《Dragon Hearts: Volume 1》


 Chapter 1: The light that will soon return

    ???: "This can''t be, there''s no way our world can be like this forever...right? We can change this, right!?"


    A young girl cried out, with her hand on her chest mixed with the facial expression implying that she''ll burst into tears at any moment. An Elderly woman sat on a pedestal above the girl, as she would shake her head up and down -- bringing a small ray of hope into the girl''s heart, as a smile would slowly fade onto her face.


    Elder:"Winter...why is it thatyou are the only one I called to my shrine? It''s because you are the one who will restore life back to our home."


    Winter: "H...how will I do that...?"


    Elder:"You remember the tale of the "Boy Against The Dragons?", correct?"


    Winter: "Yes...The chief tells us this tale all the time so we don''t forget...the tale is of a young boy who''s entire realm of existence is on the verge of destruction. Everyone and everything was at war...when suddenly these dragons emerged and reeked even more havoc. The boy would fight the dragons with all of his might...as the Golden Warrior would then seal the beast into small children. It''s a legend of the very events that happened to save our world...and the many challenges our heroes had to face."


    Elder: "You are terriblycorrect, Winter.Sweetchild of mine...you will need to go out into the Outer World...and find at least one of these children and have them use their eternal flame to restore the dying light in our home. . ."


    Winter: "...I''ll try my best...but where should I start?"


    Elder: "I have marked the location of every child holding these dragons latest appearance...You can go to any of these places as you please. You will head tomorrow, it''s best for you all to say your goodbyes now."


    The Elderly Woman would remove a wrapped up map from her pocket along with some sort ofnecklace, as she handed it to Winter. The older woman smiled, and a light blush willspread across her face. Winter would then stand up, as she bowed before the Elderly Woman, as Winter left her shrine. Winter would grip on to the map, as she looked down at the ground -- pondering her mind with this new grave task she has been assigned, as she was walking she bumped into someone. Her head bumped into their chest, as she tried to pull away she was yanked by her arm and lifted into the air by a male wearing a fur coat, and had front teeth that resembled the fangs of a shark. Torn shirt and pants with no shoes, the male looked as if he was aiming to devour Winter.


    ???: "Yo -- watch where you''re going, Winter!"


    Winter: "Diamond... I can''t talk right now. . ."


    Diamond: "Wh- But, why?! Is everything alright?"


    Winter: "No...not really..."


    Diamond: "Well...maybe you''re just hungry! C''mon I''ll take you to get something to eat!"


    Winter: "It just keeps getting worse and worse...I don''t know why."


    Diamond would carry Winter in his arms, grunting before taking a gaze at the sky, watching as the clouds lightly drift through the sky, as he and Winter both looked at their dying Sun. The sun hadn''t moved an inch, and yet it looked as if the Sun was setting. Just looking at this made Winter very emotional.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Winter: "It''s scary to think about...what if it goes out completely...?"


    Winter''s sadness melted into the tone of her voice, as she sniffled and Diamond hugged her close to his chest, shaking his head.


    Diamond: "Don''t say that...you know, theHero Of Existenceis going to relight the sun."


    Soon Diamond looked around and walked through some curtains and stopped at the counter and seats that stopped him from moving any further, he would place Winter down, as she tightly gripped her map and shook her head left and right, Diamond would place his head on top of her head, and Winter would look towards him.


    Diamond: "Anyways, what do you wanna eat?"


    Winter: "I''ll eat whatever you eat. . ."


    Diamond: "Yo, two bowls of the usual -- Please!"


    Diamond and Winter would sit down, Diamond rested his fist on his cheek, and Winter would examine the map she was given. Diamond would curiously peer his eyes down to see what she''s looking at.


    Diamond: "Is that a map?"


    Winter: Yeah, the Elder of the village gave it to me...she wants me to find a dragon. She gave me this necklace too.


    Diamond: "What?! You mean the dragons from that old myth!?"


    Winter: "Mhm...No joke either, she really wants me to do it..."


    Diamond: "But why you, and why only you?!"


    Winter: "I...I don''t know..."


    Diamond: "Do you know which one you''re going after first? I mean...this map is just has twelve X''s and dragon heads all over the place...and one of the X''s is at the very bottom corner of the map...and doesn''t have a dragon head."


    Winter: "I''m going for the one that''s closer..."


    Diamond: "The fire dragon?"


    Winter: "How can you tell which one it is?"


    Diamond: "Because of the symbol...See, this one looks like a Water dragon, this one looks to be eithera sky or lightning dragon, this other one on the bottom right might be...a ghost dragon? Yeah, you shouldtotally bring that one back! A Dead Dragon!!"


    Winter: "How am I supposed to see it?"


    Diamond: "Haha! I don''t know, use the Silph Scope!"


    Winter: "You mean that thing that''s for five years yet mature people like you still play them??"


    Diamond: Take that back! It''s not just for children, POK-"


    The Chief: "Hey, the food''s ready!"


    The Chief would set down two bowls of ramen noodles, as Diamond and Winter would give their thanks, as Diamond gave up his money and he and Winter began to feast.


    Diamond: "Haha...are you enjoying your food, Winter?"


    Winter: "Mhm...thank you, Diamond!"


    The two would laugh, enjoying a meal as Diamond would stare at Winter as she ate, not touching his food at all after a moment of time passed.


    Diamond: "..."


    Winter: "Mm...Hm? What''s wrong, Diamond?"


    Diamond: When did the Elder say you have to go?"


    Winter: "Um...tomorrow. . ."


    Diamond: "WHAT!? TOMORROW??? REALLY?!"


    Winter: "Yup..."


    Diamond: "Aww...man...well...<wbr>just...just be careful out there, all right? If there''s anything wrong just find some way to contact me and I''ll be there!"


    Winter laughed, scratching her hair and looking at Diamond with a warm smile.


    Winter: "Yeah, you''ve got it!"


    Diamond would smile back, lashing his arms around the girl as he gave Winter a big hug, and Winter hugged him back, resting her head on his chest.

 Chapter 2: The Raging Beast

    Today is now a new day. Winter would wake up in her home and roll out of bed, she would grab her map and necklace resting on the desk next to her. She would take in a deep breath, and walked out of her room, putting on her necklace and gripping onto the map, walking down the stairs of her home to see that it was abandoned. Her mother and father were nowhere to be found. Winter would feel slightly uneasy, looking around in every room, opening every door to find any sign of her parents, but she left empty-handed, not even a note to inform her of their absence. This wasn''t like her parents at all, did something happen to them? Are they hurt and need me right away? These kinds of questions swarmed her mind, as she would walk outside, and closed the door. The clouds covered the dying sun, and nobody was spotted. No one in the restaurant Diamond took her to, no one in the Elder''s shrine-like tent, not a soul.


    Winter: W....where is everyone?"


    Winter would slowly walk through the empty village, as she saw a fire in front of the large dome at the far end of the village, she ran towards the dome, assuming to just someone was in the dome.


    Winter: That fire wasn''t here yesterday, I bet the Elder''s knights lit those flames!


    She would arrive in front of the dome, as she would see two heavily armed knights blocking the entrance by crossing their spears. She gulped, looking up at the both of them as they gave her a death stare.


    Winter: U-um...is anybody in there?


    Elder Knight: The entire village is waiting for you inside this dome. Please do your best, we''re depending on you.


    Winter nodded and the guards moved their spears out of the way and she would walkthrough. As she walked inside, she saw the entire village sitting above her around the dome and she saw everyone; she saw her mother, her father, Diamond, and everyone else who made up the village''s population. The Elder sat on the very top of the dome, she felt intimated, and her legs began to shake. She was very confused, but she felt as if the had an idea of what''s going to happen.


    Elder: Winter. We''ve all gathered here today to send you off on your quest. As of yesterday, I had given you a necklace along with a map. Now, I will enhance those items.


    The two knights from the doorway would begin to sing "Oh". Each of them singing multiple notes at once, sounding alien-like but yet beautiful in harmony. The Elder would hold her hand upwards, as orbs engulfed in flames and Sparks of lighting would float towards Winter, hitting her map and the flames and Sparks swirled around her arm and hit a dead end once they struck her necklace. The map and necklace began to emit a bright light, as she gasped at the sight of it.


    Winter: Whoa. . ."


    She opened her map, as different swirls of magical elements swarmed certain sections of the map. She was amazed, and she would close the map and looked at her necklace, and a semi-large flame was encased inside of it.


    Elder: Now, you truly have all the tools you need to survive out there, those elemental symbols represent each known Dragon in their world, and they''re also a solid method for teleportation. Simply tap the symbol to travel to the beast''s latest location....Winter....you''ll experience a whole new breath of the wild out there, and may the courage of the Hero, the wisdom of the Incinerator of darkness, and the strength of the Warrior rest within your soul. We sense a very strong aura within you, Winter. This is the reason we''ve only picked you to go and seek out those legendary beasts. Now go, and if ever feel the need to return, do not hesitate to come back; you''re our World''s Shining hope, and we''ll all be counting on you from this moment onward.


    Winter gazed into the eyes of the Elder, her words resonated with her. Tears slowly flowed down Winter''s cheeks, as she smiled, but the smile would struggle to stay on her face.


    Winter: I....thank you, Elder. Everyone...Mother, Father, Diamond....I won''t let any of you in this room down, y-you can count on me, I''ll bring the light back to everyone!"


    She sniffled, wiping the tears from her face as she opened her map and tapped the fire symbol, as she turned into several light blue threads, as she soon faded away. Now, the survival of the whole village is on her shoulders.


    The light blue threads reformed Winter, as she would arrive in an entirely different location, she fell on her bottom, but stood back up after wiping away her tears. Balling up her hands into a fist.


    Winter: Hey Dragon, I''m ready to take you down!


    Man: Kid, where are your parents?


    Winter''s happiness faded away, as she looked at a man with his leg on top of the other one, reading a magazine.


    Winter: What....where is the dragon?


    Man: What dragon?


    Winter: T-There is a dragon around this area, isn''t there?


    Man: Um...no.


    The man began to flip through the pages, as Winter released the tight grip that held her fists together. And her map almost slipped out her hand. The man laughed a little, as Winter would simply walk away. She found herself in another village, but this one was much larger than the one she lived her whole life in. She held her head down in slight embarrassment. She would walk into around the area, holding her head up as she gazed at her map -- she was very confused. The map marked the location of where the dragon is CURRENTLY. The marker hasn''t moved since, so the dragon must be here! In her confusion, she fell down back on her bottom, and so did the same person who stood in front of her.


    Winter: Oh...I...I''m sorry.


    Winter pleaded, hoping for their forgiveness as the girl in front of her smiled, She wore a pink bandage around her neck, and a shirt that exposed her stomach, and also shorts that stopped at her knees. She had wild pink hair and red eyes, as she looked at Winter''s map with curiosity. She grabbed the map and looked at for a few seconds, whispering to herself.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ???: Ooh, this is nice.


    Winter looked at the girl, blushing a little as she stood up and held out her hand to the girl she knocked down by mistake.


    ???: Oh, right. My apologies, I was intrigued by your map. If you don''t mind me asking, what are these 3D things on it?


    Winter: Those are elemental symbols....they each represent a Dragon.


    The girl Winter was talking to went completely silent, and Winter stared back, the girl gave off an uneasy vibe, as a large smile carved its way onto the girl''s face, as she giggled.


    ???: Oh...so, you''re looking for Blaze?


    Winter: B...Blaze?


    ???: Yup, Blaze. Blaze Wildlife; the fire dragon, that''s who you''re looking for?


    Winter: .....Yes, I am looking for Blaze.


    ???: Haha...well, he''s that way, just go west until you arrive in the forest, that''s where he lurks. What are you going to do with these dragons once you find them?


    Winter: I need them to relight the Sun.... it''s dying out.


    ???: Eh? What are you talking about? The sun is perfectly fine.


    The girl pointed at the sky, and Winter looked at with her eyes receiving shade from her hand. She gasped as she raised an eyebrow in utter confusion.


    Winter: H....what?!


    ???: Yeah....Missy.


    Winter: Oh....uh...my name is Winter.


    Kaji: Name''s Kaji. Now that we have that out of the way, what are you going to do now?


    Winter: I''m going to get that dragon....and relight the Sun....I know this sounds crazy, but my village has a different Sun then this one....and it''s dying out and I need to relight it..


    Kaji: Oh, well get to it, Winter! That Blaze isn''t really a nice guy, so be careful.


    Something about Kaji''s warning intrigued Winter. "Blaze isn''t really a niceguy? Was she just mindless of her choice of words is Blaze a human being?? Nevertheless,Winter would nod, as she ran off to the west, off the find Blaze. It took a total of ten minutes for Winter to arrive in front of the forest Kaji told her about. She took in a deep breath, as she crept through the forest, and stopped after a few steps.


    Winter: Blaze! Blaze!! Are you in here?!


    Silence answered her back, she tensed up only to be left unanswered, as she continued to walk by, but the sight of ash stopped her in place, as she looked directly in the ash''s direction.


    Blaze: Who''s asking?


    A male''s voice sent a shiver down Winter''s spine, as she gripped onto her map and gulped. Then he made his appearance, the tyrant of a boy made himself seen to Winter''s eyes. The Savage-looking boy with spiky black hair, a jacket in which the sleeves seemed to have been ripped off, and pants that have several holes in them, and a dragon symbol embedded in his shoulder, she felt intimated by his very presence, as he gave her a death stare.


    Blaze: What do you want with me?


    Winter: I....I came to take you with me.


    Blaze: ...Where, and why?


    Winter: I need you to come in my village, the Sun.... I need you to relight it.


    Blaze: ..... Relight it?


    Blaze raised an eyebrow, looking at the symbol on his shoulder as he came to a conclusion.


    Blaze: ...Ah, I get it now.


    Winter: Y...you are the fire dragon, right?


    Blaze: No.


    Winter: W-What?! You''re lying to me! The symbol on your arm matches perfectly with the one on this map!


    Winter opened her map, flipping it over to make what''s on the map visible to Blaze. Blaze''s eyes widened, as he places a grin on his face.


    Blaze: How did you get that map?


    Winer: ...the Elder of my village gave it to me.


    Blaze: Let me have that map.


    Winter: Uhh....what?


    Blaze placed his hand in his hair, looking at Winter as he walked towards her.


    Blaze: The map. Let me have it.


    Winter would begin to back away, clutching onto the map as she kept an eye on Blaze.


    Winter: What? Um, no. This....this is the only map I have, and I need it. You can''t keep it....


    Blaze: Fine. May I borrow your map?


    Winter almost agreed by saying yes, catching herself as she puffed up her cheeks and shook her head, as a light red shade of embarrassment could be spotted on her cheeks, Blaze couldn''t help but chuckle.


    Winter: F-fine, here I''ll let you see it.


    Winter opened her map, and flipped it over once again, to let Blaze see what''s on it. Blaze looked intensely at the map.


    Blaze: So that''s how you found me? With this map....


    Winter: I can choose which one I can travel to by tapping the marker...it shows me where the dragons have last been seen.


    Blaze: .....That means I can travel to them whenever I please, and it will take me straight towards the dragons?!


    Winter: Y-Yes....But if you come with me and relight the Sun, we can discuss the odds of you using this map....


    Blaze would aim to grab the map from Winter, but she pulled it away and fell back, placing the map in her pocket as Blaze''s smile faded away, as anger filled his eyes.


    Blaze: Hand it over! I NEED that map!


    Winter: N-No! I can''t give it to you until you help me!


    Blaze: No, you''re crazy. Relight the Sun?! The Sun is perfectly fine, what the hell are you talking about?! If you''re going around spouting nonsense like that, you don''t need that map!


    Blaze punched the ground, as a gigantic dragon made of flames had arisen from behind him. The dragon wasn''t whole, it only had half its neck and its head was massive, as it went flying towards Winter, she yelled, as she tried to run away and she was caught within the range of the flames. The dragon devoured her, and once she was forced inside of it, as the area around them was covered in ice, and the dragon began to emit steam, as Winter rolled out of the mouth of the dragon. She was left with burns on her skin, and her clothes were blasted with holes, but they weren''t badly damaged so far. She would stand back up, breathing heavily as she glared him down, Blaze would arrive in front of her, kicking her off her feet and slamming her face into the ground, as he laughed.


    Blaze: Hand over the map, we don''t have to keep this going.


    Blaze would check Winter''s body for the map, digging into her pocket as he would grab the map, once he removed it from the girl''s pocket, Winter would grab his wrist, as he raised an eyebrow as he bashed his head against the top of hers. She began to weep in pain, as she slapped him with all her might and grabbed the map and began to run in the opposite direction as Blaze roared, punching the ground once more as geysers erected from the ground, all trying to land a hit on Winter. She would scurry off and evacuate the forest, as she collapsed in front of the entrance to it, but she would quickly stand back up and ran into the village. She ran into the nearest building, as she fell to the ground, she couldn''t walk anymore.


    Kaji: Whoa, Winter? Are you alright?"


    Winter: Huh....Kaji....? What are you doing here?


    Kaji: I''m just talkin'' to be the blacksmith. So, how did your tangle with fire breath go?


    Winter: Not good....he wants my map....I thought I was going to die back there.


    Winter would stand up, as she limped over to the blacksmith towards the counter, slamming her fist on it as she looked at the blacksmith, as he waved at her.


    Blacksmith: Hey! You uh....need something?


    Winter: I....need....armor...a weapon.


    Blacksmith: Armor and weapons huh? Well, I got some armor and a claymore right there. All not too heavy, about twenty pounds per piece. Think you can handle that, little lady?


    Winter would cross her arms, puffing up her cheeks as she scratched her hand, looking at the armor with a sad expression, as she would mumble to herself.


    Winter: That whole armor weighs more than I do...


    Winter would then slightly smile, as she would look at the man with a small glimmer of hope.


    Winter: Sir, I know what armor pieces I want. I''m ready to get back out there!

 Chapter 3: Winter Vs Blaze

    And now the real battle begins. Equipped with a simple rusted chestplate, and claymore, Winter stomped her way back into the forest, slumping the blade across the ground with her as she let out a hardly intimating, but loud yell.


    Winter: Show yourself, Blaze! Im ready for you now!!


    She lifted up her claymore, almost tilting over after she raised it above her head -- and once again, silence answered her back. She began to quiver a little bit, as she waited and waited for him to say something, or even to do something for that matter! But nothing, nothing had remained to happen until she gathered the courage to speak one final time.


    Winter: Blaze...C-come out, what are you!? S-Scared!?


    On the flipside, it was actually Winter who was scared, as her stuttering began to come into play. Then, it happened. Winter had gotten what she asked for, and that was Blaze. He could be heard in the distance, stomping and stomping, as the little earthquakes his feet were producing just kept getting closer, and closer -- until finally, she could see him -- and he was absolutley terrifying! She was just as scared seeing him the second time as she was when she first laid eyes on this tyrant of a boy. Ripped jacket sleeves, flames covering his hands, an evil and mean glare that just kept Winter paraylzed, she instantly regretted her decision on coming back in the forest.


    Blaze: Give me that map.


    His voice sent shivers down her spine, her legs began to shake as she slammed her claymore down, Blaze would rush at her, out of terror, she slashed her claymore up in attempts to defend herself and to land a hit on Blaze, but both plans were ineffective as he was able to avoid the blade with a simple step to the other side, as he delievered a fearsome punch right in Winter''s face! Winter collapsed back, hitting her back on a tree as she whimpered, she had never felt this sort of pain before, she thought she was going to die! She stood back up, letting the blood drip from her mouth and nose as she would raise her sword again, but would go running once she saw Blaze coming down from the sky and slamming down on the tree she had hit her back on, as it bursted into flames, as a circle of fire surrounded Blaze, Winter was able to avoid this, and she kept running. Blaze kept his eyes on her, he saw her running down the road as he punched his fist together and blasted burst of flames that followed her, Winter was hit in the back by one of them, as it exploded and she was sent tumbling down, bleeding brusing, the armor she had gotten was not even any sort of protection, as it melted away into nothing when the flames had hit her. She wasn''t standing a chance, and this time she didnt want to stand up. Tears came down her face, balling her hands up as she had released her grip on the sword, it laid next to her head. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Winter(Thoughts): He''s way too strong. . .how was able to do that..? I don''t know if I can''t do this right now..i don''t have the strength to stand! Is he coming...? Do I have time to run away? Should I stay and fight?? Am I going to die??


    Questions ran through her mind, she could hear Blaze calling out for her, she was utterly terrifed. She then decidied to grab her sword, stabbing the blade in the ground as she would use it to help her stand, as the blade went deeper into the ground the more she lifted herself up. She decided to stand and fight! Blaze''s fire could be seen right above her, she held up her blade and pointed it in the direction ahead of her, as Blaze stomped down a few feet in front of her, shaking the very ground once he landed. She would rush Blaze, dragging her blade through the air and slashing it up to land the devastating hit on Blaze -- but her blade was stopped by the palm of his hand, as she could see the tip slowly being melted away, and soon her entire claymore turned into nothing but Ash. She would take a step back, but Blaze would be just follow her, her back would hit a tree. Blaze would stand directly in front of her, leaving no way for Winter to escape whatever follows next. His nose against her forehead, and his eyes glaring down hers. She began to quiver, she would slowly slide down but Blaze grabbed her neck and made he stand straight against the tree, she gulped. And Blaze would let out a sigh.


    Blaze: You really thought you could stand against me? You''re pathetic. You''re hunting for a dragon, but you''re not strong enough to fight back the fire.


    Blaze had a wide grin on his face, as every exhale was an ember, flames that were far too close for comfort in front of Winter''s face. He would crept his face in closer, flames coming out his mouth, as she would become paralyzed by his fangs, and his hand going down Winter''s body -- digging in her pocket as he grabbed the map, winter then would fall on her knees, as she did her best to hold back the tears that were just waiting to rain down.


    Blaze: Thanks. Sorry about uh... actually no, I''m not sorry. You deserved this shit.


    Winter: Blaze....please.


    Blaze took a step back, looking down at Winter while paying more attention to the map he just snagged -- as tears began to pour down from her eyes, and along with the rain from her eyes, there came rain from above. But this didn''t bother Blaze too much, as he continued to stare at his map.


    Blaze: What do you want?


    Winter: Okay...you win, you have the map..but I need you. I need your help, please I''m begging you to help me. What...what if I come with you? Would you help me then if I help you??


    Blaze: Yeah that sounds fair. Come on, let''s go.


    Blaze shrugged his shoulders before answering Winter, as he would turn the other way and began to walk away. Winter stood there dumbfounded. That was it...? That''s all it took.


    Winter: I...that was it?!


    Blaze: I mean...yeah. All I wanted was your map.


    Winter: Don''t you think this is a little... anticlimactic?!


    Blaze: Nah. Now shut up, let''s go before I incinerate you!


    Winter puffed her cheeks, as she would stomp her away behind Blaze, and after all that violence -- it ends with a peaceful resolve, as now the true adventure begins!

 Chapter 3.5: What is Truly Our Destiny?

    Back within the Village with the withering sun, a troubled young man, Diamond. He sat in front of the Elder -- with his hand balled up in a fist, and his head down. The Elder sat in silence, with guards behind her. Though they weren''t here to attack Diamond if he were to get out of hand, they remained as the Elder''s protection, as she waited for Diamond to state his purpose for being here.


    Elder: . . .


    Diamond: . . .


    Elder: . . .What do you want, Diamond?


    Diamond: Elder. . With all due respect...I think you''ve made a mistake.


    Elder: And why must you say that?


    Diamond: You know...with picking Winter to...relight our sun.


    Elder: And who else do you suppose I should''ve chosen?


    Diamond: Someone strong, and courageous! Someone who would take the dragon down right when. They see them! Someone who will get the job done quick and easy... someone like me! Elder, I love Winter! I really do Elder, I''ve been with her for years. I know what kind of person she is...I just don''t think she''s ready or well trained for something like this...she could die, and that''s what I''m most worried about. Not the fact of whether she''ll be able to relight our sun or not, but by the simple fact she could easily lose her life out of fear, or lack of preparation for such an endeavor such as this! Please Elder, reconsider your decision and let me go and bring her home and let me carry the heavy burden.


    The Elder sat in silence for a moment, then a wide grin would spread across her face, as she and the people surrounding her would clap. Diamond sat there confused? Why are they clapping, are they not taking him seriously?


    Elder: Excellent speech, Diamond. And you are not wrong, Winter could do and even might die out there. And you would have been a perfect choice, you''re a strong, fierce and courageous young man who would bring back a dragon to relight our son. As a matter of fact, you are the one chosen in the prophecy.


    The Elder would turn her back to the wall behind her, as all the guards moved behind Diamond -- and she would place the palm of her hands on the wall, as it would light up, and a dragon symbol made of flames would quickly emit and fade away as the wall would become spliced as if it were two doors, as they would slide away and reveal a massive painting, with a paper on a table stool, the paper was had text in some sort of language, it looked like a bunch of gibberish, and unreadable in any shape or form. The painting behind her revealed a young man, bleeding from his head as he has his fist raised in the air -- and what seems to be a heart with claws and elemental symbols embedded within in it. Around the boy are dragons -- eleven to be exact, a huge snake on the opposite end of all the dragons, with its jaw wide open as if it plans to eat the boy holding the heart, foxes are in the sky, as several mystical beasts plague the painting. Darkness, Darkness behind the snake was shown, as what seems to be another dragon with hundreds of arms and tails is attacking the dragons around the boy. The painting shows what seems to be a war between magical and omnipotent beings. Diamond was awestruck, as the boy in the picture looked like him.


    Diamond: I...This is what . .


    Elder: This is the fate of the world, that the God''s have Invision and designated to happen...but, this outcome is very bleak, and results in no victory from our hero fighting, though he is a perfect choice...I am not too happy with this outcome, and so I want to change our future...I want our hero to be a true champion, and someone truly unpredictable. So, for my Destiny...I chose Winter. Winter is my shining hope, I believe she will change things for the better...but there is no guarantee of that, which makes me uneasy as well.


    Diamond stood in silent, things were beginning to make sense to him now, he would nod, as he would release the grip that held his hand in a fist, as he would focus more on the painting.


    Diamond: Elder. . .if I may ask, don''t you think that this Dragon of Darkness looks a lot like our dying sun..?


    Elder: . . .Yes, I see it. And there has been darkness way on the outskirts of the village, it''s very far, but I can see it...I fear what may happen, but I have placed all of my faith in Winter.


    Diamond: Yes...I think it was very wise of you to pick her...I have my hope in her too.


    Blaze: Yo, no offense...but I don''t know what the fuck the people who picked you were thinking because you''re complete shit, I think you''re like the worst possible person to pick for something like this they really want you to fucking die or something, because oh my fucking god you can''t fight for shit. When you were attacking me your sword missed, like how the fuck did you miss I was literally right in front of you. And when your sword hit my hand I fucking burned that shit. I bet you felt real dumb, didn''t you?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Blaze continued to trash talk Winter as she did her best to ignore it. Winter didn''t like the way he was talking about their battle, it was very emotional for her and she tried her best to tune him out by covering her ears, and Kaji just watched them, trying to put the pieces together. The two of them were bickering with each other about what Winter was doing during the fight over at a lonely table in the village. Winter sat on one end, Blaze sat on the other, and Kaji just kinda stood up.


    Kaji: Did you guys fight?


    Blaze: Before I went to go get you, yeah. I had to go through so much trouble all for this one little map, but it was damn worth it. Kaji -- look at this!


    Kaji: I''ve seen the map before, it just some sheet a paper with some fancy pop-ups.


    Blaze: No, it''s not "Just some sheet a paper with some fancy pop-ups", this is how Winter was able to find me. It''s a map that shows were the rest of the Dragons are. Can I just teleport to them or something?


    Winter: Maybe.


    Winter said with her arms resting on the table. looking Blaze in his eyes, but quickly averting her eyes somewhere else, she got scared staring at him for too long. Blaze also rested his arms on the table, as when he dropped his arms down the table suddenly shook, and it gave Winter a little startle, Kaji giggled to herself a little as she watching this.


    Blaze: You jump so easily, you''re so scared of everything. Must''ve been why you were crying earlier.


    Kaji: You were crying when you were fighting Blaze!?


    Winter: W-What?? Me, crying?? That''s...ridiculous! I wasn''t crying!.... Well, not that much at least.


    Kaji: Blaaze! Why are you making girls cry? This is why I''m the ONLY Girl you talk to!


    Blaze: Hey, Kaji.


    Kaji: Yes?


    Blaze: Shut the fuck up! Winter, show me how to use this shit -- or I''m going to have to beat you up!


    Winter sighed, puffing up her cheeks as she leaned in closer to Blaze, who looked up at her -- first, he looked down at his paper, then up at Winter, down at the paper, then back up to Winter, he continued this cycle for about three more times before Winter finally had enough.


    Winter: Um, Can I...see the map?


    Blaze: Oh right, duh! Here -- take this shit.


    Blaze would hand the map over to Winter, as he continued to look down at the table, and up at her once she paid her attention to the map, then Winter leaned back in her seat - as she gasped.


    Winter: Woah, what is this!?


    Blaze would get up from his chair, as he would walk on over to Winter, looking at the map as he was intrigued too -- one of the symbols on the map began to blink, and move around! Blaze grinned when he saw the movement of this symbol, as he punched his hand into his palm, and a fire was being produced -- Winter would run under the table, as she clutched onto the map and shook her head.


    Winter: Easy there!!


    Blaze: Sorry, I''m just excited. That''s the Dragon we''re going after now. It''ll be a great reunion. I''m finally gonna see Zabieru again...!


    Winter: Who..?


    Blaze: I''ll tell you later, just show me how do I teleport to this guy!


    Winter: Oh, I''ll show you, but only under one condition....

 AUTHORS NOTE: STORY UPDATE

    SORRY FOR THE STORY HIATUS, A LOT OF MY TIME HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO MY MUSIC BUT I WILL RETURN TO FINISH THIS STORY, RIGHT NOW IT IS BEING REWRITTEN BECAUSE OF THE HORRIBLE GRAMMAR MISTAKES AND THE UNCERTIANTY OF NOT KNOWING WHO IS TALKING AT WHAT POINT IS ANOTHER MAIN ISSUE. I USUALLY WRITE MY STORY IN A SCRIPT FORMATION (Format similiar to stories such as "Journey To The West") BUT FOR SOME REASON I THOUGHT "OH IT WOULD BE BETTER HERE IF I GOT RID OF THAT." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I WAS SURLEY MISTAKEN.


    NONETHELESS, I WAS DISCOURGED FROM WRITING THIS DUE TO THE LOW RATINGS IT HAD GOTTEN, BUT THE RATINGS SHOULD NOT MATTER TO ME -- I AM HERE TO SHARE MY STORY AND SEE IT FINISHED, WHOEVER LIKES IT LIKES IT.


    THAT IS ALL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PAITENCE.