The Shadow that Lurks (V)

"Impossible! A pact between the two of you has been completed? The ritual has failed? It can't be, this can't be happening!"

"Pact? I don't think I've done anything like that. The important thing is that the situation has been turned around, now-"

Before I could finish my sentence Shadow Dragon lunged towards its former owner raising its claw and dropping it on him. Lavos managed to avoid a killing blow although he still suffered scratches that tore his tunic.

"This is going badly, I'll have to retreat!"

At that instant he threw a crystal sphere from his pocket, as it shattered on the ground mist began to emanate preventing me from seeing clearly. The pillars of light disappeared and the barrier dissipated.

"Are you trying to run away!?"

I thought about charging my index finger to shoot it and stop it from leaving, but I couldn't. It's as if the glow in my little finger prevented me from doing so. I see, just like with my other skill I can only have one active at a time.

I went running towards him when I felt the air leaving my lungs. This is not a simple gas, it must possess some special property to stun. Even the dragon seems to be affected by it. Damn! This guy and his dirty tricks!

Lavos was walking away quickly, searching inside his clothes for something that would probably help him out of this situation.

"I won't let you!" said Maria coming out of nowhere and jumping on him, taking from him some kind of parchment with a strange seal drawn on it.

"Damn child, give that back!" he exclaimed trying to recover what he had lost.

"No way!" she shouted starting to run away.

Perfect, she managed to buy the necessary time.

Shadow Dragon flapped so hard that the wind it generated managed to dissipate the mist and upon seeing his target clearly she went at full speed towards it, biting it savagely. It was able to tear off his right hand easily without much effort.

"Ahhh! My hand!" he began to scream in pain until a lash with his tail sent him away.

His body flew falling head first to the ground and laying motionless, probably fainting.

"Well, problem solved I guess"

"Asriel, are you alright?"

"Slightly injured but nothing serious, I can at least move now. What about you?"

"I scraped my knees a little bit when I stole this paper from him"

"I see. That was a very risky thing to do Maria, don't do it again"

"But-!"

"However you did excellent, if it wasn't for you Lavos would have escaped" I said stretching out my hand to caress his head. "I'm very proud of you"

"Hehehe~ I'm a little embarrassed..." certainly her cheeks were a little red when she answered me.

The sound of heavy footsteps made me turn around and return my attention to the dragon, which was slowly approaching with apparent bloodlust to the unconscious body of its former master.

"Wait! Don't kill him, there are still things we need to ask him" I shouted in an attempt to stop it, but he seemed to have no intention of doing so by bringing his sharp teeth closer to his neck. "Stop Kurogane!" I exclaimed again, this time he stopped.

At that instant he turned around and stared at me.

Kurogane? Why did I call it that? I remember it was the name of one of the characters in a series I liked as a kid. I shouted it out unintentionally, and it's like he reacted instantly. Maybe it stuck with him... well, I guess that's what he's called now.

As if he understood me he seemed to nod his head, spread his wings and flew off into the sky vanishing in a magic circle similar to the one I saw when he first appeared. As it disappeared the glow on my little finger finally faded.

"Is it gone already?" asked Maria.

"It seems so"

"Do you think we'll see him again?"

"I hope. I felt a connection between us, I can't explain it clearly but I'm sure we will"

"He looked happy before he left. You really saved him, Asriel"

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. That's your specialty, helping whoever needs it~"

"I don't know if it's that big of a deal... augh!"

"Asriel! Sorry, I forgot that you're hurt! I'll heal you right away"

"Thank you Maria"

While she is healing me I kept looking at Lavos's body, who is unconscious and bleeding from his wound from losing his hand in such a brutal scene.

What should we do with him? We could just let him die this way, surely no one would care. It was self-defense after all, he attacked me saying a lot of stupid nonsense... although there might be an important motive inside his words.

"There! You're good as new~"

"You're right, my arm doesn't have any scars or anything. You showed off again"

"Hehe~"

"Well, in that case... we have to deal with this guy"

"What do you have in mind?"

"...right. Do you still have your backpack?"

"Eh? I dropped it when we started chasing after him so it wouldn't weigh me down. Why?"

"We'll go get it. I hope you're not sleepy, this is going to be a long night"