“I know of the history of Teutates, but have you notified him?” Geraldus asked again. “Letting him know what had been happening? These attacks are happening upon our people. Have you let him know?”
“We’ve sent ravens to him, and there have been no responses from him,” Uragiru finally answered. “I don’t know what he is doing, but we have to believe he is allying himself with the ancient Shadow King.”
“If that be true, your Majesty,” said Geraldus, “then we’ll be having war on all fronts. Who knows what lies in the Northern Region behind those mountains? Those who dared walk through those dangerous, dark mountains never return. Vaeludar and his companions have gone for three weeks now. I worry about him. I took him under my roof, adopted the lad myself when his mother came running to my doorstep.
“And I am quite surprised myself he had been raised under my roof yet he had been to master some aspects of magic. He received no special training from the Unicorns or the guidance from the Dragons. Vaeludar had no magical training yet he was being able to master the advance style of magic, and I’ve seen some magic he uses that Dragons don’t have. His father and mother must have defied several magical boundaries out of their reach.”
“If what you say is true about his unique skin and remarkable powers, then have no worry about your hybrid. He will surely make it back, alive and well. Such power he possesses may help with the fight with the Shadow King. Not many people have the same powers he has or have a single person fought a Minotaur and lived to tell the tale.
“Vaeludar is a rarity of the living; a hybrid of many talents Dragons or humans don’t have. He could be the new key in a new evolution of man.”
Geraldus stopped drinking his tea. He placed the teacup on the table and asked his friend, “The next step in evolution?”
“Your hybrid is the first kind of hybrid ever known. There had been no written record of a human dragon hybrid. We humans evolved from cavemen ten thousand years ago. With help from certain specimens, we evolved from people living in darkness to people living under the light of the sun.
“But long before we even existed, Lusìvar was casted away by the Crystal Dragon. Your hybrid could help humans evolve to the next level. Vaeludar could share his magic with us, as the other creatures did for us when we lived in caves. You know him; you should try to persuade him to share his power.”
“I am not sure,” said Geraldus. “I may know him, but I don’t know the power he wields. I don’t know what his parents have even wielded. His parents were people of science, learning and improving certain things from dead creatures.
“And I knew them as they were partners of studying, not lovers from two different worlds. They never loved each other. I wouldn’t know how they came up with the idea of Vaeludar. I even wonder if Belverda even gave birth to Vaeludar.”
“They were the big brains of science,” stated Uragiru. “I know they have figured a way. Look at Vaeludar now: upper half body of a human, with wings, legs, and tail of a dragon. It would have been a painful process.”
“Enough!” grunted Geraldus. “Enough talk about power. Vaeludar is not old enough nor has enough experience with power. He has yet to be trained, like I have mentioned. He is not ready.”
“If he was not ready, then why did you let him travel to the forbidden north?” asked Uragiru.
“Because I have my own experience in dealing with criminals and maintaining order in these lands. Vaeludar had only learned the path of violence. I don’t want the hybrid I raised as a son learning to be a tool for Lusìvar.”
“Or maybe he doesn’t want to be someone’s trophy!” said a familiar, dynamic voice that sounded of a complaint.
King Uragiru and Geraldus were startled by the strong voice. They both drew their swords and readied themselves for battle. They thought they were going to fight against a grim ghost, but they only ended up seeing the human dragon hybrid Vaeludar, in the flesh.
“Vaeludar?” gasped Geraldus.
The two men saw the hybrid’s body had grown more and looked more evolved. He seemed to be the same height, but he had more dragon scales that had grown from his elbows to his shoulders. His eyes had remained the same coloring, only darkened in deep contrast.
The hilt of the Crystal Sword was seen on Vaeludar’s back, apparently being strapped by a leather belt.
“I am a living, breathing, fighting, talking human dragon hybrid, thank you very much for noticing.”
The two men sighed in relief. They were glad to see Vaeludar back again. Amazingly, he seemed to have journeyed to the unknown regions of the north and traveled back. Alongside him, Marina, who seemed to have dramatically changed as well, and Naìra came running in between them.
“Father!” shouted Naìra. The little girl ran toward to her father. Geraldus gasped and embraced his daughter. She was crying with tears of joy, happy to see her father again if she had been gone for years.
“You’re back? What happened to you?” asked Geraldus.
“I’ll show you,” answered Vaeludar. The hybrid pointed an index finger on the side of his head. With a wave of his finger, a slimy, glowing liquid emerged from behind his hair and
