Another day, another milestone. I thank you all so much who have supported me to continue my comic series, for I welcome readers, old and new to comic Twenty-Five. You’re all probably wondering: ‘Why’s he still doing this?’ or ‘When is he going to stop?’ or my favourite ‘Who’s he going to kill this time?’. Well, let’s find out. With the Kingdom of Order into ashes, Kocoski and Luisa were lifting the pile of rubble that rested upon them. In a moment of waking, they found me, removing my blade from the stomach of Frxq. The children run towards me, hurdling their way over the pieces of rubble that stuck out of the ground. Kocoski: PyroKnight! PyroKnight: Boy? Luisa: We were worried. Luisa was out of breath, followed by blood and sweat running down her face. Kocoski standing beside her, with his hands on his knees as well as his face looking identical to Luisa with Blood and Sweat. But something didn’t feel right, after Kocoski and Luisa tricked the villagers into leaving… they never came back. Where’d they go? Kocoski: Has anyone else noticed… how there’s no one here? PyroKnight: Agreed. The sound of their village collapsing should’ve rounded them up and brought them back here. Where are they? Luisa: Perhaps dead? But they were only gone for a few minutes, what could be so dangerous or eye catching in this wasteland. PyroKnight: Boy? Where did you divert the villager’s attention to? Kocoski points to the eastern direction showing a large desert filled with tall mountains. The very tips of the mountains shoot through the clouds. Seeing as it’s not far from our view, we make haste and rush towards the titan peaks. Awaiting there we find the villagers staring upwards into what was becoming the night sky. A large crowd of villagers, all shaky and all carrying pitchforks and torches. So I chose to save their skin and stay out of their sight. Kocoski: What’s going on? Villager One: Haven’t you heard young boy? It’s the year of the Blue Moon. Luisa: That’s today? Villager Two: Yes, dear, almost every couple of years, thirteen full moons occur during one single year. This is one of those years. Villager Three: And at this time, The Great Falcon shows itself. Luisa: The Great Falcon? Villager Four: Ah, yes young one. The Great Falcon is a mysterious creature, born time and time again. Every night on the blue moon, it hatches itself from its egg and soars gracefully through the air. Once the sun reveals itself, the Great Falcon finds a large mountain to rest itself upon, it forms a shelter around it, until it becomes an egg once more, and it waits till the next Blue Moon. Kocoski: How far can it fly? Villager Two: It will fly as far as its wings can take it. I looked up and saw an oval shaped rock, similarly described by the villager. If we could use the bird to fly us to our next destination we could save a lot of time, and protect ourselves from danger. I sneak past the crowd of villagers that hold worry on their dirty faces. I climbed onto the top of the pillar, I didn’t go unnoticed though. Kocoski and Luisa looked past the villager and saw a bright orange glow, slowly making its way up the mountain, the villagers however were too busy staring at the Great Falcon’s egg, I didn’t catch ONE eye from the villagers. Kocoski: Oh god. Villager Three: What? Is something troubling you? Villager Two: We can help you if you want. Kocoski: Huh? Wha… no. No. I’m fine… really… I am. Thank you for the kind offer, good sir. Villager Four: Ok, let us know if you need anything. With the villagers turning back to face the falcon egg, they fall into a hypnotic gaze. They refuse to look at anything else but the egg, seeming that it will hatch at any moment. There was a wide opportunity for me to climb around to the other side of the pillar so the villagers won’t see me. Kocoski and Luisa ran past the villagers, and hid behind the pillar as well as me. They began to climb up, following my bright orange glow. Atop the peak was a giant nest and where there’s a nest, there’s an egg. A very large egg for a fact, a big white egg, with shiny blue patterns carved into it. The patterns were symbols, they each represent: Strength, Wisdom, Courage and Hope. After what felt like an eternity Kocoski and Luisa finally reached the highest peak, finding me investigating the egg. Kocoski: Don’t get too close, you’ll make an omelette. I turned to Kocoski and Luisa who had their arms folded and their legs straightened, wondering what I was up to. Before I could squeeze a word in, a loud CRACK noise was heard, the rocks from the peak fell like snow, heavy snow… it was the work of the Blue Moon. The egg began to hatch. The symbols of the egg shines a light blue colour, glowing brighter and brighter by the second. Awakened from the egg, was long, thick wings that were a very dark colour, too light to be black, but too dark to be dark grey. The egg shells vanished into thin air, revealing Arjen the Great Falcon, whom only appears once in a Blue Moon. A loud screech sound echoes throughout the air and blows away the clouds. Arjen turns around and prepares to take flight, spreading his massive wings and flapped them for a bit. Now was the time to aboard the majestic king of the skies, I took my chains from my back and grappled onto the big bird, bringing Kocoski and Luisa with me and we have lift off. Luisa: Woah! Kocoski: Woah! PyroKnight: Hang on! For a being that slept for almost 1000 years, he is very nimble and doesn’t let anything abort his great flight. Arjen’s feathers rustle in rhythm with the wind, as we struggle to mount him. Finally, we were on the Great Falcon’s back. While waiting for our next destination, we found the Kingdom of Chaos, a stronghold home to King Henry the Eighteenth. As we approached our destination, we didn’t come prepared to land. We needed some way to get back to the ground safely, without injuring or killing ourselves. So I run over to Arjen’s wing and attempt to cut it off and use it as a parachute. My blade pressed against the tip of its wing and within that moment, the bird screeches in agony and tries to shake us off. Kocoski and Luisa grip onto Arjen as much as they could, but it wasn’t any use, they could let go at any moment. So I rush to the beast’s head and stabbed its neck. Arjen became furious and twist its head around to peck me, I almost felt sorry, the Great Falcon was never a harmful creature, but a generous and nurturing creature, yet I continue to retaliate. I climb onto its stomach and pull out my sword, thus stabbing the gentle giant. Arjen kept shaking and screeching more and more violently. I was frustrated, I kept muttering to myself whether I should kill it or not, if I don’t kill it; Kocoski and Luisa would die or if I do kill it; I’ll kill an beautiful and innocent creature. But I went with my soul and did what I must. Arjen tried to have another jab at me, I grabbed onto its eye and cut it right open, it’s eye was erupting blood, it was like a rain of blood pouring onto the plagued land. I leapt onto the top of its head and stabbed his brain. The symbols on Arjen’s back were glowing then started to fade, what was a ferocious screech now into a sad and helpless whimper. I ran to it’s wing and sliced it right off, I grabbed Kocoski and Luisa and plunged off using my chains to grab both sides of the cut off wing like a parachute. Arjen’s scream was a cry for help as Arjen crash lands into the ground, followed by a cloud of blood, spewing out of his head. The land quaked from the shock of the magnificent bird. What I learnt from that encounter… was how I’ve gone too far. PyroKnight: What have I done? To be continued…
