Chapter 20

I was little again, maybe five. Up until I saw the look in the monster king’s haunted eyes at Saple’s cell, all I could remember from back then was how scared I had always been. But now, I watched the child who was me.

I ran around in circles beneath a blazing sun in a giant green field filled with little white flowers. I was laughing and playing happily. Looking up from the field, my younger self started jumping around as if I saw the best thing in the world.

In the sky, a dragon descended. With a bubbly excitement, I ran up to the dragon after it was on the ground and assaulted the rider. A hearty laugh escaped the rider’s throat. He bent over and rubbed my young head with a joyful smile. 

“How’s my little man, Roderick?” The name shocked me, as I remembered the King calling me by that name that day. It wa