Prologue Part 3 : The End

Ryu awoke with a start to find that he was lying on the grass in front of the dragon. He tried to remember back to the dream he had been having. He could see his mother standing next to him, holding his hand. Telling him how she missed him, and that she was happy to see that had become such a beautiful young boy. And then when everything seemed perfect he was suddenly wrenched back into reality.

He looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was already high into the sky. He wondered whether his father would be beginning to worry when he remembered that he was talking to them before he fell asleep. He looked around but could see that his father and sister had gone. Father probably wanted to get back to the church he thought as he got of the ground and started back towards Gate.

A little while later, Ryu wandered into the back of Gate and strolled down the road. He was glad to be out of the forest and away from any possible danger. He was just passing the first houses when he someone yell out in front of him. "Ohhhh. We have a visitor!" Ryu looked around but could not see anyone that looked out of the ordinary and so he just kept on walking. So it was a surprise when one of the villagers approached him and asked his name.

After a few moments it was clear to Ryu that something was wrong. He had lived in Gate his entire life. Everybody in the village knew him and his family but now they were acting as if they didn't. He told them that he lived in the church with his father, Ganer. But was politely told that the only father in the village was Father Hulk. Dazed from this Ryu walked into the church and was shocked to see not his father standing behind the table in front, but another man. This man was older than his father, with a few grey wisps of hair surrounding his quite baldhead.

The man looked up from what he was doing and smiled at Ryu. "Hello there my child. Welcome to the church of St. Eva. You like you have not place else to go. You are always welcome to stay here if you wish. The church of St. Eva welcomes all orphans with open arms. Even if you are a thief, you are still welcome because in the eyes of St. Eva, all those who do wrong can still repent their sins and become pure."

The next few hours passed in a blur. He remembered bathing and donning clothes that Father Hulk had provided him with, eating a meal with the other children in the church and then getting into bed. Ryu was dreaming of the past days events with dismay. How could his father and sister just suddenly disappear? Where could they have gone without him? And why did everyone in the village constantly insist that they had never seen him before?

He was just starting into these thoughts when a loud creaking sound woke him. He opened his eyes to see one of the other children creeping about the room. This child was different from the others. He looked like a small dog, with large floppy ears. And although he was trying to be quite he was whispering to himself. "Nothing to steal. So poor this church is. Well might as well take the candles." And with that the dog picked up several candles from around the room and then headed for the door.

Ryu did not know why he got up out of the bed, he just did. He walked over to stand in front of the door as the dog came up to him. "What are you doing? Why are you just standing there? Help me with these candles and we can get out of this cheap place" said the dog.

Ryu accepted the pile of candles and then together with dog, walked out of the church and then left Gate.

They were walking across the countryside when the dog started talking. "My name is Bow by the way. Bow Doggie. What is yours?" Ryu told him and then he told him about his day. "Well, I'm sorry to hear about your family. But what are you gonna do? Me personally, I never knew my family. I've been an orphan as long as I can remember. I've gone from town to town, stealing and begging to get enough just to survive. I was walking through a town called Captain, when I heard a rumour that there was a treasure so big that it would have set me up for life. It was supposed to be near a small village called Gate. So I walked hear but it turned out to be a flop. Now I've got nothing but a bunch of useless candles," said Bow.

Bow proceeded to tell Ryu that he had been picked up one day in town by members of the thieves' guild. So he had been forced to join the guild and give a percentage to them of whatever he stole. The two were just getting to know each other when Bow started sniffing wildly. "Damn, it's going to rain," said Bow.

Then he started racing towards a nearby cave entrance in the mountains up ahead.

Ryu followed behind him and soon they had reached the cave although both of them were drenched. The cave was very dark and sticky and Ryu could hear the sound of dripping water in the distance. "Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Ryu who was staring at Bow in the dark.

Bow scratched his head for a while and then remembered the candles. With Ryu's help they managed to get a candle going and then headed off into the cave.

After walking for a while Bow glanced ahead and saw a shadow of something big. As they got closer they could see that it was a huge tail. "What the hell?" said Bow as he ran towards it.

The tail moved on and Bow and Ryu followed. Ryu tried to convince Bow to ignore it but he silenced him saying that the tail could lead them to the treasure.

Then the light from the candle spread as they entered a huge cavern, and saw the owner of the tail. A huge demon sat the there in front of them, glaring. It's huge tail slashed about and its giant claws scratched at the ground. Then it opened its mouth and bellowed. "Who dares to disturb my slumber? Who wakes the great Barubary from his eternal sleep?"

Bow rushed forward to confront the huge demon named Barubary. "It is I, Bow Doggie. I have come for the treasure," said Bow.

"Get out of my way little Grass runner" roared Barubary and he swept Bow aside with ease with his huge tail. Bow was flung across the chamber and he slammed into the wall and fell to the ground unconscious.

The demon known as Barubary then looked over at Ryu. "And who are you little one? Why do you disturb my sleep?"

Ryu was speechless. He just stared at Barubary in awe. He had seen demons before but never one of this size. Barubary looked at Ryu with his huge eyes. He was looking for something. Something buried in the mind. He knew it was in there somewhere it had to be. Only its presence could awaken him. And then he saw it. A spark. A flash. A fire burning deep inside this little child. And he knew. He was going to die, by this little child's hand.

He roared at the little child. "So you think you are the destined one? You think you can defeat the great Barubary? I am invincible to your weapons and protected from all of your spells. A puny child like you could never defeat me."

And with that he whipped his tail straight at Ryu. Ryu after seeing what happened to Bow, knew what happened if you got hit by that tail and he jumped up into the air and somersaulted over the tail. As he hit the ground he threw one of the candles at Barubary. It bounced on his thick armour and broke as it hit the ground.

Barubary laughed. "A candle. Is that the best you can do?"

He swung his tail again and Ryu dodged again. Barubary started to get angry, and he moved forward was surprising quickness and swashed his tail again. This time Ryu was not quick enough and was hit in the chest by the tail and flung across the cavern. He hit the wall and landed on the ground with a thud.

Ryu was in pain. Great pain. He knew that he was going to die in this place. He would never see his family again. His father's caring face, his sister's little laugh. All gone. And then he found a strength he never knew existed inside of him coming to the surface. He could hear Barubary roaring in laughter and looked over to see the still body of Bow lying crumpled on the ground across the cavern. Then he rose unsteadily to his feet and with great effort motioned for Barubary to come at him again.

"You have strength, Destined Child. But you will never defeat ME."

And with that Barubary grabbed Ryu in one of his claws. Ryu struggled but soon discovered that he could never break the grip. Barubary then threw Ryu up into the air and watched as Ryu landed, impaled on his claw. Blood spurted from the great hole in Ryu's body where Barubary's claw was "Now destined child, by my hand alone shall you die. Now and forever will you know the defeat that you suffered at my hands. I condemn you destined child. You shall die quickly."

Ryu was barely conscious as he heard Barubary roar at him. He knew this was the end. He was dying and soon he would die without anybody in the world to mourn his passing. Goodbye, he thought as he slipped into unconsciousness and out of existence. Barubary noticed Ryu's body grow still and then threw the bloodied corpse from his claw. Then he turned to crawl away from the cave "Victory is at hand! Soon the world will be ours! The last of the dragons is dead! We have won!