“Because Mother and Father (your step-father) had died and you were the only one I had left in the family. I was still considered a child, and I didn’t know anyone else to look up to. I was young and I didn’t know what to do. Among the survivors from Pangaea, who were all turned to be White Knights, you helped us all survive. Over the next century, we ended up surviving every obstacle we encountered, and I wouldn’t have been able to survive without you.”
“And back then when we were still having fun as brother and sister, despite having different fathers and the same mother.”
Sora shook her head and step closer to Valverno’s head, so they were gazing at each other’s eyes. “So, what are you going to do now? Keep talking the fun quality time we both shared ten thousand years ago, or are we going to march forward to the village?”
“March forward to the village, says I.”
“That was too quick of an answer. Are you not concerned of your appearance?”
“More than one way to change my appearance, Sora.” Valverno spat on his hands with iced saliva and used that to smear over his face, waving his hands over the skin. After a few seconds, Valverno removed his hands and his face had change. His eyes were the blue-sclera, yellow-iris, and red-pupil they once were, and it wasn’t an illusion spell made from magic.
With a flap of his wings, the glowing ceased to excite and morphed back into the plain, old, dull wings he once had before, when he went by the name Vaeludar.
“Something Dragons learned to do: their iced saliva can turn their appearance into something else. Since I’m half, I found out I could do that too.”
“One can only hope no one would find out you have changed, physically.”
Valverno nodded and both walked toward the village.
As they walked closer, no one was seeing them coming to them. Many were just thinking they were merchants from the south like the Dragons and Centaurs. Or some were thinking they were mere travelers looking for a place to rest. Whatever the villagers were thinking, they didn’t pay much attention to the two people walking into the village.
“Look who has returned to the village!” called out a voice. “Vaeludar, savor of the Northern Region, has returned.”
Then, there were cries and shouts of joy filling in the air. All the humans were crying in cheers their beloved hero has returned. Hundreds or possibly a thousand voices all cried immediately the crier called out his old name; the old name he now despised and mostly hated.
Of course these people didn’t know the truth of his true identity. Unless King Uragiru had already told them of his real name, the villagers knew his old name and only knew him as a mortal human dragon hybrid and the son of the dragon Ralenskrit and the witch Belverda. They all cheer and called out his old name “Vaeludar” as he walked through the main street, as Sora walked behind him.
And for some reason, he had a strange feeling the clan leaders knew of his true identity He has a gut feeling instinct they already knew of his true self already, when he unleashed a small power battling the Five-Headed Dragon. He could only hope they would believe him when he was going to tell them about the truth about his identity, and of his new form when he went for a plundering dip into the Pool of Shadows.
From a far distance, the people looking at Valverno could easily tell it was him, with the dragon wings and the legs. His former yet disguised appearance kept him from revealing the people and the creatures from seeing his new demonic face. Valverno had a reputation to maintain and didn’t want to reveal it to the people looking at him.
He saw a few Dragons looking at him and saw them roaring with great joy. There were many flying Dragons soaring overhead and seemed they were kept busy lifting heavy crates of stones.
Then he looked at several Unicorns and Centaurs, which were also cheering for him. A few Pegasi were stomping their hooves hard, but they didn’t seem to be catching the thought of his disguise.
No matter where Valverno turned to see, there would be a creature or a human who would be cheering for him. It seemed his trick was working for the moment, even the Dragons that invented the trick with iced saliva were falling for the disguised.
Valverno knew the cheers from the villagers. His battle with the Five-Headed Dragon has apparently been told to everybody and every creature.
The village was now busting with great excitement of Valverno’s return, even though he still wants to go by the demigod name. His wings and legs the people didn’t mind seeing. They were just glad to see the hybrid that saved them from a tyrant
During the unexpected celebration of endless cheers, Valverno and Sora walked through the main street of the village and walked to the statue where the Crystal Dragon stood. A stone altar surrounded by stone pillars stood higher than usual and the statue was sparkling with diamond jewels. The statue looked more like the Crystal Dragon than just white marble stone standing for only decoration.
It was now a place of worshipping the Crystal Dragon can now take place, unlike the precious forms of worship. Valverno remembered how a human girl was almost used as a human sacrifice, in hopes the people thought it would be the only solution to keeping the five Dragons they feared away from the village.
Everything that the villagers had feared had been driven away from the village, thanks to Valverno and the group efforts his traveling companions put in place.
Before Valverno drew close to the statue behind the altar, he saw red coloring stained on the stone ground.
Dried blood!
The blood was completely dry and stained to the stone. There were a few scraps of people
