valverno didn’t do much in that one room but only to stare at the village’s people all day for almost two decades. Now he was out of the room, which felt like a prison cell.

  People started to look up to him more instead of staring at an outsider. Valverno was glad to have moved out of the room he spent his whole life in and went to venture to the outside world, and it was all thanks to the Minotaur.

  Valverno left the room and closed the door behind him. Ahead of him stood Flavius standing tall.

  “Thinking of moving back in?” asked Flavius.

  “No, I have my own house now,” answered Valverno.

  “Why are you not there then?”

  “Because it doesn’t have birds to send messages or any S.O.S. signals to send any warnings of King Uragiru’s betrayal. I built the house to start my personal life with Marina, once Lusìvar has been dealt with.”

  “Then what’s your plan of action?” asked Flavius.

  Valverno stroke his chin. Before he could make an answer, Valverno walked passed Flavius and strolled down the stairs.

  “Didn’t you hear what I asked: what is your plan now?” asked Flavius, following after Valverno.

  “I’m planning on going to the Northern Region, said Valverno. “I plan to unite the five clans we saved from Lusìvar’s wrath.”

  “We?”

  “I wasn’t the only one who saved those people from the Shadow King’s tyranny. You. Marina. The previous White Knight of Charity. Wasso, Gurro, and Monico. Flarefur Every person who traveled with me to the Northern Region. I can’t ta
ke all the credit of the events that happened up there; I had help from you and the other companions.”

  “At least, there are some human portions to see from you.”

  “I’m not a monster, if you are thinking about such a thought. And I couldn’t let an army of evil beings tear destroy the entire city during the wedding ceremony, and I never knew the king is allied with Lusìvar. There was no knowing King Uragiru didn’t put his soldiers on patrol anyway.”

  “But Alaric still died the process. You could have prevented his death from happening.”

  “How could I have prevented his death from happening? The ambush on the city happened quickly my dragon spilt personality took effect and started countering before the city could end up in the hands of the enemy.”

  In a sudden flash, Flavius drew out a sword. Valverno did the same, and both people had their swords drawn at each other’s faces.

  “Enough you two!” Geraldus swipe a spear across the each sword each of the two boys were pointing at each other. Geraldus and Sora, who were both in their White Knight uniforms (bright, shining, white-glowing armor), stood against Valverno and Flavius. Sora held one of her kukri knives at Valverno while Geraldus held a spear toward Flavius.

  Valverno and Flavius’s argument was heating up into a near-ready sibling rivalry fighting with large metal sticks. This had caused Sora and Geraldus to interfere from having the two boys from trying to cause a violent fuss.

  “Enough bickering, you two!” shouted Geraldus. Geraldus swing his spear quickly near the hands of Flavius and Valverno. Their swords were quickly flung from their hands and Sora grabbed the sword flying swords with her hands.

  Flavius grunted and walked passed Valverno, rudely bumping into Valverno’s shoulder while passing him; Flavius showed there wasn’t any mutual trust between the two boys who grew up together in the same house.

  Valverno felt Flavius bumping into his shoulder as he hazily saw Flavius walking away from him in disgust. Valverno didn’t feel anything around his shoulder after being bumped, so he would go to ignore what Flavius did. It seemed the brotherly bond they both shared looked like it was gone, and it was because of Alaric’s death.

  Geraldus and Sora withdrew their weapons and walked back from Valverno. “It will take a long time for fresh wounds to heal, Valverno,” said Geraldus, grabbing the Crystal Sword and tossing it to Valverno. “Flavius still trusts you, but he is just too shocked to hear of you being the demigod hero he grew up listening to and also learn he is a son of a White Knight. Like all children, he thought it was a belief you could save everybody’s lives, including my eldest son’s life.”

  Valverno signed heavily. “It was a regret of my part. Now what was supposed to become Alaric’s burden will become Flavius.”

  “Yes, but we must not dwell on the past. We have to focus on gathering what forces we can muster. It won’t be long before King Uragiru will send word to every lord, duke, and earl of a false treason he would accuse me of. We would have to fight the king’s loyal army within a fortnight, and my army is smaller than his.”

  “We’re going have to get as many as fighters as we can,” said Sora. “We may be White Knights, but we can’t just kill an entire army without reason, we just need to kill those who poisoned the minds of the weak-minded, lesser people. These higher ups would be our target, and if we take those people out, then the lesser people would be set free from their lies. And our White Knight power is weak, just like your powers, brother. No offence.”

  “None taken. When I went against the Minotaur, there were some moments where I did feel weak and not strong enough to take on the beast. Even with the three of us, our stamina of magic power is slightly weaker and none of us wanted to hurt any innocent people in the process. The damage would have been colossal if we went out on full power.”

  “Sometimes innocent people would have to die in any crossfire, at any powerful crossfire there could be,” said Sora.

  “I just hope no child would have to be caught in future fights when it comes to Lusìvar and his minions. Well, Geraldus, did you send out messenger birds to your loyal bannermen?”

  “Yes, I have, so it will be some time before I hear any word from them. A few days at the most.”

  Valverno stroke his chin, waiting a few days or a week for people to come answering for Geraldus would too boring and too long for him to wait. So, Valverno thought it would be best if he would travel to the Northern Region and gather what armies he could get and march south and attack the capital city from the north.

  Or at least distract some part of the king’s army so Geraldus army could attack from the west. King Uragiru would be attacked from two battlefronts; it could overwhelm the military force.

  Then another idea Valverno has thought but mustn’t be necessary: he himself could attack the capital city. This was something he didn’t want to do as he could destroy the entire population of the city, and there wouldn’t be people to save. He learned when it comes to great power, there came great responsibility. If he would to abuse or overuse his power, his godly power could have devastating side effects such as destroying villages and people living in the villages.

  He could not risk unleashing his full power upon any terrain and inhabitants. Once he would let out a furry blast, there would be no take backs; the power he released from his body would go all-out and not stop until the unleashed power had destroyed its target, and the bigger the blast, the bigger damage would have been done.

  He was going have to resort to human power instead of god power. He didn’t want to unleash powerful power upon any beings within a ten-mile length of a big battle.

  In his train of thought, the front door crept open. Marina entered into the house as the twin boys came running down the stairs and exiting through the door Marina entered through.

  Marina didn’t mind the boys passing by her, as long as she was walking to Valverno. Marina drew her eyes from the running boys to the twin girls running right behind them. The four kids dashed right outside the house as Marina was entering. She walked to where Valverno was standing.

  “Planning on something without telling me?” she asked. Her voice sounded very soggy.

  Valverno nodded his head.

  “Just what are you planning without notifying me?” she asked. The Siren suddenly raised her voice tone.

  Valverno took notice of her eyes; Marina’s eyes were just barely red. Valverno knew she was going through some kind of great depression, as she and the others found out King Uragiru was working for an ancient evil king. The man she was raised by and thought by many to be a wise, cranky king was just a servant of the enemy.

  Hoping not to go into the subject of family betrayal, Valverno thought of what he, Geraldus, and Sora were talking about. “We were discussing of gathering allies. Do you know anyone you find friendly?”

  “Outside the capital city, no. I only know of King Uragiru. I don’t know any high ranking person who is an enemy of the king, other than Geraldus and Teutates.”

  Valverno was amazed. He thought Marina was going to be in complete shock if her foster father would be mentioned. But it looks like she was showing great strength of accepting the truth of the matter.

  “Well then,” said Valverno, turning to see Sora and Geraldus looking at him. “Instead of waiting here for any responses, I’m going to head to the Northern Region and get whatever soldiers I can rally.”

  “That is a start,” said Geraldus, “but what about Teutates? What do you planning on doing with him?”

  “I don’t know yet. The Northern Region could have a big army that could rival King Uragiru’s army. If I can rally them behind me, then we won’t have to rely on Teutates for help. But I can’t expect all five clans to answer my call at once. I have three under my tail, with the other two I’m not sure what to make of. And I just wish the people I traveled with were under your command, Geraldus.”

  “But that is about to change since Wasso, Monico, and Gurro’s loyalty lie with the Royal
Army,” said Geraldus. “They are part of the most elite soldiers King Uragiru has to offer. Facing them is going to be difficult.”

  “Perhaps.” Valverno inhaled and exhaled of the thought of trying to kill old comrades who traveled with him. “I might as well go to the Northern Region now. The sooner we have more soldiers, the better of a chance we’d have surviving battles that will collide.”

  “If you’re eager to go to the Northern Region, I’m afraid I can’ go,” said Geraldus. “My people need to know of King Uragiru’s betrayal.”

  “I know what to do, or I hope so,” said Valverno.

  “I’m going with you as well,” said Sora. “I traveled to this Northern Region myself and know what you have done. And those people apparently know of a White Knight of Charity. They will be quite surprised to see me up there.”

  “Okay, what about you, Marina?” asked Valverno.

  Marina shook her head, a single tear dropped.

  Valverno signed.

  “Alright, you stay here then and try to recuperate, Marina. Sora and I will travel to the Northern Region to see what armies we can gather. And I have a bad feeling it may take a while to gain a lot of troops for an army to march south. But with my newly, profound speed, I’m sure Sora and I can gather a big army to march south.”

  “May we have the favor of the Three Gods, if things don’t go to plan and go very sour,” said Geraldus.

  Valverno nodded and exited the house. Sora followed behind Valverno walking out of the house.

  “What do you mean by that?” asked a girl voice.

  Eliana was running down the stairs. Apparently, all of Geraldus’s kids were home safe and sound, and it would seem the eldest daughter heard part of their conversation. “What is going on here, father? And who is she?” Eliana walked to her father as she saw Valverno and Sora walking out the door.

  Valverno suddenly rushed away from the house and soared into the sky, carrying Sora around her waist. He knew Sora’s couldn’t fly while Geraldus did. And he wondered how Geraldus could have done that in the first place, since he decided to fly on Flarefur’s back.