Dragon Fruit

There weren’t always dragons in the valley, but as long as there are, no one is safe. Though magic was possessed, and openly wielded by many throughout all the lands, one sorcerer’s magic excelled far beyond the rest. Once set on helping the world, this sorcerer has now become set on merely ruling it-” …for the world’s own good”. This master-level sorcerer was deemed through trial and fire, and was further-so named, Dragamear, or “master of the dragon’s fire”. Dragamear possessed a power that seemed unmatched; unleashing spells of such ferocity and focus that he decimated almost any force that stood against him. Those that weren’t destroyed, became slaves to his will.

Power hungry, Dragamear now seeks to expands his dominance from the frosty mountain peaks of a dormant volcano where he’s lived-in near seclusion for years. Driven to the brink of madness by the betrayal of his closest friend, he used his time alone to gather his thoughts and grow his magic into an unstoppable force. A premonition Dragamear conjured revealed the use of a an unyielding power that existed in one of the villages below, motivating him to descend from his snowy seclusion. Now completely consumed with this quest, Dragamear has begun amassing forces, tearing through one settlement to the next in search.

Since the search began, Dragamear’s forces have grown significantly. As he has made his way from one village to the next, enslaving the strongest survivors, continuously leaving a wake of destruction behind. While each town is initially searched for enchanted items when Dragamear’s forces arrive, he always leaves behind a small group of his elite warriors that he refers to as his “pet dragons” to continue the search in case anything was missed. These dragons can now be found all the way up and down the coastlines of the Sea of Argus, and have recently made their way all the way into the Valley of Light. Moving with a singular focus…the acquisition of magical items to enhance Dragamear’s powers. A conquest that could possibly be making Dragamear invincible in the very near future.

One item in particular that continues to elude Dragamear and his dragons is the item Dragamear had a premonition about,rumored to have the ability to actually wield an old and unlimited power, eclipsing any power that could be obtained any combination of items a currently being searched for. Rumored to have been cast away and lost by its wieldier as they were driven mad by its power. However, no one is known to have witnessed this power, so this item has become all but lost to legend.

You could always tell a Dragon when you were near one, which is coincidently one of the most dangerous places to be. The smell of leather and the subtle combination of sweat, char, and ash constantly lingered around them. Dragons were usually large, cloaked, quiet, and extremely dangerous. No matter what school of magic they originally utilized, they were all retrained in the sacred art of the dragon. Offensively, the most dangerous weapon they wield, are fire amulets able to pierce the hearts of anyone they lay their eyes upon. Their cloaks posses a defensive response that responds a number of different ways to protect the dragon, even intuitively solidify as armor when the dragon may be threatened with danger. The dragons are not only large, but also possess the heightened agility. Dragons are agreed to be an apex predator and defender.

While surveying for artifacts, a rumor about a jewel in the Valley of Light was often the subject of late night pub tales. The tale speaks about a jewel that is supposed to carry extremely powerful magic. It seemed as though this may be what Dragamear had been truly set on recovering from the beginning. Since overhearing the tale, there have been more of his dragons into the valley than usual. Though they’ve all been searching for some time without finding anything, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be leaving anytime soon on their own. A pretense that could be felt on the wind, the pressure on the citizens of the valley continued to built under the surface, seeming to affect the weather itself.

Just outside of town, Jasmine, one of a humble family of mages, grew up in this grove with her younger sister Lily, and their youngest brother Lotus. Peas in a pod only began to explain the relationship of these three. Their house was a two-story treehouse that connected to a large oak tree. A nestle of mushrooms lay just outside the oak tree house where the family, mainly the three children, often used it as an area to practice their magic, or just to hangout in. They would sit at the smaller mushrooms, while letting the larger ones provide shade for them. It was in this small haven right outside of town, they all usually had just about everything they needed, but every now and again, they desired something special.

“Commmme on Jas, I have got to get some of that joola-joon juice, plus we’re totally out of thrice spun bone twine needles. “ Lily could be overheard harassing her sister Jasmine to escort them to the town center.

“We have chores to do, plus it hasn’t been the same since the dragons set up camp in the valley.” Jasmine shrugged with her response.

“We always have chores to do, and it hasn’t been bad in town in a while.” Lily exclaimed as she continued to press her point.

“Yeah, plus we can just finish them when we come back.” Lotus added as skillfully as his negotiating skills would allow him.

Jasmine took a moment to think, then motioned to the other two in agreement. Jasmine decided while everyone else in the family was on different missions within the fields and forests that surrounded their home, they could make a short trip into town, and be back before they were missed. The three siblings all went to gather their stuff, and head toward town in the valley center.

“I can’t wait to get there! I haven’t had tasted joola-joon juice in forever.” exclaimed Lily.

“Yeah, me either. Especially the frozen kind.” Lotus energetically added.

“Stop being dramatic, we just had some at the beginning of the hot season.” Jessica replied.

“Like I said, for-ev-er.” Lily replied with a joking and slightly sarcastic tone.

Lily and Lotus burst into a small playful laughter, while Jasmine simply shook her head and smiled. As the three of them made their way into town, Jasmine thought to herself that some cool joola-joon juice did sound refreshing on this warm day. The joola-joon is an interesting fruit that doesn’t grow in the Valley of Light. Traveling merchants bring in the fruit to trade with the local merchants. The outer layer of the fruit has a somewhat frightening casing. The fruit’s shell boasts the appearance of a terrifying, or a terror-stricken facial expression frozen into the shell of the fruit. The inside was completely different, inviting and intoxicating; when you bit into the center, the meaty crush through the inner fibers of the fruit burst out the most refreshing juice, boasting a combination of sweet and tangy flavors, with a mild citrusy finish. There used to be only a small amount and rarely seen, but recently, there seems to be an abundance of them.

The trio continued their journey determined to complete their mission while doing their best to avoid the scary portions, be it dragons or fruit.

Though the young trio didn’t live far from town, but it was still a bit of a walk between the two places. Their family was friendly but didn’t always see eye to eye with the town members. Since the family wasn’t willing to sacrifice some of its core elements for progress the way the town was, it created a bit of a rift. So as to minimize conflict the family mostly stayed to themselves. As the walk carried on, the playful chatter and movements turn into determined marches in the hot sun that laid down heavy overhead on them now.

So excited to have arrived at town, they made their way straight to the fruit stand that was guaranteed to have joola-joon juice to quench their thirst. Darting right past two dragons at the edge of town, all three made their way to a small line beside the fruit stand. As they watched each person ahead of them in line sipping from the cool cup of juice them, the trio became more and more eager to get their own to enjoy.

The shade provided by the clay buildings of the town started to fade as the sun made its way over the top of them. They watched the various earth color tones begin to illuminate as they reflected the sun off of their weathered colors. In their excitement they didn’t notice that they had also began to glow. Where the unusual accents the three siblings had when the chattered back and forth captured the attention of the townspeople. Since the trio spent most of their time with their family, their accents were different than those in town, possessing curious accents to words, sometimes making it sound like they were speaking another language entirely. The glow they were emitting, however, did attract the attention of the two dragons they ran past when they first entered town.

The dragons went to investigate, intrigued as to who would be so bold as to charge up their magic so close to space occupied by dragons. The closer the three young mages came to getting their juice, the more intense they glowed. The people that stood behind them noticed, but thought it was an illusion from the sun that recently started to shine on everyone unobstructed. No sooner did they receive their juice, did the dragons that came to investigate, appeared in front of them. Stunned as they simultaneously looked up at the dragons, joola-joon juice they drank slowly began to run down the sides of their mouths, as their shocked faces were barely hidden by the juice cups.

“Run!!!” Jasmine yelled as she took off. Lily and Lotus ran as close behind as they could, as they all ducked and dodged through and around the nearby buildings trying to avoid the dragons that pursed them. Jasmine thought as quickly as she could, shooting a spark from her fingers high into the sky to signal for help. Looking back as they ran away, all three of them crashed into someone as they raced around a corner at full speed. The impact launched the drinks out of the cups in their hands, and directly into the face of Dragamear.

“Ah, I see you’re a fan of the joola-joon. As am I. Do you know where the joola-joon comes from? No? Well allow me to educate you. The joola-joon doesn’t just grow in certain places, it also requires a specific element. The tree where the fruit grows must have the blood of those that were brutally murdered. In the wild, these fruits look like decapitated heads hung from a tree. The name joola-joon is from the first place where they were popular. The terrifying presentation earned it the name “joola-joon”, or “boogey man”. Essentially the tree absorbs this energy and transforms it into something sweet, refreshing, and nurturing…just as it is my intent with this retched world. I like to plant one in every town I visit as sweet reminder what I plan to accomplish. Now tell me why I shouldn’t plant a brand new joola-joon tree in this very spot.” Dragamear exclaimed with a soft sinister voice

Now absolutely petrified with fear, the three young mages huddled their bodies together over shielding themselves and preparing to be harmed, when suddenly their family began to appear through different forms all around them. One folding out of a sheet nearby that was hanging to dry. Another, from a wind seeming to blow a small dust cloud, and another from a pot of water that tipped over. In a refraction of light that glistened light in one direction, then in a blink was replaced with her body. Without a moment of hesitation, their mom hurled a spell the attackers-“Singarca!!!’, freezing time around them. The three young mages ran under the effects of the spell towards their family. While the effects of this powerful spell took complete hold over the dragons, Dragamear seemed to have only been momentarily stunned by its effect.

As Dragamear surveyed the magic that unraveled around him, he could feel the surge of power from each one and it encapsulated his interest in this group of mages. Realizing that the power that he had been searching through the various lands to find, was in-fact here in the Valley of Light. As Dragamear broke free from the spell, he summoned the remainder of his dragons to the valley to retrieve this power source. The family’s last vision they witnessed vanishing to safety, were dozens of dragons descending into the valley.

“What are we going to do?” Jasmine exclaimed out of breath, but full of fear.

“What were you doing there? Her mother asked with a worried tone, while the rest of the family stood behind anxiously observing.

“Lily and Lotus just had to get that stupid joola-joon juice. And I thought that the day did feel perfect for it. I never thought Dragamear himself would be there.” Jasmine replied with a regretful tone. At the same time she looked over at Lily and Lotus who were sad and scared, standing in a corner with slightly torn clothes and crushed cups still clasped tightly in their hands.

“I saw from the look in his eyes, that he knows that we possess the power source he’s searching for. Theres not enough time to mask us, and the three of you have become too powerful to hide your power in the open, and it will only grow as time passes. It will take It won’t be long now to train you here. We all need to gather our things and go as quickly as possible. Now that Dragamear knows who you are, who we are, were not safe.” Jakobees, the trios uncle, stated as he continued to help workout a plan for their survival.

Knowing it was just a matter of time before Dragamear forces found their homestead. The gathered what they could, collapsed their home into the earth, and retreated into the nearby tree line to find a new safe haven. It had been sometime since anyone had seen anyone from that family. One day an old couple was making their way down the road with a basket of flowers and came across a pair of dragons near one of the new groves of joola-joon trees. It just so happened these particular dragons were the same pair that the first witnessed the trio of mages. Since then, these two particular dragons have become cruel.

One knocked the basket to the ground without hesitating. The other immediately started to interrogate the couple. Frozen by fear, neither one of them could answer. As they reached for their amulets, a wind blew and a smoke-like mist engulfed one of the dragons, when the mist blew away it revealed that he had been turned to stone. The other dragon unsure what just happened, and was even more unsure as what he should do. As he turned to run, his amulet ignited on its own, disintegrating them with from existence with their own intense fire. Only a large statue of ash in the shape of the recently incinerated dragon remained, and began to blow away, much like dandelion being blow into the wind.

The old couple, still crouched with their eyes closed, hear a soft voice say, “Are you ok?” They opened their eyes to see three young adults standing over them.

“Yes, I think so. That was terrifying. It seems like the more restless Dragamear becomes, the more dangerous the dragons are.” The couple took turns replying.

Jasmine looks into each one of their eyes, breathes deep, then proclaims while looking back at her two siblings; “There weren’t always dragons in the valley, but as long as they are, no one is safe. We’ve been on the run since that crazy day, but today we start to fight back…