The two stared at each other, one with his breath held while the other tilted its face, looking confused. Still holding the little boy's gaze, the creature stepped unsteadily forward, not yet used to walking.
When the creature stopped a few inches in front of him, Ling remained standing still and waited for what it will do. He was shielding himself with his 'mist' while getting ready whether to fight or run.
As if also afraid of Ling, the creature slowly moved its face nearer to sniff the boy. After a few sniffs, the creature pulled back its head scrunched its nose, which made Ling held his breath until there was a sneezing sound that came out from the creature.
Ling was bewildered, wanting to laugh at himself for being so scared. However, the creature pulled back its head again and gave out a louder sneeze. Unfortunately, the sneeze this time was followed by a breath of fire from its mouth.
The fire was small, however, with how near the creature was to Ling, it reached his toes and started burning his straw sandals. He immediately stomped his feet to put out the fire. Sighing when the fire was out, he looked at the creature again when he heard it makd a sound. What was surprising was that it was also stomping its feet until it stopped too when it noticed Ling stop.
Ling repeated his previous action and the creature also did it. Seeing this funny mimic, Ling smiled while still staring at it. This was a relief for him after all those misfortunes he had had.
He was further surprised when the creature titled its head and tried to copy his smile. What came out was slightly scary with a few of its teeth showing.
Tired and still hungry, Ling decided to sit down and look at this creature properly. Like before, it copied Ling and sat down. The two continued to observe each other.
Let's not check on what the creature thought of this little boy. As for Ling's observation, he noticed that the one before him was like a lizard with its long snout and tail. However, its four feet was longer and able to support its body, walking instead of crawling. Because of the dark, Ling was not sure of its skin color but it was closer to black, with only its red eyes and white claws deviating from its dominant hue.
It was the first time Ling saw a creature like this. However, he remembered a story from one of the books of his sisters.
'It was a kraken imprisoning a princess? No, that was a sea monster. Oh, a dragon! It also breaths fire.' Ling's eyes were sparkling with this discovery.
As if it became bored with the staring, the dragon stepped closer to Ling and gently touched its nose to the slightly extended hand of the boy. Both of them retracted when they touched.
After a few seconds, maybe the dragon thought Ling wouldn't hurt it, it slowly stepped more closer to the boy until they were really touching. The skin of the dragon was leathery but smooth and warm to the touch.
Feeling more reassured, the dragon nudged Ling's hand to lift it up and situated itself under his arms. It closed its eyes, as if going to sleep. Ling leaned on the wall to continue thinking of what he should do.
The two remained unmoving until Ling got scared of the ongoing silence. To break it, he whispered to the figure beside him, "Hey, can you understand me?"
The dragon lifted its head to stare at Ling. Waiting for what the boy will say next, it leaned its head on top of Ling's knee that was raised while he was sitting on the ground with legs crossed.
Knowing that the dragon was listening, Ling continued speaking, "So, I have to get out of here. I'm hungry and my family were likely looking for me. Do you gave an idea how we can get out of here?"
A soft humming sound came from the dragon. With where the boy and the dragon touched, a 'mist' was being shared between them.
"Oh, the 'mist!" Looking around him, Ling noticed something, "There was a flow going there, opposite the hole I came from. That must mean there was also 'life' there!"
He stood up hastily and looked at his companion, "Let's go! Hmm... What do I call you?"
This stopped Ling for a while and the dragon also stopped, as if waiting for his name, "Since you came from a rock, let's call you Bato!"
The glare from dragon looked threatening.
"Ok, let's call you Maga so we're great together!"
This seemed to be acceptable to the dragon so it stood up properly and stepped forward. When it realized that Ling didn't follow, it looked back as if hurrying the boy.
"Ok, now, let's more forward!" And the two marched forward.
After walking for a while, they saw a light and an opening welcomed them. What Ling saw inside amazed him.