Lukhanyiso took a deep breath as he rested his hands on his sides. His wings converged in front of him and each tip formed a hexagon shape in front of his face. His black pupils extended in size as they extended over the iris. The black changed into a gold hue.

Four humanoids trotted inside; they had razor sharp claws, big crimson eyes, metallic sharp fangs, and wore armour wrought out of cinnabar. They were tall and had grey scaly skin. Mandlenkosi brought his daggers up to his face, then lowered his body as they progressed towards Lukhanyiso, who shot a gold beam to the void. Mandlenkosi rushed forward and beheaded one of the humanoids with one swipe. The head rolled towards the other humanoids.

Peoreu searched for a jewel inside Rhamncwa’s head, “there’s isn’t any jewel inside its hea….” A strong tail slammed against her neck. Enraged, she grabbed the tail and squeezed it as she shook it vigorously. “You’ll think twice before swatting me again with your tail! What do you think I am? A FLY?!” she squeezed tightly.

“Hey! Without him, there won’t be any control over the dragons. We need him alive and unharmed.” Arafci said as he flicked her hands away from the tail.

In a celestial trance, Lukhanyiso could only release the beam of grace which caused the big red circle to shrink.

One of the armoured humanoids saw an opening and sprang onto Lukhanyiso’s back. Its razor sharp claws were centimetres from ripping Lukhanyiso into shreds. Mandlenkosi broke the armour and drove his right dagger into the creature’s heart before it protruded outside its chest. Upon contact with the sturdy armour, Mandlenkosi’s senses began to diminish; his speed and strength dropping rapidly.

The remaining humanoid creature saw the injured threat struggling on the ground. He began to tremble and swiped his leg, slicing the flesh. Upon contact with flesh, the creature released strychnine which spread inside his internal organs. Mandlenkosi underwent a spasm as his body jerked around on the floor in agonizing pain.

Arafci plucked out a murky gem situated right next to the heart of the dragon and burned it instantly.

Peoreu ran to Mandlenkosi and released cream hued flames from her hands as she aimed at the creature. It burned within seconds and disappeared.

Arafci flew towards Mandlenkosi who winced from unbearable pain and he released a purple mist instantly. The purple mist changed to a light-green colour which seeped inside Mandla’s pores, and seconds later the shuddering stopped. Arafci released another purple fume which clouded the injury.

After a minute of nothing but grace entering through the gates of Hell, the red circle inside the black frame diminished.

Ten creatures walked into the basement and charged forward. Peoreu, who looked down on the healing Mandlenkosi, turned to face the creatures and released a gust of highly flammable wind from her mouth, before releasing fire from her hands. The creatures burned into ashes swiftly. She walked to the entrance and guarded it from future assaults.

The purple mist disappeared and revealed a smiling Mandlenkosi, who showed a lively look on his face as his grey eyes grew larger. “Death is very seductive,” he exclaimed as he hugged Arafci and smiled at him. “Thanks. And thank you for saving me back on Actual-Earth too… I saw golden gates twice.”

Lukhanyiso’s pupils turned black and shrunk back to their normal size and revealed his amber irises. Regaining consciousness, he took a deep breath and flexed his wings before flying up. Twisting his body, he brought down his wings and obliterated the black frame created with onyx and landed on the ground facing a wide-eyed Mandlenkosi and Arafci, who nodded to him.

He examined the ripped pants, blue-blood stain and tilted his head to the side before jumping towards him and kneeling down. “What happened, Mandla?” he asked, as he stroked his hairless, burly thigh for any injuries.

After Lukhanyiso fondled his leg, he jerked away as he hid his crotch with his huge hands. “I was saving you from that one.” He pointed at the beat-up creature. His dagger still rested inside its chest.

“They have assembled on the ground floor.” Peoreu closed her eyes in disgust. “About forty of those.” She pointed to the dead creatures.

The three males walked up to her and she led them up the stairs. “I really feel like this would’ve been done sooner if you hadn’t shown up, Peoreu,” Arafci said as he released the notorious purple fume on the forty creatures and lifted the mist seconds later.

Forty creatures lay dead on the floor and Arafci walked towards the opposite of the hall. He stepped carelessly on several limbs and heads before reaching the stairs. “Are you guys coming, or not?” he asked as he continued forward.

The three were amazed as they followed behind him. “I have never seen these creatures before,” Peoreu said as she hovered above the dead bodies.

They reached the top of the stairs and stood in front of another stone which blocked them from entering the attic. More annoyed than ever, Arafci brought his shoulders forward and released a powerful punch which shattered the boulder into a million pieces. “Scourge!” he shouted into the darkness. “Enough hiding! We’ll just end your brief cameo and get back to our lives! Come out of the darkness!” he shouted more angrily.

Peoreu released a speck of light, which levitated to the middle of the ceiling, “Illuminate!” she said as specks grew stronger and larger and illuminated the room.

At the end of the room stood a throne wrought of glowing cinnabar. A hooded figure lounged on it, its arms lolled lazily on the armrest, exuding boredom. “How dare you break into my house and shout out?!” it directed to Arafci with a high-pitched whine. It pointed to Peoreu, its finger looked like a human’s as it trembled. “And you? Tall woman! Who the hell do you think you are to illuminate my room? I will destroy all of you!” Inside the hood, bright red eyes gleamed as it chanted an ancient spell.

A series of hisses followed as soon as he finished the spell. Lukhanyiso grabbed Mandlenkosi and flew to the ceiling with him. Live wires began dancing as they slithered on the floor; each wire released a powerful energy as many wires slithered towards the gigantic siblings. Arafci exhaled as he calmed himself down. He placed his hands on the floor and released a wave which short-circuited every wire.

Peoreu appeared in front of the red-hooded figure and looked into its eyes, which were now bright yellow.

“He’s human?!” she exclaimed in confusion. “The big-shot Scourge is just a human! How did this punk influence dragons and a dragon leader?!” she looked at Arafci, “We got all worked up over a puny human?”

“He’s not the Scourge, Peoreu,” he said as he appeared in front of her. “THAT is the Scourge.” He pointed to a flying creature outside the window. “This is just the Scourge’s servant.”

Arafci released a powerful murky purple beam from his mouth; the ray of unknown power shattered the glass and encircled a winged creature and the Scourge who rode on it. The purple beam flew into the rotunda and landed inside the room with a huge crash.

The creature was two times bigger than the regular creature and had scaly wings on its back. Scourge was a pitch-black creature that had slimy scarlet worms as its skin. The worms seemed to move around, and it had small beady arctic blue eyes and wore nothing. “I am soooo sorry!” the Scourge pleaded as he looked at the ground. The worms seemed to shiver as his hands trembled with utter fear.

Arafci manipulated the purple energy into a prison for the creature and Scourge “My aim wasn’t world domination. I wasn’t going to infiltrate Luxury City. I wasn’t going to use it as a breeding hub for demons and devils! I wasn’t going to use this body as a vess-”

“As a vessel?” Lukhanyiso flew above him, his face was composed, but his voice possessed pure anger. “You were not going to use my father as a vessel?” he landed in front of the purple metal barred prison. “Please tell me that I dreamt this anti-climax of a villain?!” he shouted as his amber eyes blazed pure dominance and death. “This is what’s going to happen next. I am going to put an end to this worthless attempt at world domination… I’ll send you back to the pit of Hell you came from. When you arrive there, you will inform your peers and devils that a hero–” he stopped and looked back at the three beings who listened attentively. “Two fathers and two siblings guard Earth, and we’ll terminate every evil that threatens Actual-Earth or Distort-Earth.” He walked towards the small prison,

Arafci manipulated the bars towards the creature. He then clenched his hands slightly as the bars compressed the bones inside which cracked and broke into several pieces. The trampled flesh was all that remained as the bars turned into the regular mist and disappeared.

The Scourge coward backed away after he saw the demise of his creature. Lukhanyiso moved forward. He flexed his wings and brought them forward as they released a powerful gust that released the Scourge from an unconscious man who was … Lukhanyiso’s father.

The slugs splatted on the wall and converged into the Scourge’s original form, a deformed slimy creature with short limbs, big blue eyes, and two horns which sprouted above its head.

“Master?” the servant exclaimed as he fainted on the throne.

Mr Ngonyama’s unclothed body slumped on the floor. Peoreu quickly picked him up and placed him right next to Arafci, who ripped a piece of his robe and wrapped it around Mr Ngonyama.

Lukhanyiso’s amber eyes never left the enemy, whose whole body quivered with paralysis. Its blue eyes showed fear as he looked up at Lukhanyiso. His wings converged. “Time for judgement!” he shouted and his wings released a white beam which struck the enemy.

His whole murky, slimy body turned pale white before it powdered to dust. Lukhanyiso released a gust, which spread the dust all over the attic.

Lukhanyiso rested his wings as he glared at the particles which floated about… and then, he turned around. He started shivering as he saw his father supported by Mandlenkosi Ruwois Cepuro as they came toward him. Rivulets of tears streamed down his face as he stood looking at his father, who had not aged while he was kept captive. His father began walking without Mandlenkosi’s help, his eyes filled with tears which ran down his cheeks.

They embraced as his father wrapped his arms around his son. Lukhanyiso rested his head on his father’s chest and sobbed uncontrollably. “It’s okay now, I am here… utata ubuyile.” His deep soothing voiced echoed inside Lukhanyiso, who hung on to his father.

“I am a sucker for happy endings!” Peoreu wiped the tears from her translucent skin.

Arafci rolled his eyes and hugged his sister. “There, there…” He patted her back, “Drama queen!” he mouthed to Mandlenkosi, who laughed silently.

Lukhanyiso looked at Mandlenkosi. He realised something… something which worried him. After he started dating Mandla, he wanted his father’s acceptance, and he wanted reassurance that it was okay… that love was just love. He broke the hug and walked to Mandlenkosi. Arafci and Peoreu anticipated the reaction from the father.

He held his hand as their fingers intertwined, Lukhanyiso gave a nod to Mandlenkosi who smiled back. They walked towards his father. “Tata. NguMandlenkosi lona,” Lukhanyiso said.

The father looked at the joined hands and raised an eyebrow.

Tell us what you think: Do you think Lukhanyiso’s dad will approve?