Book 4: Chapter 18 (1/2)

On top of some city walls, a group of white men were staring off into the distance. Beside them, there were dozens of natives. The sun shone over the horizon, illuminating the fields and road beneath them. It also illuminated a monstrous reptilian head peeking over the horizon, staring at the city. It was gold, and the sun rose right behind it, forming a golden corona that hurt the eyes when directly stared at.

“What in God’s name is that?” the head of the white men asked. He was wearing a full set of plate armor, covered from head to toe in shining steel with only his face revealed to the outside elements. The other white men with him were dressed in steel as well, but only one or two wore full suits. The rest wore chainmail and armored pants. Chainmail was enough to stop the weapons of the natives. Donning a full suit of armor was overkill, but it made them nigh invincible with the drawback of having to wear it around all day.

The native beside the leader of the white men squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. He gasped and swallowed before exchanging eye contact with the other natives that had seen the creature in the distance. “Do you think it’s…?”

“We’ll have to get closer to find out.”

“Should we approach?”

“Isn’t approaching the same as not approaching if it really is what we think it is?”

The leader of the white men glared at the natives before looking at the translator. “What are they saying? What is that thing?”

The translator wiped at his forehead and exhaled. “They … think it’s a god.”

“A god?” the white man asked. When he first arrived in this new world, the natives thought he was a god as well. That just meant everything the natives had no knowledge of was classified as a god. However, that monstrous reptilian head staring at him over the horizon…, maybe it really was a god?

“Is it a statue?” one of the white men asked. “It looks like a statue made of gold. It’s not moving either.”

“A statue?” The leader of the white men muttered. How could the natives build a statue this grand? But if it wasn’t a statue, then it had to be a living creature. A dragon? Didn’t those only exist in legends? He turned towards the translator. “Do dragons exist in this world?”

The translator shook his head. “A few of our gods are dragons, but they don’t live in this world. We sacrifice warriors to them, so they can continue protecting us.”

The white man pointed at the monstrous head. “Do they protect you like this?”

“Never like that,” the translator said and swallowed. “If it really is a god…, it might be Feathered Serpent—if we’re lucky.”

“Why would that be lucky?” the white man asked.