Destyn D

“Hi, how can I help you today?” I asked a customer.

“I would like to buy that samurai helmet please,” the customer requested as he pointed to the shelf.

“That will be $28,” I explained.

“Thank you,” he said firmly.

“Have a great evening!” I replied happily.

After the customer disappeared, I spotted an old man with a long white beard that extended to the floor. He was struggling to hold a walking stick which was made of green bamboo. He was dressed in a white costume with a black rope like belt that was tied around his waist.

“Can I talk to you for a moment outside please?”

“Yes s..sure. W-w..why d-do you need me outside?” I stuttered anxiously as I made my way outside.

“I have an important mission for you. I have taken notice of your character and how you act, how you react to things and how your emotions are affected. You are the most stressful person in your family. The fire burns inside you when you fail and once it does, you stand up again, never give up and you keep trying until you accomplish it. You must learn to keep calm. You are to stop my enemy, my brother, Lord Armageddon who is on his way to steal the gem of the forest and we need to arrive before he does. So it's time we get to work, let’s train!” he demanded.

He was just a regular man, I had no idea who this guy was, but he had described my exact character in a fantasy dream that I once dreamt of! How could he see my dreams? Is this real, are my dreams about to come true? This can’t be true... There is no magic in this realm! Could there be?

Like he said, I was the chosen one to defeat Lord Armageddon, the fire burns inside me. Only I have a chance of defeating him. I’ve always dreamt of becoming a heroic legend because I needed a change to my ordinary life. I was curious of what might happen after I save the forest. Will I be famous and be known for what I’ve done? I’ll take a shot, I have nothing to lose, so I decided to take on this mission and the journey began.

“Aaargh! Why do you have to push me so hard!” I yelled in frustration whilst climbing a mountain. “I don’t even know your name. What is your name old man,” I asked sarcastically

“Call me Justin, what’s yours?” He responded firmly as he casually walked up the stairs of the mountain.

“My name is Gregory. Greg for short,” I answered. Once I reached the top of the rocky mountain, I collapsed on to the floor in relief, breathlessly watching Justin sipping a cup of tea at the top of the mountain. ‍‍‍‍‍I got back to my feet and in amazement, I saw a training obstacle with planks, human dummies, swords, axes, a large spiked wrecking ball and spinning vertical logs which had bits of wood sticking out horizontally.

“Now, you have to complete this obstacle before I finish drinking my tea,” Justin demanded. He dropped 2 sugars into his tea and gulped it down his throat. “Today you failed, tomorrow you will try again,” he said.

“What? I didn’t even start yet and you didn’t tell me to!” I shouted furiously with a frowny face, as he shut the door.

I practised every day. Every day I was getting eager to complete the course, stumbling over planks, getting hit dummies, falling off logs and getting smacked in the head with a spiked wrecking ball. Every day Justin would say, ‘fail!’ Until one day I finally beat him drinking his tea. “You are now ready for this journey kid. Tomorrow we will fly to the gem of the forest,” he explained.

“Fly on a plane?” I uttered, puzzledly

“Aaaargh! Get me off this thing!” I yelled with fright.

“It’s not a thing, it is a highly trained dragon that can breath fire and has a red scaly body with bulging furious eyes,” Justin explained.

“That's even freakier!” I shouted, panicking in fear.

As we got closer to the gem’s location, I was astonished to see a foreign land with floating islands, full of colourful leaves, with high mountains and steep valleys that could be seen from great distances. While I smelt dusty air and the scent of roses which made me sneeze, the air got hotter and made my body stiff, my throat became dry as I took a deep breath of the warm air. I felt the boiling sun against neck which burnt my skin and my sweat filled my palms with clear fluid. Trickles of sweat rolled down my face as the warm breeze whooshed past my body. Stampedes of animals stomped through the deserted land and through the forest with the wind whining and whistling, racing with the stampede.

I heard a thump and wing beats slowing down. I leaped off the dragon and kissed the ground several times. “We’re finally on land!” I exclaimed with joy. When I looked up, I saw a bright shining light that looked like a fine polished green jewel. Before I got to my feet, I saw a human like horrific monster wearing shabby trousers and a T-shirt with torn sleeves. It was bold and had a ghastly grey face, it had two scars across his beady black eyes and had a flat gruesome nose with dark nostrils.

“Stop! You don’t have to do this brother!” yelled Justin.

“I’m not listening to a single word that comes out from your mouth!” Boomed Lord Armageddon, as loud as thunder. “I will take the gem for the power to gain immortal life and men will bow down to me and obey my commands!” he roared.

“Take the selfishness out of your mind!” Justin demanded.

“Stop that nonsense!” Lord Armageddon shouted, as he took hold of the gem.

All of a sudden, a storm started, lightning struck and slashed through the stygian black sky. Thunder erupted through the atmosphere and shook the ground. “See, I am unstoppable and almighty with all the power I have and will gain! You will not be able to defeat me, especially when I am in reach of the gem and it is right at my sight!” Lord Armageddon roared again.

The fight began under the dark sky. The atmosphere was very dense and thick, rain poured down from the grey clouds in the dark sky. I leaped into the air and wrapped my arms around his neck so I could hold him back. “Justin! Take the gem out of his hand!” I yelled.

Lord Armageddon threw me off his shoulders. I drifted through the air swiftly, descended to the ground and hit the floor hard head first.The fire was burning inside me! Dizzily, I got back to my feet and shoved him hard on the chest. He threw a punch at my head and I ducked, then elbowed him in the stomach. He fell back and tripped over Justin’s walking stick and dropped the gem. As Justin held his walking stick in front of Lord Armageddon with the tip of the stick above his nose, he uttered some mysterious words under his breath, facing the gem.

When he finished uttering, the storm grew, lightning slashed through the sky larger than before. The thunder grew louder, then suddenly, a tree collapsed. The tree was above me, around 50 yards away and it was about to land on me. Justin sprung in front of me and nudged me out of the way. The tree landed just a couple of inches from us. Just as I got up, I caught a glimpse of Lord Armageddon grabbing the gem. How could I stop him now? I thought in panic.

Then, I remembered about the dragon. I was afraid of it, so maybe Lord Armageddon would be frightened too! Yes, that was a great idea. I whistled as loud as I could and out of nowhere, the dragon dived right on top of Lord Armageddon and the gem fell to the floor.

I quickly snatched the gem and placed it back in the middle of the surrounding maze of lustre green trees where it belongs. “Ok!” Lord Armageddon surrendered, shivering with fear. “I will not take the gem, but just get this dragon off me!”

“There is no need to take the gem, it will not give you immortal life. It only works for the forest and the forest is immortal by nature, not the gem. You don’t need to be powerful for friends and family to like and follow you. Just be kind and generous and you will achieve the same results.” I explained.“Your family is waiting for your return. Look, your brother is here for you, family and friendship is the greatest power of all!” I went on. “If you share your wealth with the world, men will obey you, respect and follow you.

“I understand that I shouldn’t be taking the gem, the forest needs the gem’s strength and protection to live on.” Lord Armageddon apologised.

When Lord Armageddon finished speaking, a bright light shone upon him as he rose above the floor with his eyes closed and his body changed, as well as his face and he looked more like a standard human.

All three of us returned home on the dragon and Lord Armageddon’s family was surprised and especially happy that he changed and came back to their lives. I came back home feeling accomplished and stronger than ever. People will always remember that I saved the forest. I am the legend of the Immortal Forest!