Journey of the Dragon

Chapter five : The Zuci Dessert

 After Melinda talked a lot of thing with Dragon on their way to the Kingdom of Nexus, Melinda was very surprised when she found out about the current condition of the Land of Azhuloth, plus, it turns out that Dragon was a student of his former comrade in arms, the dragon knight. At that time they both fought to fight and stop Darkros and the group Emperors unity.

 But now his comrade in arms has been killed by one of the members of the Emperors unity named Night Crow, and he bequeathed all his objects and weapons to someone he wants to be his student, the Dragon.

Dragon is a person who is trusted by the Dragon Knight as his successor, to fight crime and prevent destruction in the Land of Azhuloth, although Dragon is not fully aware of it. Dragon has been taught many valuable things to continue his life, he will fight for the things he wants to fight for.

 Then after the dragon knight died at the hands of the Night Crow, his student now has a very strong determination to take revenge. And that will indirectly make it start to ignite the fires of war against the great crimes that exist in the Land of Azhuloth, namely all other Emperors unity members.

 Melinda spoke again to Dragon. "If your true goal is to eradicate Emperors Unity one by one, then our goals are the same ... I'm very lucky to be able to meet you, from now on I will support you 100%."

 "So initially you didn't intend to support me 100%?" Asked Dragon with a slightly humorous facial expression.

 "I-It's not like that ... I mean, initially I would help you 100%, but now it has increased to 200%. What do you think?" Melinda asked.

 "Heheh, all right then ... Thank you, Mely." Replied Dragon.

 "Why do you call me Mely?"

 "Because if I call Melinda, it feels too long." Dragon answered again.

 "Oh, so that's how it is ... Alright, it's fine for me." Melinda said, then she continued asking Dragon. "Oh yes, you still haven't told me about what we will do in the Kingdom of Nexus later. Is the Night Crow there? " Melinda asked.

 "No, actually there is a sorce ... Aaah." Before he could finish the sentence, Dragon suddenly felt a pain in his shoulder.

 "Hey, what's happening? You are okay?" Melinda asked anxiously because she saw Dragon in painful.

 "It's alright, the thing that's in ... Aaakh." Dragon increasingly felt pain when he would tell Melinda about the spell stone that was on his shoulder.

 "Looks like something is wrong with your body. You better rest now first. " Melinda is getting worried.

 Then Dragon began to remember in his mind, that he must not tell anyone about Flaur, also the task that Flaur had given him. He remembered that Flaur could pay attention to his every move even from a distance. This time he must be more careful.

 "I'm fine, just a little pain in my scars. Do not worry."

 "Looks like I know why you can be in pain like that." Melinda said.

 "Is it true?" Asked Dragon, while slightly surprised.

 "Yes, you are exhausted because you have been walking for a long time, especially since the Kingdom of Nexus is still very far from here. Is not it?" That's Melinda's conclusion.

 Dragon had thought that Melinda knew that inside his body there was a spell that was controlled by a magician, but it seemed that Melinda did not know that at all. Therefore Dragon returned to being act normally.

 "Yeah ... Looks like I'm a little tired, but that's okay. I am still able to keep going. " Replied Dragon.

 "I am very familiar with this area, from here we will later find a vast desert, called the Zuci Desert. I suggest bringing a large supply of food before we get there, or you will suffer later. " Said Melinda.

 "Don't worry, I hear there are many insects that contain water, as well as many large desert lizards that I can eat. Therefore I will definitely be fine. " Said Dragon.

 "You are stubborn ... Oh yes, besides those animals, there are also animals that deserve to be wary of there ... Namely, the giant snake guarding the Zuci Desert."

 "Yes, I've heard of the snake. Even now there are still many people who often meet him there. " Said Dragon.

 "Thank God he is still alive. Unlike other wild animals. The snake is a guardian of Zuci Desert that has lived there for hundreds of years. Even though the snake has never attacked a passing human, but if there are people who mess with it, then that person can be killed. " Said Melinda who sounded a little scared.

 "There is no need to be told, of course I won't be anything if I meet the snake." Said Dragon.

 "It's good if you understand." Said Melinda.

 "You think I'm stupid, huh? Hoey! " Dragon was a little upset because Melinda had teased him. It turns out they both can joke with each other even though they Have just meet a few hour ago.

 Not long after, the two of them saw something from a distance. In the middle of the road, there was a horse-drawn carriage that was stopped due to one of the wheels being damaged. There were two men who were near the horse-drawn carriage, one person was repairing the wheel, while the other one was standing stroking the horse there.

 Dragon approached them while shouting. "Excuse me, do you need help?"

 The two men looked immediately shocked when Dragon arrived while offering help. It seems like they thought that the Dragon was a stranger who would do bad thing, and therefore they both looked very frightened, so the two immediately approached each other, then both kept their distance from the Dragon, with facial expressions that looked anxious and whole body which looks shaky.

 "Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. I will not hurt you. " Said Dragon calming them both.

 "I-I'm sorry, we thought you were a robber too." Said one of the men.

 "Yes, yesterday my brother and I were attacked by a gang of robbers who wanted to take all our luggage." Said one more man beside him.

 Then the brother introduced himself, the two of them are brothers who work as traders. "Introduce, my name is Nara, and my brother named Beppu. We are traders from the city of Aster in the eastern region ”

 "My name is Dragon, and this is- ..." Before Dragon would introduce Melinda to the two of them, Melinda immediately whispered to Dragon. "You don't need to introduce me to anyone, don't tell anyone about me." Melinda whispered whose voice could only be heard in Dragon's ear.

 "This is— ... a plate made of gold. Ha ha." Dragon said to the two of them with a slightly awkward feeling, because his impression seemed to be arrogant.

 The two of them did not consider there was anything strange, instead they were fascinated by the words of the Dragon. Then without further ado, Dragon immediately offered help to the two of them to repair the broken wheel.

 Dragon was told to take the tools in the carriage to lever and fix the wheels. When Dragon opened the curtain that covered the train. What a surprise to him, because he saw a woman who was lying unconscious in the cabin of the horse-drawn carriage.

 "W-why is there a woman here?" Dragon asked in his mind. Then Dragon asked the two brothers, "Excuse me, is this your sister here?"

 "Not." Nara answered.

 "Then who is this?" Dragon asked again.

 Then, Nara started explaining about the things they had experienced to Dragon. "She is our helper. When we were attacked by a gang of robbers, she was the one who came and helped us, she was very good at martial arts, so the robbers immediately retreated and surrendered after being beaten by him. Even though he finally got a pretty serious injury from the fight, especially on the side of his stomach, so she is now unconscious. "

 "We intend to look for the nearest town so we can treat her immediately." Beppu said.

 "Then, we fix this horse-drawn carriage wheel as soon as possible." Said Dragon.

 Long story short, they continued to fix the wheel. Dragon immediately carried out their duties with enthusiasm, they helped each other so that the work was quickly finished, after that only need to pair the wheel that had just been repaired, and finally the carriage condition returned to normal.

 After their work was done and the horse-drawn carriage was ready to be used again, the two brothers asked Dragon about where he was going. Then the Dragon replied that he would go to the Kingdom of Nexus, it just so happened that their destination were the same. Now they will go through the Zuci Desert to get to the Kingdom of Nexus, to trade there and also find a doctor. Therefore Nara and Beppu invited Dragon to come with them, then Dragon happily accepted the offer. He took a ride on the brother's horse-drawn carriage to go to the Kingdom of Nexus together.

 Nara and Beppu sat in the front while holding the rope that controlled the speed of their horses. While Dragon sat in the horse carriage with the woman who was unconscious, also some merchandise in the form of pottery and various kinds of equipment nearby, Dragon sat facing the woman, with a slightly awkward feeling. but no problem, he still tried to enjoy his trip in the horse carriage with ease. How lucky he was to be able to meet with Beppu and Nara so he could get a ride to pass through the Zuci Desert without having to struggle to walk.

 Not long after, Melinda whispered to Dragon, as if Melinda was instructing something to him. Melinda told Dragon to bring his palm closer to the wound on the woman's body that was lying before Him. At first Dragon did not want to do that, because it was not a polite action to do at a time like this, but Melinda continued to force and convince Dragon to do that, he said he wanted to try the ability of the power he had not used for a long time. Therefore with a feeling of fear and hesitation, Dragon began to try to bring his palm closer to the wound in the woman's abdomen.

 Then suddenly Dragon's palm flashed light, and it made Dragon panic a little in surprise. The light illuminated and healed the wounds on the woman's body. Melinda explained that her strength came from the element of light, and she could use the power of the light to heal cuts wounds, so that the power was also very useful to help her friends who were injured in battle. But that healing power cannot be used for wounds that are worse and deeper than this.

 When Melinda was still explaining about it to Dragon, suddenly the woman who was being healed by the light from the Dragon's hand slowly opened her eyes and then she was shocked when she saw Dragon reaching out to her body. Instantly he immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, because he thought that Dragon was doing various kinds of actions against him. Then Dragon was completely beaten in the horse-drawn carriage.

Shortly after, after Dragon had been beaten, Beppu was seen peering inside while explaining everything that had happened to the woman who had just regained consciousness, while Dragon's face looked already battered. The woman also realized that the wound on the side of her stomach had completely healed, and that was due to the services of Dragon who had healed her. Therefore he immediately apologized to Dragon for misunderstanding. Then Dragon accepted the apology and made no problem at all.

 Melinda whispered to Dragon. "I'm also sorry to you, because of me, you've been battered like this."

 "Shut up." Dragon said to Melinda in a whisper.

 After that, the woman in front of Dragon immediately introduced herself to the person who had healed her. His name is Tatsui, and he is a martial artist from a small village in the east. Tatsui was traveling alone to go somewhere. At that time he accidentally bumped into Beppu and Nara who were being harassed by a gang of robbers.

 Nara and Beppu were helpless when the robbers would take their luggage by force. Therefore Tatsui immediately acted and helped the two of them, he came and fought the robbers with his deadly attacks, then finally he managed to beat and defeat them all without remaining. Although in the fight, Tatsui also received a quite severe cut in the abdomen.

 After the robbers escaped, Tatsui immediately collapsed and was unconscious due to the injuries she suffered, also because she was already exhausted. After seeing that, Nara and Beppu immediately gave first aid to Tatsui's wounds by cleaning and dressing them. They both decided to take Tatsui to the nearest village or town so that the wound could be completely healed by the physician, but Tatsui, who had regained consciousness, insisted that she did not want to be taken to the nearest physician, he just wanted to be delivered to his destination, namely the city of Togu in the Kingdom. Nexus.

 Tatsui told Nara and Beppu that his current destination was Togu City. She said she had to arrive in Togu City within two days, so Tatsui insisted on getting there soon and didn't want to be taken anywhere else, she also convinced Nara and Beppu not to think too much about his wounds, and just leave it alone. Because he trust, The wounds will heal by themselves during the trip later. Due to the Togu City is also part of the Nexus Kingdom, that means their direction is all the same.

 Although along the way, Nara and Beppu always felt very worried about Tatsui's condition. But unexpectedly, apparently now Tatsui's wounds can heal completely thanks to the help from Dragon. Even Beppu was amazed that Dragon had not only helped repair their horse carriage wheels, but he had also healed Tatsui's wound. Then Nara said that their meeting with Tatsui and Dragon was a great fortune, because all the problems they were having on their way, were now completely resolved. They were all very grateful to Tatsui and Dragon for their help.

 Dragon looked very nervous and awkward when receiving these compliments. While Melinda just laughed alone when she heard that. Dragon said that he also did not know what he had done, everything just happened, and he was also grateful that Tatsui had now recovered.

 Then they chatted lightly along the way. Tatsui asks Dragon about his purpose for the Kingdom of Nexus, and Dragon only replies that he has business with someone there. Dragon did not tell him about Flaur or his intention to steal the Aporion ball because the spell stones in his body would throb and give him pain if Dragon told it to others. He also did not tell about Melinda and the strength of the golden plate on his shoulder, because Melinda forbade him to tell about herself to others. Therefore, Dragon reasoned that the golden plate was only a decoration. There are so many things that Dragon kept a secret from the new people he knew, but it was all for the good of himself too.

 Then Dragon also asked Tatsui what was the purpose of going to Togu City, and why Tatsui must have arrived there within two days. Then Tatsui began explaining it to all of them on the horse-drawn carriage, now that his condition had improved.

 "My goal in Togu City is to take part in a tournament which is always held there every four years. Anyone can take part in the Tournament, and participants who register are always many, because the prizes are very large. Therefore I may not arrive late, if it is too late then I will not get a share as a participant.” Tatsui said.

 "If I may know, how much is the prize?" Dragon is curious.

 "The prize is 500 gold pieces. Will Mr. Dragon also take part in the Tournament? " Ask Tatsui.

 "No, I don't intend to participate even though the prize is great, because I don't have time to participate in the Tournament ... Sorry, but can you not call me Mr. Dragon, just call my name." Ask Dragon to Tatsui.

 "Well then, Mr. Dragon ... Eh I mean Dragon." Tatsui said, then she continued her words, "Too bad, even though I really want to witness your performance there." Tatsui said with a smile.

 Then Dragon asked again, "If I may know, what will you use the prize money for later?"

 Tatsui paused for a moment, then she answered. "About a year and a half ago, the village where I lived was attacked by an evil sorcerer and his men's."

 "Oh yeah, what is the name of the evil sorcerer?" Asked Dragon.

 "His name is Stellan Flaur."

 After Tatsui told the sorcerer name to Dragon, then immediately Dragon's face immediately looked pale, he did not know what to say, because he could not tell Tatsui about his business with Flaur. And even if Tatsui knew that currently Dragon was carrying out the duties of Flaur, who knows what would happen next. So Dragon just kept quiet while listening to the story from Tatsui.

 "Me and the fighters in our village, could not stop them, we all lost to his army. Flaur killed and kidnapped many people from our village. My father who was the head of the village was also taken by Flaur ... Until now I don't know, who knows where he took my father along with other villagers. " Tatsui said with a face that showed deep sadness.

 It seems like Dragon knows about Tatsui's father and where he is, but he can't tell. So he just said. "Don't worry, your father must be fine. Don't think bad thoughts. " Said Dragon.

 "Thanks for the advice." Tatsui thanked Dragon while wiping away his tears.

 Dragon nodded his head, then Tatsui spoke again. "After the attack, the remaining villagers of our village tried to rise again from our sadness and adversity. Now we are all trying to rebuild our village which was destroyed by Flaur and his men. Therefore, we need a lot of money to be able to fix everything ... The tournament is the only hope for all of us. And this is a big responsibility that I must bear in order to realize the hopes of the people in my village. "

 "Wow, you really have a very big goal, for the sake of your village. I hope you will succeed and win the prize of the tournament. " Said Dragon while encouraging Tatsui. Then Tatsui only smiled with a red face.

 "I hope that Dragon can also take part in the tournament ... So that we can show our ability to each other." Tatsui said insistently.

 "Too bad, maybe next time." Dragon replied with a smile.

 After going through a long journey of night, finally the horse-drawn carriage they had arrived in the Zuci Desert. A very large and broad pile of sand, stretching as far as the eye can see. Since it was already past noon, the desert's air temperature was so hot that Beppu and Nara were seen driving a buggy while they were bare-chested.

 The horse-drawn carriage that they were driving, walked along the footpath that lay quite wide there, because it was already available as a safe path for travelers and traders who would cross the Zuci Desert.

 Dragon and Tatsui were still seen chatting lightly in the horse-drawn carriage, then suddenly Nara shouted out the name of Dragon and Tatsui, to inform them that there was a scene that lay people might rarely see. Namely, the giant Zuci Desert Snake was appearing.

 The giant snake that is touted as the great guardian of the Desert, indeed rarely shows itself, so Nara and Beppu look very enthusiastic when they see it. Dragon and Tatsui also immediately looked out to be able to see the amazing view. They looked very impressed when they saw the giant snake snaking in the sand, like swimming in water. The whole territory of the Zuci Desert is his territory, and no one dares to mess with the great animal.

 "I used to come here very often to see it, and now it seems like it has grown bigger and stronger. I was very impressed and wanted to cry at the same time. " Melinda said to Dragon.

 "Why do you want to cry?" Asked Dragon.

 "Because after all this time, I don't think I can see scenes like this anymore." Melinda answered, then Dragon responded by saying, "I understand ... Look as long as you want." Said Dragon with a smile.

 Then Tatsui asked Dragon. "Who are you talking to?"

 "Eh, um, I'm just muttering while admiring the giant snake." Replied Dragon,

 After that, Dragon felt something strange, because of the giant snake he was seeing, the distance was getting closer to the horse-drawn carriage he was riding. The giant snake seemed to be approaching towards them while diving in the sand. All the sand around the horse-drawn carriage suddenly rumbled.

 Suddenly, the speed of the horse-drawn carriage slowed even further, because the horse sensed that something was moving under their feet, after which the horse-drawn carriage stopped. Nara and Beppu felt confused and a little worried after that happened. They both feared that the giant snake would crash into their horse-drawn carriage, coupled with their horse that looked panicked and struggled nonstop.

 Dragon immediately came out and down the horse carriage followed by Tatsui behind him, he wanted to make sure that the giant snake was just passing by and nothing bad would happen. Tatsui and Dragon immediately helped Nara and Beppu calm their horses.

 Then suddenly, surprisingly, a giant snake of the Zuci Desert appeared and came out of the sand near where they were. The snake shows a very large body and head, which can devour a house and swallow it directly. Dragon and the others looked very surprised because they never expected that it would happen. A great giant snake guarding the Desert, was in front of them, staring at them all with both eyes, which emitted sharp glare. Whereas Dragon and his friends were just dumbfounded with their mouths open, while watching that. They’re thinking, "now what will happen next?"