THE TRIAL OF THE DRAGONS

THE TRIAL OF THE DRAGONS

"Alright, I'll bring you to the Dragon's Sacred Grove. Stop killing my sisters", Ranas pleaded with Rinna.

"You better don't try anything funny", Sara told the snake woman.

The snake woman showed us to the center of the Oasis where there was a small lake.

"The entrance to the Dragon's Sacred Grove is under this lake", Ranas told us.

"How do we go inside?" Rinna asked Ranas.

"To enter the Dragon's Sacred Grove, you must pass three trials", Ranas told us.

"I told you not to be funny", Sara threatened the snake woman.

"No,..no. I'm telling the truth. Even we couldn't get into the Dragon's Sacred Grove. We are waiting here for the mother to return", Ranas told us.

"So, Lilith went into the Dragon's Sacred Grove?" Rinna asked and the snake woman nodded in reply.

"These snake women are not trustworthy, you should mark them with your soul, so they become bound to you", Ratatouille told Rinna.

"They can't be marked. They already have markings on them", Rinna replied.

The Lililiths were the minions of the Serpent Traitor Lilith. They were marked by her magic and could not betray her.

"We cannot trust these marked snakes. Just kill all of them", I told them.

"No,.. I'm telling the truth. To enter the Dragon's Sacred Grove, you must complete the trials set by the dragons. There is no other way", Ranas told us fearfully.

"They are not lying", Sara told us.

Sara could detect if the snake women were lying by studying their micro-expressions and their heart beats. She was a walking lie detector.

"What is the first trial?" I asked Ranas.

"The first trial is the trial of strength. You must be able to lift the stone under the lake", Ranas told me.

Sara scanned under the lake and found an enormous boulder almost as large as a small hill.

"It's impossible to lift that bloody stone. Even my Hell Tank doesn't have enough lift to bring it out", Sara told me about the stone under the lake.

"See..we are not lying. We couldn't pass the first trial ourselves. Otherwise, we would have gone into the Grove to look for our mother", Ranas told us.

"This is a dead end. We should find another way into the Dragon Grove", Ratatouille told us.

"This is the only entrance to the Dragon Grove in all of Elis", Ranas replied to him.

"Why do you all worry. Husband can lift the stone", Rinna told them assuringly.

"I can?" I asked about her confidence in me.

"Alright, I can try", I replied to her.

"Let me help you", Sara told me as she cast a tornado around the lake.

The tornado sucked up all the water in the lake before depositing it elsewhere. She dried the lake for me.

Hidden under the lake was an enormous stone.

I tried to push the boulder to move it, but it was too heavy.

"I couldn't move the bloody rock", I complained to them.

"What is the name of this trial again?" Ratatouille asked.

"The Trial of Strength", Ranas replied.

"Damnit, I am not strong enough", I said to them.

"You have the strength of the Black Heart in you. Few beings are stronger than you if you have that in you", Rinna told me with confidence.

"I can't use its magic fully without getting the Dark Angel's souls involved and I am reluctant to do so", I replied.

"Let the Dark Angel help you", Rinna told me to my shock and surprise.

"Your Mind magic can control all the paths of magic in you, including your Black Heart. Try using it now", Ratatouille told me.

So, I imagined it in my consciousness.

-----

I ascended to my conscious plane, a realm always filled with wondrous, magical lights and dazzling displays.

But something was missing—my Dark Angel's Black Heart.

I wandered through this strange world, my steps soft against clouds made of candy. Every time I entered my Mind, the scenery shifted. Today, it was a swirl of colorful candy clouds, shimmering with dreamlike beauty.

This was the nature of the Mind—neither a fixed space nor a tangible plane, but something that lived purely in my imagination. A place where dreams took form, and today, mine dreamed of candy and clouds.

"Damn it, where's the bloody Black Heart?" I muttered into the silence.

But no answer came.

Then, out of nowhere, Hanuman's voice echoed in my mind, "You must imagine it for it to appear to you."

Hanuman wasn't here with me, not physically.

But this mindscape belonged to him. It was his creation, his Mind and I was merely borrowing it. His consciousness lingered in this realm though, a subtle presence guiding me.

I closed my eyes and visualized my Black Heart.

In an instant, it materialized within the dreamscape, pulsing with power. I then imagined my body, each muscle, every fiber, and the veins that connected them to my heart. I called upon the Black Heart, willing its magic to surge through my veins.

As I focused, the magic flowed from the Black Heart, infusing my muscles, strengthening every inch of me. I felt the power coursing through me, a force unlike any other.

I am strong now.

------

I sunk my hands into the boulder under the lake and moved it. Not only moving it, I lifted it into the air like it was not heavy at all. I am strong now. Very strong.

"How did you become this bloody strong?" Sara asked.

"I accessed the power of my Black Heart", I replied to her.

"Don't you already have your bloody heart all along, why can you do this only now?" she asked me.

"The Dark Angel's Black Heart improved my physical attributes greatly but that was only the tip of its power. I could draw more from my Black Heart, but I couldn't do so earlier without the involvement of the Dark Angel's soul", I explained.

"So, you can access your Black Heart's magic with the monkey god's Mind?" Rinna asked me.

"Yes, that is fortunate and also the reason he loaned his Mind to me- to help me against being controlled by the Dark Angel", I replied to her although her expression was strange when she heard me.

"You have passed the Trial of Strength, you may enter the Sacred Deagon's Grove", Ranas said to me with a glee before she calmed herself, returning to her gloomy self of being held hostage by us.