From forests to deserts, from mountains to seas, from country to country, the North Star guided Azar through his journey. Season came and went, and Azar almost lost count of how many had passed by him. He had been through vigorous danger, challenging obstacles, and beyond. But he always pulled through in the end. The wind was getting stronger, carrying red leaves from all the trees changing their outfit for the season. 10 years flew by in a flash, Azar’s human body grew from a skinny young human boy to a tall and strong young man. If the harrowing journey was to give him anything considered as “good,” it would be his rock solid body. No one could find an ounce of unwanted fat in his body. By many human standards, Azar would not be considered a strong-looking kind of person. He wasn’t that tall and bulky, with muscle running through every fiber of his body, like many human warriors he had met. However, Azar was very fit and agile, standing at 6ft 2 (184cm), with a hardened athletic build, thanked to all the physically demanding tasks the journey had pushed him through. With muscle that was as hard as a turtle shell, movement as fast and agile as a hunting panther, Azar was in perfect human physical condition. However, with comfy and baggy clothing, Azar hid his physic from all wandering eyes. The harrowing journey also granted Azar a more mature aura to his look as well. Azar could thank the wind and sun for that. Rather than an image of a young and fiery 18 years old, the face said 20s man while the messy hair said hobo since birth, no one could tell how old his human age was.

Camping out in a forest, Azar laid down next to the campfire, looking at the night sky. No matter how many times he looked at it, he could not help but feel nostalgic. So much had changed, but the one thing that hadn’t changed, the one thing still reminded him of the good old time, the stars and the moon. They were his observers, from mighty a dragon to a puny human, and they would still be there long after his next life passed away, Azar was sure of it. He had learned so much about the human race. Some were good, some were bad. But Azar could not shake his old feeling away. He still found the humans to be weak and greedy, he still couldn’t understand human’s standard for beauty, and of course, he would still much rather not interact with humankind if it was not necessary. However, Azar did come to understand that not all humans were his enemy. They were not all bad.

“The next city shouldn’t be too far away….” Azar talked out loud, “I should get some rest … who knows what they got in store for me this time ….”

Azar fell asleep on a calm and cool autumn night, at the edge of a wood, not far away from the capital of the land he was traveling through. But then, some light got through his eyes,

“It’s morning already !?”

Azar awoke and found himself lying in a field of wildflowers. The senses, the feeling, Azar could tell, he had been there before. Azar stood up and smiled as he saw what he had been looking for, a white staircase leading him to the cloud. Azar proudly walked up the staircase, the calm and soothing feeling cleansing his spirit. Azar never wanted it to end. And at the door in the sky, up there on the cloud, a familiar voice greeted him,

“Welcome back Azar.”

“Honor to see you again, God. Or should I call you Carl !?” Azar gave a cheeky smile.

…

Once again, Azar and God share some drinks in the middle of God’s sky garden.

“How has your journey been Azar ?”

“Full of ups and downs, I suppose,” Azar gracefully responded. “I got the chance to see humans for who they really are. And I must say, it is truly an eye-opening experience.”

“Yes,... the human world is much more difficult and complex than you imagine, isn’t it.”

Azar nodded, agreeingly. “Interesting creatures, they are. I still can’t imagine how some of them can be dumb and heartless to their own kind while some can still be so kind and wise even at their darkest moment.”

Azar looked at God and saw that he had a little smile on his lips.

“So, God, can I ask why you summon me here this time, why now ?” Azar kindly asked, “ It can’t be just because you miss me.”

“You’re right again, Azar.” God cheerfully told Azar, “I’m here to announce that the 10-year journey has ended. You have almost reached your destination. Congratulations !”

“Really !!!” Azar jumped out of his chair and cheered. “So I will get my power back now !!!??”

“Yes, and more. I have granted you more power than you could gain during your lifetime.”

“THANK YOU !!!!”

“But, remember Azar, you have to keep this power of yours a secret. You do remember your true mission, right ?”

“Yeah yeah…” Azar’s spirit was brought back to the ground. “So what now, do I keep continuing to follow the North Star or ….”

“All the stars have aligned, all you need to do is be yourself from now on and be prepared to save your world.”

“I know that I said this once before but… that’s kind of bleak, God” Azar gave God the concerned eyes. He knew better that though God did keep his promise, his plan did involve Azar to be put into a very difficult and, at some point, life-threatening situation. “And the fact that you keep it that way really makes me feel uneasy about this ….”

“Oh come on, have a little faith in me, Azar” God smiled kindly at Azar. “Have I ever let you down ???!!!!”.

“You made me eat old moldy bread !”

“But that helped you survive the hunger !”

“And slept through frosty snow !”

“To help you understand the tenderness of the human heart !”

“You put me into the body of a weak and skinny human child !”

“And look at you now !” God pointed at Azar. “You have grown into a fine man.”

God took a good look at Azar one more time then smiled

“I grant you godlike luck, Azar, but everything has its price.”

“What do you mean by that !?” Azar “There is a penalty for my gift !?”

“Not really,” God calmed Azar’s mind. “If you would only rely on my help to guide you through everything, then you would just become a useless puppet. Instead, I want you to earn them. To understand the value of a grain of rice to those in need. To know the hardship of each step in the journey. And the warmth of receiving even the smallest gesture of kindness.”

Azar thought for a while and slowly came to an understanding. “So all that journey, all those corrupted humans I met on the way. That was your warning, your lesson to me …?”

“Yes,” God sat up straight and proudly. “All living creatures are more alike than you think, Azar. Dragon or human, if everything is given and not earned, If you only rely on someone else, or your own fortune, then you all can be easily corrupted. Greed and desire are within you all, ”

“Thank you for your guidance … I guess….” Azar bowed his head toward God.

“Luck is a powerful gift, but only to those who know how to use it,” God explained.

“Huh !?” Azar gasped “you can trigger luck !?”

“Yes and no.” God softly spoke, “There is no such thing as a free gift. You will miss all the shots you don’t take. If you don’t take the risk, then you’ll never get the reward. So this luck can be the most powerful gift for some, while totally useless for others.”

“Wow, so I guess it was good that I helped all those humans back then….”

“I must say, Azar, I am impressed by how much you have grown during your time.”

“Oh, yeah, the human body grew surprisingly fast__”

“I’m not just talking about physically,” God laughed. “But I see that you still do not fully understand and take a liking to how humans judge beauty.”

“Well you know, I’m still a 250 years old dragon. I don’t think I will ever see humans any more than these puny and helpless creatures.”

“Well … this is going to get a little awkward …” God mumbled to himself.

“Wait what did you just say !!!”

“Oh it’s nothing, I just remembered something my cousin told me, that’s all.”

Azar wanted to believe him, but he caught a glimpse at God’s devilish side and saw a small smirk on his face.

“You have a cousin !?” Azar’s eyes narrowed.

“Well of course I do …” God smiled brightly. “But you know, that’s not important.”

“Because I swear I heard you say something about __”

God cut Azar mid-sentence. “Well, look at the time, I’m dearly sorry Azar but we must say goodbye for now.”

“Wait! Wait! What about my mission? You give me back my power, and now what ?”

“Now, it all depends on you and your decision. Win over the hearts and minds of the humans and save the world from armageddon”

“That’s it, no specific mission, not even something like follow the North Star !?”

“That’s not how it works, Azar. Again, if I told you exactly what to do, then it would destroy everything you and I stand for. Free will. You will have to decide what to do and how to do it from now on. I have given you all the tools and means to fulfill your quest. There will be many more obstacles and hardship ahead of you Azar, greed and temptation is not something that you could just easily ignore. Stay strong, Azar.”

“But at least, do I still have your blessing ?”

“Always …” God replied. “Ah ! I noticed that you have been earning a lot of your coins through gambling ….”

“Yeah, gambling is AWESOME !” Azar winked at God. “Especially when you keep winning !”

“I know right !” God cheerfully responded to Azar, but then quickly changed his tone as if he just remembered his position “Ehmm… but you know, you shouldn’t go around telling people to gamble, they won’t have the same luck as you do ….”

“Of course, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Splendid! Now it’s time for you to go back to the world of the living and try out your old power. I know you’re dying to get that back.” God gave Azar a pad in the back.

“Well I never thought I would get to say this but, I’m dying to get back to the land of the living !”

God and Azar both laughed out loud. But then, with just a snap of God’s finger, Azar fell from the cloud.

“OH COME ON !!!!! NOT THIS AGAIN !!!!” Azar screamed as he was thrown back to his body.

“Remember Azar! Hide your power! You must lead them in the light as a normal man !” God shouted back at Azar

…

“HOLY FUCK !” Azar violently awoke from his slumber. “Damit God! Why can’t you just …” He was about to say something he might regret, but the sight surrounding him stopped him.

“Wow !” Azar was struck with amazement as he found himself sitting in the middle of a dark green fire circle. And surrounding him, many burnt symbols representing the old language of ancient dragons, all gave him a very familiar feeling.

“I’m back !” Azar closed his eyes and focused. His hair started to turn silver and grew longer, all of his muscle bulk-ups instantly, long golden horns grew and curled to the back of his head. Azar transformed into his old humanoid look before turning into a human.

“Hum !!! Am I still humanoid ?” Azar was disappointed. He thought those symbols meant that he could now turn back into a dragon, but it seemed only to allow him to transform into his old humanoid form.

“Humm, so I would just change the form, not power …” Azar felt nothing different compared to just a few moments ago. Azar turned back to his human form and tested his limit.

“Alright, let’s see what I can do now !” Azar took a deep breath and released everything he got into the air. A big ball of blinding blue flame came pouring from his mouth, his dragon’s flame. It came back.

“Woohoo !!!” Azar jumped and cheered like a little child receiving a treat. Azar then tested his physical strength. He put his hand on a big tree, and with just the slightest push, the tree was completely knocked over and snapped in two. Azar had never felt so alive, not even when he was a dragon. God was right. He granted Azar more power than he could ever gain as a dragon.

“Now, magic !” Azar raised his hand in the air. The night sky roared as a lightning bolt struck down right where he stood.

“Right on !!!” Azar literally caught lightning with his bare hand. But then, due to the excitement of the moment, Azar made a mistake. He tested the power of the lightning bolt by throwing it forward, deeper into the dark wood.

“AAAAHHHHH !!!!” The horrifying screams of humans rang toward his ears. It did not even take his enhanced dragon hearing to hear it; any living creature in that wood could.

“Oh shit …” Azar feared for the worst. He had just slaughtered a bunch of innocent humans. Azar hustled toward where the noise came from and found 8 adult male humans lying all over the place, dead on site.

“Fuck….” The first 10 minutes of gaining his power back, he ended up murdering humans. “Aw man, this is not a good sign …”. But Azar quickly noticed something quite strange, to say the least.

“Wait, why are some of their pants down ?!” Azar found it quite confusing and disturbing to see one too many nake butts and male genitals out in the open like that.

“What the fuck is going on ….”

Azar did not have to look for long before another clue gave him some hint of what was going on. On one of the dead man's hands, he found a torn clothing fabric. Azar could tell that it must have come from a female, based on its color and design. Azar quickly picked up on all the weapons and symbols of their tattoos.

“Mercenaries !?”

With all that evidence, Azar quickly put two and two together,

“So where is the female corpse ?...” Azar predicted that those 8 dead mercenaries were taking advantage of a poor young female human just before the lightning struck. Azar walked through the smoking corpses and searched for the last one. And just as he thought, blown away due to the force of the blast, laid a young female human, her dress was shredded apart, bruises on her legs and hands indicated that she was held captive for some quiet times. Azar then took notice of something else,

“A talisman !?” there was a strange object hidden inside a secret pocket of the girl's torn dress “No,... a medallion ”. Though he was not quite sure what that thing was, it did look quite expensive and custom-made. So he took the medallion and gave something in return.

Azar sadly took out a thin piece of fabric and laid it over her fragile and pale body.

“I’m sorry kid. No one should have suffered what you have been through. God, help her find peace ….”

Thump thump … thump thump….

Azar stopped mid-sentence as he felt the weak sound of a heartbeat.

“She’s alive !!!???”

…

Crackle … Crackle….

Azar had done all he could. He healed the young female human and placed her next to the warm lambent campfire. Whether she would make it or not, it all depended on her will to survive at that point. Azar monitored the girl’s condition carefully, checking her temperature and constantly listening to her heartbeat.

HUFF…

A sudden change in her breathing. Azar sighed in relief. The girl had awoken.

“Huhhhah” The girl gasped for air like she was suffocating for the longest time. Then her basic instinct kicked in, scared out of her mind, cold sweat covering her head to toe, the young woman panicked. Her eyes were red with fresh tears. Her whole body was shivering as her eyes were opened wide, exploring her new environment. The moment her gaze caught the sight of Azar, sitting on the opposite side of the campfire, she started crawling on her back and got away from him.

“STAY AWAY !!!”

Azar calmly sat and kept his distance. He let the young human crawl away. Azar knew the splitting headache, and the exhaustion would kick in at any moment. And not 10 seconds later, the girl crumbled on her back. She held her head with both hands, eyes shut tightly, and screeched out the moan of pain.

“Calm down kid, you’re safe now …” Azar softly spoke.

“Who.. who are you … where am I !?” the young woman shrilled.

“I’m not going to move.” Azar leaned comfortably back against a tree. “So take a deep breath ….”

It took some tries, but gradually, the young girl found her breathing. Though her eyes were still wide opened, fixated on the strange man sitting in front of her, she no longer felt like she was drowning on dry land.

“My name is Azar, I … saved you from a bunch of unknown men ….” Azar explained to her slowly.

“Save .. me ..?”

“Yes,... I know this is going to be difficult but try to remember … What was the last thing you saw ?”

The girl tried to focus, images started to flash within her head.

“AAAAAAHH !!!” she screamed out as she held her head tightly. Azar knew it would hurt, but it was necessary.

“There were many men … so many dangerous men … I think … I think they were trying to ….”

“Don’t push yourself, kid.”

Azar finally got a better assessment of the young human as color finally returned to her skin. Her radiant emerald eyes were almost swallowed by her tears. Her elegant, almost fragile body made her look like a beautiful doll that was granted the gift of life. The silky back long hair was a complete constant to her light skin. While her full, tender pink lips were undoubtedly one of the most stunning aspects of her feature.

“Do you remember who you are ?” Azar asked softly. The young woman shook her head.

Azar's eyes narrowed. “Fuck …” he whispered.

“Sir, … please .. don’t hurt me !” she still cried out.

“Oh Please !” Azar gruffed, “Don’t flatter yourself, kid! I am not interested in you at all !”

“What kind of person reassures a woman like that !!??” the girl looked at what she was wearing and screamed out, “OH MY GOD ! DID YOU UNDRESS ME !?” she pointed her finger.

“Humh .. interesting …” Azar scratched his chin “ Your first instinct was to call out for politeness, then accused someone with a rather bitchy tone ….”

“...” the young girl suddenly shut up as she reminded herself of the circumstance she was in. Alone, in the middle of nowhere, with a strange man, … not making him mad should be the most important task for her right now “ I’m sorry….”

“Light skin, soft hand, a demand for basic respect, … You must be wealthy….” Azar completely ignored what she was doing and dived into his thoughts.

“Those men did not have much on them, … kidnapping is more likely …” Azar continued to speak to himself. At that moment, the girl truly understood that that strange man, Azar, had no interest in her at all. What he cared about was the mystery that she brought him.

“So that what you meant by everything is set … well play God” Azar looked up to the night sky and smiled. On the other hand, the girl felt a little frightened at the sight.

“This man is nuts !” she thought to herself.

“Alright, if you can’t even remember your name, then I’ll give you one, to make things easier,” Azar casually told her. “How about __”

“I can name myself !” The girl told him. After a few moments of thought, “Elly….”

“Elly ?” Azar wondered, “Is it because that name sounded familiar to you ?”

“I don’t know …: The girl looked as confused as Azar. “I don’t know where that came from... But to me, it just sounds… right !”

“Elly it is then !” Azar clapped his hand then told her, “Anyway, get some rest, the night isn’t young anymore, we’ll need all the energy we can get ….”

“Wait, we !!!???”

“Well unless you want to go out there on your own, naked in the middle of nowhere, fighting off who what …” Azar titled his head and raised an eyebrow toward Elly.

Without a second thought, Elly shook her head.

“Good, so WE will get up when the sun rises and start heading North.”

“Wait a second … Why would I be naked !!!!???” Elly suddenly realized something very strange about what Azar had just told her.

“That’s my clothes you’re wearing !”

“And !!??? You’re going to take your clothes back if I leave !?? How ...!!?? What kind of man are you !!!???”

“Girl! Do I look like a knight in shining armor to you ?! I don’t have money to spare giving out all my clothes and equipment to everyone I JUST MET !”

“What !?? That’s the reason !!! Then why did you even come and rescue me in the first place !?”

“DO YOU …” Azar, in a moment of carelessness, almost spilled out that he found her by chance, and it was highly likely that the lightning bolt he threw was how all those men died and possibly why she was critically injured.

“Ehum,,,” Azar faked his cough, “I may not be a knight, but that doesn’t mean I’m a coward. Of course, I’m going to help a girl in that kind of situation.”

“ Then leave her naked and stranded in the wood !!!”

“Hey Hey Hey !!!! I’ll do that to a guy as well! Don’t make yourself sound any special !”

“And that makes you good !?”

“Isn’t it ?!”

“...”

Azar felt tired of the nonsense conversation with the human girl. But looking at her, Azar understood where it came from. If he looked like her, he would be afraid all the time as well. Azar felt kind of sorry for Elly. She was so thin, Azar could barely see any muscle on her body. In addition, Azar also found something about Elly that did not add up to him. From what he learned in his past life and from what God told him, the female human stored their fat and nutrition in their breasts, and Elly did not seem to have much on her. That was particularly strange for Azar, Elly as he predicted, came from a wealthy background, which meant she was well fed, so why did she look so thin and weak? Azar thought only poor humans would look like her.

“She couldn’t have been held hostage for that long, … Did I misread her background ?” Azar thought to himself. With skeptical eyes, Azar looked at Elly once more and saw confusion was written all over her face. He sighed,

“I guess life could be very cruel for some …” Azar thought. He felt truly sorry for her. To Azar, if her face wasn’t already hard for him to look at, with skin like that of a newborn, eyes of a weak animal, then her skinny, fragile body would. 10 years of living as a human, but he still could not understand how could these female humans ever survive in a world like this.

“Oh come on God! Why do you have to accompany me with such an ugly creature …” Azar whispered to the night sky.

“What did you just say !?” Elly grunted

“Go to sleep, I’m tired !!!” Azar turned his back against her.

“If you’re trying to do something perverted to me …” Elly grabbed a thick twig.

Azar turned back and faced her, then he put two fingers in his mouth and faked a puke sound.

“ERK !!!” The eyes were full of disgust, and the fake vomit said more than Azar could put into words.

As for Elly, she never felt so assured of her safety and offended at the same time.