Darian squeezed the paper with one hand and began to exhale rapidly. He used the other hand to rake through his hair. He looked at the paper again in anger. Lucius knew he was the last golden eagle. But how? Was Lucius there in the royal city’s central palace when his strange powers had acted out? That was the only way Lucius would have been able to recognize him.At that moment, he heard a knock on the door. Noel’s voice came from outside, “Darian, why are you in this room? Did another gift just arrive for you? You are really popular.”Darian stilled his nerves. He placed the paper under one of his sleeves and he walked towards the door to open it. He opened the door, determined to show nothing through his face. “It is no big deal. A servant came to drop some trash.”“Trash…” Noel placed a hand on his chin to process Darian’s words.Darian sighted a distraction. “Why don’t we go eat out and after, we can buy some groceries. Dimitri is not here to give us salty dishes anymore.”Noel m

Darian’s eyes were closed now. It seemed he was in a trance. The being was a giant. It spread its wings so wide that Darian was sure its width could cover two cities. Darian’s eyes were fastened on the creature as he stood on a small patch of grass before the being.The eagle set its eyes on him. It did not open its mouth to speak, but Darian could hear everything it said. “Let me help you,” the eagle said.“Leave me alone. I can sort my issues without you! Let me go!” Darian was hysterical.The eagle became smaller and twisted itself until the tip of his strong feathers touched Darian’s forehead. Darian’s eyes closed again. “I will take charge of you for now. Just for you to understand that the power you need… is inside.”Darian’s body in the dungeon suddenly stopped moving. He went limp.Lucius had been watching for a while and he could not sit still. The manifestation in front of him scared him to the bone. What if that eagle manifested here and killed him? He had seen Darian’s man

The ground beneath him was soft green grass. He rose to see blue skies, a waterfall, and a flowing stream. A part of the green lawn was covered with flowers. Darian gazed around and was impressed with his surroundings. He never believed inside the scroll would look like this. He had expected something monstrous. Maybe there were monstrous sights in the scroll too. He would find that out. What he needed to do was to find Noel, and he had no clue how he would do that.He kept walking until he saw a sign board with the inscription, “Failures’ Village.”Darian wondered at the sign. He walked towards the place. Maybe someone in the village would have an idea where Noel could be. The more he got closer to the village, the more he noticed something from a distance. The place was dry of vegetation; anything green was not in sight. As he came closer, he could feel the dry wind and could sight the people. The people of that village looked like him. They had two hands and two legs, a head and al

The woman pointed one hand at the water and attempted to touch it, but she was shaking all over.Darian hurried behind them. He lifted one leg and kicked the woman into the water. She fell in with a scream and a loud splash. Before the man could protest, Darian had kicked him in too. The part they had fallen into was shallow so they could easily raise themselves.Their expressions changed immediately to wide smiles and shouts of joy. “There is really water outside our village? This is unbelievable,” the man exclaimed as he jumped around. The woman kept putting water in her mouth with the help of her hand. She had no time to reply to the man.After splashing around a while, Darian asked, “Will you two go tell the other villagers the real truth now?” His hands were folded in front of his chest and he looked very impatient.The man and woman looked at each other and nodded their heads. They got out of the water and the man asked him, “Can we really plant with this water?”Darian almost s

The room was full of grain and gold. Darian turned to the others and nodded. Sixty percent of the villagers in the room stepped out. They had a mission. The rest of the soldiers would be taken out by them, and by the others who had infiltrated the castle.Darian stood there, waiting and ready. The others with him faced the door, waiting. They knew that if the others they sent failed, the soldiers would rush into the room. Twenty minutes later, the sound of a trumpet was heard. Darian heaved a sigh of relief. The other villagers rejoiced. They laughed, danced, and hugged each other."Oh no!" Baxter asked, wide-eyed."What do you think?" Darian scoffed."It can't be!" Baxter moaned."Your army is gone... You're next," Darian grinned."No! Please spare me! I am sorry for all I have done," Baxter tried to move in his bonds. It was futile."Any last words?" Darian asked.The other villagers closed in.Darian seemed impatient. Baxter had said nothing in two minutes. That was too much time w