“….The Dumo Stone is the essence of life itself from which, every single living creature, whether it walks on land on all fours, six, eight, or ten legs, soars the sky with magnificent and elegant wings or puffs putrid and obnoxious hot fumes to propel itself to sky above, if it breath water instead of air, has no solid body that can be touched, has a metallic body that resembles more like a machine than a living creature but it still able to think, feel, and fear death, whither it eats dirt and stone, or simply constancies itself by breathing air alone and any other bizarre, magnificent abnormal trait it may have, as long as alive its existence is as a result of Dumo. It is the originator of life itself and the very first living thing…”

Ibaeran then gasped out of shock upon seeing the body, recognizing it as it was the body of someone she cared and longed for. Ibaeran upon seeing the body that had formed around Dumo stone couldn’t help but shed a tear, unsure on why or even how it was possible as she laid her eyes one person she wished to be with about all else, Preyina, her closest and dearest friend.

The body then slowly opened which glowed green with green with the essence of life emanating from its body.

“Pre…” Ibaeran stopped herself midsentence knowing that being standing before her was not her dear Preyina, not matter much she wished it to be so.

“Hello Ibaeran or should call you Su Baera?” asked the entity with a voice similar to that of Preyina taking Ibaeran aback as she heard the voice of her dear friend leave her lips.

Ibaeran tried her very best to hold back her eyes as she constantly reminded herself that the entity that stood before her wasn’t Preyina, an act that was made far more agonizingly pain upon hearing the entity speak with her voice.

“Why did you choose that form?” Ibaeran asked with her head bowed down and her gaze averted away from the entity as it was too painful for her to stare at a familiar face while knowing it wasn’t really her, it was just something else borrowing her face.

“Think of it like a safety precaution of sorts after people find hard to strike a familiar face especially when its one of someone they care about”, said the entity.

“Please, stop it, choose another, it can be anything except her” Ibaeran spoke with her hair still bowed down and tears dripping down from her eyes.

The entity upon hearing what Ibaeran said simply smiled before saying, “Why are you here Ibaeran”.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the entity said paused for a moment before saying, “I need the power of the Dumo stone to save my people”.

“But you’re the Su Baera, don’t you already possess enough power to save them ?” asked the entity.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the entity said crushed her hands in to a tight fist before saying with a voice heavy with shame and doubt, “I…I can’t”.

“Hmm”, said the entity before the roots and vines that made up her body and attached her to the tree it form that body from extended out and pulled the body it was using to communicate with Ibaeran out of the tree.

“Raise your head Ibaeran” said the entity but Ibaeran chose to ignore its command, not wanting to have to bear the pain of seeing her face.

“I said, RISE” the entity spoke with what sounded like infinite voices, most of them silent while most of them beastly, echoing from her lips and resonating within Ibaeran as heard them. The voices where too loud to ignore and they were so primal in nature that Ibaeran could stop herself from heeding their call raised her head up to behold the astonishing beauty of what could only be described as the leafy green skin goddess that wore the familiar face of her dear Preyina hovering about her with vines attached to her back that connected her to the tree.

“Now tell me once more, why can’t you save your people with your own power” asked the entity with a soft, loving, and nurturing voice.

“I…I just can’t” Ibaeran spoke once more before bowing her head back down, this time not because of the face the entity wore but out of shame.

The entity upon hearing what Ibaeran said, simply sighed before saying, “Fear and desperation, two of the most powerful driving forces behind the most idiotic and destructive of actions”.

“You know Ibaeran” the entity spoke before raising up a hand.

“You are not the first to travel here to seeking something out of fear and desperation”, said the entity.

Ibaeran then turned to her side and saw root sprouting from the ground, tangling and merging together to form what appeared to be a man with a similar looking pair of wings as hers attached to his back. Ibaeran’s eyes then widened upon seeing the man, recognizing the wings and immediately knowing who he was.

“His name was Menjikiri, the Su Baera that came before you”, said the entity.

Even though Ibaeran already knew this from reading the journal Menjikiri left behind for her, Ibaeran couldn’t help but be taken aback upon seeing the live image of the former Su Baera, only having a vague obscure and imperfect image in her head on what he could have looked like but then at that moment, as looked at him, examining his features she couldn’t believe that she was looking at the legendary Su Baera, that one who single handedly challenged an entire army of Uha Tamunarans, foot the great and might king Datubo to a standstill and managed to take one of his eyes. Ibaeran look at the imaged from with nothing more than the roots that made up the ground of the island stood upon with a look of awe and surprise as the Su Baera looked like an ordinary without any muscles or a warriors physique but rather skinny arms and a body that looked it could be brought down with just a single blow but at the very same time, as she continued to look at the image, she couldn’t help but be convinced that truly was the Su Baera that came before her.

“You and him share a lot in common, both of you have had to suffer great losses from an early age, suffered immensely from a cruel and unfair world, and have to deal with the overwhelming weight of the responsibility that comes with being an agent of order”, said the entity it descended to the ground in front of the image of the Su Baera.

“His tale is a tale almost as old as life itself, a hero tasked with the overwhelming responsibility maintaining peace and order to an entire world only to discover the true depth of evil within his world and began to question if the world he fought so hard for was truly worth defending”, said the entity with a sad and somber look on its face.

“He saw the true face of evil and it scared, so much so that he refused to accept that evil, cruelty, and wicked of the world were simply a part of life just as death, despite being the very absence of life”, said the entity.

Ibaeran, upon hearing what the entity said, turned to look at the image once more. Recalling that, from the way he wrote about in his journal about his time as the Su Baera, she could sense hints sadness, pain, and regret in his words but never knew to what depth his heart truly ached and pain he had to endure upon each and every time had had to watch his evil and wickedness to fester no matter how much he tried to put an end to it once and for all. Having living in the same world where the very same evil the Su Baera before her fought against had grown to the point that wicked, much like taking breathing, had become the norm, couldn’t help but understand to a degree the pain and frustration that former Su Baera must have endured, to have lived in cruel world and still feel powerless to change it even after having so much power at their finger tips.

“As time pasted, he become more and more desperate to find a way stop evil and wicked from plaguing his world and at a point he even contemplated using the power of the Su Baera to impose peace on his world by force and, for a moment, he was tempted to cross a line he could never return from”, said the entity.

Ibaeran then looked upon the image of the former Su Baera once more, recalling a page in the Menjikiri’s journal where he lamented about the state of his world and how felt powerless to change the world even though he possessed the power of the Su Baera:

“….There I was hovering over it all, seeing my world for what it was over high above at the very edge of sky itself. Selfish, greed, pettiness, hunger, strife, and misery that was all I could see from up there. Even from those great heights, I could still hear the cries a child crying out of hunger and see his mother troubled and wondering how unearth they were going to get by another day like many other mothers, fathers, and parents. Then I saw that fat wealth man, boosting about their riches that were stolen, stripped, and denied from those that need. I looked down below at them with a look of disgust and boiling rage, Then I saw the crooks, thieves, and criminal that roamed about the open streets, and couldn’t help but look at them with a look of pity and shame, understanding g what it must be like have nothing, neither a home or a single soul to love and care for, and having to survive each and every on the streets committing unspeakable act. I looked down at them and couldn’t really bring myself to hate or even blame them from their actions, after all, if the hands of fate had never favored I have no doubt in my mind that I would have been down there on the streets as well. Then they were the monster, wearing the skin of regular people it would be next to impossible to believe they were anything but human. But I’ve seen them with my own to eyes, committing vile, disgusting and abominable acts with gleeful smile on their face, soiling their hands with both the blood and tears of their fellow human beings and for not just reason.

What else could I expect from a race that planned on killing themselves in a pointless war and all because they wanted to prove a point to each other. I still have nightmares of that accursed day, bodies littered about everywhere, soldiers running about with hand blasters trying to kill each other, and that bloody weapon. Till this day, half of the Northern nation is nothing more than pile of hot desert sand. I sometimes wonder if I wasn’t chosen to be the Su Baera and there was no one there to destroy every single one of their machines of mass destruction, and they continued kill each other with the desire to reign supreme over one another. I doubt they would even me any nations of man left.

Looking down at the world from the edge of the sky and seeing the four nations plagued with what could only be described as a form of madness and insanity, a dark thought crossed my mind. What if I used my powers as the Su Baera to fix the broken world I saw before me, to that power to eradicate and purge the entire world from evil and wickedness. And it would be all too easy to do so, I had to do was extend my hand to the world and release my power. I could almost picture it, a world from pain, misery, and sorrow, a were a young boy would never have to witness the dead corpse of his mother ever again. A vision of the perfect world was what I saw, was what I could create. I stretched out me hand to the world, ready to reshape and fix it but then, just as about to release the power recalled something. A memory of the closest thing to a father I had told me something about the true nature of man and how within him lies both the power destroy and create. A man can build and create amazing things but that doesn’t change the fact that can destroy just as well as he creates. No man was born good, just like no man was born evil, they were simply born, and just like how man can choose to either create or destroy, they can choose to be good or evil. And as long as man can choose either good or evil, there will always good as well as evil.

It was a bitter truth, but the truth none the less, good and evil was an inherit part of human life, just breathing and eating. And if I truly wanted to put an end to evil once and for all, I would have to end the entirety of my race, eradicating evil but good a well….”

“Even though the Su Baera understood that evil, just like good was a part of human nature, he couldn’t still bring himself to accept it. And he ravaged his mind thinking one he could possibly find away to end evil one and for all but ultimately failed to find one. And when he couldn’t find way to completely eradicate evil from his world, he decided to venture out in to other worlds, hoping that somewhere in the vastness of infinite worlds, there existed at least one world that had successful eradiated evil. He searched and his searched, but in every world where there was life, there was also savagery, pain, suffering, wickedness, greed, and evils of varying forms until he finally reached this place and met me” said the entity as.

Ibaeran recalled reading about the former Su Baera encounter with the entity and how, similar to how it currently took the form of Preyina, it took a form of someone he loved and deeply cared for, someone he had lost a long time ago.

“….There I stood before the source of life itself the Dumo Stone, imbedding with the center of a great tree whose branches stretched far and wide, tangling with one another to form massive island….

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

….I wasn’t prepared to her face, not after so many years and even though so many years had pasted and I knew it wasn’t really her that stood before me I had to fight the urge and desire to run in to her arms and embrace her as tightly as I could. I missed her immensely and seeing her face once more made me wish with all my heart the person before me was actually my mother.

It wasn’t easy but I had to comport myself and control my emotions, push back my tears and approach her, the very essence of life itself, the Dumo Stone. I had travel long and far to reach that moment, believing in my heart that surely she would have the answers I sought for, a way to put an end to evil in my world once and for all. But when I asked the question that had been plaguing my mind ever since I became the Su Baera, she answered…”

“I told him the truth about life, a simply law that governs every single living being, a law we are all bound by, a law we must all obey, a law that separates all from still lifelessness, a truth he could not bring himself to accept”, said the entity.

“…”The point of life is to live however way you can. Yours purpose, along with infinitely vast creature experience what it is to be alive, is to live and avoid death in whatever way you can. This desire, this drive, is primal and innate within every single living creature, and whatever action they commit was committed as a consequence of it. What you perceive as evil and good are nothing more than action committed by living souls like yourself fulfilling their purpose the only way they can, and to change that, you would have to change the very nature of life itself and do that you would have to rewrite reality in its entirety and not even the great Su Baera is capable of doing that”…”

“I told he a simple truth but it wasn’t the truth he wanted neither was he a truth he could bring himself to understand or accept which was what ultimately led to his end” said the entity before snapping its fingers and turning the image of the former Su Baera in to nothing more than golden pollen scattering in the wind.

Ibaeran watched what the entity just did with a look awe, shock, and horror with her words resonating within her especially the part about his inability to understand and accept what it told him was the reason why he met his end. She had always believed that the immense power of king Datubo and the Uha Tamunaran empire were that sole reason for the fall of the Su Baera but upon listen to her words she couldn’t help but ponder a little, recalling how during moments of fear and doubt the immense power of the Su Baera would vanish from her, and couldn’t help but wonder if that could also be the case of the former Su Baera before her, and if so then his fall and defeat in the hands of king Datubo and his army of Uha Tamunarans might have not been because the Su Baera himself was too weak but rather due to lingering doubts he had about himself and his duty as the Su Baera.

Ibaeran was brought out of her train of thought by the entity raising up a hand and summon roots out of the ground, tangling and merging them once more, this time to form a figure being vaguely recognized. It was the image of big and bulky man wielding a pair axes on both hands

“Prince Sothorgo, second son and the last child of King Aniye’Boa, the one, by virtue of the immense power he possessed at birth and the fact that he was born a boy, was chosen to be next in line to the throne over the eldest the now King Datubo who was born within any power of his own and the second child Princess who was simply denied her claim to the throne for nothing more than the fact that she was born a girl”, said the entity.

Ibaeran’s eyes widened upon hearing what the entity said looked at her with a long of shock and disbelieve.

“Wait, did you just say King Datubo, King of the Uha Tamunaran empire and the most powerful Uha Tamunaran to live, the one who ended the life of the Su Baera, was born powerless”, asked Ibaeran finding impossible to believe that there was once a time ages ago when the monster she, her people, and even the Uha Tamunarans he reign over with an iron fist, was once powerless.

“He was, actually he was the very first Uha Tamunaran in the history of your world to be born powerless”, said the entity.

“What? That can’t be” said Ibaeran able to fathom the possibility of there ever being a time when the King of the Uha Tamunaran empire and conquer of her world was ever powerless.

“Oh but it is”, said the entity.

“The king, the one whose power you fear the most, was born as weak as a man with no strength or power of his one. And whatever power he would have manifested upon his birth was stripped away by dark forces who only sought to use the King as nothing more than a simple pawn”, said the entity.

“Pawn?” said Ibaeran wondering what unearth would be great enough to able to use the king as nothing more than a pawn.

The entity upon hearing what Ibaeran said smiled before saying, “You’ve seen it for yourself haven’t you Su Baera, the many vast world that exist, infinite in number, each them unique with most home to the most extra ordinary walks of life there is, you even seen the embodiment of the two primal forces of all that is, order and chaos, and yet you still find it hard to believe in the possibility that someone as feeble as Datubo could be a pawn for one of the many being there are in existence who possess power that would put whatever feeble speck of power he possesses to shame”, said the entity.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the entity said stood before it in silence with a look of both fear and shock etched on her face as slowly began to recall her encounters with the Su Ingi and the Queen of Chaos, being of immense and unfathomable power with bodies as large as entire world. Then slowly the realization began to sink in, mortal beings like her, her people, the Uha Tamunarans, even the King himself, when compares to beings like Su Ingi and the Queen of Chaos, weren’t even insect, they were nothing, insignificant, fragile little things that could be rid of with nothing more than a thought. And as that realization began to sink, Ibaeran began to understand that the ruthless and monstrous King, she and the rest of her people along with the Uha Tamunarans feared was not all powerful and they were being out there that far exceed him in power.

The entity sensing Ibaeran’s realization of the King’s place in the world, said, “The illusion of power is a dangerous thing both to those who wield and those who witnessed it. It inspires nothing but fear and desperation in the hearts of many, two of the most dangerous of emotions. It was the very same illusion after all that brought Prince Sothorgo to me all those years ago”.

Ibaeran listened attentively to the entity as it spoke with its words, resonating with a truth she could not deny.

“He came to me with heart, broken and filled only pain and anguish, for he was a man that had lost a lot, a throne bestowed upon him by birth, the home he was forced to flee from along with his child, leaving his lover in the hands of the brother who took everything away from him. It wasn’t easy but he managed to raise his child along with some a little from the Su Baera and his sister who had left their home a long time ago for a love that abandoned her, and he eventually found peace and happiness along with a new family. However that peace was fleeting and completely vanished the moment he found out that woman, of whom he loved dearly with all his heart and the mother of his child, had met her end in the hands of very own brother. Distraught and heartbroken, Sothorgo returned back to his home the kingdom of the Uha Tamunaran to face his brother the King of the Uha Tamunarans, wanting to avenge his lover. Sothorgo challenged Datubo to a battle to the death and the King accepted. The battled between the two brothers was fierce with Sothorgo using the immense rage, anger, and hatred he felt for his brother fuel him and give strength during the battle but fuel wasn’t enough for him to win as Datubo’s sheer power and strength proofed to be greater than his and the battled between Datubo and Sothorgo ended with Sothorgo on the floor within an inch of his life and all it would have took to end him was a single blow. But before Datubo could deal the final blow Menjikiri arrived to put an end to the battle and save Sothorgo. That day Sothorgo something about his brother, he was beast and monster in sense of the word and had lost every ounce of his humanity for strength and power and became something truly terrifying, that day Sothorgo saw the monstrous face of his brother and it scared him. But even Sothorgo was afraid of his brother, he never let go hatred for him, and even tried to persuade Menjikiri to put an end to him using his power as the Su Baera, using the ploy that he was a threat to the entire world as a way to try and convince him but Menjikiri refused and even tried to convince Sothorgo seek another path as he had already seen for himself the evil that laid in the world and did not wish to part take in it for Sothorgo’s vengeance, making it abundantly clear to the prince that as the Su Baera he was a warrior of peace and never evil. Sothorgo, though enraged by Menjikiri’s refusal to aid him in his vengeance, accepted and respected his decision and chose to fight for his revenge on his own but not before making one final request to the Su Baera, to raise and take care of his son if he fell in his quest for revenge and he accepted. Sothorgo then set of on his mission of vengeance on his own, determined to put an end to the monster that his brother had become but knowing that whatever power he possessed, no matter how great it may be was nothing compared to the monstrous power his brother possessed, so when a dark force came to him…”, the entity raised its hand and formed another image out of roots, this time an image of what looked like a man where a hat that concealed his face.

“Making him an offer on a way he could achieve power greater than that of his brother, power he could for his revenge Datubo accepted, knowing that gaining more power was the only was he could get his revenge on his brother. Then he was brought here and stood before seeking power” said the entity.

“I came to him in the form of his departed lost love just as I appeared to you and tried to reason him, telling him that power of life itself is an overwhelming thing that one that cannot be controlled but the being of chaos and darkness that brought him to me would not let him listen and kept filled his mind with dark thoughts of vengeance, fueling his hunger and desperation for revenge and prevented him from seeing that path that he was about to take would be his undoing. I continued trying to warn him but he wouldn’t listen and still requested that give him a power greater than that of his brother but I refused, and I did, the being of chaos and dark bounded me with its power of chaos and implored him to simply take the power for himself and then, driving sole by his desperation for vengeance he…” said the entity paused for a moment before touching the emerald green stone on its chest.

Ibaeran eyes then widened upon seeing expression on the face of the entity, and expression she couldn’t believe it could be capable of exhibiting, it was an expression of hurt and pain.

“Tell me Ibaeran, did you know that pain is universal thing shared and felt in some form or way by very single living thing across all worlds, even the vilest of monsters can feel pain and as the embodiment every single living thing in existence, I am no exception”, said entity as a small tear fell down its eyes.

“I remember him looking at my core with a look of pain and desperation in his eyes before forcing out the power right out of me. It was agonizing as I felt my every sense stripped right out and transferred in to him, giving the power he desired but at a cost. The power of life is primal and savage at its very core and absorbing the raw power life itself transformed him in to a raging ruled sole by its innate, savage, and primal desire as if that wasn’t enough the being of darkness and chaos corrupted him further by tainting his soul with chaos giving him the ability reject death itself. The being then returned him back to your world and set him loose on it, wreaking havoc and chaos across as he made his was Datubo, the object of which all his savage rage was directed to and thanks to the raw savage and primal power of life along with a soul tainted by chaos, he was unstoppable and even almost put an end to Datubo if it was for the Su Baera intervening and saving Datubo before he met his end in the savage hands of” said the entity.

Ibaeran’s eyes then widened with shock upon hearing what the entity said, finding hard to believe the great King Datubo life was once saved by the former Su Baera whose life he ended.

“Menjikiri seeing the havoc and destruction Sothorgo was wrecking upon the world knew he had to stop him even if it meant putting an end to the life of his dearest and closest friend”, said the entity

Ibaeran upon hearing was the entity said knew how the tale ended, recalling a passage in the journal of the Su Baera where he mentioned how he couldn’t save his closest friend from the evil of the world and how in the end had no choice but to…

“…I never wanted it to have come to that, I tried to warn him, I begged and pleaded with him not to go out seeking revenge but he wouldn’t listen and allowed his rage and hatred turned him to him in to a monster, a monster that I had to, for the sake of the world, put down…”

Ibaeran upon hearing the sad tale of Sothorgo remembered Ton’Onama and how he spoke rage and bitterness in his heart along with sadness, sorrow, and an aching heart, about how he never knew his own mother because of him. At the time she could only hear the ramblings of an Uha Tamunaran that sought to use her and her power for vengeance, but now, upon hearing that story, but now she could finally understand the pain and hurt being those words. It must have not been easy for him, having to grow up with knowing his mother, his father losing himself in his quest for vengeance only to ultimately met his end in the hands of his of dearest friend, and all because of single monster.

The entity, having ended her tale, snapped its fingers and turned the both the images it made with its roots golden pollen that blew and scattered away in the wind. Ibaeran then turned to face the entity, looking at its familiar eyes before asking the singling question she had about it in her mind, “Why did you tell me all this?”

“To help you understand that the path you’re currently walking on has been walked by many and it leads to the same miserable outcome. I can sense you fear of fail and the consequences that may arise if you do along with your desperation to save and protect your people, and the shackles and chains they’ve formed around you”, said the entity.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the entity bowed down her head, unable to the truth behind her words.

The entity the came closer to her and placed its and on her shoulders before saying, “You know what you must do Ibaeran, you know what you should do, what you have to do for yourself and your people but choose not out of your doubt and fear of what will happened if you fail, if you’re not strong enough, but Ibaeran, if you don’t shone those doubts and fears, you’ll never be strong enough and will fall just like Menjikiri who was scared of the true face of evil and ultimately fell to it, or Sothorgo, who’s desperation for revenge turned him in to a savage beast”.

Ibaeran, listening to the words of the entity felt her heart being to pound, her breath heavy and her body trembling, with a mix of fear and shame swirling around within her, hearing the words and knowing every single one of them reigned true but still couldn’t bring herself to do what she had to.

“I know it’s hard Ibaeran but you have to do it to free, not just for your people or even your world but for yourself as well from being slave of cruel and heartless monster”, said the entity.

Ibaeran upon hearing what the entity said broken down in tears, hearing the voice of her dearest Preyina within its words the most during that moment, before yelling out, “I CAN’T!!!!”

Ibaeran then fell down on her knees, feeling immense weak with tears stream down her eyes as flashes of her life began to flood her mind allowing her to live she had lived from the moment she was born up until that point, the life of pathetic weak little slave who obeyed every single word her masters gave and felt too powerless to do otherwise.

The entity then let out a sigh of disappointment, “Very, well if you’ve failed to see just how strong you are and can be, then I’ll simply have to show”.

The entity then raised one of its hands and then flesh, skin, and bone rose up from the ground before coming together to form a living body, a body that made Ibaeran gasp out in shock upon seeing, as it was a body she knew all too well as it was the body she wore as well.