Episode 6: Golden Dreams

Hours passed as Malakai floated along the western river banks of Eurafalia, towards a smaller fishing village by the harbor. He landed in the region in Edindale known for its dreaded poor lands. Where crops were hung out to dry and fiddle away. A stroll through the village on the outskirts of Edindale into the Pale region, also known as the “deadlands” hailed nothing for any soul. Vestiges of evil lurked in the eerie fog around the region.

The Pale sadly stood amid the Great World War, a battleground where the Grand Bay Kingdom and the Edindale Empire fought a long two-year war. Old remains of the battle still are found to this day in the hardly fertilized grounds. On occasion, you would find the tibia bone or skull when planting your carrots. Hundreds of creatures roamed around the dark clouded regions of the woods hunting the singled-out prey who dared to enter.

Malakai rose up angered and annoyed as a group of teenagers his age were playing a game of cards. The young man flailed his arms out chanting repeatedly. “That is it. I’m going to go find the Lotus Blades! And prove just how great I can be.”

The boy turned to seek approval from the teenagers behind him huddled on a cargo box playing cards. The clean suit of Malakai changed from the torn-off cloth. His body was a vigorous dirty complexion could be because of the lack of nutrients he got daily. His abs showed more from the lack of food than his work ethic.

“Huh?” A young boy muttered.

“Are you kidding, Malakai? Did Zadic treat you to some of that royal grass? Having one of your delusional fantasies again?”

A silver-haired girl his age with golden eyes like a panther and pale skin responded. Her visage was the same as Malakai’s. Dressing in garnished and royal robes but staying in a low peasant village outside the capital. Her arms were crossed around her old snow-white dress.

Other kids rose from the box table. One obese boy eating a loaf of old burnt bread, wore a small tunic that couldn’t cover his belly, with pants turned into tights. He wore a short black bandana over his dirty blonde hair. The other boy, was a skinny child who wore nothing but black overalls. He kept his head shaved, holding a practice stick over his shoulder.

“And I thought our friend was crazy before. He’s completely demented!” The overall boy commented.

The obese boy stuffed his face with the bread whole. “Yeah. Completely demented.”

Malakai turned to the three judging him. The disapproval of his vow continued to be disowned by his friends. The Pale was the smallest country in Eurafalia, and the community was just as small. Everyone knew everyone. The rambles of Malakai’s dream were no short of something unusual.

“Why won't you guys support me? I rather that than playing dress up for my birthday.” Malakai questioned flailing his arms up.

The girl softly sighed to the side. Her eyes rolled, not even being able to look at him. She scoffed as she finally contacted him, like a crying puppy begging for attention as he waited for her to speak. “Malakai, I believe your heart wants this. We have been trying to help you. Trying to speak reality into things.”

Malakai stubbornly ignored her help and looked to the sky. He held his hands out like he praised the skies. “Then come help me find the Lotus blade, Rhea! We can all be famous then!”

Rhea’s eyebrows frowned at the idea. “Huh? I have dreams too. My life is not to just follow you around. We live in the Pale!”

“Let the man just dream.” A long-haired boy behind Malakai, resting his arm on the log smiled at the two bickering. His eyes were closed to the disturbance, as he continued to listen in. His long naturally silk blonde hair rolled down his back. He wore a small cotton shirt, with shorts, and sandals.

Rhea’s eyes widened in shock. Her body tingled and stepped back a foot, from hearing the boy’s calming advice. “Jericho, are you kidding? Rios and Marco get it, why won’t you? We are from the Pale. The poorest of the poor. The weakest of the weak. And the sorriest of them all. We have no place out there.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if he left then?” Jericho fired back, right after Rhea pleaded. “I mean the Legend King is from here after all.”

Rhea took in what Jericho said. So did the obese boy, Rios, and the other skinny boy, Marco. All of them were in awe of Jericho’s remark. What he told is undoubtedly the truth. The Legend King came from the poorest of the poor, and the weakest of the weak. If the Pale sounded as bad as it is, then staying would doom any reality a young boy could dream of.

“Think about it.” Jericho calmly viewed.

Jericho stood on the log platform with his friend Malakai. He wrapped his left arm around him, holding his place so he wouldn’t fall off the tiny platform. “We constantly put ourselves in a struggle to survive. If it is that bad, let's go. The whole world is ours to explore. Malakai here has the right idea.”

The other three children opposed to Malakai’s idea at first, began to understand the vision behind Jericho’s explanation. The two were inseparable. Malakai the devotional spokesperson with no explanation for anything, while Jericho, would come with the logic after the fact. Malakai backed up Jericho.

“Right. We will go find the Lotus Blades and together become the greatest guild in all the lands.”

“The greatest guild?” Rhea crossed her arms unimpressed by Malakai’s continued devotion to his dream. “The greatest guild? It's interior nonsense from his brain, Jericho.”

“Nonsense? When are you going to escape the trapped mindset, our community put on you?” Jericho stared up at the sky, his eyes glamoured with the rays of the sun. A sparkle of hope filled in his eyes, along with Malakai. The two boys stared to the heavens, hoping to one day break past the barriers of them.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“You just don’t get it yet, Rhea. What it is like to see a legend and truly believe anything is possible.” Jericho envisioned.

…

Back in the capital of Eurafalia, the two boys went to honor the passing of the great Malik Nevaeh. The two were orphans, who lived with a priest who served with Malik Nevaeh for a time, before his ascension to power. The three of them traveled for the final days of the great hero, where they heard the last words of the King of Legends.

“Now it’s up to you!”

After the king's final message shocked the nation altogether. His eyes narrowly glimpsed at both Malakai and Jericho with a kind smile. A smile to ease the soul of safe passage to the next life. The two boys felt a whirlwind from a storm pass them, to an eternity of light. A light where anything around them was possible, from the words of the King of Legends. They sought anything and everything now was possible.

“Woah…”

The chanting from the uproar crowd of close to a million by the death of the King, left a hole in the hearts of many. Malakai wiped his eyes with a large, animated burst of sunshine. He did not fall into despair from the King's death. He held his fist high before it was too late.

“I will become the King of Legends and find the Lotus Blades.”

Jericho noticed his friend's devoted promise beside him. The conviction behind Malakai’s promise was a grand smile worthy of the millions of lives he promised to carry to the future. Jericho watched the tears slowly fall down the eyes of Malakai after he failed to hold them back. Jericho stared at his hand and gripped it tightly with conviction.

Jericho flailed his hand up in the air shocking Malakai. His own promise fogged into the back half of his memory. Where the two poor boys would finally break the cycle of complacency in the Pale.

“And I will become the world’s greatest warrior!”

…

Rhea, Rios, and Marco all addressed both the dreamers now. Their faces skyrocketed to the Malakai and Jericho standing on the log. They appeared to be thousands of feet in the air from their log.

“The King of Legends good or bad, is our icon.”

“Without him, our dream is just a fairy tale. We can make it happen together.”

Malakai bent over and offered his hand to Rhea. Unsure whether she should take the leap of faith still needed to be determined. She mesmerized herself in the gesture, with her eyes stargazing into it. Sat between unaccepting it, or taking it, Rhea waited for a sign. A sign to tell her whether it truly is just the inspirational mess talking to her or a true vision.

“Uh…”

“Come on, Rhea. The Pale has failed us for too long, it's time we surpass it.”

Rios and Marco already sat on the tightly squeezed log, by pulling two large ones to sandwich the existing log. All four of the boys were together on the log, agreeing to take the future on together. Rios reached his arm down, along with Marco and Jericho. The four boys all were whipped to take to the heavens.

“If were together, then none of our dreams will ever fail to be realized. Better to live for you, than survive for the Pale.” Malakai smiled.

“Heaven isn’t a limit we can’t surpass,” Jericho stated.

“The guys are right. Better to try than fail!” Rios and Marco added in last in the line of speeches to the girl.

Rhea took the hand of Malakai towards the light. She along with all four boys escaped the darkness that plagues them. A darkness driven by a community only capable of worrying about how to survive. The five were living for themselves and their ambitions. Malik Nevaeh’s smile brightened the minds of both Malakai and Jericho. They could feel his power. “About time.” Malakai laughed.

Rios pulled out a bottle of clean purified water, which you rarely saw in the Pale. He shook it around, showing his four friends. “How about a toast to make it official?”

“Where did you get that, Rios?” Marco asked. Rios grinned his teeth together, looking to the docks of the Pale. A large man of war anchored down on the small rough town beside the sea. “From Master Hawks ship.”

The other four's eyes popped out of their heads and nearly knocked off Rios. “Eh!?? You stole from Elder Hawk?? One of the greatest mages of all time! And you took it without asking!?”

Rios shuffled his arms in the air without a care in the world. “What? Not like he noticed.”

Meanwhile, in Gemba Harbor, on the Mystic Guild fleet. A guild with a reputation out in the world of Eurafalia, for having some of the best magical prowess. A reputation held by high standards given how sporadic and legendary the group might be. Malik Nevaeh reigned as number one solely by himself. Behind him, Hawk the master of the guild was number two.

On the large man-of-war ship, that hosts over three leveling floors for the crew of twenty-five, manning over sixty cannons on each side. The sails and Jolly Roger all were painted black, with a hovering white hawk in a magical circle. The crew continued to unload their cargo onto the docks of the Pale’s harbor. A small village where Malakai and Jericho lived in the orphanage. Some of the locals from the Pale, hard-working and always looking messy helped unload the ship.

Almost all the crew never failed to carry a positive magnificent energy about them. A glamorous gesture always praised the Mystic Guild. It became one of their signature names for a time as the “smiling mages.”

On the poop deck, a man wearing sandals and loose pants remained stuck in a barrel. His white shirt ripped nearly half to shreds after getting caught on the wood of the cargo box. A passing member of the crew, a large fellow with a similar style of clothes, and a round face stopped.

“Hey, master, everything okay?”

“No. I seemed to have misplaced some of the water again!”

“Maybe not, Bigsby likes to get a late-night swig.”

…

Back on top of the Pale’s Mountain, where you could see most of the entire region, the five children gathered around the log. Rios continued to pour everyone cups of water from old glasses he also fit in his stomach pocket. The five raised their glasses above the log, with bright smiles for their ambitions. The sun reigned down over the top of them, while they put their glasses together. This is undoubtedly, one of the biggest moments in their short lives by far.

“Alright then…” Malakai muttered.

Malakai put his glass right in the middle with an exciting display of energy. “A promise to always follow our dreams, to the end of time!”

Jericho returned with a follow-up. “And to always be with each other.”

The five teens all looked at each other with hopeful expressions. Nodding to the other, that they all were in agreeance. “It’s a promise.”

The five teens drank their drinks. Time felt as if it had stopped for this one moment to let them enjoy. A moment they would surely remember for the rest of their lives. Malakai downed his drink quickly, chanting what they promised to do.

“Then it's settled, the day we turn eighteen, ten years from now, will go to the Prime Lands and find the Lotus and accomplish our dreams!”