29_ The Dragon Mark.

Dai Xiu turned towards Lucian's direction but he was seconds too slow. His eyes widened when Lucian moved as quick as lightning and delivered a deathly strong punch in his abdomen and Dai Xiu coughed out his own blood.

The force of the blow sent him back and Dai Xiu would have been knocked of his feet had he not stabbed his staff into the ground and held on with an iron grip.

Hikaru who taken unawares by This shocking display of power. With all the time that he had been With Lucian , he had never seen this before.But looking into his eyes, one could clearly see he was enraged and bent on having blood .Dai Xiu stepped back afraid as his body began to betray him.

"Lucian..." He began when his friend gave him a chilling stare.

"Stay out of this ." Lucian said in a distorted voice and he walked slowly to Dai Xiu that was now panting.

"I gave you a chance.." He charged towards the other man and flung him to the dust.

"But you refused to leave." Lucian spoke angrily as he repeatedly bashed his clenched hands into his opponents face. He was boiling with anger and hatred . Putting all the emotion his was feeling into this man that he was pummeling.

Dai Xiu managed to escape his deadly grip. Fear came in full force as he attempted to make a desperate strike on Lucian praying for luck to be on his side.

Unfortunately Lady Luck had other plans.

Lucian caught his staff with one hand and with a swift movement, and Dai Xiu knew that he was dead. There was no backing out now. This was no longer a man , he thought as blood flowed freely from his broken nose and he spat out blood .

This was a monster .

"You wanted blood didn't you..." Lucian spoke with a demonic voice as he smiled madly , standing over him, His eyes were blank and soulless, when he brought down his fists on Dai Xiu's back, shattering the spinal cord , seizing the flow of chakra through his body.

Lucian pulled him to his feet, almost choking him and flung his body into the air and Dai Xiu swallowed his own blood when he was smashed back down to earth with a painful kick. Lucian dragged his face through the scratching sand and gripped the other man's hair and have a powerful jab to his throat, forcing Dai Xiu to choke for air as he was unable to breathe.

"Well it is your blood you are going to get , You bastard."

The dark markings on Lucian's body then concentrated into his palm, creating a black spiral. He placed his hand on Dai Xiu's head who began screaming in agony as his body began to disintegrated piece by piece until it was nothing but a pile of ashes swept away by the wind.

The Markings that had obscured half of his body slowly began to disappear leaving only in its wake a strange symbol , a dragon mark , etched on his chest. Lucian staggered back , trying to keep still but finally collapsed in the dust beside the remainder of Dai Xiu ashes.

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Hikaru stood on edge as he heard rustling in the bushes. He feared that it might be more of Dai Xiu's men arriving to come to his aid but he was a mixture of surprise and gladness to see it was Kaya.

Kaya saw Hikaru sitting by a fire he had made , cleaning his blade. His eyes were tired but he was unwilling to sleep he couldn't avoid to sleep no matter how tired he was. He has to keep wake to watch over Lucian as he lay on the ground unconscious. Kaya decided to bring up the issue of them deserting her later.

For now she was just concerned and wondered what happened to Lucian .

"Kaya, How did you get here?" Hikaru drawled as he looked at her .

"It is a long story." She brushed off. "What happened to Lucian?" Kaya said empathetic, kneeling beside him.

"It is a long story." He laughed dryly remembering the unearthly fighting that happened earlier. "But I think he is injured."

"Do not Worry." Kaya responded. "I will tend to him. You on the other hand , need some rest. I will stay awake."

Hikaru heaved a deep breath and went to clear his head while Kaya was alone with Lucian. Her gaze returned to him. He looked worn out and she leaned forward in trepidation and listened for a heartbeat.

It was there but was faint.

Lucian stirred and moaned but did not fully awaken. Kaya Takashi studied him in the dim light of the fire. His midnight hair was silky and make lenght. His slightly thick brows were set perfectly as she recalled his hooded , deep set brown eyes.

Her enchanted gaze slid over him and she could not resist the temptation . He was tall and muscular. She felt his arms to find them hard and defined. She unfasten the top portion of his garment as she examined his magnificent body. There were no traces of any wounds of any sort as if they had healed themselves. But Although Kaya was through , She could not resist slipping her hands over his flesh. His skin was cool to her warm fingers . Asleep ,his features were relaxed and softened. He was so handsome , Kaya thought , as her heart pounded and her body flamed with desire. The emotions surging through her were unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. She ran her hand over the miniature mark of a dragon on his chest and she felt a connection and at the same time a sharp jolt of old memories through her mind and she moved away quickly.

Breathing heavily , She looked at him one more time before closing up his garment and moving away. But there was something about this man, something more than his exceptional looks.

But what was that something, she did not know.

Kaya sighed on seeing Lucian shivering . Another gust of midnight breeze blew past and she shivered. Finally reaching a decision, She curled to his side and held him to keep him warm. Lucian's hand slowly draped over her back as he held her tighter. In his embrace , she closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.