Ryuma ran out the cave as fast as he could. It wasn't that far deep in, so it didn't take long to accomplish that. Aeragis however was already flying overhead the festival.
From a distance, he could hear the screams of innocent people all the way here in the forest. The roar of the dragon. How much damage had he caused since coming out? Toga… Nuna… Nylo… Clara. Were they all safe?
His mom should still be home by now far away from the festival. He was confident she was all right, but the others he knew attended. The entire class.
What was with this spirit?
He saw the dragon in all its glory in the shape of an infinity symbol high above the city. It sucked in a ton of air, and released it like a pressure valve, creating a wind current with enough pressure to rip through gravel and stone. It blew whole buildings apart. Anybody unfortunate enough to have gotten caught up in it even slightly were crippled for life.
There were people running past him away from the danger as he ran towards it.
"TOGA!!! NYLO!!! ANYBODY!" Ryuma called.
He kept getting bumped into by the crowd of people screaming and running right past him. It was a scene of chaos. The stuff out of nightmares. There was mass panic, and it made looking for them that much harder.
The more he searched around, the more desperate he was beginning to get. There were mangled corpses all over the place. Some were members of the White Dragon. Otherwise most of the victims came from the Red Dogs.
{It's like he didn't care who he hit. This thing was on a killing spree.}
The entire festival was now an absolute mess. The dark smoke and the smell of ash informed him that something must have combusted. "NUNA!!! CLARA!!!" He called out for anybody he knew.
The dragon in the sky turned back around as it sucked in more air into its mouth. It aimed its mouth in his direction.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!!!" He screamed.
It blasted a wind pressure blowing a crater sized hole into the ground. Ryuma stuck to the ground as hard as he could to keep from lifting. The wind blew his hair in complete disorder. Anybody caught in its direct path instantly disappeared, vaporized into the ground, possibly blown right through it.
He tried opening his eyes, but the dust has yet to have settled after the blast. He coughed as some of it had gotten into his nose and mouth.
He picked himself up and searched around. Again, there were few survivors. What was with this spirit? Was it even aware he was in the vicinity? Although it said it was prioritizing members of the Red Dogs, it clearly had no qualms about killing White Dragons even by unintended casualties.
{Was this really the spirit they all worshiped?"}
Ryuma scoured through the dust and climbed over wreckage. There's got to be someone in need.
"HELPPPP!!! WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!!!"
He knew that voice anywhere. Toga… He's in trouble.
Ryuma forced himself over even more wreckage over the debris. Looking at the end he heard the voice coming from, He saw Clara exerting energy trying to desperately hold on to her wires. From the looks of it, it was barely holding up a part of the Wreck. Toga was next to it, trying to lift it up.
"What's going on?" Ryuma asked.
"Ryuma! I'm glad you're here! Nylo's stuck under all the wreck! Help me get him out!"
Ryuma ran immediately up to the spot they were trying to lift. "Nylo! Are you ok down there?"
"RYUMA! GET ME OUT OF HERE I THINK MY LEG IS STUCK!"
He could hear the panic and fear in his voice. He knelt and was able to see him in between destroyed structure. He was hyperventilating. The kid was panicking, and he didn't know the extent of the damage he may be in. "Nylo, calm down… breathe. You're going to be all right. We're going to get you out of here. Are you with me?"
Tears were spilling from his eyes, but he nodded his head.
He was successful in calming him down a bit, but if they didn't get him out quick, he's likely to fall victim to panic again. They needed to act now.
Ryuma looked all around the debris around him.
"RYUMA, HURRY UP AND HELP ME WITH THIS LIFT!" Toga ordered.
"Calm down Toga! If we recklessly try and move everything, we could end up crushing him," Ryuma said.
Everything shook causing even more structures around them to collapse. Some lost their balance, whilst Toga and Ryuma held on to something close. The same sound of air having been sucked in and blasted was off in the distance. The dragon must have used his wind blast to destroy more of the area. He was going after more of the Red Dogs.
"And how long will it take until that Dragon comes reigning wind over here!?"
Much as he hated to admit it, Toga was right. It was only a matter of time before the dragon came flying this way.
He looked up and saw there were priest flying up there. They finally mounted a counterattack. "He's going to be a busy up there. That thing is after Red Dogs. His focus will be on them,"
"What did you just say?"
A new yet familiar voice questioned him. It was Diaga. "I said that the dragon will be…" Before he got it out, Diaga grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the face.
The blow might not have been hard, but it was still unexpected and knocked him to the ground. He rubbed his face, still feeling the impact.
"So let me get this straight Irgo. You not only upset the only person who could take that on. You had something to do with releasing that monstrosity,"
Ryuma stayed silent. He couldn't refute the conclusion that Diaga came to.
"Are you serious! We don't have time for this! Either help with this stupid rubble or beat it!" Toga threatened.
"I'm glad you guys are enjoying your reunion, but I can't hold these things forever. So if you don't mind," Clara said.
Even her tone changed given the situation, yet she still managed to keep her sarcasm. "Clara's right. We got a kid stuck under all this rubble. I'll try and use my wind Artes to shield him from any debris. Diaga, soon as we lift, try, and pull him out. If we work together, we can survive this,"
"No way man. I didn't sign up for this. I'm out of here,"
This time it was Ryuma's turn to grab him by the collar. "The hell you didn't. This is what it's like to be a priest belonging to the order. Did you think you weren't going to be fighting creatures like this? Don't tell me you thought this would be all fun and rainbows, so just do the damn job and at least act like the profession you chose,"
Ryuma got on the ground at eye level. The entire island felt like another mini earthquake hit it but Ryuma ignored it this time. "Ok, on the count of three… one… two… three!"
Clara pulled harder; Toga tried to lift the debris up.
"Wind Artes: Wind wall!"
There was an updraft where Nylo lay. Not only was the wind protecting him, but the updraft it gave, made all the debris surrounding him lighter than usual, helping Toga lift more of it higher.
"DIAGA, HURRY UP AND PULL HIM OUT!" Toga yelled. His voice sounded strained.
Diaga looked at the kid, then looked at them. "No way man I'm out. I'm not ready for this," He turned around and ran away.
"FUCK!" Ryuma yelled. All three of them dropped what they were doing, further enclosing Nylo back up under the rubble.
"GOD DAMNIT YOU BITCH!" Toga yelled.
This was a major blow. They needed that fourth person to be able to pull him out. "Where's Nuna?" Ryuma asked. She was here when it happened as well. What happened to her?
"Where do you think?" Clara asked.
Ryuma thought about it for a second. Surely, she didn't escape thinking about her own life. That didn't sound like Nuna. Maybe she was unaware of the situation. In any case she wasn't here. It was only the three of them left.
Ryuma knelt to Nylo's level again. "Ok… Nylo. I need you to be brave. When we lift this again, you're going to have to climb out of this with your own strength. Can you do that for me?"
Skeptically, Nylo nodded his head.
"That's right!" Ryuma put us fist under the rubble and Nylo fist bumped him.
"Ok guys, on the count of three again. One… two… three,"
"Wind Artes: wind wall" Ryuma said.
Everybody pulled their weight again. Ryuma exerted extra power to give Nylo extra room to move.
All was good and well until he seen the back of Nylo's legged. An entire pipe was logged straight through it and that itself was wedged in.
{How did the kid not complain about it? No… he likely didn't even feel it.}
He was going to have to find a way to cut that pipe from here and remove it. This would be easier with a fourth person, but they were pressed for time.
Ryuma looked at the other two to warn them to let go, but when he saw the dragon, it was at their level and facing their direction, completely in their blind spots.
And it was sucking in air pressure.
It was like time slowed for Ryuma. "EVERYONE BACK OFF!"
He dropped what he was doing, got up and pulled Toga away from the debris, throwing him out of the line of fire.
He ran as fast as he could to Clara holding her wires and bear hugged her. Using his wind walker, he dashed out the way, as the Dragon released the wind pressure out of its mouth.
Then all went blank.