The glow of the sun peaked out from above the horizon as it began its climb over the craggy heights of the smoldering mountain. On the shore of the lagoon, behind a huge rock, Sniffia unconsciously pulled a thick piece of cloth tighter around her body. Her head, bandaged with a yellow cloth, rested on the soft, decaying trunk of a long ago fallen tree.
Peirce squatted, naked from the waist up, preparing the purplish-red flowers inside his little steel pot. The floral stew gave off a scent of medicine and flowers as he stirred it with a stick over the fire. He grabbed his now empty orange bag and gently fanned the flames with it, causing sparks to shoot up from the dry sticks.
“I should have asked the dragon to take us home,” he mumbled. Peirce looked to the sky, smiling. “That would be fun.” He raised the stick up in the air. “Then people will know me as Peirce… The Mudlark! No… that is…” He scratched his head.
He’d been given the nickname of “Mudlark” by the other children in his village because of the weird way he nurtured the plants and swine that made their home in the muddy areas outside the village. He’d been hearing it so long, he’d come to think of it as part of his name. But it wasn’t. The dragon had called him Pierce Wande. That was his true name, wasn’t it?
Sniffia sneezed.
Peirce startled slightly, turning to her. He left the stick inside the tiny steel pot and walked over to her, carefully, gingerly. He didn’t want to startle her - she was one of those hunting him, afterall. Judging by the way she’d been dressed, she was probably trained to stab first and ask questions never.
“She’s waking up… Hmmm what should I do?” he muttered, pacing. He glanced around the barren shore, the lagoon’s small waves lapping calmly on the sand. “Where should I hide?” He stopped, looking at the injured woman, not really a woman, she couldn’t be much older than him despite her fierce appearance. “No I saved her life. Sooo… she will never kill me, her savior… I hope?” Peirce said to himself while walking around, so distracted he almost poured out his little flower concoction.
Sniffia slowly opened her eyes. Peirce froze in front of her.
She stared at Peirce awkwardly waving at her with the most disgusting grin she’d ever seen. Sniffia narrowed her eyes, scanned her surroundings, then looked at the thick cloth covering her body. She lifted the thick cloth up, noticed she wasn’t wearing anything, and looked to her side. Her clothes were neatly spread on the trunks next to Peirce’s sleeveless.
Peirce put his hands up in a gesture to show he meant no harm. “It is not what you think! I can explain…” he stammered.
Sniffia glared at him.
“No. Don’t worry, I closed my eyes before doing all that… and umm… if I didn’t do it the wet clothes would cause your temperature to rise… No… To fall? Anyway. Please don’t kill me! I saved your life.”
Sniffia’s scorching glare turned to the half-destroyed mountain, Peirce followed her line of sight.
“Um, I don’t think anyone is alive up there,” he said. “Judging from the mountain, I, um… I think the dragon did them in. I don’t think any of your kind could have survived that. You barely did.”
Lord Jared? Sniffia thought, tears welled up in her eyes, one finding its way free to trickle down her left cheek.
Peirce looked at her with pity. “I’m so sorry,” he said, consolingly. “They were probably friends of yours.”
He glanced at the tiny steel pot, “Chai! It’s foaming!” he cried. He yanked the steel pot out from the flames, immediately placing it on the sand. “Ouch! My hand! Ouch!” He swung his hands in the air. “So hot!!”
Pierce tripped on his bag and fell down on the burning sticks. A few moments later he sniffed as smoke came out underneath him. He looked down, seeing the ashy black trail of smoke coming from his buttocks. “My favourite underwear!” he shouted.
He dashed to the lagoon and shoving his flaming rear into the water. He sighed with relief, waggling his hips in the cool water. Suddenly, he jumped up as two fishes swam into his pockets. He rushed from the water.
Sniffia stared at him in wonder. What was going on?
Peirce came up to her, smiling sheepishly. He pulled out the two fishes from his pockets and put them on the sand. “Guess our breakfast is ready,” he said.
Sniffia raised her right eye brow. Peirce turned, bending down to pick up the stirring stick. She could see the blackened hole in his pants and realized what had happened. She pulled the thick clothing tightly to herself and buried her head under so he wouldn’t see her laughing.
Peirce turned, looked at her, and said, “It’s fine now. Sorry for the confusion.”
Several minutes later, Pierce sat on the sand with the now-smoked fish skewered on the stick. He took a bite, then looked at Sniffia. “Aren’t you eating?” he asked, staring at her for some seconds as she made no move to eat her fish. He sighed, watching as some crabs made their way through the sand towards the lagoon.
“I don’t understand. Why are we sworn enemies? You know, the world we live in is not always hard but the way we live in it makes it hard. Or we make life uneasy. I don’t really know how my grandma said it, but it was something like that.” He looked at the scorched mountain. “Guess successfully taking the flowers and saving you was my only luck.”
“Your luck?” Sniffia whispered.
Peirce stared at her, surprised. “You talk?”
She immediately looked away.
Peirce smiled. He dropped down beside her, crouching as he drew in the sand with his cooking stick. “Let’s just say I was born unlucky. Everything I did was… I’m like a bomb.”
“Do you have any family or friends?” Sniffia asked.
He shook his head. “Not really. Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met hates me.” He gazed off into the distance, pointing his stick toward a place Sniffia couldn’t see. “I live with my grandma in a village very far from here. My mom and dad are both dead.”
“Did your grandma hate you?”
“My grandma? Never! She is the only one I talk to.”
“Then why do you leave your village to steal from us?”
“Hmmm… Can we say took from you? That’s sounds a little bit proper. I took it to show all of them that I can do something good, since I’m the only one that is willing to explore far from the village. With these flowers I collected,” he looked at the pot, “which I just cooked to heal your wound, I think my luck is up.”
She sat herself on the trunk slowly, raising her hand to check her injured fingers. However, she found it was neatly wrapped in pieces of white cloth. “No, I don’t need that.”
“Yes, you do need it. If you don’t drink the medicine you’ll die.”
“I’m Humane; I will survive,” she said, jerkily standing while making sure to hold the thick cloth around her body. The world tilted around her as she tried to find her footing.
Peirce stood up as well. “No. You feel dizzy. Your wounds aren’t fully healed.”
Immediately, Sniffia staggered, held her stomach and vomited blood. Peirce rushed to help her but she raised her hand to stop him.
“Stay where you are. Or I will kill you,” she warned.
“Kill me? The only person you’ll kill is yourself if you don’t allow me to heal you. Please?”
Sniffia wiped the blood from her mouth with her arms as she stared at Peirce with her venomous orange eyes. She turned and lurched back to her seat, looked at his face again and nodded. Peirce nodded back and took the pot, holding it to her lips. She inhaled deeply.
“Wait,” she whispered.
“What?” he asked.
“How do you know about the flower you just prepared? You’re not from us. You are Inhumane.”
Peirce ignored her question. “Just drink.” He poured it all in her mouth, watching as she swallowed it. “There you go.”
She coughed. Peirce patted her back as she leaned over.
“I stole the book about the flowers from my grandma,” he confessed.
Sniffia wiped her mouth. “And you said you are unlucky,”
“Hmmmm.” Peirce turned, dropped the pot on the sand, picked up his stick and sat on the sand next to the fire, drawing. “Now that the flower is in your system, your pain should go away, and….”
As he was talking, Sniffia slowly stood up, gently dropped the thick cloth to the sand and picked up her dagger which Pierce had carelessly left beside her clothes.
“Then your wounds will slowly heal one after the other, which will cause… ”
Suddenly Sniffia dashed to him swinging her dagger, Peirce turned and jolted upright, dodging it.
Her eyes widened. “How did he?... “ She leapt on him, both tumbling to the sand. She landed on top of Peirce. He grabbed her hands just in time to keep her from stabbing the knife through his eye. He held them tightly as they stared into each other’s eyes, her blonde hair lightly brushing against his face.
“Ugh… Then your body will… ugh… shutdown.” Immediately, as Peirce said that, Sniffia’s eyes widened, her body felt numb, her grip on the dagger lightened.
Peirce slowly collected the dagger from her as her head dropped, falling asleep on Peirce’s body. He blinked. “Well… this is a perverse position. I should have tied her blanket to her with ropes.”
The doors of the Humane castle opened wide, two men carried the wounded Jared on a wooden stretcher while a lady and a young man, both Jared’s underlings, led the way as they trampled through the splendor hallway. Whispers from members and friends of the royal family filled the air as they walked.“Isn’t that Lord Jared, the Divine Humane?”“How could this happen?”“Was there a battle? Are we now at war?”“Could this be the doing of the Nymphs?”“Mummy what’s going on?”“Keep calm, nothing… “As they reached the massive door of the throne room, the voices became indistinct sounds, their horrified faces disappearing into the background. The Royal Guards, resplendent in their full armor and purple capes, immediately opened the door to let them in. As they passed through, a man dressed in robe
Sniffia slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the bright sun above. She noticed she was on Peirce’s back, strolling through the woods far from the other side of the mountain. Judging by the position of the sun, it was mid-day.Feeling her finally stirring, Peirce looked behind and smiled. “Hey! You’re awake. Good afternoon.”Sniffia blinked. She tried to move her body but it was too weak. She let out a low groan.Peirce started to explain, “The flowers were too strong, but don’t worry before the day ends you will be totally fi….” He suddenly stopped. Something snapped from the trees behind them. He scanned the area. Sniffia tried to move her head as well, but found she didn’t even have the strength for that.“Don’t worry, we’re close to my village. We’ll be okay.” Peirce whispered. He took a silent step; the birds around the trees suddenly flew away. It wasn’t they that had startled the birds.
The sun set gracefully on the Kingdom of Humane. A bell chimed in the distance, birds sang wondrously as Humane all around the Kingdom continued about their daily tasks.At the castle, Wren stepped out of her room. Walking to the courtyard, she brushed her palms together, grinning. She was ready to start her training for the day. Her father appeared behind her from the other side of the hallway.“Wren,” Randall called.She tilted her head back. “Yes, Father?” she answered. “What is it?”Her Father joined her in walking. “To the courtyard?” Randall asked. The red-caped royal guards bowed as they passed by. The king waved at them with a regal smile.“Yeah, to train,” she replied.Randall laughed while rubbing his chin. When they’d almost reached the courtyard, he stopped,Wren looked at him and stopped, also. “Father what’s wrong?” she asked, staring straight into her
Everyone in the courtyard stared at their king enveloped in blinding white flames.Wren clenched her fists as her plaited hair swayed. “I’m not going down easily!” She waved her hands towards the sky.Randall narrowed his eyes. “Hmm… What is she up to?” he wondered.The clouds above them suddenly twirled together, forming a huge black hole at the center. Randall looked at the sky in amazement at what his daughter was doing. A huge mass of snow and ice slid swiftly from the hole. Wren twisted her left hand; the snow and ice rotated into a tornado. Wren’s handler hid herself behind a pillar while the royal guards were struggling to stand still as their yellow capes threatened to tear off their shoulders in the powerful wind.Thank goodness the courtyard structure can withstand the force. Should I do it now? she wondered, observing the growing damage her storm was causing to the courtyard's floor.Wren
“Peirce. Peirce. Peirce!” Someone called his name while he was asleep on his bed, smiling as he drooled. Suddenly, he was tapped by the person calling him.“Uhmmmm?” he mumbled. He sat up, still smiling, and slowly opened his eyes while scratching his neck. He saw Sniffia anxiously looking at him from the edge of his bed, then he looked at his locked door. He yawned, and noticed his orange bag on Sniffia thighs. Suddenly, everything became clear with a blink.He scrambled backwards in the bed, breathing heavily in panic. “Please don’t kill me! Remember, I saved your life back at the mountain! Please! I’m begging you!!” he wailed as he jumped from the bed to the floor. “Ouch! My leg!” He rushed to the door and unlocked it. Sniffia gazed at him, wondering what was wrong with him again.Pierce’s grandma opened the door. “What is going on here, Peirce?” she calmly asked.Peirce look
Peirce and Sniffia walked silently towards the village square for the naming. Above, the sky, freckled with stars as the wind gently blew under the cloudless night with the moonlit spilling on them and the empty huts on both sides of the walk way, moving closer, Inhumanes chattering can be heard at the village square and they could see the Inhumanes various glowing light shining through the night, concentrating on the village square tall trees.Already Peirce's Grandma was there as one of the elders of the village.Peirce stared at Sniffia for a while then Sniffia looked at him, he immediately rolled his eyes away and swallowed.“Hey bubbles, speak am listening,” Sniffia countered,"Bubbles?!" Peirce reflected, adjusted his small orange bag on his back then cleared his throat,“hmm,” he scratched his head, “why change of mind, as in three days ago you were sent to kill me and today, you are a… ” he
Few dexterous and embarrassing moments later.“Seriously, this color? I have a feeling you knew what you did,” Sniffia complained, her body was glowing pink,“Hmmm, maybe or maybe not,” Peirce said, as he leads, glowing green.Reaching the village square, it warmly filled with all sort of welcoming glowing colors, shining brightly, reflecting the whole area as Peirce and Sniffia walked in then he looked at Sniffia as she was amazed by the sight in front of her, “to my opinion, you look kind of… great,” he said with a thumps up, Sniffia clenched her teeth, staring at Peirce with her venomous little eyes, he swallowed, “why did I get a feeling you're thinking about killing me right now,” he said leaning back, Sniffia leaned closer,“You felt it right.” She concurred, as she sniffed, creeping her hands towards Peirce with an evil smirked.“You... I... Am-This is the best I could do,” Peirce stammered, suddenly No
Meanwhile at Jared’s home in the Kingdom of the Humane, he was seated, attentively reading under the flames on a torch, illuminating on a book about the history of the Beast kingdom in the ancient language of the Beast, fortunately he could read it. The book was taken by him during the war against the Silver maned Wolf pack—one of the strongest isolated pack dwelling outside the Beast Kingdom.He placed his finger on the ancient Beast writing one after the other."The Beast Kingdom were one of the earliest being in the world, who saw the great war between the Dragons and the Immortals... They believed they were cursed by the Dragons through the way they gave birth, at least in five... according to them they were created from billions of stars above... On the day of Eclipse, fully grown Beast get hundred times stronger while in their Beast mode and for those that had their awakening on that day, they will grow to become one of the strongest as the on