Path of the Invincible Dragon

Part 1: Dream Reality

Chapter 1: Dream Reality

The dark night pervaded the land with the sound of insects such as crickets providing a disturbing accompanying melody. In this particularly dull night, something that had happened several other times repeated once again in the Great Zika world; a nightmare or maybe a memory.

The massive Purple Mist moon hang in the sky seeming as if a stretch of the hand could touch it. The moon shone with a bright violet light in this remote region surrounded by a huge black mountains. Its charming and vigorous splendor which could only be described as demonic, shone on the village that existed in these valleys; a village that was neither small nor large; a village that was simply referred to as "the village bathed in the sun", the Jua village.

In a small hut in the village, a boy of about nine years old was deep asleep while heavily perspiring. His eyebrows fluttered violently and his hands balled into fists so hard that his nails dug into his skin. The small room he was sleeping in had one other occupant who was looking at him worriedly. This was a little girl of about six years old. These two siblings were Mwana Jua and his little sister Pendo Jua, both with poetic names meaning "Son of the Sun" and "Love of the Sun".

During this night, Mwana found himself in an all too familiar place, a void that seemed endless. It looked empty yet filled with matter with large meteors and asteroids occasionally shuttling about.

Before he could find his bearing, Mwana was pulled deeper into the void to a place where the stars could not be seen. However, what appeared in front of him shocked him to the core. A massive planet! Its size and aura overwhelmed his senses so much that he felt his mind on the verge of collapsing. He was rotating around this planet like a moon at speeds he could not even fathom but what shocked him even more was that this colossal planet was damaged.

On one part of this planet was a massive gush that went deep to the core. A third of the planet was shattered and revolved around it like an asteroid belt. Magma gushed out of the planet's core like blood from a massive wound. What was even more surprising was the shape of this planet's wound which looked like a massive claw. It was as if someone clawed into the planet and took a chunk out of it like a child clawing into mud.

"What is this? What is this world? Am I dreaming again?"

Mwana could not fathom what he was witnessing but having experienced similar dreams before, he had an inkling that this was a dream of epic proportions.

"I should wake up! I want to wake up! Wake up!."

However, no matter how he tried, he couldn't wake up from this dream despite knowing it was one. The coldness of space had already frozen him to the bone and as he watched the planet's gushing magma, he wished to dive in and warm his body.

In an instant, he already forgot that this was a dream. He willed himself and dove from space into the planet like a comet approaching the earth at incredible speeds. In a measure of an instant, he had already plunged deep into the magma. He went from the freezing coldness of space to hotness of unimaginable proportions. He was no longer in control of his body at this point.

"Gurgle gurgle"

"Dum Dum Dum Dum"

The lava bubbled endlessly like a beast drinking its feel. The sound that reached Mwana as he sank deeper was that of a heartbeat from deep in the earth. It was loud like hoof beats in the midst of war. It radiated endless might and vigor but also endless sorrow, despair, and freezing hatred. All these complexities were perfectly melded in the sound of this heartbeat. They consumed and compelled Mwana's own heartbeat. He felt like his heart was about to explode.