All they needed was the paranoia of a lover!
Keeping one eye on the gray sky, Daniel tapped the dragon's scales with his heel. But nothing seemed to shake him from his rage, which burned more and more unchecked through their bond.
"So? Speak out!" roared Draco. "Tell me where Wavern is!"
Golden sparks crackled between the bakugan's teeth, as if it were holding back a flame.
The hydra answered in kind with all three heads: a scream so loud it vibrated through the air to Dan's bones. Eyes bright with anger sent a shiver up and down Dan's spine.
"Don't ever mention her again, Pyrrian! How do you know her? If I find out you put your filthy claws on her, I swear..."
He staggered to his feet. Blood dripped from the burn on his chest. Such a bright red in contrast with the white of the houses.
Dan swallowed the bitterness that rose in his throat and stroked Draco's scales. "Let's go back to the detachment. There will be more civilians to evacuate…"
The bakugan shrugged backwards and almost knocked him out of the saddle.
What the hell was wrong with him? All those scenes for a female dragon he'd only seen once who was in cahoots with the enemy?
A tongue of fire licked the unsteady legs of the hydra. "I know her well enough to be sure that she would never go near a vile murderous race like yours," Draco said. "Now tell me where she is!"
Narucho's high-pitched voice broke up the conversation. "What the heck is going on here?"
Sitting on Preyas' shoulders he stared now at the obscurial now at the two Pyrrian warriors, his hands wrapped in two large bubbles of water.
The humanoid bakugan cackled with his arms folded. "I smell a love triangle!"
They both growled at him with murderous expressions.
On the other hand, however, how can you blame him?
The hydra spat a clot of blood at Draco. "You Pyrrians and your boundless arrogance… But you'll soon learn your place. Oh yes! You will pay dearly every single year that you have starved us, plundering our lands more and more."
A victorious grin tugged at the scales on the snout to reveal the entire line of serrated fangs.
Daniel's hand went quickly to his sword, but no more obscurials were coming. And yet, under his helmet, a thousand needles pricked his neck. Something was about to happen.
It was as if thunder had burst in his ear. He doubled over in pain, a persistent whistling drowning out all other sounds. From the center of the city, a blast hurled the bricks into the air, their trails of smoke making long parabolas to within a few buildings of them. One of the tallest towers leaned more and more until it collapsed on itself like a dead tree.
Terror clenched Dan's stomach in an icy grip.
In the midst of all that destruction a purplish light lit up, crossed by darker reflections. In the center of it loomed the silhouette of a dragon about the size of Draco, all horns and spines, with limbs so thick and powerful that the muscles seemed about to burst. The bone-pale scales were crisscrossed with black veins.
A grotesque hybrid between an obscurial and a Luxian.
That's how the Hand had called him. And now he saw it…
His whole body became twice as heavy. His grip on the sword relaxed and his lids drooped as if he were about to fall asleep.
From the empathic bridge with Draco came an overwhelming feeling of tiredness. They looked like they just went four rounds in the tournament…
Dan shook his head and forced his eyes wide. He had to… He had to stay alert! Active!
But something sucked his strength like a leech. Below him, his bakugan staggered for a moment, as if trying to regain its balance.
The deep, choral laughter of the hydra aroused both. It still struggled to stand on its legs, but the three heads had their necks arched in a triumphal position. "Soon… Vestalia will remember the power of the Obscurials."
The purple light from the center of the city grew again: a bright orb that faded the towers and buildings all around. And it throbbed, like a heart calling blood from the periphery of the body.
Fear crushed Daniel's chest, and his eyes were fixed on the silhouette of the black and white dragon. What was it? It couldn't be a bakugan like the others...
A smell of burning and rotten eggs pricked his nostrils. With blurry vision he recognized the rivulets of black smoke flowing from the mouths of the hydra. His body lagged behind his thoughts. The sword hissed softly against the sheath, heavy as a boulder.
Three tarry flashes shot towards him and Draco, who reared sharply. But the fire inside him was little more than a flicker.
He couldn't stop them!
The blow of the obscurial fully invested the dragon's golden chest and a frozen wave spread over its body up to Daniel's legs. The boy lost his grip on his bakugan and fell backwards. A dark curtain covered his eyes and everything was muffled as if in a dream.
Maybe he was falling out of bed. He would surely wake up late for a training session…
However, his back hit a liquid surface and the next moment the water invaded his mouth and lungs. He flailed his arms and legs frantically to get back up, but a current sucked him down and the next moment he rolled onto the pavement next to his helmet. The water dissolved in an instant and he began coughing on all fours.
In front of him, Narucho leaned on his gnarled knees breathing heavily and his glasses pulled down to the tip of his little nose. "We have to… we have to get out of here. It's… it's sucking our energy. We don't know what we're dealing with."
He was damn right. Fuck the battle and that hydra! He didn't want to stay a moment closer to that hybrid.
With difficulty, Dan got to his feet and looked around for Draco. The fire dragon stood amidst the buildings, teeth gnashing at the hydra. A blackish patina covered the scales on his chest, but he seemed able to fly.
Dan vehemently pinched their empathetic bridge until he got his attention. This was no time for his goddamn love troubles!
"Hey kiddo, can you and your bakugan get on top of Draco?"
The boy mounted Preyas' shoulder again. "Affirmative. And don't call me 'kiddo'. Now let's join my mother."
Again that commanding tone. Who had taught him that?
Draco ducked towards them to make them climb and with a few wing beats he was flying. In the air, that tired feeling eased and then disappeared.
The fire returned to pulsate comfortingly under the dragon's scales and into Dan's arms. He wanted to fire a few shots just to test his strength again, but he stopped.
Below them, Amphitrite was a pile of blackened rubble: the walls pitted like sieves, the towers nearly sheared off, and that eerie purple sun sucking the energy out of every remaining inhabitant.
Author's note: hello everyone! Sorry for the delay but I didn't feel so good in the last days. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. For the next one, I would like to write a sort of interlude about Naga and Wavern and their life as little outcast near the Tree of the Exposed. What do you think? If you like the idea live a review and don't forget to save the story as a favourite!
