Ultimate Alliance

Irikandji Balthazar

Part 1: Banish Of Irikandji! I was bleeding in a million places. I was sword fighting with an experienced soldier. My father thought I was so good that he called the King of Bondarg to come and bring one of his best fighters. What was worse? We were fighting with real swords, not the wooden ones we normally practice with. “Aaaaaghhhh!” The blade of my enemy sliced my side. The pain was unbelievable. I couldn’t take it. The scarlet liquid was gushing out. I was at the brink of fainting. This guy was good, really good. I was doing pretty well myself but not well enough. I could quit right now and I would still be praised for lasting that long, but I won’t stop. My opponent was getting overconfident. I saw my chance. His grip on his sword loosened just a little. That was all I needed. I feigned like I was getting even more tired. Then, with a sudden burst of all the energy I had left, I charged into him. I pushed my hilt under his and wrenched his sword away. Before he could rise I had my sword at his throat. “Irikandji! Irikandji! Irikandji! Irikandji!” There were shouts everywhere. I had won. I had proven myself. “Mr. Balthazar!” “Yes sire?” “Your son has done a magnificent job. I am willing to make him a soldier within a week of hard training.” “Thank you! Thank you my lord!” Man, my father was so happy that all our neighbors were praising us and that the king himself was proud. I thought he was going to start crying. My father was so proud of me. He said he was going to buy me a pie (a rare treat in Bondarg). Even my older brother, Gandorf, who I always fought with, gave me his first sword to keep. I didn’t have my own and he had a lot so I gladly accepted it. A week later, I was a soldier. Gandorf was about 3 ranks ahead of me. I was ranked Minotaur. Our ranks are based on our enemies. Minotaurs were our least threatening enemies and only the soldiers ranked minotaur fought them. So the soldiers fought the creatures that their own rank was. So if you were ranked Dragon, you fought dragons. It was pretty organized. King Borgon presented me with my own armor and sword so I gave Gandorf his sword back. I named my sword Basilisk. Now that I named it, it was an official combat

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weapon. What I never knew was that Basilisk would be the most famous weapon of my time. In five minutes would be the monthly parade which I have always longed to be in. Now I get my chance. The trumpets blared and all the soldiers in their gleaming armor started to walk slowly making elegant patterns with their swords. I was doing the Balthazar twirl which my family was famous for. It included a series of complicated moves full of turns, twists, and mostly, twirls. We were right at end of the parade and as the first line of soldiers reached the line, as if out of nowhere minotaurs (creatures with the body of a man and a head of a bull, dark red eyes and covered in dark brown fur) jumped out. There were about a dozen of them. They charged toward us. The soldiers got into defense position and a few others charged at the minotaurs. I was one of the soldiers in defense. Truthfully I was freaking out. This was the first and possibly last time I fight for my life. Our offensive soldiers were taking care of most of them but sometimes one or two got through and we took care of them. The last minotaur went down and we took a look at the casualties. There were three down on our side and all down on their side. Other than that about twenty of our soldiers were severely wounded and about fifteen others had minor wounds. It was over but I had a feeling the battle was an easy win. It was a bit too easy if you ask me. As if to support my thoughts, a minotaur charged out of an alley and would have struck the king had I not shoved him out of the way. I quickly shoved my sword into the side of the monster and wiped my brow. I was bursting with pride for saving the king. But my pride only lasted about five minutes. King Borgon, now with and ice pack to his forehead, was giving a speech. “That was an unexpected attack,” the king sighed into the microphone “we are sorry for those who have lost loved ones. Our soldiers have fought magnificently and fiercely. They shall be honored whether they are dead or alive.” I was waiting for him to get to the part where he would praise me for saving his life but I was deeply disappointed. “Our newest soldier, Irikandji, of the Minotaur rank has fought well. He was even ready when the thirteenth minotaur popped out. It was as if he knew where it was. Also, he shoved me to the wall causing an injury to my head. I do not like it. I do not like it at all!” “What! I saved your unworthy life from danger and you don’t like it? It’s not my fault I thought the battle was over too easily!”

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“That’s it! Irikandji you have lost your rank and are now banished from my kingdom! You have until tomorrow to get your face out of here.” “You know what? I don’t care. I’d rather be banished than serve a selfish king anyway” I said. I gave him a cool steady stare full of anger and a small hint of regret. “I will now appoint two new trainees their soldier ranks. Uneccier Blazeheat and Kerron Pipegrip please come here.” The king took two swords and two sets of armor. “Uneccier Blazeheat, you now have the rank of Minotaur.” “Thank you my lord. I will name my sword Cloudedge.” “Kerron Flametongue, you too now have the rank of Minotaur.” “Thank you my lord. I will name my sword Flamesteel.” They put on their armor and started walking toward me. “Soldiers! Please do not talk to the outcast.” Then, in unison, they said “I’m sorry my lord, but we go where our friend goes. We only accepted the soldier ceremony because we need weapons out there in the wilderness.” I was on the floor laughing so hard I almost barfed. When they were becoming soldiers I was mad at them because we were best friends since we were little. Now I was so happy they were turning into outcasts for me. “Get out now all of you! Now!” the king screamed. Uneccier, Kerron, and I went to the kingdom bakery and got emergency provisions. The chef was a kind man with a weird accent. His brown eyes are always twinkling. He has olive dark skin, blond hair, and was pretty chubby. He came lumbering in and spoke with a weird accent. “What kind of tr’ble harve ya guys gortten into ter get banished?” “I saved his majesty’s life” I said with mock respect to the king. “I always did tink about der majesty like dart” he huffed “he always had a selfish arttitude.” He gave us three huge backpacks full of food, gave us kisses on the heads and cried like a mother.

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“Go on you young whippersnappers.” Then we went to the general store and bought hiking backpacks, flashlights, binoculars, some daggers, a few bows and six quivers full of arrows, a book on how to make arrows (we’re going to need a lot of arrows to hunt for meat), some tents, a lot of batteries for the flashlights, and a tinderbox. We would have bought a portable stove but we can’t buy gas every time we need it. Ironic isn’t it? We have the same sort of technology as yours but for a world full of fighting we never upgraded our weapons. We said good bye to our parents and our kingdom, Bondarg, and set off toward our destiny. We were walking down a trail known as The Path of Despair. We walked for about 3 hours and Uneccier spotted a bird. We made a deal to not consume the provisions unless we’re starving and we can find no other alternative food. It was a wood pigeon. Uneccier was an excellent shot at bows. He calculated its approximate location with his binoculars and took aim. The arrow touched his cheek and he let it loose. The arrow struck true. My share in the work was to skin and gut the bird. It’s dirty work. You couldn’t bare the disgusting smell. I never really paid much attention at school so I accidentally touched the heart many times. Each time I did, I was squirted with blood and disgusting smell. Kerron took the cooking. He sprinkled some salt and pepper on the tenderized meat. Along with some wild herbs, he cooked the bird on the fire. It actually tasted pretty good, which wasn’t surprising because his father was a chef. We pitched our tents, made a fire, and settled down for the night. Uneccier started burping so we had a burping contest. I came last. We made the place all stinky so we went on a short stroll of our surroundings. We were walking through the peaceful forest and then Uneccier heard a sound. “It’s probably just a deer man. It’s a forest there are supposed to be sounds. It would scary if there weren’t any” I said. “Dude, I was trained as a tracker. I would know what kind of sounds there are supposed to be in a forest. What I hear is not a normal animal. It sounds kind of like a minotaur.” “Man I’m tired of these minotaurs. Cursed ugly beasts. They are the whole reason we’re banished.”

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We heard Kerron squeak. “Kerron? What ‘appened? Kerron? Kerron? What’s wrong with him Uneccier?” “He’s in shock. He saw something.” Then, something charged at us. It was a minotaur. I took out Basilisk and stood ready. I struck but Basilisk bounced off of its horns. It turned and charged at full speed. I read in a book that if they charge at full speed, you can jump out of its way and it can’t stop. I tried it and it worked. We did the same routine about five more times and the minotaur caught on. I saw that it caught on too because it started to eye our legs to see our movement. So I decided to fake it. This time I would act like I’m jumping to the side but I won’t. I tried it and it fell for it. I quickly sliced its leg. It fell down screaming and started to cry. “This is creepy” I said to Uneccier. “Yeah, who ever heard a minotaur cry?” “Don’t hurt my son!” the minotaur said to us. “Son? Which son?” The minotaur pointed at the forest. As we watched, a minotaur at about our age walked out. “My name is Tauron” it said. The mother told us that she was running away from the rest of their minotaur clan. She told us that she was going to die and to take care of her son. “We can’t promise that. We are going to dangerous lands.” “He can fight. I’m not saying he is worth less. Let him join your group. Not all minotaurs are bad you know.” “Fine” Uneccier and I said in unison. The mother passed away and we buried her. We went to Kerron and splashed water at his face. He woke up and saw Tauron. Kerron was about to kill Tauron had we not stopped him and told him the situation. “There is a stream over there shall we take a bath?” Tauron pointed to the west. We stared at him dumbfounded. “What? Minotaurs take baths too.”

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“Okay, but lets put some of the water in our water bottles before we muck it all up.” We packed up our gear and folded up the tents. The stream was about two miles from our temporary camp. We filled our bottles and waded into the water.

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Part 2: The Outcasts! “We should have a name for our group” Tauron said. “Umm, Shadows?” “No Kerron” Uneccier sighed. “How ‘bout Blades?” “No too emo” “I got it!” “What Irikandji?” “The Outcasts, because that’s what we are, outcasts” “Me likey” Kerron smiled. “Yeah me too, and Kerron? Don’t say ‘me likey’ anymore” said Tauron. “Yeah, I know, no wonder he doesn’t get any of the girls back at home” Uneccier said. We all fell laughing. Even Kerron joined in after he was done staring at us with angry eyes. “Shut up! I got some girls” Kerron said, still laughing. “Oh yeah? Girls who are so ugly that they are desperate enough to go out with you don’t count man.” “Nice one Irk.” Tauron’s head jerked up. He stood and started sniffing. “What up man? What are you smellin’?” “I don’t know Kerron, but I think it might be an animal of reptile origins.” I scratched my head. I was freaking out. Reptiles in my world range from calm turtles to crazy, violent monsters. One specific monster is a dragon as I mentioned earlier. I was choking. Sweat was running like cataracts down my back. I managed a small squeak.

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“Guys get dressed. We’re moving out.” “What’s the rush? Irikandji are you scared?” “Scared isn’t in my blood man.” “Then why do you want to move out?” “Shut up and do as I say! I’m the leader of the Outcasts so you do what I say!” “Who made you leader?” “I did. The Outcasts wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t banished. So stop asking questions Uneccier.” We went to Tauron’s camp and took down his tent, put his things in it, and rolled it all up. For the rest of the day Tauron was pretty bummed out about his mother. You could notice it, even though he tried so hard to hide it. The relationship between Uneccier and I has still been pretty bad. It was mostly my fault. I let my fear get the better of me. I haven’t told anybody what to do since that argument. Guilt was eating out my insides. I had to apologize or I would never be the same again. I slowly walked up to Uneccier. “I’m really sorry dude. You were right. I was scared. I thought it might have been a dragon. You know the bad relationship between me and my family.” About five years ago, my mother was taken away by a dragon. My father was so mad that he was about to go to the dragon’s cave to get her back. My uncle and my father’s closest friend convinced him to stay back. Ever since then, I wanted to kill any dragon I saw but I was also really scared of them. “It’s all good man. I understand. I was just going to come apologize to you too. Now, let us make you a real leader. All in favor of Irikandji being the leader of the Outcasts say ‘I’” “I” all of them said in unison. “All righty then. Let’s move out.” The next day we moved out toward a plateau known as Dragon Land. I was reluctant but a leader had to face his fears. This area was known for its vast population of dragons. Somewhere around thirty to seventy dragons lived here. You may not think that is not vast but it is pretty vast under my book. Dragons were really powerful beings but they were really rare to encounter. I took Basilisk out held onto it. I wasn’t going to take my chances. The others felt the same way. Uneccier took out Cloudedge, Kerron took out Flamesteel, and Tauron

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said a spell and a sickle shaped sword he called Dirbenlard popped up in his hand. I’ve seen Tauron do this like ten times already but it still creeps me out. Magic is an art performed only by minotaurs. “Uneccier? I have a feeling we should turn back” Kerron squeaked. “Calm down. We need more recruits if we want to bring down the king. Dragons are perfect for the job. They are strong and silent if need be.” Don’t be confused. That night we planned that we were going to take down the king because we heard some scouts from the castle talking as they walked by us with no clue we were there. They said that the king was planning a full scale assault on the Minisgar, the kingdom of minotaurs, and another human kingdom known as Algerdorn. This was totally against the treaty made by the founders of all the kingdoms thousands of years ago. All kingdoms were allowed to fight each other over little arguments but not take over each others kingdoms. “Yeah, Kerron I’m scared too but we have to do this. Not for our sakes, but for the thousands of families who are going to lose loved ones for nothing but a mad king’s greed. “If we do this we might even be accepted back into the kingdom and live in the full glories of a soldier, a high ranked soldier to be exact.” “You’re right Irk. I’ve got to stop thinking of myself.” “Oh my gosh! Run!” Uneccier started to run for cover. I looked up and saw a red dot in the sky. It looked like the sky was bleeding a single drop of blood. “Uneccier stop running. There is no where to hide anyway. This is a barren, rocky plateau. You will just look like prey to the dragon if you run like that. You have to show it that you are brave. Believe me I’m more scared than you.” “Yeah Uneccier. Listen to Tauron.” “Let’s do this, guys.” I was really scared. I swear any guy in the right mind would start running. But Tauron was right too. We waited for about three minutes and the blood-red dragon got closer. It blew a jet of fire into the sky and looked at us with something like a hint of amusement in its eyes. “Puny creatures. I take it you are young ones? Three humans and a furry little minotaur. Good dinner if you ask me.”

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It made a gurgle type of sound deep in its throat. It was laughing. I stepped forward, kneeled, and took a bow. “Greetings, dragon. What is your name if I may ask?” “I am known as St’ragor. Proceed.” “Mighty St’ragor. My small gang and I are known as the Outcasts. We have come to ask a few dragons to join us and help us bring the greedy king’s reign to an end.” “Dragons do not work together young human.” “Please call me Irikandji.” “As I was saying, Irikandji, dragons do not work together. We used to, but things have changed.” “Trust me St’ragor. The Outcasts have made many things happen. Making dragons work together is child play. The hard part is recruiting them.” “I’ll do what you want but you will have to prove yourself.” “Tell me what to do and I will do it.” “You will fight me. If you win, I will help you. If you lose, I will eat you all.” “What? That is so unfair! One human against a dragon, one! Irikandji will be murdered!” “Shut up Tauron! I will do what I have to do.” “Do not worry. I will go easy on you. I will meet you again here at dusk on Thursday.” That gives me three days to practice and train. I would have to train hard. That dragon was cunning. It was using dusk because dragons can see perfectly well in the dark and humans can’t. “I’m not dumb St’ragor. Dark is your best ally, and my worst enemy. We will fight at dawn and that’s final.” “Why should I not agree? Dawn it is!” I did some warm-up exercises and started sword fighting with Tauron. He was really good. We were lucky to have him as an Outcast.

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“Dude watch it” I said as I was ducking to avoid a blow to the head from Dirbenlard’s hilt. “Irikandji!” I turned toward Kerron. As I was distracted, Tauron landed his special hilt blow. I was instantly dazed. My vision started waving. Then, something started to glow. It was a projected path sort of thing. I couldn’t focus on Tauron but his weak spots were very vivid and zoomed in. I took advantage of this mysterious power and followed the path my eyes projected. I weaved through all of Tauron’s blows struck him on each of his weak areas with my hilt and as he fell, I put my sword at his throat. “Dang! How did you do that? It was like you saw my every move before it happened!” “It was something like that.” I described what I saw to them. Tauron was shocked more than anyone. “It is just like my grandfather described it. One person in every millennium is born like this. They are called Berserkers. My namesake, the first Tauron, was the only minotaur ever that was a Berserker. It will be very helpful when you will fight St’ragor.” “There’s only one problem guys. This is the first time I experienced this berserk feeling. I don’t think I can turn it on when I want to.” “Umm, I think I do.” “Kerron?” all of us asked. “Yes, I read a book on Berserkers once. The first Tauron was in it too.” “Then tell us man!” “One way is to be in a life and death situation which automatically triggers the Berserker in you. The second, manual way is to well, you know that empty feeling you get? When you just had a lot of fun and then you go home and do something boring?” “Yeah, I think it is love.” “No Uneccier, it’s actually something called chi. You have to seek that feeling. Chi is what the berserk mode is fueled by. When you seek it, you trigger it. Try it Irk.” “Okay.”

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I tried it. A dark wave of emptiness hit me. I was an awful feeling. It felt like I was falling down a dark and bottomless pit. Forever just falling. After the sensation was gone, I started seeing the glowing path again. I looked at my friends and saw their weak points focused in. “It works guys!” “Cool!” I was so happy I was a Berserker. It gave me a really good advantage over St’ragor. The question was, is the advantage good enough? A Berserker might not be able to dodge that pure white and scalding fire. One blast and all that would be left of me is a pile of ashes. I practiced hard for the next three days. The days were slowly dragging by. Anticipation welled up in our minds. Around four hours before the battle, we went to look for some good rocks. I needed a good stone to hone my sword. Tauron came back a few minutes later with a good stone. I spent the next hour or so honing the blade to a near razor-sharp edge. You never want your sword to be razorsharp. I don’t know why though. It’s one of those things your parents tell you never to do but never tell you the reason. “This is boring. I would rather be spending my possibly last moments doing something exciting instead of sharpening Basilisk.” “Stop whining Irk.” “Okay. But this is seriously boring.” Time went by like a slow paced snail. The fight was drawing near. It took me around an hour to finish sharpening Basilisk. The rest of the time, I did some stretches and ate a quick meal from our provisions. We were depending on our provisions too much. We couldn’t find any food around here. Tauron ate grubs and beetles to save our provisions though. I looked at my watch. One and a half hours till the battle. Around the camp Kerron and Uneccier were dozing in our tents. Tauron was reading a book that he magically popped out of nowhere about all the Berserkers ever recorded. As I went up to him, he did a quick spell to add my name to the list and added a whole section about me. “I’m gonna keep adding to the story as our adventures prolongs.” “Cool, but do you think it’s necessary to add my name to the book?”

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“Nonsense Irk, people have to know about the great Irikandji Balthazar!” The compliment made me blush. My cheeks turned into great rosebushes of red. “You should go take a nap. I’ll wake you in forty-five minutes.” “Thanks Tauron.” I went into my tent and lay down on by sleeping bag. The warmth quickly dragged me into a much needed sleep. I had a dream. My dream was filled with me dying in different ways and failing my friends. I was thrashing around and suddenly my dream went away. I thought it was over and then suddenly I was in a peaceful meadow. Around me were some kinds of red jasmines. I pondered this. As far as I knew, jasmines were white. My hands were red as well. Horror struck me as I realized that my hand was coated in blood. I observed only to fine out that the jasmines were also coated in blood. At that moment, for the first time, I looked down. In the grass was a dead body with Basilisk stabbed in the back. I pried out Basilisk and turned the body. “Aaaaaaggggghh!” “Are you okay Irk?” I opened my eyes and looked into the worried eyes of Kerron. “Yeah I’m okay. Just a nightmare that’s all.” “Okay man. Get ready thirty minutes till the battle.” I washed my face with a bit of water from a small rock pool by our camp. I was about to get into my armor when Uneccier stopped me. “Do you want to fry to death? You don’t see soldiers that are ranked Dragon wearing armor when fighting a dragon.” “No, but what’s wrong with wearing armor?” “The heat from the dragon’s fire will literally fry you inside.” “Oh. Then I’d better not wear any.” I got ready clad only in tough leather. It should block out some of the force in the blows that I might get from the dragon. “Eeeeeeraaaak!”

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We looked up and saw the little marble sized speck that was St’ragor. He was a one to two miles away. That gave me about fifteen minutes to get ready. I did a few quick stretches and started practicing with Basilisk. My heart was beating so fast, that thought if spaceships were that fast, they could find another planet with life in under a minute. The moment was drawing near. Now St’ragor went form the size of a marble, to the size of a watermelon. I started sparing with Tauron. I didn’t want to use Berserker mode yet. I would save that for the fight. “Eeeeeeeraaaak!” This time it was much louder. St’ragor was now about the size of Tauron in the sky. I stopped sparring knowing it was useless. St’ragor was almost here so I would just be tiring myself out. As we watched St’ragor made a perfect landing. “Hello Irikandji” St’ragor smirked “let’s move on with our rendezvous.” “As you wish mighty dragon.” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. St’ragor walked around in a large, wide circle scorching the ground with his blindingly white fire as he went. “The rules are simple. The loser will be the person who dies, leaves the circle, or admits defeat. Other than that, there are no rules. Understand?” “Of course. But let me add one more rule. No flying.” “Wow human. You drive a hard bargain. But then again, what should I expect. Humans can’t fly.” “Let us begin. I can’t afford to waste anymore time.” As I was walking toward the circle, Uneccier caught my hand. “Be careful man. If your about to lose and can see no other chance, admit defeat or leave the circle. We don’t want to see you die.” “Okay I understand.”

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“No. Promise me.” “All right, I promise. But you have to promise me that you will not interfere.” “I understand. I’ll tell the others as well.” I ran toward the circle and St’ragor and I circled each other. This was going to be interesting, I thought, or devastating. St’ragor threw up his head and blew some smoke from his nose, hiding him instantly. As I was blundering through the smoke, St’ragor gave a hard cuff to my arm. That blow sent me flying. I landed just inches away from the circle. I decided that if St’ragor wanted to use the smoke, then I would too. I quickly rolled to the side and crouched in the thickest part. Unfortunately I started coughing. The smoke slowly lifted and before I could clearly see, I saw a blur of movement. Before I could react I was lying on the floor. A deep gash in my side told me that I was cut. The blood was gushing out. That was it. I could be tortured and hurt and trashed around like a frog, but no one, I mean no one, was going to cheat like that. I quickly closed my eyes and found the dark empty space inside me. I’ve been practicing so the wave of darkness didn’t affect me anymore. When I opened my eyes again, St’ragor was already blowing more smoke. But he was wrong, the smoke didn’t affect me anymore. I still couldn’t see but that didn’t matter. I could still see the golden line that guided me. I weaved through the blows that St’ragor was throwing at me. As the smoke cleared again I found my self behind St’ragor. I drove Basilisk into his hide. He bellowed. The noise sent all of us shaking but even that didn’t affect me. He turned, his heavy spike lined tail almost thudded into me. The berserk in me told me to duck. I ducked and the under part of his tail glowed a bright gold. It indicated that I should strike there. The cut sent him jumping. I made to turn off Berserker mode to be careful that I don’t kill him. As I searched for the bright parts of my heart I was struck down. I could tell St’ragor was mad. Really mad. He thought it would be so easy, he wouldn’t even be touched. Now that he had two deep gashes, he might kill me. I charged as I got up. It was much more difficult now. Before, the Berserker inside me would guide me. Now, I have to think on my own. It was all for the better, I thought, I have to get used to fighting without Berserker mode anyway.

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St’ragor blew a huge ball of fire at me. It caught me in the chest. The pain was unbelievable. The leather blocked out most of it, but this was no normal fire. I would have burn marks for weeks. I closed my eyes for the third time. I tried, but I knew I can’t take on a dragon without Berserker mode. I charged again. St’ragor, as he saw the ball of fire worked the first time, blew another one. This time, I slid underneath the fire. The heat was unbearable, but at least it didn’t make contact. As I slid, I saw that I would also go underneath St’ragor’s legs. I put Basilisk up and sliced his stomach. “Braaaakeeeeerk!” I hurt him badly this time. The stomach was the softest part of a dragon’s stomach. When I came out of the other side, I sliced him again in the back. St’ragor screamed as he stood on his hind legs. I saw the spikes on his back were like the rungs of a ladder. I took a hasty decision and started climbing. St’ragor knew I was climbing. St’ragor was smart, but he wasn’t smart enough to know that if he fell backward, I would be crushed underneath his weight. I clung on to his neck, stabbing him everywhere I can. He kept blowing fire but none of it would reach me. “Ughh,” I fell down. St’ragor had dragged me off by giving his wings a shake. He lunged at me. I thought it was over. All I trained for, all I worked for. It was all for nothing. As I promised Uneccier, I was about to say I admit defeat. I opened my mouth to speak but at the same time my Berserker mode lifted my arm to put the tip up. St’ragor stopped just in time, or he would have been stabbed right through the neck. The tip of the sword went in about a millimeter. St’ragor was about to pull back. “Move and I’ll stab you before you can lift your head.” I knew I had him. He hesitated and I rolled over him and I was on top now. I had the sword on his neck. “Kill me. I am a failure as a dragon.” “You’re no use to me dead. I need you to recruit more dragons, or have you forgotten your promise?” “All right. I admit defeat. You are a great warrior Irikandji Balthazar, my master.” The compliment sent my ear tips red as blood.

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“Welcome, St’ragor, as a new member of the Outcasts.” The rest of them couldn’t see what was happening because of the smoke and clouds of dust. As St’ragor and I walked out, they ran to us. “Irikandji” Kerron asked “who won?” “Irikandji did.” St’ragor was sad he lost to a human. A lone, young, inexperienced human. “St’ragor, you are not a failure. Tauron, explain to him the power I have.” “Okay. St’ragor, follow me.” As they left, Uneccier and Kerron threw me an avalanche of questions. “All in good time, guys, all in good time. Right now, we have to plan our next move.” “Umm no. Right now we have to treat your injuries.” “Fine.” I turned to look at Tauron walking toward us. St’ragor was much happier now, knowing that he hadn’t lost to any normal human. “I will treat your wounds” Tauron spoke to me, “then, I will treat St’ragor’s as well.” Tauron made some awful smelling poultice from grubs and larvae. He smeared on to our wounds and muttered a quick spell. The wounds vanished immediately. I jerked back, surprised. “How did you do that?” “I never told you why my mother and I were kicked out did I?” “No, but we’re all ears.” Uneccier sat down completely interested. “Well, when I was two years old, I found that I had magical powers far more powerful than any other minotaur...”

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Part 3: Recruits! “…First, my parents were regarded with utmost respect. They were promised a seat for me in the Lord’s Magician Council. My parents were really happy. Other minotaurs came regularly to feed me their best food, so my parents didn’t have to worry about buying food for me. Many minotaurs gave me very good clothing. When turned the age of three, magicians from the Lord’s Magician Council came to teach me the necessary spells I would need for daily use. I was a quick learner. I learned what they taught me and used them almost immediately. “As the years passed I exceeded all expectations. The magicians started getting scared of me. I don’t know why but they started teaching the spells at a much slower pace. I mean, if you think about it, that’s pretty stupid. If I were them, I would be really enthusiastic that a minotaur was born with this ability, not some lowly human. Uhm, No offense. I don’t think of humans of lowly anymore.” I let the insult brush off. I knew Tauron didn’t mean it. I looked around. Kerron looked a bit steamed. Uneccier was just as calm as me and this time I noticed that St’ragor was listening intently as well. “It’s all right, continue” I said. “Where was I? Oh yeah. So I started to learn at a snails pace. My father started hearing rumors spread around that I was a devil’s child. Less and less minotaurs started coming over. My father picked a fight with some minotaur who tried to run me over with his car. Later that week the same minotaur and a whole gang of his buddies came over to kill my father.” Here, Tauron broke into tears. I felt sorry for him. I, at least, had a father, Tauron didn’t have anybody. “It is okay buddy, you don’t have to tell us the rest.” Uneccier sat by him, speaking softly. “No, I will tell you. Well, they succeeded in killing my father. They would have killed the rest of us, but our neighbors called the police. The police came and took the thugs away. We were taken into protective custody. My mom was in tears, she clung to my father’s body until they took it away to be cremated. I was no less. I was bawling on the floor. I had loved my father. He gave me whatever I asked for. If that was bad enough, the rumors about me reached the lord. He was really superstitious. He stayed well away from me. As the rumors grew, he grew even more wary around me. “Soon, he couldn’t take it, he banished my mother and I from Minisgar. We left for the forests outside our kingdom. My mother and I were looking for food in the forest and she ran into you guys. From there, well, you know the rest.”

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I was actually sprouting tears thinking about the hardships that Tauron faced. The others were reacting the same way. St’ragor was making a noise similar to his laughing. I realized after a while, that he was crying. “Kerron, tell Tauron our part of the story, starting with the battle between me and that one guy to prove I was ready to be a soldier.” “Okay.” The rest of us went near the fireplace to discuss our next move in recruiting. “I will leave at the crack of dawn to recruit other dragons.” “That would be reasonable, St’ragor. I agree with you.” “Irikandji and I can travel to Algerdorn to alert them of Borgon’s treachery.” “Yes and Kerron and Tauron can travel to Minisgar to tell inform Lord Birdinger.” “Do you really think that is smart Irikandji? Sending Tauron back?” “Think about it Tauron. You actually think Birdinger will believe a bunch of humans or his own kind? Banished or not?” “I agree with Irikandji” boomed St’ragor. “Also sending Kerron would be of support to Tauron, incase of trouble. He doesn’t show it, but Kerron is the one who likes Tauron more than any of us.” “Okay, I’ll go tell Tauron and Kerron the plans. You guys go sleep.” As Uneccier spoke, it reminded me how exhausted I really was. I watched Uneccier go to the tent where Kerron and Tauron were. St’ragor took off for his cave as well. I retired to by own tent, set Basilisk by my sleeping bag, and lay down and went to sleep. That night, the same dream came back. As I turned the body, horror struck me again. I knew what was coming but darkness clutched my heart once again. “Aaaaaghhhh!” I looked around. It was dawn already. I woke up, stretched, and went outside to see Kerron rushing toward my tent. “You okay?”

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“Yeah, same nightmare as last time.” “Must be some night mare. To scare you like that.” I went to go grab some breakfast. Almost one quarter of the emergency provisions had been eaten up. We needed to head into woodland soon or we’ll eat the whole thing. I grabbed an onion and leek turnover, toasted it a little over the fire, and bit in. Good old chef. He had cooked the turnover to perfection. I took some apple cider from a canteen and gulped down the delicious liquid. I was scheduled to travel to Algerdorn at around midnight. Tauron and Kerron will be leaving at the same time. We were all going to meet at this very spot in two weeks. If someone didn’t show up, we would wait another day. If they still didn’t show up, we would presume that person or persons were dead. Today, we would rest and make preparations. I honed Basilisk after I ate breakfast. It didn’t take long because I had honed it the previous day. I packed up most of my stuff except the tent and sleeping bag. Tauron was separating the provisions. Kerron and Uneccier were honing Cloudedge and Flamesteel. I walked up to Tauron. “Tauron, man, you okay with going to Minisgar? I mean you don’t have to, if you don’t want to, we can make-” “It’s all right. It’s time to let go of the past and go on with the present and future. Just because I was driven out, doesn’t mean I’m going to let my kind just die like that. I had friends there.” “Okay then, just making sure” I pointed at the provisions he was sorting “eat some breakfast, I recommend the onion and leek turnover.” “Thanks, the grubs were getting boring.” With that, I walked away. Then, I remembered something. “Oh, and wash it down with some good apple cider!” “Okay!” I went over to Kerron and Uneccier. “All right you guys, when you’re done with your swords, pack up everything except your tents and sleeping bags.” “Okay bossy pants.” Kerron smirked and started laughing. Uneccier gave him a disapproving look.

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“Shut up. You’re starting to get really annoying.” “Why don’t you make me?” I launched at him and we started wrestling in a play fight. Man, we haven’t had one of those in years. It was good to forget everything and just mess around with your friends for a while. “Hey. Hey. Hey! Calm down, you’re not children.” “Man, leave it to Uneccier to stop the fun.” “Yeah, I know. Well I’m gonna go explore the rest of this dang plateau. There’s nothing else to do.” “Okay, but wait up and we’ll all go.” “Aight.” I walked around, waiting for the rest of them to finish with what they’re doing. Tauron was finished first, so he walked around with me. After about five minutes Kerron and Uneccier joined us. “Let’s start over there.” I pointed at a clump of weeds. We started walking toward it and something flashed away from it. We ran after it. Tauron, being the fastest, caught up and grabbed it. “Hahahahaha.” “What you laughing at?” “It’s a dog. A little German Shepherd puppy to be exact.” I leaned closer to see that he was right. “What are the odds of that? A dog in the middle of nowhere.” I took it from Tauron and scratched its chin. I was pitifully skinny. “Let’s take this little guy back to camp. We gotta feed ‘im.” “Yeah, his ribs are sticking out. Let me hold him.” “Yeah sure Kerron.”

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I gave the puppy to Kerron and started thinking of names. Rex, Lucky, Buddy, Gurgle, etc. Yeah, I’m not really good with names. “I think we should call him Breeze. Cuz he was running like the Breeze.” “Nice name Uneccier, I wouldn’t have thought of that.” We took Breeze to the camp and fed him some beef patties we had in there. He ate ravenously. He was biting into it with razor sharp teeth. He took instant liking to us. He sat by us the rest of the day. Time was drawing by and the sky started darkening. I wondered who would take Breeze with them. “Hey guys who’s gonna take Breeze with them?” “I think Irk and Uneccier should take him. Most minotaurs attack dogs for no reason. I personally love dogs though.” “Okay, we’ll take him. I used to have a dog so I can train him as well.” “Really Uneccier? How come you never told me?” “Oh, I didn’t? Well, my bad.” That night we traveled to the edge of the plateau together. It was a cheery night. The sky was clear, the stars and the moon were shining bright, and there was a light breeze in the air. It was the kind of atmosphere that made you think back on your self. We turned on our flashlights, which we haven’t used yet, and looked back. “Well, here we go.” I looked at Kerron. “Yeah, sometimes I wonder, what we’re supposed to accomplish in life. Is it all just fun and games? Care about yourself? Just work and support your family? It’s all a big fuzz to me.” I looked at Kerron and Uneccier. Deep down I knew they were right. Before, I always thought of me, myself, and I. Now I see that it’s not about you, it’s about who you care about. Look at where our selfishness brought me. I got banished. And for what? Talking back to the king because I lost my temper. I wonder what my father was going through right now. I looked at my watch. It was 12:34. “Time to go guys. We don’t have much time. We already wasted like a half an hour.”

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“All right then, see ya guys.” We waved to Kerron and Tauron. After they were out of sight, Uneccier and I started to walk slowly. I took Breeze’s leash which Uneccier made a few hours ago. Breeze seemed pretty anxious. He walked around eagerly, sniffing every bush and crack but staying quiet. Uneccier and I were pretty sad. We didn’t know why, but we just did. I think it was because we were split apart from our friends. I’m not sure. It’s one of those times that you are really sad, but you don’t know why. I’m not talking about depression here, but you get the message. We walked silently for about hour and stopped for quick rest. I fed Breeze some jerky and lay down. Uneccier sat down beside me. Breeze lay down on the other side of Uneccier. “Man this is a boring trek.” “Yep. There’s nothing to do. For some reason, I thought this would be fun but it is really boring.” “At least Breeze seems to be having fun.” Uneccier laughed at my comment. He took Breeze onto his lap and started to pet him. Breeze whimpered the way dogs do when they are happy. We rested for about fortyfive minutes and left once again. This time we kept talking so it wasn’t that boring. We entered stretch of woodland some two hours later and set up camp in a clearing. While I struck up a fire, Uneccier made a comfy bed of ferns and moss for Breeze and tied his leash to his tent. I sat by the fire toasting my palms and watched Uneccier teach Breeze some basic tricks. Stuff like sit, stand, rollover, etc. Breeze didn’t catch on but what would you expect? It was the first day. Uneccier gave up and sat down beside me. “Looks like you’re a good trainer,” I smirked. Uneccier creased his eyebrows. “Let’s see if you can do any better!” “I’m just joking man. I’m tired. I’m gonna go take a nap.” “Yeah me too.” We retired to our tents, knowing that if there was any danger, Breeze would be alert.

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That night I was back in the meadow. The red jasmines, the body with Basilisk in the back and everything else like before. I turned the body, waiting for the shock that would make me scream. I woke up immediately. I was used to it now but it was still scary enough to wake up. Light was streaming through the entrance to the tent. I walked out to see that Uneccier was still sleeping. Breeze woke up to the sound of me getting up. I fed him some jerky and went to pack up my tent. Dawn was still breaking so I thought that I would let Uneccier sleep for a while. I ruffled Breeze’s fur and tried to train him. I took a tiny piece of jerky. “Sit.” He wouldn’t sit so I put him in the position and gave him the piece of jerky. “Good boy!” I took another piece of jerky. “C’mon boy, sit.” This time, he knew what he had to do. He sat down in the position I put him in earlier. “Good boy.” I gave him another piece. Now, I had to teach him to stand. I told him to sit again. “Now stand, boy.” I put him in the position, gave him a piece of jerky and ruffled his fur. Now to test him. “Sit!” He sat. “Stand!” He stood. I heard a clapping sound from behind and looked at Uneccier. “Great job.” “Thanks, didn’t take long.” “Oh yeah, I forgot to use snacks.” “Yeah, and you call yourself a trainer.” “Whatever, we should get going.” “I already packed up my stuff. I’m waiting for you.” Uneccier looked around to see that I was right. He quickly dismantled his tent and packed up his gear. I took Breeze’s leash and we began our trek once again. Meanwhile, Kerron and Tauron were playing tick-tack-toe in the dirt. They didn’t have to travel as far as us. They were already halfway there. “I’m bored. Tick-tack-toe is like a second grade game.”

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“Yeah I know. I wonder what Irk and Uneccier are up to. Probably in some battle with some Bondarg scouts.” “Don’t exaggerate Kerron. If they picked a battle, it would give away their position. Not a good idea if you ask me. I know they’re smart enough not to do it.” “Yeah, you’re right. I’m gonna go get something to eat. You want something?” “Yeah sure, get me some cider.” Tauron heard something. It sounded like rustling leaves followed by a scratching sound. Tauron got up, and walked toward Kerron. “Don’t be alarmed, but I think we’re being watched,” Tauron whispered. “All right. Which direction?” “Don’t looks but I think it’s to our left?” With that Tauron started laughing to make the intruder think they’re too preoccupied. “That was hilarious!” Kerron quickly caught on. “Yeah, I know, no one can make better jokes than me.” “Okay, stop, I can’t breathe.” He acted like he was laughing so much he couldn’t breathe. The stalker took the bait. Thinking they too occupied in some joke, he charged. Tauron was ready, saying Dirbenlard, he brought up the sickle shaped sword and deflected his opponent’s sword. The stalker was caught off guard. Kerron took out Flamesteel and brought it down on the intruder’s back. He took care not to slice too deep. As the intruder retched up in pain, Tauron brought Dirbenlard to his throat. “Who are you?” Tauron’s face was contorted in anger. He realized he was looking at a minotaur. “What’s it to you?” “What’s it to us? What’s it to us? You tried to kill us, that’s what it is to us. Now tell us who you are or I’ll kill you.” “Kerron calm down. I’ll deal with this.” “No Tauron this idiot is ticking me off.” “Did he just say Tauron?”

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“Yeah, I did. You got a problem with that? Huh? The intruder ignored Kerron and spoke to Tauron. “It’s me Tauron, Bartik!” Tauron let his grip loose, taking Dirbenlard off Bartik’s neck completely. “You lie! Bartik would never ambush me like that. He is too good of a friend.” “I wouldn’t have either, if you didn’t hang out with this bloody human. The Tauron I knew was too loyal.” “If you are Bartik, what was our promise four years ago?” “Easy, we promised we would become warriors together.” Tauron hugged Bartik immediately. “I never thought I would see you again. What are you doing here?” “It’s a long story, but I’ll make it short. We hit this one guy when he was making fun of you. Then, he made up a story that we teamed up with you and were going to destroy the kingdom. “So now, we got banished and we’re stuck here-” “You keep saying we, who are we?” “Henger, Gullith, and I.” “Really? Call them.” “Follow me.” As they followed Bartik, Kerron came up to Tauron. “Who are they?” “They were my best friends when we were younger.” “Oh, cool, but he better not make comments about me or any human!” “Okay, I’ll tell him everything that has happened to us.” “Can we trust him?”

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“Yeah.” They reached a little clearing where two other minotaurs were camped. When they saw Kerron, they were about to attack but Bartik stopped them and told them what Tauron told him on the way. They quickly accepted Kerron and were eager to help warn Minisgar. Irikandji and Uneccier were reaching an intersection. They were planning to hitch a ride to Algerdorn. Not too many people knew they were outcasts. “I think it will take a while.” “Maybe, maybe not.” “Hey look, that car has an old lady. Old ladies are nice.” We waved our thumbs in the air and the car stopped. “Hello boys, need a ride?” “Yes m’am. Are you going in the direction of Algerdorn?” “Yes, I’m actually going to visit my cousin there. Is it just you two or anymore people?” “Umm just us… and a dog.” “Oh, no sweat. I take dogs all the time.” “Thanks m’am.” “Hop in.” “C’mon Breeze!” Breeze ran toward us and sat in Uneccier’s lap. We reached Algerdorn in about an hour or two. The lady was pretty nice. Sometimes you get suspicious of people being too nice, but this lady was the real deal. Algerdorn looked pretty much like Bondarg. Same streets, same stores, same everything. Of course, it wasn’t like they were copies or anything. We still had a lot of money that our parents gave us as they cried. What I don’t get, is what good money will do when there are no stores in the open country. We still had a week and a half left for the deadline, so we thought we would enjoy ourselves the next day.

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Uneccier and I booked a room in a cheap motel. We both took showers. The kind with soap. We felt much better. Those brief swims in pools didn’t get rid of the muck. We also bought some clothes and threw our old ones in the laundry. Then we slept. It felt good to be sleeping on a bed again. That night, the dream came back. I’m getting used to it though. The next day we left Breeze in the room and headed out to an arcade. Man, have I ever wanted to play video games so badly in my life. After that, we called our parents. They were really happy to listen to us. We told them what we were going to do. My father said he was against what the king was planning too. We bought a real collar for Breeze. The crude substitute Uneccier made was making Breeze itch. We also bought him some real fattening dog food. He had already gained a lot of pounds on his beef diet we gave him before. This would really help. “Man Uneccier, life is good. We missed so much when we were out on our own.” “Yeah, but life outdoors has its own thrills as well.” “True, very true.” “Hey, we should buy some batteries. You never know when we need flashlights the most.” “Yeah, let’s go buy some.” We went back to the motel and left the stuff we bought. Then, we left again. We took Breeze with us this time. He was comfortable in his new collar. He really liked being around people. People thought he was cute and came to pet him. This made him really happy. We went to a store called Neo-Mart. It’s kind of like your Wal-Mart. Breeze had to stay outside. We bought a lot of batteries, some chips, and soda. As we paid, the cashier spoke to us. “You guys got a party going on at your house?” “Yeah, you could say that. Though I gotta say, those guys can eat like crazy.” “Yeah, when my son throws parties, I gotta spend like half my paycheck.” We all laughed at that. It was kind of funny. Spending half your paycheck on food and drinks. The total we spent that day excluding the motel costs was like a hundred bucks. We still had way more money though. My father always let me keep a copy of his debit card and he also gave me the pin for withdrawing at ATMs.

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We took Breeze and headed for the motel. Tomorrow was a big day. We had to speak to the king of Algerdorn. If I recall correctly, the king was supposed to be Razor. He was a relatively nice king despite his name. We ate some of the chips and some hot dogs we bought earlier that day and retired to our beds once again. Every night I was bothered by that dream. The same one every time. I was woken again and realized it was time to go to Castle Algerdorn. I woke Uneccier up and fed Breeze and we left. The castle was relatively big and made of tall red stone. It had huge granite doors and the guards were huge dudes. “Umm hello guards.” “What do you want kids?” “We need to speak to the king, a really important message.” “Tell me and I will tell the king.” “This is not for normal ears. It is a highly important message.” “Very well, but I must search you.” “Go ahead. Here take our swords as well.” We left our swords, daggers, and Uneccier’s bow on a huge table inside the gates. Then, they searched us, and, finding nothing, took us to the king’s suite. We had to wait like a half an hour until they let us go in. King Razor invited us in with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “Hello young ones, I hear you have an important message for me?” “Yes sir, I would like to start at the very beginning. Tell him everything Uneccier.” King Razor was shocked when Uneccier got to the banishing part. I cut in. “We may be outcasts, but we are still good people.” As Uneccier came to an end, King Razor had an astonished look on his face. “Wow, so you’re a Berserker? Wow. Strangely, I believe every word you say. I mean an outcast wouldn’t dare com into any kingdom to lay false rumors. Now, can you tell me your message?”

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“Umm, I don’t know how to say this. Algerdorn and Minisgar are going to be attacked by Bondarg in about a month. We’ve decided to form a group called the Outcasts to stop them. So far our members are three humans, a minotaur, and a dragon. Uneccier and I are here to warn you and rally your force with us. St’ragor, our dragon, is out to recruit more dragons, Tauron, our minotaur, and Kerron are out to warn Minisgar.” The king was stunned at our message. His face was contorted with anger. He looked like a red balloon filled to its limit. “B…b…but you can’t launch a full scale attack without declaring a war! It’s against the law!” “I don’t think Borgon cares about the law. If he did, he wouldn’t banish us like that and he wouldn’t launch full scale attacks without warning the opponent.” “Well spoken young Uneccier. I will warn my kingdom and my soldiers. Some of my captains will follow you to your rendezvous point at the plateau. Rest well for a week and I will have my chauffeur drive you to the plateau in my sports car. Oh, and I can have my professional trainers train this Breeze of yours to the finest war dog training. He is of the perfect age to begin.” “That sounds great. How long will Breeze’s training take?” “With my trainers working together, he will be ready by the time you leave.” “Thank you my lord, thank you.” As we walked out, I was bursting with happiness. We reached the motel quickly and sat down on our beds. “A job well done, don’t you think?” “Yeah Irk. I just hope it’s all good with St’ragor, Kerron, and Tauron” “Yeah if they succeed, it’s over for Borgon.” Tauron, Kerron, Bartik, Henger, and Gullith were walking toward the gates of Minisgar at the same moment. As they entered, Kerron noticed that it was relatively the same as human kingdoms. There were cars, stores, bikes, and everything. They too, just like Irikandji and Uneccier booked a large room at a cheap motel. The manager looked suspicious. “Don’t I know you four? You guys were on TV.” “Who us? Man we would be lucky if we were on TV.”

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Kerron fared the worst. He had to be wrapped by tents and put on a wagon so no one would see him. When they entered the room, he was unwrapped. “Man, I cannot breathe in there.” “No duh. We only put a few holes in that tent.” “Tauron, I don’t like this Gullith guy.” “Deal with it. You tried killing me the minute you saw me. Look at us now.” “Yeah, what ever. Let’s get this over with we got a week to get back to the plateau. We have to do this, and we have to do this fast.” “Right. Humans aren’t as stupid as I thought.” “Shut up Henger.” The next day, they went to Castle Minisgar. It was an elegant combination of Iron, steel, limestone, and remarkably, marble. The guards were sort of sleepy so they didn’t ask many questions. They just took their weapons, did a quick search and took them in. Lord Birdinger, despite all the attacks he has launched, was a really nice fellow. It took a while to calm him down though. “Who let you in? You’re outcasts.” “We may be outcasts, but we’re still loyal to Minisgar. We came to tell you something important. Kerron will elaborate.” “All right Bartik. So it all started when…” Lord Birdinger was even more astonished than King Razor at the news of Borgon’s plans. But, ultimately it only leaded to him believing the gang even more. “I am sorry I ever doubted you Tauron. I am sorry for banishing you too Bartik, Henger, and Gullith. Kerron, if it wasn’t for you, I would have believed that all humans were like Borgon. I will announce that you are once again welcome to the kingdom and that humans are as well. Except Borgon and his followers. I will give you some documents that will give all the information about my troops, their size, quality, all that stuff. I will also send my troops to a rendezvous point which I guess you will choose and immediately tell me with this phone.” He gave us a phone similar to what you would call a Blackberry Curve. “Great we’ll call Irikandji and tell them that it’s all good here.”

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“You do that. I look forward to working with the Outcasts.” “See ya!” With that, they left. Now, Kerron didn’t have to be shoved in a bag. Some minotaurs charged but the lord has set security with them. All the security did was that they flashed their badges and the chargers stopped in their tracks. “That was pretty easy.” “I know Kerron, I wonder if it worked out with Irikandji’s group.” “Well, call him Bartik.” Bartik took the phone and called the information service in Algerdorn. They gave them the number that belonged to the room Ian Balthazar was staying in. It was the fake name we all agreed on for Irikandji. “Hello? Who is this?” “Umm, I’m Bartik.” “Okay, who are you?” “Oh yeah, you don’t know me. Tauron! Take the phone.” “Hello? Irikandji?” “Yeah, it’s me. What up?” “We just called to see if it worked out with you guys.” “King Razor believed us. So it’s all good. You?” “Same here.” “Great! Anyway, who’s that Bartik guy?” “Long story, I’ll tell you at the plateau.” “All right, bye.” “See ya!”

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Part 4: Reunion! Kerron’s group had to leave earlier than mine because they had to walk. About two days later Uneccier and I left. It took us relatively three hours to get there. Kerron’s group still hasn’t arrived. Breeze was like the best trained dog in the world. He can understand like everything we say. He even has a silent dog whistle. We can’t hear anything, but he can hear it like rumbling thunder. He put on the perfect amount of weight a dog his age should have. He was vaccinated and everything. Right now, it was just Uneccier, Breeze, Kevin, Robert, and I on the plateau. Kevin and Robert were the captains that King Razor said he was going to send with us. They were the sort of people that would die defending you. I liked them on the spot. They seemed to completely forget the fact that we were outcasts. “So, uhh, Robert, how long it take you to get the Dragon rank?” “Umm three years I guess.” “Did it feel like a long time to reach it?” “Well yeah, but you know your earning it.” “You fight any dragons?” “Once, a dark-red dragon. Massive in size. It took us like fifteen soldiers to drive him away.” “Cool. You know the dragon that will be working with us is also dark-red? It might even be the same dragon you fought.” “I will have to cope with it.” “What food you like?” “Uneccier! Will you shut up? You’ve been asking Robert a lot of questions. Show him some respect. He’s like ten years older than us.” “It’s not that annoying. I mean, I understand that he just wants to know how normal soldier life is like. After all, that’s what you kids wanted to be. “Yeah Irk, listen to what Robert says.” “Oh shut up Uneccier. Someone backs you up and you feel like the king of the world,” I said laughing and clapping him on the back.

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“Can we share the joke too or will you be selfish and keep it to yourselves?” “Kerron my man!” I ran up to Kerron and gave him a great bear hug. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help noticing that Tauron wasn’t there with him. “Where’s Tauron?” “They should be here. I ran here when we got close and they were tired, so they said they’d come at their own pace.” “Great! We’ll wait till Tauron arrives, and we’ll tell each other our stories.” I introduced Kerron to Kevin and Robert. They clasped hands in the universal friendship gesture. Kerron sat down and munched on some jerky from our freshly renewed provision packs. We heard some rustling in the small woodland at the edge of the forest and turned to look. It was only breeze. He had caught a small squirrel which he took to a pile of rocks and ate. “Well, it seems that Breeze has regained his health and weight.” “Yeah he received intensive care and training back at Algerdorn.” Kerron walked up to Breeze and ruffled his fur. Breeze made his whimpering noise and wagged his tail. Kerron looked up to more rustling in the trees. Tauron walked out with three other tough looking minotaurs. Uneccier and ran up and gave him a hug while we cautiously watched the others behind him. They eyed us and Tauron as if it was disgusting to hug humans. “Sup man, long time no see!” “Yeah I know Uneccier.” “Man I’m just glad everything worked out.” “Yeah. Hey meet my old friends, Bartik, Henger, and Gullith.” He pointed at each minotaur in turn. Uneccier and I nodded at each one and they nodded back to us. “Cool, now meet Robert and Kevin. They’re King Razor’s most trusted and loyal captains.”

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Uneccier shook hands with them and they didn’t seem to retaliate or anything. They just shook hands as if Tauron was just another everyday human who was going to work with them on some errand or project. I was glad because I didn’t want to see any hostility between my gang. What keep the Outcasts together are acceptance, friendship, and/or compromise. I didn’t want to lose those qualities. “All right now that everyone is introduced, we have to wait for St’ragor. Hopefully everything is okay with him.” I looked at the sky to Kerron’s statement. “Yeah. He still has a day though,” I said as I still eyed the sky, “so he should be back by tomorrow.” We saw Bartik’s gang, Kevin, and Robert fidgeting. I guess I would be scared too at the thought of a dragon working with us. Then, Gullith voiced his concern. “Are you sure it’s okay working with dragons?” “He may have hurt or eaten humans and minotaurs in the past, but I know right now that I can trust him with my life if I have to!” That little statement said it all. I didn’t even know if what I just said was what I felt inside. All the same, another part of me said that I could. But right now, all that mattered was that everyone calmed down after that. The newcomers pitched their tents and we settled down for the night. The night sky was beautiful. There were a lot of stars. The longer you looked, more seemed to pop out. The moon was vibrant and was crescent shaped. I looked at Tauron who was also watching the moon. A thought had struck me that his sword looked just like the moon. Tauron guessed what I was thinking. “‘Lard’ means moon in the ancient minotaur language. ‘Dirben’ means crescent. Therefore I named my sword Dirbenlard.” “Cool. You seem to know a lot about history. Was there ever a time when there was peace between all the creatures in our world? I mean other than small conflicts?” “I did hear of such a time. It was known as The Age of King Grail. King Grail was a man who believed in peace. He was a basilisk. He commanded all the creatures. The creatures saw him as their own. No one thought of him as a basilisk. So in his time peace and prosperity ruled all. After that, a young basilisk named Grashor couldn’t think of anything to say to a young minotaur he was having a conflict so he brought up species. He called him a stinking minotaur and that they were nothing but a waste on the planet. The conflict started to spread fast. Soon, everyone hated each other’s species. It broke up into an all out war.

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Irikandji Balthazar

“The basilisks tried to stop everyone but they got their heads chopped off instead. Soon the basilisks became extinct in their tries to stop the war. The war ended soon in much confusion and shock that the basilisks died out but hostility remained.” “Dang. That is some crazy stuff.” “Irikandji?” Tauron and I turned around to see Henger standing behind us. “Yeah? What’s up?” “I wanted to give you something.” Henger took a small pouch from his pocket. “Here, I want you to have this. My grandfather gave it to me.” I opened the pouch. Inside it was a long fang. I’ve never seen it before, but I knew what it was. It was the fang of a basilisk. “This was actually the fang of King Grail. My great-great-great-grandfather was awarded this for saving Lord Hereshtor’s life.” “Oh, you mean the leader of minotaurs a long time ago?” “Yeah that’s the one. So you like it?” I still haven’t spoken since he gave it to me. I was in full shock. King Grail’s fang. It was a legendary item right in front of me. I finally recovered enough to take the fang out. The minute I touched it, I felt power rushing through me. I was like the Berserker mode only a thousand times bigger, and better. “I…I can’t have it. It’s so valuable.” “No Irk, it’s of no value to me. Keep it, it’s yours.” Then, he turned towards Tauron. “Fuse it into his sword Tauron. It’ll give him more power every time he wields it.” Tauron took both the fang and Basilisk and laid them on a rock. By now everyone had gathered around and was staring at the fang in amazement. Tauron started muttering. It sent chills down my spine. Tauron finished and a lightning bolt struck the rock. The fang straightened and stretched as long as the blade of the sword. Then it molded itself into the center of the blade. Tauron told me it was okay to touch sword so I picked it up and immediately felt the power surging through me.

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Irikandji Balthazar

Basilisk looked menacing with the pure white center. It was a powerful weapon to bargain with. I think I could fight for a month without stopping holding that sword. I would have all the energy I need from the fang. “Now it is truly Basilisk. By name and by nature!” I thrust Basilisk into the air and lightning struck it. I felt no heat. Just tons more power. “Lightning will strike it whenever you do that Irk. That is how the fang works. If you want to take the fang off, you need to say ‘King Grail birtengork’. The fang will immediately come off.” “Okay Henger, I’ll remember that.” I crawled into my sleeping bag. The night may have been beautiful, but I dreaded it. I knew that once I fell asleep, the nightmare would come once again. I happened every single night. The next morning I woke up to Kerron thumping me on the head. I shoved him aside and got up. I walked out yawning to see that everyone was making a big fuss outside. Only Uneccier, Tauron, and Kerron seemed calm. “What’s with all the fuss?” I asked Uneccier. He looked at me and my only response was a point at the sky. I looked up to see about two dozen dots in the sky. The one in the lead was dark red in color. I smiled, knowing that St’ragor’s quest as a success as well. “Everybody calm down! There is nothing a dragon likes more than to see a bunch of full grown humans and minotaurs in panic at their arrival. I already told you. There is no threat to us.” They brought themselves to control after my remark and stood next to us. I brought out the new, more powerful basilisk knowing that I might have to prove myself to another dragon with a big ego. “Eeeeeeeeeerrraaaaaaaaak!” St’ragor’s screech set the new members shaking. Breeze was hiding in my tent. The dots grew bigger and St’ragor’s screeches grew louder. Pretty soon you could make out all of the dragons’ features. Many had scars and some even had lost limbs, but you can see that they were tough creatures.

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Irikandji Balthazar

St’ragor touched down with a snort of flame. I rushed up to him and sat on his back. “What’s up my big fiery dragon?” “Nothing, but I got about twenty-four dragons to help us. You like ‘em? I looked at them taking in almost every single detail. “Hmm, they’re ugly, gruesome, greasy, and not to mention disgusting. Tough, beastly, I love them!” “Great. They sky-blue one over there is Cloudslash. I’ve known him and a few others for a while. The rest of them are mostly juveniles looking for a battle. Cloudslash and I have a good reputation among dragons so they decided to follow us.” “Cool. It went a-okay with us too. Lord Birdinger and King Razor backed us up as soon as we told him the situation. Lord Birdinger will send his army as soon as we call him. I guess we will call King Razor too.” “Okay let’s start with introductions and then plan some uhh, plans.” “Dude you lost it Kerron. Plan some plans?” We introduced all the newcomers. Apparently, the humans and minotaurs were more reluctant to meet the dragons than the dragons were reluctant to meet them. The dragons were actually pretty friendly. They gave friendly greetings and even tried to pet Breeze. That afternoon after a few snacks, Uneccier, Kerron, Tauron, Henger, Gullith, Bartik, Robert, Kevin, Cloudslash, St’ragor, and I sat around a fire thinking about what we were going to do. “I think we should challenge a faceoff war with Borgon.” We all pondered Uneccier’s idea. Cloudslash saw a problem. “Yeah but first we need to assess the full strength of our army, and, if possible, Borgon’s army as well.” “True dat, true dat.” “Should I call Lord Birdinger and tell him to send the army here?” “Yeah Bartik, tell him to send all or most of it. I’ll call King Razor and tell him to send his side as well.”

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Irikandji Balthazar

I was sort of pleased with the air of command that was in my voice. Everyone just seemed to listen to me. My mother always said I was a born leader. During school plays, I was always the director. It was pretty easy, I mean the teacher always made sure that the other children listened to me, but that rarely ever needed doing. That night, after we called the kingdom leaders, we all went to a much needed sleep. The armies would be here in about a week. We would have all the time we needed to make any minor preparations. I crawled into my sleeping bag and shut my eyes for some sleep. The same nightmare played over and over in my head. I dreaded the moment when I turned over the body. Everytime I turned it over I felt like breaking down and crying. That face, all contorted in pain. The body had over fifty cuts on it. The young man was tough. He received all the cuts while he was alive. He probably would have kept going too. But someone had to end his pain. I just hope my dreams weren’t prophetic. I made a mental note to ask Tauron about prophetic dreams. I went back to my troubled sleep. The dragons were practicing aerial and ground combat the next morning. I just took my time watching their complicated twirls and swoops and loop-de-loops. I fed Breeze and ate my own breakfast from the deer that some dragons caught. I fried some of the meat and watched it turn a golden brown. As I ate, an idea struck my brain. I pondered it, looking for any flaws. Only finding one, I decided to voice my idea. I drew Basilisk from its sheath and thrust it into air. Lighting struck it, drawing everyone’s attention. I called some of them to the biggest tent which we came to agree on as the command tent. “What’s up man?” Uneccier looked puzzled. “Yeah!” everyone seemed impatient. They all stared at me. I was starting to feel embarrassed. What if my idea was really dumb? What if the flaw I found was a really big one? But then again, I had to be strong. How can I lead an army if I couldn’t believe in myself? “I was thinking, maybe we can ride the dragons for stealth missions. Sort of like a hit and run. They wouldn’t here us coming, but we could kill their leaders or something and get out before they find out.” The rest of the people present thought about it. They all couldn’t think of whether it was good or bad. I decided to tell them about the mistake I found. “But, there is one fault. We could only fit about one average sized person.” Just then, I thought about another problem. “Oh, and the dragons have to agree of course.”

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Irikandji Balthazar

“We dragons have no problem as long as you don’t order us around like we were horses or something.” St’ragor seemed genuine about his acceptance so I thought this would work after all. “Yeah this could work. We could use airplanes but they would be noisy and you’d need lots of room to land. Helicopters are even noisier so that is completely out of proportion.” “I also agree with what Uneccier said, but first we have to decide whether we’re going to use guerilla tactics.” “You’re right Kerron. But I’d say guerilla tactics are our best chance. Bondarg soldiers are some of the best. Algerdorn’s soldiers are not that great. No offense Kevin and Robert.” They knew I was right. It was a matter of size, but also quality. Size isn’t as big a factor as quality. Also size is against us as well. The leaders of Algerdorn and Minisgar have told us they can only spare us a third of each of their army. So we were left down to one choice even though we didn’t want to admit it. We had to beat them the less honorable way. Sneak attacks, supply raiding, assassination, etc.

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