Echoes of the Dragon Slayer

Sakura felt a violent shock as Takisuma hurled her out of the Fester's mouth. She soared through the air and crashed on her back. She looked up and saw Takisuma’s metal arm smack the ground in front of her, but it was just his arm. The rest of him was behind the jaws, eaten.

“Takisumaaaaaa!” she shrieked his name, tears blurring her vision. “Taki! No, please, no!”

She tried to stand, but her leg was shattered, she couldn't move. All she could do was stretch out her hand, as if doing so would somehow bring Takisuma back to her.

Kenji, who had been retching behind a tree, heard Sakura's shriek and sprinted to her side. He saw the Fester gulp down Takisuma and then turn its sights back down onto him and Sakura a could paces in front of him.

“Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!” he cursed, feeling a wave of terror and rage.

He snatched Sakura by the shoulders and dragged her away from the monster, looking for a safe place to hide at the very least. He was weak and could barely stand himself, but he knew he had to protect Sakura.

“Kenji-san, no! We can't leave him! We can't leave Taki!” Sakura screamed through her tears.

“I'm sorry, Sakura-sama, I'm sorry,” Kenji said, shaking his head. “He's gone. We have to get out of here! There's nothing we can do!”

“No! Let me go!” Sakura screamed, refusing to believe it as she tried to fight against Kenji. “He is still alive! He is still in there!”

Damn you Taki-san! You should have protected your sister! Not me! Kenji cursed to himself with guilt as he looked down at Sakura’s leg, seeing it badly mangled and bleeding profusely. He felt hopeless and beyond guilty. I should have just listened to you…! You knew coming here was bad from the start…

“Sakura-sama… I-I-I'm so sorry…” he cried through Sakura’s wailing, as the Fester started to come towards them again. “I-I'm so sorry. This is all my fault… I-I-I should have never brough you all here…”

“Taki… please…” Sakura sobbed as Kenji dragged her away, tears streaming down her face. “Please, don't leave me…!”

Takisuma felt the Fester's teeth crunch through his metal arms before he slid down its throat. He knew he was going to die, but he didn't regret saving Sakura for a second. “Sakura… I love you.” he whispered to himself, finding a little peace in what he was saying. “I love you so much…”

He hoped she would be okay, that she wouldn't be attacked by another Fester or perish in the forest. He also hoped that Kenji would take care of her. Kenji really was a good kid, even though he mocked him a lot. He was just like Kai in his past life… he was his friend.

Even now, Takisuma wondered what was wrong with him earlier, why was he so sick all of a sudden. “Kenji-san, please look after Sakura for me…” he muttered.

He also wondered where Akane was now. How had she run so fast? Was she a Wielder? If she was, that would definitely explain…

Haaaah… I wonder if I will reincarnate into another world this time as well, or will I finally die…? Takisuma thought, though, he felt a stabbing feeling of regret. What if Misha is also in this world…? If I died now, I would never know for sure… not that I would anyway, really… But… what if…? I would be abandoning her again! I would be abandoning Sakura just like I did Misha…! I can’t die! Not now! I want to live, to see Sakura smile again, to hear Kenji's jokes again, to be teased by Akane again. I want to try and find Misha…!

Takisuma felt a surge of anger and determination. He wasn't going to die here, not like this. He still had his left metal arm, to an extent. He drew the upper portion of his arm in front of him and rammed the jagged pieces of torn metal, that used to connect the forearm portion, into the wall of the Fester's throat, feeling the metal slice through the thick layers of flesh.

“Take this! You bastard!” he yelled.

The Fester roared in pain and reared back. Its throat tore open in the direction that Takisuma slid. Though, that wasn’t enough to stop him. Takisuma plunged into a pool of acid that was the Fester's stomach, scorching his skin and clothes.

“Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!” he screamed for a moment, as the acid burned the more sensitive areas of his face—around his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—and along the entirety of his back. He bit his tongue and ignored the pain before using the same jagged pieces of metal from his arms to continue his attack and slash his way out of the Fester's body.

“Die! Die! Die!” he shouted.

The Fester collapsed, its life drained by a gaping wound on its belly… leaving Takisuma to squeeze himself out of the opening a moment later, coated in a mix of acid and viscera. He staggered away from the Fester, his metal arms bent and shattered, and spotted Sakura and Kenji on the ground a couple paces away. He saw that their eyes were filled with fear and disbelief as he approached them, ignoring the agonizing pain coursing through the flesh of his back and face.

“Sakura… Kenji-sama.” Takisuma said, his voice calm and collected even though strained, as he loomed over them. Sakura broke down again and embraced him, weeping his name. Kenji also wrapped his arms around him, chuckling and sniffling at the same time.

“Taki… you're alive!” Sakura cried, clutching his chest. “I-I… I thought I lost you…!”

“I-I-I’m sorry, Takisuma-san! I’m sorry…” Kenji apologized, squeezing Takisuma tighter, oblivious that he was covered in the rotten smelling remains of the thing that just tried to eat them all. “I-I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have brought you all here… I’m sorry…”

Takisuma felt a surge of relief after seeing his sister and friend alive, falling into their embrace. He was glad to see them safe, but then he remembered how Kenji was all of a sudden so sick before and Sakura's leg.

Takisuma looked at Kenji for a moment and saw his pale face and feverish eyes. He realized he was in bad shape too. He had to get them out of here and to help. But first, he had to stop Sakura's bleeding.

He tried to use his left metal arm to apply pressure on her wound, but it was too damaged. His hand wouldn't respond to his commands. It was useless. He cursed under his breath and looked around for something to use as a bandage.

Sakura's face was pale and sweaty, but she forced a smile for Taki's sake. "Don't worry, Taki. It's not that bad," she lied, hoping he wouldn't notice the tremor in her voice. She gasped as a jolt of pain ripped through her leg, making her bite her lip.

What kind of statement is that!? Honestly… Takisuma thought, his blue eyes hard and cold as he peered down at her. He looked at Kenji, "I need your help, Kenji-sama. We don't have much time." he said in a clipped tone. "I can't use my arm and we need to act fast."

He stood to his feet and looked down at Kenji, giving him a sharp command. "I need you to do exactly as I say and how I say it."

Kenji felt a surge of panic. He had no idea what to do. He was just a kid, not a medic. "W-What do you want me to do…?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Takisuma looked at Sakura's leg, where blood was soaking through her white kimono, staining it red. "We need to stop the bleeding first. Find something to wrap around her leg, above the wound," he said.

Kenji searched around and found a torn sleeve near Takisuma's severed metal arm a couple paces away and ran back to Sakura. He fell to the ground and wrapped the cloth around her leg as tightly as he could.

Sakura shrieked in pain and tried to push him away. "Stop! Please! It hurts! It hurts so much!" she pleaded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Takisuma didn't spare her a glance. He told Kenji to keep tying the bandage, his voice firm and emotionless as he helped hold her to the ground with his knee. He had no choice. He had to stop the bleeding, or she would die. They made a tourniquet around Sakura's thigh above the knee, cutting off the blood flow.

Sakura screamed in agony as the pressure built up next to the wound.

"Good. Now we need to set the bone." Takisuma said. He turned to Sakura. "This will hurt a lot, sister. Brace yourself."

"No, no, please don't! Taki, Kenji-kun, please don't!" Sakura begged, her eyes wide with terror.

"Sakura-sama, we have to do this." Takisuma said softly. "If we don’t, you will die out here."

He told Kenji what to do and then watched as the boy grabbed her ankle before pulling it straight, all while he held her knee with his own leg and pushed it back into place. Sakura screamed in pain, kicking and flailing with her good leg.

"Stop! Stop! Please! It hurts! It hurts!" she wailed.

“I know, I know. It's almost over. Just hold on…” Takisuma explained as he watched Kenji. He noticed the boy start to freeze, his hands shaking. He could tell the boy didn’t want to continue, but he had too. Sakura’s leg needed to be set back somewhat together or she would bleed to death.

"Kenji-sama! Don't stop!" he commanded. "You're only making it worse for her by stalling!"

Kenji looked up at him with horror. "How can you be so calm!?" he yelled. "She's your sister! She's in pain! And how do you even know how to do all of this!?"

Takisuma glanced at him briefly. "I can't afford to lose my composure." he said. "Not now. Not when her life is at stake."

Kenji gritted his teeth and tried to block out Sakura’s screams. He focused on her leg and pushed her ankle harder. An instant later, he heard a snap as the bone aligned. He let go of her ankle and wrapped another piece of cloth around her lower leg with a stick on either side, like Takisuma told him to do, making a splint.

“There. It's done.” Takisuma said, setting himself off Sakura.

The bleeding of Sakura's leg had slowed down a lot. She was panting and sobbing, her face pale and sweaty, as she looked at her leg with horror and disbelief.

“Taki... Kenji-kun... thank... thank you...” she whispered weakly. She closed her eyes and fainted from the pain and blood loss.

Takisuma placed his ear to her chest to check her pulse and breathing. She was still alive, but barely.

“I-Is she okay!?” Kenji asked.

Takisuma nodded as he raised back up. “Yes. She is still alive, but we need to get her back to the estate. These bandages won’t last long.”

Kenji then turned his attention to Takisuma's arms. He saw that his left arm was severed at the elbow, but most of the wires and cables were still intact. The brackets that attached the two parts of the arm still looked to be in good shape as well.

“Takisuma-san, come here.” Kenji said before weakly scooting over in Takisuma’s direction, reaching for the broken metal that used to be considered an arm.

Takisuma went to protest at first, but then agreed to have the boy look at his arm for a moment. If by chance he could get his arm able to bend at least, that would give him the ability to help get Sakura back to the estate. Giving the looks of Kenji at the moment, he doubted that he would be able to do much for long. Oddly though, Takisuma felt completely fine, with no fatigue, only the still lingering pain of the Fester’s acid on his skin.

He watched Kenji try and connect his forearm to the rest for a couple of seconds before hearing a chiming click. Kenji was able to reconnect the elbow, but with the parts still mangled, Takisuma could tell that he would not be able to use it too much, or it would break again.

“Ugh, that’s about all that I can do…” Kenji said, panting, “I don’t know how that thing works…”

“It's okay, Kenji-sama.” Takisuma said. “You've done enough. Thank you.”

Just then, the two boys heard a low growl behind him. They turned around and saw the Fester stirring weakly on the ground. It was not dead yet, but it was close to it. Its eyes were glazed, and its mouth was foaming with blood. Takisuma felt a surge of rage as he looked at the beast that had almost killed them all. He got up and walked over to its head, ignoring Kenji's protests.

If this thing was still alive, there was a chance that it could attract other Festers to the area, or other monsters hearing its distressed calls. It needed to die. They couldn’t make it back to the estate safely if it wasn’t…

He reared his foot back and kicked the Fester's head with all his strength. The force behind his kick split the beast’s head open like an eggshell, causing the Fester to instantly stop spasming around. He kicked it again and again, only seeing red as he vented his anger on the beast. Repeatedly, he delivered smashing blows until there was nothing left but pulp and bone fragments… something that no normal person could have done.

He then noticed something shiny in the center of the Fester's head, among the brain matter. It was a smooth, obsidian black stone that glowed faintly with an inner light. He felt a strange attraction to it, as if it was calling out to him somehow. He reached out with his good hand and pulled the stone from the carnage, looking much heavier than it actually was.

All of a sudden, he felt a quick jolt of energy run through his body once he touched the rock. The feeling was almost surreal, but only lasted a second before quickly vanishing.

“Takisuma-san! Come on!” Kenji argued with fear in his voice. “We need to go!”

Takisuma pocketed the stone and walked back to Kenji and Sakura.

He glanced at Kenji. "You can walk, right?" he said flatly.

Kenji nodded weakly. "Yeah. I feel better now..."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not!"

Takisuma ignored his arguing with a sigh before pointing at Sakura's unconscious body. "Help me put her on my back."

"Are you crazy!?" Kenji exclaimed, looking at Takisuma skeptically.

He couldn't believe that Takisuma wanted to carry Sakura, who was nearly a full head taller than him and most likely weighed a bit more as well, not to mention that he only had one of his arms and it didn’t even work that well. He had thought that they were both going to drag her out of the forest together, but Takisuma didn't seem to care about it that much, he just stared at Kenji coldly.

"Are you really going to argue about me carrying her?" he asked. "After everything we've been through just now?"

Kenji swallowed hard and shook his head. "No, no..." He helped lift Sakura onto Takisuma's back, making sure her arms draped over his shoulders and his remaining arm was supporting her from sliding off.

Takisuma turned to look at his severed arm lying on the ground a few paces away. "Grab that for me would you…" he said to Kenji.

Kenji nodded and picked up the metal arm, feeling its surprising amount of weight in his hands. He followed Takisuma as they began to trek out of the forest and back towards the Komono House.

“…” Kenji walked quietly for a moment, and then he broke the silence, “Bro… I can’t believe you willingly let that thing eat you… And then you cut your way out of it!”

Kenji laughed nervously in disbelief. “How the hell does that happen!?”

Takisuma clenched his jaw. Now that everything was over, and he could look back on it all, even he had a hard time believing what just happened. What in the world was he thinking!?

Truth was, he wasn’t thinking. He just acted. This wasn’t the first time he had done something stupid out of instanced, one time in his previous life he ran out in front of a truck to save a little girl… He felt it ironic that being hit by a truck would be the thing that killed him, after narrowly avoiding it once before. Though, jumping into incoming traffic pales in comparison to jumping into the jaws of a dragon.

Nonetheless, one thing was for certain, no one other than Kenji and Sakura would ever believe this story.

After a moment, Takisuma took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “I just reacted… I can’t explain it myself…” he said, before looking back up in the direction he was going, other thoughts starting to cross his mind. “Now… where the hell did, Akane-sama, run off to…?” 

To be continued...