Do your best, Zesh!
The barn door creaked as Zesh pulled it open.
He lifted Ayin's limp body with difficulty, gripping her by the scruff of her neck with his teeth carefully to not hurt her. The weight of her frail frame pressed against his jaw, she was far heavier than it should have been because he was weakened, but he refused to falter.
Zesh knew that he need to eat some food, or at the very least, least a drop of water.
But he didn't have time.
His sister didn't have enough time.
As he stepped outside, the cold night air stung his wounds like blades. His legs trembled beneath him, but he forced himself to pressed forward, determination filled his heart to drive him onward.
He hadn't made it far when the shouts began.
"They're still alive?" one man shouted.
"How the hell—"
"Doesn't matter," another voice interrupted. "Kill them!"
"There!"
"What?! It can't be!"
"The beasts are escaping!"
Zesh's heart sank as he saw a mob of villagers emerges from the shadows, torches and things in hand.
"Don't let them get away!" someone shouted.
Zesh snarled, his body coiled with tension as he turned and bolted into the forest.
"Don't stop!" someone yelled.
"End them before they get away!"
A sharp stone struck his flank, sending a jolt of pain through his already battered body. Another rock hit his shoulder, and he almost stumbled, but humphed and quickly regained his footing.
The mob's shouts grew louder, their torches casting flickering shadows through the trees.
"We should just kill them earlier!"
"They don't deserve to live after what they done!"
Zesh's scrawny chest heaved as he pushed himself harder, moving through the dense undergrowth. Ayin's weight and the relentless sting of his fresh wounds threatened to drag him down, but he refused to stop.
A wooden bucket hit his head, immediately painting his vision red, but he didn't care.
the flame of hatred propelling him forward.
The chase was brutal.
The mob grew larger with each passing moment, their voices a cacophony of hate and fear. Stones, branches and even iron tools flew through the air, striking Zesh's body and leaving new wounds in their wake.
A particularly large tool struck the back of his leg, clearly cracking his bone, and he let out a pained yelp, letting Ayin fall as he stumbled forward. The mob was gaining on him, their voices echoing like a chorus of malice—fear. He felt utter terror and panic.
But then the forest began to change.
The air grew heavier, the mist thicken, and the shadows growing deeper.
The trees suddenly grew denser, their twisted branches arching overhead to form a natural canopy. The ground became rough and uneven, littered with jagged rocks and poisonous insect. The faint glow of moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting eerie shadows across the forest floor.
The mob slowed, their shouts growing hesitant.
"This… isn't right," one man muttered.
"The hell is this place?" another asked, shaken.
And then, they saw "eyes", many eyes, lit one after another in the darkness.
Gradually, the shouts of the villagers began to fade, swallowed by the oppressive stillness of the woods. It was as if the woods finally decided to help him.
Zesh didn't stop to question it.
If this was non magical world, he would never make this choice. After all, what kind of crazy bastard would ran to nowhere because the dream they had?
But this was a magic world after all.
And Zesh, Elden beast, himself is a magical beast.
So obviously he had different view on the dream—No, rather than a dream, he would call it a revelation.
The dragons was no mere myth or legends. Although said to be extinct, they were as real as he can be. And as the old saying goes, when one's drowned they'll grab even their enemy's hand. Thus Zesh who has lost everything and was about to lose even his sister, had no reason to not believe in this revelation.
Zesh picked his sister again and ran.
It's hurt.
Everything feels hurt.
But he didn't stop leaving trails of blood on the grass.
Run.
Run.
Until his lungs burned, even when one of his hind legs break and turned limp, he just kept running.
When he finally dared to look back, the mob was gone.
The forest had claimed them.
Feeling a hint of relief, he collapsed to the ground, his body trembling violently. He carefully set Ayin down, his breaths coming in ragged gasps.
The silence around him was deafening, broken only by the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
He looked down at his sister, her fragile body lying motionless on the cold earth. "We're almost there, Sis," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Just hold on a little longer."
Tears rolling down his cheek, mixed with dirt and blood.
But Zesh did not cry.
He simply didn't have the time.
He gritted his teeth and with renewed determination, picked Ayin up again and continued onward, his three currently usable legs barely supporting him.
He crawled, he jumped, he ran.
Zesh pushed forward, his every step an act of sheer willpower as he did his best.
Everything turned misty as he focused on moving.
He didn't notice how, for that moment, everything around him gained life and help him, creating a path to his goal; Zesh couldn't see from where, but he heard it, the whisper, and he immediately reminded of the dragon in his dream's last sentence.
With newfound belief, Zesh push himself to move faster, leaving a pair of small green eyes that had been watching him from the start.
Gradually, the terrain began to shift, the trees thinning out as the ground grew rocky and uneven. A faint, otherworldly light flickered in the distance, and the air was filled with an unnatural energy.
As he crested a hill, a battlefield came into view.
The ground was scorched and littered with the bodies of fallen Eltsopa. Blood stained the earth, and the faint hum of residual magic and chaotic energy crackled in the air. At the center of the carnage lay a massive gate, and in front of it, a thing that could only be named as a monster—it gazing forward with intrigue.
But Zesh saw something different entirely.
It was not a battlefield or gigantic gate, nor a monster—but a black, darkness in shape of a dragon.
A massive, titanic dragon.
Just like in the dream, Zesh was barely as big as the dragon's tooth. And the dragon was too gigantic that he could barely saw anything past that pair of pitch black wings that covered the heaven.
Zesh's breath caught as he recognized the being from his dream.
Zesh stepped closer, body trembling with a mixture of fear and awe. "I AM HERE!"
He put Ayin down before screamed through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse, and he accidentally wounded his dried throat from doing so. But he swallowed the seeping blood and continue with an even harsher tone, "I CAME LIKE YOU ASKED!!!"
"Look at you," the dragon's eyes flickered, "Pathetic."
The dragon didn't even hide its tone that laced with disdain. "But within you burns a flames that cannot be extinguished. A hatred that fuel your heart."
"I'll do whatever it takes. Just give me the power to protect her!" Zesh's bleeding claws dug into the earth, his scarlet eyes glow bloody. "To destroy them."
The monster's faceless head slowly twisted into a something that resemble a smile.
The dragon cracked, its laughter shook the very foundation of heaven and earth, even Zesh feels dizzy and almost collapse. Then, it spoke deeply, "Come, child of hatred. Claim your destiny."
The dragon lift its gigantic jaw, opening a black hole.
Zesh lifted Ayin carefully, his gaze unwavering as he approached the dragon's jaw.
The air around him seemed to vibrate, the energy thick and suffocating. As he set his front leg on the dragon's mouth, a surge of power coursed through him, igniting every nerve in his body. His vision blurred, the world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of light and shadow.
And in that moment, Zesh knew that his path was set. There would be no turning back.
But he didn't want to turn back at all.
What's the point in doing so if there's nothing behind?
"I like it," the monster chuckled as he followed Zesh into the gate. It took a step into the gate, then another before fully inside, then it stretched a hand outside and with a snap of fingers—the gate vanished.
And it wasn't just the gate.
The battlefield, the corpses, the ruin, even the mountain where it was located before—gone.
Like they was never even exist at all.