Nothing to do…
The days are dragging along slowly…
So boring, so old.. .
I’m ___tting so leth),,+”’
It& ęÿūî and I.._______
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-Chapter 5: Worlds Collide-
Sheila wakes up hours later, the dragon cuddling close to her.
Despite his metal outer casing, in the dead of winter, he was very warm.
Sheila felt the warmth over her, she resisted the urge to open her eyes, choosing rather to go back to sleep.
But she wondered how long she had been asleep, so she opened
her eyes and looked to Leon.
He was sitting behind her, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.
“Lazy…But I guess I can’t blame him…” Sheila says.
Suddenly, he reaches up, putting his hand on the hilt of his blade.
“Someone’s coming…” he says, not opening his eyes.
“You were awake this whole
time?” Sheila asks, still a bit drowsy, “…How long have I been asleep?”
“Almost five hours,” he replied.
She could now hear footsteps approaching quickly.
“Sir! The convey has arrived and is ready for yo–” one of their soldiers came in and stopped short, his jaw dropping at the sight of the dragon.
“Very good. Thank you for the report. We will leave shortly, Leon replies as he helps Sheila up. The dragon is quick to follow as they leave.
They get to the convoy and make their preparations for the short trip ahead of them. They leave at sundown to use the cover of night to keep their contents hidden.
Their trip is quiet and relatively easy. They make it back to their castle as the sun was just rising.
Leon and Sheila took the veiled cage holding the dragon to the kings personal quarters and uncovered the cage.
“What in the name of…?” the king said as he examined Ray closely.
“He’s very tame, we assure you.” Sheila says. “Yeah, he’s actually really playful.” Leon adds.
The king is speechless as his eyes are locked on the dragon. “This…this thing…It shouldn’t be here.” the king stammers before having a fit of coughing.
“But, Your Majesty, we believe THIS is the secret weapon that the town was hiding.” Sheila says, “We worked very hard to find him. We must be able to use him…”
“I must have time to confer with my counsel of this…I shall present this to them this evening.” The king says as two guards help him from his throne to his chambers. “…Until then, we shall keep it in the dungeon lock up. I’ll assign some guards for it.”
“Actually, Your Majesty, we Sheila and I would like to watch over him in there tonight.” Leon says with a smile.
Ray let’s out an excited squeak as he offers.
“Very well, you two can watch over it tonight,” the king says as he makes his way into his chambers.
The night was quiet and uneventful as Leon and Sheila lay on the bundles of hay to use as beds in the dungeon.
Ray was roaming around curiously, examining everything he found very closely.
Leon sat ready with his weapon.
“You look tense. What’s wrong?” Sheila asked.
Leon looked at her, “I just want to be ready should any of the other nations decide that they are the only one capable of utilizing this dragon for their own purposes…”
“But no one knows we have him.” Sheila said, trying to get Leon to relax a bit.
“…But what about Rita?” Leon replies.
“She’s a petty thief, and a bad one at that. We don’t have to worry about her.” Sheila said, chuckling a bit.
“…But what about all the other people like her? They all want treasure or power…” Leon says, turning his gaze towards Ray, who’s cuddled up to Sheila. “…And we have both…”
“It’s not like you to worry about stuff so much, Leon.” Sheila says.
“…This time is different…Ray is a living creature, not just a weapon…But people intend to treat him like one…” Leon says as he lies down and turns away from Sheila. “…Goodnight…”
–Chapter 4- Revelations.–
The metallic hand slowly broke pieces of the stone away. A figure soon rose from the gap it made. It was a small creature covered in the finest platinum. It was small, only about two feet tall. It stumbled out of the stone, rolling across the floor to Sheila and Leons feet.
“…It’s…It’s a baby dragon…!” Sheila said.
“So, this was the secret weapon…” Leon said, straining to control his excitement.
The baby dragon looked up at the two. Through it’s thick metal hide, two bright eyes could be seen, one, garnet in color, and the other, topaz.
The dragon squeaked at their feet before attempting to stand on all four feet.
It stumbled, then looked back up at the two, with eyes still bright, hinting at a smile from it’s awkward attempt to stand on it’s own.
“It must think we’re its parents…” Sheila said as she knelt down to it.
It looked her in the eyes, then brushed its nose against hers.
“Kinda cute, really.” Sheila adds.
“I guess so,” Leon replies, “Let’s see you a bit closer,” he said as he kneeled down to look at the baby dragon.
He got his face close to it’s, and as it made contact, the baby dragon let out a tiny sneeze, but strong enough to still cause the baby dragon to roll onto it’s back. Leon helped it back upright.
“Hmmm…” Leon said, “It’s not nearly as heavy as it looks.” he was amazed how light the dragon was.
“So, how do we get this ‘weapon’ home?” Sheila asked as she looked at Leon.
The dragon looked up at Sheila and then brushed up against her leg.
“We just walk out of here. Looks like he’ll gladly follow.” Leon replied with a smirk.
“I mean, what do we even make of this? We can’t just waltz back into our town with a baby dragon.” Sheila said, getting tense, “And most importantly, why were they trying to hatch a dragon?”
“I don’t know…” Leon replied, “…but they might have been on to something…How do you quickly eliminate a dragon? By sending another dragon at it…”
Sheila looked down at the dragon, while it looked back up at her and let out a short, cheerful squeak, “I guess so…So, how do we get this dragon to the king?”
“…You stay here with it. I’ll go tell our soldiers to go back to the castle and get a small caravan so we can try to keep this under wraps for right now.” Leon said as he ran back down the hall.
“So…what should we name you?” Sheila said quietly as she looked down at the dragon.
The dragon wandered around the room, sniffing at things, occasionally turning to Sheila and squeaking whenever it found something interesting.
She chuckled more and more as the baby dragon explored. It would keep returning to her feet now and then to make sure she was still there.
“I’m back,” Leon said as he entered the room quickly, breathing heavily, “I had a few of our troops head back home. They should return before noon tomorrow.”
“So, we have to set up camp here for the night?” Sheila asked.
“Yeah. Our troops were already prepared for this.” Leon began, “They’ve been taking turns resting and patrolling. The king had also sent a backup squad shortly after we departed. We’ll be well-guarded through the night.”
“So, what about Ray?” Sheila asked.
“…Who?” Leon asks as he lies down on the ground with his hands behind his head.
Sheila tilts her head towards the dragon. He’s resting at her feet as she gently strokes his back.
“Ah…Well, he looks comfortable. Let’s just let him sleep. You should get some rest, too. I’ll keep an eye on both of you.”
“Thanks, Leon.” Sheila says as she lies down with the dragon.
Chapter 1- Castle Quest, 2008.
-They explored the old castle ruins laid to waste by the dragons that attacked the previous day. The group battled a Blue, Red, Yellow, and Green Dragons. They decided to fall back because things weren’t as they seemed.
They were first ambushed by the Red Dragon and Blue Dragon. Then The Yellow Dragon and Green Dragon ambushed them as soon as they eliminated the Red Dragon and Blue Dragon-
Chapter 2- The Sun Hangs Low.
-The group sets up camp and reaches their castle the next day. They meet with their king.-
–Chapter 3- The Search Continues.–
“I shall meet with you in the morning, Leon, to discuss what our options currently are. Please make sure your men are ready for the mission…”
“Yes, your liege…” Leon replied as he stood.
The next morning, Sheila, Leon, and his soldiers stood lined up, awaiting the king.
“It hurts to see him like this…he…he’s not going to make it much longer…” Leon said to Sheila, “His injuries combined with his age…”
“I know…No magic could fix this…” Sheila whispered.
The king arrived shortly after, escorted by two guards to help him move.
“I believe the castle town you
salvaged through last night was a setup…The dragons remained well after destroying the populace, something they aren’t known for…” the king said with a raspy voice, “…But we can’t disregard the evidence suggesting there are weapons that can slay the dragons. I want you to continue your search today”
“Yes, your liege. We shall leave immediately.” Leon answered.
“…But there is one other thing…” the king said, “…This is no longer a search-and-rescue mission…Anyone you come across is to be treated as an independent. You are not to help them in any way, and if they insist on making things
difficult…you must eliminate them immediately.” the king finished saying, his head lowered now.
“I understand…” Leon replied before saluting the king.
The troops arrived at the ruins of the castle town in the early afternoon.
The blood of the dragons could be smelled from outside the gates.
The castle looked far worse in the day light.
It was ravaged, scratch marks and dried blood stains could be seen clearly along the walls.
A few bones were seen scattered here and there, but not many.
Doors stood firmly attached to their hinges, many of which bared no damage, whatsoever.
This quickly
caught Leons attention.
“Did they really set this up?…” Sheila whispers to Leon, “This is so strange…It looks like the dragons are the only ones who put up any resistance…”
“Yeah…but if this IS a set up…I don’t see the angle…If they were waiting to ambush travelers, they surely would have done
that last night…”
“Perhaps they intended to…and the dragons beat them to it…” Sheila suggested as they continued through the halls.
They soon passed the bloody scene of battle from the previous night.
The dragons’ bodies were limp and lifeless. The meat was already being eaten by various rodents.
Around the remains of the green dragon, there were several small rodents and even a few larger woodland creatures lying deceased as the green dragons flesh was extremely poisonous.
“Those poor animals…” Sheila said as she put her closed hand to her chest, tilted her head down and closed her eyes.
“The animals tend to avoid dragons, living or dead…Something must be wrong…” Leon said as he continued looking forward.
They soon reached the throne room deep in the castle. As soon as they entered, a woman with red hair leaped down from the rafters.
“The treasure will be ours.” she said as she held
out her dagger. Several more men and women in ragged clothes came out from behind the pillars.
“Thieves.” Leon says as he grips his sword.
“We prefer the term ‘Rogues’.” the red-haired woman says.
The two groups quickly go into battle.
The battle soon ends as most of the rogues flee from the threat of
defeat.
“The treasure will be ours!” the red-haired woman said as she battled with Leon, “If we find the treasure first and slay the dragons, WE will get the glory. And along with it, the riches of a thankful kingdom!”
She suddenly realizes in her ranting that she had broken her dagger while fighting.
“I, Rita, will be the worlds greatest thief!” the red-haired woman said as she laughed defiantly.
“I thought you were a ‘Rogue’.” Leon said as he smiled and lowered his blade and shield a bit, relaxing now that Rita clearly wasn’t a serious threat.
“Oh, I…I mean…it’s just–Oh, never mind!” Rita says before fleeing the
throne room in a hurry.
“Geez…looks like there’s another one on the loose, now…” Leon laughed as he sheathed his blade.
“It’s unfortunate, really…” Sheila said as she walked up next to him, “…She has no idea what might happen if the wrong hands get ahold of this this supposed weapon…”
“She wouldn’t be able to even figure out how the weapon works. Now let’s get going.” Leon said as everyone began to inspect the throne room.
“Hey, Leon, look at this… Sheila said, examining the throne. At the top of it among the intricate design was three circles with gems at the top, a Garnet in the
middle circle, a topaz in the right, and a amethyst in the left circle.
“…The colors of the castles emblem and war flag…But they’re aligned wrong.” Sheila said as she rotated the the circles so that the gemstones were pointing inward at the center.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of stone gears could be
heard and felt beneath the throne room.
The gemstones then were drained of their color, revealing that it was simple glass with colored fluid in each one as they drained and all three refilled with an amber liquid.
Behind the throne, the stone wall could be seen rising to reveal a small, dimly lit hall.
“Hmm…Too cheap to afford real gems?” Leon grinned as Sheila shot a cold stare in his direction. They lined up to walk down the hallway as quickly as they could. The other soldiers stayed behind to stand guard.
Sheila and Leon walked in silence for several minutes before reaching a stone door.
There seemed to be no way of opening it, but little clear tubes led to the sides and the top of the door. They all led from the entrance to this end of the hall.
Then, the garnet, topaz and amethyst liquids came flooding each of the tubes.
The door rumbled deeply as it slowly slid open.
The room beyond
appeared to be the inside of a tower.
Large stone columns reached up to the ceiling several stories above Sheila and Leon.
At the top, the ceiling held a stained-glass window. Light shined dimly through it. It held no pattern, but rather, was a mix of colored panels.
Scattered randomly up the columns were mirrors, which angled downward along the columns, lower and lower with each one.
The colored liquids began crawling up little tubes which spiraled upwards on each column. They reached the top and the stained-glass window began to gain color. There were dozens of
panels in the window, and every single one was filling with a different color.
Light began to pour through the window and a large clear rounded lens could be seen just below the window.
The colors of light were focused through the lens and began ricocheting down each mirror.
The bottom one reflected to
a round stone in the middle of the room.
It began to rock gently as it was quickly heated. The entire room began to become uncomfortable with the heat.
The stone was rattling more and more every second.
Then, the light from the stained-glass window slowly faded.
The stone suddenly stopped moving.
Then, it jumped slightly as a quiet thumping sound could be heard.
“I’m starting to think that’s not a stone…” Leon said, gripping the handle of his sword.
“I think…” Sheila started, “…I think it’s an e–” she was interrupted as a small, metallic hand broke out from under the surface of the
mysterious stone that lay before the two.
She glows…
She is the light…
She brings joy and laughter wherever she shines her rays upon.
She is the warm feeling within all of you.
She is the source of all life.
She is the light itself.
The shadows have suited me better…
I am pure darkness.
I am the moonless night. I am the infinite cosmos.
I am the dark hand of death, always ready to take everything away from you.
I am the cynicism and distrust within the bottom of your soul.
I am a simple shadow.
She is everything.
I am nothing.
We are the two strongest forces in existence.
We need each other.
Without me, her light would serve no purpose. How could she light up anything when there is no shade?
I need her, as well.
I need everyone else to be happy. I can’t watch them bear the same pain I do…
And in order for me to exist, I need a source of light to cast my shadow…And there will have to be something between us in order for that to happen.
This is why we can never be together.
We need each other to exist, but we can’t exist together…
She has a light within that can help others. She needs to guide them.
I need to stay in the shadows, away from the sight of others.
I need to be isolated and unrecognized in order to help others.
No one can know that I’m here for them.
I can’t help much, but I can always provide the cooling shade under a tree, while she shines up above, showing them that there is light all around.
I can bring the misguided souls to her, and she can lead them away from my dark fate, so that I may survive the guilt of collecting the souls of the misguided. I can’t help them, but I can send them in the right direction.
-Matt K., May 29th, 2010
No one is immune to the flow of time.
We must all die, eventually…Some, sooner than others…
Death is the only guarantee in life, yet we will never be prepared for it.
The outcomes that we refer to as inevitable are the ones that blind side us, never giving us the chance to brace ourselves.
How CAN you brace yourself for death?
It is impossible.
It would seem that death exists merely to torment us while we are alive…
When someone you care about passes away, they don’t make the journey alone…A part of you dies with them, the part of you that you see in them.
In the end, all you can really hope for is that there is enough pieces to go around…
-Matt K., January 9th, 2010
*Inspired by my cat Spot.
I’ve always wanted to help others.
I was not raised with such intentions.
There is something that drives me to help others.
It is something I had to create for myself…
Always putting others first…
Almost always putting myself never…
What good am I to others if I can’t save myself?
I am beginning to understand that I can no longer carry the weight of the world on my shoulders…
However, I believe that the ability to care is what makes someone a hero…
I’m starting to lose that ability…
I know now that you can’t save people from themselves…
And I am no exception…
I can’t save me from myself.
Deep down, I’m always going to care…
I’m always going to try to help others through their pain, while ignoring my own, rather than handling it…
Like I said, you can’t save people from themselves…And I am no exception…
I’m surprised that it has taken me this long to realize this…
Any REAL hero would have known this from the beginning…
But I’m no hero…
I’m nothing but a child trying achieve the impossible…
-Matt K., December 31st, 2009
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