Shiv and Kate stood in the graveyard to the west of the capital town, outside the walls of the city. A peaceful places surrounded by nature, a place one would find apt for a final sleep. With trees and lake adjacent to it, the graveyard was something of great beauty, a deadly beauty. With numerous tombs occupying the graveyard, Shiv and Kate stood solemnly in front of one of the tomb. On it were the words “Agon Aftol- Brave Warrior”

A week or so had passed in the game since the battle with the alpha. Shiv had not stepped into the game since Agon’s death but now, with Kate holding his hands he once again set forward. Being pulled by her slender hands he followed her like a baby would follow its mother ad now she had pulled him in to the resting place of Agon for a final goodbye.

Without uttering a single word Shiv stared at those words on the tomb, his eyes said everything he had to. It had always been so, Shiv never had to speak, Agon would understand everything Shiv wanted just be seeing his eyes. For the two speech was not at all needed. This might be because the advanced AI of the system doing its job. May be the AI did it so that the NPC’s might look more real or may be the AI just were following the instructions it was given by some programmer. But for Shiv, Agon appeared nothing less than a living being. The two stood there, as memories of past flowed before their eyes. Time slowed, so did the wind around. The birds quitened out. It were as if the nature joined the two in a silent prayer. But soon the silence was broken by the sounds of footsteps.

Shiv and Kate looked back and was then greeted by a smiling face of Vrolis. The guy had a gentle smile and was as usual dressed in his assassin uniform. He stepped forward and gave Shiv a light hug.

“It’s good to see you once again” Vrolis’s voice was that of relief rather than happiness. Shiv smiled and hugged him back and said, “It’s been a while Vrolis”  

The three then returned to the capital. On their way Vrolis told him about the festival that the king held to celebrate the death of the alpha. He told Shiv about hoe the king offered Raven the seat of a noble and also about the land that was offered to him. But Raven had cleanly denied the offers.

Young Grohl had returned back to the church and the weapon smith Golof was having a great time. The ballista we made were presented to the king and it seemed like the king liked the weapon. And so Golof got hired as the royal weapon smith. Vrolis then took Shiv to the inn they had been previously staying. And there in the room were eight black daggers, laid on the table in a row.

“The blacksmith guy gave it to me asking me to hand it over to you. He also wanted you to meet him. Seems like there is something he wants to talk to you. He is still at his old smithy. One more thing. Yesterday Grohl came by. He told me to inform you that the meeting with the Pope has been arranged. Once you are ready just go to the church.”

Shiv nodded his head and then looked at the daggers on the table. He took one from them and threw it to Vrolis and another at Kate.

“Those are for you. Actually I wanted Agon to have one of these too. Guess I will give to him the next time I visit him.”

An eerie silence engulfed the room. Shiv held a dagger in his hands and on it he carved the name Agon- The Undying.

---***---

An hour or so past and now Shiv stood before the doors of the huge church. The church’s door had a dragon as its handle, everything about the church seemed like a dragon to Shiv. Sighing inwardly he knocked at the door. There was a huge crowd in front of the church waiting for their chance to visit the high priest. Shiv not being in the mood to wait all day, just walked towards the door not minding the ruckus the players and NPC were causing. His knock at the door was answered and the door opened slightly. A small head came stuck out of the door and whispered.

“Please go back. Can’t you see there are others before you?” the young boy urged Shiv to go back.

Shiv then pulled up his right sleeve and the mark of the dragon god came in to the boy’s view. “Tell the high priest that Shiv is here. He will understand” Shiv said politely to the boy. The boy looked at the tattoo then back at Shiv, it was obvious form his facial expression that he did not realize what the dragon tattoo meant but nevertheless nodded his head and then disappeared.

Few minutes later the door once again opened, this time the high priest himself came to welcome the child of Oberon. With a wide smile and apologetical eyes he welcomed the boy in causing the ones who were making a ruckus to quiet down instantly.

In the high priest’s room Shiv was served tea and some snacks as he was entertained by the high priest himself. Once the two finished with the pleasantries, Shiv immediately jumped into the main topic.

“So, why have you summoned me? Has the audition with the Pope been sanctioned?”

“I am glad to inform you that his highness has agreed to meet you. He also conveyed that he was looking forward to meet you in person. All that is left is your approval. So when shall we have the meeting, great one?” Vitrian asked with deep respect. Even though Shiv was not able to slay the beast, the high priest still had great respect for Shiv and he knew everything that had transcribed that night. Since he knew everything he avoided the topic as he did not want the chosen one to feel any more pain.

“As soon as possible, once I am done with the meeting I have to look for a way to meet the king. I have to warn him about an impeding war.” Shiv’s face gave of a complicated expression, his eyes were dark and cold.

The high priest for a moment was taken back. The news of a war was something he was hearing the first time. “In that case, why not have the meeting now, that is if you are okay with it?”

“Now? Is that possible?”

“Yes of course. His highness seems to have a lot of time now a days and so I believe he might welcome you open handedly”

“Err! Then I guess its fine with me too. Please let me meet with his highness” Shiv lightly bowed his head at the high priest who too bowed back lightly. Getting up from his chair, he then took Shiv to a separate room. The room was sealed with magical incantations and took a while to open up. Inside the small room was a rectangular mirror, almost double the size of Shiv. Vitrian then motioned Shiv to stand in front of the mirror and he himself moved to the side. Once Shiv was in position, the high priest began to chant another spell.

As the spell progressed, distortion began to form on the plain mirror in front of him. Ripples appeared in the middle of the mirror slowly changing the solid surface into a wavy one. By the time the high priest finished his chanting, the mirror had completely transformed into a portal. Vitrian then motioned Shiv to move forward.

Taking a deep breath Shiv paced forward, he closed his eyes as he felt his body make contact with the way surface. He could feel the wavy substance engulf him but in the next moment he felt that he was leaving behind the squishy material. When he opened his eyes, Shiv was now in another room which was much bigger than the one he just came was. The room was well decorated with statues of dragons as well as was well lit. In front of the boy stood two young priestess with wide smiles. Bowing lightly at the boy, the two spoke simultaneously.

“Welcome to Dragon Church, o great son of Oberon”

Shiv was for a moment startled by the sudden welcome and was at a loss of words. Regaining his composure, he smiled back at the two beauties and then walked forward.

“We have been expecting you. His highness has been really eager to meet you. Right now he is waiting for you. Please follow us”

Shiv followed the two priestess into a labyrinth, he could no longer understand how many turns and straights he was t ken through. It took a good thirty minutes or so for the trio to reach their destination. The two priestess bowed lightly before vanishing from his sight. Shiv then let out a small sigh and gently knocked at the door.

“Come in” came a sweet voice.

‘A woman?’ thought the young boy. Shiv then opened the door gently and closed it behind him. He looked at the person who was sitting in front of him and was truly astonished to find a young woman smiling at him. One of her slender long hand was holding a cup while the other was resting on her lap. She was wearing a white colored robe which had a dragon symbol on her chest area. Her rosy lips and the dimples on either side of her cheeks made her quite cute. With long eye brows and sharp dark eyes that stared at Shiv intently her face was really like of a goddess. She then gestured

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Shiv with her hand, to sit on the chair opposite to hers.

Shiv quietly sat on the chair, his eyes glued to the woman opposite to him. The woman gave off a smile seeing the nervous Shiv gazing at her intently.

“It’s rude to stare like that. Is it so hard to believe that a woman is the head of the church of Oberon?”

“Er! No, not at all. I am sorry for staring your highness, it’s just that no one mentioned you to be a woman. Actually I was expecting an old man and so was really shocked to see you. I apologize for being rude to you.”

“Its fine, its fine. Any way I myself am surprised to find a young and handsome boy like you to be the chosen one. I did hear the rumor about you being young but honestly not so. It’s a pleasure to have met you Shiv. My name is Talia Ivnov, head priestess and the mother of the church of Oberon. Welcome to Dragon palace!” the woman welcomed Shiv with a smile. “High priest Vitrian told me that there was something you wanted to tell me.” She then looked at Shiv and gestured him to talk.

Shiv then took out the black stone from his bag and handed it to the lady before him. The moment her hand came in contact with it her lips trembled. A single word escaped those lips,

“Jabberwocky”

“You know what that stone is?” Shiv asked, his eyes fixed on the woman in front.

“Where did you get this?” her voice was deep and serious, so was her face. It held a grave expression.

“I come from a village west to the kingdom’s capital, called Draklake. A while ago, I was attacked by a monster. Actually one of the villagers turned in to one. And when the monster was killed, it dropped this black stone. Is anything wrong?” he answered as a manner of factly.

“Sigh! Do you know anything about the beast called Jabberwocky?”

“I have certainly heard the name but I do not know much” Shiv lied even though he had read the poem ‘Jabberwocky’ countless times when he was younger.

“Long ago, when our world was yet to be born, the gods roamed around in the form of various creatures. It was said that at that time there was only vast sky and no land, there was no earth, no water, no planets and no life. It was just the gods and the vast sky. Among those gods, two were considered the strongest, two dragons- Oberon and Titania. The two were married and had soared the skies together. But the goddess had an affair with another god, the bat god Camazotz. Titania gave birth to Camazotz child, a mix of dragon and bat like creature. Oberon was furious and he slayed his wife and the bat god. The child was then branded as an abomination and exiled to the nether realm. The child them swore revenge against the gods and began to create havoc everywhere. It called itself Jabberwocky and with the powers inherited from its parents it created its own world. The worlds it raised became home for all sorts of evil and thus he raised an army to fight against the gods. In order to fight back against the evil ones, the great gods created our world and together with it we were born. After years long war, the Jabberwocky was finally sealed by the first Dragon King with the help of his companions. But during the sealing, the beast sworn that it would return and have its revenge against the world and gods that abandoned it. Thousands of years have passed and now the seal is at the verge of breaking. Just like it had sworn, the jabberwocky will once again cause havoc bringing forth the destruction of the world” the beautiful lady sipped in the tea once she finished the story.

“And I am guessing that it’s my job to put an end to the escaped evil god, right?” Shiv asked with his eyebrows lifted.

The woman smiled wryly but did not reply. She could clearly see the dissatisfaction in the boy’s face and so she decided to shift to a different topic. “Stone you brought is actually something the minions of the evil Jabberwocky inherits. Just now I told you that the evil god raised an army of its own to wage a war. These army were made of the minions which were born from the drops of black blood of the Jabberwocky.”

“Hm? Then this stone here is the blood of the creature?” Shiv questioned, a little confused.

“Yes and no. The minions were born from the blood indeed but the blood then becomes the heart of the minion. Unlike the heart of normal living beings, their hearts are actually as hard and as lifeless as a stone, just like this black stone here.” lifting the black stone, Talia explained with eyes full of disgust.

“Just a second. Are you telling me that this thing here was actually the heart of the thing I killed back then?”

“That is exactly what I meant. This here, is actually the heart of a full developed minion. When a minion is first born, his heart is actually the size of a drop of blood but as hard as a stone. As the thing matures or as it consumes the lives of humans or other living being the hearts size increases. The larger the size the older and stronger the minion. The size of the heart can tell you whether the minions you killed was a common soldier or a general of the evil army. The strongest minions are said to have a heart twice the size of our head.” Talia said with a smile and eyes that glistened with killing intent. That aside, I heard that you had something else that you wished to discuss with me. What might it be?” She clearly wanted to no longer talk about the topic and so pulled out a new one.

“I don’t know if it is appropriate or not but I wish to bring along with me a boy from the church”

“Bring along? To where? And why?” even though her face gave off her surprise, her voice remained calm as usual.

“Ah! My village needs one. The church we are building now is almost in the final stages and so we would want someone from the church, is what I want to say but the truth is I want a healer with holy attributes to protect m village when the time comes”

“I see! But does that mean that you do not have a church in your village?” the smile on her face gave off a bad vibe causing Shiv to gulf.

“Not at all. The last time when I was at the village, the church was already half finished. Right now my mother has been given the role of the village chief and I believe that she is quite good at it. So I guess by the time I return the village will have a church with no priests.” Shiv said hoping the woman in front of him would also let him have some priests for his church a clever approach.

“Ho! I see. In that case I will let you take the boy you mentioned and also will send some priests and priestess from the order after all I can’t deny the request from the child of Oberon. Is that all?”

“About the stone? What should I do with it?”

Talia though for a while and then spoke, “In case you come across these vile things I request you ask the church to send it to me. I will deal with them. As for this thing here, I will keep it with me too”

Shiv nodded, letting out a sigh he smiled. The two then talked on various things until a knock on the door interrupted them. The priestess who had accompanied him earlier had come back. She bowed lightly and talked,

“”Your Holiness! The King of Brendon has summoned you and the Great One”

Talia had a surprise look, her eyes travelled towards Shiv, who too had a surprised look.

---***---

ARMAGEDDON: THE NEW WORLD

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