After the Rain Stops

The Dragon of Hell

As they walked on and on, Chò talked their ears off.
"I can't wait to meet this Dragon! I bet he's super scary and huge!!!"
Kara sighs, reading a time on healing others. It was actually interesting, because you could heal someone with wurmroot.

"Oh wow! Look at that!" Chò says, stopping dead in her tracks at an edge.
The others stopped and looked passed the edge, watching an army surround one young man.
"Wonder who that is...?" Stitches says, scratching his chin.

The troops wore all red, the Hitā clan soldiers.
"The Hitā clan? What're they doing here? Isn't this Chōjō territory?" Kara asks, pulling out a modern territory book. "Yeah, this is Chōjō territory! So what're they doing here?"

The boy raises his head, and the first thing Kara noticed was his eyes.
"Ice blue... How are..?"

The boy draws his sword slowly, and the soldiers cower away for a moment before the commander demands them to kill him.
But the boy roars, charges his enemies, and cuts through them like a hot scyth through butter.

"Whoa!~" Chò states, jumping up and down in excitement, "He's powerful!"
Kara's eyes went wide, and her jaw slack.

Unlike the other two, Kara, being a mage, could see magic in people by their auras.
And his was a deadly mix of black, blue, white, green,  and red, meaning--

"That's him!" Kara states, fear swelling in her mind. "That's the Dragon!"
Chò shook her head. "No way. The Dragon uses primal mag-"

Just then, the boy shot a giant ball of flame from his hands, disintegrating not the soldiers and anything unfortunate enough to be caught in his way, including the side of the mountain the three adventurers were standing.

"Whoa!!!"
They all feel an avalanche run toward the boy. He wasn't moving, just standing there while they fell down the small cliff, mere yards away from this dragon who had destroyed an entire army.
"Move! You're gonna die!!" Kara yelled through cupped hands.

The boy glared at her, then turned to the incoming ocean of snow.

He did a few hands signs, and then he fired another flame ball at the snow, it evaporating in an instant. The flame had been a mix of all the colors, the darker ones being the base and the lighter ones being the actual flame.

Then he snapped his head toward the three intruders.
Stitches gulped.
Chò froze.

But Kara?
She was mesmerized.
She had never seen magic that powerful before.
Nor beautiful.
Never.

"I-it... Was pretty... I wish i... Could do that..." Kara says quietly, the wind seeming to have killed her words.
The Dragon glares at her, seemingly reading her very soul.
Then he begins to slowly walk toward her, the snow around and under him melting.

She let out a quiet Eek, not sure what to do now.
As he slowly approached her, he coughed harshly. Then, mere feet in front of her, he collapses right at her feet.
"Oh no!" She wraps his arm around her shoulder, helping him both stand and walk toward her companions.

The boy stole a few glances at her.
Then, he spoke.
"Why help me?"

She almost stopped, but trudged on.
"Because you're hurt, and its snowing. I can't just leave you here." She replies casually.

He coughs, a hit of blood spurting out as he does.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because, I'm no good."
Kara shook her head.
"I don't believe so. Besides, you're human too." She says, smiling at him to reassure him she was a friend.

And to not turn her into Kara-la-modè.

He coughs again, still looking at her.
"My place, down there." He nods to the pass as the others help carry him.
"Damn... My sword..."
Chò nods to her back. "Don't worry, Dragon. I got it."
Stitches grunts. "Man, with no armor you'd expect a warrior to weigh nothing, but that's so not the case!"
Kara shook her head. "Guys, come on. We need to help him. Less talking, more grunting."

Dragon looked and listened to the strangers.
They all three had a chance to kill him.
Well, why didn't they? Were they waiting until he left his guard down? Were they taking him to another army?
Whatever it was, he was prepared.
He was always prepared.

Later that night, after they had reached his home and Kara had made some healing solutions, Dragon was having another nightmare while Kara watched on.

"I wonder what he's dreaming of..?" She asks no one in particular.
Chò sits up and yawns, her hair a mess. "Why not use your fancy magic to see?"

Kara thought about it, then nodded and slowly, stealthily, crawled over to him. She lifted a hand, then touched her temple. With her free hand, she touched his.

Then?
She screamed.