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This is a little demo of my upcoming novel, "Undead Dragons." Tell me what you think! |
Chapter 1 Washington D.C., United States April 5, 2062 People cheered and howled in excitement, as they knew the show was about to begin. A man walked up on stage. He had jet black hair and a T-shirt of his favorite band, Megadeth. three others came right after him. A bald man, a man with long brown hair, and another with dark blonde. They were all wearing black leather jackets. The first to come on stage picked up his white flying V. The bald one went to the mic, the brown haired one approached the drums, and the last one came and took the bass. They began to play. The crowd roared. Many held up signs that said the words Blacklight. As they played, the audience grew louder and louder, never stopping the constant cheers. They continued to play harder, doing their newest songs from their latest album, Crash, And of course, their most popular hits. The songs flew by, and the audience remained active, never losing interest. After the show, the four bandmates went to their hotel. "Man, another great show tonight in D.C! And excellent drumming Tom!" the bassist said. "You weren't so bad yourself Chris. Normally you can't hear the bassist, but the audience sure listened to you tonight!" Replied Tom. "Well, before we get going to Baltimore tomorrow, I was thinking we could go to the pub tonight to celebrate!" Said the drummer. "Come on Eric! You know I don't drink!" The guitarist told him. "It'll be fun Metal, don't worry! They've got wings and we know you like those!" Eric assured him. "I suppose so, all wings are good. Even over-cooked ones!" Metal replied. Of course, Metal was not his real name. Everyone, including his bandmates called him that because they knew he was such a metalhead. He knew every rock band, dead or alive, and could name every song and album they had. His real name was Adam Leon. The only person who ever called him that was his mother. Later that night, the band took an uber to, Gary's Pub. A place famous, for particularly, their wings. But also, for the classic rock hits people play on the jukebox. The songs go way back to 2024, when the heavy metal icon, Lightning Crack, released their debut album. Metal, however, was into the very old; forgotten hits. From the 1980s and 1990s. Peoples sometimes thought he was strange for liking such old hits, but they also believed that those songs were how Metal became such an excellent guitarist. As the band entered the pub, a large crowd surrounded them and started taking lots of pictures. A few crazy Blacklight fans asked for autographs. Metal and his bandmates took a table and ordered what they wanted. "Woah, fried wings?" Chris was confused. "You never get fried wings." "Eh, just wanted something different this time, I guess. I always get buffalo." Metal replied. All four of them enjoyed themselves that night. Eating wings and drinking beer. Apart from Metal, of course, who had his wings with soda. That night, the band drove back to their hotel, and decided it's time to get some rest. "Woo! Baltimore tomorrow! Can you believe it?!" Eric said excitedly. "Well, yeah." Said Tom. "We've been to almost every city in the U.S during this tour, soon we'll be heading back to London to play one final show." Blacklight was a British metal band, and Metal was British. As a kid, he always wore shirts of popular rock/metal bands and had posters of them all over his room. He only had his mother to take care of him, as his father left one day and didn't return. Metal stretched. "Alright little babies, go to sleep then" Metal joked. "I'm gonna take a walk through the city, to get myself tired" "Ok, you have fun with that." Chris told him. And Metal left the hotel. Metal wasn't actually planning on getting tired, he in fact, wanted to stay awake. He walked around the streets of D.C., thinking about how much he wanted a coffee. As he was walking, Metal saw the White House. Wow, I've never seen it up close before. He thought to himself softly. However, he kept walking. A warehouse was not too far from where he was, and as he walked by it, he thought, that must be where the government now keeps all of their new technology. The year 2062 was much like the late 2010s. Technology production has not increased much because major companies had their products taken away after the government passed the Technology act, giving the U.S government the power to take inventions from companies to put them through further testing. Metal was aware that spying on government property was against the law, but he was very curious to know what inventions they have yet to release to the public. He went over to the warehouse, but got his jacket stuck on a thorn. Then he heard the voices of guards. Crap! I have to get out of here! Metal needed to think quickly, otherwise they'd catch him and he'd be put in jail. He finally managed to get his jacket off the thorn bush, and he climbed a tree nearby. The guards were completely unaware that he was there. Phew, what a close call. He thought quietly. Metal was starting to have second thoughts of going into the warehouse, but he still really wanted to know about the technology. He waited for the guards to leave, then managed to sneak into the building after finding a window open. The room was very dark, so he turned on the light from his phone. He peeked around but couldn't find anything interesting. Just couches, potted plants, and clocks. It was probably the president's old furniture he chose to throw out. He glanced around the room, looking for something, but then he slipped on an unwashed shirt, and a loud noise was made when he fell. That attracted the guards' attentions and they went into the warehouse to investigate. Metal was worried now, for the first time in months. He turned off his light and looked for a place to hide. Luckily, he found a small lever attached to a couch, and he pulled it down. A massive staircase formed before him. The guards heard the noise and rushed over to Metal's hiding spot immediately. But he was already gone. Once down the staircase, Metal pulled another lever, so he would be hidden again. The guards never found him. At first, he had no idea where he was. The walls and floors were made of a very strong steel, and a door was in front of him that required a passcode. Then he realized that it must be a lab. Aha! I know what to do with a door like this! Metal began to take apart the keypad and messed with the circuit boards until the door was opened. In high school, Metal took a robotics and a computer class. So, he knew a lot about the kind of technology he was dealing with. Once inside the room, Metal was amazed with what he saw. So many different, and incredible inventions lay before him. He saw things in that lab he never believed existed, or that he only saw in Sci-fi movies. Teleporters, a cloning machine, futuristic weapons, and many, many, more valuable inventions. But then he found something that really caught his eye. Metal saw a red, axe-shaped, electric guitar with yellow flames. That is the coolest thing I have ever seen. He thought, in awe. He wanted to play around with it a bit. Metal picked it up and starting jamming to his favorite songs on that guitar, but then discovered things about it even more amazing. The guitar had powers. When Metal played a certain lead riff, a laser shot from the top of the guitar, and bounced off the steel walls and vanished. Metal could not believe what he just saw. Why does this piece of holiness even exist? Metal thought. Metal decided he needed to keep it, even though he knew it was against the law in the United States and would be considered stealing property from the government. A very serious crime. Well, I can just teleport to London with it so I won't get punished in the U.S. Plus, I'll be way ahead of my bandmates, ready for the London show. Metal couldn't wait to try out the guitar for a live audience. The crowd would go crazy. Metal found a teleporter, made of powerful steel and shaped like a box. He pressed the button, hoping it would take him to London. In an instant, Metal vanished from the lab, and went through a swirling vortex. But in under a few seconds, he appeared in a forest, midair. Metal fell down, dropping the machine and the guitar from his hands. The guitar safely fell on the grass, without a scratch, but the machine hit a rock and broke in half. A small explosion of electric purple particles came out of the machine. Metal was very confused. He had no idea where he was. He looked at the machine to see exactly where he had landed. As he looked at the twitching letters from the dying box of steel, it turns out, he did land in England. But there were numbers next to it, and they said in digital print: 8 - 25 - 1348 Chapter 2 Somewhere in Landia October 18, 1299 Malicious flames spread across the small village and homes collapsed and burnt to the ground. In a little cottage, a blue dragonborn male held on tight to his small child. "We'll be safe in here, my little one." Said the father. The cottage was deathly quiet, and all that could be heard from the outside were faint screams of villagers and pieces of wood crashing to the ground. "Father, I'm scared." The young dragonborn told him quietly, with tears dancing from his eyelids. "I know, I know, but it will be ok. They'll all be gone soon, and everyone will be happy again!" The father tried to cheer his son up. But nothing would work. All the dragonborn child could feel was the claws of fear tearing apart his soul. They experienced a few more moments of silence, until loud footsteps could be heard. They grew louder and louder. Suddenly, a menacing looking cyclops threw the door open, and crushed it beneath its feet. Like a flash of lightning, it grabbed the father and threw him into a tree, breaking his neck and killing him instantly. The baby dragonborn cried even louder. But the only one who could hear him was the cyclops It then noticed the baby and saw something special about him. He would make a fine assistant to do my labor. Thought the cyclops. He scooped the young dragonborn up with one hand and carried him to his home. Over the course of five years, the dragonborn child, whose name was Shamash, learned many things from his adopted father. "This is what "Hi" means in giant.," the cyclops father told him roughly. Soon enough, he learned more than giant, he was also taught some goblin as well. "Repeat after me, Boat, Grape, Grass." Said the cyclops in giant. "Boat, Grape, wheat." "No! It was grass, it's not that difficult!" screamed the cyclops with fury in his eyes. He smacked Shamash, making him cry. This was unfortunately, a normal occurrence. Years later, he began learning magic. He was taught by the cyclops many different spells, and ways to use a wand. "Flick your wand to the left." Shamash attempted to do so but went another direction instead. "I said left, you ignorant wimp!" After a few more times, Shamash at last figured it out. "There we go, finally!" Shamash was always upset after every lesson. The cyclops may have been a very good teacher, but it was an awful parent. "Flick, flick, flick, then poke!" Shamash didn't understand what he was supposed to do. "Are you kidding me!? It's not that hard!" Shamash's sadness started being replaced by anger towards the cyclops. One day, Shamash snuck off to the library. Even though he knew he was not allowed to. "Umm, excuse me? Do you know where I could find the book of spells for...uh.... fire?" asked Shamash to a dragonborn his age. Shamash could tell that she was a bronze dragonborn. "There aren't any spells that are simply called "fire"." Said the other dragonborn. "You must be looking for the firebolt spell. Don't worry, I have that." "Oh, uh, thanks." Shamash replied. "The name is Tero by the way." The dragonborn told him. "Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Shamash." "So, do you come here often?" He asked Tero curiously. "Oh yeah, for sure. I come here every day. How come I haven't seen you around? You seem to really care about magic. I'd expect you love to read books." Tero replied. "I wish I could, but I can barely get my hands on one. My adopted father hates books. He prefers to teach me with hands-on learning. "That's really too bad. There is some good knowledge here you are missing out on." Shamash thought of something. "Hey, I think I could sneak here once a day to read a good book, and maybe you could teach me more about magic. Is that ok with you?" Shamash asked her. "Yeah, of course" Tero answered. Soon enough, they became good friends. Shamash always went to the library to learn more from her. And he always came home right on time, so the cyclops wouldn't beat him. Shamash's schedule was already so tough, he had a full day of harsh teaching and rough punishment, but by night, he learned real, and interesting things from his friend. One day, Shamash stayed at the library late. "Hey Tero, what time is it?" Shamash asked. "I'm going to have to check outside, be right back!" Shamash continued looking through his book for an instant sleep spell. Somehow, he never seemed to find it. Once Tero came back in, she told Shamash that it was way past sundown. "Oh no! I must've stayed here for too long; the cyclops will come looking for me soon!" Just as he said that, the door was torn open, reminding him of the violent image he saw as a young child. The cyclops was furious and roared at Shamash in intense anger. "I can't believe you would do this! Reading books without my permission, what do you think you are?" "Sorry, sorry, I'll go back home immediately..." "Wait!" Tero spoke up for her friend. "It's not his fault, I was the one who asked him to come here! I wanted him to learn to read. So he could learn real knowledge!" The cyclops looked at Tero with flames in his eyes. He towered over her, at least a five-foot difference. Without another word, he grabbed her with one hand and crushed her until she was no more. "Now you are going home! And that should keep you from ever coming back again!" Shamash fell on the floor, sobbing. He never had any friends, and now he lost the only one he ever had. By the time Shamash arrived home, his sadness was replaced with vengeance. The cyclops had taken everything he ever truly cared about. At that moment, he knew what he had to do. The beating, the harsh words, the stealing of lives, and he let all of that happen to him. So, he came up with a plan to end his pain. The next day, after another harsh magic lesson by the cyclops, Shamash pretended to panic and yowled in fear, "There's a goblin in our house!" The cyclops ran over inside to protect his home. In an instant, Shamash ran off and locked the door behind him, then as fast as he knew how, he casted the firebolt spell he had been practicing for so long. His home erupted in flames, and the cyclops was still inside, burning to death. At that moment, Shamash ran from his home, his past, his pain. And he promised himself to never return. Thirty-six years later, Shamash learned more and more magic, and became a masterful and expert wizard. He never forgot his good friend Tero, and now he could protect himself from whatever came his way. Shamash wasn't very wealthy, so sometimes he had to go without food for a day, especially if he was studying. Shamash was ready for a new future ahead of him. One, that would change his life, forever. Chapter 3 Somewhere in Landia August 25, 1348 Metal could not believe what he just saw. Those weren't a bunch of random numbers, that's a date! I must've picked up a time machine thinking it was a teleporter! Metal thought to himself, full of fear. The worst part is, is that now I'm stuck here, it's broken! Metal began breathing very fast, and he began to panic. He paced back and forth among the trees, while worrying about his band, his family, his career, and even his reputation. No, I can do this. 1348 can't be all that bad. Metal began to pace more slowly. At least I have this guitar, and I'll keep the machine in case I can ever get it fixed. Metal made up his mind at last. He needed to find someone to help him immediately. He was lost in the forest, with no way back to his time. He began to wander, clutching his guitar tightly in his right hand. As he walked through the forest, the heat got to him. He knew he had to find water, and fast. After a few more minutes of searching, he came across a small pond. After digging a hole in the dirt, Metal then began to fill it with pond water. After filling it to the very top, he attempted the riff he learned in the lab. After a few seconds, a powerful, blistering laser shot out of the head of the guitar, striking the water, causing it to steam. He then drank as much as he could, and then got moving again. Along the way, he saw some strange things. Metal saw what looked like fairies, in which he had read about in fantasy books, but never believed they existed. That's not all. He saw strange looking bugs and large mammals as well. What part of England is this? He thought to himself. Metal now knew he was in the past, but he had no idea creatures like these were once real. After a few hours, night fell. Metal was tired out of his mind, and he had to make a bed out of leaves and sleep on it. While hoping mosquitos wouldn't bite his flesh all night. This has by far, been the craziest day of my life. Metal thought. Even crazier than that time I decided to ride the tallest roller coaster in the world when I was thirteen. After that thought, he was asleep. The next morning, Metal awoke and began the same procedure he had the day before. He made a hole of water and drank it up. Then he continued to travel along the forest. At last, he reached a tiny village. It was a very small place. It kind of looked like a very medieval shopping center. The homes were made from old, and almost unstable wood, with roofs made of hay. He also noticed a mill made from half bricks, and half wood. Only one little crop farm was there, and it looked like it was almost harvest season for the wheat. Metal followed a short, dirt trail into the village. As he walked through, the people immediately turned their heads around and stared at him, like a small pack of wolves stalking their prey. No one in the village had ever seen someone like Metal before. "Ha, ha, very funny everyone. Can someone tell me where the heck I am?" Said Metal with a tang of annoyance in his voice. "Who... who are you?" A short man asked in an ancient sounding Scottish accent. "The name's Metal, and, where am I? Is this England or not?" The villagers looked at him confused. "What on earth is England?" A woman asked. "You're in Landia, how do you not know that?" Another man cut her off. "Landia? What is this, a province, a state?" Metal was perplexed. "Landia is a kingdom, you must be new around here." The short man from before told him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm new around here. So, what can I even do here? If this isn't England, then why does everyone have a British accent? And what's with all the freaky magical creatures?" Metal asked. "Woah save your questions for later lad. I'm Thomas, I am the leader of the village." The short man replied. "OK, I GET IT, but I just want answers here!" Metal exclaimed, blood beginning to boil. "Don't worry lad, I'll tell you everything you need to know, but that means you have to tell me where you're from too. We've never seen anyone like you before at this village." Thomas guided Metal to his house, and they went inside. It was a very old looking home. Full of cobwebs, and lots of hay and wood. There were also two cheaply made looking chairs and a very unstable table. "So, would you like anything to drink?" He asked Metal. "A Dr. Pepper would be really nice right about now." Metal said to the villager. "I don't know what that is, but I got apple cider if that's ok?" Thomas replied. "Yeah sure." Metal said quietly. "Now sit down here, I'll go and prepare some cider, and then we can talk." A few hours passed, and Metal finally began to understand everything, and Thomas also learned about Metal's life in the future. "Wow, so Landia really is in England isn't it, and I can't believe magic and mythical creatures really did exist once." "What do you mean? Did magic die in the future?" Thomas looked a bit worried. "Apparently, I've never even read about magic or mythical creatures in the history books, and I don't know why. And of course, I've never seen it in person in my time, so it must have died." "That's too bad." Thomas looked kind of upset. "Anyways, I guess what you call "Modern technology" must have been what killed off all of the magic in the world." "Possibly. But how should I know? I was only born in the twenty-first century. A lot could have happened before that, I just never knew." Metal responded. He paused for a moment. "Well, I appreciate you telling me all of this, but I should get going now." "What? You don't want to stay here? You could be a farmer and sell crops to the kingdom. It would be an easy job to have." Thomas said. "Nah, sorry, but I need to find a way back to my time." Said Metal. "Everyone is probably worrying about me, and pretty soon, Blacklight, is going to find a new guitarist to replace me." "Ok, I understand. Good bye Metal! I hope we meet again someday!" He walked out of the short man's home, and the villagers waved goodbye. And in a few moments, Metal was gone. After spending some time in the village, Metal was off again, doing what he had been for the past day. The fairies and the other odd creatures were still all around him, like wild fans asking for autographs. Metal sighed and sat down for a few moments. He had only been walking for thirty minutes, and he was already tired! He looked at his phone to check what time it was. The clock was frozen at 12:13 AM, the time when he left the lab and took the time machine with him. Same went for the watch on his wrist. Unbelievable, I can't even tell the time anymore. He thought in a fit of fury. But that wasn't his only problem. He was very exhausted from carrying his guitar and the broken machine far distances, and he has not eaten for a while now. Metal continued to try and push through his lack of energy, but it wasn't enough. Like a deer being shot down, he collapsed. Chapter 4 Somewhere in Landia August 26, 1348 As Metal slowly opened his eyes, his surroundings began to take shape. He was lying on a soft bed that felt like the innocent touch of sheep wool. He was in what looked like a cottage, much like the homes he saw in that small village. He looked around and saw that the walls were made of strong looking wood, able to last a hurricane. He could also make out the image of a large bookshelf, containing many ancient texts that looked very important. Suddenly, the smell of something very tender wafted toward his face, making him drool like a dog who stares at its owner while they prepare its dinner. What is that? Metal thought, almost hypnotized by the delightful aroma racing through his nose. "Oh, I see you're awake." A deep voice sounded before him. A large figure walked in the room. Metal saw a blue lizard standing on two legs, covered in shiny steel armor. He could see a finely polished stick in his pocket. Metal looked at the stick and thought, that must be a wand. "Who are you?" he asked. Metal wasn't afraid of the lizard. He's seen creepier things in the forest. "My name is Shamash" The lizard replied. "I found you unconscious in the woods, so I came and brought you here, so you would not be exposed to further harm." "Oh, well thank you for saving me. I'm Metal by the way." Shamash didn't reply. He walked around the room then back to the source of where the smell was. In a few seconds, he came back out with a large pot of beef stew. It smelled delicious, like the pot roast his mom used to make for him when he was a kid. Shamash poured Metal a bowl, and then himself. "You look a lot like a foreigner," Shamash told him. "Yeah, I'm not from around here." Metal was a little hesitant to talk, he just wanted to gobble down his stew. "Where are you from then? Triser? Arabis?" Metal slurped up a large spoonful, then said "I'm not from any of those places, I don't even know what they are." "Strange" Shamash said solemnly. He took a bite of stew. It was a very chunky piece with lots of meat. "Yeah, you see, the thing is... I don't even live in this timeline. I'm from the year 2062." Metal spoke slowly. Shamash was silent for a few seconds. "What?" he asked softly, very confused with what he just heard. Metal started speaking quickly. "Ok let me explain. So, I stole a time machine from the U.S government along with a really awesome looking guitar, and then I ended up here, but the machine fell on a rock and broke in half, so now I can't go back, and I'm stuck here until I can get it fixed." "I don't understand a single thing you just said." Shamash said with a perplexed look on his face. Metal told Shamash everything he knew in about an hour, but he still couldn't quite get through to him. "That doesn't really make sense. I don't believe you because few have ever mastered the ability to do a time spell, only advanced and wise sages. And you don't look like a sage, or even a wizard." Shamash told Metal. Metal kept trying to reason with him. "But it's not magic, it's a machine, they're both completely different things." He said assuredly. "But I've never seen a time machine before, it may not even exist. How do I know you're not a bandit trying to intimidate me and steal my stuff?" Shamash looked suspicious. "But I'm telling the truth." Metal spoke with an honest tone in his voice. Shamash put his hand at his wand, ready to pull it out, looking a little insecure. "Then where is the proof?" "Ok, if you want evidence then I'll give some to you." Metal went through his pocket until he pulled out the two broken pieces of the time machine. "See, look, it says the date, August 25, 1348, when I arrived here. But since it broke, it's been frozen at these exact digits. "Well if you did manage to make it to this time, then I guess you really did use that broken steel box to get here." "Yeah, but the only issue I have is that now I'm trapped here, with no way home." Metal groaned, with a tang of both annoyance and sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry about that, but right now there is nothing anyone can do. Until we can figure out how to use that time spell, you will unfortunately be stuck here. Unless that steel box you carry, can somehow fix itself up." Shamash told him solemnly. Metal looked at him with an upset face. "Well what can I do then? Is there a place I can go to learn this time spell?" "Hmm..." Shamash sat there thinking for a few moments. After giving some hard thought, he finally replied, "I think I know a place that might help you out." "Well wherever this place is, I'd be very grateful if you took me there!" Metal looked at him with a pleading look in his eyes. "Ok fine, just let me explain everything about where we're going first." Said Shamash. Metal replied with sigh of relief. "Thank you very much!" "I'll be right back, I have to go and get something." Shamash got up from his seat and took his and Metal's empty bowl and walked off to another room. Metal sat for three minutes waiting for Shamash to return. I wonder what place he has in mind for me. Metal thought to himself, curious of what strange new location he might soon encounter. After the three minutes have past, Shamash walked back in with a thick bag full of books, and a large paper map made of old parchment in his hand. Shamash set the map down and pointed at it. "So, I brought this to help us on what direction we need to go." Metal looked at the map with curious eyes. "Woah, It's huge!" "It's the southern part of Landia, which is where we're located right now. We need to go west to reach our destination." Shamash explained. "What's the place called that we're going to?" Metal asked. "It's called Guilden. It's pretty much an adventure guild surrounded by a small city." Shamash replied. "So.... What can you do there?" Metal is confused. He's never heard of an adventure guild until Shamash told him. "I thought the name already defined it for you. But I'll explain anyways. Guilden is a place where adventurers are given a rank and assigned missions requested by local villagers. If the adventurers successfully complete the mission, then they get a reward of gold." He explained. "I'm thinking that if you obtain enough gold, then you could hire a powerful sorcerer to use the time spell sending you back to your time." Said Shamash. "Ok, then what are we waiting for? Let's get moving. I can't wait to have wifi again!" Metal said with determination. Shamash and Metal then left the little cottage and started walking in the direction of Guilden. The forest was lusciously green that day. Light shined brightly through the trees, and the flowers danced to the song of the sun. On their way walking, Shamash noticed the guitar Metal had strapped to his back. He stopped for a moment and said, "That's a really nice battle axe you have there, who is the blacksmith that forged that?" "Oh, it's not really a battle axe. It was a guitar I found in the lab along with the time machine." Metal explained. "What's a guitar?" Shamash asked, confused. "It's a musical instrument, but it sounds a lot cooler than the others." Metal told him. "Here, I'll play you something." He unstrapped the guitar from his back and then re-strapped it to his front. He pulled a pick out of his pocket and then began playing one of his favorite thrash riffs. The heavy sound of his guitar echoed through the forest. Note after note, he continued to play. The loud sound scared off some animals and the fairies scattered. When he finished, he took off his instrument and strapped it on his back once again. Shamash was quite shocked with his performance. "Wow, it sounds much different than lyres and harpsichords." Said Shamash, overwhelmed a bit. "But it still looks like an axe to me." "Yeah, maybe it would make a cool axe, who knows, I've never used it like that before." Metal said. They continued walking towards their destination. Shamash looked at the guitar once more and asked, "Does it have a name?" Metal replied saying, "Uh, no, I just got it like... two days ago, and I don't name my guitars anyways." "That's too bad, that weapon is too unique not to have a name of its own." Shamash told him. Metal looked over his shoulder and said, "Well maybe it should. After all, it's much different from my other guitars." He stood there thinking for a moment, getting a good idea of what he was about to say next. In an instant, he thought of something. "I got it! How about I call it... The Blazing Shredder?" Metal asked Shamash. "I have no clue what that's supposed to mean, but it sure sounds unique, so yeah! It's a guess you could say it's a good name." He replied. |