Chapter 12

It was already dark, the tired day reluctantly going to bed as the sun hid it's face from the moon that had propped up in the starry sky. A strong wind was blowing outside, funning the fire inside Lord Parafon's cottage next to which Malin, Revina and Jonathan sat in a semicircle. The moon's rays shimmered through the window that faced the vast Medan forest, shining graciously on the treetops of the forest as they swayed in the windy night. The cottage was situated on the edge of a steep valley but above the forest, offering a panoramic view of the beautiful forest.

Opposite to the fireplace in the cottage was a pot that was big enough to pass as a small swimming pool. Standing on the edge of the pot was a big wide mirror that reflected nothing but the pot's water, looking like a pool itself as the water rippled through the reflection.

Malin narrated what had happened to Lord Parafon who stood behind Jonathan, listening attentively and taking in every detail of the events as Malin narrated the story. He listened through the story quietly, not asking a question or interrupting Malin until he finished. His posture changed not, his body moved not, untill the tales of Malin were over and Malin looked up to him for a comment, a comment that seemed not to be coming.

Lord Parafon walked to the pot, not uttering a word when Malin had finished, his silence sending Malin, Revina and Jonathan into confusion. They had expected him to proffer solutions and give them guidance on how to stop Prince Mamadu from taking over the throne by force. But Parafon seemed to have had other ideas or no ideas at all on how to stop the Prince. He dipped his fingers into the pot water and splashed some to the floor in small drops. He walked in pregnant silence towards the fireplace, opening his mouth as if to speak and then walking away from them towards a corner that had a cross or what looked like it. The Holly Ground of the cottage. He stood there and stared at the cross for a while, as if in deep communion with it, his hands behind his back. Malin and his colleagues just stared, unaware of what to make of the High Priest's actions.

When the High Priest finished staring at the cross, he turned towards the pot again and stopped halfway between the pot and the fireplace. Looking straight at the mirror above the pot, he called for Malin who walked to him without any hesitation.

"You have to stop Mamadu at whatever cost son," Lord Parafon said, his voice trembling with fear. "A tragedy is looming. The morning rays must not fall on the Prince. If that happens, there will be nothing anyone can do to stop him from taking over the empire."

"What do you mean when you say the morning rays must not fall on the Prince?" Malin asked, looking at the mirror as if trying to see what the Lord was looking at so fixedly.

"Prince Mamadu must die before daybreak. You have to kill him son. That's the only way to prevent this tragedy from happening."

"Are you asking me to kill the Prince Lord? I thought royalties were immortal?"

"I'm not asking you to kill the Prince Malin," Lord Parafon responded, tearing his gaze from the mirror and looking at Malin sternly. "I'm telling you."

"But why must I do that? Surely there must be another way of stopping him other than killing him," Malin said. He had already taken responsibility for the death of Prince Mamadu's son yet the High Priest was still asking him to kill the father too. That would amount to wiping out the entire dynasty and he wasn't prepared to shed as much blood. That's not the person he intended to be anymore. He had killed enough, shed too much blood already. It was time for a new Malin, the caring Malin, not the beastly Malin.

"Trust me if there were any other ways I couldn't have told you what I just told you. It's not in my best interest to see the Prince dead. There is just no other ways Malin. You have to do it."

"I'm sorry Lord Parafon but this is asking for too much from me. My mission as you earlier explained was not to kill anybody but to rescue Prince Medan. If what you told me is true then you should only show me how to rescue Medan..."

"It will be useless. Your mission will be useless if Mamadu is not stopped," Lord Parafon responded, his voice rising in anger. He pulled Malin towards the mirror and made him wash his face with the pot water. "Now Malin, I want you to look at the mirror and tell me if you think there is anything you can do to stop Mamadu. I'll be open to any suggestions," he said as he stood next to Malin, holding his shoulder while they both looked at the mirror.

"What! Nicadeaus is here," Malin asked, horrified. In the mirror, a monstrous being, the size of Nicadeaus when he transformed, wearing the Emperor's golden crown and wielding a sledgehammer, was smashing people, destroying buildings and killing anyone and everyone who came closer to him. His eyes emitted red sharp and piercing rays of fire, cutting through buildings into lines of twos, bringing down the tall spectacular buildings of Donerien City. Soldiers, women and men, turned against each other, some protecting the beast while others attacking the beast. Swords clashed and arrows whistled through the air. Nobody was spared, nobody was spared. The beast killed anyone, including those that protected him. Children, women and men lay on the streets, dead or dying.

Hanging from the beast's shoulders were the heads of the Emperor, Micaleaon and the empress, Regina, tied to a rope from his neck. The city was mired in total chaos where death was the end game. The empire was facing total darkness of destruction. Dalawa was dying. Dalawa was fading, diminishing gradually into extinction.

"What's going on Lord Parafon," Malin cried out to the High Priest who was still standing next to him with his head bent towards the pot water instead of looking at the mirror.

"That's what will happen by sunrise if Mamadu is not killed by then son," Lord Parafon answered trying to control his emotions. "As you can see son, there is no any other way to stop him."

"Forgive me for asking but is that not Nicadeaus? He was almost like that when he turned against me in the upper dimension."

"That's Prince Mamadu."

"But what's going to turn Mamadu into such a monster Lord Parafon?"

"He drank his son's blood in grief. He loved Mamarife more than he loved his life or even the empire. Losing him meant losing everything. He probably couldn't take it. If it reaches sunrise, the dark rage is going to take full control of him, making him unstoppable even by Medan were he to awaken by that time. His son's soul is going to fight alongside him making him unbeatable. You have to kill him by dawn Malin, you have to do it," he said as he looked hard at the water. "If you cannot do it for Dalawa, do it for her." He pointed at Revina who was still seated next to the fireplace, confused by what was going on. Revina and Jonathan were not able to see anything that appeared on the mirror beyond the reflection of the pot water.

Malin imagined Mamadu hitting Revina with his sledgehammer and quickly brushed that thought away. Even thinking about it made him shudder in terror. He couldn't let that happen to Revina. No. If there was any means of heading back to Palawa Kingdom, he could take it. This Dalawa empire was cursed. But even if there was away, Nicadeaus would still be waiting for them in the upper dimension. And he was a soldier. Soldiers don't run away from battles, they faced them. He had to stop Mamadu before he became that monster and destroyed Dalawa for his greed. Mamarife's death wasn't his fault. It was Mamadu's. If he hadn't conspired with the Great Wizard to coat the fighting chambers with dark magic, Mamarife and the other soldiers couldn't have died. He couldn't let Mamadu's hate win, he couldn't let Revina fall if he could prevent it from happening. He was going to stop him, not because he hated him nor because he was a beast too, but because he adored, loved and cared for Revina too much to let her die in the hands of such a monster.

"How do I kill him Lord?" he finally asked Lord Parafon who was still staring at the water expectantly, as if rescue was going to come from out of it.

"Good question," he replied in relief. "First, you must know that the direct descendants of the throne cannot be killed unless a powerful dark magic is used against them."

"How then do you explain the death of Mamarife, Mamadu's son," Malin asked.

"Mamarife was not a direct descendant of the throne but Mamadu is. Mamadu's father was the Emperor, Mamarife was however just the son of a prince, not the crown prince or the Emperor and as such was as mortal as any other Dalawan. That's part of the reasons why Mamadu wanted to capture power for it could have made his family immortal," Lord Parafon said as he led Malin to a room where he had kept all the books pertaining to the immortality of the royal family.

"Now I understand Mamadu's anger and rage," Malin said as he read through the immortal lineage. "His reasons for taking over power just died a few moments ago."

"No," Parafon responded. "One of his reasons just died a few moments ago. Mamadu has always envied his brother, the Emperor. His quest to become the emperor began decades ago, during the reign of his father, the Great Dulatap Ochondrion, former Emperor of Dalawa who ruled for over two hundred and fifty years. He challenged Micaleaon to a fight for the royal line and Micaleaon defeated him badly. The fight was conducted in the City Square, witnessed by hundreds of thousands of Dalawans. Mamadu felt utterly embarrassed to lose that way in front of such a crowd. But he had no choice, he had to yield. People thought he moved on but he never really moved on. He never forgave Micaleaon for such a humiliation." Parafon showed Malin the page where the fight, named the Noble War, had been recorded. "His son's death must have reminded him of that loss."

"This empire is enshrouded in too much mystery," Malin commented.

"For a stranger like you, yes. But for a Dalawan like me, no," Parafon responded as he folded the book he was showing Malin and returned it to the shelf. He took Malin by the arm and led him to the balcony of the cottage, a deep hollow steep just below them with just a wooden barrier separating them. From there they could view the moon in the cloudless starry night as the wind brushed against their skins. The Lord's cottage was a lonely place, secluded from civilization and situated deep in the forests and valleys. To reach this place one had to be of great courage and Malin couldn't help but wonder how the High Priest had managed to live there alone.

"What awaits you outside there is a responsibility too big for a child son," Lord Parafon began. "But you are the one who has been chosen by the gods to carry this cross and protect the empire against such tragedies," he proceeded as Malin listened attentively. "It will be wrong for you to go to war feeling pressured. No soldier wins a battle he doesn't want to fight. You may overpower your enemy or even defeat them but if your mind and heart are not in it, your victory is useless."

"I want to do this Lord Parafon," Malin replied. "I don't understand a lot of things about this empire but to protect those that I love, I don't need much details."

"I know your young mind is full of unanswered questions my prince. But time is too short to allow me to explain everything in details to you."

"It's ok. I understand."

"Tell me something Prince, how do you feel whenever you illuminate?"

"Normal. Like I'm not radiating any light at all except that I don't have much control over what I do."

"Don't have control?"

"Yeah. It's strange but somehow I think about acting after I have acted, as if my body is faster than my mind."

"How about what you feel when you heal, do you have control over your actions?" Parafon asked after a short moment of silence.

"Yes, I do."

"Ok. This is what you'll do. Come here." He motioned Malin to move closer to the edge of the steep valley. "Do you see that white stone down there?" he asked as he pointed at the bottom of the valley. Malin replied that he couldn't see the stone so he motioned him to come much closer. The valley was almost one and a half miles deep and one hundred and twenty yards wide. At a night like this one, it was difficult to see anything at the basement of the valley despite the moonlight.

"I don't see anything Lord, are you sure there is a stone anywhere down there?" Malin asked, his eyes still searching for the stone, his body leaning forward.

"Hold on, let me show you," Parafon responded as he moved behind Malin. Before Malin knew what was going on, Lord Parafon lifted his legs and thrusted him into the valley abruptly. "Bring me the stone prince," he shouted after Malin who was fast-dropping into the valley, head-first.

Malin felt the whistling wind on his cheeks as he crushed through the waves into the valley. His mind was too frightened to think of anything, not even to scream. He was crushing too fast, he could feel it. But the ground seemed further away. The more he descended the more the ground sank. The more he descended, the darker it became but the further the basement became.

Then he realized what was at stake; his life. If he crushed on the stone the High Priest was talking about at the velocity with which he was falling, there was no chance of survival. He had to try and stop himself from falling. But no matter what he tried, he kept falling, faster and faster, his head leading the way as his legs tailed him. He turned in the air and forced himself into a horizontal position, looking down at the valley. He prepared himself for a fall, closed his eyes and tightened his muscles. Ten seconds, thirty seconds, one minute, two minutes and still he hadn't fallen. The valley became darker as he descended. His speed accelerating as he descended.

He started losing breath, feeling weaker with every wave of wind that crushed on his face. Then, the wind stilled, the air warmed. The valley grew darker. He closed his eyes again, stopped breathing to preserve his energy and waited once more, for the crush but he kept falling, kept descending, kept dropping. The air kept warming, heating as he fell until he felt sweat forming under his armpits. And the valley grew darker and darker until it made no difference to close his eyes or not. He saw nothing with his eyes closed the same way he saw nothing with his eyes opened.

Then, in the darkest part of the valley and with his eyes completely shut, he saw her. Standing by the edge of the valley, on the balcony of the cottage, he saw her. Her tears rolled down and poured into the valley like a waterfall, cooling the hot air. He saw her hair, dancing in the winds and deflecting the wind into the valley, her hands stretched towards him like stairs of a tall story building. Her screams calling out for him in whispers of desperation. And he heard her wails slowing into despondency, her voice thinning and fading, her tears reddening like blood, her hair rolled into ropes and her hands dropping like a falling tree, her face filled with agonized sorrow and sadness.

He felt her teary blood fall on his skin in splashes of rain drops, painting his body red. He felt her hands drop on his chest like logs of wood and he felt his legs tightened by the ropes of her hair, her sorrow and sadness creeping into his chest. He felt her pain, her agony. He felt her breath, leaving her as her heartbeat slowed. Her despair growing into unbearable levels, he saw her jump into the valley, her amputated hands increasing the speed of her fall. And then, just then, he saw the stones.

Sharp and pointed, the stones stood in wait for her falling body, arranging and rearranging themselves into positions. She was falling too fast he couldn't stop her, her head heading into the direction of a tall sharp black stone with serrated ages, her chest facing a bladed stone and her feet in the direction of a hot boiling steam. He shouted at her, calling on her to stop, but she kept falling, kept accelerating untill she descended below him, untill she neared her fall.

The air started warming again, his temperature rising as he began to sweat in profound panick. Her heavy hands on his chest were chocking him, the tight ropes on his feet immobilized him and the redness of his skin was burning him. But she kept falling. He stretched his hands to her, trying to catch her but she kept falling, fast, faster. Then she just disappeared, fell and died or just disappeared for he could see her no more.

He opened his eyes into the darkness of the valley as if he just awoke from a deep slumber. His heaviness increased, his breath starved, his descent stopped. He felt a strong movement in his chest as if something was squeezing itself out. He moaned and groaned as his chest contracted and expanded. His legs joined together into one long tail and another pair of feet propped up from his abdomen, where they joined with the tail. He cried out in pain as very huge wings grew just above his arms and his arms hardened into forelegs. His head elongated and became bigger, taking the shape of a dragon, his body bulged into a mammoth dragon, stretching over nine metres long and three metres tall.

His eyes shone into the darkness of the valley like moon in the night, illuminating the entire valley. To his surprise, he had traveled miles from the cottage as if he didn't fall vertically but horizontally and he was still falling. When the painful transformation stopped, he became petrified of what he had become. "Have I turned into a monster?" he wondered.

He flattened his wings and braked, stopping himself from falling any further. He looked searchingly into the valley for her but he couldn't see anyone or the sharp stones. The basement of the valley was covered in hard-cracked clay with little sand on its edges. "Was I dreaming or hallucinating?" he wondered. He flipped his wings like a bird and flew to the bottom of the valley, just to confirm from a closer distance. But he only saw what he had already seen, nothing.

He swam upwards to the surface of the valley where trees had lined and soft grass. He used his new found legs to stand on the grass and marveled at how huge he had grown. He sniffed in the air and caught Revina's scent. The cottage was thirteen miles away but despite the distance and the many trees, he could see it as if it was just a few yards away. "The virginity of the night is fading, dragon," he heard Lord Parafon's voice calling out to him. Then the mission ahead of him that he had completely forgotten, came rushing into his mind and he swam into the air, above the treetops and flew faster than any bird could to the balcony of the cottage, to his mission.

"What is this?" Lord Parafon asked in astonishment when the dragonized Malin landed on the balcony of the cottage.

Malin, according to Lord Parafon, was supposed to ride the dragon, not become the dragon. A dragon was the symbol of authority in Dalawa empire and could only be ridden by the Emperor, the empress and the crown prince. There were only three dragons in the entire empire, one for the Emperor, one for the empress and one for Prince Medan. Malin, however, was supposed to ride on the dragon of thunder and lightening, the one that had been fighting alongside him, residing in his chest. But Malin hadn't mastered control over the dragon, letting the dragon take full control of him during battles.

The High Priest had pushed Malin into the valley, which is the valley of the gods of dragon, so that he could learn how to control the dragon and let him have power on the decisions he undertook during battles. To kill Prince Mamadu, an immortal royalty, Malin needed to ride the dragon and control it, not be controlled by it. The immortal royalties could only be killed by a powerful dark rage magic, known as mirima. However, the dragon that resided in Malin had defeated the dark magic while fighting through Malin in the caged ring and as such, possessed more power than any magic.

"What do you mean, aren't you the one who turned me into this beast?" Malin asked Parafon angrily, moving closer to him while towering over him like a rabbit.

"I threw you into the valley to master control over the dragon and not to become the dragon."

"Oh really? And how was I supposed to do that? Did you explain to me how that was supposed to be achieved or did you just throw me into that valley like a piece of trash.?"

Just then, something landed on the roof of the cottage with a great force that shook the entire cottage like an earthquake. Revina and Jonathan, who had been sitting impatiently in the cottage, got scared and rushed outside. They both jumped in fright when they saw the dragon, running back into the cottage in a terrified flight, Revina stumbling and falling on her way back. Malin watched sympathetically as she trembled by the corner of the cottage, terrified to death by his dragonized nature. He hadn't considered how she would react to his new look but now he hated himself for scaring her that much.

"Have you seen that?" he asked Lord Parafon, his anger intensifying. "I scared her because you wanted me to what, control a dragon?"

"Yes and it seems like you are not ready at all."

"So it's my fault now? Ho..."

"Are you guys going to argue here the whole night?" a voice called from the roof of the cottage, surprising both Malin and the High Priest who stood in silence as a woman dressed in navy-blue tight overall jumped from the roof to the balcony, standing between them.

"Pell?" asked Lord Parafon.

"Yes dad, pleased to see me?" the woman replied as she hugged Lord Parafon lovingly.

"What are you doing here Pell?" Parafon asked, clearly unamused by her presence.

"What a way to welcome your daughter father," Pell said as she broke away from the embrace.

"Answer me Pell, what are you doing here?"

"Are you really going to insist on that question dad?"

"We had a deal..."

"Ok. I know the deal that we had father, you don't have to remind me about it. But what did you expect me to do? Just sit around and do nothing?"

"This is not your war pell and you know it."

"This may not be my war but despite everything, you are my father. I can't let you die if I can help it. Is that wrong father?"

"I'm not going to die."

"Listen to the lack of confidence in your voice father. You and I know what will happen if Prince Mamadu dies. I'm here to help you prevent that father."

"And what makes you think I can trust you again after what you did the last time you offered to help?"

Malin cleared his throat and then said in what he thought was a whisper to himself, "I didn't know that being a dragon makes one invisible." Pell turned and looked at him, smiling with him.

"No. It doesn't make one invisible big man," she said. "But first, you need to kneel before me in order to..."

"Kneel before you?" Lord Parafon interrupted angrily. "He is a royalty and you want him to kneel before you?"

"Father, I need to be able to touch his head because he has to regain his human shape again. I can't do that when his head is almost touching the roof." Moving closer to her father, "I know you don't trust me father and I don't blame you. But believe me father, what I did doesn't mean that every time I am here I bring harm to your people or to you. Allow me help you just this once father, please."

Lord Parafon pondered over his daughter's request for a while, weighing his options. Killing Prince Mamadu had a hidden but serious curse that was not only going to affect the royal members of Dalawa empire including the Emperor, but it was also going to affect him, the Oracle and the Great Wizard. Their immortality was either going to be squashed or slashed. It was possible it could be greatly reduced from over nine hundred years to just three hundred years and anybody older than the three hundred years would be too aged to live and that included him.

The only person who could stop that curse from occurring was the Oracle. But the real Oracle had been captured by Prince Mamadu and the Great Wizard. If she wasn't found in time, there was no stopping the curse that would come from the death of Prince Mamadu from taking effect and that would mean his and the Emperor's death.

However, if Mamadu didn't die in time, the entire empire would be lost in an endless war. Either way, he was bound to lose. It pained him that he had to rely on just a kid to save the empire. But now even Malin had shown lack of readiness and despite how much he didn't like Pell's involvement, he had to accept her help. With Malin having transformed into the dragon, he stood no chance against Prince Mamadu. The dragon was only powerful when it was being controlled by a human, not when it was controlling the human.

"Ok," he finally agreed. "I'll accept your help but you have to promise me one thing Pell."

"What's that father?"

"That by the end of all this, you'll leave Dalawa empire once and for all, never to return."

"Are you... Ok father, I promise."

"Good." Moving past Pell to Malin, "seems like you have to kneel after all," he told Malin.

"Ok," Malin replied as he bent his hind legs and touched the ground with his forelegs, kneeling to lower his head within the reach of Pell. Pell then caressed his head with her fingers before kissing his head. Malin fell to the ground, unconscious for awhile. When he came around a few moments later, he had fully retransformed into the human Malin, his chest glowing with bright light.

"You have only nine hours left before daybreak," Pell said, looking at the confused Malin who was still busy checking himself, confirming whether all the features of the dragon had disappeared. He wanted to be sure so as not to scare Revina again. "You have to hurry before it's too late because the fight is not going to be an easy one."

"Is he going to fight Mamadu like this Pell?" Lord Parafon asked, looking disturbed.

"Yes father. You underestimated him," Pell replied as she touched Malin's face gently. "He is more powerful this way than he could be as or aride a dragon."

"To kill Mamadu he doesn't need power, he needs control over that power. As he is, he doesn't have that."

"Don't worry father, I'll help him"

"How do you intend to do that if I may ask?"

"I thought you trusted me already father."

"No. I only said you could help, not that I trusted you."

"Then let me help and stop interfering."