Legend of the Great Dragon (16 page)

In her meditative state she found herself standing on a grassy hill. In the distance she could see Oceina City. She smiled as she looked down on it. The glass buildings were always a sight to behold. They sparkled like gems, but were tough like mountains.

“I'd be happier to be here if it were under better circumstances,” she said, despite the fact that she was alone. Speaking her thoughts aloud helped them feel more solid.

The grass crunched behind her. Facing the sound, Mikko found a young man approaching her. He was Inero, around seventeen years old, and wearing the old Inero Royal Guard uniform. The only reason she knew as much was because she had seen pictures of her grandfathers from her mother's side in them, as well as a few in a museum in Inero City. Something about the young man was familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

Slowly, the young man approached her. His gaze was slightly unfocused as if he was disoriented.

“What's your name?” he asked with a voice she could barely hear.

“Mikko,” she said.

“What?”

“Mikko. My name. And yours?”

“Matthias,” he said and then frowned.

The realization hit her all at once. Matthias, she'd had a grandfather who had gone by that name.
Am I in the past?
Is that even possible? Of course it is, I'm in a dream, anything is possible. But why am I seeing this, having this conversation?
She looked back at Oceina City.

He moved to stand at her side. “Where are we?”

She smiled at him and pointed to the buildings. “Home.”

Mikko didn't have much control over what she was saying. The words were spoken before she had time to think about them. She knew they were the right things to say, however. Something inside of her was guiding her conversation. Oceina City was home for her now. It was the last place standing, and its beauty made for a great place where she could settle down with her family. The city was rich with history and promise.

A gasp left Matthias's lips. “Your home?” His eyes were wide.

“
Our
home,” she clarified.

“Are you Inero?”

What a strange question.
Then a soft voice within her said,
Warn him. He doesn't know. He is dreaming the same dream while in the past and won't believe in good unless you tell him.

A long time ago, Mikko remembered listening to her grandfather Matthias tell of a vision he had of a blue-eyed Inero woman. The details were fuzzy, but she finally understood. God was bringing the two of them together to encourage one another. The shared dream was all a part of her destiny to unite all of dragonkind as well as put into motion the wheels of destiny. Her grandfather always said the woman from his dream saved his soul. She couldn't let him down, or anyone else.

He was just as much her family as the Oceina side was. Dragonkind was truly united through her. His gaze wandered over the city for a moment longer before returning to hers. “I need you to listen to me Matthias. The darkness is coming. It wants to take you away from the right way. If you let it, you could lose the chance for our people to be at home. There will be war, but there will be peace following soon after, for what will feel like for a long time. To God it will only be a blip. So is our lifespan when compared to eternity. Focus on the eternity, and everything else will fall into place. If you only pay attention to the short run, then we will not succeed. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” he whispered. He fell to his knees, his eyes drifting shut. His vision was ending, and soon she would return back to the waking world as well.

She kissed his forehead, longing for more time with him. Mikko had barely gotten to know him before his death. “You may think you've forgotten, but you will always know what is true in your heart. Do not feel unworthy, Matthias. There is still goodness inside of you. Love your wife, your child, and you will never lose sight of it. Everything will fall back into place if you let it.” The words had to have been Heaven sent.

More words were spoken by her grandfather, but she could barely hear them as her own vision began to blur. She was positive she had said more as well, but those words were also lost on her.

****

Mikko's eyes snapped open. She unfolded her hands and sat back on her haunches, lifting herself from the floor where she had been praying. Her grandmother was still lost in prayer, lying with her face down and hands spread apart in total surrender. Tears streamed down Mikko's face, and she cried quietly for a good five minutes before her grandmother rose from the floor.

“What's wrong?” the Lady Oceina asked, moving closer to her. She wrapped her arms around Mikko and
cradled
her close.

“Nothing is wrong.” Mikko dried her eyes. “I had a vision that my grandfather, Matthias, once had long ago. God used me to help him when he needed it most, and while he didn't say anything pertaining to my situation… I feel stronger. Like, if God can speak to him despite all of the things he'd done while he was alive, He can speak to me too. I'm not going to be abandoned either.”

Her grandmother kissed her cheek. “You're ready. I can feel it.”

“I just need to know where…” She gasped, a vision of the grassy hill from her dream once more filled her mind's eye. “He's here. I need to go.”

“I'm not sure I—”

The building shook, followed by a low rumbling. Mikko stood and stared out the large full-length windows in horror at all of Oceina City shifting and rolling like waves in the ocean. She stumbled as the building quaked once more. Ichi came running into the room, panting.

“We have to—” He didn't get to finish his thought because she cut him off with a long, hard kiss.

She could only look at him for a few seconds before averting her gaze to the exit. If she continued to admire him, she would lose her courage and choose to stay behind with him. “I know. I'm leaving now.”

“Let me—”

“This part I have to do alone,” she whispered. She stumbled into his arms as the building shook again. “Evacuate my family and keep them safe. I love you. I
will
be back.”

 

 

Ichi watched his wife leave the room. Before he could say anything to protest, let alone tell her he loved her too, she was gone. The tremors from the earthquake were becoming closer together. He helped the Lady Oceina up from the floor and brought her to the door frame to help protect her from falling items. Each rumble seemed stronger than the last.

“How strong are these buildings?” he asked through gritted teeth as he tried to maintain his balance.

“They're strong enough to handle a quake, but if things don't let up soon…” the Lady Oceina said.

It's all going to come tumbling down.
He picked her up and ran through the hallway to the stairwell. Probably not the smartest of things to do, but Ichi didn't think the rumbling would be stopping any time soon. If he had to choose between giving up and getting crushed in a fallen building, or at least trying to get out alive, he was going to try. It was faster to go up and out than it was to go down. All he had to do was get airborne.

The stairwell was alive with noise. Not only was the building cracking and crunching, but he heard children crying and frantic footsteps going both up and down the stairs. He ran to the roof. Others of the Oceina family line were
there;
the adult men were all transformed, their families boarding their backs so they could fly away. Ichi brought the Lady Oceina to one of the larger of her sons and helped her get on. The Oceina dragons had long, snake-like bodies with lots of room for passengers. There would be plenty of room for everyone to get out okay.

As the quakes got stronger, the building began to shift back and forth with greater force. It wouldn't be long until the foundation snapped completely and the whole thing crumbled to the ground. Ichi assisted the family, his family now, with getting everyone onto a dragon. His concern was more for the children and wives than for himself. If need be, he'd transform at the last second and maneuver around some debris.

A scream and a blast of glass jolted Ichi. Looking skyward, he watched one of the dragons balk to avoid a spray of glass.

“Andrew!” a woman cried out as one of the children tumbled off of the dragon's back.

Without hesitation, Ichi used his wind magic to create a current that would send the boy back up to his parents. Ichi tried to keep his balance on the condominium while trying to save the boy's life at the same time, but with each sway of the building, his focus wavered with it as he fought to stay upright. Sweat beaded down his forehead and his legs hurt as he tightened his muscles. The boy flew up to the dragon, weaving the entire way. Ichi grunted with relief when one of the wives grabbed the boy and helped him on to the dragon's back.

Ichi offered up a silent prayer of gratitude. It was time for him to transform and fly as well. A loud creak deafened him. He had just enough time to look up as a piece of the train from the biggest tower in the city came crashing toward him. There were only two options: jump or be crushed.

He leaped off of the building.

 

 

Mikko flew toward the hills. The country was full of large, rolling, green landscape east of Oceina City. She saw Lee standing on top of one hill not too far from the city itself. He was close enough to watch the destruction he was creating, but away from the majority of civilization. His arms were outstretched and his gaze remained on the city — even after she landed, almost like he hadn't even noticed her presence. When he smirked, however, she knew he was very aware of her being there.

“So glad you could join me,” he said.

Without hesitation, Mikko knocked him over with a swipe of her tail, hoping to break his concentration — or his neck. She'd never wanted to hurt anyone before in life until that moment.

He fell to the ground and laughed. “Come on, you're going to fight me as a beast?”

“I'm the Great Dragon, aren't I?”
she sneered at him.

“True, and there is something majestic and beautiful about your dragon form. It's possibly even more amazing than your human body.” His smile never faded. “Speaking of dragons, I've many of your kin fleeing the city. Flying like glorious blue snakes through the sky. You want to know what I'm not seeing? Shiny white dragons.”

She barred her teeth, growling.
“Perhaps I should just eat you.”

In the blink of an eye Lee lunged at her, transforming at the same time. Mikko had a smooth dragon form, beautiful and elegant, and majestic purple in color. She took on a shape that was similar to the Aero dragons but longer in the body like the Oceina. Lee's dragon form was grotesque. Sharp claws edged his wings. His teeth outgrew his jaw in a jagged mess that couldn't be contained inside of his mouth. His scales were hard and dull and a sharp shade of magenta. He truly was the opposite of everything she could possibly be.

Mikko blocked his attack by swinging her tail at him. It connected with his face and knocked him to the side. She charged at him, but he wasn't so easy to catch off guard a second time. Lee slashed at her with his claws — all of them, not just those on his feet. Her skin tore as he hooked into it and pulled a few claws worth of scales from her body. She howled and blasted him with fire. The fire itself didn't mar him, but the force sent him flying, creating some distance between them. Distance she needed if she was going to have any hope at surviving. Every few seconds she could buy for herself were precious.

All Mikko had to fight with were her natural survival instincts and no formal training. Lee, on the other hand, was born to be a killer and taught how to do it well, which gave him a strong advantage.

He hurled a magenta ball of flames at her. It struck her chest and stung her flesh. She summoned her water magic to cool the burn from his attack, leaving charred skin behind in its place. There wasn't much time to nurse her wounds. Lee's speed amazed her. Defending herself from his strikes would suck up all of her energy — which must have been his plan. He was waiting for her to roll over and quit.

Mikko conjured a shield of purple lightning to deflect his next magical assault.
God, show me how to win this. I'm lost. Make me stronger because I can't do this one my own,
she prayed.

She lifted up on her back legs as he lunged toward her once more. In doing so, she was able to slash at his face as he drew near. One of her claws dug into the scales around his snout just as he head-butted her hard in the chest. Tumbling backward, the wind knocked out of her lungs as the two rolled end over end over the hill. Lee landed on top of her, his front legs pinning her down as he glared at her. Blood gushed from his face, and she'd never seen such hatred inside of anyone before.

“There's no one here to help you anymore, you clueless, worthless woman. No knight in shining armor to conveniently get you out of this mess.”
He roared and backhanded her with one of his massive front claws. Then he moved to strike her again.

Screaming in pain, Mikko lifted her own claws to try and deflect his blows, but his weight on top of her was too much to overcome.
I can't.
She hadn't even been aware she'd said the thought out loud.