<< Mortal realm—Bay groove forest >>
Two giant beings ran deep into the forest, one in a pearly white robe and the other in a dirty, tattered black robe, their gigantic feet causing earthquakes along their trail. The being ahead was running as though his life depended on it, and the being chasing was hell-bent on catching him—none of them seemed to be backing down for the other. They didn't even seem as if they were going to stop any time soon.
The being behind suddenly stopped running when he realized the distance between them was getting larger with each step they took, he narrowed his eyes as he urgently thought of what to do. After a brief thought, he raised his right hand, and a gigantic wall suddenly appeared in front of his prey.
"Are you tired of chasing after me, King Daniil? Aren't you just two thousand years old? Why are you weaker than me?" the prey said, attempting to provoke his predator. "Your dungeon couldn't stop me, what made you think this would stop me?"
King Daniil (previously described as the being in a pearly white robe) clenched his jaw, his narrowed red-eyes glared maliciously at his prey's eyes.
"Anatoly" King Daniil spat the name as he had just eaten something bad. "I regretted not killing you back them, but don't worry, I'll do a perfect job this time"
Anatoly, (previously described as the prey) released a mocking laugh.
"You're so naive, Danill. You can't fight me, I was being too lenient then and went easy on you"
"Well then, don't go easy on me this time."
And before the blink of an eye, shreds of King Daniil's robe fell on the ground and a powerful dragon stood on all fours in place of him. The dragon snarled at Anatoly, as if challenging him to a fight.
"I'll make you regret this, boy" Anatoly stated.
With a sly smirk playing on Anatoly's lips, red furs started sprouting out of his body and in a few seconds, he was covered in furs from head to toes. Four horns grew on his head, his two arms suddenly became seven and very long razor-sharp claws appeared from nowhere on his nails' beds.
"I'll kill you without transforming into my complete form because you're still a baby, and don't worth wasting my strength on" Anatoly provoked King Daniil further, knowing he's (King Daniil's) in his dragon form and can't actually speak at the moment.
As if mother nature were also anticipating their ultimate showdown, the towering trees swayed violently as they both prepared to fight. King Daniil barred his teeth, it seemed like he's already getting impatient with Anatoly stalling their fight. Although, King Daniil was growling lowly, it was still enough to scare the forest creatures as they scurried away, sensing the impending danger.
Now in his magnificent dragon form, King Daniil, stood tall and proud. His scales shimmered in the dappled sunlight that filtered through the dense canopy above. His wings, spanning wide, cast a shadow over the forest floor, creating eerie darkness. His fiery red eyes burned with determination, waiting to defend his honor.
Anatoly circled King Daniil, his eyes never leaving King Daniil's, relishing in the fear he saw reflected in the dragon's eyes—or the impatience he misinterpreted as fear.
With a lightning speed, King Daniil lunged forward, his massive jaws snapping at one of Anatoly's arms. But Anatoly was equally swift, his multiple arms parrying King Daniil's attack effortlessly. The clash of their powers created shockwaves that rippled through the forest, uprooting trees and sending debris flying through the air.
The battle was fierce, each blow more powerful than the last. King Daniil's tail whipped through the air, sending gusts of wind that threatened to knock Anatoly off balance.
Anatoly retaliated with a barrage of strikes from his elongated claws, each strike strong enough to leave deep gashes on the dragon's scales, but fortunately, the dragon could avoid his strikes.
The forest trembled under the weight of their battle, the ground cracking beneath their feet. The clash of their powers created a dazzling display of light and energy, illuminating the darkened forest. The air crackled with raw power, and the scent of magic filled the atmosphere.
As the battle reached its climax, King Daniil summoned all his strength, channeling it into one final attack. He unleashed a torrent of flames from his jaws, engulfing Anatoly in a blazing inferno. The forest was bathed in a sea of fire, the heat scorching the earth and turning the trees to ash.
King Daniil thought it was over, after all, no immortal had ever survived his dragon's fire. But Anatoly seemed to prove that wrong, he refused to be defeated as he emerged from the flames unscathed—although, his furs were now charred and smoldered.
"You think your almighty dragon fire can bring me down, right?" Anatoly released an evil laugh. "I didn't spend thousands of years in your little dungeon doing nothing, boy"
Not wanting to hear any more of Anatoly's provocation, King Daniil swept Anatoly off the ground with his dragon tail, and Anatoly's body landed against an oak tree at a distance. The impact was so strong, that the tree couldn't stand it, it divided in two and fell apart.
King Daniil flew towards Anatoly, his dragon towered over him as he began landing punches upon punches on Anatoly's face, not giving him even the slightest chance to fight back.
Just when King Daniil was having the upper hand, he was about to knock Anatoly out, but a strange sound suddenly pierced through his sensitive ears. He lost focus as he snapped his head towards the where the sound had vibrated from, his narrowed eyes zeroed on a petite girl, and he let out a low growl.
A frown appeared on his dragon's face as he wondered why she's not frozen, he remembered vividly that he had stopped the mortal realm's time. He snapped his fingers, concluding he might have made some mistakes earlier. But he was shocked when it still didn't work, the girl was retreating as though she's about to run for her life.
"Who is she? Why are powers not working on her?" he thought mentally. At that moment, he locked gaze with her, and noticed a dim red glow in her eyes. "Phoenix queen's immortal light? Why does she have it?"
Meanwhile, Anatoly has been gathering his strength. He saw King Daniil's distraction as an opportunity, and he lunged a surprise attack at King Daniil, his sharp claws aimed for the dragon's heart. But King Daniil was swift, he was able to jump off Anatoly in time, dodging his attack and he (Anatoly) took the chance to escape as he disappeared with whatever energy he had left.
King Daniil turned his attention back to the petite girl who screamed as she tripped over a fallen tree, and had seemed to sustain an ankle injury and couldn't get back on her feet. He transformed back to his human form, and he was completely naked, but that didn't seem to bother him as he focused his narrowed eyes on her.
He could see fear in her eyes, it seemed as if he's praying that the ground should open up and swallow her. What have I gotten myself into? Who is this that can transform into human and dragon? Is this how I was destined to die? — she couldn't help these questions running through her mind.
"Please, please, don't hurt me" she desperately pleaded in a hushed voice as King Daniil slowly approached her, but King Daniil's sensitive ears could hear her loud and clear. "I promise I didn't see anything, in fact, I'm deaf and dumb, I don't hear anything sound, and I can't speak either. I'm also blin... "
Her words were stuck in her throat when King Daniil stopped in front of her, her eyes trailed down his naked body, and he couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't bothered about the fact that he's naked and showing his body to a total stranger.
Her mind was pulled back to reality when she saw him crouched to her level and looking directly in her eyes.
"Trust me, sir, I'm blind, and I don't even know whether it's night or day as we speak"
King Daniil ignored her meaningless explanations, he grabbed her right arm and held it tightly as he closed his eyes for a moment. Soon, he snapped his eyes open. "Phoenix queen's immortal bone!"
"Huh? Phoenix what now?"
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm just a pauper, my name is Kira Inessa Leonid and I live with my younger sis… "
A frown appeared on Kira's face as she watched King Daniil sniffing around her, she couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with him.
"You are human, but why do you have the phoenix queen's immortal bone in you?" he asked.
"What?"
Aleksandr suddenly appeared before King Daniil could reply to Kira, he looked confused when he saw King Daniil and a strange human girl, but didn't bother to ask King Daniil about.
"Your Majesty, I have led the heavenly army to the heavenly gate, and we've been waiting for your command" he paused and looked around briefly. "Where's Anatoly? Should we arrest him now?"
"He escaped" King Daniil replied simply.
"He escaped?" There's a hint of surprise in Aleksandr's voice, he didn't understand how Anatoly managed to escape from King Daniil.
"Bring her back to the heavenly palace with you" King Daniil commanded, pointing at Kira who's been silently watching and listening to them.
"What heavenly palace? No, no, no, I don't want to go to any heavenly palace" Kira shouted in resistance.
"I don't care how you do it, but I want to see her in the heavenly palace!" with that said, King Daniil disappeared.
Kira turned her attention back to Aleksandr and began crawling backwards, desperately shaking her head in disagreement.