“Meeting a dragon?” Nikolai raised his brows. “I am excited,” he said with a bitter laugh.
“Don’t get too excited and let yourself get killed. No one will buy me drinks anymore.” He had this sense of dark humor, which only a few people could handle.
“Don’t worry. We will go back and drink more after this.” But then, Nikolai remembered what Vanesha said.
He remembered her warning about how the organization wouldn’t let them return to Artzees because they would make their move on East Draghar. Slowly, they had planned to infiltrate the country and expand their territory in pretense of helping them strengthen their protection against the supernatural creatures.
And now that they had admitted that their country was not as safe as they thought, they would need people with more experience in this matter than ever.
This was all politics. The innocent intention to save people’s lives turned out to be more complicated than they ever thought. Nikolai wouldn’t be able to keep up with these political things, he just followed the orders that were given to him.
And yet, what Vanesha said, kept bothering him. He couldn’t shrug it off even if he wanted to. Moreover, how did she know such confidential information? She shouldn’t be able to access such information with her status in the organization, unless she was not telling him the truth about her position.
“LOOK!” Mohan screeched when he looked through the small window behind him. “The dragon...”
Everyone’s eyes immediately plastered to the beast that was flying above ruined cities, which currently burned so bright.
.....
=======================
The fire didn’t burn him, it caressed his skin, yet it didn’t hurt him at all. He walked through the flames, as if it was nothing, as if the ground beneath was not melting the earth.
Chaos was livid. It was shown on his expression and how he gritted his teeth when he walked through this ruined city, as he headed toward the dragon flying high in the afternoon sky.
There was dust and dirt, along with flames that swirled around him when he walked steadily. His long and black hair fluttered behind him, no longer in a neat tie behind his nape. He looked ashen, cold and distant.
He was out for blood right now. His darker side grew stronger without Zuri beside him.
It was not about Zuri alone, but it was also about the sword that he gave to her. The sword that was supposed to act as an aegis for him, protecting him from himself. From the devil inside of him.
His mind was muddled, his judgment was clouded. Zuri’s face and the feeling of her touch started fading away from his memory, as he was filled with fury and bloodlust.
Chaos was looking for a fight, for more deaths.
At this rate, no matter how hard Chaos tried to get back to his consciousness, he felt the feeling of that girl slip through his fingers. Her presence was akin to a fading memory from a dream that happened a long time ago...
If this continued, the dragon would be a docile creature amidst all hell that Chaos would release onto this realm.
“Hi, Blue... long time no see,” Hades greeted her, raising his hand, as if he was asking her for a high five, while the girl was sitting in the front seat of the jeep, as he poked his head in the gap between the front seats.
“Fuck you, Hades!” Zuri cursed out loud. He scared the hell out of her. Both Zuri and Norbeat were trying to find Killian’s house, while they were not really familiar with this area, let alone in such a messy situation, where the limit of their visibility was obscured by the smoke.
“Wow, what a strong greeting coming from you, Blue.” Hades ts-ked at her and then looked around at the fire that surrounded them. “Hm, feels like at home here...”
On the other hand, Norbeat, in his new body, a bald, military man twice her size, looked at her in bewilderment, as he looked around to see if there was someone there, yet he saw nothing.
“Who are you talking to?” Norbeat asked in his hoarse and rough voice. “Don’t scare me, this situation is already bizarre enough. I don’t need you to join the craziness.”
That was true, he had gone through so much in one night, so the idea of Zuri having delusional thoughts didn’t amuse him at all.
Yet, Zuri ignored him, since she was talking to Hades right now, while the devil snickered at Norbeat’s statement.
“Talk now!” Zuri glared at Hades, who poked his head between the front seats, and when Norbeat followed her line of sight, he couldn’t see anything there.
“What should I talk about? I don’t really remember the streets...”
“Shut up, I am not talking to you,” Zuri said in frustration. “Just drive.” She was irritated by Hades’ attempt to mock her in such a situation. “What do you want?”
This time, regardless of his creepy feelings upon finding Zuri talking to herself, Norbeat didn’t intervene, he minded his own business by looking for the house instead. Probably, Zuri was like this because she needed to see Chaos, and hallucinated a little bit.
“You don’t need to shout at me. I came here because I want to help you. You should thank me for this warning.” Hades ts-ked at Zuri again, shaking his head exaggeratedly, indicating how ungrateful the young girl was.
“What is it?” Zuri demanded again, she didn’t have time for this bullshit.
“Turn left.” Zuri frowned when she heard that. “Turn left, that bratty dragon’s house is on the left.”
“Left,” Zuri said to Norbeat.
“What? Are you talking to me now?” Norbeat deepened his frown.
“Turn left,” Zuri repeated her words and Norbeat followed her instruction confusedly. “What now?”
“I have come to inform you that I have two pieces of news. One is bad, the other is not really bad,” Hades said.