Hidden

Discovery

The beast dropped after it flew pass Wellington’s compound and settled itself on a small hill. Tom had seen it up in the sky and felt a chilling sensation crawl up his spine. Everyone was running to take cover. But a new wave of pandemonium broke as it spat a long, huge flame of fire, coupled with a terrifying sound that was so bogey. Two cabins in the compound caught fire and people began to run out of the shelters.

Tom saw a servant caught up in flame, screaming and shouting for help but no one paid attention to him. Tom was confused but felt a force that drove him to pick a pot of water he saw and ran to the servant and poured it on him. It was too late. He was dead.

Jeez!

Three cabins were burning and the flame went up so high. People began to run out of the compound. Tom joined the agitated crowd running. The guards ran to Wellington’s arsenal and the chief security officer began to give them bows and arrows.

“Kill it!” he shouted. “Kill it!”

But the beast stood confidently on the hill unruffled as the armed men began to move closer. Tom saw it clearly and stopped to watch.

The head was stout and reminded Tom of a crocodile but dazed and cross-eyed. It also had two small horns that looked like ivory. The snake-like neck was long, thick and flexible with a protruding stout muscled chest. The wings were leathery, veined and bright green and looked luminous. It bent its elbows and rested its powerful claws on the rock surface. Its long tail was spiky and ended with bright red spade.

Meanwhile, Dransvalle soldiers were now enforcing as the dragon had killed over twenty people and burnt over over ten houses. They joined Wellington’s guards and began to shoot arrows at it.

About hundred arrows pierced into its skin and it growled before breathing a huge wave of fire which burnt six soldiers instantly and the rest retreated.

It became obvious that they could not kill the dragon. It used its claws to remove the arrows that stuck to it in a smooth manner. It breathed fire and flew up before turning towards the church and breathed fire and it was caught in flame.

Then a man came out of Wellington’s compound with a high speed on a horse. Everyone wondered what he was doing. It was then they recognized him; the duke of Syrusis.

The dragon saw him and charged towards him. The duke removed a sword that glittered and flung it powerfully. The sword rolled in air, spinning and just at the end turned to stab the Dragon in the eye. It gave out a scary loud sound and hit the sword which came back to Fell like a boomerang.

The dragon flew away and he gave it a short chase.

“The great duke of Syrusis!” A man shouted.

“Long Live Duke!” Some men chorused.

Fell rode back slowly, his face glittering and he wore a hard, triumph and heroic expression. Everyone hailed him and he was seen as the hero of the day.

He climbed the hill where the dragon had been and raised his sword.

“I feel so ashamed of what happened tonight.” He said at the top of his voice as the crowd gathered to listen to him. James, Wellington, John and other important dignitaries also joined the crowed.

“On this day, the 13th day of September, 1526 is a day we celebrate our great hero, Salvar Benedict of Syrusis. For the past twenty years, we have been celebrating him on this day. I have also been living with this guilt for twenty years. For twenty years I have pretended to revere a man I know so well and know things a lot don’t know. I have kept mute to respect the decisions of my king, King Pius of Syrusis.

A generous king, a liberal leader who embraces everyone. He does not care where you come from, but will elate you if he finds you worthy. He would even regard you more than some of us, the noble and original citizens. That is the good spirit of King Pius. That is the fact that some have used to infiltrate us, deceive us and give faux images. I have remained silent but the tragedy of tonight has got me on edge, and I can’t keep the truth while people die.

I was part of Salvar’s team of soldiers. I was his Lieutenant and assistant. I know a lot even the king does not know. Tonight, I will free my heart from this b*****e. I will set my conscience free from this cage. The people’s lives are above my personal fear. For three hundred years, The Dark dragon killed our people all over Europe. And a second egg was scheduled to hatch in 1510 as planned by Durenga, the old witch of the mountains.

Salvar is said to have destroyed it and killed The Dark dragon. I was there that night and I feel ashamed to have kept this to myself. I feel ashamed to have kept it that Salvar was a traitor and liar. He did not destroy the second egg and we just witnessed that tonight. Salvar was a fraud but there is no doubt he killed the Dark Dragon and died along but for the reason you all thought. Now the second egg is hatched and we are in danger again. I regret the lives we lost and the properties destroyed. I, Sir Fell Amadon, the son of Jairus Amadon and the Duke of Syrusis pledge that the dragon will not destroy lives like the Dark Dragon did. I will make sure I protect the people of Europe and as I go back now, I will seek approval from the great King.”

There was a little uproar as the crowd and lots of comments, while some hailed him and his name echoed. His eyes glittered from joy and triumph.

As he spoke, that flashing light dazzled Tom’s eyes and he knew he had heard this speech before. No, he read it and it was not in this world. This made him remember vividly on that night, his father had come back home in a hurry and asked them to tune to CMN News Channel.

“Tom, you need to come and listen to this. Professor Harry is talking about his new book I told you about.”

Professor Harry was a renowned historian and archeologist. He wrote a book titled Hidden; The Fall of Salvar Benedict And The Rise of Fell Amadon.

“This broke my heart.” Richard had said. “And I can’t wait to hear what he got to say. I need to buy this book and read the details of what he discovered.”

Professor Harry was been interviewed by CMN’s Mary Jones. He said a lot but this was the part that Tom registered most in his brain.

Professor Harry had said, “A lot of people did not know what really happened as the pieces collected for history were not complete. There was a gap in the history that was hidden. The great speech by Sir Fell Amadon, Duke of Syrusis at Dransvalle on the night of Salvar Day after the Dragon attacked was on record and described by history books but he did not give the details of how Salvar betrayed the people and was fraudulent. The great discovery of a note by Sir Fell’s Secretary discovered in buried silver box in what is today known as Canada gives answers and this is my greatest discovery which will reshape history. The secretary was known as Theodore Manuel and he is documented as Fell’s secretary by many historians but his write ups where never seen. The documents have been proven to be authentic by The International Archeology Institute after verification processes. There has been a lot of debate by historians over this matter. Some historians discredited Fell’s claims and felt he was just envious of Salvar who was not originally from Suthaland while some backed Fell’s claim. A lot felt it was wrong to stop celebrating Salvar Day while some felt it was wrong not to celebrate Fell’s day since he killed the second Dragon.”

“Why was Fell not recognized the way Salvar was recognized?” The anchor asked.

“The King, King Pius was Salvar’s father-in-law so historians believe that he was sentimental and refused to recognize Fell’s victory.”

“Was it substantiated if Salvar was really a fraud?”

“Thank you, Mary that has been the debate for so many years and I just found the answer. The answer in this book you are holding.”

Richard was among the first to buy Professor Harry’s book when it was released. He read it and saw what Proffesot Harry discovered. It was documented by a man known as Theodore Mauel who workded in the palace and became Fell’s secretary. He wrote:

“I Theodore Manuel of Syrusis, the secretary of the great Duke of Suthaland, Sir Fell Amadon writes this on this day, 1st January,1527 at the Suthaland Palace court as my master, Sir Fll Amadon speaks in presence of the court. The following are the narrations of my Master, Sir Fell Amadon: Let me tell you the true story. I am Sir Fell Amadon, Son of Jairus Amadon and the Duke of Syrusis. I am a true son of Suthaland and a lot do not know that Salvar was not a true son of Amadon, but an immigrant from Yorkshire. Naturalized by marriage to Her Majesty, the Princess of Suthaland who passed away three years ago. I saw Salvar riding towards the Mountain of Boom, as it became known where the Dark Dragon was settled. I and the members of my team followed him but the safety of people first, so the intention was to give him a backup. The Dark dragon was in the cave and Salvar turned and saw us. He was holding the explosive device he invented and said to me,’ I know why you are here but I will rather die, blow myself up than give in”. Just a few days to his death, there was a case of the missing Key Of Amarigon, the ancient key to the door of Hall of Syrusis which had been in existence for one thousand years.

A servant reported seeing Salvar steal it and I reported it to the king. Salvar was his son-in-law but the noble king ordered a secret investigation and I was the head of the investigatory squad. On that fateful day, on this day, exactly twenty years ago, I was about to arrest Salvar when the Dark Dragon attacked Syrusis after attacking England, France, Hamgusphere, and Rome. I asked my men to leave him alone so we can fight the Dark Dragon but Salvar jumped into the cave and committed suicide and also blew the Dark Dragon. This dastardly act made him a hero and I kept mute which I regret. I nerve saw him break or destroy the second egg as it was claimed. As I peeked to see if the dragon was really dead, I was attacked by the tail of the head of the dragon which was still alive and had just a few minutes to be active before its death. I removed my sword and had a battle with it. It caught my sword and bit it. I have never seen anything like that. It cut my sword into two and I used the remaining part to stab it in the eye. It yelled and dropped back into the inferno. I will like to state here that I do not claim to have killed it but this is exactly what happened.”

Richard had looked at Tom and said, “Fell carried the broken knife for the rest of his life and the knife is at the London Museum. I have seen it but I still find his story sticky. I can’t let this happen without a fight.”

“Are you going to fight the professor daddy?” Tom had asked.

Richard had smiled and said, “no my boy. Intellectual battle I mean. I am into something…something to unravel the truth. My instinct is overwhelming so I have to find out what really happened.”

“Do you mean more archeological research?”

“No. That is way too uncertain.” Richard said. “I have been on it for five years and this book just prompts me to be faster.”

“What is dad?”

Richard hesitated.

“We need to go to the past. I mean travel to the 16th century and know what really happened. I contacted a first class Scientist called Dr. Phil Jacob. I don’t care how much it costs.”

“Whoa! That sounds awesome. Who is going if it is possible?”

“I will go.”

“No dad.” Tom had said. “I should go.”

The loud applaud from the crowd brought Tom out of his flashback.

There was a smallish man with long beards and shaggy hair next to him, holding an ink and pen while he wrote things down quickly. Tom recognized him from the history books. This was Theodore Manuel, Fell’s so-called secretary.