The Fire Dragon part 3

Elwin wasn't quite sure how his sword was able to block something as insubstantial as flames, but he wasn't going to complain. Of course, he also didn't understand how the flames could move of their own accord. That they were sentient on their own.

Still, if he could block them with his sword, then that would mean he'd be able to use his sword to damage the creature as well. Provided he could actually get a chance to attack. Which he wasn't sure he'd be able to do without someone else assisting him.

When Leon joined, Elwin knew he'd be able to do something now. Assuming Leon didn't steal all the glory that was. While Leon normally didn't do that, with Elwin already fully engaged with the creature, it wasn't likely that he'd be able to get much glory out of this himself. Which was a hazard of charging in like he did. Although, he had a feeling that if he hadn't done that this time, that this creature probably would have gotten the rest of the group before they were ready.

When Leon swung his sword into the side of the creature, Elwin didn't really expect much. After all, the creature was made out of fire, so he couldn't see how Leon's strikes would have any effect.

However, when Leon's sword made contact, the dragon's roaring in pain surprised Elwin. As far as he knew, the creature was insubstantial, and so shouldn't be affected by regular steel. So, as he saw an opening, Elwin swung his sword at the creature, intending to drive it back to the point he'd be able to finish it off, whatever it was.

With Leon fighting the creature, they were able to put it on the defensive and were pushing it back. When Bart showed up and began attacking the creature with his staff, Elwin barely paid him any attention. As long as he was going after the creature of flames in front of them, Elwin didn't feel the need to pull any more of his attention away from the fight than he already had. While he and Leon were dealing damage to it, Elwin felt like something was going to happen.

It wasn't because he was superstitious, but rather because he felt like there was something about this fight that didn't feel right. It wasn't anything that he could see or that he thought the creature wasn't putting its full efforts into the fight, but rather it seemed like something that he couldn't quite explain.

Elwin then saw an opening and stabbed his sword point first towards the chest of the creature. Or at least what looked like a chest, since he couldn't be sure that this creature was more than just the blue and purple flames that had been made to look like a dragon. If this was the fire dragon, Elwin wasn't sure what made it so dangerous that it would be marked as a set challenge.

Yet, as he lunged, a flash of blinding light flared from the creature of fire blinding Elwin, forcing him to close his eyes. Though, the fact he couldn't see didn't slow his lunge down, but when he reached the limit to his reach with his sword, he hadn't felt his blade coming into contact with anything.

When Elwin opened his eyes, he didn't see the creature he'd been fighting. His vision still had the after image effect of any bright light, but he could tell that the creature of ire wasn't there anymore. He could see Leon and Bart standing by, their weapons at the ready, though it was clear they were just as confused at what happened as Elwin had been.

Looking around, Elwin could see that there wasn't any sign of the creature, other than the burn scar on the grass, not only from where it stood when they fought it, but also where it had been flying when it was close to the ground just before Elwin had been able to engage it.

"Did you notice anything strange about that creature?" Leon mused thoughtfully.

"You mean other than the fact that it was made out of fire?" Elwin asked rhetorically.

"Given what we've seen on this world, I can't say I'd consider that 'unusual.' There've been some pretty strange things we've fought already, so I'm not sure this is that far out there," Leon replied calmly.

Elwin sighed. He wasn't sure he agreed with that, but he wasn't going to argue. With how tired he was from that fight, he didn't really have the energy to debate about the issue. Maybe after they'd rested for some time, but right then he wanted to go back to sleep.

He could even still feel the heat from the flames of the creature on his face. He wasn't surprised at that, given the color of the flames of the creature, but it didn't fit in with what he'd known about how flames were supposed to work otherwise.

As Elwin returned with Leon and Bart to where Owen was by their campsite, he allowed his eyes to close briefly, trying to get a little bit of rest before he needed to open them again. Either for traveling or anything else that might come up that would require his to open his eyes.

"Any idea what that was?" Owen asked as they approached.

"You're the one who can read minds," Elwin remarked. "So, you should be able to tell what we know without needing to ask."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't share our thoughts on the matter."

"Whatever it was, Owen, we still didn't defeat it. It's definitely still out there, so we can't say what else might happen when we encounter it again," Leon replied.

"Where did it come from?" Bart asked, drawing Elmo's attention to the boy. Bart had seen the creature first, so he should know where it had 'come from,' but Elwin was sure he wasn't referring to that.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Elwin said. "It might have been the fire dragon that we were supposed to fight, but it was a lot weaker than I had expected if so."

"Well, it might have just been testing our strength," Leon remarked. "Besides, what I found most strange was when I sliced through it's side. It wasn't blood that came out, but rather it dripped flames. Like it was a liquid flame. When it landed on the ground, it caught the grass on it on fire for a minute, but as a creature made out of flames, I guess it makes sense for it to essentially bleed fire."

"Well, we'll have to keep an eye out for it in the future," Owen commented. "Though, I'm not sure when we might encounter it again."

Elwin couldn't think of anything to say in response, so he kept quiet and started getting a fire started so they could have some breakfast. While the mornings usually were lively, today there was a somber mood. Not that Elwin found it surprising. The attack had left them all shaken, though Elwin wasn't sure why, but he could tell that Bart had been affected the most.

However, he didn't have a connection with Bart past them being in the same group. If Bart wanted to talk about it, he was welcome to do so, but Elwin himself certainly wasn't going to ask. He wasn't going to push himself into someone else's business. Not when he didn't have any reason to.

When they started out to continue their journey, the silence followed them. Even Leon didn't say anything to Elwin, just as Elwin didn't feel the need to say anything either. Even though they usually would talk about various things. Such as what they might do with the company when they were able to return to their own world. Including what Leon would do with Lana or Elwin would do with Liana.

However, it almost felt like they were in a funeral march. Even though they couldn't see any threat around them, they stayed quiet, each one of them lost in their own thoughts. If Elwin hadn't been so shaken by the fight with that fire creature, he suspected that he'd be worried about the change in the mood of the group.

Fortunately, when they stopped for the night, the mood seemed to have lightened up a little, but it was still rather quiet. There was more idle conversation, but the memory of that morning stuck with them.

Elwin felt satisfied that he had the first watch and Leon would take on the second watch, but he couldn't say the same about Owen taking the last watch. Maybe it was that Leon was his brother and he trusted him implicitly, but Owen was still as much of a stranger as Bart. While they still had the same overall objective, he couldn't be sure that they really would be there if things became difficult for them.

Elwin knew that he really only had Leon to rely on here. That as long as Leon survived, everything would be just fine.