Where It All Started

Like someone who was angry, starving, and going crazy at the same time, little Vir bit, chewed, and swallowed the dragon's heart.

But it was only two bites and two swallows. On the third bite, the boy fell silent with a fierce frown on his face, eyes widened, and suddenly convulsed.

Little Vir collapsed to the ground, trembling violently, one hand choking his neck, and the other beating his chest while he is screaming.

The deadly poison contained in the dragon's flesh and blood spread rapidly in the boy's body, making him flounder like a fish on land.

He rolled to and fro and occasionally the sound that came out of his mouth sounded like a cow being slaughtered.

The six-year-old boy was finally plunged back into the fast-flowing river, washing him further away.

Even in the water, little Vir was still convulsing, like a drowned caterpillar being carried away by the river's current.

After a few minutes in that state, the little body finally jerked, arched violently backward, then fell limp, no longer moving, and continued to drift downstream.

A seabird in quiet flight was interested enough to notice something floating on the surface of the estuary. The bird flew lower, its eyes wildly watching what was a small Vir lying face down on the surface of the water.

The bird landed on the back of the boy who seemed to have no life left in him, and his body was covered in many small leech-like animals that looked fat because they had sucked his blood.

The bird seemed to be quite happy with pecking at the leeches one by one, and then other birds appeared and landed on the quietly floating body.

Unfortunately, after eating the leeches, the birds choke, some of them dying instantly from poisoning, others floundering on the surface of the water first, and ending up as food for larger fish.

The slow current of the water and the movement of the creatures around it, made the body rotate to face upwards, then was held up by tree branches stuck between the rocks.

When the sun was at its highest point and making the boy's body even hotter, Vir suddenly opened his eyes, then screamed because of the extreme pain all over his body. Suddenly he choked, then vomited. Blackish vomit mixed with blood.

He tried to stand up, but the depth of the estuary was only up to his waist, at that time, the sea was receding, which affected the water level in the estuary.

Little Vir coughed, then tried to step quickly to get close to the edge, but he tumbled and splashed again. With some difficulty, he got up again with staggering steps.

When he reached the edge of the estuary, Vir simply collapsed with a gasp, a deathly pale face, and blackish blood oozing from his nostrils and mouth.

"Mom... why did you leave me here alone?" muttered Vir under his breath. "Dad..."

"Hey, wake up!"

Little Vir seemed to hear a little girl's voice, but he was too weak to move his head.

"Wake up! You're delirious again. Hey!"

Vir gasped with wide-open eyes and sat up immediately. He took a deep breath. His gaze fell on Aira to his left with a thumping in his chest. Sweat soaked his face and body.

"You?!" Vir let out a long sigh. It was all a dream, he thought. A recurring dream that haunted his sleep every night.

The nine-year-old girl grinned softly as she shrugged her shoulders. She inched away from Vir.

"Yeah..." she said. "You're welcome."

"Damn little brat!" Vir wiped the sweat from his face, then grabbed his water bag.

He gulped down as much redbrew as he could until the red liquid soaked his chin, neck, and chest.

The man realized that it was still dark around him, a sign that the morning would still be long. He lay down again, looked up at the night sky, and recalled the dream he had just had.

"I don't think it was just a random dream."

Vir glanced at the little girl who sat leaning against the cart, it seemed she was still busy with her thick book rather than choosing to sleep early.

"What do you care?" Vir snorted softly.

"Nothing!" retorted Aira. "I'm just curious."

"Curious?" said Vir. "Don't you have anything better to do than mess with people's heads?"

Aira shrugged her shoulders again. "The thing is," she said, "you're crying and screaming like someone possessed by a demon."

Vir was silent for a moment. But he knew the little girl wasn't lying to him. He knew that if the same dream came back to him, Vir would be crying or screaming in his sleep.

"Why don't you go to sleep?" Vir said, changing the subject. "Damn girl!"

"How can I sleep?" Aira replied. "You're snoring so loud!" she continued, sticking out her tongue at Vir. "I told you, redbrew isn't good for your health, you stubborn bastard!"

"Whatever!"

Vir lay on his right side with his back to the little girl, then tried to close his eyes to continue his sleep.

Because he was still sleepy, Vir eventually fell asleep again quickly. While Aira remained focused on the big, thick book on her lap.

The little girl's gaze returned to the man who began to snore loudly again.

Aira shook her head before she finally sank back into her book.

A few minutes later, as the little girl closed her thick book, and planned to get some sleep, she heard quick steps coming toward her.

She tried to look around the large pond but didn't see any suspicious shadows. Then she switched her gaze to the left and right sides, and it was the same.

Aira stood up, turning her gaze towards the back of the wagon. And that's when a man jumped up and managed to wrap his arms around her until they were rolling on the ground.

"Vir...!"

Vir woke up when he heard Aira's scream, unfortunately, a sword tip had already been pressed against his neck.

"Hey, hey!" Vir tried to get up by raising his hands. "Calm down, man. Calm down!"

Meanwhile, Aira was already in the arms of another man. Vir guessed that the two men who had suddenly come to them were poachers.

"You guys are poachers, aren't you?" he asked.

"What about you?" replied the man who put his sword to Vir's neck. He glanced at Aira and grinned. "You're even accompanied by a girl!"

The man hugging Aira from behind and also pointing his sword at Vir laughed.

"She must be trained to suck a man's wang!" he said harshly, then pecked Aira's head which made Aira growl, and then stomp the heel of her shoe on the man's foot.

The man groaned in pain, then yelled at the little girl, "'Damn little brat! You wanna die, huh?"

"Hey, hey!" Vir called out to the man not to hurt Aira. "Don't kill her!"

The man stopped the movement of his hand holding a weapon. His gaze was filled with anger at Aira, then at Vir.

"Besides, you're wrong, man. She's just a kid," Vir said as he looked at the man holding the gun. "Do you think I would do such a despicable thing to her?"

"Who knows?" said the man pointing at Vir. "After all, don't a lot of desperate guys like you do that kind of thing, hmm?"

"Come on, man!" Vir tried to think of things to knock the two poachers off their feet. "I'm just like you guys. I'm a poacher!"

"Oh, really?" said the man who was pointing his gun at Vir.

"You think we're stupid, do you?" the man holding Aira chided Vir. "Come on, little girl!"

The man pressed Aira's head until Aira knelt before him.

"I'm going to take my wang out, and you're going to have to use your mouth to give me pleasure. Remember, don't get your teeth in it!"

An exasperated Aira spat on the man. The man became furious and was about to slap Aira.

"Hey, hey!" shouted Vir. He was even more convinced that the two strangers must have sexual perversions. "If you don't believe me, just check my cart!"