by Ryan Johnson
“So now you’re saying I am not a girl at all. And that would mean you do not love me as a girl nor a Siren at all. I thought you would be perfect for me.” Marina frowned sadly. She stood up and turned away. “I thought you were the perfect specimen for me. You won my heart by saving me, but it seems you were mistaken to save me.” Marina proceeded to walk away from Vaeludar.
Vaeludar was now glaring with annoyance so he got up on his feet and walked after the downhearted Siren. “How about I do this then?” he asked. Vaeludar walked in front of Marina very close and leaving no personal space. “You thought I am your perfect specimen? How about I show you?” Vaeludar pulled Marina around close to him and forcefully kissed her on her lips, which caught Marina by surprise.
After a few small seconds, Vaeludar released his lips from Marina, leaving her breathing hard. He could see a surprise look in her eyes. “I… love… you,” confessed Vaeludar.
Marina romantically smiled. “I’ve been waiting five years for you say that,” stated Marina, grabbing both of Vaeludar’s hands with her own.
“I know a place where we can spend some time together and we can—”
Suddenly, a great shatter of an earthquake boomed the entire castle’s nine levels. Glasses smashed, signs fell, tables and chairs toppling, pots with plants cracked, and stones collapsing from buildings.
From the sky, a dark cloud covered the sun like a solar eclipse. Female, winged-human, feathered-bodied Harpies flew downwards from the sky. They were carrying some dwarf-sized, pig-faced Hobgoblins, and they had weapons in their hands. Dozens of them were descending like falcons diving for their prey. The Harpies flung the Hobgoblins at the streets of the second, third, and forth levels of the city.
Panic was about the streets. Small buildings were collapsing. People were running in terror. Dogs were barking out loud and cries of people were shouting in the air.
Vaeludar grabbed Marina’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. “It looks an attack on the city and one of the raids Geraldus mentioned,” he said. “We have to get going now.”
Just as the two were about to run, three Hobgoblins came charging towards Vaeludar. They were armed with shortswords and hammers ready for banging.
Vaeludar let go of Marina’s hand and drew out his sword. In one swipe, the sword released an energetic ray of electricity at them, causing them to be electrocuted and vapored into bones and dust.
Quickly shocked by a discovery that the sword was a magic sword after all and does have a special power, Vaeludar sheathed the sword without taking moment to awe at an awesome power. He grabbed Marina’s hand again and charged out of the confusing of the surprising attack.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Vaeludar. They were about to make a mad dash out of there, until he saw some Hobgoblins were coming from around from every corner from every street. Carriages were being toppled by axes and spears.
“Marina, hold this,” said Vaeludar, giving Marina the sword. In one swoop of an airy gush, Vaeludar windily pushed away the small creatures toward the sky and toward the flying Harpies.
Just then four Hobgoblins jumped from behind.
Vaeludar reacted by using his brute strength to punch the four small piglets into glass windows. Then he blew ice in the streets, making it slippery for any Hobgoblins. One certain Hobgoblin ran toward Vaeludar but the hybrid suddenly turned around and grabbed the creature by its throat. He snapped the Hobgoblin’s neck and threw the little monster in the street. Before he was could rejoin with Marina, he saw white stones falling right above her.
“Look out,” he shouted, jumping and pushing her out of the way. He successfully shoved Marina out of the way before he jumped and rolled away from the falling debris. Vaeludar quickly got up and ran over the stumbled debris and helped Marina back to her feet. “You okay?”
Marina didn’t respond or look at the hybrid that saved her life; her eyes looked at something else.
Vaeludar turned in the direction Marin was looking and saw a squad of Hobgoblins with a black armored figure leading them. All of which were shooting arrows at many people that comes into view of the archers and the black armored knight.
Vaeludar, knowing he was invulnerable to arrows and any other weapons, looked back at Marina and grabbed the sword’s hilt and pulled it out. Vaeludar stood up and walked over the piled rubble while Marina just watched him in awe.
Any arrows of the Hobgoblins that were shot directly at Vaeludar were stuck in the robe or flung off. No matter how many arrows were shot at him, Vaeludar’s skin on his head and body would protect him.
The black armored figure raised his arm up, signaling his hobgoblins to stop firing. They stared at the stranger who would dare walk toward them let alone show resistance to them.
“Who are you to dare to step up against us?” demanded the armored figure, in a metal toned voice.
Vaeludar stopped on top of the high pile of rubble. Holding the hilt with two hands, he flung the blade around the white clothes he was wearing and ripped it. His twisted tail ripped through the back of the robe, popping his wings out of the robe as he raised his arms to release wings from the tight robe.
“I am Vaeludar, the human dragon hybrid of Shimabellia,” he said, loudly.
Now, Vaeludar, who had the growing attention of lots of people both in and outdoors, had revealed his true colors again but in public: the hybrid human-dragon that killed the Minotaur.
There were many groans and awes from around him. The news of him killing the Minotaur had really spread faster than a dragon could fly. He pointed the sword at his enemies, spun it backwards twice, and held it in his hands, making it point to the sky.
“I am Vaeludar,” he said again, his strongest, deepest dragon voice.
From Marina to horrified children to badly-beaten hunters and soldiers, and even the Hobgoblins all looked at the legendary Vaeludar who killed the Minotaur. The horrified people popped their heads out of their hiding places and looked at Vaeludar, with priceless looks on their faces.
Then dozens of arrows, with the deadliest poisons from retiles, plants, and any more deadly poisons known to man and creature, were fired at once.
Vaeludar stood by while arrows vainly were fired all around his body. Slowly, he walked step-by-step, thump-by-thump, stomp-by-stomp. Holding his weapon with one hand this time, Vaeludar started to walk faster and faster and faster. Then when a hundredth arrow was shot at his head, he trotted and charged towards the black armored figure and his hobgoblin squad.
Vaeludar raised his sword at the archers, ready for battle.
A brawl was assured, Vaeludar fiercely and hastily swung at the Hobgoblins, stabbing four with one swipe of his sword.
While being slaughtered, the Hobgoblins threw down their bows and drew their bone-made swords and axes.
But with the help of the powers and the sharp edges of the sword, Vaeludar cut through his enemies’ weapons. Not only was he using the sword but also his wings and tail. Any Hobgoblin that tried to attack from behind, Vaeludar’s half dragon nervous system would react and the tail and the claws on his wings would fling death upon the Hobgoblins.
In thirty seconds, Vaeludar was standing victorious; he slew every single Hobgoblin he saw.
Just feet away from him, the black armored figure stood with an eight foot long sword. Vaeludar couldn’t pick up any scent of flesh-and-blood coming from within or see any eyes behind the helmet. He couldn’t tell what he was up against, but he could tell it wasn’t human.
“This city is not yours, it still belongs to the humans, black knight!” stated Vaeludar.
Vaeludar was forcefully pushing half of his life energy into the sword. He was feeling his human side dying and his dragon side growing.
The blade was glowing red-yellow.
“Be gone,” shouted Vaeludar, throwing the sword at the black knight.
The blade spun like an axe at the black knight. The sword buried itself deep once it reached
him. Rays of light burst out of the black armor.
Then he took charged towards the lighting black knight. He blew out an enormous amount of emerald fire before tearing through the armor with the claws of his wings and hands.
The armor melted from the extreme heat of the green fire and ripped to pieces by Vaeludar’s claws. Then Vaeludar pulled the sword free. Much of his life energy returned from the blade that absorbed half of his life force. Full of health again, Vaeludar swung his sword through the helmet, beheading the black knight.
The helmet flew across the streets, yards away and the armor fell apart as if nothing was in it. There was no body inside the armor as it fell to pieces.
Shocked, Vaeludar rushed towards the beheaded helmet. He smashed it open with the whip of his tail; there was no head inside.
Vaeludar turned to see a small, swirling dark cloud in the form of a human; it was a dark Spirit in the form of a dark cloud. The Spirit took the form of a human but showed no human face or body. It was just completely black. The only thing that was showing was blood red eyes.
“Enjoy this small victory while you can, hybrid,” said the spirit, with an evil, echoing whisper. “This small victory will be the pathway to many defeats.”
“I have no fear of you, Shadow King or should I say Shadow King? Or maybe… Lusìvar!”
“So you have guessed what I am?” asked the Shadow King Lusìvar.
“I have guessed who you are,” corrected the hybrid. “The ‘what’ of you is your Spirit form. And I have heard of the stories of how you were beaten by the Crystal Dragon.”
“This form I take to hide my face from both islands. I leave my face blank so nobody knows my true self or my past experience. I hide behind a mask of dark Shadows.”
“Then reveal your face to me now and we can get this small fight over with.”
“In due time, you will know my true face.”
“In that case, BE GONE!”
Vaeludar blew crimson fire at the dark Spirit of Lusìvar. A cry of agony from burning fire echoed from the evil Spirit.
Above the fire-blowing Vaeludar, the dark clouds that covered the sun slowly faded away. The light shined upon the flying Harpies and the remaining Hobgoblins. The Harpies smashed into each other or any stoned house, while the Hobgoblins were turned to stone.
After blowing fire for exactly five minutes, Vaeludar ceased and looked at the piled black armor that had nothing.
The Shadow King Lusìvar, his creatures of darkness, and his darkness itself were gone… for now.
NEEDING TO LEAVE
A
fter having another victory over a lingering threat, Vaeludar could feel himself becoming weakened by flushing out his life energy into one sword. He wondered how he could even do that: transfer power energy from his body to a single sword. But who was he to argue? He had won.
He used his wings to dig through the pile of the black armor, to make sure there were no evil remnants within the armor. Fortunately, there was neither sign nor form of any dark energy. He spat on the armor with a deadly acid that melted the pieces into complete metal liquid.
“Vaeludar, are you okay?” asked Marina, running to him with the scabbard.
Vaeludar, who was breathing silently and calmly, grabbed the scabbard and placed the sword into it. He hung the scabbard on his back again and tied it down tightly. Not knowing how long he may be in flight, Vaeludar made sure the strap from the scabbard wouldn’t fall.
“For the moment,” he answered, with a serious tone. “Lusìvar was here, and I managed to beat him back. This city is safe. I am glad we did stay for a while otherwise this place would have been scrapped. He seems to be regaining his power and fast.”
“We shouldn’t be celebrating,” said Marina, looking at a gathering crowd. “You’re in the spotlight.”
Vaeludar turned to see people looking at him with surprise and amazement on their faces. I got to get out of here, Vaeludar told himself. I don’t want other girls thinking I’m free. Vaeludar spread his wings and turned to fly. Before he was going to fly, he looked at his shadow, which was pointing north; it was midday.
He took notice he and Marina wasted an entire morning looking at one bar she liked and another place she was singing at and a small skirmish.
“We are late, Marina,” stated Vaeludar, going to Marina. “It seems to be noon and we are late for this quest and I yet to have lunch.”
Vaeludar grabbed Marina around her waist and took off to the one level down. He went flying away from the people looking at him. He didn’t want anybody but Marina being beside him. He went flying back to the platform where the Dragons were waiting for them.
On the platform the Dragons were on, Vaeludar, as he was descending, saw the Dragons were ready to attack. The Dragon King and his guards snarled their teeth and dug their claws into the ground.
When he finally landed, Flavius was there with the dragon bodyguards and the Dragon King. Vaeludar was happy to see the familiar faces when he got there, but he couldn’t find Wonomi, Monico, and Galvin among them.
“Vaeludar!” yelled Flavius, dashing towards him. “Vaeludar, what happened?”
The Dragon King and his guards stayed closely with Flavius. The one group ended up coming close to Vaeludar and Marina.
“Lusìvar,” said Vaeludar, grimly.
He told them everything of what happened, starting at the bar and ending with the ghost of the Shadow King. And how he remained unscratched in the attack and how he easily defeated the evil spirit that is supposed to be dead.
“This is ill news,” said the Dragon King. “I didn’t expect him to return this soon.”
“We need to get going. We need to find those three humans and that Griffin before we can fly towards the mountain border.”
Marina stepped in all of a sudden. “I was going to show you around my home, and this day just had to be spoiled by a long undead king I want to stay dead. I didn’t want anything between me and you and our romantic moment.”
“Romantic moment?” said Flavius. “Do you mean…?”
“Marina and I love each other, and we are an official couple now, Flavius,” admitted Vaeludar.
Flavius was holding back a hard laugh.
Vaeludar looked sternly looked at Flavius. “What the matter? Jealous I have someone to hold hands and you don’t have any girl to hold hands with?”
“The idea of a hybrid already a child of two different species and a Siren as lovebirds is a completely twisted way of romance,” laughed Flavius.
“So, you’re saying me and Marina are not meant to be together as a unison?”
“I didn’t say that,” argued Flavius, calming down.
“Oh, but you were thinking it, inside that brain of yours,” said Vaeludar.
Flavius stood silent and whispered to the Dragons, “I’m not starting to like his dragon persona that seemly can read thoughts.”
Vaeludar sighed.
“Forget about him,” said Vaeludar, pulling Marina away and walked toward the edge of the platform.
The horizon was a stunning: valleys gloomed in the orange of the midday, foothills sparked the autumn sunlight, clouds covered the peaks of snowy mountains, a soft breeze of fresh-scented autumn was in Vaeludar’s face, and sounds of working animals getting food for the long, cold winter.
“I’m starting to wish I lived here,” admitted Vaeludar. “This place has a spectacular view. I can see why you stayed here and not in Geraldus’ village. Why didn’t you want to stay there?”
“Because I heard the king lived in a glorious city filled with so much food and the people here are treated equally,” said Marina. “I was following a child’s fantasy of a perfect city, which turned out to be a gunky city. Now I don’t know why I have stayed with him.”
Marina held Vaeludar’s hand with her own and rested her head on his shoulder. “And this was the place I was going to show you,” she said, in a soft human tone inste
ad of her Siren voice. “This is the reason I stayed here: a glorious horizon.”
“When did you speak like a regular human?” Vaeludar asked, curiously.
“It happens to be one of my personal traits to talk like a real human. I’m a Siren, remember? A monstrous creature that lures men to their bloody demise, with the sound of a beautiful song.”
Vaeludar turned his front body to her and wisped her long hair from her shoulders and placed his hands on her face. “You’re not a monster. Not to me anyway. You are eternally bound to me, because I saved your life.”
“When someone saves the life of a Siren, they win the heart of the Siren for life. So you are going to be stuck with me for the rest of your life.”
“Not if I swipe you off your feet and throw you down there,” laughed Vaeludar.
“Oh, you!”
Marina swung her arm but Vaeludar grabbed her flying arm with his left arm and her left arm with his right wing. After that, he wrapped his tail around her belly and pulled her closer to his hybrid eyes.
“Don’t think you can attack me that easily. I know the movements of the Siren, even their fins strike when their arms are caught.”
“You are smarter than I thought you were,” said Marina, in her Siren voice. She closed her eyes and leaned forward to kiss Vaeludar with green lips.
“And I know the Despair Kiss of the Siren,” whispered Vaeludar, releasing Marina from his many grips. “I don’t need to despair.”
“Then you do know everything about me,” Marina said, seductively. “Now kiss me.”
“Don’t seduce me. Since I am half dragon, I am resistant to the sounds of a seductive Siren. You’ll have to do better if you want me to kiss you.”
“I love you,” she whispered in Vaeludar’s ear.
“Now that is better,” said Vaeludar.
As they were about to kiss, which was just shy of an inch, a shout rang out. “Hey! We’ve got to get going!” yelled the voices of Wonomi and Monico. The two were sprinting faster than a cheetah could at its fastest speed.
