The legions of darkness have been here since time unknown.
They ruled the green earth of Hydra, before humans came to live upon it.
The legion had a leader, his soul corrupted by pride and jealousy.
His heart was full of evil and his mind full of thoughts of revenge.
Their leader cursed and shook his fist at the Divine for his punishment of being placed on the green earth of Hydra.
He and his followers were thrown form the home of the Divine and felt he was treated unjust.
The leader of the legion, shook his fist to the heaven and swore he would seek revenge on the Divine.
When humans came to live on the green earth, the legion leader saw how he would get his revenge, against the divine.
He now knew he would corrupt the hearts of humans and make them turn away from the Divine.
The humans that inhabited the green earth of Hydra, knew nothing of the legion of darkness or their leader.
For the Divine had tried his best to keep them safe from their grasp.
The Divine sent servants to protect the humans of Hydra, reapers and Knights were chosen, to be protectors of the planet.
The leader, known as Gylmar, hatched a plan to kill every protector sent by the Divine to Hydra.
One protector would stand out, the White Knight Austin, the chosen ruler of the land of Goshen.
He was given his white armor on his 15th birthday, by then humans had lived on Hydra for 2000 years.
Austin would lead a battle against the legion of darkness and the war against the legion will last 5 years.
The battle is long and many white knights lose their lives to the legion, 300 in all, many reapers perish as well.
In one battle, Austin is the only one left standing, he faces an army of 500 alone.
In less than an hour, half of the army is taken down by Austin.
Gylmar is angered by this and is reading himself to fight the White Knight.
The rest of the army is dispatched and now Austin faces Gylmar.
"Creature your time on this planet is over, you shall be sent to oblivion for all eternity for your crimes," says Austin.
"You and your Divine shall send me no where, you shall be the one to be sent to oblivion and I shall feast on your soul for all eternity," say Gylmar.
The White Knight laughs and readies his swords, Gylmar is not pleased by the knight's reaction.
"Fool!, you will not win this battle, I shall rule all of Hydra and then I will go to the planet Cielo and kill your precious Divine," says Gylmar.
Gylmar readies his own sword and charges at the White Knight, he misses his target.
Austin dodges the attack and lands a blow to Gylmar's right arm, it is removed and the arm flies across the battle field.
"Curse you, White Knight, I shall defeat you with all my being, I will win!," says Gylmar.
Gylmar looks for a new sword and finds one, he clutches it in his left hand and takes a swing at Austin.
"Gylmar, you will not win, the Divine will not allow it," says Austin.
"I will win, no one will stop me, NO ONE!," says Gylmar.
Once again Gylmar rushes at the White Knight and misses, this is the last attack he can attempt.
With a quick slash of his sword, the White Knight removes Gylmar's head and it rolls to a stop at the edge of the battle field.
Gylmar's body crumples to the ground and then begins to disappear, the Divine has claimed his soul for punishment.
The White Knight is exhausted after the battle, but his job is not done, he will have to help bury his fallen companions.
It takes one week for the monks, the other knights and Austin to bury all 300 knights that fell in battle.
Austin returns to the land of Goshen and to the temple of the Divine there, waiting for him are two of his teachers.
Yosef, the wizard and Airca, his adopted mother and teacher in the art of battle.
"Welcome back, White Knight, I heard the battle was long and victory was gained." says Yosef.
"Yes, the battle was long, victory was not as easy as it seemed, old friend," says Austin.
"I am glad you were not hurt, cause than who would I have to talk to, the monks here are no fun,"
"They do not get my riddles and jokes, like you do," says Yosef with a smile.
"I need to change and get the stench of Gylmar off of me, I will talk to you soon, friend," says Austin.
"Go, I will be in the forest, if you want to talk, my friend," says Yosef.
Austin goes to his room in the temple and once there he removes his armor.
He must change his shirt and pants, they are covered in the black blood of Gylmar.
"I see you have return, my son, you did well on the battle field," says a voice.
Austin turns to see who is talk to him and it is Airca, he smiles when he sees her.
"I was not that good, I failed to protect many of my fellow Knights," says Austin as he hangs his head.
"Do not be sad, they know you did your best to protect them, they have told me from the other side,"
"They do not hold hard feelings toward you and they have sworn to watch over you from the other side", says Airca.
"Do not be sad, sometimes we cannot always protect our friends, they knew going to battle with the legion of darkness meant they could perish," says Airca.
"Yes, I know that, mother, but I still feel I failed out on the battle field," says Austin.
Will this kid ever learn, he is so sensitive, I am just happy he is okay and not hurt, thinks Airca.
"Change and I will talk to you more later, for now the monks need me to go train replacements for the next battle," says Airca.
She leaves Austin's room and heads for the main chapel area to speak to the monk, Kuvel.
"Airca, how is our young White Knight, is he well?," says Kuvel.
"Yes, but he is sad, he feels he failed to protect his friends," says Airca.
"That kid will always be that way, no one can change him, not even you," says Kuvel.
"I know, but I do not like to see him sad, it does not suit him, he is such a good kid," says Airca.
Kuvel nods in agreement and then hands Airca a piece of parchment.
"Here, the list of new White Knights, you must train them for the next battle,"
"We except Gylmar's general, Myut, to lead the legion of darkness, for now they have headed back to the wastelands of Khul to regroup," says Kuvel.
Airca reads the list of new recruits and is shocked by the number of them listed.
"3200, that many is needed?" asks Airca.
"Yes, the legion is bigger than we first thought it to be, their number is great and growing" answers Kuvel.
"How many members does the legion have, to need this many new knights." says Airca.
"Their number is 7000 and it grows everyday, many humans have now join them and the Divine is not happy," say Kuvel.
"When do I leave to help train the new knights?," asks Airca.
"Today, as soon as you pack what you need, the sooner the new knights are trained, the sooner this war is over," says Kuvel.
"I will go pack, but first I need to say bye to Austin, if I were to leave without saying anything, he gets worried," say Airca.
Kuvel nods to her and he returns to his duties of preparing a battle plan for the next phase in stopping the legion of darkness.
He has changed into a new shirt and pants, no longer having the stench of Gylmar on him.
"Austin, I have to leave and help train the new knights, I want you not to worry, I'll return soon," says Airca.
"Okay, I will not be alone here, I have Yosef, Kuvel, the White Dragon Hyule and the other knights to keep me company," says Austin.
"You liar, I know you are going to be sad when I leave, I will miss you as I train the new knights," says Airca with a smile.
Austin returns the smile, but it does not show in his eyes, Airca see sadness in his eyes.
Airca goes over to him and hugs him, she feel the need to cry, but she fights it for Austin's sake.
"My son, I love you and I will return soon, be good and listen to Yosef or I'll box your ears when I return," says Airca.
"Okay, I'll listen to the old man, but I like picking on him, it's fun," says Austin trying not to laugh.
Airca starts to laugh and hugs him tighter, she cannot see not having Austin in her life.
"Too tight, mother, you are suffercating me, loosen your grip," says Austin.
"Brat, I'll hug you as tight as I can, you can take it, I need to go and pack," says Airca as she lets go of him.
"Have a safe journey, mother, I love you and be careful." says Austin as he looks at her.
"I will be careful, you stay out of trouble, no going into the city of Tye for new pets, you have enough with Drac," says Airca.
"I have not step a foot in Tye, I do not plan to, I might just find a new pet in the forest," says Austin with a smile.
Airca gives him a look only a mother can and shakes her head, she gives him another hug.
"Brat, I'll miss, now I must go, you need to go see Yosef, hope the old fool has not got into trouble," says Airca.
She lets go of Austin and leaves to her own room, on the other side of the temple.
He is going to be miserable for days, I hope I am not gone for long, I do not like to leave him when he is sad, thinks Airca.
He than goes in search of Yosef, hoping the wizard has not tried any new spells and hurt himself again.
I bet his going to set his beard on fire again, that was funny, but it did take him a whole month to grow a new one, thinks Austin.
He leaves the temple and heads for the forest of Cy, behind the temple of Divine, when he reach the open field before the forest, Hyule appears.
The White Dragon lands in front of Austin and he smiles, when he see his old friend.
"Well, young White Knight, how was your victory in battle today," says Hyule through telepathy.
"Not a good victory, too many died today, I do not feel like celebrating," says Austin.
"Yes, I knew you were sad, Drac does not want to leave the cave and come see you, your sadness effects him," says Hyule.
Austin hangs his head, he forget that when he is sad, Drac feels it to, the price of being connected as friends.
"I forgot Drac can feel my sadness and when I am in pain, I will try cheer up," says Austin.
"No need to worried, I heard Airca is going to train new knights for the next battle," says Hyule.
"Yes, she is going to be gone for awhile, I will miss her, it's no fun here without her."
"She is needed to help tease, Yosef and laugh when the old man tries a new spell, then fails," says Austin.
Hyule laughs at what Austin has said and then begin to speak to him again.
"Do not be sad, Airca will be back before you can miss her, as for Yosef, I think he needs to learn his limitations or his going to end up in next life," says Hyule.
Now Austin laughs and the Dragon is happy his friend's mood is changing, Hyule does not like to see Austin sad.
"I will accompany you to see Yosef, I will have to fly above the forest though, I do not want to get stuck in the trees again," says Hyule.
Hyule launches himself and flies to find Yosef, Austin heads for the forest and enters.
The sound of forest animals can be heard, a deer runs by him, a bird cries out and more birds join in.
As Austin walks through the forest he comes across a little dragon, it looks injured and he picks it up.
The little dragon is breathing hard and is crying, Austin uses a healing spell to help it recover faster.
As the spell in complete, the little dragon opens it's eye and looks at Austin, then speaks to him.
"Where am I, I got lost and could not find my way to the temple," says the little dragon.
"You are in Goshen, where you looking for the temple of the Divine?," says Austin.
"Yes, I was seeking the safety of the temple, the legion of darkness has murdered my parents," replies the little dragon.
"I am sorry for you loss young dragon, I am Austin, a White Knight of the Divine, you are safe now," says Austin.
The little dragon smiles and jumps from his hands to his right shoulder and coos, then rub his head against Austin's face.
"Can we be friends?" asks the little dragon.
"Yes we can be friends, you can stay at the temple as long as you like, there are two more dragons here as well, Hyule and Drac," replies Austin.
"Thank you, friend, I am now your faithful companion, along with the other dragons," says the little dragon.
The Little dragon puts his head up to the side of Austin's head and places his claws on Austin's temple.
Austin feels the dragon connecting to his mind, the way Hyule and Drac have done.
A green light glows as the little dragon completes the connection, now Austin can see through the little dragons eyes.
"There now if you ever need me, you know how to get a hold of me, I can now see through your eyes as well," says the little dragon.
"Do you have a name, that way I know what to call you, instead of calling you dragon," says Austin.
"No, I do not have a name, you may give me a name," says the little dragon.
"I think I shall name you, Ryu, what do you think," says Austin.
"I like it, from now on I am, Ryu, thank you my new friend," says Ryu.
"You are welcome, I am glad you liked the name I choose," says Austin.
Austin continues through the forest, with Ryu on his shoulder, the two are now friends for life.
For now, we will leave Austin walking through the forest, with Ryu on his shoulder.
*This story is dedicated to two of my friends:
Po (Big Sister) :o)
The man with many stories and riddles I call, friend.
