"Hah, Hoo!!! I'm ready now!" There was a young boy, went into the forest. His ears filled with a collective chip of the birds.
Caw!!!! Caw!!!
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!
Trr! Trr! Trr!
"I'm Xerxez Herzthroven, a twelve-year-old prince born in Thallerion, at the Betelgeuse District." Today, he's going to march beneath the green, turdy oak trees like knights standing along his path. His mother's name was Xurien Wrez Herzthroven, she loves poetry, and singing was her hobby. And his father, Cerceux Herzthroven, king of Thallerion. Sometimes, he accompany him on his training lesson for archery.
"Yeak!" The boy stop as he heard a different chirp. "What's that chirp?
The young boy believed the Earth was spinning continuously. In every spin—a week, a month, or a year—a bird's nest would be destroyed and then rebuilt again in a glimpse. Every branch, every bustling blade of grass, and every fallen dried leaf, perhaps there were two, three, or even four shiny eggs.
What truly captivated him were the vibrant eggshells—vivid red, pure white, deep blue, and a playful mix of speckles. Each one had a unique size and gentle weight. Some were smooth, others delightfully rough. Each one was perfectly familiar in the cup of his hands.
Tweeet!!! Tweet!!!
As he moved through the earthly woods beneath the verdant canopy, each step was muffled by the moss-coated earth. Above his head, the cherished chorus of chirping robins, their bright chests orange against their blue feathers, echoed from the high branches of a thick, lustrous oak.
The boy's tough leather shoes, made for traversing any obstacle as he walked in the roots of a giant tree, it crunched faintly on the fallen leaves, carrying him deeper into the woods. A simple bow made of bamboo and strong nylon was slung diagonally across his back, and the quiver of arrows at his hip hinted at his purpose, though the reason for his solitary journey remained hidden beneath his royal blue jacket and simple white t-shirt.
Glob! Gloob! The boy heard a sound of water movement .
He traced each tree branch as if following the crooked lines of a map. There, he spotted a blue shimmer—a robin's nest, hidden high up in an old oak tree. His heart swelled with excitement. In the meantime, eyes watched him from under the water. Sometimes, a creature moved closer to him, but it would hide in the thick mud if he noticed it. "Hmm...maybe it was just a tiny creature, toying at me."
With swift movements, he began to climb the tree, his feet gripping the rough bark tightly. Branches scratched him and brittle twigs broke as he climbed carefully. Soon, the forest lay beneath him like a green ocean. When he reached the nest, he carefully peered inside, his head rising like a sun.
"hehe..." He laughed as he saw the three shiny blue eggs lying there. "Got ya!!"
A wide smile spread across his face as he collected two of the eggs, leaving the smaller one to hatch. He whispered a sound of triumph. This was pure happiness, a feeling better than any royal decree. He stood in the tree, sightseeing the paradise below and then he breathed.
Grahh-grahh-grahh!"
"Hehe..." He saw more pale red feathers over there! "Hmm... that's a piece of cake!"
Hraahnk! Hrrrooonk! Hrrrahh!
Hrrrnkkk, hrrrnnkk!!!
The flamingo parents were unaware of his presence. "I'm sure I could snatch their eggs as many as possible. Because I am a child of Thallerion!" The flamingoes squeaked joyfully, but the young boy was now in the thick bushes, waiting for an opportunity.
The young boy knew that being a citizen of Thallerion, he belonged to a famous bloodline of hunters. "Grandpa told me...we were famous hunters back then."
But everything had changed because the protector of Thallerion had disappeared. Imagine, the world where everyone was possessed by their guardian, but for Thallerion, the name derived from the Teller of Orion, referred to as Tell'Rion. But, many people was mockingly called them, the abandoned one. They are no longer called a hunter, but the young boy, proved that even in a simple way of hunting... He was proud to be called a hunter, by himself. Well, he was definitely, the hunter of eggs.
Ten thousand years ago, Thallerion was guarded by the Constellar entity, Orion, known as a king of hunting. But during that time, human, beasts, power, and magic emerged in a single planet. Called, the last bastion of life. This planet was the only planet, hold significant life, thus, Constellar entities sent here to protect lives of human, but, humanity was a vessel of imperfection, due to their insatiable greed, thirst of power, and selfishness to gain more authority, acknowledgement and even popularity. turned out to be a great violation to the very purpose of their guardian... human used their ability to fight one another, and thus...chaos erupted drastically.
Constellar entities are not actually exorcising human as their vessel, they actually combining their soul to the mortal souls, to form a great bloodline, each bloodline become a unique being with capable to transform into a superhuman, creature, and even enhance abilities that normal people won't have.
Orion's ability helped Thallerion's ancestors to defeat thousand beasts, demons, and other Nations with Constellar entities, his hunting abilities, and fighting skills gain popularity to the dignity of all Thallerion people. They are hunters, until one day, Draconian nation, the bloodline of dragons fought hard against Thallerion nation. All dragons were stained by the Thallerion warrior, but that was the time, Orion, the guardian of Thallerion disappeared, too.
Hraahnk! Hrrrooonk! Hrrrahh!
Grahh-grahh-grahh!
Hrrrnkkk, hrrrnnkkk
"And that's why...I am here grabbing the eggs of flamingoes in the mud mound." The flamingoes' nest was not made of dried leaves, but indeed of mud. The boy again noticed the moving things beneath the water...something big like a fish, and then the movement suddenly disappeared.
Glob! Gloob! The water moved
"What are those moving things beneath the swamp?" He noticed it but was still unaware of the unknown creature's true form. At the same time, there was an object not far away in the flamingoes' bathing place, then, it creates bubbles with a low pitch, something calling at him. "Psst!" Gloop!
Hrrrnkkk, hrrrnnkkk!!!
"Anyway, those aggressive flamingoes almost pecked my butt!" He snatched the flamingo eggs from the mud mound in the swamp. The flamingoes saw him as an enemy. "Ouch!" He was still lucky even though the female flamingoes were really aggressive, chasing him, was still able to get their eggs. He put the light beige eggshells into his pouch basket. "Of course, one would be left to hatch."
SQUAWK!!!! SWAAAAWK!!!!
"Oh...that sound," his ears gripped an adorable squawk, different from any earthly birds. "If I am not mistaken...that sound was...The Crane!" Then he headed towards the big trees, searching for the source of the squawk. "If I could snatch one, it would be the most victorious hunt in my youthful life. But I still haven't gotten one. I wish I could trace their nest."
He had waited for so long, promising his grandpa that one day, if he could snatch one, he would give it to him. But...his grandpa had died a year ago. He sighed.
"Hmm...Don't worry, Grandpa, wherever you are in heaven, I promise to bring eggs from that mysterious bird to your tomb."
Gloob! Glob!
He wondered what the color of that Crane was. "Maybe it is also big?" This hunting season would be challenging for him. Concurrently, the creature moved in the mangroves, but the young prince just ignored it, thinking it was only a fish.
"Pssst!" The boy heard the whistle at him, but this time it was clear, and audible, as he waded through the knee-deep water, something glimmered at his feet, encrusted with sand and half-submerged. "Yeak!"
"Woah, what is this?"
At his first glance, he thought it was a stone, but upon closer inspection, he saw jewels embedded in its design.
"Oh, it's a dagger! Look, it's beautiful! Like...like a treasure. Who is the owner of this dagger?"
He looked around. From the thick mangroves, the water moved as if a giant fish was aggressively swimming towards him, however, before the creature do an ill intention, the dagger trembled on his palm as if it give him a warning. "Yow, the dagger was shaking?!"
Suddenly the dagger utter a manly voice, like a goblin pitch. "Yeak! Look out! "
"Whoa...what that sound!?" His skin hairs goosebumps, as he heard a guttural voice of a dagger, like a short man, with high pitch tone. "You're talking?"
"Yeak! Monster!"
"GRAWRR!!!!" The unknown creature suddenly jumped toward his hand where the dagger was located. "That treasure is mine!!!" it sounded, but in Xerxez's ear, he couldn't understand what it was mumbling about.
"Whaaaaaaa!!!!!! Monster!!!!?" The boy was shocked upon seeing the creature jumping towards him. It was a swamp lizard, with sharp claws like a sloth's. It was as big as a wild boar. He stepped back in astonishment, but its tail suddenly coiled around Xerxez's foot. "Wheeeere ya goin'!!!! Groock!" The lizard mumbled, but the young prince still didn't understand it. It sounded like a frog... "Crokcrokklock!"
"The monster said...well don't ever try to hand me over him!"
"That's what he said?" The creature trying to reach the dagger but the boy lifted it higher. "Hey...Let me go!!!!"
"You talking-dagger, help me!!!! —Ouch!!!" His foot was bleeding. "Hoo, you bit me!?" He stared painfully at the lizard.
Then, the lizard started squinting a green substance around Xerxez's surroundings. "Heh… this piss o' mine'll turn the water green an' toxic. Even the fish'll keel over. The stench alone'll knock ya out cold. Crok crok! Go on—smell it, ya little runt!"
"Don't smell it, young man! Yeak!" The dagger said.
"Disgusting!!!! What is this green!?" The boy now understand what creature was saying as the dagger translated it, but he felt nauseous. "What a foul odor! Like...like a bitter dog fart?!"
"Use me hit him!" The dagger ordered. "Huh?"
The boy tried to escape from the reptilian's grip, which felt like an iron chain. It gripped him tightly like a snake. The moment he thought to stab the creature, the dagger in his hand suddenly flared up with a blinding light, accompanied by the sound of a sharp shriek from a bird. "What happening at you?!" The boy was blown up with wonder, he can't even imagine how it went through. But his hand, commanded, with precise action.
"Drrr… wh-what's this…? That blade's sparkin' up—lightnin'? Crok crok!! I gotta tell the master 'bout this… but—gaaah! Nooo! Ughhh! You'll pay for that, ya nasty little brat!" He was electrocuted.
Clop!!! clop!!!! His four-pedal walked in the water without emerging in the water like a salamander lizard that run disparately, as wild as breathless fish.
"Wh-what's happening, did you kill it?" He asked curiously, then, when he realized the lizard was hurt, he laughed sarcastically. "Hahahha! The lizard ran away!!!" He saw the electric energy on the dagger hit its rough skin, then, it suddenly turned off as if it easy as he was just using a stick match. "Thank you, talking-dagger!"
"Yeaks!"
"You coward!!!" He shouted loudly in the swamp, but he thought it was a baby Komodo dragon. "Such a nuisance! Don't try to show your face again...or you'll be toasted, lizard!!!!" The boy shouted again with pride. "My grandpa's stories about the monsters outside of the Thallerion's wall was real." He amazed. "Hey, why are you talking?" He moved it upside down, as he scrutinized. "I'm a super dagger, yeaks!"
"Ow, fantastic, you'll be my sidekick!" The boy was amazed. "Super dagger! But, I'll call you: YEAK!"
"Any way... let's move on with that...it is just a rare encounter, with a talking lizard."
He continued to watch, after he put the dagger in his pouch, waiting for the bird to sound again, even though his foot felt numb. He crept even closer to the thick bushes. Suddenly, he felt something trembling in his pouch, as if giving him another warning. "Oh, I get it... every time it shake...there is a threat coming."
While all this was going on, the lizard, with severe wounds, still managed to reach its master. It was panting and weakening. "The nasty boy...has a powerful treasure. He was in the stream... near the swamp."
"Treasure!?" The master's lips slit sharply on its rough cheek with a hint of greed. "Let's go!!! Let's hunt for a treasure!!!" He commanded to all frolicking lizards.
"Be careful...the dagger has a lightning ability! It can electrocute!"
The swamp lizard called many companions, a whole clan in unison. Their rhythmic sound was like iron screeching against each other. The swamp became dirty with the green substance.
"Whoa...why are there so many?"
"Oh, so this is the little brat, with a royal dress, haha...I wonder why he is alone here?" The master of the lizards thought. "Where is the dagger, is he hiding it under his jacket or in the pouch basket?"
"Young boy...give us the dagger if you don't want pain." The Chief of the swamp lizards spoke, it is bigger from the rest, as big as old komodo-dragon.
"Whoa, the swamp lizard can speak?"
"We command you...Give us the dagger or else..."
"Who are you?" The boy gripped his pouch. He tried to run but another group appeared, blocking his way out. "Grrr, why are they trying to get the dagger?" He was frightened. "Yeaks, what I'm supposed to do now?" He whispered.
"You are just an innocent boy, but...if you don't want to give that dagger....hmm, we're sorry about your poor soul vessel." The boy felt that the group had bad intentions to hurt him. "For many years of searching item...finally, we found high valued treasure." The master lizard stood in front of the boy. The lizard voice was man, with four arms, and two legs. His face with fan shaped jaws, vibrating.
"I am the one who found it...not you!" The boy stood valorous, defending his right to own the dagger.
"I think they are just treasure-hunter....Hmm, I've never expected that creatures like them would be fond of treasure hunting?" The boy pondered to himself.
"Sure, kid...you are! But, I'm telling you...have mercy on your poor soul vessel!" His violet tongue tasted the air as he sensed the boy fear. "Mmmmm, I tasted his fear as sweet as rodent's blood. They gnashed their sharp teeth with a rhythmic tremble like a cricket reverberating through the swamp, as their leader spoke. The lizard leader wondered upon seeing the pouch something moving.
"Yeak! Yeak! Chick! Chick!"
"Wait a minute, are those eggs hatching? Because of the intense fear from the gnashing sounds created by the swamp lizards??" He stopped moving and sensed the moment as he thought. " Or the talking-dagger....yeak like chick!?"
TREMBLE!!!!
"It's actually moving! It moved insistently. Did it just incubate the eggs itself? Or, the dagger itself, telling me a new warning?"
"Yeak!!!" The dagger responded.
The swamp lizards wondered what the boy was doing, they stop moving like a statue in a moment, afraid they might be electrocuted by the dagger, as the reporter had said it had the power to electrocute.
He immediately leaned against a moss-covered tree, widening the pouch's mouth, and peeked inside. He first took the dagger, his fingers closing around the hilt. "Yeaks, why are you making noise!! They notice you now!!"
There were so many eggs inside the pouch basket. Luckily, no chicks were inside. But, the dagger was glaring with an intense light. He stared intently at the dagger, a slight tremble coursing through his palm.
"Hooo...careful, young kid...That dagger is not good in your hand. Give it to us, and you can leave freely!" They moved in a calculated way, perhaps with doubt that they might be electrocuted by the dagger too. "I can't imagine, how powerful that dagger is." The leader of lizard pondered. "Hmm, he is just a little boy, compared to our numbers. Wait, is he talking to a dagger?"
"Tongue him!!!" The leader commanded his retinue to use their prehensile tongues to stop the young boy from using it against them.
"Please... Yeak, save my life— Aghs!!" The boy desperately calling to dagger as if he think it was a hero who can save him. But, it just sparked painfully, like he was struck by a lightning from the sky. It's energy running through all his veins. "I said, help me, ack!" he murmured, but his vision was faded. After it bit his palm without warning, he momentarily lost consciousness and was teleported to another place. "Yeak! Yeak!"
Time paused.
His eyes blinked, then he blinked again.
"Where am I? Why are there so many clouds here?" He rubbed his eyes. "Am I dead?"
THUD!
He heard a man's voice calling out to him, moving towards him. "Xerxez!" His deep voice was seemingly gallant with a cold tone.
"Yeak! Is that you?" Wait...Who are you?" He looked around the unfamiliar place. Then he mused, "Why can't I see the man?"
"Where is my talking-dagger?" The boy stood in the calm, empty place with a moderate light, and then he asked another question. "How do you know my name?"
"Do you remember the dagger?" His question reverberated around Xerxez's ears. The voice was impressed by what he saw, then he thought. "He is a kid of Thallerion?"
"Uh, you mean the talking dagger? I just found it in the stream?" The boy said, then he was deep in thought. "Well, I don't know, where's the Yeak now, it just disappeared when I came here? Wait a minute...I was surrounded by the lizard group! I must return or else my talking dagger will be taken away!!" His eyes dropped as he worried.
"Yes, that noisy dagger," the boy furrowed his brow, looking puzzled, upon the man's confirmation. His mind raced with worries, "Oh no, don't tell me he will ask me where it is!?"
"So, what do you want from it??" The boy's tone became sharper. His mind asked a bit. "Is he the owner?"
"But, currently...there was a group of swamp lizards who are reclaiming the dagger. I'm afraid...they will snatch it from me!" The boy said, with a hint of misfortune. "He saved me!"
"Don't worry about that...but now, listen to me...You've made a bond with me," the voice in the wall said. "The time inside of the dagger was paused...so, currently, his body was teleported in milliseconds like a blink of an eye."
"What??? Wait! Wait....what is that bond? When did it just happen?" His mind raced with questions, as he was deep in thought, longing for an instant answer. "What bond are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about, a portal..." His voice spoke with moderate tone. "A portal, between you and me." His relief tone deepened the boy's thoughts.
"How it works?!"
"After the dagger, electrocuted you...it means you are the new chosen one." He answered. "Look at your palm." There was a ritualistic mark etched.
"Chosen one?" The boy gasped. "What is this mark?
"You are the new owner of the dagger." The man said. "It is now part of your body.... anytime you can summon it, at you will."
"How? Without any blood compact, sacrifices, or things like that told by many old people in the Bellatrix guild?" The boy was wondering and trying to believe what the voice had said.
"If the dagger didn't choose you...there would be no bond," explained it in moderate way.
The young boy was a bit curious about this man. He could only hear a voice but no physical body was seen in the void, but he saw a virtual wall, flickering each time the voice spoke, in front of him. "Well, I need to know him first...who he is?" his mind said.
"...and you would not be teleported here." The voice continued. "So many hands have owned the dagger, but none of them were chosen by the dagger."
"Really? How is that so simple?" His hand scratched his head as he couldn't understand the simplicity of the bond. Then, he pouted in amazement. "WOW!" After he realized he was the new owner. "That's great...imagine, I am new owner of the talking dagger?" His palm clutching close and open, like he is trying to feel if the dagger was there.
The boy believed that in Thallerion's books, the story always said a powerful being or thing must come with a complicated ceremony or compact to gain access. He pondered, "But for him...he made it more simpler? But, wait a minute...where exactly am I?"
"I can't believe the dagger has a mind to choose me...and summon me here, but...where exactly is this? This ugly place, like...like a tormented heaven?"
"This void is inside of the dagger."
"What!!!!!?" The boy was in a tempest pitch. "How is that possible, you told me, the dagger was now in my body.... How can be possible, I was here, inside of the dagger??" His brows furrowed as his mind mused curiously. "That means, I became so tiny? Is it possible to be transmigrated inside of a dagger?"
"It is not magic....It is your fate!" The man voice was glad as he pronounced the words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Your fate to be a chosen one, by the Constellar-king."
"Who is that Constellar King?" The boy curiosity make the man inhaled, deeper.
"The real creator of the dagger."
"Are you the creator of the dagger?" The boy asked him intently, but the voice just muted about his question.
The boy was scared inside the dagger's void. He imagined himself a tiny being like an ant. "I became so tiny...maybe, I am like an ant-sized...so small, inside of this dagger." He hugged his own body as he thought about the void. "Ohh, well...outside is worse than here...the swamp lizard is still there, ehh."
"You're wrong in your thinking...this void is not small as you think...And don't be afraid. And believe me...you are safe here." The man assured him.
"Who is this guy actually...I feel like he can read my mind too....though, I can't even see his face...Is he a man or a monster?" He thoughtfully asked on his mind, then he spoke. "Just tell me, who are you?"
The voice suddenly paused for a few milliseconds, "You will know me in due time, but my name is Martheuw Cereun. I have so many names, call me only that name."
"Now that you are the new owner of the dagger, I am glad that you are a child."
"Oh...I am now the owner of the dagger....but—" he was glad as the man permitted him to be a new owner of the dagger. But, he immediately looked up at the wall, as he think about the situation outside while the dagger was left there. "Please help me fight those monsters in the swamp, Mr. Martheuw Cereun."
"Hmm, why are you scared of the monsters out there?" The boy's eyes moved on every empty corner.
"Huh???"
"I am not scared with the lizards out there!" He firmed his tone, ensuring no bleak of fear. "Grandpa told me everything outside of the palace. And he said, I will be the bravest boy in Thallerion." He heard the man's voice, feeling like he was amazed, chuckling silently. "I just need a backup!!!"
"Hmm...aren't you afraid...if I might be a monster too?" The man's voice grumbled.
"A monster? Aha, You really think, I'm scared of monsters?" His tone sharply echoed in the vast void. "I'm not afraid of monsters." The boy was firm. The boy believed that his ancestors had killed thousands of thousand monsters, beasts, and those things that came from the deep sea.
"Is he teasing me? Well, if he is a monster, why is he hiding? Hmm, where is he actually hiding? Is he a ghost? I can't see him." The boy walked near the wall and touched it, creating a light wave upon his touch. "Whoa...this wall is amazing!"
"I don't believe you're a monster." He looked up at the colossal wall, where there was a black sky with shining stars. "Wait ...those stars was familiar, I always saw them every time my father was stargazing." He wondered silently.
The echo of the boy's mind was grasped by the wall, and so the man in the wall already knew what the boy was thinking.
"Your voice is too kind. You don't roar like monsters either?" The boy replied. "Wait a minute, are you imprisoned here on the wall?"
"Imprisoned?" The voice mused. "Perhaps, you're right...but," His voice lace with deeper mystery. "Actually, I am not hiding from you...I am just here in my realm, looking at you on this dagger's void."
"This void is our temporary meeting place. I don't belong here, just like you." The man explained, then his tone chuckled subtle. "Well, I already help you escape from them."
"Their prehensile tongues glued at me before the dagger teleported me here." he said, then he concluded."So, you mean I was not caught?" The boy said with a hint of positive tone. Then, he also thought, "Aaah, Mr. Martheuw Cereun means that he came from somewhere else? Oohh, that's why I can't see him."
"They are not actually lizards, they are actually the inheritors of the Lacerta entity, who hunt real treasure...unlike you...you only hunt eggs."
"Hey!!! What's wrong with my hunting, ahh?" The boy clamored. He believed that hunting treasure didn't give him a satisfaction. Besides, he had seen what the treasures of Thallerion had owned.
"You only prove to me that you are a good boy...wealth is the beginning of evil desire." The wall flickering joyfully.
"Uhm, what do you mean by Lacerta entity?" The boy eyes narrowed on the wall as he trying to understand it.
"The lizard, the cosmic lizard in the universe that has the ability to control reptilians.... be careful with that creature." He advised. Those are from the Lacerta clan."
"Lacerta clan?" The boy pondered. "I heard it already to my grandpa's stories."
"Remember this...Use the dagger to defeat the bad entity. I know, you know how to fight, but you better escape from them.—Don't comeback in the stream anymore!" He reprimanded.
"I know how to fight. My friend Matheros trained me how to use a sword. He is 3 years older than me. He is a good friend of mine."
"Oh, I see, you're lucky, you have a good friend." His voice was laced with happiness. "But, what I mean is, today, if you tried to face the Lacerta clan, you will only understand what is between life and death."
"Life and death?" The boy pondered. "Is that the same as my grandpa? He was born and then he died?"
"You're still a child. You don't understand it. Someday, when you grow up, you will not just understand it, but it will crush you. So you better avoid conflicts." The wall flickered brightly.
"Crash me? Like...like those eggs I collected?"
"Yes, just like that." He answered the boy, directly.
"Can I ask a question?" The boy said. "Hehe, maybe he belongs to a powerful entity like Orion, who fought together with my ancestors back then to fight against beasts." He can read my mind too, so, no doubts, he is a super entity." The boy was excited to hear the answer as he was thoughtfully thinking.
"Hmmm?"
"Are you the Orion entity, the Thallerion protector? Or other entities?" The voice of the man breathed heavily and inhaled with concern.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to answer your question...wait, until you become a great warrior."
"Why does he need to hide his identity? I don't understand him. Me? Become a warrior? Hah...that's good to hear, hehe." He secretly mused.
"Huh? You told me I can ask a question, how can you not answering my question?"
"Did I say that?"
"Not really... but..."
"If you're really a smart kid ... Can you answer my question?" The man said. "If you answer correctly...maybe, I can answer your curiosity."
"Yeah," the boy was joyfully listening. "Hah, that a promise!"
"If there is a single entity with Four-legged or a ferociously biting... destroying your land, do you still trust Constellar's entity?"
The young boy closed his mouth, as he pondered what the man is trying to say about Four-legged entity. "The four legged, ...is that a beast? What kind of Constellar entity is that, uhmmm?" Then, he spoke.
"Are you telling a warning about the Lacerta clan? If then, I can tell you, my country was a forgotten land...but I can still trust them because, my grandpa's said... Without Orion, there will be no Thallerion."
"Well, it seems you still a child, who doesn't know exactly, how the cruel world ruin lives because of the traps, schemes, and plans by the Constellar-entities... Remember, you must still be a warrior...with your own strength."
"But...my grandpa told me... entities, human, must learn to forgive!"
"Can you still forgive them, if you will see the truth?"
"Huh?"
FLASH!
A blinding light suddenly struck Xerxez vision, then, on his surroundings, he was teleported into the different dimension, but this time, the surrounding become louder. The visual swept him from a blinding light space into a terrifying scene.
"Woah, what was that light!!?"
He saw the light violently crashing down from the sky. He saw a wide, glowing shield affixed to the heavens like an ultimate, unbreakable barrier, and a creature trying to destroy it with a powerful mechanism. The boy was too young to understand, ignorantly watching the face of future.
GRAWRR!!!!!
"Ah, is that a monster?" The boy was surrounded by a billion creature growling, and violently prowling around him, the earth was infested by those creatures, created, summoned by the Constellar-entities.
"If this is still real, then, I saw real monsters, and a long-tailed creature breathing fire...His is fighting...and fighting... against magic and powerful weapons? and then he become a— boy? Who is that boy? Oh, it disappeared!"
Then, a vertical line rise in the sky. There is a black. An open field in the sky. Suddenly, there are giant tentacles appear too! It resembling claws, and trying to widen the hole in the sky. There was embers as big as boulders fallen from the sky, and the fire was unleash into the ground, it cracked, and there there was a fault, spewing lava.
"Whoah, there is a monster face, made of thorny evil energy, a halo of dark purple monster, peeked out from it. Its eyes, like... like the galaxies with malicious intent? Ehh, he stared at me!"
One tentacle, it coil at him, like an octopus!
"No, I have nothing to do with this, the man just brought me here." The boy felt like peeing himself in fear at the sight of the lashing monster as he was gripped. "Let me go!!! Please, no, don't eat me!!!"
It lunged, not just grabbing, but enveloping the boy in its crushing grip, the air squeezed from his lungs, his bones groaning in protest. He felt himself being pulled towards its mouth, not just swallowed like an egg, but pulverized, created, absorbed into its very essence, his consciousness dissolving into a painful, eternal scream as he became one with the terrifying creature. Then, the virtual projection scene fragmenting, and return to the calm, empty void.
"If this is what you say, life and death? Then, this is not funny!"
"Go back now.... And don't forget about what you saw.
"I don't want to go back yet, please...I was now scared with the lizards too... Their grip was like a monster who gripped me tightly...I was traumatized!"
The boy was soaked in sweat, his heart hammering against his ribs like a desperate drummer. He gasps. "It ate me! Like... like a perfectly poached egg!"
"Ok .... I'm sorry, well...That was a semi realistic virtual projection."
"Why did you do that...I am almost traumatized with the scene!" He scrambled up, still half-convinced, he was being swallowed. The monster's face still echoed in his mind. The wall was like a mirror before him, and then he carefully examined his reflection. He mumbled. "Wait a minute," tickling his stomach. "I don't feel like, I was eaten by a cosmic horror. I actually feel... a little hungry. You know, for a monster horror-sized breakfast."
"You're hungry? I can serve you food here?" The man said as he sympathized, he understood that the boy was indeed hungry. "Oh, it's my mistake...I should not let that scene replay, on his innocent and naive live, about the cruel reality in the future." He sighed.
"Really? Well, I'm hungry...Maybe I like some eggs, but definitely not poached. Scrambled. Yeah, scrambled would be good. Less chance of triggering my terrifying experience memories."
The wall instantly lightup with a square size box, then it moved outwardly towards the boy. "What is this?" He asked. It floated in the mid air. Upon the box reached the boy location, the box open, there, inside of the box there was a white porcelain plate, spoon and fork, and the food he asked. Then, on his feet there was two vertical rectangular shapes, arose, forming like a table and chair.
He paused as he sat, then whispering to his reflection, "Though, I have to admit, that monster had good taste. Hehehe, It feels like I'm a delicious kid."
"While you're eating...just watch the Lacerta clan." The man said.
"Mmmmm.... it's delicious...did you cook it?" The taste was unique, unique from earthly cuisine, it was a divine taste as the young boy tasted it.
"That's a crane egg ... The Crane's eggs you wishes to get."
"Are you serious!?" The boy mouth was muffled with great impression. "I can't believe you can get their eggs!" His eyes were sweating with joy. "I like your food, Mr Martheuw...this food was now my favorite!"
At that very instant, the wall shifted into like a cinema. There, the lizard group pause for a while. But the young boy saw himself still confronting with the group.
"Hey...why am I, still there?"
"I created a virtual copy of you...so that they cannot kill you. And here the real dagger." The wall open again, moved towards him.
"Yeak!" It trembled. The boy was happy as he saw the dagger again.
IN THE SCENE:
"Hey ... Are you ignoring us?" The Lacerta flock leader turned himself into human, but he is not an old man as the boy expected, he was young adult.
"Whoa ... He is a human?" The boy said while watching the scene.
"Give us the dagger. We hunt treasure...and all treasures in the stream is mine." But the boy in the scene become defensive, he pointed the dagger at them.
"Hah, I never expected this, he is kinda cute in the form of Lacerta form, but on his young adult form, his face like...an angry crane!" The boy said while eating as his eyes fixed of the wall.
"I'm sorry, I will not agree!" The boy in the scene said.
"Hah ....you really want to die? Attack him!!!"
The wall shutdown...blitzzzz!
"Hey... The scene was not done yet." The boy was done eating and his face was flustered with unsatisfying cut scene.
"That scene was already done....you don't have to worry ... You can now go back to the stream safely." The man, returned all the protruding rectangular shapes to its hives.
"Go home now." The surroundings was immediately shifted into the stream. And the boy stood holding his dagger. While the egg pouch was on the ground.
He saw the leader of the lizards. But, the ground was shaking...like there was an earthquake. The Lacerta clan feel something incoming from afar. "Let's go comrades!!!" The leader immediately transforming into a Swamp-lizard and swim swiftly like a fish. But the leader said before they leave. " Don't forget my face ... We will come back and take that dagger."
The boy smiled proudly as they ran disparately like sensing a powerful entity. "why are they running, are they afraid of earthquake?"
He watched the green grass, the birds chirping above like swift comets. He held his found treasure and scrutinized it's relic design, the gems was no value to Xerxez eyes, though the gems are made of valuable treasure like the amethyst, Topaz, emerald, and pearl at the center. "well, Yeak is indeed a treasure but ... It is a powerful dagger, I can also communicate with Mr Martheuw Cereun through this dagger. But...that scene ... In the future ...are they really real?"
He glanced at the pouch, full of eggs, " What would happen, if those catalyst will be now, knowing that the land of Thallerion had no Constellar protector?" His worries faded as he observed the vibrancy of the eggs, then he smiled as his memory glinted on his mind about the dinner in the palace, though, everytime he went home with a bag full of colorful egg collection—blue, maroon, and speckled—a unique gift for his parents. Despite his youth, he wasn't afraid to venture deeper into the forest, often escaping his personal guards just to collect eggs, and to take a chance to to get a golden yellowish eggs. To calm his parents' inevitable worries, these precious eggs were his peace offering.
"But here I am... I'm still ignoring their warnings...hehe." as he saw the sun rays, he realized it was nine o'clock in the morning. Then, as he relaxing in the trunk of a tree, he heard a sound, a familiar sound of a mysterious bird.
SQUAWK!!! SWAAAAWK!!!
"Woah, the mythical bird, I hear it again! Now that I know the taste of it....i will not stop hunting the Crane's nest." The boy imagining the taste of the Crane's eggs. " Mr Martheuw's recipe was so delicious!"
The boy jumped from the trunk, down on the thick grass, hiding, he heard a beautiful bird's squawk, up from the bushes on the stream, its feathers wonderfully pearly with a hint of blue tortoiseshell. It was indeed lustrous blue like a Borealis, its eyes lit a beautiful amethyst.
"Aha! The bird finally came. Whoa, look at that sound seems telling me there's a hidden treasure there. It must be a Crane's nest! I wish this time , no one will interrupt my hunting." The boy, installing his bow as he moved beneath the tall trees.
He traced the sound while carefully hiding in the thick bushes, big rocks, woods, and even on the big leagues. The squawk continued echoing in the forest, it sound beautifully pitching one another. The boy saw the graceful glide of their wings, from one branch to another.
"Almost there!" He giggled in excitement as he thought about the nest. "I heard to my grandpa, those birds are more aggressive bird than ostrich? It must be scary....I must be prepared! This arrow might not be enough, but all I wanted is just to get the Crane's eggs. Perhaps, two eggs, or four eggs will be enough."
The Crane stood in the thick branch, he thought that it lay eggs somewhere nearby. He step a little closer to make sure he could trace its nest.
Simultaneously, the Thallerion border, the gatekeeper blown a trumpet. So loud that the boy was shocked. HOOOOOONK!!!! HOOOOOOOOONK!
The trumpet sound was heard sharply echoing throughout the Thallerion Lands. The cranes flew in different directions, and the boy found it difficult to trace the nests of those birds. The trumpet was loud, as if a storm loudly approaching in the Thallerion.
"Such a bad timing... I'm almost there .. just a few step though, I could almost spot their nest." His feet thud angrily, and lowering the arrow on the ground.
"But argh! Interrupted again! Is it because of the earthquake?" He mumbled with disparity. The boy took his small pouch full of eggs, and run towards at the palace home. As the second honk blown again. "Two honks?"
"What were exactly happening in the palace?"