The Tale of a Hybrid and a Siren (old version)

Chapter 12: A Family Dinner

The hours went rolling by as Vaeludar walked outside the house. He floated to the roof of the house and stared at the village. It was quite a distance from the house, and it could take up to ten minutes to travel by horseback. Or be longer with the family of warriors and to dress in their armor.

He was the only person of the family who had no need for armor and his red, sun burnt skin was his armor. No need for rusty metal or stiff weapons. He had red-scaled hands, claws on his feet, a tail to whip, and wings for flight. His dragon traits were weapons he needed. No to mention fire he breathed from his mouth.

All thanks to his father being a dragon. Ralenskrit was his name, and it was a famous name for a dragon in times of old. Considered to be at least three hundred years old, Ralenskrit lived through many hardships and trials of his life. Coming across threats no humans couldn't resist because of such impossible odds.

Vaeludar didn't know the exact details his father did to help humanity, so he assumed many deeds were done in the three hundred years Ralenskrit has been with humanity. He could only think of the most recent deed Geraldus mentioned to Vaeludar when he was eight years old: a disease.

Twenty years ago, there was a plague among humanity. Ninety percent infected. Extinction was upon humanity. Only ten percent of humans were not affected by the mysterious, unknown plague, and those humans were magicians. People skilled in the arts of magic, including his mother.

Belverda was a witch skilled in magic. Her along with hundreds of thousands of magicians tried to solve at a quick rate the disease was spreading, but they had a limited time as the plague would travel faster than a cheetah on a savanna. The plague spread quickly and killed quickly as well. Once infected, a month was left for the infected human.

Time was short and merely weeks to a month before the entire human population died. Then suddenly, Ralenskrit tells the magicians about how to cure the plague with the cure being an unknown source.

As quickly as the plague came, it quickly ended. It was a curious thing how a plague was suddenly a worrisome thing for a month or shorter, but it was cured quicker by the brain of a beast. It was thought Ralenskrit was the one who made the plague, and the one who thought of the cure.

However, Ralenskrit was drawn to another conflict. Some civil war occured in the far Northern Region with some five animal-named clans fighting over territory. Even those clans were infected with the plague, which drew Ralenskrit to the southern territories as he felt what the plague was and knew instantly how to treat it.

Since then, it was considered that by the heroic efforts of a fire-breathing lizard humanity was saved. Ralenskrit was considered a hero to them, and Belverda was gained with recognition as well. She was just considered an average foot soldier serving under a military commander, but she rose to fame for healing the most of humans than any other magician.

Then their reputation changed when a child was born to them, and that child was Vaeludar. They did not announce him to the world or did not hold any ceremony to spread the news. He was left at the doorstep of Geraldus' household, and it was then when he was two years old when he stepped out of the house.

This shocked the village when Geraldus told the villagers for several days Belverda and Ralenskrit had a child. He didn't give any more specific details, but he only told the news of Vaeludar that spread like wildfire.

Within the year, news of the child was well known, but the heroics of Belverda and Ralenskrit were tarnished. Their heroic deeds soon forgotten and tossed aside and thought of a strange couple who bore themselves a son. They went from heroes to being "I don't know what kind of people they are" unknowns.