Memories: My Kingdom

Chapter 25: River Monster

“Leave the canoe to me! You two go find the food!” Mhir told Leui and Tinum as she took out her tools. Dwarves are good at crafting.

“Okay.” Leui answered as he carried the basket and he and Tinum head to the forest.

“Are you worried for Mhir?” Tinum asked as they entered the forest.

Leui turned to him. “Hm? Yeah.” He answered.

“Dwarves are the best in crafts. Trolls are the best in mining. Elves are the best in music. Fairies are the best in magic. Humans are the best in technology.” Tinum said as he listed each race’s strengths. “Nymphs are natural-born, while the monsters are unnaturally-born, thus they are special.” He explained.

“The nymphs’ strength can be their purity, while the monsters’ should be their mutation.” Leui said as he picked some fruits. “Nymphs will remain as themselves, thus the stronger their essence. On the other hand, monsters are a combination of various races. Thus, they can copy or inherited the race’s characteristic and combine it with the characteristic of the other race, thus they are the strongest.” He said.

Tinum nodded. “Yes.” He answered. He saw a frog hopped away and wrapped its legs with the vines.

“Your plant control skill is really amazing – and convenient.” Leui said as he knocked the toddler-sized frog unconscious and put it inside his basket. When he heard Tinum didn’t answer, he spoke. “What about that strange fire?” he asked as he picked up some spices he saw along the way.

“I am not sure.” Tinum honestly said. “I just suddenly know how to control it.” He said and a fire appeared on his palm.

Leui suddenly poked the fire but it didn’t burn him. His eyes widened in amazement. “The darker the color of the fire, the hotter it is. This fire – “ he said as he hovered his hand on top of the fire. “ – it didn’t feel too hot. It’s just warm enough.” He smiled and poked the fire again before he resumed walking.

Tinum watched as Leui left, then turned to the fire in his hand that suddenly flickered. “You’re alive.” He spoke to the fire. As an answer, the fire jumped in his palm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t understand you.” He told the fire, then closed his palm. The fire instantly vanished.

Tinum followed Leui, then went back to Mhir after they found sufficient food in the forest.

…

“Tada!” Mhir said and showed them the canoe she made. Its surface was smooth and it looked neat.

“Mhir, you’re amazing!” Leui exclaimed and excitedly patted Mhir’s shoulder.

“Award me with food! I’m starving!” Mhir whined and rubbed her stomach.

Leui laughed as he immediately placed the branches he gathered on the ground. “Tinum, fire!” he said.

Tinum nodded and flicked his fingers. Then, a fire shot out from his fingers and into the branches. Tinum happily cleaned the animals they caught and then placed them over the fire. He crushed the spices he picked and then sprinkled them over the grilled foods. A fragrant aroma wafted on the shore of the lake.

When the food was ready to eat, they ate like they were starving beasts.

…

“Ah! I’m full!” Mhir said as she rubbed the slight bump on her belly. “Leui, did you save some foods for our travel on water?” she asked.

Leui nodded. “Yes.” He answered. Then, he opened the map. He didn’t find Mirror Lake, but she found three mountains that intersect like a fan. There were small rivers between the three intersecting mountains. One river leads to the north while the other river leads south. '`Which river shall we choose?” he asked the two.

“The north is a paradise of snow. We’ll immediately freeze to death if we go near there.” Mhir said.

“Choose the south.” Tinum spoke.

“Why?” Leui asked.

“Contrary to the north, the south is very hot.” Tinum answered. “The south is cloudless, thus the sky is vast and blue, and there’s only the brightly shining sun. Because of it, the weather is very hot. The land is dry, but fortunately there’s the sea, thus the beasts living in the south can still live.” He explained. “The Blood Desert is also where the Heiruche Continent and the Boundless Sea meet.” He added.

“’Blood Desert’?” Leui muttered as his mind wandered. When he borrowed a book from the plaza’s library, there’s an article about the Blood Desert that he read.

As Tinum said, the Blood Desert is where the land and the sea meets. The Desert is originally white, but it turned golden because of the sun’s heat like it is frying the desert. However, suddenly, the desert became red. Some said that the beasts living in the south had nothing to eat because there were no plants living in the desert, nor they can go to the sea since the sea brings many unknown monsters to the land, thus, the beasts living in the desert had no choice but to eat their own kin, or eat some other beasts or humans who wandered or was lost in the desert. Because of the killings, the desert was soaked by blood and turned red. Some even say that as you float along with the river, when you neared the Blood Desert, the water in the river turns red because of the spilt blood.

“So, we have to choose between ice and fire?” Leui muttered as he looked at the map. Loheiruchel was right to surround the human kingdom with a wide river. Else, the human kingdom would be the one to soak in blood instead of the Blood Desert. The humans only had to deal with the aerial monsters. It wouldn’t be that hard to deal with the aerial monsters if they’d use catapults and arrows to shoot them down. “The fire seems more dangerous…” he muttered.

Tinum watched as Leui and Mhir pondered while looking at the map. “Actually, there’s another way to get to the human kingdom.” He said.

“What is it?” Leui asked.

Mhir stared at Tinum, then suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Are you talking about…” she said, her eyes widened in shock.

“What is it?” Leui turned to Mhir and asked the same question.

“The Fish-Tailed Dragon.” Mhir answered.

“’Fish-Tailed Dragon?” Leui said. This was the first time he heard about it.

“It is also called the river monster.” Tinum said. “It is a dragon race. However, when it was born, it had no limbs but had a fish tail and gills. If one doesn’t look closely, they would think it is a dragon. Technically, it is. But, since it has the characteristics of a fish, it was banished.” He explained. “Many say it was thrown to the Boundless Sea to die, but, when its generation disappeared and a new generation of the dragon race came, the Fish-Tailed Dragon appeared. Then, they found that the Fish-Tailed Dragon actually lives in the river for a very long time. It wasn’t known how, but the Fish-Tailed Dragon was friendly to humans and was said to continue to live in the river to protect the invaders from harming the human race.” He said.