A great red colored beast soared through the sky. It had the appearance of a dragon with huge horns similar to those of a sheep. Its size was enough to swallow an elephant whole. Residents of this world call this beast a Drago.

The beast flew until it reached a vast meadow and spotted an animal that was big enough for it to hunt. The target was a Braham, an animal that looked like a mix between a buffalo and a mammoth. If comparing its size, the braham was actually more similar to a mammoth. The animal was carrying a large tent on its back. Little Thomas and his father Philip were seated on the animal's head.

After spotting its prey, the drago plunged downward like a hawk after its prey. The beast was diving faster and faster towards its prey, coming close enough to cast a vast shadow upon the earth.

The sky suddenly became dark and violent wind blew over their heads. Little Thomas looked up in the sky and spotted the drago.

"Papa!"

Little Thomas shouted, terrified from the beast. He looked around, but his father was nowhere near him. A moment later, and a terrible explosion engulfed the grasslands, and a terrible earthquake followed moments later. The monstrous drago vanished from the sky, while a huge crater opened in the distance. A wall of blue flames cut through the middle of the crater and a second earthquake followed.

In the sky, where the terrible drago was moments ago, little Thomas spotted his father hovering in the sky. Philip was holding a great sword in his right hand that burned with blue flames. On his back were attached a pair of white semi-transparent wings that kept him afloat.

"Don't worry Thomas! The beast is long gone!"

Philip shouted from above, as he glided slowly back towards the braham's head.

"Good grief Philip! At least calm Gram before you fly away. He could drop the whole tent from panic, you know how cowardly braham are!"

Little Thomas' mother, Lina complained to his father after he landed near the tent. Lina was holding a baby in her hands, Little Thomas' sister, Lily.

"Lina, I knew you'd calm him, that's why we are such a good team, ha ha!"

Philip was a carefree person, while Lina was the more serious type.

"It looks like the corrupt dragos appear more and more this days. Damn those heretics! May the Almighty punish them all!"

"Mama! What was this creature?"

"It is a corrupt drago. Normal dragos are herbivorous, they do not have fangs and they eat grass, just like our Gram. This one was once a normal drago, but it was transformed to this vile creature by the cursed heretics. He probably escaped their control and was terrorizing these plains."

"Mama, the heretics are the bad people we are fleeing from right? The ones that believe in the false gods?"

"Yes Thomas, those are the ones. We shouldn't stop for too long, I will wake Gram."

Lina bent down and put her palm on the braham's back. Blue light sparked from underneath for a moment, and the beast continued its slow gait through the meadow, like nothing has ever happened at all.

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Lina’s and Philip’s story was not unique to this world. They were adherents of the True God that were forced to flee from the great armies of the heretics. Philip was a paladin, a knight and protector of the local town’s temple. Lina was a priestess, she was using her divine power to cure the sick. Their peaceful life came to an end when the heretic armies marched towards their town. The local head priest used the opportunity to switch sides, and the town surrendered without a fight.

The heretics were formed by the former Head Priest who declared himself to be a god. Following his example, many high priests did the same. Hundreds of years passed by and because heavenly retribution never came, they were further convinced that they were truly gods. The high priests held colossal amount of magical power through their faith, and though they left the god, their power didn’t vanish but only increased.

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Crimson flames consumed the usually serene prairie. The whole army of the heretics surrounded little Thomas who held his baby sister in his hands. Lina and Philip tried to hold off the whole army even for a moment in order to let their children escape, but their resistance was futile. They perished from a single attack of the demonic drago.

Contrary to the corrupt drago, the demonic drago was a sentient creature, it could use divine magic, stood on two legs, had a full plate armor and held a giant flaming cleaver. Combining all this with his inherent enormous size, the demonic drago was a being that could single handedly wipe out a town or two. The heretic army had thousands of those hellish creatures, and even they were nowhere near the power of a single Heretic God. Twenty of those gods were commanding the heretic army.

Right now, the heretic Head God, the one who stood above all others was inspecting little Thomas. Thomas and Lily were engulfed in a semi transparent bubble that protected them both.

“True God’s protection amulet! According to the legend, the relic was a gift from the True God himself to the first Head Priest. It could protect him from harm while he journeyed the world, spreading the faith of the True God. It’s power is truly amazing.”

The Head God obviously wasn’t speaking to the little boy. He was discussing the artifact’s powers with his fellow Heretic Gods that were standing around him.

“Your holiness, if I may ask, why the thieves didn’t use the device to protect themselves?”

One of the fellow Heretic Gods, named Astris asked the Head God. It seems that the Heretic Gods had a strict system of hierarchy between themselves, and the Head God held the ultimate power and respect among all others.

“Good question Astris. Knowledge about this artifact is not widespread, but I happened to learn about it when I was still a Head Priest. It seems that the amulet can create a barrier big enough to protect a single person. In this case two children could fit in well enough. Ha ha! The parent sacrificed themselves because they knew they couldn't fit in with their kids!”

The Heretic Head God had a wicked smile on his face. Hundreds of years of corruption turned him into a vile person that didn’t think twice before killing anyone who stood between him and his desires.

He reached with his palm towards the sphere that was protecting the children. His palm was emitting a strong deep green light and the sphere was starting to tremble at the amount of power that was emitting from his hand.

Little Thomas was terrified at the sight of the Head God. He couldn't hear beyond the sphere, but he knew that his parent were dead. He wanted to cry, but he suppressed his tears, afraid to farther scare his baby sister that could barely understand what was going on.

“God, please help us! Please protect me and my sister! Please God!”

Little Thomas was praying. He didn't have any hope, only his belief in God.

Seeing this, hearing him pray, I couldn't longer calmly observe from afar.

I don’t normally know what is happening in all of the world's that I visited. But, the artifact this child was holding was made by myself, thus if one was to pray to God while holding the artifact, I could listen.