The Legend of Sam

Jump. Jump. Sit. Sit. Ribbit. Ribbit. Jump. Jump. Repeat. A toddler wandered through the woods chasing a frog. The length of the chase was unknown. Just started suddenly. But the toddler was having the time of their life. They kept on jumping along with the frog. Focused on being one with the frog. The toddler continued doing everything the frog did, until the frog splashed into the river and disappeared under the water.

Looking around the toddler had no idea where they were. A lush green forest had appeared out of nowhere. Trees that reached up to the skies were thicker than two of the toddlers stacked on top of each other. There was the river of crystal-clear water that seemed to run in both directions forever. How did they end up here?

The sun was shining a radiant blue light on the child. The toddler stood up and started to walk in the direction from where they came, forgetting about the frog that they once chased. The slight breeze felt cool on their skin. The ground slightly giving way under each step. The ground gave them a slight bounce to each step. The red grass would tickle their legs as they walked forward. A tiny brown and slimy creature stepped in their way. Its body was long and skinny with a long tail. It starred at the toddler in wonderment. Soon it too disappeared into the forest.

A large gust of wind suddenly threw the toddler to the ground. They rolled a few times before landing in a thick patch of tall auburn grass. The soft ground cushioning their fall. Seemingly unhurt, the toddler sat up. The height of the grass made them barely able to see over it. A large shadowy figure had appeared in front of them.

A massive being of darkness had its hand wrapped around one of the trees. The beings' shadowy claws looked sharp and deadly. Giant wings of shadow were spread out wide showing the creatures full might. The blue light from the sun shone through the wings creating a mist that swirled throughout. The toddler stretched their arms out to mirror the dragon.

This dragon of darkness released its grasp on the tree and placed their massive foot onto the ground. The dragons’ feet left scars of darkness on the tree and the ground upon which it stood. The dragon took a step forward. The weight of the footstep shook the earth under the toddler. To mimic the dragon, the toddler took a giant step and slammed it on the ground as hard as they could. The tiny footstep barely making a noise was nothing compared to the might of the dragon.

The dragons head whipped around to face the toddler. Upon seeing the unknown creature, the dragon opened a monstrous mouth, also made of shadows. At the back of its mouth a darkness formed. Darker than darkness itself. This darkness emerged from the mouth and headed directly for the toddler whose mouth was also open in imitation. The toddler felt a warmth throughout their body. Darkness filled their vision, and a great fear grasped their heart. Then the blue light from the sun started to fill the toddler's vision. The tall grass that previous hid the toddler had vanished and a patch of smoking darkness in its place.

The dragon crouched to the ground and then launched itself into the sky. An even more powerful gust of wind had sent a fallen tree through the air and the gust had flattened all the grass in the area. But the toddler was left standing in the patch of darkness. The dragon of darkness was nowhere to be seen.

Not sure of what happened, the toddler turned around and continued to walk away from the river. Something felt different. Could not place it though. As the toddler walked a voice was heard. The preschooler continued walking. The voice slowly started to take shape. The school-age child walked towards the voice. It was a name. The voice was calling out to someone. But who? The adolescent started walking faster towards the voice, almost ready to call back out towards it.

“Sam!” The voice called out gently. “Oh, there you are Sam.” The voice said as the adult emerged from behind a tree. In front of Sam stood a figure of pure light. A light like this was surely to blind Sam, but they had no problems staring at this being.

“Who are you?” Sam asked confused.

“I am your creator Sam.” The voice responded casually.

“I. I knew this.” Sam said starting to feel that the being in front of them was heavily connected to them in some way. Sam slowly started to understand the events of the day.

“I died. Didn’t I?” Sam asked the being.

“You did.” The being said sadly. “I am sorry that I was not able to protect you.”

“That is why I aged?” Sam asked.

“It is. I thought we could talk better if you had grown up. As you aged on your walk over here, you gained the experiences and knowledge you were supposed to have gained if you lived a full life.” The being responded still saddened by the fact that their creation had died so quickly.

“I see.” Sam said now understanding the situation and predicament they were in.

“Do you know why you were made Sam?” The being asked.

“Does it have to do with the dragon that killed me?” Sam asked contemplating the events that led up to their death.

“It does. I created you to be a hero. Or I had hoped you would be one. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful in my attempt to create something that was unaffected by J’Houlithäk the Blight’s attacks. His attack is a breath of pure darkness and fear. I had hoped that you would have been the hero to save this world. I guess I was wrong. I am so sorry. I have failed you, and now you are here.” The being sad sadly and paused.

“If you would like I can bring you to the afterlife now. Or I can erase you from existence. I will no longer burden you with challenging J’Houlithäk the Blight. I am sorry to put that on you. It is your choice.” The being sad saddened by their failure.

Sam thought long and hard about the decision that they had to make. Only having known life for a couple hours, or maybe having experienced a full life. It was hard to understand since they only were alive for a few hours but had the knowledge of a life up to adulthood. Somehow Sam had ambitions and goals. The memories of their life gave them a reason for living and a reason to fight.

“I would like to become the hero you made me to be.” Sam said confidently.

“You still wish to fight J’Houlithäk?” The being asked Sam shocked.

“That is the purpose you gave of me. I want to do it. I will do it!” Sam said assuredly. The being looked at Sam. When the being made Sam, they must have imprinted that desire into Sam which has now taken over. The being thought that maybe it would be best to erase Sam from existence. They had failed.

Smoke appeared off in the distance behind Sam. A fire had been started in the woods in the direction Sam came from. The being shot in the direction of the smoke. Confused Sam turned around and saw the smoke. They quickly reacted and followed close behind.

When they reached the source of the fire both were shocked to see pitch blackness. Flames of black engulfed the forest. The sight angered the being of light. Sam however, felt a little different about it. The way that the forest burned, it wasn’t what Sam was expecting.

“This is why the world needs a hero! J’Houlithäk needs to be stopped!” The being of light said angered.

“Sam! I was hesitant to bring you back, but now I see that it must be done. It will take some time before you grow up and are able to fight, but I need you.” The being said determined. Sam nodded.

“Wait. Is it possible to bring me back as I am? I wish to remember this.” Sam asked curiously.

“As you wish.” The being said. With that a beam of light extended off to the right and moved towards Sam as it started to engulf them in light.

“Wait! What is your name!” Sam shouted to the being. But then suddenly everything went black as Sam fell unconscious.

Sam awoke in a field of tall grass. Slight glimpses of the green sky filled their vision through the grass. They laid there for a minute just breathing in the cold morning air. Feeling the grass hit their body as it swayed back and forth in the wind.

Sam felt something in their right hand. They brought it to their face to see what it was. A piece of paper.

Sam,

I tried to make some modifications to your body to hopefully prevent the same thing from happening again, but I am worried that it will not be enough. I am leaving you with weapons that should be able to counter J’Houlithäk the Blight and his attacks of darkness. A sword and shield made of light. When you are in the presence of J’Houlithäk they will appear at your side. I will be watching over you. I wish you the best.

That was the end of the letter. Sam still had no idea who this being was. An uneasy feeling started to creep into their stomach. Or was it just hunger? Probably just hunger. Sam stood up and took in a deep breath. They had a long journey ahead of them. With one goal in mind. Be a hero. Defeat J’Houlithäk the Blight to save the world.

Over the next couple years Sam trained and studied. Looking for the hideout of J’Houlithäk so that they could complete their mission. Be the hero that they were made to be. During their search they learned very little about J’Houlithäk. His presence in this world was very minimal. Only a few people every saw him in their lifetime. It was strange thought Sam. If they were made to be a hero to protect the world from his evil. Then where was he? Where was this danger and this threat.

One day Sam got news of a sighting of J’Houlithäk. Sam ran over to the spot where he was supposedly spotted, but nothing was around. Sam searched all over, looking for any sign. After searching for nearly the entire day Sam found J’Houlithäk’s footprints. Patches of darkness and shadow led the way into a giant cavern carved out of a nearby mountain.

As Sam approached, they slowly and slowly shrank under the size of the cave that lay in front of them. The darkness within the cave emanated fear. It was as if the cave itself was made of nightmares. But Sam did not have nightmares and did not have fears. They were going to be a hero, and nothing would stop them.

Walking into the cave Sam was surprisingly greeted with a pleasant smell. Similar to walking in an open field of flowers. The aroma filled Sam’s nostrils. The smell was so strong and relaxing it started to relieve some of their stress. A strong calming feeling suddenly washed over them. What was this? Sam thought. This does not seem like the cave of some great evil. Sam continued travelling into the dark cave. A gift from the being of light had allowed Sam to see in the darkest of places.

Sam soon found themselves inside a massive cavern. A full-sized city would have been able to comfortably fit within the space that lay in front of Sam. In the middle of the space, was something even darker than the room, and appeared to be smoking. It was J’Houlithäk. Sam took a step forward. The sword and shield that the being of light had granted them appeared at their side.

“You are alive?” A deep throaty voice had spoken from within Sam's head. Sam looked around to see if there was anyone else there. The only beings here were Sam and J’Houlithäk who was now standing and staring at Sam.

“You should not exist Sam.” J’Houlithäk spoke telepathically to Sam. “Why are you here?” He said cautiously seeing the sword and shield. However, his appearance was calm and collected. He sat with his wings of smoke folded against his body of darkness.

“I am here to destroy you and be a hero!” Sam said confidently.

“What have I done to warrant being destroyed?” J’Houlithäk asked calmly.

“What have you done? You killed me, and the entire forest you found me in for starters!” Sam shouted. But as Sam said it, they struggled to come up with anything else.

“Sam. You are not meant to be here.” He started. “Your existence created a path to the destruction of this world. When I killed you, I had assumed that Shy’pharakal wouldn’t try again. I don’t know why he wants to destroy me. If I am destroyed, then he is destroyed, and then the universe would be destroyed. I don’t want that to happen Sam. I love this world, and I want to protect it. Your existence is a threat to this world. I can’t kill Shy’pharakal, but I can keep destroying the creations he makes to destroy me.” J’Houlithäk said to Sam with an increasing ominous tone.

Sam looked at J’Houlithäk confused. Shy’pharakal was the name of the being of light that created me? Why would he lie to me? What was the point. What was Shy’pharakal trying to accomplish? They thought.

“How do I know you aren’t lying to me to stay alive?” Sam asked defensively.

“You don’t know. I probably will be unsuccessful trying to convince you. Just like the others sent before you. An endless cycle of creation and destruction. Before you, Shy’pharakal made the humans. I was going to destroy them, but I saw potential in them. A potential that I do not see in you. You do not have free will Sam. Shy’pharakal made sure of that when he made you. For if you had free will, you would have stopped advancing towards me when you realized that I am not the evil person he made you believe I was.” J’Houlithäk said as Sam approached. Sam was unaware that they had been slowly walking closer and closer to the mighty dragon.

J’Houlithäk was right though, Sam thought. He was not the evil one. He only defended himself when someone came into his home. The forest that J’Houlithäk destroyed, thrived with new life and vegetation in the spring that followed. Everything he touches gets destroyed. But new life comes from it.

Sam started to realize the delicate nature between creation and destruction. Without creation there is nothing to destroy, and without nothing there can be no room to create. So then if Shy’pharakal was creation why was he trying to destroy J’Houlithäk?

“Why would Shy’pharakal want you dead?” Asked Sam nervously as they continued walking. J’Houlithäk shifted himself and fluffed his wings of shadow to get more comfortable.

“That... I have been wondering for a very long time.” He answered Sam deep in thought.

“I don’t want to destroy you.” Said Sam disheartened.

“I know you do not. But you cannot stop yourself. You are nearly upon me and will try to strike me with that sword Shy’pharakal made you. Whether or not that sword will be able to destroy me is hard to say. But I will not be destroyed Sam.” J’Houlithäk replied as his wings of shadow spread out wide. He lifted them into the air and brought them down ferociously, lifting the dragon off the ground.

Sam was slightly pushed backwards. As the dragon flew overhead, Sam swung their sword at the dragon. The tip of their blade contacting his foot slicing easily through the dragon's tough skin. The dragon roared out in pain.

“I guess we know the blade does indeed work Sam. What has he done? Maybe I should just leave this place.” J’Houlithäk said as he looked back at Sam and opened his mouth. Sam once again found themselves surrounded by darkness. However, this time, Sam did not feel fear but sorrow.

Sam fell to their knees. Angry at themselves for striking J’Houlithäk. All he was trying to do was live and protect the planet. What was Shy’pharakal thinking? Why would he make Sam to destroy a being who was doing good?

“Shy’pharakal!” Sam tried shouting but no sound escaped their mouth.

Centuries had passed as Sam sat there in the cave. The people who knew Sam were long gone. Only tales of a hero were passed down. Sometimes people would explore the cave that Sam was in and tell the tales of a great hero.

A great hero who sacrificed themselves to defeat the mighty dragon of darkness. But that wasn’t true. J’Houlithäk was very much alive. He just left the cave and left the planet. Escaping from the reach of Shy’pharakal. However, Sam was well known as wanting to defeat the dragon of darkness. They were on the hunt and were saw heading in the direction of the dragon's cave. Since neither were ever heard from again, the legend of Sam began. No one will ever know the truth.

Sam continues to sit in that cave and will continue to sit in the cave for all of eternity.