Previously on Legends: The world’s most brilliant scientist Dr. Isaac Calu and his close friend George Richardson, aka Gira, were flung across the galaxy by a mysterious cosmic event. After Gira acquired a magic sword and the two commandeered a new space ship from a band of space pirates, the duo began their long journey home. During their travels, they rescued an alien girl from an abandoned space station filled with monsters. However, as they left the station, they discovered the girl had come down with a horrible affliction turning her into one of the monsters.
After leaving the alien girl in the care of the nearest space-faring hospital, the duo set out to the planet of Miron. The only place to acquire the necessary ingredients to create a cure for her affliction. However, Gira has been having visions of a world of gigantic creatures, which matches the description of Miron exactly. After quickly acquiring most of the ingredients, Gira set out on his own to acquire the last plant. A bright red flower, only found in a mountainous region of volatile weather and colossal animals.
“Are you sure you don’t want my help.” Dr. Calu asked his friend as their ship approached the edge of the safe zone. “Once you cross the boundary into that region, I can’t follow you with the ship. Communications will be spotty at best.”
“I’ll be fine,” Gira shook his head while checking over his refurbished space suit one last time. “Besides Doc, you’d be eaten alive out there, I at least have a chance to succeed.”
“If you say so,” Dr. Calu sighed and pulled their space ship into a decent. “Alright, this is as close as I can go,” the scientist turned the ship around and opened up the cargo doors. “I’ll try to stay around this area, keep in contact whenever you can.”
“Roger,” Gira nodded a leaped out of the ship, he fell several meters and landed on the ground with a thud. Most humans would feel some pain from such a jump, yet Gira didn’t feel a thing. “I guess I am getting stronger,” the black-haired man nodded to himself and marched forward.
“Please, George, don’t do anything stupid,” Dr. Calu muttered to himself as he pulled the ship away.
Gira raced straight ahead, he felt compelled to run faster and faster towards his goal. He was on a time limit, yet as he continued into the mountainous jungle, that fact became more distant in his mind. There was something ahead, something Gira knew he needed to see. Those visions that had beset him for the past few days, he had to know if they were real or not. As the swordsman passed through the tree line and found himself atop a cliff, he got his answer.
A massive valley was before him, surrounded by endless mountain ranges on all sides, and filled with a jungle of building-sized trees. However, the most striking aspect was the massive creatures that populated the lands. Just like in Gira’s dreams, he saw massive birds with wingspans in the dozens of meters, colossal apes, mountain-sized bulls, and so much more. It was a picture-perfect recreation of his visions, except for one detail.
“Where is that lion?” Gira wondered aloud. “Wait, no, I have a job to do,” he snapped himself out of it, “I need to find that flower.” The black-haired man quickly began his descent down the cliff face. Luckily for him, it wasn’t a steep incline, and there were plenty of handholds and places to rest. “This is almost too easy,” Gira realized.
As if on cue, the weather changed at the drop of a hat. A full-blown thunderstorm started out of nowhere. Torrential rain pelted the swordsman, while bolts of lightning began to assault the valley. Gira desperately searched for a cave of similar shelter. The swordsman quickly realized there was no such formation for him to hide in.
“When they said it was volatile, I didn’t think it would be this bad,” Gira tried in vain to shield himself from the rain. “It was bright and sunny literally a minute ago, I didn't even see the storm clouds form.” However, just as he began to complain, the storm stopped, the clouds parted, and it was sunny again. Gira merely sighed and continued his descent.
After about an hour, the black-haired man finished his descent and found himself inside the valley. The trees and rocks towered over him, like skyscrapers in a major city. The forest floor was quite dark as the thick canopy only let in a few beams of sunlight. Gira scanned the area for any potential predators but found none. Relieved, he activated the communicator in his spacesuit to contact Dr. Calu. However, he was met with only static.
“So much for keeping in touch,” Gira sighed as he checked his map. “Another two-hour trek across the valley should take me to the mountain range where the flowers grow. Let’s hope I don’t run into any company along the way.” The ground began to shake. “I just had to say it.”
Nearby, a skyscraper-sized gorilla stomped through the jungle, each step was like a miniature earthquake to Gira. The swordsman stumbled as the ground shook more and more violently. Gira had no idea how to handle such an unprecedented problem. He could only come to the obvious conclusion he should avoid getting crushed.
“Damn it, I have no choice but to run,” Gira grit his teeth, and he sprinted away, desperately trying to keep his balance. However, at every turn, he encountered a new problem. The flapping wings of a giant bird nearly knocked him off his feet. Then the charge of a colossal rhino reshaped the very landscape he stood on. It seemed the actions of whatever massive beast he was unfortunate enough to come across slowed his progress every step of the way.
After three grueling hours, an exhausted and dizzy Gira had made it across the valley to the mountain range where the flower resided. The black-haired man spotted no examples of the plant close to the ground. Thus, he steeled himself for another climb. With his enhanced strength and the help of his magic sword, Gira pulled himself up the mountainside with relative ease. Then suddenly, a wave of déjà vu ran through him.
“What is it now?” Gira exclaimed as a lion roared in the distance. “Could it be?” Gira scrambled faster up the cliffs, hardly paying attention to his path. “Maybe I can...Oh, no,” the black-haired man spotted the giant rhino again, which was about to ram into the mountain he was climbing. The beast would make contact a few kilometers away. However, Gira knew the shockwaves would cause the whole range to shudder. “Will I even have time to brace myself?” The swordsman wondered before briefly looking up, searching for any safe vantage. Instead, he locked eyes with the gigantic lion he was seeking.
The massive feline was perched at the top of the mountain. It looked down at the man with the same stare he saw in his dreams. For a brief moment, Gira forgot about the oncoming danger. He felt a strange connection pulling him closer to the lion. The black-haired man reached out for the beast until the rhino made contact with the mountainside. The shockwave triggered a landslide that threw Gira off his perch and down below. Before his vision went dark, the last thing Gira saw was the lion also falling from the mountain.
Gira awoke, sore but alive, he frantically checked his body for any severe injuries but found none. He quickly realized he was sitting in the shadow of something massive and looked up to see the giant lion. Its fiery mane had extinguished, and the beast was moaning in pain, having taken the full brunt of the landslide. Gira looked forward and noticed its right front leg was trapped in the rubble.
“Whether you meant it or not, you saved me,” Gira struggled to his feet, blood dripping from several places. He had taken no fatal injuries, but he still banged up and needed medical attention. However, the swordsman cared little for this fact and marched forward. “Let me see if I can help you.” Gira drew his blade and tried to use its lightning attack to free the animal. While he managed to destroy some of the rocks, the beast was still trapped.
The lion let out a soft roar, acknowledging his attempt to help, but admitting there was little he could do. The black-haired man looked up at the massive beast and found himself smiling unconsciously. Gira tightened the grip on his blade and tried again.
“I know I might be out of my depth,” Gira admitted between deep breaths. “But, I’m not one to leave someone who helped me in the lurch.” The swordsman broke away the rocks bit by bit, making slow but steady progress.
The lion remained silent at his declaration and eyed him meaningfully. Suddenly, its mane ignited, and it pulled on its right leg with all its might. The creature managed to partially free itself, giving Gira the chance to smash the last few large rocks in the way. In mere moments the giant lion was freed and let out a victorious roar.
“Good, that takes care of that,” Gira wiped the sweat off his brow. “Forgot how much that lightning attack takes out of me, got to-” The swordsman muttered before falling over. “Need to find that flower...” The massive lion looked down at the man again, moved its head down, and picked Gira up.
In his next moment of consciousness, Gira felt himself rise high into the air, the ground beneath him felt coarse and hot. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was perched on the lion’s head. The swordsman looked forward to see the whole mountain range he had spent the last few hours approaching take up his view.
“Well, I guess I owe you again,” Gira chuckled as he scanned the mountainside for the flower. “There, that’s what I’m looking for,” the swordsman pointed towards a bright, red flower, growing on one of the mountain’s peaks. The lion put its head just close enough that Gira could snag the plant without getting up from his spot. “Finally, that takes care of...” Gira began to fade again, the last thing he felt was the lion moving away, with himself still perched on its head.
The next time Gira opened his eyes, he was in a circular bed in a clean white room. He quickly recognized it as one of the patient rooms from the space station hospital. The swordsman briefly wondered what had happened until he noticed Dr. Calu smiling at his side.
“Morning champ, you’ve been out for a couple of days,” the scientist explained.
“What happened?” Gira mumbled.
“Well, after you hadn’t contacted me for several hours, I had gotten worried,” Dr. Calu recounted. “Then you came back riding that giant lion. You were pretty banged up, but when the lion saw me approaching, it dumped your unconscious body on the ground. You had that flower we needed clutched in your hand.”
“What about the alien girl? Did they make a cure?” Gira asked.
“They’re synthesizing it right now,” Dr. Calu nodded, “should be ready just in time to save her. They were pretty impressed you survived, actually. So much so they accepted the notes and documents I recovered from the expedition site as payment.”
“That’s good,” Gira rested his head on the bed. He turned towards the wall to see his sword, the Starbringer, leaning against it. For the first time, he noticed there was a carving in the red jewel placed in the blade's hilt. It seemed to resemble a lion, one with a great fiery mane. As the black-haired man closed his eyes again, he saw visions of the giant lion again. Something told him that he’d see the beast again, and he smiled at the thought.
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy
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