In a world of desolation, where life struggles to survive, there exists a tale of power, sacrifice, and destiny."The story of Azeviche, an orphan girl, who was taken in and trained to become the ultimate weapon against the Draconites, a terrible race of creatures that had unleashed their dragons on humanity in a war known as the 100 Days War.
Azeviche, her name and her fate, was chosen to lead the final battle, to end the war, and save humanity from extinction. But as she delves deeper into the conflict, she begins to question the purpose of it all. Will the ultimate victory be worth the cost? Will it bring peace or just a new form of oppression?
As Azeviche faces her destiny, she must also confront her own humanity, her own morality, and the true meaning of sacrifice. Will she become a savior or a monster? Will she be remembered as a hero or a villain?
"Dragon Slayer Azeviche" is a novel of epic proportions, where the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. It is a story of power, of sacrifice, and of the human spirit. In a world of dragons, war, and desolation, it is a tale that explores the human condition and the cost of survival.
Do not miss out on this gripping novel, now available on Wattpad. Follow Azeviche's journey as she fights to save humanity, but also to save herself. It is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it, a story that will make you question the nature of power, sacrifice, and what it means to be human.
https://www.wattpad.com/user/LeviZimer
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Chapter 1 -
Jet Black
Behind the mountains, a black smoke was announcing that the express train was near Muddy Peak's station. One of the last and most important connections to the Main Islands, since this world was torn apart in a one hundred day battle against the Dragons and their masters, the Draconites. There at the platform, shaking like a leaf in the wind, Marcus Abbe, an ex-member of the militia, was waiting for this train to make a special delivery.
"The train is here! The train is here!" Jonas Greenberg was shouting.
"Everybody can see that!" Marcus told Jonas, frowning at him.
"Everybody behind the yellow line. You too, Marcus, please," Jonas Greenberg, the Inspector of the station, screamed, twisting his whiskers and fixing his jacket. The oldest employee of the railroad should no longer be working due to his age, but it is he who maintains order in this place. "Newcomers arrive from time to time to work at the station, but they don't have the same discipline," Jonas said to Marcus.
Standing on the platform, looking at the mountains and listening to the roar of the train, Marcus Abbe could barely contain himself.
"What a wonderful day, Mr. Jonas." Marcus said.
He and his wife, Ronna, had received mail from the government informing them that their application for adoption had finally been accepted. Jonas looked at Marcus with a longing smile. He knew him since he was a little boy.
"Well, well. Don't tell me, Mr. Abbe. Is that what I'm thinking?" He asked.
"Yes, Mr. Jonas. It seems that our dream is about to be fulfilled. I'm so anxious that I can barely contain myself."
"Ha!!! Yes... yes, Mr. Abbe," Greenberg scoffed. "This village needs fresh blood running through its veins. After all, we are all getting a little tiny bit...old, aren't we?" Said Jonas, pointing his long fingers toward Marcus.
Marcus ran his fingers through his grey hair, embarrassed.
"You got me there. We are close to retirement," he laughed.
The roar of the engine and the noise on the rails got louder and louder. As the train got into the station, the conductor hit the brakes. A moan and shrill scream could be heard, it took a while to stop the gigantic machine. The entire place got flooded with steam, clouding the vision.
Shadowy figures were moving out of the freight cars. Anxious people searching for their relatives, disembarking, looking everywhere, amazed with their final location.
"Is this the place? What a dump!" a boy asked his mother in a loud voice.
"Shut your mouth. Show some respect to the locals. You will live here now, boy," the woman in uniform dragged the boy by his hand.
"Sorry," the boy shrugged.
Marcus looked at the nasty boy, amazed and relieved that he was not the one he was expecting.
"Mr. Jonas, sir. Today we will have a young boy living in our house. Ronna is preparing a wonderful dinner; of course, this is a special occasion for us," he smiled. Jonah rolled his eyes at him.
"God give me patience," Jonah thought. New people coming to town every day was nothing new to Jonah.
"Of course... of course, Mr. Abbe, and I, more than anyone else, know about your wife's anxiety for this occasion," Jonas replied to Marcus while playing with his long white whiskers. The train finally came to a halt at the platform and the brakes stopped the huge mass of metal on the tracks.
"Mr. Abbe, where's your sign with the name?" Jonas asked, touching Marcus on his shoulder.
"How can you find the boy without a sign?" Jonas was agitating his hand in the air.
"Well, in fact, I don't have one yet," Marcus replied.
"Marcus... Good lord, Marcus," he smiled. "Always the same, since you were a little boy, aren't you? Always forgetting about things," Jonas stared at him.
"In fact, we don't know the name of the kid," Marcus blushed and his lips curved in an awkward smile.
"My God, Marcus." Jonas rolled his eyes. "I have the list here in my clipboard and—," he said, "Azeviche. A strange name for a boy. Do you still think I should retire Marcus?" He laughed, looking at him with narrow eyes.
"In fact, this place needs somebody to keep things working. I keep the mansion running," he cackled, moving back to his work.
"Yeah... I guess!" Said Marcus.
The train started moving again on the tracks, leaving the station. Most of the people on the platform had already left. Some of them were very happy, carrying packages and smiling, while others hugged their relatives with tears streaming down their eyes. Curmudgeon people, not really glad to be there at all, were mingling in the crowd. The steam started to subside and the train left Muddy Peaks behind. Marcus was looking around for his boy.
"Where could he be? Everybody had already left the train," he felt desperate. A woman carrying a suitcase tapped Marcus on the back.
"There sir," she said. "Standing down the platform. There is somebody waiting," she pointed to a figure waiting in the distance.
"Thank you very much, lady," Marcus thanked her. "There... there he is. My boy," he ran to the person standing there.
"Uh... Sir, no I mean..." the lady tried to talk to him, but it was too late. Marcus was running, he could not wait to give a warm welcome to the new member of the Abbe family.
"Finally," he said, running, snorting and punching, trying to catch his breath.
But there, looking at Marcus with large bright green eyes, was a smile bigger than the used suitcase sitting on the floor. She had long black hair running down her shoulders, jet black like a night without stars. She was wearing a white outfit and worn-out brown boots.
"A girl?" Marcus looked at her with startled eyes. "But... but what's going on here? Where is the boy?" Marcus asked her.
"Where is he?" He said, pointing his hand at the girl.
"My name is Azeviche Jet, and if you are Mr. Marcus Abbe, I am your new daughter, sir," she stared back at him, smiling and pointing a finger to a small placard written: "Abbe."
Marcus looked at Azeviche, head to toe. He had sweat dripping down his forehead. It was unbelievable that after all this time, trying to adopt a child, the government made this terrible mistake and sent the wrong person.
"They never said anything about a boy, if I'm correct," Marcus said to himself out loud, ignoring the girl.
"His hand lay under his chin as if he had a huge weight on his head to be supported. He spun on his heels, still in shock.
'The government rarely makes mistakes,' Marcus thought. 'Not since the war. Since it all began, thousands of people died defending a country that no longer exists. Orphan children got relocated to new foster homes, with new parents, to work in the mines extracting metal for weapons and vehicles, to work the fields, so that the very existence of the colonies was not compromised. Whoever comes to Muddy Peaks is not only a resident of an inhospitable place, they are responsible for the maintenance. They are here to hold ground and prevent a new 'Draconite' invasion. The terrible civilization that reduced the earth's population by half. They came from the lands of the south to destroy humanity.' Marcus stood there thinking. Azeviche was disgusted with his rude attitude. Her face flushed with anger. She turned to him and screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to get his attention.
'Hey!!! This is no way to treat a lady. Don't think you're going to leave me here in the open with my heavy suitcase,' she said in a very serious tone. She reached for a document with the official seal in hot wax and the coat of arms of the State of the Northern Islands. Her little hands moved quickly inside her pocket.
'The government seal,' Marcus said. This was no mistake at all.
'Don't take me for a fool, sir. I may be an orphan, but I know my rights. I know we are not sent to this end of the world,' she stuttered. 'This... this God-forsaken place, for a walk.' She was very annoyed and was yelling at him. Astonished by the frightful scream of the little banshee, Marcus finally seemed to shake himself out of the trance. The apparently fragile and short little girl of twelve years old was very resolute in her attitude. She stared at Marcus with eyes gleaming, as if about to burst into tears. She shook the paper in the air in her clenched fist. Her head spinning in a whirlwind, a storm of thoughts and emotions.
She went through a long, twenty-five-day trip to get to this place. At the farthest point in the country, at the frontier of what was left of the civilization of yore, with the unknown world of the destroyers of mankind. She's had enough for today.
'Here! Here!!!... You,... you!' She was still shaking the paper in the air. 'Take it and read it out loud. You won't leave here until you do it, sir,' she demanded. Poor man. Marcus never expected to come across such a determined soul in his life. The apparent fragile little girl was a brave soul, determined to find a new home.
Azeviche reminded him of his colleagues in the army. An epoch of battles in the Hundred Days War. 'Sagacious eye, strong in spirit,' he looked at her. 'No, there was no mistake here.' Marcus said.
Now, looking into Azeviche's eyes, he realized that the poor creature had already been through all kinds of difficult situations. He could tell by that glow in her eyes, he used to see that in the mirror years ago. She is not the first orphan to arrive in Muddy Peaks. No, far from it. They come here by the hundreds, and the number of children has increased in the last year. These borders need reinforcement, they must be always vigilant. The orphans, all survivors of the catastrophe known as The Hundred Days War, share the same
He took the sealed document from her hands, broke the wax seal trying not to ruin the paper. All that excitement and anxiety made his hand shake. Marcus was sweating copiously, he was embarrassed by his attitude towards the girl. In a raspy voice he began to read the text out loud:
"The State of the Northern Islands hereby bestows legal guardianship of the minor, Azeviche Jet (12 years old at the present time), upon Mr. Marcus Abbe and his wife, Mrs. Ronna Abbe. We appreciate your desire to serve the state and your commitment to putting work, family, and country first.
Sincerely,
The State of the Northern Islands, Year 35 AD"
"Thirty-five years after the first Draconite attack, the worst weapon humanity has ever faced, the devastation and the impact on the lives of all people continue. Dismantled families live under the rule of one state. The nations, as we knew them, have been gone for a long time. It had to be done this way in order to survive all this tragedy.
A cyclone of memories and emotions passed through Marcus's head in a flashback of epic proportions, causing him to finally realize.
'Things are the way they are meant to be. We just need to accept with a good heart what faith gives to us,' he gently folded the document and put it inside the pocket of his jacket.
'This is it,' he said with an unexpected gesture. He put his hand on her head in a clumsy sign of affection. Marcus would have to learn very fast how to deal with children. His throat was dry, his hands shaking.
'Yes,' he gasped. 'Azeviche Jet... young lady. It looks like I am in fact your new father!!!'
Azeviche chewed her lower lip and tears were streaming down her rosy cheeks. Her hands were together, fingers interlaced as if in a last desperate prayer. Her mouth was ajar, her lips trembling. She only had time to say:
'God... I'm so tired. I feel so tired...' Unable to finish, she fainted. Marcus quickly held her, breaking her fall."
Here you are, little village of Muddy Peaks,
Stuck amidst the rocks of the mountains
That point its fingers to the sky.
Your red vegetation of permanent autumn,
Near the frontier of humanity and total bleakness,
Your rigid branches like spikes.
Let me pass my thick fingers, benumbed
By the fight. Through the hair of your desolation.
They will make me feel alive.
In your freezing dark rivers. My body wants to dive,
I will run, I will fight and I will cry.
If you work the dusty red soil,
the sustenance will arrive.
( Oluf the Dragon slayer )
