DRAGON PEARL - In the Green dragon's village

"We will go to the other world through the iron dragon," said Ren, while tucking a little knife behind his belt. "Long linked this object to the shrine in my village, thus it serves as a bridge between our worlds. Transition without it would be very difficult and you never know exactly, where you find yourself."

Monik nodded, not taking her eyes of the iron dragon. Ren was amused by her focused face and smiled to himself, then he grabbed her hand. The girl looked at him with shock and she blushed.

Ren nodded to Mr. Long and the old man began mumbling in a language Monik did not understand. After a while, the wall behind the dragon lit up with bright colors and the young man put his hand on the mouth of the dragon,... the world under their feet rotated one hundred and eighty degrees.       

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Monik felt, that also her stomach turned and she got dizzy. Fortunately, Ren held her hand and did not let her fall.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, but Monik waited with her respond until she was sure, that she will not vomit.

"I think I am fine," when she said those words, she realized, that she was in Ren’s arms and she immediately slipped out from them. She felt her face turning red, so she turned her back to him. Her eyes suddenly noticed, that they are no longer in the cellar of Mr. Long’s restaurant and she started to look around the small room. They were in a wooden little building, where there was nothing except the wooden altar. But Monik had a strange feeling from that place, as if the walls radiated energy. So she taped into the Green dragon’s power and she looked with his bright green eyes around the room...

Monik’s jaw immediately dropped. The walls were decorated with bright green lettering, similar to what she had on the bracelet from Tomen and not only that. It looked as if the whole room was used for the representation of the mythical story of the Green dragon, whose beautiful artwork covered all the walls. Monik was captivated mostly by a drawing, where three huge dragons hovered over the fourth and with their claws they were reaching into its body.

"What is it?" she turned to Ren with a question.

"I don't know, I don’t see the pictures on the wall. They are meant just only for the eyes of those who have the power of the Green dragon."

Monik nodded a bit disappointed and she looked at the altar, through which they transgressed in this world. Thanks to the Green dragon’s eyes she could see its true beauty. Glittering ornaments have led up to a carved portrait of the dragon. Only then she noticed, that the altar was coming out from the floor and it was actually a trimmed tree trunk.

"Drink the decoction with the tears from Long," said Ren after a while and Monik took of her eyes from the altar. She pulled out a vial from her pants and drank its content. It tasted quite acidic and a grimace appeared on her face - Ren could not help himself and he smirked.

"Do you understand me?" he asked her and Monik realized, that as he said those words, in the background of his Slovak words she heard another language. It was like when you watch an old translated movie, where they forgot to mute the original sound.

"Yes," she said in Ren’s language. "But this is really strange," she smiled a little uneasy.

"In the beginning it will seem that way, but then you learn to ignore the background noise," he said factually. "When we come out of the sanctuary, stay behind me and be ready to defend yourself."

"What? Why? I thought that we are in your village."

“We are, but since the eastern tribes do not have the Green dragon’s power to their disposal, the Hourens are attacking our villages. According to my reports, they are now even occupying the territory of two of our tribes. This village is not far from them, so we must be vigilant"

Monik’s heart was pounding very fast, but she wasn’t afraid. She could handle the Hourens even in her world and she wasn’t even fully able to control the Green dragon’s power back then. Now, she was sure in her abilities and she was pleased, that she will be able to use her power.

She therefore only nodded to Ren, so he will now, that she understood and he carefully opened the door of the sanctuary. In that moment a small dagger flew into the door frame and Monik looked terrified in the direction from which it came. In front of them a young blond men stood, and he was smiling on them showing all his teeth.

"Ren?" he asked a bit unsure.

"Elion," Ren looked at the boy with a grin and he walked over to him.

"Hey! Elion, what is taking you so long?! Malen is already waiting for you," and a skinny young guy ran to them and he looked in shock at Ren.

"Who is this?" he asked Elion.

"Don’t be silly Ganni, this is Ren," said his friend.

"Are you sure? I clearly recall Ren’s appearance and he looks like a shabby old man,” said Ganni sturdily.

"Old?" and a angry vein popped up on Ren’s head. "Who are you calling old?! You scrawny runt!”

"You see, it is him!" shouted Elion, but then Ganni turned his eyes to Monik. She felt embarrassed under his gaze, so she carefully lifted her hand and waved them as a greeting.

"And what would Ren do with such a pretty girl?" Ganni asked Elion, who began nodding thoughtfully.

"You're right, it's not Ren!" shouted Elion.

Ren got mad and attacked the boys with his stick with a huge blade on its end. Both of them jumped out of the way without any problem. Elion pulled from behind his belt several small daggers without a handle and with a skilful hand movement he evenly spaced them between his fingers. Ganni on the other hand pulled out a short broad sword.

The first to attack Ren was Ganni. He ran to him and with a jump he pointed his attack to Ren’s head. But Ren turned his weapon in his hand so he can caught his sword to the slit in the blade. At that moment Elion started his attack from the side and the fighting begun. To Monik it seemed that the guys are just fooling around and she didn’t care about the fight. She was in another world and she wanted to see it.

Therefore, she carefully sticked out her head from the sanctuary and looked around. At her right, she saw a beautiful crystal clear lake, where the shades of the red sunset glanced on its surface. It was surrounded from all sides by trees of varying size and shape, and there were also species that she had never seen before. On her left side, there were scattered small houses that made up the village.  

Monik survey of the peaceful surrounding was disturbed by a terrible whack and she looked at the boys. Elion and Ganni laid disarmed at the ground, while Ren was standing above them - he didn’t even broke a sweat.

"I know why is she with him!" shouted Ganni and Elion looked at him with a question mark written on his face. "He abducted her!"

"Do not push me or I'll cut your throat! She has the Green dragon’s power inside her,” and he sowed with his head toward Monik. The guys looked at the girl again from the ground. She was slightly nervous, but she approached them.

"Hi, I'm Monik," she smiled at them and the boys promptly jumped to their feet.

"Monik, such a strange name..." began Elion.

"But it's a beautiful name," interrupted him Ganni and immediately introduced himself. "I am Ganni," and he hit his chest.

"And I am Elion," and he pushed Ganni aside so he can stood proudly in front of Monica.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled at them.

"Okay, that's enough. Where is Malen?” asked Ren strictly.

"He is up on the stronghold and he is spoiling others fun," grinned at them Ganni.

"You came just in time," said Elion. "At dawn, the Houren’s attacked us for the second time and we struck them down! Tonight we will celebrate!”

Ren’s face got serious, if they really struck the Hourens down, why does their commander still insists on strict patrols?

"Come," he said to Monik seriously, and when she saw his facial expression, she obeyed without a word.

They bypassed the guys and went towards the few meters high stronghold, which rise in the distance. They were walking in between the border of the village and the beautiful countryside, which jewel was that lake. As they were passing through, a few people turned after them to have a good look, or they were just greeting Ren. Before, when Ren mentioned Monik, that he always lived in the shadow of his brother, she imagined that he meant nothing to others, but now, it seemed that he had the respect of many villagers.

When he climbed on the stronghold, a lot of guys greeted Ren warmly, but he didn’t stoppe by any of them and he headed to the older man with a shaved head and long gray beard.

"Oh, Ren, good to see you," said the old man with a warm smile and he pat Ren’s shoulder.

"You too, Malen."

"And who is this lovely creature?" and the old man looked at Monik, who shyly smiled at him.

"This is Monik," said Ren.

"Hello," Malen nodded his head in greeting and Monik mimicked the movement.

"I heard that the Houren’s attacked twice already," begin Ren with a serious tone.

"Yes, but I do not like this, it was too easy," said the old man staring into the distance. "But, you know me, I prefer to be cautious," he added with a smile to ease the tension, "and you two do not have to worry about this, so just go and have fun." He approached Monik, pointing to the village, that looked lovely in the rays of the setting sun. "Now, it does not seem like it, but when the sun goes down, a really great festivity will start." 

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