Saving Enemies

It was Bailong's first jump straight down the cliff in the last few days.

"We are not far from Kaizen," his legs hurt from all the swimming and running and swimming and more running. He had not slept, was hungry, and his body was changing as some of his brother's capabilities morphed into him.

"And then what?" his brother remarked, taking a spin in the air as he landed on the ground and retracted their wings. When he had come out of the water yesterday, his shoulder blades ached, and the dragon spirit saw two bones sticking out of his back. It had freaked them both out for a while. He took his spirit form to see if it affected his beast, and they turned into tiny little wings. Thankfully, no bones were sticking out of his back when he returned to human form. He thought it was temporary.

Now, they are diving off a cliff in the south plateaus, trying to get out of the western pack's paws.

"Your eyesight still has that dragon energy effect, and now the wings. I am losing some of the colors too. I think we are Really morphing," Qinglong said thoughtfully as he stepped back. Bailong took control of the body and felt Qinglong's emptiness reflecting his own. They both felt a lack of their mother, unable to explain what was happening to them. He didn't speak, taking care of the pouch.

"I wish mother were with us." Qinglong's longing reflected his own.

"She would say- if you are together, you can do anything. That's what matters."

"You sound so much like her. You Are so much like her." his brother's voice was faint and far away like he had whispered the words. She had taught him that his greatest strength wasn't his beast or abilities but his mind to use them to his advantage. She did her best, and now it was his turn.

"Kaizen is protected by law from all three kingdoms to educate students from all over the lands. If North or West wants to catch us, they will need an exclusive written agreement between the three kingdoms, which is why we must make friends with the east while we are there. Moreover, Headmaster Wama is pretty powerful and influential. If we can get him on our side, we might be able to find a solution."

"It remains to see if he is all that people say. After all, the legendary Prince Weylin turned out to be a hoax."

Bailong laughed and looked over his shoulder. Indeed the party had come up on the cliff. The flat-faced prince turned to the troop leader, flailing his arms and pointing down the edge that led straight down. They couldn't see him yet, but he couldn't stay hidden for long. The search party would come down scouting, and then, he would have to run. Better run now when they couldn't catch him.

"We should beware, Reika though. Thankfully she isn't too powerful yet, or else we would be in trouble," Bailong started running again.

Over the cliff, they saw him and ran parallel, unwilling to lose sight of him. The lower part of the cliff had a hiding advantage. The passages shifted and split. His pursuers would have to jump the cliffs if he chose a split path. He too had jumped a few cliffs with his brother's help and his new wings.

As soon as the Western pack appeared on the horizon, he jumped. Now, he was waiting for a split in the maze path, hoping to divide them.

And he found one!

He turned left and heard a string of curses from the flat-faced prince. Once a little further into his path, he stopped to turn. The pack stood on the other side of the cliff, but Reika and Weylin were absent. The pack parted, and two large animals jumped the cliff... And made it across.

Bailong released a breath, but his brother cursed, "rotten luck."

His pursuers cut short to two, and he ran again, planning to give the tiger and the wolf a good chase today. If only he could find a large enough distance, only one of the two beasts would make it. It was the best option he had between two pursuers.

"This maze is impossible. That little kitten dare not come down or risk his hoax reputation until someone rescues him." Qinglong sneered, thinking the same thing. Bailong knew he would have to find a cliff distance large enough for the woman to miss. If he estimated right, he might be able to separate them.

"But wolves have an amazing sense of direction, not to mention they have not lost our trail in 4 days now. I am sure Reika has a sense of direction as good as mine. It will be hard to hoodwink her."

"We don't need to. We just need to reach Kaizen first."

Bailong nodded and turned into another split as planned. He was heading south. Reika and Prince Weylin must have guessed it, too, as they kept up with him easily. Soon after, he found another split. It was the opportunity Bailong was looking for. He took the one that would widen his pursuer's jump gap.

Bailong glanced over his shoulder as one of his eyes morphed. Ever since leaving the clearing, his visions had changed. Earlier, his vision completely overtook his present, so he often chose to use only one eye. But now his dream was like a running picture of the immediate future overlapped with reality.

Bailong saw himself running toward the cliff instead of away from it, in the vision just as he saw Prince Weylin push Reika down the cliff. He didn't think. He turned around and ran towards the cliff, forgetting his vision, his enemies, and his purpose. He saw her surprised face nose dive. Their eyes met, and her sharp ones flashed another color before she removed her garb midair and changed form. The dark muddy cloth floated away in the wind as a wolf howled, about to hit her head and die.

Bailong, too, morphed, jumping, changing form midair, becoming smaller, increasing speed, and changing back into himself as he landed just under her. He opened his arms and took her fall, both hitting solid ground, her on him.

The word disoriented for a brief moment. Then, Bailong wanted to run away but pain shot up his arm. Under her, Bailong's arm was twisted at an odd angle. He gritted his teeth, unwilling to voice his pain, still shocked that the prince had pushed his comrade down the cliff. Even in her changed form, she would have died. The wolf groaned but stopped abruptly. Reika moved quickly, struggling to get up as her leg, too, was twisted at an odd angle. But as he looked up at the scrambling wolf, he saw his surroundings change. Everywhere he saw was her in wolf form. She had taken advantage of the situation to cast an illusion, but he knew the real one had barely gotten off of him. He dared not move his arm in case the pain clouded his mind.

"You are too nice," his brother's exasperation filled him, but he smiled. With his other hand, he caught the leaving wolf's hind legs and pulled back, hoping her pain would disrupt her illusion. The wolf staggered, but nothing happened. The broken leg was also an illusion. Clever.

As she stumbled backward, he slapped the wolf's face, surprising her at his primitive action, distorting her illusion. It didn't even hurt enough to move her face to the side, but it worked. Some of the wolves faded. Hurriedly, he scrambled onto his feet, groaning now. All the pain from the past few days that had washed away in the river was back with a vengeance.

"Damn. I thought your arm was an illusion, too." Qinglong snickered, still taunting him for saving Reika as the wolves multiplied again. Bailong groaned, more in frustration than in pain. He turned around and slammed the nearest wolf's head into the ground.

Immediately, the illusion died as Reika passed out.

"I might be kind, but I am not nice." It was his brother's turn to laugh. He hadn't heard it since the day they left the palace.