“The beast awoke and headed for the river, so I was told by the last ones I released, the lucky ones who escaped with their lives… The time has come”. Sorrowful and worried, the young man who bore his metallic-blue armor, his shoulder and right arm exposed, got up on his mount, whose color matched his suit's. It was a nice dragonfly, a giant insect, which he tenderly called Argonaut. Like a metallic-blue ray, they took flight inside the dense curtain of falling water -- nothing could be more difficult.
Amid a torrent of lightning bolts that brightened everything in silver tones, he saw the desolation of what had once been the most promising city in the Firmamundo. His heart was heavy, not only for the past he saw destroyed but mainly for the decisions he would have to make. On the saddle of his magnificent animal, he clenched his fist in hate and fear of losing his most endearing one, who was now coming down with King Eumano's fleet, heading towards the beast.
After parting ways with the debris of his home town and his parents' old castle, which had just served as a throne for the beast, the Archer dove in with Argonaut. There, he appallingly contemplated the behemoth going up the Sargaço Bravo River, knee-deep in water .
The current hindered the monster's headway, but at each step it took brutal waves clashed against triremes, clippers and smaller boats, overturning and sinking them. Some recently released catatais tried to climb the abomination just to be devoured or crushed. The first chapter of the catatau slavery and extinction was being written.
Amid the chaos, the young man went down to a river beach as he heard screams. There was a shack that housed an orphanage, where children in panic yelled for their lives.
“Quiet now! Or you will draw the monster here”, the young man whispered with his index finger on his lips, as he hit an iron lock with a rock, trying to free them.
“They locked us here, sir. We are the sacrifice for the monster to devour us and go away. It didn’t even see us, just looks ahead”, an older girl said, trying to pacify the younger ones. Her words hit the young man’s stomach like a sledgehammer. It senses her, the bastard sniffs out her presence”.
The current had carried pieces of boats to the shoreline, where they remained stranded; distant screams mixed with thunder as heavy rain drops clashed against the river’s muddy waters, forming a devastating painting. Blood ran from the young man’s hand, such was the anger with which he clenched the rock as he struck the shack’s padlock strongly until he finally released the children. Then he just commanded:
“Go up the stairs and hide!” The young man’s blue eyes sparkled at every lightning bolt that flashed.
The lightning seemed to be attracted, not to the giant, but to a large galleon nearby. The Archer knew she was there. His body trembled in a mix of cold and fear as he noticed the released ones going up the stairway and shouted to his mount.
“Argonaut, Krahash!”
What came over my father to offer children as sacrifice?! That was sick… and now I return as a prodigal, maybe the catatais really should go into extinction. Trapped in his thoughts, he flew quickly above the beast as it faced the heroic fleet, which hurled balls of fire by means of rudimentary trebuckets and catapults; nevertheless, the beast kept sinking boats extremely easily, devouring catatais, armours and all.
Camouflaged by the heavy mass of water that fell torrentially, he passed over the giant unnoticed. He finally spotted the Sanctuary Protector, the war galleon of King Eumano Lokumorst, the catatau sovereign of the plains. On the deck, next to the king, she was shining in silver, sparking all over her skin as if evoking lightning bolts; her soaked, fire-red hair emitted smoke as she seemed to be floating, so small and delicate and at the same time so powerful… Eumano, you wretch, why have you brought her here into this chaos?
In his deep dive, Argonaut spotted the galleon. The dragonfly barely landed and the Archer had leapt off the animal still in movement. His first measure was to deliver a punch right in the king’s face, knocking His Majesty to the floor.
“Eumano, you sap, why have you brought her?” The young man was shaking with anger, biting his lip to the point of having a thin trickle of blood running down his chin. Soldiers aimed their spears and swords at him. None of that mattered; he only wanted his beloved to be safe, something utopic at that moment.
“Calm down! She summoned everyone, insisting that the burden was hers. I tried to dissuade her, as you suggested, and one lightning bolt after the other kept striking the fields… soldiers, lay down your weapons, we’re on the same side”, the sovereign told his men.
A guttural roar made the men tremble on the grand galleon, which wobbled abruptly with the movement of the beast.
Argonaut, after landing, was having a meal before the next step could be taken. The Archer took his mysterious bow and four, also blue, arrows, also blue, besides the soaked cloth bag he had on his back. That was the moment he should take the most difficult of his decisions. He turned immediately towards his beloved, she came sweetly to meet him, landing gently on the deck. Simple, yet beautiful, barefoot in her worn white dress, her eyes shining in pure silver, mesmerizing and genuine in loveliness.
“Why have you come?”, he asked, his eyes brimming with tears disguised under the water that ran down his hair and his face.
“Do you have the Harp? Has she handed it to you?”, the young woman asked him.
How did she know about the Harp? I had told her I would handle that! However, she proves herself to be a real princess; she commands the troops, she shows that she knows much more than I do. I could not lie, my beloved feels and knows the truth, he thought. Against his will, he opened his backpack and sadly handed her the artifact, the Harp of enchantment. He gazed at her and the world stopped for an instant, she was so fragile and he felt protected by her side.
“Uar! The catatais are mine!”
The one brief moment of tenderness was abruptly broken when the monster destroyed one of the big war ships, filled with oil. Pitch exploded, burning whoever happened to be nearby like a torch. The abomination spoke, causing terror and fright. The young man clutched tightly at his bow, bracing himself for the strife, when Eumano called him:
“Have you found the answers? A certain deity with the eyes of a thousand stars that has visited you in dreams… what has she told you?”
“She just gave me this fine armor and three pieces of advice…”, he answered in disdain.
“And you…?” The astonished king watched as a galley was pummeled until it sank.
“If advice were good, she’d have sold it, not given it with a harp on the side.” The young man seemed disturbed, not by the king’s questions, but by the advice from that deity. “Many men mock the Sons of Firmamundo, I didn’t think I would be one of them.”
The Archer shook his head and did not answer.
Desperate cries were heard around the Sargaço Bravo riverbed, another vessel met its sad end. In fact, the young man should follow the deity’s advice, but instead he chose to keep it for himself. There was no time, catataus were being slaughtered like rats with blows of a broom. My people will be brutally extinct, and I cannot let my most precious asset become the victim of this wretched behemoth, the prospect hero thought, as he stared at the creature’s topaz-yellow eyes.
“Please, project her. I will dance with the beast.” The Archer was putting his armor helmet on.
“Can you beat it? Other dragonfly knights have fallen today”, the king said. The young man sensed fury pulsating in his veins, as well as fear emanating from the sovereign’s body. The taste of iron landed on his tongue after another bite at his lip. The The abomination approached and boats started paddling against the currents to escape.
“Better than that, I will make it pay”, he answered with a cruel smirk as he turned towards his beloved, the reason for all the decisions he had taken. “My adorable one, my treasure! I won’t allow that you to carry out that madness. I will knock down the beast, trust me.” He stroked her face softly, feeling the warmth of her skin.
With a discreet, worried smile, she reached out to him, saying tenderly:
“Let us do it together. We are attached, you know we are, and that is how it should be.”
“Only today, my beloved, the deity has to be wrong. There is no time, many more will die. I’ll go!”
People fell, the giant swallowed them, there was no time left to follow advice, the young man was convinced that the daughter of Firmamundo was wrong.
“Beloved, its Ghist has been corrupted.” The young woman brought a new term that did not seem to make much sense.
“Ghist? What in the hell is that?” Eumano oscillated between fear and curiosity.
“What the hell, we have no time.” The Archer seemed more aprehensive.
“Beloved, please…” But the young man headed for the dragonfly.
His last glance caught a tear evaporating amid the heat emanated from the princess of Firmamundo. He mounted the dragonfly, which sparkled like sapphire at the storm’s flashes. With his bow drawn, he flew towards the ferocity. New or old history, with or without advice, this ends here.
The young man drew the monstrosity’s attention by going in circles around it. The beast tried to catch, squeeze and smash the intrepid young man against the muddy waters. With its palm, the colossal being cast a mass of water against the pair that was teasing it. Fast as an arrow, the dragonfly glided parallel to the wall of water, so close that the young man could wet the tip of his fingers.
As they dodged, they zigzagged near its gape, causing a violent clash of monstrous teeth. They escaped again, and maybe for the first time the abominable being was meeting a rival that could face it. Without blinking, the beast clashed one hand against the other, and the wave of air and water sent them upwards. At its master’s command, Argonaut retracted its wings and dove in a swirl to open them close to the water. The young man knew dragonflies could not fly on days of calamitous storm, but Argonaut was a rare specimen, a Furioso, and could do things no other dragonfly would do.
As they glided close to the water blade, the pair passed between their opponent’s legs, making it lose its balance as it moved abruptly to catch them at the Sargaço Bravo riverbed. The movement generated a wave that almost sank more boats, spreading total terror to those watching the dance.
Enraged, the colossus roared again and took its first punishment. Amid gasps, grunts and coughs, the beast tried to comprehend what had just happened.
The first arrow was stuck into its uvula. The metallic-blue ray went cutting raindrops on its way to pierce and shake the red ball at the back of the beast’s mouth. It gasped and squealed, and the young man, proud of his deed, wondered if the creature had ever felt such pain. At a distance, the children climbed the stairs in safety, even if momentary.
As the colossus roared, the second arrow sank between its eyes, unfortunately not so effectively. Then, searching for another distraction, the blue pair resumed their dance with the dazed creature, now punching the air at random and bellowing loudly. Between spins, the young man could see the vessel farther away, but his beloved was shining more intensely and that worried him.
The giant’s fist almost hit him and his mount full on. Taking the chance to counterattack, with his legs tight on Argonaut’s flanks, the pair traced a spiraling path around its stretched arm, passing quickly by its face. They swerved to the right until they were close to its ear, where the third and most cruel punishment was delivered. Flying into its ear, the projectile pierced the monstrous thing’s eardrum. The affliction almost made it fall as it looked dizzy and made pendular movements, its balance clearly affected.
The young man eyed the monster’s suffering look, feeling neither any comfort in it nor mercy for his opponent. Argonaut floated as its master exhibited a victorious air, too self-confident.
With one last arrow left, the young man thought: advice is not needed, only four special arrows. He drew it from his quiver and placed it into the bowstring, its diamond head covered in frog drool, a poison that in small doses makes people faint, but with the amount that was there, and shot into its eye, would certainly do something worse.
The beast screamed menacingly.
“I want you to know that the one to put an end to your reign is Lu…”
For the arrogance and vacillation of the pair, the ancestral being struck Argonaut violently; knight and mount spun through the sky like a top until they crashed on the river beach. The arrow head scratched the Archer’s exposed arm, opening a small tear; the young man was in terrible pain when the beast turned to him. His mount closed its eyes.
Subdued. He would be one more of the many devoured ones. Consumed by fear, poison and wounds, the Archer could not move. He had dug his own end. So, his beloved, the treasure of Firmamundo, joined the battle by evoking a ray that hit the monster right in the arrow stuck to its forehead. The girl floated like a sphere of silver light, playing the Harp, wrapped in majestic halos of light and bringing peace to the battle.
Unfortunately, the effects of the venom destined to the monster took its toll. Not even the powerful halos of light were capable of removing the damage caused by the poisonous arrow. As the vertigo seized his body, the young man went limp, nauseated, devoid of any notion of time and space. Engulfed by pain and formication, he saw his beloved ascending to heaven. He no longer cared about the giant, he only had eyes for his Little Star rising, until everything turned into darkness.