Dealings With A Dragon I

At the rate things were going, Otane was going to be completely annihilated in less than an hour. Born from the merciless sands of the desert, the kingdom was going to return to the sands once more.

The dragon survived the attack that would have killed anything else. Frightening and unmatched were not enough to describe dragons at all. If even that couldn't take it down. surely, there was nothing that could bring the beast to its knees.

Slumped down with his back against what remained of a wall, Kies held onto the Moonstone tightly in his hands, feeling the magic from it seep into his empty body. It felt like his body had blood again, but of course, he never had any to start with. Magic was his blood. If he lost all of it then that was it for him.

"I'm not doing that again..." Kies mumbled to himself, checking his body for any major injuries that needed some time to heal. Nothing, which was surprising. He got up off the ground and checked his limbs for responsiveness. His arms were working fine but his legs were slow. He had to give it some time for the magic to cycle his body to normalize it after exhausting everything he had.

Well, the attack itself didn't consume that much magic power to use. Kies used up almost everything to keep the dragon out of the city. Not the most effective way to use his magic for sure. With the tiny bit of magic he had left, he reduced the air into a sphere the size of a bead and propelled himself into the dragon like a missile, and exploded, which also wasn't one of his better decisions.

Yeah, he was not trying that again. It was a good thing that he had the Moonstone in his possession, or else he really would have died. The magic was too hard to control. It would take someone who is naturally proficient in magic such as him, years to master it to the point where successfully contain air in a space as small as that.

Kies kicked the rubble out of the way and climbed on top of a ruined house to get a better view of the dragon. Luckily, it hadn't chosen to search for him while he was unable to move, and it looked like he had someone to thank for that.

The dragon had five, or six, or maybe even seven giant icicles sticking out of its body. It was bloodied and battered, but it still had the strength to keep fighting. What a monster.

Rui was doing a number on the dragon, though Kies didn't understand how the attacks were getting through. It survived his attack unscathed, but the royal guard was somehow getting her attacks through its impenetrable scales. Did the dragon have a weak point that he didn't know about?

Kies narrowed his eyes, trying to see better in the bright sun. It didn't help that the shiny scales of the dragon reflected the sunlight, making it borderline impossible to see anything other than a massive glowing ball of light. However, he did notice something off about the dragon.

There were spots all over the dragon's body where the sun wasn't reflecting off, making the dragon look like it has a polka dot pattern on its body. Kies tried to see why that was the case and while it took him some time, he sees the reason why.

The dragon's scales were cracked and falling apart. Huh, so his attack did do something after all. Rui was capitalizing on the damaged scales from his attack. Where there was a crack in the dragon's armor, she attacked it with her ice magic. It was incredible how fast she saw and grasped the opportunity.

Kies no longer needed to do anything. He had faith that the royal guard could take down the mythical creature by herself. He could help and finish off the beast faster, but it was too risky. His magic was replenishing at a fast rate with the aid of the Moonstone, and his natural, freakishly fast regeneration speed, but it still would take some time for him to fully recover.

Well, that and something else. Kies felt the Moonstone dry up. Having emptied all its contents, he dropped it back into his pouch. He had a considerable amount of magic now, but he had no time to gain back all the rest. Time was something he didn't have.

Already having sensed the demoness' presence, Kies called out to her. "I know you're here." Appearing from his blind spot, Messa, swiftly moved in front of him, a trail of purple following behind her. Before she could speak, Kies summoned his sword and flipped the switch, converting to its double-sided form. Kies did not know what her intentions were and so she was to be treated as an enemy until otherwise.

"I could have killed you." It is the first thing that came out of her mouth. It was a unique way to greet someone, but Kies got the message. She had her eyes on him the whole time and could have killed him while he was recovering his magic. In other words, she wasn't here for a fight, but for something else, a talk perhaps.

Knowing that a fight will not turn out in his favor, Kies asked Messa what she wanted. "What are you here for then? Shouldn't you be helping the dragon?" he asked her, keeping his weapon raised in front of him. There wasn't a point in doing it because if Messa wanted to, she could easily kill him when he was in this state, but it would at least give him a chance to react. Before, they were more or less as powerful as the other, but currently? It was clear who would come out on top if they had disagreements.

Messa shook her head. "The dragon is disposable. If it dies here today, then so be it. It would be better that way." Her voice was quiet and solemn. She was serious about what she said.

"What are you planning then?" Kies asked, stunned by what she said. The demons were tossing the dragon aside like that? The only reasons he could think of were that the demons no longer had any use for it.. or that they had no authority over the dragon anymore. However, the dragon was still obeying the demons right now, from the looks of things anyway. This meant that they still had some control over the dragon, but Kies wouldn't be surprised if the dragon's patience was thinning after being forced into being a slave for so long.

The demoness took two steps towards Kies and he responded by slashing his sword, creating a thin slice of wind at her to keep her back. Purple magic flared around her body and the winds dispersed harmlessly upon contact.

"Sorry, but please keep your distance," Kies warned her, taking two steps back to match the two she took forward.

Messa's facial expression stayed the same and she didn't say anything, but she stopped, respecting Kies' wishes. She wanted to make it clear to him that she wasn't his enemy. Lowering the purple barrier surrounding her body, she conjured a large purple orb in front of Kies. It was too slow to be an attack and so Kies allowed her to finish whatever she was doing without interrupting her. The purple orb grew in size until it was bigger than both herself and Kies.

The orb turned transparent, revealing a rather shocking thing inside. The baby dragon, having grown to a decent size was inside. It was in its adolescent stage now. Its eyes were closed and showed no signs of life. It was hard to tell if it was alive or already dead. If it were dead, that would explain why the demons were trying to get rid of the dragon.

"The dragon is growing restless. The higher-ups decided to get rid of the dragon before it turns against us," Messa explained to Kies, confirming his suspicions.

But, why was she telling him this? "That doesn't sound like something you should tell me," Kies said cautiously. He tightened the hold on his sword. Messa didn't strike him as the type of person who would carelessly spill this kind of information if she was going to spare him. But she didn't feel like the type to say anything to someone who is about to die. Regardless, Kies still didn't know what she wanted with him.

"Take it." The sphere hovered until it was a few feet away from Kies and the purple barrier keeping the beast inside flickered before dispersing, the particles disappearing like fluttering butterflies. The small dragon landed in front of his feet with a soft thud.

Kies looked down at the dragon. It looked like a younger version of the one wrecking the city. It was its parent. No wonder the adult was willing to listen to the demons. Kies looked back at Messa in confusion. "Why are you handing it to me?"

Messa's stone expression finally broke, and though it was only for a split second, Kies could see hesitation written all over her face. "There is a... reason..." she said, sounding a bit unsure of her own words. Not elaborating any further about what her reasons were, she turned to leave in a hurry.

"Wait!" His call was ignored. Messa burst into a flurry of purple particles, pushing the ownership of the baby dragon onto him.

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