Chapter 15 — The drake

Twenty days of training ended the same way every session did. Arin lay on his back while staring at the sky with his chest heaving. Byukoten stood over him without a scratch while his arms were folded and he was laughing softly.

​"You keep losing," Byukoten said. "So tell me—why do you want to get strong?"

​Arin clenched his fist against the dirt. "I want to put a stop to all of this."

​Byukoten's smile faded just slightly. "You saw their strength before, didn't you? Vampire nobles aren't even their main fighters, and they still surpass almost every human."

​"I lost the people I loved because of them," Arin said while forcing himself upright. "I've come too far to turn back now."

​Byukoten studied him for a long moment and then he smiled again. This time it was sharper.

​"Then you'll train properly. Tomorrow, you fight a drake."

​Arin laughed because he was certain it was a joke. It wasn't.

​The next day Byukoten lured a drake into the clearing. It was a young dragon that was small by draconic standards but massive to a human. Flames leaked from its jaws as it sniffed the air. Arin froze.

​Without warning Byukoten grabbed Hanase and Neblaheim and leapt away.

​"Defeat it," he called out, "if you want to see your friends again."

​Panic surged through Arin's chest. His hands trembled but he tightened his grip on his sword. The drake inhaled. Fire erupted toward him.

​"Ice Wall!"

​A slab of ice formed just in time and scorched under the flames. Arin kicked off the wall and leapt upward but the drake's tail smashed into him midair while slamming him into the ground. The creature lunged with its jaws wide.

​Arin rolled and hurled a fireball into its face. Smoke exploded outward to buy him seconds. He darted behind the drake and formed ice spears in the air but he was too slow. The drake leapt while spewing fire. Arin launched the spears directly into the flame to shatter it apart and then he rode the momentum upward. Bursting through the smoke, he drove his blade into the drake's eye and landed on its back.

​The drake roared and twisted violently while throwing him off. It charged with its skull lowered. Arin formed ice walls beneath his feet and leaped from one to the next to escape but the drake adjusted mid charge and snapped down hard.

​Pain exploded through Arin's arm. His sword slipped from his fingers. He staggered back with blood dripping and his breath ragged. He had no sword and no time.

​He raised his remaining hand. "Inferno."

​Flames erupted into the drake's eyes. It shrieked because it was blinded. Arin slid beneath its body and summoned ice spears again while driving them upward. The drake sensed him. At the last instant Arin's shireyukoka flared. The world slowed and he twisted aside so the strike missed by a breath.

​He drove his fist upward into the drake's jaw and vaulted away. The drake lunged blindly. This time Arin didn't retreat. He stepped sideways then seized his fallen sword with his good hand and swung.

​The head hit the ground before the body did. Silence fell. Byukoten reappeared beside the corpse with an unreadable expression. Then he smiled.

​"Tonight," he said, "we eat dragon meat."

​"Somewhere along the way, he had forgotten the emotion he should have clung to."