NEVER NEVER NEVER

Into The Wild

I am amazed at flying like a bird. It makes my feeling soar with a free spirit. I finally understood how all the birds feel in the air. I am free, and I can go anywhere.

This flight brought me back the memory of seeing the swallow flying low before the rain. I was amazed at how quickly it could change the direction. One cloudy day in springtime, low flying swallows fill the sky.

I stood in the middle of the field and held my extra-long sword, other samurai used to call it a clothes pole.  I closed my eyes and heard the wind and the wing-flapping noises. My sword swings effortlessly, aiming at the bird—the direction of the movement in the air changes when the bird swiftly alters the path. 

My arm muscle shifts instinctively to pull back the sword perpendicularly. The sharp blade cut the swallow in half, and divided corpses fall on the ground. This is how I invented my technique, "Tusbame Gaeshi."

My body is too heavy to fly like a swallow. But I can fly sky high like an eagle. I move my wings strong, and my body floats upward. The walled city of Uruk becomes so small and far away. White wings keep lifting my body upward, and I feel as if I can reach the burning sun. Before the waxed wings melt away like what happened to Icarus, I descend toward two winding rivers and land at Euphrates' shore. 

As I kneel on the clear stream trying to drink some freshwater, something faintly moves far behind the forest. I assume that might be a bird flocking its feather and ignore the sound behind me. The thirst keeps me drinking the clear liquid from the river.

I see a mounting red-figure behind me through the reflection on the surface of the flowing river. Something tells me to jump out and dive into the water.

I jump!

The powerful giant claw swings fast and barely misses my body. A few white feathers fall from my left-wing. I dive deep and swim underwater as long and far as I can. After I am no longer able to hold my breath, I rise to the surface and stare at the shore. 

To my surprise, a three-headed red dragon is searching for me. My eyes and six glaring eyes meet.

The dragon screams out loud and blows the fire at me. I duck deep into the water again and change my direction to move further apart from the beast. While underwater, I try to see any opportunities for my survival.

My lungs hurt from the lack of air. I keep on swimming underwater all the way to the other side of the river. I protrude my face from the water to get some air, and I see the red dragon far away in the distance. The beast sees me and spreads its wings.

"Oh, s**t! He can fly." I curse myself for my ignorance, and I run away as fast as I can.

To get my winds dry, I open them wide enough without slowing down my running. The dragon easily crosses the Euphrates and chase after me from the air. I hear his screeching voice wanting to kill me instantly.

The three-headed dragon blows the fireballs one after another as I run zigzag to avoid the burning fire.  I know I need to make a drastic move to change the circumstance I am in. Otherwise, the dragon will burn me to death.

There is no weapon for me to fight the ferocious dragon with. I wish, at least, I have my long sword with me.

My first attempt is to fly in the air. So I spread the white wings hoping that they are dry enough to fly. The wings lift my body easily, and my back muscle maneuvers the wings instinctively. They became part of my body as much as my arms and legs.

The next thing I need to do is to look for a weapon. There is no way I could kill the dragon with my bear fits, even though the mad scientist implanted me with Hercule's upper body.

I see a thick, broken branch on a tall oak tree when looking down on the ground. This might be the perfect object to buy me time until finding the right weapon. I dive down and rip the branch apart from the trunk.

I face the dragon in the air and hold the thick branch in front of me. Three dragon's heads attack me simultaneously, one grabbing the branch, another assaulting me from left, and the last blowing the fireball.

I duck them and dive into the river head first. At least the dragon doesn't chase after me into the water. Underwater is the only place I feel safe. When I dive deep, I see a silver-like object reflecting the light at the bottom of the riverbed. I plunge deeper to see what it can be.

When I touch the object, it feels cold and smooth to my hand. I grab the end of it and bring it onto the surface to see what it is. To my surprise, it was an ancient battle sword used by the Sumer warrior.

It is quite different from the sword I used to, but this is sufficient enough to fight with the three-headed dragon. I revive with courage as if a thousand warriors arrived to rescue me. I stand tall, and my waist is still immersed in the water. I aim the sword at the beast and take on the most dangerous duel of my life.

I am ready to fight.

The key to this fight is keeping enough distance from the dragon. I know the beast's only weakness; the dragon doesn't like the water. As long as I am in the river, the dragon will not approach me. I wait patiently until one of three heads assaults me from the shore. I hold the battle sword in front of my face.

The first head jumps out from the left and tries to snatch the sword out of my hand. I duck down in time and swing the blade upward for a counter-attack. It barely misses the neck; a scale falls from its neck. It is the size of the human palm.

The middle head shoots out the fireball, and I duck beneath the water fast to avoid burning. If I catch fire, I am sure to be burnt like a roasted pig. I rise quickly and aim the sword at the beast again.

When the third head assaults me, a brief opportunity opened the door. The dragon made a slight mistake. The head overextended a little, chasing after me. And a quarter of a second is all I need to slay the dragon head. After jumping to the right, I swing the blade as hard as possible by targeting the back of the dragon's head.

The warrior's sword hit exactly where I aimed, and it cut the head off from its neck. A long headless neck moved like a water hose running wild, gushing out blue blood out. The head still chases after me until it runs out of its steam.

A three-headed dragon without a head loses balance, and it falls into the water. I seize the moment and jump on top of the fallen dragon, and I instantly stab the second dragon under the chin, and the sword easily pierces into the dragon's brain. The second head is dead.

The last head no longer has a will to fight, and it lowers its own head in the water. The fight is over, and the dragon will die sooner or later. I finally slew the three-headed dragon. The Euphrates turns into all blue tainted by the dragon's blood.

Later, I find out that the three-headed dragon is the fear we possess; fear of death, fear of the unknown, and fear of the future. I overcame three fears.