Chapter 2:

First Date and a Rampaging Druk

DragonBorn


The next day, Tatsuya woke up thinking that everything that had happened the night before was a dream. He got ready and walked out to the kitchen. There, he found Aika talking with Ingrid at the dining table. Meanwhile, Salazar was eating what looked like roasted crickets in a large red pet bowl. ‘Yup, it wasn’t a dream,’ he concluded sadly.

“Good morning, Darling!” Aika greeted him cheerily.

“Morning,” Tatsuya greeted back half-heartedly.

“Good morning, Owatatsumi-sama,” greeted Ingrid politely.

“Good morning,” Tatsuya responded back.

“Eh? Why are being nicer to Ingrid than to me?” groaned Aika like a little child.

“I have no need to be nice to a freeloader like you,” replied Tatsuya harshly.

“But I’m your bride-to-be!” whined Aika. “You could be little nicer to me, Darling!”

“I told you! I’m not your darling! I haven’t even given my permission regarding this entire thing yet!” said Tatsuya in a raised voice.

“We even kissed last night,” muttered Aika through pouted lips.

The image of the kiss flashed in Tatsuya’s mind, reminding him of last night’s embarrassing and weird moment. “I-I-Idiot, why did you have to bring that up?!” yelled Tatsuya with reddening cheeks. Aika, on the other hand, had a love-struck expression on her face while she gleefully remembered and treasured that moment herself.

“Kiss?” asked Ingrid with an eyebrow raised.

“It wasn’t like that!” Tatsuya told her vehemently. “What happened last night was more complicated that that,” he revealed.

“The princess told me about that just before you woke up,” Ingrid told him.

“Then I guess I don’t need to explain it,” sighed Tatsuya in relief. “Besides, I need to get to school.” He grabbed his lunch from the fridge and swung his backpack over his shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

As he was walking off, Ingrid noticed a mark on the back of Tatsuya’s right hand, the hand that was holding onto his backpack over his shoulder. “Excuse me,” she said. Tatsuya stopped and asked her what’s wrong. “That, on your hand,” she told him, gesturing to the black mark. “Have you always had that?”

Tatsuya followed her gaze and was surprised to find a black mark on the back of his right hand. Suddenly, the memory of this mysterious mark appearing on his hand last night flashed through his mind. “This mark mysteriously appeared on the back of my hand last night during our fight.” He noticed that Ingrid was staring intently at the mark as if it was something important. “Do you know what this is?” he asked her.

“The Mark of Marduk,” Ingrid told him in a sagely manner. “It is a mark of legend that is said to herald the appearance of the Dragonborn.”

“Dragonborn?” wondered Tatsuya. The name sounded familiar to him. He suddenly remembered where he had last heard the term. “The guy we fought last night said something about a Dragonborn too,” he told her. “What’s a Dragonborn anyway?”

Ingrid cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. “Aren’t you going to be late?” she told him in an attempt to prevent this conversation from going any further.

Tatsuya glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall and realized that she was right. “Oh crap,” he said as he ran out the door. He arrived at school more or less on time. When he opened the classroom door, Tatsuya couldn’t believe the sight before him. Standing in front of him, plastered in makeup like a magazine model, was Manami. With light brown foundation befitting his skin tone, purplish-red eye shadow and black eyeliner that made his eyes pop and more pronounced, and sparkling red lipstick that added suppleness to his lips, it would make sense for the average person to consider Manami a drop-dead gorgeous girl. It’s true that Tatsuya was surprised at how great he looked in makeup—just like a genuine idol—but the sad look on his friend’s face told him just how much torture it really was. The price for looking like a hot chick, apparently, was psychological torment and abuse by the party responsible for the transformation in the first place.

“Tatsu-chin!” cried Manami, hugging Tatsuya tightly and crying hysterically.

“What happened?” Tatsuya asked in surprise, pulling away.

Manami told Tatsuya the entire story. He arrived to class this morning and greeted the other guys as usual. Apparently, he had come up with another plan last night to woo the girls in class (Tatsuya could already tell just how stupid and useless the plan was without Manami going into detail about it). When he approached the girls, he attempted a pick-up line (perverted no less) and that got on the girls’ nerves. As if they were expecting this, the girls took out their makeup from their bags and wore scary smiling faces that terrified the living daylights out of Manami. They then proceeded to grab him and pinned him down on the floor, declared that this was his divine punishment for his perverted nature, and slapped on the makeup on him like a dress-up doll. After they completed their masterpiece, the girls all praised and complimented his new beautiful feminine appearance, adding insult to his already injured emasculated pride. Also, word of his looks have reached the entire school, thanks to one of the girls taking his picture and posting on social media.

“Sucks to be you,” Tatsuya told him bluntly.

“So mean!” cried Manami.

Sasuke and Daiki walked up to them with contented smiles on their faces. “Today’s just not your day, Manami,” said Sasuke in a faux-polite manner.

“This is your divine punishment after all,” added Daiki with a nod, “God has given his judgement.” Dramatically, he pointed a finger at Manami and said, “But be glad that He has given you the beautiful appearance of a goddess of which have captured the hearts of many a young men! This is a sign from heaven!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” yelled Manami furiously.

Suddenly, the door behind Tatsuya opened and revealed two boys standing shoulder-to-shoulder. They both bowed and said in unison, “Good morning, Tatsumi-senpai!”

“Uh, yeah, morning,” Manami replied back.

The boy on the right immediately sprung back up and said, “I’m Ichinose Haru, first-year student from class 1-B!”

“And I’m Moriyama Akihito, first-year student also from class 1-B!” introduced the boy on the left. They both stared at Manami with the eyes of two young boys in love. “He’s even prettier in person,” muttered Akihito.

“And the makeup makes him look just like one of those magazine models!” added Haru.

“What the hell are you saying?” asked Manami, creeped out by their comments.

The both of them bowed once again and declared in unison, “Please go out with us!”

“I’m a freakin’ guy!” yelled out Manami in a furious reply, his face quickly becoming a dark red filled with embarrassment and fury. Tatsuya and the other guys were busting their gut laughing at the exchange. Never before had they witnessed Manami turning a darker red than wine.

After the little show that morning, Tatsuya secretly ducked out and went to the restroom to take another look at the black mark that had appeared on his hand. Upon a second inspection of his right hand, he discovered that the mark had disappeared. His hand was clean and spotless with no residue or telltale sign that a mark had been there at all. It was as if the mark hadn’t existed in the first place. With his fears alleviated, Tatsuya’s school day went on like any other like normal.

During lunch, Tatsuya and his friends ate in the room together. As Tatsuya was eating his sandwich, Sasuke noticed a dark mark on Tatsuya’s hand. He quickly grabbed the hand and examined it, almost causing the sandwich to fall out of Tatsuya’s hands. “Is this what I think it is?” he asked suspiciously. Tatsuya took one look at his right hand and couldn’t believe it at all. Throughout the entire day, the mark was nonexistent. Yet now, it appeared once again.

Panic began to run wildly through his mind. How was he supposed to explain this? Should he just tell the truth about what happened last night? Would his friends actually believed him in the first place? ‘No,’ he reasoned, ‘it would just make me sound crazy.’ Instead, he let out an awkward chuckle and was about to say something when Sasuke interrupted him with an impossible interpretation that completely threw him for a loop.

“When did you get that tattoo?” said Sasuke.

“Uh—.” Tatsuya was at a loss for words. He threw the hand behind his head and said with a nervous chuckle, “Yesterday.”

“What made you want to get a tattoo?” asked Manami.

“Beats me,” answered Tatsuya with a laugh. His friends weren’t the least bit amused by his careless answer.

“You should hide that,” Daiki told Tatsuya. “Although tattoos aren’t exactly banned in school as long as they are covered during school hours, you wouldn’t want other people to see that lest they get the wrong idea and brand you a delinquent.”

“Right,” agreed Tatsuya.

The rest of the school day went by in a flash and Tatsuya made it back home quicker than usual. He found Aika in the kitchen wearing a pink apron over her dress. In her right hand was a spatula. Meanwhile, Salazar the salamander was sleeping away under the dining table like a regular house-cat. When Aika saw Tatsuya, she immediately approached him with her hands behind her back. “Welcome back, Darling!” she greeted excitedly with a loving grin. “Dinner will be ready in a bit. Meanwhile, would like to take a bath?” she asked with innocent eyes. And then, in a quick change of mood, she added another option with a sultry voice. “Or would you…like…me?”

Tatsuya quickly pushed her back just as soon as she finished the sentence and adamantly announced, “I’ll be taking the bath!”

He was walking towards the bathroom when Aika called from the kitchen, “After I finish dinner, I’ll join you!”

“No need!” Tatsuya told her sternly. He opened the door to the bathroom and said, “I’ll be taking my bath alone!” He stressed the “alone” part as much as he could. Once he was inside, he took off his clothes and proceeded to wash himself off. He was almost done and ready to enter the tub when he heard the sliding door being opened.

“Darling, I’m here!” announced Aika. Tatsuya quickly turned to see Aika standing there with nothing on at all. Instinctively, Tatsuya quickly covered his eyes; his cheeks quickly grew redder than wine.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, you idiot?!” he yelled.

“I’m here to wash your back,” Aika told him. “After all, you’re my darling, Darling,” she said, clasping her hands and swaying like a love-struck schoolgirl.

“Get out!” Tatsuya screamed furiously. He grabbed a nearby towel and threw it at Aika, hitting her in the face. The princess obeyed and took her leave. Once she was outside, Tatsuya heaved a huge sigh of relief. As he got in the tub, he grumbled to himself, “That idiot. Next time, I’m going to kick her out for sure.”

On the other side of the door, Aika fell to the floor and thought puzzlingly to herself what she did wrong. In her mind, she was only trying to show affection to her Darling and prove her worth of being the perfect wife and lover. But whatever she did only seemed to upset Tatsuya more and more. ‘It seems like we’re only getting further apart,’ she thought to herself, shaking her head.

After his bath, Tatsuya reluctantly joined Aika for dinner. She prepared for him a plate of gyudon (a rice bowl topped with seasoned beef and onions). Tatsuya couldn’t believe it. Gyudon was his favorite dish in the whole world. It was quick to cook but delicious just the same with savory textures and great flavors that entertain the tongue with each bite. Tatsuya remembered his mother making it for him all the time when he was younger, both at home and while on trips—his mother would usually carry a handbag of sauces for on the road cooking.

“This is your favorite dish, right?” Aika asked him.

“How did you know?” Tatsuya asked her.

“That’s a secret,” she told him with an innocent giggle. She looked fondly at her own plate and added, “It’s also my favorite dish too.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup,” Aika answered confidently. “It’s also the only dish I know how to cook.” She smiled proudly at Tatsuya, eliciting a warm smile from the latter.

“Thank you for the meal,” said Tatsuya in prayer before eating.

“Praise Father Draco, Great Dragon Lord of Fire. I humbly accept your blessing and shall partake in your name. Thank you for the meal,” Aika said in prayer before eating. The prayer reminded Tatsuya that Aika wasn’t a human at all.

Tatsuya took a bite of food with no expectation for how it will taste. The initial flavor that touched his taste buds when the food was placed on his mouth was familiar but a little too generic. Suddenly, the flavor quickly turned into poison that petrified his taste buds. The inside of his cheeks were sucked in and his throat quickly became dry as the food made it down the hatch. Tatsuya couldn’t help but make a terrible face that told just how bad the food was. That much salt in that one bite would even make a horse drop dead with a dry mouth. Tatsuya quickly grabbed his cup of water and flushed it all down his throat, calming down his burning insides for a brief second before the aftertaste kicked in and returned it all back to its previous injured state. “How much soy sauce did you use?” he gagged.

“I-I-I-I’m so sorry, Darling!” cried Aika in a panic. “When I tasted the dish prior to serving it, it didn’t taste quite right, and I was afraid that you won’t like it so I…er…kinda added in more salt to enhance the flavor a bit,” she explained, twiddling her fingers as she said the last part in an quiet embarrassed voice.

“Too…salty…,” said Tatsuya between heavy breaths. He filled his cup of water and drank it all again. His throat and tongue were slowly feeling better and the flavor was gradually wearing off.

“I’m so sorry,” repeated Aika with downcast eyes. “You know, I’m not that good of a cook. I only learned to make this when I heard that it was your favorite dish. After trying it for the first time myself, I also took quite a liking to it too.” A sad smile appeared on her face as she reminisced about the past. “It took me a few months to get it down, but I finally succeeded in mastering the basics of cooking. Although, I will admit that I don’t have the best sense of taste when it comes to food,” she said with a smile.

Tatsuya couldn’t help but smile back. For the first time since her arrival, Tatsuya actually saw her sitting there before him as a regular girl. She has a vulnerable side to herself that he had never saw before; her past revealed just how dedicated and determined she was as a person in achieving her goals; and the way she talked calmly and casually really felt like they were holding a real conversation for the first time. Maybe she was more human than he thought.

“Pardon me for asking you this,” began Tatsuya innocently, “but what are you, exactly?”

“I’m a dragon,” she told him. “Specifically, I’m a fire dragon, or a Draco. I am the princess of the Draco royal family and heir to the throne.”

“So you can transform into a dragon too, right?” he asked her.

“Of course!” she answered with a smile. She was beyond happy to have Tatsuya ask her questions to get to know her more.

“If you’re the princess, then what are you doing here?” Tatsuya asked reasonably.

“To be with you, of course,” she replied straightforwardly.

“Like I said before, we don’t even know each other to begin with,” groaned Tatsuya in an irritated tone. “And I haven’t even given my own feelings or permission for this betrothal either.”

“But you will always be my darling, Darling,” Aika told him with a satisfied giggle. “You’re the only one for me, after all!”

Tatsuya was ready to murder his good-for-nothing father as soon as he returns from his trip. It was all his fault in the first place. He heaved a sigh and quickly changed the subject. “So, are there other dragons like you out there?” he asked.

“Actually, we dragons live in a parallel world to Earth,” she said. “But we are able to open portals that allow us to cross between both worlds as we wish. It requires a lot of magic, and only those authorized by the royal family or government officials can cross over.” Aika then proceeded to tell Tatsuya about the wonderful world of dragons. “There are thirteen dragon tribes, or kingdoms if you prefer that term better. Each tribe is associated with a particular element and is named after their founder and patron god. Fire dragons are Dracos, water dragons are Nagas, air dragons are Quetzalcoatls, earth dragons are Pythons, lightning dragon are Druks, ice dragons are Okamis, nature dragons are Wyverns, luck dragons are Lindworms, magic dragons are Bakunawas, light dragons are Longs, dark dragons are Amarus, death dragons are Urs, and time dragons are Abzus. Each tribe also possess unique characteristics that set them apart from the others.”

‘That’s a lot of dragons,’ Tatsuya commented privately to himself.

Aika continued with her explanation. “Since the dawn of time, humans and dragons haven’t been on the best of terms. Dragons possess powerful magic and can harness the power of the primeval elements as well as possess special powers like the ability to shapeshift into humans. But humans are ingenious creatures who come up with innovative ways to survive and possess powerful spirits. Both factions eventually went to war against each other and there were many casualties on both sides. After the war, the dragons hid themselves away in a parallel world and never again entered the realm of man. However, in recent times, after a long period of peace and prosperity, dragons have become curious about the human world. To satisfy the growing interest among the younger generations, the royal families have allowed dragons to enter the human realm via lottery. Now, there are many dragons living and working in the human world, disguised as humans of course.”

“I see,” commented Tatsuya.

Aika took a bite of the dish and ultimately regretted it. Her cheeks became sunken in, her lips were puckered, and she let out a really hideous gag in a desperate attempt to push the flavor off her tongue. In a grim tone like a sinner repenting, she hung her head and said, “I am truly sorry for serving this abomination. I hope that my life is enough to pay for this unforgivable transgression.”

“Oi!” cried out Tatsuya worriedly. “It’s not that serious! Get a hold of yourself!” He let out an annoyed sigh and told her, “I’ll go pick something out at the convenience store. I’ll be back in a bit.” He left the house and walked over to the nearby convenience store around the corner. He picked up a few packs of pre-made, microwaveable dinners and quickly came back home. He heated the packs and set them on the table. Aika’s eyes sparkled as she carefully examined the food before her with the same curious eyes as a young child experiencing something for the first time. A huge smile swept across her face filled with intrigue and exhilaration. Tatsuya sighed contently like a father who had finally settled down his children for dinner. “Let’s eat,” he told her kindly. Aika nodded happily and the both of them took part in their first ever dinner together.

The next morning arrived and Tatsuya managed to gradually get back into his daily routine pre-Aika. He woke up on time and got dressed. When he arrived in the kitchen, he noticed Aika laying her head down on the counter with a depressing look on her face. To be honest, Tatsuya would prefer to not question her at all over how she was feeling today. He casually opened the fridge and took out a pack of the dinner he bought last night for today’s lunch at school. As he placed the pack in his bag, he heard Aika heaving out a huge, conspicuous sigh. Tatsuya struggled over whether or not he should play along and humor her or just pretend like he didn’t hear that. However, either way he looked at it, both choices would only result in suffering on his part. But which choice would be the lesser evil? He would have to use his brain on this one.

Aika heaved out another conspicuous one again. Meanwhile, Tatsuya was mentally preparing a pro and con chart for either choice. But as he mentally labored in trying to solve which was the best route to take, Aika heaved out another big one once again. He lost his train of thought and the list quickly crumbled to dust; he had suffered a huge defeat to a useless battle. “What’s wrong?” he brought himself to ask with a reluctant sigh.

“There’s nothing to do,” she told him glumly. She unleashed a furiously irritated groan and complained, “What’s so fun about the Earth anyway? It’s been two days already and I never got the chance to partake in any of the fun things I'd always hear about.”

“So your reason for coming to Earth was to have fun?” asked Tatsuya with an irritated twitch.

“Of course not!” Aika quickly answered with a nervous laugh once she noticed his twitching brow. “My priority for coming here, of course, is to be with you, Darling!” she announced lovingly.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled with a sigh. “Why don’t you take some time to explore the city together with your maid?”

“I can’t do that,” Aika told him.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because Ingrid is no fun at all!” answered Aika with pouting lips. “She’s too strict with me, she doesn’t know how to have fun at all, and she scolds me for every little thing I do and say.”

‘I’m truly sorry that you have to deal with such an unruly girl, Ingrid-san,’ Tatsuya prayed silently.

Suddenly, a bright idea popped into Aika’s head. “Hey, hey,” she called out happily like a yipping puppy, “why don’t you show me the city yourself, today? It’ll be like our first date!”

Tatsuya thought about it and didn’t really see any problem with it. “I guess that’s fine,” he told her. “But it’ll have to wait until I get back from school.”

“Do you really have to go?” she asked him forlornly.

“Yes, I do,” Tatsuya told her firmly.

Today’s school day went by just like any other normal school day. The classes dragged on with monotonous lectures as usual, a flurry of rumors and love confessions made their way around the school courtesy of teenagers being teenagers, and lunchtime and breaks were filled with exciting talks and laughter. Tatsuya enjoyed this mundane, peaceful life. It allowed him to indulge in the average life of an ordinary human being before going back home to where his world had been turned upside-down and inside-out.

School ended on a high note for him. He quickly made his way home. He went inside and found Aika waiting for him in the living room,

“Darling!” called out Aika, jumping into Tatsuya’s arms like an excited puppy.

“Oi, be careful,” chided Tatsuya.

She gently pulled away and asked with the innocence of a moe game character, “Ready to go out on our date, Darling?”

Tatsuya quickly changed into casual clothes and the pair took off for the city. Along the way, Aika clung tightly to Tatsuya’s right arm and rubbed her face against his body like an affectionate puppy. This drew the attention of many passers-by. Some of the people they passed by felt a little embarrassed and a tad uncomfortable with the scene, while others giddily whispered amongst themselves about the couple and how lovey-dovey they were (not knowing that the relationship was actually one-sided and not mutual). A few of the kids they passed even offered their own commentary about the couple. And in the minority, a couple of the men they passed, whether single or not, threw dirty looks at Tatsuya for being clung onto by a beautiful and drop-dead gorgeous girl. Tatsuya was aware of their malicious looks and hidden intent to murder him; he was legitimately scared of them—he knew very well how scary guys can be when they get jealous. He made a conscious effort to appease them by pushing Aika gently away from clinging onto him too much. All in all, he didn’t like being the center of attention. Although most of the attention was actually focused on Aika, he knew that through the property of association he would also inadvertently become a part of that focus.

“Where should we go first?” asked Aika.

“Is there anywhere you want to see?” he asked her, avoiding her eyes due to embarrassment.

“I want to go where you want to go, Darling,” she announced shamelessly.

“Is that right?” gulped Tatsuya. He cleared his throat and suggested a movie. It was the first thing that came to mind, even though he knew how cheesy and unoriginal the idea was, yet Aika excitedly agreed to it with no complaint. And so, the couple walked on to the movie theater and settled on a newly-released rom-com about a boy who was mysteriously summoned to become the fiancé of a princess in a fantasy land.

After the movie ended, the couple went to a family restaurant to eat. They both ordered a burger meal each. Aika took a big bite from her sandwich and squealed delightfully, “Delicious!”

“I’m guessing you’ve never had a burger before,” said Tatsuya.

Aika swallowed the food with a large gulp and took a drink from her medium soda. “Today was really fun!” she said satisfyingly. “The movie was great and the food is amazing! I truly enjoyed this date, Darling!”

Tatsuya quickly became flustered at the mention of a date and said, “W-W-Who said anything about a d-d-date?” His cheeks became a crimson red and he turned away from Aika’s gaze. “Besides,” he added, “the movie was average to say the least. I mean, the plot is pretty basic for any Isekai work. It was pretty predictable.”

“Still, I think it was great for my very first movie,” Aika told him with a smile.

“You don’t have movies where you’re from?” Tatsuya asked her.

“We only have live theater,” answered Aika.

‘Where are you from, medieval Europe?’ Tatsuya said to himself derisively. Still, he was happy that he was able to give Aika her first movie experience. The thought made him smile. He paid for their meal and the couple left the restaurant full and satisfied. As they walked down the street, Aika turned towards the sky and smiled happily at the stars above. Tatsuya noticed her gaze and joined her in observing the bright twinkling stars above in the clear night sky. His gaze suddenly fell on Aika and he couldn’t bring himself to look away. She looks just like a normal girl like this.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man ran in between them in a quick hurry, knocking both of them down. Tatsuya got back up and rubbed his bruised right shoulder. He walked over to Aika and helped her to her feet. “Are you okay?” he asked her. Aika responded with a nod. The both of them glanced back to see the man, dressed in a suspicious beige overcoat, turning around the corner and entering a dark alley. “What’s his problem?” muttered Tatsuya under his breath.

The both of them walked on to a corner of the street and waited to cross it. A high-pitched bloodcurdling shriek immediately caught their attention. They turned their heads to the left and saw a woman backing away in fear from a perpetrator. The perp wore a long beige overcoat and his face was covered with his hands. Tatsuya thought that the guy looked familiar. The memory of the man that pushed through them a few minutes ago flashed in his mind, giving weight to his assumption about the man’s identity. “That’s the guy from before!” Tatsuya announced out loud. The perp took a step forward and let out a growl, scaring the woman and forcing her to fall to her feet.

“What should we do?” Aika asked, worried about the woman’s current situation.

Tatsuya ran up to the scene and put himself in between the perp and the woman. He never liked seeing people getting picked on or forced into situations that they did not want to be a part of in the first place. “What do you think you’re doing?!” he shouted at the man.

The man stood in place and snarled menacingly like a hungry wolf. The sound reminded Tatsuya of those cars with roaring engines owned by big-shot womanizing losers. The man slowly uncovered his face and Tatsuya could see small yellow specks forming on his face like reptilian scales. What was more surprising was how the man’s eyes were of a bright electric yellow with red vertical pupils. “Um, are you okay?” Tatsuya asked him nervously. The man answered with a hissing sound. Sweat was pouring down his forehead and neck as if it was being forcefully wrung from his body. Slowly, the man’s face started to grow longer and his body was beginning to grow larger and larger. The yellow scales covered the man’s face and body. Tatsuya had seen a transformation like this before. He stood in dumbfounded awe as the man completed his metamorphosis and transformed into a large, yellow dragon. Skinny and sharp grey spikes ran down the dragon’s body like lightning rods. It reared its head and opened its mouth, revealing rows and rows of sharp, serrated teeth. Sparks of electricity began to form in its mouth, aimed straight for Tatsuya. The giant projectile of lightning was then released from its mouth like a cannonball. Frozen in fear and panic, Tatsuya’s mind became a blank slate with no idea of how to escape this fate.

Before the ball of lightning could make impact and accomplish its morbid goal, a stream of fire neutralized it. Tatsuya blinked and slowly brought himself back to reality. He calmed his mind and processed just what had happened. ‘Where did that fire come from?’ he wondered. He glanced back at Aika and saw that she had her right hand held out in front of her. There was no doubt that the stream of fire was Aika’s doing. She wore a brave expression on her face, something Tatsuya had never seen before. Aika raised her outstretched hand a little higher and released yet another stream of fire. The attack struck the dragon right in the left side of its face, eliciting a huge roar from the creature and forcing it to stumble back in pain. “Get away from there!” Aika ordered Tatsuya. Tatsuya quickly nodded and picked up the woman, who had by now fainted from seeing the man transform, and ran back to where Aika stood.

“Why is there a dragon here?” he asked once he was in the clear.

“I believe he’s a residence of this realm,” Aika told him. “Remember how I told you that dragons enter the human realm to live and work?” Tatsuya nodded in answer. “That there is a Druk,” she told him.

“Druk?” asked Tatsuya, confused over the weird name.

“A Lightning Dragon,” Aika explained. Her expression was serious and grim, a big departure from her usual cheerful and excitable nature. “I don’t know why he would transform and reveal his true form out in public nor why he would chase after a human and wish to harm her. For one, dragons who live on Earth are forbidden to reveal their true forms or use their powers or magic in any way unless authorized by the royal family or for self-defense purposes. And two, dragons are forbidden from harming humans in any way. Dragons are only permitted to communicate and interact with humans at a safe distance.”

“So what you’re saying is that this is not normal behavior at all,” Tatsuya surmised.

“Exactly,” Aika agreed. The Druk had recovered from the shock and reared its head yet again. It opened its mouth and formed another giant ball of lightning. However, Aika was prepared to counter and held out both of her hands out in front of her. “I call upon the great dragon god of fire, Draco! Bless me with your divine protection and I shall make your enemies suffer! I pray for a shield of crimson flames to make my enemy cower before your divine power! Crimson Wall of Flames!” Suddenly, huge streams of fire shot out of the Earth like gushing lava, creating a towering wall between Aika and the Druk. The dragon released the lightning ball and the fire wall neutralized it upon contact. The wall disappeared and Aika held out both of her hands again. “I call upon the great dragon god of fire, Draco! Let me bind my enemy and make him submit before your might! I pray for chains of crimson fire to trap my enemy so they may know your wrath! Hellfire Chains!” Bright crimson chains made of fire shot out of her hands and began to wrap itself around the Druk and bind it tightly. The dragon thrashed around in pain and fury. However, the chains held on and had successfully trapped the dragon.

“Good job!” Tatsuya cheered. The Druk gave up and crashed down onto the ground with a loud thud. It appeared that Tatsuya and Aika had won this battle. Aika turned to flash a triumphant smile when the unthinkable happened. Tatsuya couldn’t believe what he was about to witness. With her head turned away from the enemy, Aika didn’t see the Druk opening its mouth and forming a giant projectile of lightning. She noticed Tatsuya’s wide-eyed and terrified expression and realized that something was wrong. As she turned to face the enemy behind her, the dragon had already built up enough power and released the projectile. With no way out of this, Aika couldn’t do anything but accept her fate.

Just when all seemed lost, a mysterious figure jumped in between Aika and the projectile and released a giant ball of fire that neutralized the ball of lightning upon impact. The person turned around to face Aika and bowed. It was Ingrid, Aika’s personal maid. “Ingrid!” shrieked Aika happily. “Nice save!”

“You should be more careful, princess,” said the maid, dusting off her shoulders. The Druk unleashed a menacing roar that echoed throughout the night sky. Ingrid turned back to face her enemy and calmly said, “I’ll take care of this, princess. Please stand back.” Aika quickly returned to Tatsuya’s side. Ingrid dropped to her knees and touched the ground with her right hand. “I call upon the great dragon god of fire, Draco! Unleash your wrath upon my enemy and purify their soul with your crimson flames! I pray for your divine fire to burn away the darkness of their hearts! Crimson Inferno!” she chanted. Suddenly, as if there was some unknown lava pocket deep within the ground of where their enemy lay, a huge stream of fire erupted from the ground below and encased the Druk within its flames. It roared painfully as the flames ate away at its scales and stung its flesh. After a good two minutes or so of dragon barbecuing, the fire stream disappeared. All that was left was a smoking charbroiled incapacitated giant dragon.

“Is it dead?” Tatsuya whispered to Aika.

“I don’t think so,” Aika told him.

With the enemy pacified and their lives free from danger, Tatsuya and Aika dropped the fainted girl to the police station and went home.