“Years? Then how was she able to appear in the form of a child?”
“She can do it. Belverda was always aging herself after absorbing the love or a great desire of a man. She would always turn into a child so she would forget the old man and get to know a young man. For years, she had been doing that. Such a cunning witch she was.”
“Ok, I had enough of my mother,” said Vaeludar. “Would you please show me the way to the castle?”
“Why be so hasty? We just met.”
The hermit was just entering to her hut. Walking slowly, she placed the basket on the ground floor.
“Because I want to put a permanent end to the Shadow King Lusìvar before he ends up putting people back where they were, working in slavery for another four thousand years. I want to be there to kill him before he rises to power again. My mother was looking for armor for me to battle against him.
“And I wield half of this Crystal Sword, and I am in the middle between three witches who are my aunts, a piper taking children for the witches, and a Five-Headed Dragon that serves had a body element for the Shadow King Lusìvar.”
The hermit sighed heavily.
“Always like your dragon father, placing life-threating duties above people. You have inherited not only their blood and also their personalities.”
“Even if I have to sacrifice those I love. I need to bring an end to this king.”
The hermit sighed again. “I am old and I can’t take you there. If you want to get there at the quickest pace, you must let the wind of the stream to carry you there. You have wings. Use them to get there.” The hermit pulled down a clothed certain, covering the hut’s opening gag.
Vaeludar was alone now. He never heard of wind coming from a stream.
The stream was wide as a river but not deep. It was five inches deep. He knew that waters couldn’t create wind. Water was a source for plants, life, and prosperity. It couldn’t create a gush of wind.
Vaeludar stepped into the center of the stream. He could feel the water flowing with ease. Softness tickled his scales. His claws were digging into the mug of stream. He could feel a cold running up his scales like a human getting a winter cold. His figures went numb. His wings twitching like nerves reacting to ten pinches. His muscles in his dragon legs gripped his bones real tightly. His skin sweated if he was standing for hours in an extremely hot desert. Vaeludar could feel his lungs growing larger and thinner. The hybrid could feel both of his human side and his dragon side both taking control of his body.
Suddenly, he could feel the water boiling with no heat. A feel of propelling air pulled Vaeludar out of the stream. His wings were spread wide out, carrying him in the air.
Vaeludar somehow lost control and his vision blacked out.
Vaeludar reopened his eyes, to view himself standing on a mountaintop. He found himself seeing other mountains around him. Miles and miles surrounding him. In one open spot, there was a valley of deep, lush, green grass, stretching around for dozens of miles. In the very direct center of the valley stood a tall-squared building with four towers built on the four corners. Three were coned towers and the fourth was flat.
It was the castle the Crystal Sword’s cloud showed him days earlier.
Finally, he made to the castle where the princess was being held by the Ice Dragon, which served had one of five heads to Lusìvar’s dragon body.
A CASTLE, A PRINCESS, AND AN ICE DRAGON
Y
es, I have made it the Lost Castle where this princess is held,” Vaeludar said loudly. He talked aloud
Vaeludar was staring at the castle in great relieve. He was almost to his main destination, which would only take him to another destination that will be in a cave. Vaeludar was slowly discovering every time he ends up close to an objective. It was always turning into a longer pace.
“She knows where the armor artifact is. I’d never known the armor and two swords have been made from the Crystal Dragon himself. I’d wonder if Valverno ever used these things when he was living, even if ever existed. But he is considered to be the son of a god, a dragon god. Maybe the Crystal Dragon used scales from his divine form and made weapons and armor for his son.
“But anyways, now I can save this thousand-year-old princess and have her tell me where to find the armor artifact, attach it to my body, pull out the other half of the sword, and possibly kill the witches and their servant.
“Saving the princess and have her show me where the cave is going to make my journey take longer. I hope the cave isn’t long and wide. I want to get back home and take a two-week vacation.”
Vaeludar jumped off and flew towards the castle. He was aiming to land on the flat watchtower.
As he flew closer, villages appeared the castle grounds. Farmhouses and stables stood tall and abandoned. A stone wall stretching out five miles long and wide covered the castle and the abandon villages. There wasn’t a scent of a human being or a frolic of a doe. The large area was a ghost town; a place where buildings remained built with no living people.
For a place that stood undisrupted for a thousand years, no plants grew on the buildings nor were they in ruins. Every building structure didn’t collapse; everything stood standing without a scratch. It was as if the entire place had been petrified from the decay of time and forced into a barrier where the power of time stops completely.
When Vaeludar flew closer to the
