Their families were heartbroken by their deaths. The men who died were fathers of a few kids and now a single mother.
Vaeludar could feel sympathy for the farmers’ families and tried to comfort them, but Geraldus had already comforted them for their losses.
After the funerals were held, Vaeludar had traveled back to Geraldus’s house and to the empty room he lived in. Vaeludar had leaned the sword against a wall as he gazed outside. He could smell the autumn air breezing in the room from the open window, which had no glass inserted.
After feeling the cool breeze, Vaeludar flew into the air and felt the air as cool as ever. He’d ever felt more alive as he liked the season of autumn. The air was always blowing coolly and softly yet speedily, a combination of swiftness and coolness that was not too hot or too cold. He liked that kind of weather.
Then Vaeludar flew over to the borders of the Greenwood Forest. He saw the leaves were dark green as usual. He sniffed quickly.
He caught no scent of any animal or fur nearby, which meant the village, was safe for now. But who knows? There could be any dangerous threat looming somewhere deep in the forest.
As he turned around to leave, there was a small wind glazing at his feet. He looked down and saw nothing, until a small rag came rolling through the trees and flipped onto his feet. Vaeludar looked at the flying rag landing on the claws of his dragon feet and picked it up.
To his astonishment, it was the map of Shimabellia he got gotten rid of. The one piece of cloth Nerio and Arron had when they were running out of the Greenwood Forest with the Minotaur chasing them.
Vaeludar turned back and was about to throw it back into the forest it came from. Vaeludar didn’t want any more trouble or damage to come from a small cloth.
“Hold it,” said a Dragon.
Vaeludar halted his throw and saw the Dragon King, with some bodyguards, flying in Vaeludar’s direction. The King of Dragons landed several feet away from the hybrid as his guards landed some distance from him.
“What is it?” asked Vaeludar. “This piece of cloth nearly caused the destruction of this village, if I wasn’t here to stop it. I’m doing this village a favor and putting this back where it came from.”
“First, let me see that cloth you have in your hand,” said the Dragon King.
Vaeludar was hesitant, but who was he to argue with a large, giant dragon? The Dragon was ten times the size of Vaeludar and could easily take Vaeludar down. But Vaeludar had taken down the Minotaur, which had the brute strength to match those of a Dragon’s strength. But there were about six dragon guards behind the Dragon King, so fighting would be out of the question, meaning he had to give the Dragon King the cloth.
Vaeludar held out his hand while holding the cloth. The Dragon King lowered his head to have a closer look at the map of Shimabellia. He saw the three points labelled on the map.
He grunted, “This is something we must discuss,” said the Dragon King. “This piece of cloth you have found. It seems to be more than just a rag with the map of Shimabellia; it seems to be bigger than you could imagine.”
“How could it be bigger than I imagine?” asked Vaeludar.
“Because, Vaeludar, I known this handwriting; it was written by your father, Ralenskrit.”
A MEETING OF CREATURES
T
his little piece of cloth contains some distinct information. Belverda and Ralenskrit found out something: a dark secret about to be unleashed,” said the Dragon King.
Vaeludar, Geraldus, Alaric, Flavius, the Dragon King joined at a small union with other leaders of the creatures: the Unicorn King, Centaur King, Faery Queen, Griffin King, and Pegasus Queen. They were gathered at a small open area outside Geraldus’s village. The rulers of each species came together, under the calling of the Dragon King and of what he had to say.
Vaeludar was rather curious about what the Dragon King had to say about Ralenskrit.
“This map shows the island Shimabellia in complete blackness,” continued the Dragon King. “Now we know why there were so many evil creatures appearing out of nowhere and attacking in the same location at different times. Not to mention the unusual alliance between giants and humans. What I have found from this cloth was what Ralenskrit and Belverda created: they know Lusìvar is going to return.”
There was a small mutter in the crowd of rulers. Vaeludar, for the first time in his life, was going to hear about his parents and what they had to do with a villain from a tale.
“Lusìvar?” said Vaeludar. “Isn’t he just a myth?”
“He isn’t just a mere myth, from the perspective of Dragons,” said the Dragon King, “he is a real monster. As we all know, he lived during the Second Generation. He enslaved the creatures and lived in the greatest depression ever known.
“It wasn’t until the dragon god, the Crystal Dragon, arrived and saved us all from a bitter eternal agony. With his crystal scales shining like the sun and his claws shaped like a mountain’s peak, he fought against the ancient Shadow King and won. Casted away from the Living Life, Lusìvar vowed to regrow in strength and rule the islands once again.
“Then, for thousands of years, a line of descendants tried to rule the islands in his place, but the mysterious group the White Knights and their demigod leader, Valverno, protected the island Shimabellia from those future Shadow Kings.
“From there on, Shimabellia enjoyed a long era of peace until the past few weeks. Today, we have gathered here to look at this map. This map contains three markings:
