Disclaimer: See previous chapters
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Chap. 33
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The dragon snarled low as it confronted the newly transformed Rei, who had changed into a dark-furred lynx and snarling back. Uriko stood up beside her and touched her shoulder.
"Rei, are you okay?"
Her only response was a heightened snarl followed by her charging in toward the dragon. The beast roared and shot a stream of fire, but Rei skipped aside and pounced. The dragon turned to her in mid-flight and swiped at her, knocking her out of her attack. But Rei rolled on the ground and attacked again. This time, it got through and she managed to scratch the side of the dragon's face.
"You better help her, Uriko." Alice said as the fight started.
Uriko turned to her questioningly and Alice explained. "She's not in control. Her beast form is still feral. She's going to hurt herself "
Uriko turned back, beginning to realize what Alice said was true. It had taken her some time and training to master her own beast powers just so that she was strong enough to try and save her mother. As it stood now, Rei was just an oversized cat and she was more prone to attacks from the dragon. She needs backup.
"Okay, I'm on it. Rwoar!"
Uriko instantly spun into her own metamorphosis, becoming similar to Rei, minus the savageness and plus the skill. At the battle, Rei had been slapped aside again and now circling the dragon, with her fur standing up on end. The dragon snapped its teeth at her, but she backed away, hissing in defiance. Regardless, Rei didn't attack that time as her limited human consciousness was telling her that this fight was not in her favor. Just then, another form came up overhead and struck the dragon on the top of its head. The beast growled as Uriko rebounded, cartwheeling in the air until she landed next to Rei. She gave Rei a wary glance, hoping that Rei wouldn't suddenly turn on her. But it seemed that Rei paid little mind to her and charged in again. The dragon recovered from Uriko's attack only to see Rei pouncing again. The dragon snapped at her, but her reflexes were fast and Rei managed to smack the dragon in the jaw, pushing herself away.
'Wow.' Uriko thought. 'She's doing good.' But that soon changed as Rei landed on the ground, she was suddenly hit by the monster's tail. Her body soared through the air and into the wall. However, her claws were planted in the wall and she slowly slid down, shaking the dust off. The dragon's back was turned to Uriko again and she made her move. Her training with Long had told her that when facing a superior opponent, to always look for an opening whenever you could. And the dragon always seemed to focus in on one target at a time. 'Major advantage.' Uriko dashed behind the beast, keeping her steps quiet until she was close. Claws open, Uriko went for a flying upper palm attack to the beast's leg. Hopefully, it would wound it enough for the two of them to take it down. But Uriko underestimated the dragon's senses and the creature turned its head and swung its tail, slapping her down.
"Maww!"
Uriko hissed in pain as she rose up, but was soon met with another tail lash, hitting her toward the wall next to Rei. Now that they were grouped together, it wouldn't be taken down by any more sneak attacks from the cats.
In a nutshell, they were in trouble…
On the floor a good foot away from the fighting, Nagi struggled to rise as she regained consciousness. However, the shock of pain from her bitten arm caused her to stumble back down to the ground. Nagi grit her teeth in pain and then tried again, but a small voice stopped her.
"Don't move."
Nagi slowly turned her head to see Mana moving over to her. The little girl looked a little worse for wear, as she had been hit when the dragon revived. Mana bent next to her and placed a hand on her twisted arm. Nagi grimaced in pain, but it soon faded and Mana went to work. Her small body began to glow lightly and the glow traced down to Nagi's arm. The bite marks and tears began to fade away and soon Nagi's arm was back to the way it was before, as though she had never been injured. Nagi rose up and checked on it, and found that it was completely healed. However, the rest of her body was still hurt from the crash from before.
"I'm sorry, but that's all the energy I could spare for now. You have to stop him before he reaches his full strength."
Nagi's eyes widened. "His full strength?"
"Yes." Mana nodded. "If he does, then nothing will stop him. But you can't kill him."
Nagi turned back to the beast, who had Uriko and Rei cornered to a wall.. How was she going to stop this thing? She had fought it before and had her arm used as a chew toy as a result. But that was when she was fighting alone. This time, she would have assistance, provided the two cat-girls weren't taken out of the fire. It would still be difficult especially if she wasn't going to kill it, but she couldn't imagine the problems they would have if this thing reached its full power. Looking back at Mana, she nodded.
"I will do my best."
Rearing her blade back, Nagi charged straight toward the dragon's side. Earlier, she had seen Uriko target the leg and figured out what the girl was up to. Blade reared back, Nagi cried out as she let her blade fly across the dragon's leg. With the beast being distracted, the hit scored home.
"Gnnhhhhhhhh!"
The dragon bellowed in pain as Nagi's strike cut deep. On reflex, it tail swung out, but Nagi was close enough to duck under it and through its legs. Reaching the other side, Nagi swung back and struck again. But her attack was mistimed and it only succeeded in scratching the tail, a move with angered the dragon and causing it to turn to her, knocking her back in doing so. Nagi growled, now loosing her advantage as the dragon came down on her. Nagi jumped back and the dragon pressed on. Nagi now found herself in the same situation she was before.
"Rwarrh!"
From out of nowhere, Rei and Uriko jumped toward the side of the beast, with Rei in pounce and Uriko with a flying kick. But the beast spread its wing open in that instant, knocking them out of their attack and toward the floor again. Nagi tried to make an attack out of it, but the dragon was still facing her and it bash her down with its head. Nagi was now at the mercy of the creature.
Judging by the way it began to summon up its fire, it had none…
"Ghh…"
From the debris of the damaged shrine, Long now made his way back to the land of the living. Unfortunately, it wasn't very pleasant. The first thing he became aware of with the flare of pain that rippled through his entire body. Passing that, the screams alerted him next, followed by thunderous roars. Taking it all in, he finally recalled what happened to him. In his effort to defeat the dragon, he had maxed out nearly all of his beast power. It could have succeeded had not been for the unusual power of the beast.
Slowly he turned his head around toward the direction of the battle, where he saw the combined efforts of Uriko and Rei against the monster. Struggling to regain his footing, he was then greeted by the presence of Nagi, in her Spurious form. But she too had fallen and now the dragon was ready to incinerate her. Long steadied himself. He was in no position to fight this beast, far less to actually think to win. But they had to use everything they had left to beat this thing.
If not, then this dragon would destroy everything.
With a grunt, Long forced his muscles into motion, dashing toward the beast with all the strength he could muster. The beast was still focused on the fallen Nagi, with it flaming breath beginning to steam out of its mouth. Pressing on, Long charged and slammed his shoulder and body into the dragon's neck. The dragon released its flame a second afterward, blasting away from Nagi and into the rooftop, demolishing it and causing it to rain down debris within the shrine. A groan was followed by a short stumble on the part of the dragon and it seemed that there was finally a weakness with the beast. But it seemed that Long would be the one to pay for it. His rush had taken out all the strength he had left in him and now he was prone on the ground. The anger dragon turned to him and snarled in rage. Fire began to brew again in its mouth, but a loud shout caught his attention.
"Rah!"
In a flash, Nagi charged at the dragon, letting her blade soar through the air. The dragon moved to strike, but it was slow in coming and Nagi managed to evade its attack and slash across its chest. Scales tore away and the beast bellowed in pain. Nagi pressed on with a kick to the same area, causing it to hurt more. A third attack was on the way, but the dragon backed off, causing Nagi to miss.
'Oh, no!'
The open claw of the dragon soon swatted her aside. Nagi rolled, but was scratched somewhat. The dragon prepared to advance on her but another cry split through the air.
A feline cry…
Rei pounced upon the dragon and grabbed hold of it neck, digging her teeth into the hard scales. Though it wasn't hurting the dragon much, the beast thrashed about, trying to get her off. But Rei clung fast, digging her claws in deeper as she tried to bite in. Uriko too attacked from the opposite side, kicking and scratching the dragon wherever she could while it struggled to pry Rei off its neck. Nagi followed suit, slashing at the dragon while keeping her distance. Soon, the dragon bore several slash mark from the combined efforts of both Uriko and Nagi while Rei continued to hold on it neck. Finally, the beast roared aloud and snapped its neck hard to the side. Rei was hit by one of the horns and knocked off. The dragon then summoned its flare, only this time it chest began to glow bright orange because of it. The two remaining fighters back away as the dragon unleashed its most devastating attack.
SNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
By swiping its head sideway, the dragon unleashed a firewave upon the entire area. The two were unable to to aviod the flames and where blown away as the fire demolished the grounds around the dragon. Luckily they were still alive, but Nagi's crimson scales had darkened and Uriko's fur was scorched. Amidst the inferno circle, the dragon bellowed aloud, seeming reveling in the destruction. But from the sidelines, another figure appeared behind the flames.
HOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLLLL!
The flame parted as a canine figure hurtled through the fire and into the dragon's chest. The beast roared aloud as it was hit with a punch powerful enough to actually cause the beast to fall backward. A low groan came up from the dragon before it lay still. Within the flames, the wolfen figure reverted back to his human form and knelt down weakly.
"Yugo!"
The wolf zoanthrope panted heavily. His body was ravaged with scars from the fight with both the dragon and the Unborn, but he was fine for the most part. The flames calmed down as Nagi and Uriko came up to him.
"Yugo, are you…?"
Suddenly, Yugo shot up and punched her right in the face. Nagi fell backward and Uriko looked at Yugo disbelieving.
"What'd you do that for?" she shot at him after reverting to her human form. "She helped us fight that dragon."
Yugo panted. "She wants…to kill it."
Uriko shook her head. "If she did, then she would have long ago when we were fighting."
Yugo blinked and looked back at the dragon. Indeed, the beast was scarred across the scales and several of those marks could only have been done by Nagi's blade. Given the strength of the blade, Nagi could have easily impaled the dragon long ago if she wished. Since the beast was still alive, it's obvious that she didn't.
"Oh…"
A shimmer of light caused the two to nearly jump. Turning to the source, they saw Mana next to the dragon. Her hands outstretched over it, Mana concentrated hard as she evoked the seal onto the beast until finally the black-scales and leathery wings began to fade away, being replaced by the worn, unconscious figure of the man who served as its vessel. Ryoho.
"It is finally done." Mana breathed, nearly falling on top of her guardian in exhaustion. Uriko moved over to her while Yugo went to opposite direction. Uriko bent down to help the girl to her feet.
"Thank you…for everything." she said softly. Looking down, she then added. "I'm sorry for all of this. If I had not been distracted, I could have sealed the dragon a while ago."
Uriko waved her hand. "About that. That was really a dragon?"
Mana blinked before she realized that Uriko didn't really know what happened here. She was about to explain when a cry came up from the sides.
"Come on, stay with me!"
Uriko looked over and instantly saw what was going on. Alice and Yugo were around Shin, with Alice trying to shake the youth. His face was beginning to pale and his eyes were almost closed. Uriko dashed over there immediately.
"Shin! Wake up."
Shin's eyes began to settle close, as though he wasn't paying any attention. The blood was practically pouring out of his wound, despite Alice's efforts to hold it in. Tears were beginning to form in Uriko's eyes as Shin's breathing began growing shallow. From across the way, Nagi, who had revived from Yugo's punch, backed away. She knew she was the one responsible for this.
'…Shin…'
She turned to Mana, who had limped up beside her. "Can't you help him? Like you did me?"
Mana lowered her head again. "I'm sorry, but I used up the last of my strength on the seal. I'm…really sorry."
Nagi said nothing as she simply stared at the scene before her. Shin… He had become a close friend to her, even though she didn't remember who she was. And now, she was responsible for what happened to him. 'I'm sorry, Shin… So sorry…'
The group was still trying to revive the ninja when they became aware of faint growling. Looking over to the right, they saw Rei approach them, still in her beast form. Uriko's eyes widened. 'Oh no. Now what?' None of them were strong enough to fight her should she do anything. And they were in no condition to fight with Shin dying before them.
"Rei…"
As Rei closed in, her growls soon began low purring, confusing the group. She bent down to Shin and pushed Alice's hand away with her face. Alice was surprised and Rei began to lick at Shin's wound, clearing the blood away with her tongue. The group was stunned as Rei continued cleaning the wound. Alice soon blinked as she realized that Rei was really helping. The blood began to lessen and Shin started to regain consciousness. His eyes rolled open and Rei finally stopped licking.
"R…ei…"
The lynx lifted her head slightly and laid it on his chest. Alice replaced the bandage and settled it on the wound between two and smiled/sighed.
"I think he'll make it."