Dawn of a Hybrid

by Ryan Johnson

  After them, the Griffin appeared and flew from behind the two sprinters. Behind the Griffin, Galvin was just passing through and taking his time to walk slowly.

  “Now what!?” Vaeludar turned to his companions going for a dragon bodyguard. Then he saw a lot of human eyes glaring at him. Vaeludar thought he had gotten away from a human crowd but he was followed to where he went flying.

  “Oh, come on! Can’t I go one full day without drawing any attention?” Vaeludar swept Marina off her feet. His wings spread out as wide as he could stretch them and was going to jump over the cliff.

  Marina looked happy by what Vaeludar just did; he was carrying her like a real princess. “This is something else I wanted to do with you: go flying with you,” said Marina.

  “Hang on then,” warned Vaeludar. He found Marina placing her arms around his neck tightly; strong enough to choke him to death. However, his neck muscles were strong enough to resist Marina’s tight grip and still breathe through a tight air pocket in his throat. Then he proceeded to jump over the platform and dived like falcon.

  This fall made it feel his brains were going to his feet. His eye sockets were tearing up. His wings could barely maneuver. His joints stiffened with a great amount of nerves reacting. He was going down in style before he would move his wings for him to fly again.

  He crunched his spine by pulling back both his scapulae as back and tight as he can. This made his wings loosen and able to move. His wings maneuvered at a ninety degree angle, making him go from a flying object to a full, flying flyer.

  Marina was captured by surprised. “My, my. I thought you were going to kill us both,” she said.

  “Hey, if I killed us both, the Three Gods would have turned me away from you. And you and I wouldn’t go into the Realm of the Gods like the beings with the greatest purity and—”

  “Oh, shut up,” said Marina rudely in a soft, human tone and kissed him.

  They both shared a romantic kiss while a flying Vaeludar wasn’t looking where he was flying. Vaeludar was now the surprised one to be a surprising move again the other; the tables were turned on him when she suddenly kissed him.

  Marina softly removed herself from him. “There is the kiss I wanted to give before we were promptly interrupted by an ancient king.”

  “Earlier, I was the first to confess my love for you and now you’re doing the same thing to me,” said Vaeludar. He flew some distance from the city to rejoin the dragons flying ahead of them. It was a joyful flight for the two lovers.

  “It seems we have a pair of turtledoves in our presence,” called out the Dragon King’s voice.

  Vaeludar drew to a halt, still floating in the sky with his wings flapping softly.

  From a short distance between Vaeludar, the Dragon King, his guards, and the Griffin were flying towards them. The Dragons, which were carrying Flavius, Wonomi, Monico, and Galvin, stopped yards away from Vaeludar.

  “I never knew you would be able to fly at this height,” said the Dragon King. “I thought humans would have a great fear of heights.

  “I’m half-half. My dragon half wasn’t afraid, but my human half is afraid of this great height I’m flying at. What else is there besides being a hybrid?”

  “A pair of odd married couple,” answered Flavius.

  Vaeludar gave a glare at his foster brother. “Marina and I aren’t married yet, so don’t go there. And I haven’t proposed to her. We are ‘lovers in the sky.’ We don’t need any comments of what or who we are. So can we continue to what we were doing before we lose daylight?”

  The Dragons and Vaeludar flew quickly to the mountain region they saw before they eyes. The speed they were flying at was an incredible speed it was taking them minutes to travel in the air instead of walking for weeks by the ground.

  “You’re going have to go quickly,” said the Dragon King. “You may not be able to make it back alive.”

  The hybrid sighed and soared ahead of the flying dragon. “Come on,” said Vaeludar. “We’re still losing daylight. I don’t want to be flying in the night. It’s hard to see when you don’t know where you are heading under a cold, night sky with hardly any light. Moonlight may help, but where we’re going there will be no light.”

  The Dragons followed after the hybrid flying ahead of them, when it was them who were supposed to be leading the hybrid. Behind the big Dragons, the Griffin floated within some distance, not wanting to get involved with any talk of the big beasts or the hybrid, who the Griffin knew nothing about.

  SETTLING DOWN

  V

  aeludar, the Griffin, and the Dragons landed on a mountain somewhere in the rockiest parts of the mountain border. For a half-day, the Dragons had flown from the castle and into the mountain region. For long hours, the Dragons slowed their speed, fearing the magic barrier would topple their flying and make them crash into the ground.

  After slowing their speed, they landed in a spot they thought would be soft enough to land. Vaeludar followed behind the Dragons and Flarefur came following behind Vaeludar.

  The sun was setting in the west. Clouds, violet as lavender plants, covered the night sky. A handful of plants were green but green as envy. The sky was black as evil. The moons were red as blood. This place was not an ordinary place to at all.

  Vaeludar placed Marina on her feet and grabbed the sword from his wrapped tail and gripped it tight by the scabbard with his left hand. Flavius, Wonomi, Monico, and Galvin dismounted from the dragons. Flarefur landed on a high rock.

  Vaeludar gazed at an endless view of mountain ranges. There were canyons that curved downwards and back up. It looked impossible to cross the mountain ranges on foot.

  “This is as far as we dare go,” said the Dragon King. “We Dragons cannot venture far away from the borders. We already feel our flying abilities going out of reach. More importantly, Vaeludar, are you ready for this mission?”

  Vaeludar turned his gaze away from the mountain peaks towards the Dragon King. “Yes, I am ready to go,” answered Vaeludar, firmly.

  “Remember this: these lands are infested with unknown animals and creatures. You are stepping into unknown territory. You may think you may go faster in the air, but dark clouds with toxic fumes lay in the sky.

  “Remember, many creatures of darkness could be lurking within these mountains and danger will be lurking around every corner. They may be hiding in the shadows or they may not. No creatures dare to travel beyond this point. Flarefur is the only creature going with you and Griffins are the only creatures that can seem to fly, Vaeludar. Also remember this, time is of the essence. Go and go quickly.”

  There was a howl in the surrounding mountains. Loud and noisy, the group took notice of how loud the howling was.

  “Is that a Black Dog?” asked Wonomi, alarmed.

  A few more howls echoed in the distance.

  “That is the howl of a wolf,” said the Dragon King. “You may find more animals than creatures, so the possibility of find any evil here had been narrowed down by one animal.”

  “Great,” said Flarefur, in an old-man, soggy voice.

  “Vaeludar,” the Dragon King resumed. “You’ll be leading this small group of people and the Griffin through this dangerous territory. You will be giving the orders; you will be the leader. Your foster father is counting on you with this group. Don’t disappoint him.”

  “I will not disappoint the man who raised me,” said Vaeludar. “I will lead these people and the Griffin to victory.”

  “Very well. In that case, my guards and I must get back. I recommend you all camp here tonight. Our flight that took some dozen of miles to cover, night has fallen fast, and there are going to be more than just wolves in these infested mountains in the night. Guards, we leave.”

  The dragon bodyguards rose in the air.

  “Vaeludar, this island’s fate is in your hands. Do not fail any of us.” The Dragon King took off, with his guards flying back to the south.

&nbs
p; Vaeludar, Flavius, Wonomi, Monico, Galvin, Flarefur, and Marina were all alone in the mountain wilderness. The group was small but well built on supplies that should last a great while, if they don’t do anything rashly.

  “Well, what shall we do, Vaeludar?” asked Marina.

  Vaeludar’s six companions looked at him, waiting for him to give an order.

  “We’ll do what the Dragon suggested: we make camp here for the night. So had anyone brought any firewood with them?”

  “I did,” said Flavius, dumping a bag of hollow logs on the rocky ground. They were about three inches think and lumpy.

  “Flavius, you build the fire. Wonomi and Monico, you both help with the fire. Marina, use your trancing music to send any unwanted guests away from this campsite. Galvin, you take first watch. And you, Flarefur, how good are you at scouting?”

  “That is why I have come,” said Flarefur.

  “Then scout a short perimeter of these mountain ranges. I want to get moving at dawn, and I don’t want any unwanted creatures attacking us during the day.”

  “Got it,” said Flarefur, flying away to scout the surrounding mountains. “It seems I can fly but if I go too high, there could a tremendous amount of dark energy from the sky that will affect my ability to fly higher.”

  “If you can’t fly out, then don’t bother trying to scout. Stay put with us.”

  “I can do the scouting, but I wouldn’t be able to get very far,” said Flarefur. “I will go forward and see to that we know where we are going and what the nearby terrain will be like.”

  The Griffin soared some short feet from the ground and slowly drifted off in the near horizon. Vaeludar stared at the flying Griffin struggling to maintain his body in the air. He started to wonder if he should go with the Griffin and help him out scout the mountain ranges.

  Marina walked to a higher point and sang with a soft, harmonious tone. Her voice was soft and as smooth as a stream flowing downstream, a bass violent played at the softest tone, and birds twittering of love:

  Oh, try to come to find us in these mountains

  For we are high in the sky;

  And there are no nearby fountains

  For we are safe from any that can walk or fly

  Galvin stood like a statue on the highest rock in that flat area the group landed on. He was acting like a real soldier: taking orders from the higher ups.

  Flavius, Wonomi, and Monico piled the logs on the flat ground. Wonomi was rubbing a stick on a log, with his hands spiraling downwards on the stick just like how everyone makes a fire. Smoke was rising, but no fire was sparking. Flavius was blowing softly on the smoke so that fire could rise.

  Vaeludar stood and watched as the three fire-making people trying to make a spark of fire appear.

  “Are you sure that is real firewood?” asked Vaeludar.

  “Yes,” answered Flavius. “A carpenter was selling this at a good price. He told me these were extra logs he didn’t have any use for. Right now, these logs are hard to light though.”

  “Then you need dragon fire,” stated Vaeludar.

  “Where are we going to get dragon fi…?” Flavius knew what Vaeludar was meaning: the hybrid was going to spew his own fire. He had to back away completely.

  Wonomi and Monico looked at Flavius in confusion. Vaeludar opened his mouth, revealing a red color was erupting at the back of his throat. Fire was brewing in his mouth as he was inhaling oxygen.

  “Guys, look out,” shouted Flavius.

  Flavius ran and forcefully pulled Wonomi and Monico by their arms. They both struggled to break free from Flavius’s grip on them both.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” demanded Monico.

  “He is going to blow out dragon fire,” answered Flavius.

  Vaeludar blow out a thin layer of dragon fire from his throat catching the wood on fire. Vaeludar closed his mouth to stop his dragon fire from engulfing and burning the other logs that may easily burn. Vaeludar took no pride that he had to step in to make a fire.

  Flavius released the two men he grabbed and walked towards his foster brother.

  “Let me make the fire next time,” said Flavius.

  “Ok. Tomorrow night, you’re on your own.”

  Suddenly, flapping of feathered wings was heard from a short distance; Flarefur was returning from his scouting.

  “Flarefur, you were not gone for very long,” greeted Vaeludar. “How is it? What is ahead of us?”

  “It is not going to be easy,” answered Flarefur. “There are many crossings for many days. Mountains that go around for nearly a hundred miles without end. It seems we may not be able to reach our destination within months.”

  “What about the lower parts?”

  “They are infested with wolves. They are vile wolves that are more evil, ugly-looking than any ordinary wolves. They prowl in the shallow ends of the mountains instead of living in the higher edges.”

  “Then our only option is to travel on the higher edges of these paths.”

  “There is another pathway through these mountains. I found a river that is a two-day walk from here. I flew high enough to see where it reaches a lake that dispatches into dozens of other rivers. It is where the wolves lie in wait.”

  “Then we have two ways: the river or the high peaks. Where should we go? Before any answers, did you find any alternative routes to this river?”

  “No,” answered Flarefur. “The only route is to the northwest. Like I said, it is a two-day walk but it would be dangerous. I have spotted many wolves prowling on many mountainsides. It won’t be an easy task to get there on foot.”

  Vaeludar turned away and placed some thought into the two routes: take the river where it would take a few days or take the route that stays on high peaks where it would take months to get out of the mountains.

  I don’t want to risk these people by going out in the open towards the river, thought Vaeludar. If we try to go to the river, we may encounter wolves we have not seen before. And I certainly don’t want to walk on the mountain tops. It will take us months to get out of here if we travel on the mountaintops. Since we have limited time, I guess we have no choice but to take the river.

  Vaeludar flung himself into the air, to have everyone’s attention.

  “Everyone,” cried Vaeludar. “I have decided to take the route to the river. We may encounter some wolves or other animals along the way but that won’t stop us. We are fearless beings. I have the indestructible skin and the powers so I will do the fighting while we walk to the river. And I say this: we will to go this Lost Castle, even if we have to cut down a thousand animals to get there. So who is with me?”

  There were soft shouts.

  “As I thought,” whispered Vaeludar, floating down to the ground.

  After dropping, Vaeludar went to a singing Marina. Her voice was soft to the tone and she could sing as a young maiden:

  Many animals have live for many a year

  Now the end is coming very near

  For a Shadow King waits in the night

  And waiting for a big fight

  But a small gleam of hope was a bright

  A hybrid strong as a bear will resist

  In the might of a strong fist

  The hybrid will be strong in the light

  “I hope I am not interrupting,” said Vaeludar.

  Marina brought her siren singing to a stop. “You are not,” she said, in her human voice. “My singing was echoing throughout this mountain range. We should be safe, for the time being.”

  “Let us join the others by the fire,” said Vaeludar, grabbing Marina’s hand and walking with her to the fire.

  Soon enough, the day had dimmed into the night, with dark clouds swirling overhead and no stars or the moon could show some light flickering behind the most dreaded clouds. The fire was blazing its yellow-orange flame big and bright.

  Vaeludar saw Galvin sharpening a long axe with a flat rock. Wonomi
and Monico were eating fruits and some chicken wings. Flavius was also sharping his sword with a flat rock. Flarefur was pecking meat remnants of a bone like a lion.

  Vaeludar seated himself on a bumpy rock. His wings wrapped his skin to keep the coldness. The wing-webs, which happen to be the paper-like skin attached to his wings that would help him maneuver in the air, wrapped around his back and his chest. The wing-webs felt like a warm sun. Since Vaeludar couldn’t find any human clothes to fit on his human body, he used his wings as the suitable type of clothing to keep his body warm. After feeling comfortable, Vaeludar placed the sword on the rocky mountain ground.

  Marina sat down next to him. She was placing a quiver arrows and a firm bow down on a pile of rocks.

  “Aren’t you cold?” asked Marina.

  “No, these wings have fiery blood cells about a hundred a degrees hot,” said Vaeludar. “I managed to keep myself warm in my wings. After all, I—”

  Sounds of howling rose from the south. The howling sounded like birds mutated, with a lion’s voice.

  This alarmed everyone and the Griffin.

  “Were those wolves?” asked Flavius, distressed.

  Vaeludar jumped and climbed the mountain walls, to get to a high point to see what was coming. Once he was high enough, he looked towards the south.

  The south had smaller mountain ranges as far as his dragon eyes can see, before seeing the plains near the roots of the mountains.

  Five more howls echoed throughout the mountain ranges.

  “Hobgoblins,” stated Vaeludar, jumping down and landing with a bam.

  “Hobgoblins?” complained Galvin.

  “Yes, they’re following us. They are three days behind. Maybe four if we were to move now. But it is dark now, and we won’t be able to see in the dark.”

  “What do we do then?” asked Wonomi, worried.

  “We’ll sleep through the night,” answered Vaeludar. “Marina’s siren voice is echoing throughout the mountains. We will be safe for the night. At dawn, be ready to march out. We need to stay ahead of them if we are to survive through this mountain pass. If we are to survive these wastelands, we need to hurry and be—”