Prateek Dhar
This is the tale of most legendary warrior Nikolai Oneros, who, unlike most people, was born in a small Russian village. Allow me, to introduce you Oneros, mighty ruler of dragons, who is unlike most people in many ways. Unlike most people, Oneros lost his home when he was eight. Unlike most people, he was left-handed. Again, unlike most people, he lost his left hand at the age of seven, when a falcon tore it off. Unlike most people, his parents left him at the age of eight. He was adopted by the village council, when he was nine.
Nikolai, the child with one weak hand, no parents and no home was looked upon as burdensome, troublesome, and maybe even onerous.That is how Nikolai got his surname – Nikolai Oneros.
Nikolai’s best friend was Loron Agnoli, a rich kid. He was a miracle kid. He had no lungs, but was still very much healthy. No one knew why he had no lungs, but many had started looking to Agnoli as a god, and thus offered Agnoli lots of money. Which was why he turned out to be a rich kid, which is already mentioned above.
Agnoli had always not been very kind to Oneros. Agnoli would taunt him, bully him with various insults, like, “I hope you’re all right, Oneros! Oh, wait you are! Ha-ha!”which was a reference to Oneros only having a right hand, if you couldn’t get it.
Oneros also knew some insults, like, “Agnoli, please calm down and take a deep breath…oh wait! You can’t! Ha-ha!” which was a reference to Agnoli not having any lungs, if you couldn’t get it.
And soon they became friends. This was a friendship based on the fact that Oneros and Agnoli both knew some creative and mean insults. Soon Agnoli and Oneros were on the same team. Agnoli and Oneros, even as ten-year-olds, could trash talk adults that they would begin to start crying. All the other kids would just watch. It was like Oneros was making fire come out of his mouth and Agnoli was making oil come out of his, which resulted in a huge, spectacular fire, the kind that annihilate, humiliate the one whom the insults were aimed at. They were so close friends that they would drink each other’s lemon juice, while chatting with each other.
So on the 6th of March, the 14-year-old Oneros went to see Agnoli and saw something he should not have. I have no shame in admitting that if I saw my best friend doing something that horrible, I would punch him in the face. Agnoli was seen with the left hand of Oneros, his lips twisted in a very unusual evil laugh.
However, as mentioned above, Oneros is not like most people. So he did not do what I would have done. Oneros greeted him the usual way, “What’s up, Missing Lungs? Why do you have my left hand?”
Agnoli was stunned. He did not expect Oneros in his house, all of a sudden. Finally, he replied:“Oneros, you have no idea how strong your left hand is. And you say you were a left-handed kid? That is very rare.”
Unlike most people faced with the situation, Oneros remained calm. “Agnoli, thank you for finding my good arm. Let us get the village doctor, he may know how to put it back on me.”
Agnoli’s tone changed. “All right, you do not understand. When I saw the falcon trying to eat your left hand, I immediately snatched it from him. I began to investigate it. Oneros, this is perhaps the strongest left hand in human history!”
Oneros’s eyes narrowed, “What makes you say that?”
Agnoli whispered “This hand… It can perform magical things…It can perform magic.”
“Agnoli, what kind of magic?”
“Oneros, this isn’t the left hand of a human, even though it looks like one. After lots of analysis, a drop of lemon juice removes the human skin and this hand is exposed to be what it truly is – a dragon’s horn. The dragon’s horn returns back to what looks like a human hand in a day. Although, the remaining parts of you don’t show any such tendencies.”
“Show me.”
And Agnoli took a drop of lemon juice, put it on Oneros’s left hand and within a second it was a dragon’s horn. It was pure silver; it was a straight horn that curved at the end and it was shining like the edge of a knife. Most men would be scared to see their left hand used like that. But Oneros was unlike most men. He said,“So…return it.”
“No. It is mine now.”
Oneros lunged forward to snatch it from Agnoli, but Agnoli screamed: “Draco Eldin Felke !”And a shock wave from the horn hit Oneros. He fell on the ground. Unlike most men in this situation, Oneros was however, not unconscious.
Oneros was weak and paralyzed now. He asked Agnoli, “What do you want to do with my left hand?”
“All right! I want to rule Russia! No. I want to rule the world!” screamed Agnoli.
“We both know that will not happen, Missing Lungs,”said Oneros. “Draco Yuxu Nit,” whispered Agnoli and Oneros fell asleep.
He woke up the next morning, confident that it was all a bad dream, a nightmare. But for reasons unknown to him, he was at Agnoli’s place. Agnoli was not there. He had left a handwritten note:
Dear All Right,
I feel I owe you an explanation. I noticed the falcon trying to eat your left hand seven years ago and I snatched it from him. I found out that it was actually a dragon’s horn after applying the lemon juice. I have bullied you, but deep inside, I knew how powerful you were. Having spent last seven years looking at various books and sources about this now I know how this works. I have mastered your left hand better than you ever did, All Right. I will now use it to rule the world and when that happens, I will offer you my friendship; I will invite you to rule half the world, while I rule the other half, if you are willing to cooperate and just stay in this house for three days. I am planning an attack on the whole world on the 10th of March. I am visiting Greenland currently regarding some ritual about the horn. If you wish to stop me, you are more than welcome to try. I will annihilate you, you will die. No matter what happens, I will be your best friend always. I feel this is more than enough information you need to know. I sincerely hope that you will cooperate with me and my plans, All Right, just stay in the house for three days. I have kept food in the refrigerator. Other necessities and luxuries are also available and you are free to use them.
Your Friend Always
Missing Lungs
Loron Agnoli.
I have recently visited Agnoli’s house and found this note there. It was written in cursive. The handwriting was no doubt beautiful. Agnoli’s house was spick and span; there was even a cute garden in his backyard and a painting that he drew. It was a painting of the innards of a person, but with no lungs. There were many such paintings in his house. I think that Loron Agnoli was an amazing painter and it is a shame that his paintings are not being exhibited in museums. But you are bound to get a really bad reputation if you behave like such a terrible villain.
As has been mentioned before, Oneros is unlike most people, which here means that he started to head toward Greenland, to see if he could somehow stop Agnoli. He stockpiled the food that Agnoli left in the refrigerator. His plan so far was to take a train to Finland and then a ferry to Greenland which would take a total of two days, leaving an entire day to fight Agnoli.
Oneros caught the train to Finland. His co-passenger was a girl named Cylika Arielle. They got into conversation and Oneros mentioned Agnoli. Cylika said that she knew Agnoli, they were old friends. When Oneros informed Cylika about Agnoli’s plans, Cylika said: “Hmm…that sounds like the kind of thing Agnoli would do.”
Cylika said that she would help Oneros track down Agnoli and fight him. She said she would accompany Oneros to Greenland. Oneros agreed to this. She took good care of Oneros on the train and healed his injuries to the best of her abilities. They reached Finland within a day and took the ferry to Greenland too.
Not much is known about that ferry ride. I have interviewed a ship boy who was on that ferry who claims that Oneros and Cylika were both very seasick. In fact, they paid twice the fare to ensure the ferry went faster to Greenland.
In Greenland, they asked directions to Agnoli and it turned out that Agnoli had destroyed a small town in Greenland. Everybody in Greenland knew Loron Agnoli. He had been there the last two days. And it was clear that this “ritual” was just Agnoli testing out the dragon’s horn in Greenland before trying it out on the rest of the world.
They found a man who was combing his hair. Cylika talked to the man and it turned out that he knew Agnoli’s location. He came to Oneros and said “My name is Ruben Altazar, and I know where Agnoli is. He stays at my big brother’s hotel. I will take you there.”
Altazar took them to a really large building. They were having light conversation and became good friends very quickly. Oneros promised Altazar that after he stopped Agnoli, he would visit Altazar’s house.
“This is my brother’s hotel, All Right.” Oneros was surprised. “Did you just call me All…” I am sorry to tell you that Oneros did not finish his sentence because Cylika punched him in the head. He was tied up and thrown in the basement, where he woke up. Agnoli was there, as were Cylika and Altazar.
Agnoli came near to Oneros. ”Why?” he asked. “I was very much looking forward to you being the ruler of half the world. You gave that up. As I have mentioned before in my note, you will die now.”
Oneros whispered “Cylika, Altazar…you betrayed me.” Cylika and Altazar made no comments. Agnoli said “Goodbye, Oneros. I will remember you as my best friend, All Right. Goodbye, Best Friend! All Right!”
Oneros began screaming” Don’t do this, Agnoli!”
Agnoli whispered” Draco Cepat Beigas!” And a purple light hit Oneros on his chest. This dragon horn’s command could easily kill most men, but as mentioned above, Oneros is not like most people, and thus Agnoli’s dragon horn’s command instead of hitting Oneros, turned around and went towards Agnoli.
“Draco Aizarg Nock” Agnoli shouted, but for some reason it did not work, and the light hit Agnoli square in the chest. Agnoli was hurt very badly.
A loud voice boomed: “I am the left hand of Oneros. Agnoli, you have tried to hurt Oneros a bunch of times now. I cannot abide by this! No longer command me, Agnoli. I have hated you ever since you got that falcon to separate me from Oneros, but to think you can use me against him! The audacity …”
Oneros shouted “Wait. I know it is rude to interrupt, but your falcon stole my left hand?”
Agnoli screamed,” Yes it was my falcon. By the way, I didn’t know the horn could talk too. I’ll destroy you, All Right! ”
Oneros said, in a low voice” And you call yourself my best friend?”
Agnoli quickly changed his tone” Oneros, you are my friend… it is not like that…”
Oneros screamed and immediately his chains broke. He stood up and his left hand joined him. It was an ordinary left hand now, and not a dragon’s horn. That left hand was used to punch Loron Agnoli in the face, which resulted in his death.
Oneros began crying. He had just killed his best friend. He was very sad. He heard another evil laugh. Altazar was laughing loudly. Oneros said “Why are you laughing, Altazar?”
Altazar said “You thought you won, didn’t you? Hahaha”
Oneros expected another evil plot twist. Cylika punched Altazar in the face and he fell down unconscious. She said: “Oneros, we are sorry for betraying you. Loron Agnoli gave us orders to bring you here. But you have won now, and we cannot stop you, and hence we surrender.” She smiled. Oneros nodded.
Oneros then spent three years mastering the use of his left hand, which had joined him again. He travelled all across the world, interacting with various dragons. They all bowed to him and Oneros was henceforth called the Master of Dragons. He and his army of dragons went on various heroic quests, such as protecting many kingdoms from monsters for another 15 years. He then remembered his promise.
His promise to visit Altazar’s place after stopping Agnoli. Altazar’s house was still in Greenland. He knocked on the door. The door opened.
“I have been expecting you” Altazar said.
Unlike most people, Oneros had forgiven Altazar for his betrayal. “I have cooked a meal for you” said Altazar.
‘I cannot wait to eat it” Oneros said.
The meal was eaten.
“It is delicious. What is this called?”Oneros asked.
“Oh. This is poison. You will die in half an hour.” replied Altazar.
Unlike most people, Oneros remained calm in the face of death. “I thought so,” he said. “That is why I took some anti venom just before coming here. I have kept my promise,” added Oneros.
He then noticed something.
“Altazar, are those lungs…?”
“Yes, they’re Loron Agnoli’s lungs.”
“But Agnoli doesn’t have lungs!”
“That’s because I took them from him.”
“You will die now.”
Oneros then said: “Draco Piedo Visfot”
And the whole house burst into flames.
Both Altazar and Oneros died.
And this was the tale of the legendary Oneros.
Some say his left hand is still out there, unharmed.
It was like a magnet that pulled me towards that pit. The big black pit and with my each step I came closer to it. I could not stop, so the only thing that came to my mind was to shout for help, but it seemed I was all alone. Not a single soul. Not a single sound. Except the ferocious roar from the pit. And it grew louder and louder each second until I was just a metre away from the pit, and then it stopped. So did that force that pulled me? What had just happened? I was weary but at the same time curious about what was inside the pit. My own thoughts scared me. Maybe just a small peek. But maybe I was dreaming.