All the Smoke

A train takes off, leaving the port and instantly passing over a track across a large body of water.

Cordayl takes his seat in the back, away from everyone, and pulls out his phone.

Looking at the endless missed calls and texts from Yanna, he smacks his head on the window in sadness. He closes his eyes when he gets another message notification.

"Don't do it. You're already being tracked."

"Shut up." Cordayl ignores the voice in his head and texts Yanna back, letting her know he is okay.

Staring out the window again, his heart drops as he sees the shadow of a helicopter pass over the water.

Cordayl moves to the window seat across the aisle, follows the helicopter's path to the other side of the train's window, and sighs in relief as he sees the helicopter continue on its course away from him.

Returning to his seat, a man sits across from Cordayl and lights up a cigar.

An attendant comes to the back to tell him smoking is not allowed, but the fiery glance the man gives her sends her away before she can finish her sentence.

"It's a terrible habit, but it always calms me down before a fight. Want a puff?" The man offers Cordayl

"No, thank you. But since you are being so generous, could you tell me who sent you?" Cordayl asks.

The man exhales the smoke in his lungs before answering, "I couldn't tell you. I only know my family was hired to bring you in. I was just lucky enough to find you first. My sister is a lot less civil than I am. I know you won't go quietly. Honestly, I wouldn't let you. Not every day you get to fight a Melatonin warrior." The man smirks, lighting the rest of the cigar on fire.

Both warriors cut their eyes at each other and then start throwing hands from their aisle seats. Neither lands a punch, but Cordayl slips away and runs through the carts to find an exit.

It's to no appeal as the man slithers through Cordayl's legs in a streamline of fire ahead of him, cutting off his escape route.

"Yo, you a demon or something?" Cordayl ask.

"No, I'm a dragon." The man chuckles. "But not the type with wings. Those are more the animal type."

"Cool, cool. Look, man. Can't we wait until the train parks? It's kind of crowded in here."

"That's a bad question to ask, dummy. Dragons are supremacists, " the voice tells Cordayl.

The dragon laughs at him. "Don't tell me you're one of those 'exclude innocent' types?"

Suddenly, there is an explosion in the train cart, and both rows of pedestrians are either blown out the side of the cart or set ablaze in their seats. Now, in a cage of fire, Cordayl mugs the dragon, who shrugs his shoulders and asks. "Enough space for you now?"

Cordayl's eyes squint in anger and he turns around and walks to the end of the cart.

"Didn't I show you that running is pointless?" The dragon ask.

Cordayl ignores him and detaches the burning cart from the rest of the train so that it doesn't spread.

Turning around, with nowhere to run and no one to worry about, an angry Cordayl squares up with the dragon. The dragon smiles, making the fire burn brighter as he dives in to fight Cordayl. Cordayl isn't doing any running this time, going blow for blow with the dragon.

The fire burns hotter, melting the metal it covers as the two evenly matched warriors continue to fight. The train car falls apart, the two barely take notice, as they fight on the train tracks.

The dragon flips away from Cordayl and jumps into the air, transforming into his dragon state to quickly gain altitude.

Flipping around, he starts to descend toward Cordayl, reverting back to his human form to deliver a devastating punch.

Cordayl anticipates the attack and aggressively reverses gravity at the same moment he throws a punch to match the dragon's.

A mass of energy and fire blow the train tracks apart and the two warriors descend towards the water beneath the tracks.

They continue to swing at each other, but as they get closer and closer to the water, the dragon kicks Cordayl away and quickly transforms into his dragon form.

Cordayl hits the water and chooses to sink as he observes the dragon, who hovers above the water.

"How long can this punk hold his breath?" The dragon asks himself as he continues to wait for Cordayl to surface.

Growing impatient, the dragon lets out a massive blast of fire that dances on top of the water. "Lucky I don't know how to swim." He mutters before flying away.

Cordayl patiently sits there, watching the dragon, when suddenly he sees the dragon unleash an absurd amount of fire toward him.

"Getting a little toasty." Cordayl thinks to himself as he activates his power through his feet and sinks further. As he falls further and further away from the surface, his thoughts take a depressing turn.

"I could just keep sinking," he thinks as the power travels up his body. "Then I wouldn't have to deal with this dragon or the hit on my head. I could just sink, close my eyes, and eventually, I would drown. Then I could see everyone again." Cordayl thinks, as now his entire body is white, as he sinks into darkness.

"Man, swim! If you die, I die. And death better come in person if he wants my life. We'll see everyone again, but not today. Now swim. Swim!" The voice shouts and continues shouting until a vein pops up on Cordayl's head, and he starts to swim.

"What would you do without me?" The voice states as Cordayl cuts through the water.