Cracks in the ground, houses shaking in fear. Its scales were a dried blood color. It narrowed its thin eyes. Small spikes covered its arms, shoulders, thighs, and legs. Its spine was labeled with longer sharp and bumpy spikes leading all the way to the tip of its tail where it split into three different ends like a crown. The belly was a smooth dark gray. Crevices ran across the dragon outlining their veins, which was glowing a black darker than the void beyond the stars. It let out a mighty roar that pierced its prey's ears like a double edged dagger. The beast's cheeks expanded. Its body squeezed in. As it did, miniature pops inside its mouth erupt.
Raymond leapt after Zorion as the boy swung a fist across the beast's face. Raymond grabbed the scruff of his cloth prisoner tunic and tossed him behind himself. "Get away, now!"
As Zorion rolled over his shoulders, he covered his eyes to a sudden shine of light from Raymond.
"Salvo magic?!" Raymond covered his face. And the general lifted his hands up, launching all his soldiers behind houses and towers with a golden dazzling light. Each of his fingers had a light shoot out and like a spiderweb, all his men were pushed away. Even Raymond, grabbed by the throat of his armor, was thrown behind the general.
The pops grew, and while Raymond was being pulled through the air like a ragdoll, he gripped the light attached to his shoulder tightly. "Dispel Magic: Shutter!" And the spell vanished into sparkles. When he landed, he rushed towards the dragon.
"What in Zetzino's name is he doing??!" The general covered himself, protecting the villagers as they stood, paralyzed in fear.
"Goal! Goal! Goal!" Raymond repeated to himself as he ran. "Don't die. Don't die." He leapt over the general just barely. His voice, dragged by a vicious snarl. "Defensive spell!" He crossed his chest with his hands in the form of an 'X'. The pops turned into bigger booms. Raymond could feel the heat and the force of the wind pressing against his face. A blue light shimmered in front of his crossed arms, getting brighter each second. Now, just a few meters away from the dragon, time felt nearly stopped. Thoughts. Racing. Expand the spell. Save the village.
Zorion flexed his thin wrists, tearing the bindings with ease. And rushed over to Raymond, "Yeah!! Punching with binds is tough!!"
The captain was stuck in a dilemma. Save himself, ensure his survival? Or expand the spell and risk critical damage, but ensuring the village's survival. These thoughts, all within a second. "Defensive spell!" He said once again. A man flashed before Raymond's eyes, almost like a hallucination. Brown eyes. Short combed black hair. He wasn't as tall as Raymond, but was close. Armor thin and green. Pale but tannish skin just like himself.
The flash disappeared- and fueled by anger, he knew what he had to do. The dragon's mouth slid open, saliva dripping from its teeth. Then, a lava-like substance poured out of its gaping mouth. The blue light challenged the flying blast. Raymond started to scream as if he were in agony. The explosions were directed towards the town and himself but then they orbited around Raymond as if he were a magnet. All of the salvo disappeared into the blue light- which was now a sphere.
"RETALIATION!" The combustion was then sent back to the dragon- with three times the strength!! The detonation consumed the lizard and through the sounds of screaming fire, a muffled roar was heard.
K'Nare continued to lay his head on the cinderblock, "How bitter. To die from a dragon. Let it fade." And the salvo explosions consumed him and Arash.
Through the cracked light, a shadow emerged throughout the city, the dragon flew high, fluttering his four limbs back and forth as his wings flapped. Raymond squeezed his fists in anguish. "It's alive after that?!" In the sky, the dragon looked down from the center of the village. Still at the executioner stands, K'Nare and Jaakobah. Locking eyes with the water-man before consuming them in another roar of salvo.
Suddenly, Zorion rode a pillar made of dirt, entering the blast as he vanished. Jaakobah fell to his knees, "It was about to kill me..?" And Arash grabbed the man, covering him behind a building.
"Zorion's gonna fight that thing?! Shit!" Arash hopped around a building, "I have not a bow!"
Speaking of, dozens of shoulders pulled out arrows and let the sky rain with magical tips of water and solar magic.
All targeting the dragon, but Zorion was in the way, tussling with the bubbly explosions. "Don't shoot!!" He yelled faintly, but Arash heard it perfectly.
A roar on par with the dragons emerged through Arash's canine's, "STOP!"
A chain of lightning webbed to all the arrows, detonating them, but then- the water and excess light shining from the solar magic crammed around Zorion as if he were controlling them.
"It's. no use.." Jaakobah stated, "It decided our fates." He grabbed his face, "Damn it! What did I even do to deserve this?!"
"Just smile, man." Arash stated, "That's all you can do when the sky falls. Stupid Dracuh's. This is his first stand."
Jaakobah tore off his prisoner khaki tunic, "I don't know whether to embrace it."
"IT'S FALLING!" The general could see Zorion's silhouette. "What's that idiot doing?!"
Then, the dragon hiccupped another load, vomiting out a bile of water around his explosions, boiling against the village as many citizens ran like headless chickens. Zorion pressed on. But suddenly, through the massive meteoric explosion- the dragon ripped through.
"Adapt!" He said. Then he made a symbol with his two fingers, the other hand held that symbol then broke it. "Smile magic!" He smiled as if he didn't want to be anywhere else in the world. Zorion had sparkly squinted eyes and his dimples never had been bigger. He started to hum, and connected the faces of his thumbs and index fingers, letting his other fingers fly around, "Shinikaru ni!"- a smile formed within his hand, "nurenai yō ni"!
The dragon's eyebrows were just meters away from impaling Zorion. He swiped his palm on the massive horn, finessed his body upwards whilst grabbing it. It was hard, bumpy. Zorion was above the dragon's head, his eyes were closed and his feet were pointed up in the air, way above his head. Then, a slight push on its horn. The dragon slammed into the ground let out a massive screech.
Raymond ejected a knife from Cade's shoulder, "Tell him!" He stabbed into it again with a twirl of the blade, "TELL HIM NOW!!"
Zorion landed gracefully and Arash zipped to him faster than any arrow, "Are you okay?'
"Yeah.. I'll meet up, just get somewhere safe so I can go."
"Okay, sure." Arash rubbed his shoulder, "You're frowning."
"Heh.. Just go," He smiled, "A frown is still a smile, just upside down."
Zorion looked to his left as Arash ran away, the general, his knee popping out of his skin, screaming for help, "Shit.." he thought, "I gotta save that scum t-"
The dragon swopped down, ripping his body in half instantly, piling towards Jaakobah with its jaw wide open.
A smile passing by everyone, Zorion pushed the dragon with his right arm, a pulsating glow on his palm as the dragon magnetized away- but then it chomped down on Zorion's elbow, his tunic flapped around the dragon's spike. With his other arm, he was pushing Jaakobah away.
Jaakobah fell onto his ass with a snarl, eying the dragon with a pitiful glare, but with no magic… The water-man ran off, allowing Zorion to taste its scales.
"Thanks for taking care of the gen," Zorion yanked his arm away from the tearing pain, "Now let go!"
But the dragon bubbled salvo within its mouth, tearing his veins and allowing his nerves to be played like a lute with a knife as a pick. Blood shooting out of his gaping throat, Zorion cried loudly. And Arash spun around without a thought, glancing at a broken bow with a single untipped arrow.
Zorion pulled and pulled, feeling his skin and bones melting. And the dragon stayed firm- then Arash leapt over. The dragon's mouth bent upwards in a smirk, tearing Zorion's skin more- but Raymond zapped through, taking Arash away, a tail split into three boney ends jabbing the empty air.
"RAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Zorion's voice rattled amidst the ashy sky.
"TELL HIM! TELL HIM NOW CADE!!" Raymond plucked the knife off his neck.
Zorion's shoulder fell out of its joint, and he spun away from the dragon's jaw. He flew against the ground and slid his fingers on a brick.
"Don't save.. Just fight. Raymond will save and gather your friends. He'll send a bolt out when it's safe to evacuate." Cade thought in Zorion's mind.
"Heh!" Zorion let the brick sink into the dirt while rocks threw it into the air as a spike, "Good! Tell him that innocents should never be punished!!"
The spike cleared the dust, dispersing it, but the dragon was gone and a roar came from above. Zorion zipped up into the sky, riding another pillar as the meteor then exploded, turning the village into a barren wasteland. As if a nuke had just dropped, the country shook.
A lonely hiker deep within the snowy mountains of Dracuhstone, near the border of Giastone, saw the abrupt mushroom cloud from miles away. A shockwave came and wobbled him onto the ground, making him nearly fall off the mountain. Nothing to do but watch as his cavern of kittens and puppies blend from afar. Almost able to hear their cries and under his pouch, just one singular kitten with tear stains under her whiskers.
Under Raymond's body as he held up the postal tower, Arash pushed from between the Captain's legs.
"Don't help me, idiot! Get out so I can join!! Your friend is more than likely dead. If not, then on the verge. But if we retreat, he can focus on defense! Head to the northern watchtower at the edge of the village. There's a latch. If you see any survivors, bring them!"
"Shit!" Arash rolled away, sprinting around the tower, "Any survivor? In all this ash and flames!? And where's that water-man? He could probably help put out these flames."
The dragon opened its mouth once again. Lava slushed around its mouth like mouthwash. Then, suddenly something like rocks and dirt wrapped around its jaw and crunched its mouth together.
Adorned in hellish flames- black and thin, a smile illuminated through the whirls with eyes dirtier than any of the World Mana Priests could give. A silhouette casted of He. The man who never stopped smiling.
Passing by the destroyed tavern overlooking the courtyard, a woman yelled like a fox in agony. Arash jerked his body in that direction, throughout the flames and wooden beams, a woman laid in a pile of embers.
"She's not burning?" Arash thought, "Her hair, brown. I forgot how colorful all these villagers were. And here they are, dying."
"Get up!!" Arash yelled, awkwardly standing in front of her.
The woman lifted her face from the flames, her hazel eyes and pitiful frown as she looked at him. "Leave me! Please!"
Hesitant to grab the flames, Arash threw himself into her. "No!"
"My.. legs are broken… I'm done! Please!"
"You.. you serious?!" Arash twitched into a smile, "If she thinks I'm from here.. Maybe it'll work."
Arash's hand sizzled as he dug into the tiny splinters, his skin sticking to the word like glue. "GET UP!"
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" She moaned, "I CAN'T!" She harshly cried out.
"Dumbass! Crawl, bitch!!!" He told her, "Everyone else is dead!! Is this how you want to be remembered?!"
At that point, she stopped yelling, and Arash threw a final beam off her ankles. "There. I'll pick you up!" He leaned in, grabbing her torn brown dress and lifting her.
"He's.. not burning?" The woman thought before a sudden flare threw Arash away.
In the flames, she stood tall. "I'll get there myself.." She said, walking deeper into the inferno of the village.
"S-she can walk?!" Arash snarled out before running back to the watchtower, attempting to listen for anyone to help. The fire spiraled around her, massaging her skin; the silhouette of her body turning withering away as she walked deeper into the flames.
The black sky was adorned with earthy webs as Zorion flew on a rampant string of tera, guiding them all around the dragon.
One hit, two hit, three hit, but at the fourth, the dragon grabbed the column and yanked it towards his snout, Zorion hopped off, his sleeve waving aimlessly as blood spilt onto the dragon's glowing white eyes.
With nowhere to go, Zorion used his only hand to form the face of his index finger and thumb together, "Shinikaru ni!" He sang! "I can't make a smile with one hand!"
The dragon swayed its head as its horned eyebrows twirled into Zorion.
"Right." Zorion chuckled, "Nurenai yō ni!!" And he hid his teeth under both his lips and opened wide, a toothless smile as he latched his jaw onto the dragon's teeth; with flick press of his tongue against the bloody brow, the dragon flew across the village.
Zorion spat as tera formed around him, giving his feet some resting room whilst adrenaline boiled like a salvo in his veins, "I can feel it! I know you're there, HINATA!" Then, he twirled his arm around and swiped the air, a forceful push emanating from his body. The dragon zipped like lightning with its fist inches away from Zorion. "This dragon! It's more of a bipedal! This lizard can throw his hands!"
Zorion swung his left arm, clashing his tiny fist against the dragon's sharp scales. Feeling his skin tear, he continued to smile, pressing harder than ever. "An arm??? Hahaa. Hahah. HAHAHAH!" Zorion's eyes started to flicker, "No no! Don't overload! Haha."
Around the dragon, a knot of rocks and dirt wrapped around the dragon, and another salvo blast erupted around the area, launching Zorion onto the ground. As he landed, his hand slid on the dirt, as his feet balanced him. "EVERYONE'S DEAD! YOU JUST MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE!" He shouted whilst standing in a blaze of flames, "Take my arms! My body! My heart and mind!! HAHA!" Zorion glared at the dragon, causing it to stop right in mid air, "But my soul will always be.." He closed his eyes, "Right there." Blood evaded through his eyes and scalp, "I'm just that damn important."
"A smile from another land." Raymond thought as he ran with Jaakobah, "Is he the guardian of Dracuhstone? A dazzling light from a shadow."
"He was born here, he said." Jaakobah said with a frown, "Are we almost at the tower?"
"Yeah. Nobody but us is alive. Although I sense a bubbling fury about to erupt."
Zorion levitated high in the sky as the houses and buildings slid off their foundations and into the air. The dragon flapped his wings, allowing him more leverage whilst Zorion stared him down with flickering pupils.
"Do you know why I'm important?" He asked the dragon, "You're sentient. You can hear me loud and clear. So even if you killed me, my words would carve into your soul. I'd make sure of it. But, you're fodder. You die, another will come, won't it? But not me, I'm not like you. I'm stronger, smarter, and better in every aspect. My skin shines in golden rays of sun casting a lovely glow unto everyone below me!
Because.. Haha. It's cause." The village lifted and warped around him, circulating around him.
"Between Heaven and Hell, I stand prominently, forming the silver line that the world orbits around."
He croaked with a hiccup of laughter.
"CAN'T YOU SEE?!?! THE WORLD! THIS PLACE!! IT ALL REVOLVES AROUND ME!!! I AM THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE! I AM THE ONLY ONE WITH THAT HONOR!!!"
"Okay." Raymond entered what was barely considered a tower, the foundation ripped and a hatch underneath rubble of cobblestone.
"Why didn't we just run into the forest?" Jaakobah asked, "Why am I stuck with you?"
"You chose to follow me. I only knocked you out earlier because the general would've killed you in an instant."
"You humans are so.. Annoying."
"Yeah, well humans are the one that saved you, right?"
"And tried to execute me."
Raymond lifted a rock and threw it with his gauntlet, "The hatch is there!" He ran out the broken tower, "Where's that black man?!"
The dragon tied with earthy pillars watched as Jaakobah rendezvous with Raymond, "So Jaakobah is trying to escape?" Then, witnessing Arash running towards them, it whilst a tight beam of salvo towards them all, right past Zorion. But the human clapped his hands together. He slowly opened them as static around his palms formed. A ball of electricity was made from above and Zorion threw it with all his might towards the dragon's eyes.
Arash flipped off Raymond from a distance, "Where's the wha-" His body, imploded, clashing with the sudden flurry of salvo, barreling to the ground at the entrance of the tower.
"Hey, prisoner!!" Raymond rushed to his aid, but not a scratch laid on him.
"I'm fine!" Arash shot up, "The heck.. He can summon his magic from afar?"
"I don't think that's what it was!" Raymond guided him to the hatch, "All of us are here though, stay still."
"And what will you do? Go die with the boy?" Jaakobah scowled, "I honestly can't believe this arrogance."
"I take pride in my arrogance!" Raymond then sparked his armor.
"You've had magic this whole time??" Arash yelled, "You could've helped!!"
"No. I ran out. Been saving up though."
"Saving?! For what?!"
"Saving for.. For this!" A bolt of lightning trailed through the sky connecting the celestial stars, "CHARRED LIGHTNING!!!"
Zorion flew towards the dragon with dirt pushing on his feet. With one swipe, his knuckle knocked across its scales. Then, buildings started to rain around him, impaling the dragon's smooth stomach.
The beast wagged its tail, trying to smash every piece of debris coming his way. "How is it that just a boy is lifting an entire village and using the buildings like a 'nado.."
Within the typhoon of smiles, Zorion clashed his fist with the dragon, then another- then a barrage of clashes sparking throughout the sky.
"Such tiny fists can match up to my strength.. This boy… One arm. He stopped his bleeding. Yet I.. I can't. My blood is spilling."
Zorion then opened his fingers just to snap them shut, and the tornado collapsed within, slicing the dragon's limbs across the village as Zorion messy hair spiked up against the find.
A bolt of lightning sparked his attention to the northern area of the village. "Got it.. I need an opening." he said under his breath, "And my vision is.."
The dragon spat a blast of salvo, incinerating the rubble.
"No.. Just gotta book it." Zorion rode waves of earthy pillars; spiraling through the wasteland while the dragon trailed the dirt with its devastating jaw, eating all in its path.
With only a few hundred yards to go, the dragon bit down, crushing his foot between its teeth- suddenly, a flame shot into the belly of the dragon, setting it off course as it wrapped its flaming wings around the beast. Lava shooting out everywhere, Zorion jerked off his trail of magic, unable to ride the tera, he fell towards the tower. "Almost there!!"
The phoenix drilled into the dragon's neck , tearing its scales off. But its eyes were set on one thing.
The dragon launched salvo beneath its feet, catapulting it towards the free-falling Zorion
The boy used the last of his magic to lift himself in the air, his body narrowly avoiding the dragon's bite-
The air was crisp. Ash covered the village. Zorion watched the burning houses from a bird's eye view. Yet, there was not a soul in sight besides soldiers. Zorion turned around, the wind rubbing against his face. And something was hanging off the dragon's mouth like a toothpick. It was too blurry to even see, so Zorion went to slap his feet, "Feather Feet!" He uttered, but when he went to swipe, there was nothing but blood. His vision pulsated and he saw his legs dangling in the sky.
"ZORION!!!" Arash's voice made the dragon's ears bleed as it sent a blast of salvo at Zorion's body.
The phoenix flew sly and fast, popping the explosion and tussling the dragon into the ground.
Zorion could hear his own heartbeat. That was the only sound he could hear. He continued to fall until he came crashing down into the opening of the watchtower. Arash's eyes followed the trail of blood from the door of the tower. Zorion was on his back with his mouth stuck open and two of his teeth were missing; his hair was dyed in blood and one of his eyes had a slit.
Without thinking, Raymond shoved everyone into the hatch, letting the tower fall above them.
Everyone landed on the chiseled stone and moved away from the hatch. Arash started hyperventilating. They were in a cramped tunnel. Cobblestone with cobwebs scattered the area.. Other than that, it was empty. The hatch was crushed by a landslide of rocks and pieces of the tower. Raymond laid Zorion down away from the hatch door. "No way of getting back out there."
Zorion's quivering lips ran dry, his bloodshot eyes were bulging over their sockets. Arash repeatedly said his name but there was no response. He tore his own tunic off and wrapped it around Zorions thighs.
Groans and gurgles came out of Zorion's mouth in a certain rhythm, as if he was trying to speak. His left eye wouldn't budge, but his right pupil centered at Arash. His hand was shaking.
Arash suddenly felt a stab into his thigh, where Raymond impaled him with a red shining. With the shock, there wasn't an ounce of pain. And He did the same with Zorion's stomach.
Jaakobah stepped forward, "The heck are you doing?"
"Stand back, water-man. There's no hope for this boy. In war, this is what we do."
"I..Arash. If you give me a dagger, I can save myself. Or anything sharp"
"What? Zorion.. You-"
"Please.."
A stab could be heard gushing blood elsewhere
"I need a sharp object, Arash.. I need you to kill me."
"You can't be serious.."
"Please.." His one eye froze and turned glistening, maybe due to his clogged tears, "Dragons.. They… I won't die from that, Arash!! I'm dying!!! Please do it!!!"
"No. You can die. I'm not going to kill you, I refuse."
"Ahh, I understand. Your mother, right? I'm.. sorry."
Arash stood up, looking down at Zorion's body in pity, "I honestly can't believe you even mentioned me doing something like that."
"It was worth a shot.. But please, save me."
"We.. can't... I ran out of miracles the moment I was born."
"Are you- dumb? Your life has been adorned in miracles you have yet to even see. Finding me on a random shore, and somehow making my way to you? Idiot..
Surely, the two of us having met, is a miracle."
Arash felt his throat wring out like a towel, but nothing came out as he watched the colorful Zorion turn black and white just like the world.
"What can you do with one shade, Arash? There's a word in the Land of The Samurai.."
Gurgles and bubbles of blood came out his hanging mouth, "s-ra-sa-a-sa-a-ra-sa-sa-ba.. M-mam-my.. Lele-lel-ft.. br-".
Arash grinded his teeth. Jaakobah, who was still leaning on the wall, looked at the wound on his own hand, "Are we leaving now?" Jaakobah asked, trying not to glance at Zorion's corpse.
"You can take your arrow out, water-man. But you," Raymond looked at Arash, "You'll die from blood loss if you take it out."
"Yeah?" Arash gripped the arrow's body, "If I die, then that's what was meant to happen." He snapped the arrow in half as he yanked it out, letting it fall to his feet as he walked through the one directional tunnel.
They eventually reached a broken door hanging off its hinges. A shimmer of light was beyond it, surely the way out. The group inched through the broken door and entered the light, exiting what seemed to be the side of a mountain; they were at the top of a hill with a trail that headed downwards. "Tread lightly. This is not The Land of The Shield anymore, it's the neutral Kingdom. There's a town north west of here. I have business to take care of."
"Yeah okay. What business?"
A lightning bolt ran next to Raymond and into the sky, when it was gone, a blackened K'Nare was standing before them. "Gotta relocate this guy." Raymond stared for the forest whilst K'Nare followed him silently. "My lightning is unmatched, yes." As he walked, he threw his arm into the air with a small wave of his hand.
"Bye, Arash."
The hill they stood on by the opening of the cave, you could see the smoke from the village from just around it. There was no sign of the dragon. But crystal clear, as if he were right in front of it, he saw a few flaming feathers; they melted into the air at the first glance. And he looked back at the forest, Raymond was gone.
"Let's go." Jaakobah ordered, walking ahead.
"Excuse me.?"
"We're leaving. We have some-"
"No, no. I heard about the orbs in the boathouse. What in Gia's name do you think I'd do that for? Screw that. Fuck your plan. It doesn't have anything to do with me." And he walked off.
"Shit.." Jaakobah thought as Arash walked away, blood dripping from his thigh.
Bushes shuffled and rustled as they were split open. A blonde-man's eyes scan the terrain that the single pathed road sits upon. Trees neighboring the road along with a body. A tall dark man lying on the ground face down. "Oh my… Is that a.. Dark skinned man?!" His olive skin bolted through their air over the gardens of rocks until he slipped on a slippery dread.
"Youchie!!" The man pulled a long snake out from his ass- wait.. It was a.. Long piece of hair, a wick. "My oh my!" He looked at the man before him, "Could this be?" He placed the wick onto a hairless patch on the man's head, "It is! This is his hair!! Well now! I must do something about you."
******* DRACUH-SHORTS*******
Arash looked at the camera neck deep in the forest with his shoulders broad, "No.. I don't think I want any shorts right now.."
Flies swatted around Zorion's corpse, pecking away at its pores. Meanwhile, Zorion's soul watches from above as he's being taken away.
"What??? Get off my freaking body!! Why didn't I even get a proper burial?!"
!!!NO BREAK NEXT-WEEK!!!