The Second Story of Baid: the Dragon Slayer
Once upon a time, in a land of swords and sorcery, kingdoms and their distressful princesses and God’s and Goddesses ruled supreme. When dwarves, elves, fairies and demons were still in existence, there was a hero. A proud and mighty hero named Baid, and he was known as the Dragon Slayer. He was given that title by doing the impossible. He slew a dragon and saved a princess and lived happily ever after. What a great guy. Handsome, strong, and brave. “How boring” thought the Goddess of Fate, Décrétér, and decided to put him through a much better story with new friends, a super powerful enemy, drama, romance, and comedy. And perhaps some kind of tragic ending. This will be known as the second story of Baid: the Dragon Slayer.
Wind. A cool calming breeze. Big fluffy clouds floating in the afternoon sky. A beautiful day. The setting; a small mountain range with trails snaking around each extrusion of earth. On the highest mountain rests a castle. Just outside of the castle paces a young woman wearing a beautiful dress and fiddling with a pendant around her neck. She has flowing red hair and looks to be between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Accompanying her back and forth is a fairy and a tiny demon is sitting on a rock. The fairy is almost self illuminated. She has medium length, bright blonde hair, large transparent wings, and is wearing fairly sophisticated clothing, much like the young woman. The demon looks like a normal human with pointy ears and sharp eyes. He is dressed in a sort of fur toga. Both the demon and the fairy are about seven inches tall.
“Princess, please stop this,” Jain insists. “I’m sure they will be fine.”
“What’s the matter,” Zelknok asks. “Let her pace around if she wants. It’s just what she does when she’s worried.” Zelknok lies down and begins picking his nose. “I know when I’m worried I …” He pulls his finger out and looks at it. “…Well I guess I don’t normally get worried,” he says as he flicks the booger away.
“That’s enough, Demon!”, Jain yells. “The Bodhisattva should have exorcized you when she met you. If she really is a Bodhisattva.”
Zelknok jumps to his feet. “Watch your tongue! She is a Bodhisattva! Maybe you should start calling people by their names, ‘FAIRY’!”
BOOM!!! The top of the castle suddenly explodes! A young boy and girl and a dragon falls from the sky! The boy and girl land on the ground in front of the princess and the dragon lands on top of them. “Do it now! Hurry!!”, the boy screams. The princess puts her hands out in front of her and the pendant floats between them. It starts spinning. Faster and faster. It starts to glow, then the dragon begins to glow and is sucked into the pendant. The pendant stops spinning and an engraving of that dragon along with one other is seen on it. The princess puts her hands down and everyone gives a sigh of relief.
“See, Baid? I told you that would get us out here!”, the girl says.
“Are you two all right?” the princess queries.
Baid gets up, “I’m fine. Although, I would have chosen a gentler method of an exit.”
The boy, Baid, is wearing mainly blue clothing and light leather as armor and is wielding an awesome double edged sword. He has a scar on his face reaching from the corner of his right eye to the middle of his cheek. The eight-year-old girl, Boa, has short brown hair and is wearing a spiritual looking robe with large sleeves that are slit around the elbows and pants that are poofy, especially around the ankles. A sash around her waist separates the robe into two sections. She also has horizontal line marked on her forehead, between the eyes.
“None of that matters now,” Jain interrupts. She flies over and lands on the princess’ shoulder. “As long as that dragon spirit is once again sealed away in Princess Elana’s pendant, we don’t need to waste our time with any boo-boos you might have attained in your battle.”
“Boo-boos?”, says Baid.
“Yes, that’s what little boys and girls say, boo-boos,” she nagged. “Isn’t the right, Bodhisattva?” Jain looks at the girl and sticks her nose in the air.
Angrily, Boa jumps up. “My name is Boa! Not Bodhisattva!”, she defended. “And Zelknok’s name isn’t ‘Demon’, and Baid’s name is not ‘Little Kid’!! Why can’t you call us by our names?!”
Zelknok jumps onto Boa’s shoulder. “Yeah,” he concurs.
“Please don’t be so rude to them anymore. Okay, Jain?”, Elana pleads. She grabs her by the wings and sits her down on her finger.
“But Princess, is the point of our adventure not to reseal all of the Royal Dragon Spirits and save our Kingdom?”
“Yes that is what we are doing, but you must understand something. Baid is the famous Dragon Slayer, who miraculously defended our neighbor, the kingdom of Chlophnia from an army of dragons by himself.”
“That’s right,” Baid confirmed.
“Yes, he did say something like that,” admits Jain. “However it’s hard to get past the fact that ‘Baid the Dragon Slayer’ was a great man and the Baid standing in front of us happens to be an eleven-year-old boy.”
Baid sits down on a rock and recalls his past. “It is true that I am in the body of a child but truthfully I am thirty-four years old. Weeks after my battle with that dragon army, Décréter, the Goddess of Fate played a cruel prank on me. She transformed me and stole all of my strength. Then sent me off on my journey to help your majesty. If we are successful, she will restore me to normal and she will grant me her aid whenever I may need it.”
“Yeah, and as for me,” Boa adds. “I am a true Bodhisattva.”
The princess continues for Boa. “Boa in a past life achieved enlightenment and chose to be reborn to help the world further. She remembers everything she learned from her previous life. She, even more so than Baid or myself deserves respect from all.”
Boa blushes and there is silence for a long while. “Nobody’s gonna say anything good about me?” Zelknok says breaking the silence.
“Quiet Demon!”
“So, will you start being kinder to Boa and Baid?”, asks Elana.
“I guess so.” Jain jumps off of the princesses hand and flies
toward Baid. “I’m sorry,” she says as if she’s being tortured. “I’ll try to be nice. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it!”
“Fair enough, Jain,” Baid says.
“Well, that dragon makes two,” states Boa. “Onward to the NEXT ONE!!” Boa skips off while everyone else follows.
That evening, Baid and the crew enter a town at the bottom of the mountains that they were previously on. Even as the sun sets this town is bustling with lots of people, horse drawn carriages, people carrying things, as if they don’t realize it’s almost time for bed. The sky is a gorgeous gradient of purples, reds and oranges. Lamps placed at the corners of all of the streets are being lit by an authority figure. As he reaches up to light another one, our friends walk by. Boa is up front leading the group. Walking backwards to keep in eye contact to the other end of her conversation. “So Princess Elana, I was wondering. How many more dragons do we need to find. We have two so far”
“Well actually, I’m not really sure myself,” Elana states. “The royal advisor was supposed to be researching that.” Boa stares at the Princess with a childish disappointed look, the kind with her lower lip puffed out. “But I suppose there is a clue!” Elana says trying to stop the staring. Boa releases her glare and replaces it with a look similar to the face a child makes when they are about to be told a story by their grandparent. “According to my family’s legend, this entire kingdom was established by my great ancestor. His name was Elaniér. My parents named me after him. It is said that he had the companionship of the entire dragon race. Back then, this land was home of the darkest of the dark, the mother of evil itself. One day, this evil attempted to take over the whole world. They were so powerful, none would ever dare oppose them. Except my ancestor, Elaniér. He fought his way through to the ruler of the nation of malice. Unfortunately he was not strong enough by himself. That was when the dragon races strongest lent their strength to him. With their help, he was able to defeat his opponent and rid the world of the horrible evil that plagued it. However, the power he gained was too much, and the power of all of the dragons was sealed away inside of an amulet that Elaniér wore around his neck. And Elaniér, somehow transformed into a sphere.”
They all stop walking for a moment. Boa’s eyes are completely lit up as if witnessing the birth of the universe. “Wow,” exhales Boa. She continues to stare in astonishment fearful to let her eyes off of Elana, for something else incredibly amazing might happen.
“Th-that’s it…” the princess concludes.
“Hang on there your Highness,” Zelknok interposes. “That story was nice and all, but it didn’t tell us how many dragons are left at all.”
“Hey!,” Jain shouts. “You were just privileged with a story of the royal families history, and all you can say is ‘that was a nice story and all, but it didn’t till us anything about the dragons’,” she imitates.
“I did say it was a nice story, didn’t I?”
“Please, like you can mask your ugliness with kindness.”
“Do you want to say that again?”
“YOUR HEARING IS NOT THE ONLY INFERIOR QUALITY YOU HAVE COMPARED TO FAIRIES! It that better?”
“Oh yeah? Well it’s pretty obviously that your ‘pretty face’ is doing a horrible job at masking your ugliness.”
“You are pushing it Demon. Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“I have half a mind to sister!”
“You’re right about the ‘half a mind’ part.”
The two of them leap off of the shoulders of their respective partners and fly toward each other in a scene that would put any war movie to shame. However, as quickly as it started, Boa grabs Zelknok’s feet and Elana holds onto Jain’s, stopping them in mid air. But that doesn’t stop them from trying to get to each other. Boa and Elana’s hands twitch around as Jain and Zelknok try to break free. Elana and Boa sigh at the predictability of the situation. When Boa opens her eyes she sees Baid watching the sky. “Hey, Baid,” she calls. “What did you think of the story?”
“I thought that it was a bit strange,” Baid answers. “I am wondering why Elaniér transformed. And what exactly did he transform into?”
“I’ve been told that the stone is very precious,” answers Elana. “It supposed to be the most valuable stone in the entire world.”
“What about the dragons?,” Boa asks as she still holds Zelknok back. “Don’t you want to know how many are left to find?”
“Not really. I’m sure that information with come to us when we need it. For now, we should concentrate on where to find the next one.”
“We can talk about that later,” Elana says as she pulls Jain back and forces her to stay put on her shoulder. “Right now we need to find some place for us to sleep for the night.”
“Oh yeah!,” Boa remembers. “Follow me, I know a great place to sleep. And we can get the best food in this city to eat there too! Let’s go Zelknok.” She turns around and starts walking, swinging Zelknok around as she goes.
“How exactly do you know where you’re going?,” Jain protests as she gives up on her fight with Zelknok. “Have you been to this city before?”
“That is always possible,” Baid says.
“Even better,” reveals Boa. “I used to come here a lot in my past life. I just happen to know someone who owns an Inn somewhere around here.”
Jain double takes at what was just said. “Did you say, somewhere around here? Does that mean that you don’t know where you’re going?”
“Now, now, Jain,” Baid calms.
“It’s okay,” Boa reassures. “It’s only been an afterlife-time and a few years since I’ve been there.”
“Great,” Jain complains. “Were taking directions from a senile old little girl.”
“There it is!,” points Boa. She points at a building with a sign that says NAIGON’S COMFY INN.
“Naigon’s comfy inn?” Jain stares, wondering if the sign is a mere lie to reel in customers. Baid stares as well, but with much more concentration. ‘Naigon’ he thinks to himself. The gang walks inside.
Jain’s assumptions where wrong. The inside of the inn was very comfy. Is was made of wood, very well lit, and had carpets on the floor. The group stand in front of the door, in a small room with a door on either side of them. Directly in front of them is a counter with a young boy behind it. The boy seems like he’s really bored and falling asleep. Boa walks up to the counter. “Hey,” she calls. The boy looks at her like she’s going to be a nuisance. He yawns.
“Whatdya want?”
“Eh… is Margaret still around?,” Boa asks.
“She is, but who might you be?,” a voice answers from one of the side doors. A woman stands in the doorway on everyone’s right.
“Wow, is that you, Lucille?”
“Who are you? How do you know who I am?”
“It’s me, Boa!”
“Boa?,” she thinks for a moment. “That priestess? You are Boa? But you’re supposed to be dead!”
Boa laughs at the situation.
Later, they’re all inside to the room that Lucille came out of. Lucille, Boa, and Elana are sitting at a table that is very low to the ground. The girls are siting on large, soft cushions. The room is filled with pillows, and the walls are decorated with carpets, statues, and pictures of dragons. Baid is studying the pictures. Another door opens up and an old woman enters the room. “Boa, it’s really you.”
Gleefully, Boa jumps up an runs over to the old woman an gives her a big hug. “Marge! It’s been such a long time.”
Sitting down again, Boa and Marge catch up on past events. Lucille has gone into the other room. “I can’t believe I’m seeing you again. After you died, I was so upset. And now here you are. I suppose this means that you have become a Bodhisattva, just as you said you would.”
“I sure did!,” boasts Boa. “I’m helping Princess Elana with her dragon problem now.”
“A noble quest for such a wise person as yourself, my old friend. Although I suppose you’re actually young again now,” she laughs. Then they both laugh.
Baid and Elana are sitting next to each other, away from the conversation currently in progress. “It’s weird seeing her talk about the past with the old woman, isn’t it Baid?,” asks Elana. Something is said that causes Marge and Boa to break out in laughter again.
“It is a bit strange, yes,” Baid agrees.
Their talk continues. “That kid is new around here,” says Boa.
“Well, you have been gone for an awful long time. He’s my grandson. And does he have a knack for cooking.”
“Um,” Elana says trying to become a part of the conversation. “So, how do the two of you know one another?”
“We met when I was just a little girl,” Marge answers. “Believe it or not, Boa here was actually the older of the two of us. By a good ten years, even.”
“Boa is older than you?”
“That’s right. Back then, she was just starting out at the temple a few mile from here. I ran into her as I was traveling to the next town over. My mother and I ran this inn as a restaurant and I would buy some of our supplies from there and carry them all back in our cart. Boa was collapsed on the road. She was starving and looked inches from death. I gave her my food and just like that she was okay. She called my food a magical elixir. She thanked me and told me she was headed back to the temple. And she began to walk. But the temple was miles from where we were.”
“You were going to walk?,” Jain said shocked. “Why didn’t you ask for a ride?”
“Well, that is our way,” Boa answers. “We can only eat in the temple. Outside of the temple we did not help ourselves to any luxuries like food, water, or a place to rest unless it was offered to us. It was one of many practices on the path to enlightenment.”
“Sounds kind of dumb,” Jain says quietly. Elana jabs her in the side of the head with her finger.
“I have a question of my own if you don’t mind my asking,” Baid injects. Everyone looks at him. “The name of this building. How did you come up with it?”
“My mother and I once had a dragon as a pet. He was a cute little guy. Unfortunately he wasn’t little for long. Soon he got too big for this place and ended up leaving. We named him Naigon, and when he left us we wanted to remember him always, so we renamed our restaurant after him.” She pauses. “Why do you ask?”
“I know Niagon,” he says. Everyone is shocked. Baid unsheathes his blade. “Naigon was the first dragon I’ve ever met.” He points the blade into the air. “And this sword…” He smiles.
Elana interrupts with a shout. “You didn’t!”
Everyone looks at Elana. “Could it really be?” Boa says after a little while.
They all look at Baid. The environment of the room suddenly turns into a mix of disgust and sadness. She doesn’t know why but Marge can’t seem to help but produce tears at what Baid is saying. The room glares down on Baid, who doesn’t know why the mood of the room seems to have changed. “What are you guys staring at me for?” he says cautiously.
“Oh Baid,” Elana cries. “Did you actually slay poor little Naigon?”
“Slay!?” Baid yells. “Why would I slay him? Naigon’s my friend!”
“Friend!?” everyone yells in unison.
“Naigon was the first dragon I’ve ever met. As a token or our meeting, he gave me this blade. It was created from his own scales.” Everyone seems to feel relieved. “You all thought I slew Naigon? Unbelievable.”
“We’re sorry, Baid,” Elana apologizes.
“I’m not,” admitted Jain. “He is a dragon slayer after all.” She get’s poked in the head again.
“Dragon slayer,” Marge questioned. “Could you really be, Baid: The Dragon Slayer?” Baid nods. She smiles, “I always thought you’d be taller.” There is a pause. Then everyone starts to laugh. As they are laughing, Lucille and her son walk in with a feast for everyone.
Zelknok, who’s been quiet all this time as to not disturb his friends conversation with her only friend from her past, and to not fall into yet another fight with Jain, finally decides to say something when he sees the food. “Alright!” he shouts. “Look at all that food! I’m not sure there will be enough room on the table for everyone else’s meals though!” he jokes.
“Pig,” Jain scowls.
“Darn it, Jain!” Zelknok cries out.
After the meal everyone heads for bed. The room is dark, except for the bright moonlight entering the two windows. Baid and Elana are sound asleep. Jain lays awake in Elana’s bed. She looks over to the window and sees that Zelknok is sitting on the window sill. Then she checks Boa’s bed and sees that it’s empty. She get’s out of bed and flies over to the window sill. “What do you want?” Zelknok scowled.
“Why aren’t you asleep?” Jain asked expressionless.
“It was your eerie glow that kept me awake.”
“Very funny.” Jain looks outside, Boa is out there sitting in the back yard on top of a shed. She’s sitting up and watching the stars. Outside in the middle of the night everything can be seen quite clearly. With the bright moon and ocean of stars shining down on the land, you can see for miles, as if illuminated by a dark sun.
“So, you’re already out here.” a voice says. Boa turns around and sees Marge coming outside. She waves.
“Marge! Hello!,” Boa greets. “What are you doing up so late?”
“I could say the same thing to you,” she laughs. “You are a child again. You must be really sleepy.”
“Oh yeah? But you’re older now. You must be tired after we talked for so long.” she said jokingly. The two of them begin to laugh. Then they are silent for a moment. “I was watching the stars.” she says looking up to the sky again.
“I see. I usually come out here and watch them myself. There certainly are a lot of them tonight.” She pauses. “It’s nice to have company for a change.” Boa nods and agrees. They are silent for a long time, just watching. “For years after your death, I would look up to these stars and wonder. Wonder if you really were reborn. If you were reborn, would I be able to find you.” Boa looks down from the shed at Marge. “Somehow, it looks like there are more stars out tonight than ever before.”
“They’re celebrating our meeting again!” exclaims Boa. Suddenly, Marge coughs. And the cough sounds painful. Boa gasps at the sound of it.
“I’m really happy for you, Boa. And I’m so glad I was able to talk to you again.”
Boa’s expression changes to a sad one masked with happiness. “I-I feel the same way.”
“Could I ask you something, Boa?” Marge asks after a small pause.
“Of course Marge, anything you want.”
“It won’t hurt, will it?”
Boa gasps at the shock of the question. “N-no… You’ll be just fine, Marge.” again they are silent. Marge breaks the silence with another cough. Boa hears it and shuts her eyes tight. The coughing turns into laughter. Boa quickly opens her eyes and looks toward her friend. “Marge?” she says filled with concern.
“It looks like I’ll have to wait for you one last time.” Boa stares at Marge with astonishment. After a little while Boa begins to giggle. Marge joins her. And soon enough, the two of them are laughing together once again. As they laugh Boa lets a tear roll down the side of her face. For a moment they calm down, but then start laughing again, then quickly laugh quieter when they remember how late it is.
“I wonder what they’re talking about down there.” Zelknok wonders aloud.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Jain replies. Even thought she knew Zelknok wasn’t actually talking to her. “I would imagine it was a private conversation. You should respect that.” She turns around with her back on the window. “Come on, you should get some sleep. You can talk to her all you want in the morning.”She starts to walk away.
“That’s not it.” Zelknok states. Jain stops and looks back toward him. “Seeing the two of them down there,” he admits. “Reminds me of myself.” Jain walks over to him and sits down next to him. “In Boa’s past life, she had only one friend. That friend was Marge. Boa told me that in the religion she followed, she would have no need for social contact of any kind. Apparently, it would distract her from the path to enlightenment. But somehow, the two of them still became friends and Boa still reached enlightenment and became a Bodhisattva.”
“And this reminds you of yourself how?” Jain questioned.
“Throughout her entire life she had only one friend. And it’s the same with me.”
“I’m sure you’re just exaggerating.”
“Believe it or not, but not all demons are all powerful and evil beings.”
“Oh, I believe it.” Jain joked. Zelknok glares at her. Then he continues with his story wondering why he is about to tell her something so private.
“I was born into a group of demons far in the north. But unlike all of them, I was tiny and much weaker. Because of that, I was ridiculed and bullied. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stop with that. My family was known as the strongest demons in the north. They owned the land around the mountains up there. But with me in the family, as weak as I was, they told me that I was a disgrace and I was bringing shame to all of them. Instead of just kicking me out or something, they decided to get rid of me. That way no one would ever find out that such a weak demon came from them. I ran as far as I could but there was no way I could ever escape them with my tiny size. The only way I made it off of the mountain was because they were toying with me. They were enjoying the torture they were putting me through.” Jain gets a look of disgust. “When they were done playing, they prepared to end it. But Boa, she showed up out of nowhere an saved me.”
“She saved you?” doubted Jain. “How did she do that?”
“It was her eye.”
“He eyes?
“No, eye.” corrected Zelknok. “She has an eye that you haven’t seen yet. But it’s there, in plain sight. On her forehead.”
“That mark on her head is an eye?” she said perplexed.
“Yeah, just before those demons got me, there was a bright flash of light and I heard horrible screams coming from my family. I mean, my pursuers. When it was all over, there was a five-year-old girl standing in their place, asking me if I was alright. We’ve been friends ever since. She’s the only friend I’ve ever had.”
“Are you kidding me? How could she have been so powerful?”
“I know she seems like a goofball. But she’s really mature and loyal. Her powers must come from her past life, and must be amplified by her rebirth. There’s no doubt that it was Boa who caused the castle to explode this afternoon.”
Jain stares out the window blankly as if she’s meditating on what Zelknok told her. As she sits there she adjusts herself so that her knees are by her chin. Zelknok looks at her and sighs, then looks out the window. Jain stands up and stretches her limbs and wings and turns around. Zelknok keeps looking forward, almost angrily. Jain lifts her foot to take a step and stops. Then puts her foot back down to it’s original position. “Thank you.”
“For what?” asked Zelknok.
“For sharing your story with me. You didn’t have to you know.”
“I figured as much.” he says emotionless.
Jain inhales as if she was going to say something, but doesn’t. She walks to the edge of the window sill. Zelknok sighs again. “She’s not your only friend you know.” Jain says as she walks back. Zelknok turns to look at her. Jain places her hand on his shoulder. “You have me.” She pauses and changes her face as she realizes what she said. “A-and Princess Elana and Baid too, of course!” she says flustered. Zelknok stands up to face her. As she calms down she smiles and turns around. “Now for the last time, get some sleep!” She fly back to her comfortable spot next to the princess. Zelknok smirks. He takes a step and looks back out the window at Boa and Marge. He smiles and heads to bed.
The following morning, Boa enters the room where they had their feast yawning and teary-eyed from not enough sleep. As she squints she can make out Baid, Elana, Jain and Zelknok eating breakfast. “Well, good morning, sleepyhead.” greets Elana. Boa responds with a long yawn. Marge enters the room with a letter.
“Princess Elana, this letter just arrived for you.”
Marge hands Elana the letter. As she reads it, everyone but Boa is staring at her with the utmost concentration. As she reads further and further she hides her face behind the parchment. Everyone else stares on. When she’s done, she suddenly twitches. In response, the others jump. Elana’s hands begin to shake. “What’s the matter Princess?” Jain asks.
“Th-this… l-l-letter,”she starts. Everyone focuses on her words. “We know how many dragon spirits are left…” she says in a shaky tone.
There is a long pause. “Are you gong to tell us?” Baid asks.
“Yeah out with it princess!” adds Zelknok.
Elana pulls the paper down from her face and looks at everyone with a terrified look. “There are over one hundred and twenty-seven spirits left!”
“WHAT!?” Jain and Zelknok scream!
“What’s more,” Elana continues. “Is that no one seems to know where they could be. They could be absolutely anywhere!”
“Well, I guess this is going to take some time.” Baid declares. As Jain starts to complain about all of the dragon spirits they need to find and Zelknok argues with what she says and Elana stays in her state of shock, Boa collapses and fall asleep.
And so, Baid and the others set out to find the next spirit, which will end up being their third one. And for what seemed like an eternity, they searched the world for the one hundred and twenty-seven remaining Dragon Spirits.
©Angel Lewis 2008 span
