Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

Preparations

“It’s useless,” the old man beside me says. He’s been here for forty years. No one ever gets released and no one escapes. Once you’re condemned to the Sijjil, a funeral is held for you on the outside. Because once you die here, you vanish! How the Sijjil works is still unknown to us, but one apparent thing is that every time I try to leave, it wraps me in a painful memory. One of loss, or regret, fear, sorrow, or anger. We become prisoners of our negative emotions. Trapped within our own fears.

But here’s the fun part. I met someone who helped me out. A being that claims to have existed at the time of the Druids and the Beasts. Why he couldn’t come out himself, I have no idea. But he pointed me to this man – Adamas. And that is my story.

Aztek bowed as though an audience was giving him a round of applause. But he only received one comment. “What!!!” Alex and Ray exclaimed.

Alex could not believe that he took the risk to meet up under such short notice to listen to pure bullocks. An absolute waste of time it was. He started to question his choices of alliance. Was it wise to put his fate in the hands of a man who believed in foolhardy myths and legends?

“What is this about?” Ray asked. He was a lot less shaken than Alex, but he was shaken nonetheless.

“Didn’t you hear a word he said? This man is from the Sijjil. And to make it even better, he claims to have met a creature from the old days,” Adamas said.

“Just stop. We all know that the Sijjil does not exist. It’s a myth,” Alex iterated.

“I can assure you it is a lot more than that,” Aztek said.

“I can’t believe this. What proof do you have that this man is remotely telling the truth?” Alex asked.

There was silence in the room. Ray was curious as well. If Adamas trusted Aztek, he would too, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some reassurance.

“Have you heard of the Nether?” Adamas asked.

“What is this? Are you testing my knowledge of myths now? Every child knows what the Nether is. It’s where bad people go to when they die,” he teased. It was Maori’s version of hell. Unfortunately, it did little to deter the people of Maori from doing evil. One might say it encouraged some as well. An open dare to the universe – judge me if you can. It was known that people always sought to defy rules as there were those who were devoted to upholding them. But as unbelievable as it was, it was a story passed down the generations for some reason.

“I’ve been to the Nether,” Adamas said.

Alex burst into a heave of hysterical laughter. Was he undermining their intelligence? How could he claim something so preposterous? Even Ray who was devoted to Adamas had problems digesting that.

“How do you think I lost my presence?” Adamas asked bluntly.

Alex was caught off guard. He always believed that Adamas lacking a presence was a gift he was born with. At the very least, he obtained it. But that was not the case? “Lost?” Alex asked.

“The Nether takes something from you in exchange for your freedom. As does the Sijjil. Finding it was almost impossible. Some days I wish I didn’t, but its punishment turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” Adamas said.

The Sijjil was supposedly a myth as well. But unlike the Nether, there were differences in opinions. Some believed that the Sijjil didn’t exist altogether. Because Bohive Kingdom was at the border of Maori, there were very few who could confirm its existence. Even within the kingdom, intel was stiff. There was another opinion which was less popular incidentally that the Sijjil existed, but it had been blown out of proportion. It was just a regular prison and Bohive kingdom used stories of it to force the people in order. But people would pick the juicier story – that the Sijjil was on the boundary of the Nether and acted as one of its access points. And just like the Nether, the Sijjil could not be escape. But Adamas was saying something different. The Nether could be escaped, but at a cost. Was he confirming the myth that the Sijjil was indeed connected to the Nether?

Alex wasn’t sure what to make of the whole story. “So, what did you lose, Aztek?” Alex asked. If there was the slightest chance that the story was true, it shouldn’t deviate from the theory that Adamas postulated.

Aztek took out a knife from his pocket. He stared at Alex as he repeatedly stabbed his hand without batting an eyelid. It was an unsettling sight for Alex who certainly would not offer to heal him. He was bleeding a lot at the moment. “Pain,” he said. “I lost every sense of feeling in my body.”

“That is sick. I would kill for something like that,” Ray exclaimed. In a way, it did not feel like curses. More like blessings even. But there was a catch that both Aztek and Adamas left out. They were dying – physically and psychological as well. It was one of the reasons that Adamas began to undertake this mission of his.

“Let’s assume you’re saying the truth, what does that have to do with the plan of taking down the Royal family?” Alex asked.

“How do you intend to take care of Ara?” Adamas asked.

Alex went silent. Ara was the biggest obstacle to their plans. Zenon as well. The king would be hard to deal with as well. Jerome even. But Ara was impossible. Even Adamas admitted that Ara was beyond the abilities of the current generation. He was a relic from the past. He was estimated to be on par with the royal beasts of old – the most powerful of the beast. The only thing that can harm a royal beast was another royal beast. That was how the beast humans got rid of the beasts altogether.

“If we can access the Nether again, there is no way Ara will be able to escape it. It’s only a matter of baiting him,” Adamas said.

“But you got out. So did Aztek here. What’s stopping him from escaping as well?” Alex asked. If anyone had the remote chance of escaping any type of imprisonment, it was Ara. So, if it was already done in the past, then he certainly would be able to perform such a feat.

“What do you think the Nether was created to hold? Royal beasts and their equivalents of course,” Adamas said.

***

“Are healers allowed to participate?” Kiro asked. He had never bothered about the happenings within the capital before. And the fact that he was not born there did not help matters. Of course, they didn’t know this. He had smuggled his way into the capital about three years back. It wasn’t abnormal for outside to come and reside within the capital. However, it was rare for those who had no families within the capital to come from outside to reside there.

“Wow. You really don’t mix with others. I thought that was all a tough act,” Ara said. that was the only explanation. Every child in the Capital knew everything there was to know about the contest. It started about a year after the Armistice and it was marked three days after the remembrance of the day the armistice was formed. Unsurprisingly, even though at the time it was a shocker, the first winner of the contest was Ara. The next year, Zenon took the prize. Both years, they competed against Croft’s and Lo’s mightiest warriors. It was a lot tougher for them to win at the time. Ara was sixteen years of age when he won the tournament after defeating Zenon in the semis, while Zenon who won it a year after was seventeen. Since that time, they had greatly polished their skills. The winners of course were not allowed to enroll in subsequent contests. If the current Ara and Zenon were to participate, no one would stand a chance.

“There have been a few healers that participated but they never make it far against the knights and the beast humans. But we’ll change all that,” Vela said.

“You could have changed it years ago though,” Zenon teased.

“Well, now I want to. So live with it,” she said as she walked ahead of them.

Kiro watched as he walked behind them, unsure whether he was making the right choice or not.

They arrived at the Healers Nest to meet Aroha and Zhiyi waiting for them. But something was different about them. Aroha who usually had a mean face on most of the time wore a solemn look, while the ever-cheerful Zhiyi wore Aroha’s usual face. Even Kiro was concerned.

“Did I miss something when I left yesterday?” Kiro asked. It felt like a whole lot had happened, but he doubted it as he noticed that everyone else was also as surprised.

“What’s the problem girls?” Vela asked.

“We don’t want to be paired together. I have a life outside being Aroha’s little sister,” Zhiyi blurted out.

“I honestly don’t know how things got this bad,” Ara confessed. He could feel Vela’s blaming fingers pointing at him even though she wasn’t staring at him at the moment.

“What happened after you left the Nest?” Vela asked, completely ignoring Ara.

“Nothing. We just came to that conclusion,” Zhiyi iterated.

“No, we didn’t! You came to that conclusion entirely on your own,” Aroha finally spoke up. Her voice cracked. She was clearly shaken. A wreck of emotions was what she was.

“You’ve always wanted me out of your hair. So, what’s different now? you can finally get your life wish fulfilled now,” Zhiyi riposted.

“I never meant any of that. What am I without you, Zhiyi?” Aroha said. Her eyes were filled with tears, just as Zhiyi’s were.

Zhiyi held on to Aroha’s hands. What was she thinking? How could she decide to turn her back on Aroha because of some fantasies of hers? Aroha had done nothing and even if she had, it shouldn’t have meant so much. Aroha was like a mother to her as she was a sister. She was there for her whenever she needed her, even when she didn’t. And Zhiyi strived to do the same as much as she could. Aroha was the only family she had in the capital. Certainly she didn’t regard those Renoffs in the Renoff Manor as family. But there she was, hurting the only family she had. What was she thinking?

“Nothing. Nothing at all. As I am without you as well?” Zhiyi replied. Their embrace after that was long and heartwarming. It shook Vela as much as it shook Ara, Zenon and Kiro. Kiro so much because he had just been reunited with an old friend that was no longer the person he knew. The person that sacrificed everything for him. But there was nothing he could do for him anymore.

“I don’t know what this is all about but you’re not getting off training,” Vela goaded. The girls chuckles were muffled by their cracked voices. Vela didn’t bother to ask what the problem was. They had sorted it out. That was what mattered. Whatever it was, they had let it all out. It was things like that that made bonds stronger. She felt a somewhat nostalgic feeling coarse through her body. It had been a long time that she had seen such pure display of affection. It was beautiful to watch.

“Go get your face washed. We have a long day ahead of us,” Vela said and the girls obliged.

“What do you think that was all about?” Ara asked.

“Sibling squabble, maybe?” Zenon responded.

“Who cares? They’ve moved past it. And I don’t want anyone bring that up with them. Okay?” Vela instructed.

“Yes,” the chorused in a slur.

“Ara?” Vela reiterated. If there was anyone who would defy what she said and still ask the girls was Ara.

“Fine. I won’t,” he said after a long pause.

Vela smiled as she watched the girls return. It reminded her of someone she used to share her emotions with at some time like that. It reminded her of Ara.