“It was a beautiful morning. I woke up early…” I paused, searching for ideas. Why should I wake up early? No, it couldn’t be because of school; otherwise it would not be a beautiful morning. Should it be because my parents were going out, so I will have the house to myself? Maybe I should write that I would have a date due in ten minutes. Unable to think of any suitable inspiration, I rested my head on the table.
In case you are wondering, I was sitting for an examination at that time. One of the questions from Section B of the English Essay Paper, asked me to write a story using the given opening line. As you may have guess, a good friend of mine, my brain, ran off before recess when it found out that I wasn’t going to feed it during break-time. I think it was exhausted because of the Bahasa Melayu examination. So, you might say that I was a bit out of my mind then. I half-expected I would find it a few minutes before the exam is over, sipping a cup of coffee happily in some mamak stall. As always with essay-writing, no doubt that lazy piece of pink meat will show up during last-minute panic.
Suddenly, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I lifted my head and saw a beautiful girl looking down at me. A crown made of vine lay on her head, hidden by her raven hair. Her flawless skin betrayed no imperfection, smooth as if it had been carved by angels. Her slim body was encased in a sturdy armor, complete with gauntlets and steel boots that clinked whenever she walked. Despite her gentle demeanour and her signs of youth, her green eyes showed wisdom and years of knowledge, whether of battle or philosophy, I could not guess. It might have been magical lore, I thought to myself as I felt a strange vibration around her.
Immediately, she grabbed my hand and, almost literally, pulled me up and over the table. My pens and answer sheet clattered underneath. As she dragged me out of the exam hall, I glanced around the hall, surprised as I saw faces glaring at me, boys green with envy and the girls with disappointment in their eyes. Even the teachers were shocked! I tried to put on a confused look, but it might turn out to be merely amused.
As we neared the school’s assembly grounds, a shiny glint caught my eyes, blinding me. Squinting, I saw from afar, something I never thought possible, a view I know I would never forget, and a start of a story even my great-grandchildren would never believe. Its golden scales played in the sunlight. Fiery red eyes decorated its upper face, glaring at me, while rows of dagger-like teeth covered its mouth, occasionally slipping out a long, forked tongue. Giant wings covered both its flanks, each one at least twice as long as a car, when extended. A long row of spikes outlined its spine, ending eventually at its lashing tail. There it was, right in front of a stunned 17-year-old ordinary schoolboy, was a dragon.
The girl turned me around towards her and began to whisper something. Before I even started to wonder what she was whispering about, I felt myself suddenly catapulted in the air towards the dragon. I was flying in high speed and as I soar above the dragon, I prepared myself to land on my back onto the tar-filled pavement behind the oversized reptile. But to my surprise, I stopped abruptly above the dragon’s spikes and landed gratefully between two of them, carefully noting how sharp they were. It took me a moment to realize that the girl was using magic.
I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye, and turned in time to see her jumping towards me. As she started to land, the wind blew her long hair upwards and I noticed her pointed ears. She was an elf! It all fits! The elves were known as the ‘Fair Folk’ for their beauty and fairness, which would be why I was so mesmerized earlier. They were strong, both mentally and physically, which would explain her magical lore. They also hold a high place for Mother Nature in their hearts, which was why she had stopped to care for a dying daisy near the school corridor. I was too busy being hynotized by the dragon’s appearance to notice what she did afterwards.
As the dragon began to flap its huge wings, I stole a glance at the school hall. My schoolmates lined up along the corridor, watching me with wide eyes. I knew that from that moment on, they would never look at me in the eyes ever again. Whether because of intimidation or jealousy, I know I will never find out. Reluctantly, I tore my eyes away from them. I will deal with them when the time comes. If I ever come back, that is. Something in the girl’s eyes told me I won’t be setting foot here for a long, long time.
High above the clouds, the girl turned and introduced herself, “I am Serina, daughter of Akkarin, the Royal Lord of Ceryni, a country where you truly belong.” Then she literally drew a crimson-bladed sword out of thin air and handed it to me. “This is your rightful blade. It was passed on for centuries, from kings to princes. It belonged to your father, King Regin the Valiant, who destroyed the treacherous Lord Rothen. Rothen’s son, Lothar, had his revenge and killed him, brainwashed and exiled you to this human world last century. Then, he took command of Ceryni. He killed most of us, made those remaining his slaves and exiled the ones who resisted. I have been searching for you since. I was lucky to have found you here in Malaysia. I knew Lothar would have thought I went searching in some bigger countries. “
My memories? Kings? All this happened last century? I knew elves live long, but I never would have thought THAT long! “B-but you must have gotten the wrong guy. I’m just an ordinary person.” I stammered. Apparently, the sudden flow of information rendered me speechless. There was NO WAY I was a prince! Although, Serina’s story does seem logic, in a magical, out-of-this-world kind of way.
“Don’t worry, this ring will help you retrieve your memories.” With that, she took out a ruby ring out of her pocket. “Before I give this to you, you’d probably want to hear how it helps. Apparently, Lothar, ignorant as he is, used the wrong magic. Instead of removing your memories, he merely blocked them, fortunately. To reverse it, the victim needs to be in direct contact with the user. In this case, since even being near to Lothar is not an option, I opted for a crueler approach. This ring was made using Lothar’s own blood and bones. Don’t ask how I acquired them.” She continued, but not without a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Let’s just say he has to wear a metal arm now.”
Bewildered, I stared at her. Boy, looks CAN kill, after all. If this beauty can take out an arm and still smile about it, there’s no telling what would happen to me if I wasn’t the one she was looking for. Hurriedly, I struggled to put on the ring, nearly dropping it into a lake miles below. Apparently, the calming phrase of ‘the wind blowing in my ears’ doesn’t apply here. I was nowhere near ‘calm’.
The moment I slipped on the ring, I felt a distinct vibration. It was like a PS3 Dualshock Controller vibrating, but only coming from my left ring finger. Then, it stopped. Confused, I fiddled with the ring, twiddling it around. Still, nothing happened. Wow, that was dramatic, I thought to myself sarcastically (I wasn’t going to say it out loud). Instead, I voiced out, “I don’t feel any different. Are you sure you didn’t mistake me for someone else?”
Her eyebrows rose. “Really?” She touched my forehead and closed her eyes. I felt a tendril of thought slipped into my mind. At once, a series of images flowed in my mind. I managed to glimpse her childhood. She was carefree, playing hide-and-seek with her elven friends. Suddenly, it stopped. Serina opened her eyes and smiled apologetically. “I’m afraid I have. Here, let me get you back home,” she said, putting her hand back onto my forehead. As she whispered incomprehensibly, a familiar voice sprang to my ears. “Students, you have another ten minutes to finish. Please check your work.”
Colourful lights flashed. In less than a second, darkness filled my view. I realized that I had been closing my eyes. As I opened them, I saw my schoolmates scribbling onto their answer sheets. Answer sheets! I looked down at mine and saw a few lines meekly filling the top page. Frantically, I wrote down everything that came to mind, King Regin, Lord Rothen, Lothar and including Serina. I was just finishing about the golden dragon when the teacher held out her hand. I gave her my answer sheet, relieved that I managed to finish the test.
As the teacher walked away with my future, realization swept over me. I forgot to do Section A! I scrambled out of my desk and chased her.
High above SMK Seri Ampang, a young girl, pointed ears visible behind her hair, soared undetected through the clouds on a golden dragon. Her eyes twinkled as she glanced down at the school hall, pondering the fate of a certain 17-year-old boy.
), i can go wherever i want, too. for the first time in my life, im free from the clutches of school and exams.
) its not like im casanova or something, confident around girls and all. im just ’some guy’. even at school, i was just ‘that maths teacher’s son’, lol…
