Betrayal

 A few months had passed since the invasion. Yusato and the others had all since been working under Dadilda going on different quests to earn money. They enjoyed their time in their new house together.

Yusato was especially happy that he got to spend this time with his friends, instead of having to worry about graduation. However, Yusato noticed that Tomoki had stopped spending time with them as much.

He started to take quests on his own or with Mahina sometimes. He didn’t know why Tomoki had started to feel so down lately, but he wanted to cheer him up. Then, one day, an idea finally came to him.

Yusato brought up a quest that would require all four of them to do together. It was to climb to the top of an ancient tower and defeat the guardian resting at the top.

Apparently, the tower was ten floors and filled with treacherous monsters, so they’d need their full group for it. Tomoki wasn’t too interested until Yusato mentioned the reward was a bunch of expensive jewels and magic items.

They were currently working their way through the first floor. Tomoki shot a fireball from his palm, knocking down a goblin. “That’s another one of those down. How many more do we gotta kill before we get to the second floor?”

“I don’t know,” Yusato said, thrusting his sword through another goblin. “Dadilda just said that the doors would open up once we completed each floor’s task.”

A goblin fell at Mahina’s feet as lightning crackled around her fingers. “Maybe killing the goblins aren’t the task?”

“Then what are we supposed to do, smart one?” Yusato sighed and slashed another goblin.

Turning to face Yusato with his charged fingers, Mahina growled at him. “This quest was your idea! Why don’t you figure it out, dummy?!”

“Dummy?”

“You heard me!”

“Guys! Can we focus please?” Azumi spun around shooting out bullets of water from he hands at the surrounding goblins as they all fell over.

“I think that takes care of them.” Tomoki wiped some sweat from his brow. “Not too hard, but man were there are lot of those little gremlins.”

“Think you forgot one.” Yusato pointed to the Mahina by his side.

“I’ll bite you.”

Tomoki chuckled a bit, shaking his head. Then, he squinted his eyes. “Huh? Is that a treasure chest?”

Yusato turned to look where Tomoki was looking. And sure enough, there was a treasure chest that had just appeared in the center of the room. They must’ve gotten a reward for defeating all the goblins.

A reward…As Yusato thought about that, he wondered why there would be a reward inside the tower itself. After all, this was an ancient tower. Who would put a treaure chest in here in the first place?

Then he realized it. It had to be someone else’s property that the goblins were guarding.

"TOMOKI WAIT!" Yusato cried out, reaching his forward.

But it was too late. As he opened the lid to to the treasure chest, a loud roar erupted from underground, shaking the earth.

The tremor caused everyone to wobble on their feet. Cracks formed in the ground splitting it apart. Sharp crimson red claws grasped onto the edge of where the fissure was.

And as it pulled itself out, Yusato felt his heart drop. Those claws, its fierce eyes. Wings that casted a giant shadow over all of them.

"It's a dragon," Yusato said, his fists shaking at his sides.

Fear overwhelmed him. His feet were stuck to the floor as his breath became shallow.

"Yu?" Azumi glanced over at Yusato. "Are you okay?"

But he couldn't respond. He was far too focused on the massive dragon before him.

Tompkins rummage through the chest as fast as he could, stuffing a bunch of the treasure into his bag. "Yusato! Distract it for us! Mahina, Azumi! Come here and help me!"

"Got it!" Mahina instantly ran over to help Tomoki.

Azumi took a step forward. She stopped and looked at Yusato, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She tightly held onto her wrist. "Um, Yu?"

Taking a few deep breaths, Yusato grabbed onto the hilt of his sword. He was terrified. But his friends were counting on him.

There was no way he could let them down, in spite of his fear. Plus, he didn't want Azumi to be worried about him. So instead, he'd just have to show off for her.

"Don't worry, Azumi. I've got this."

Azumi stayed for a few seconds, her eyes still rife with concern. However, Yusato steeled his nerves and looked straight on in the face. His new resolve reflected in his eyes.

Azumi nodded slowly. "Be careful." And with that she ran off to help Tomoki as well.

Yusato took another deep breath to calm his nerves. Then, he drew his sword, the sunlight reflecting off the gleaming silver.

"Hey! Overgrown gecko!" Yusato called out to the dragon. "Come and get me!" He ran forward, swinging his sword.

The dragon's head turned and blocked the blade with its wing. It leered down at Yusato. His heart thumped against his chest.

A sharp claw to the side sent Yusato tumbling across the ground. He spit out some dirt, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “Bleh! That wasn’t fun…”

As he looked up, Yusato saw the dragon towering over him again. Such a massive creature. Massive and powerful. He really didn’t stand a chance. But that was fine.

His goal wasn’t to defeat the dragon, but to simply distract it. So he took in another deep breath and swung his sword forward. It met with the dragon’s claw.

The harsh scraping sound in his ears made Yusato want to grind his teeth together. He bit his lip as he pushed forward. His muscles strained.

“Crap…I can’t keep this up for long.” Turning his eyes to where Tomoki and the others were, he checked to see if they had finished. That was a big mistake.

The dragon overpowered him and sent Yusato crashing to the ground. The dragon leaned back, tilting its chin upwards as its nostrils flared.

“Oh no…” Yusato gulped, crawling backwards. He tried to force himself up but a sharp jolt of pain ran through his arms and legs. “Agh! Guys, I need help!”

“Wait just a bit longer!” Tomoki shouted back to him. “We’ve almost got all the treasure!”

Wait longer? Yusato wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to manage that. But this was Tomoki. The boy he’d known since childhood. Always strong and steadfast. Smart and reliable. An incredible leader and his biggest admiration.

That’s right. There was nothing to fear. As long as he believed in him like always, everything would work out. He had to have faith.

Yusato closed his eyes and smirked. He threw the sword at the dragon’s face, piercing its snout.

It roared so loudly the ground shook. Yusato took the time to quickly crawl away as fast as he could.

The dragon glared down at Yusato. Kicking its feet in the dirt, it burst forward at a blinding speed.

“GOT IT!” Tomoki shouted out, holding his bag full of treasure up high. “Let’s get out of here!” He took Mahina’s hand and started to run off.

Azumi looked back towards Yusato as the dragon started to catch up with him. “What about Yu?!”

Tomoki glanced back with a snarl. “There’s no time for that! We have to leave before the dragon notices us too!”

“But we said we’d help him once we were done…”

“That was before he made the dragon angry!” Tomoki pointed at the furious creature. “Look at that thing! If we get involved, it’ll kill us all!”

“But Yu is—”

“It’s too late for him, okay?! We can’t lose all this treasure! Now come on!” Tomoki and Mahina ran off, their feet clapping against the ground.

Azumi stood still for a few seconds. She met eyes with Yusato just as the dragon crushed its foot on top of his back. A blood-curdling scream erupted from his throat.

“Help…me…” His eyes pleaded with hers. The pain his back only got worse as the dragon continued to crush him.

Looking back and forth between Yusato and Tomoki and Mahina’s fading back, Azumi muttered, “I’m sorry, Yu.” And with that, she turned on her heels and ran away.

“No…Azumi…Mahina…Tomoki…” He choked out the names of his friends, tears stinging his eyes. They had just left him. All three of his best friends had abandoned him. They left him to die.

His bones popped and he screamed again. Through hazy vision, he coughed up blood. All he could do was stare at the puddle of crimson underneath him as he was being crushed to death.

This was it. He was going to die here. As he lied there underneath the crushing weight of the dragon’s foot, he felt and hatred and resentment bubble up within him. Those people…were they ever really his friends?

There was no point in denying it. Azumi, Mahina, and Tomoki had all betrayed him. He was alone. And he was about to die all because he acted as a decoy for them.

No.

That’s absolutely abhorrent. He didn’t mind risking his life for his friends. But if they were never truly his friends in the first place, then there’s no point. Dying for people who didn’t care for him? For people who might as well mean nothing to him? What a pathetic fate that would be.

He refused to die like that.

Yusato grimaced, clawing at the dirt. “I need to fight…” But it was no use. He was still trapped and his vision was growing darker by the second. He lost his sword and he wasn’t able to use magic. There was nothing he could do.

That’s what he thought at first. Then, as he stared down at the blood dripping from his mouth to his chin, he remembered. Captain Tito and the last resort he had showed them.

Yusato forced his arm out and slammed his palm on top of the blood. A circle started to form on the ground.

And then…darkness.

Everything was pitch-black. Yusato felt light as a feather yet as if he was falling through an endless void.

“Who are you?” A deep raspy voiced raced into Yusato’s ears. There was no one else in the infinite space with him, but he could hear the voice all around him.

“Kishigami…Yusato…”

“Why have you enacted The Spirit Call? Do you seek power, Kishigami Yusato?”

“Yes, I don’t have any magic, so I need power. Anything you can give me.”

“Anything, huh? Are you sure about that? Using the power of the spirits always come with a price. Always.”

“I don’t care…If you have the power I need…then give it to me already!”

“Very well. The contract is set, Yusato Kishigami.”

Suddenly, Yusato was back underneath the dragon. His vision started to clear up and a thick black mist surrounded his body. He forced himself up from under the dragon and tossed it off of him.

The black mist swirled around him like snakes as he stared down the dragon. He felt an overwhelming surge of power inside his body. Then, he grinned as the mist morphed into a black sword. “Let’s finish this.”