Chapter 16: Overtaken

Kuravana began to cackle maniacally, a tear of his own leaving his eye. He could not help himself. He refused seeing this situation as anything but hilarious.

“Well, now it’s time to feast! It’s been fun hasn’t it, Teus!?”

He enthusiastically called out to the boy. After witnessing his crying, Kuravana was absolutely elated. He then looked at the old man and formed a crooked smile. Finally they were experiencing the despair he wanted.

A dark aura, once again, began to swirl around Kuravana as he picked up the old man and hovered his dangling body above his disjointed mouth. His saliva fell more excessively than before. Pleasure caused his eyes to sparkle, almost as though he were enchanted by this very moment. His voice was laced with excitement.

“Now you can finally see! The only way you were ever going to beat me was in your dreams!”

But the instant before his teeth came down on his head a giant bright cerulean beam of light erupted from where Teus was sat. The boy, now standing, had sparks like lightning bolts that crackled from around his newfound aura. His dragon core burst into miniature crystals, as though crushed into a fine powder, then it surrounded him like a whirling wind. The intensity only grew. The atmosphere had completely changed. A loud rush of wind began to surge its way out of the crater, echoing in the distance.

For a brief moment, Kuravana hesitated. This was a feeling he experienced before, he knew it all too well. An instinctual chill flowed down his spine, his pupils dilated. His instincts that were honed through dozens of battles for his life screamed at him to run.

Though as much as the dragon’s body knew to run away, his conscious thoughts were still yet to realize what had just happened. This transition from eat to retreat took place within tenths of a seconds, he was unaware of what had triggered this instinct and thus, could not rationalize why he felt that way. He was yet to see what stood before him.

But within the blink of an eye, another flash happened. 

Leaving a trail of blue light that streamed directly above Kuravana’s head as its only trace. When Kuravana opened his eyes, he saw that the old man was no longer within his grasp. His claws were completely empty of anything except for the remaining slivers of blue sparks that twirled in the air. 

Teus' voice cut through the air.  

“There is nothing more valuable in this world than a dreamer…!”

The dragon’s anger boiled as he hissed.

“...T- there’s no way…!”

Kuravana swung his head in the direction of where the light had darted and found him. Perched atop the edge of the crater holding the old man in his arms. Embers of hot bright blue smoldering from off his body.

With a saddened look on Teus’ face he gently placed the old man down against the cold dirt. The words left his lips with an unmistakable note of pain being carried in his voice.

“Rest easy…”

Before his gaze was directed at Kuravana once again. The dragon instinctually shuffled a couple of steps back out of shock. A bead of sweat rolled down his head. He refused to believe what in front of him was real.

“What’s going on!? T- the way he said that earlier, it sounded like a ‘good-bye’…As if he was never going to see him again…Did he do the soul bound vow!? There’s no way! He doesn’t even have a weapon!”

Teus stood up to face the dragon with a cold grimace, looking down on him from the higher ground. Kuravana’s eyes froze when he got a good look at him.

Light azure aura emitted itself from off of Teus’ body. His scarf was now possessing an ethereal glow as it wafted in the wind. Thin lines of cerulean blue seemed to form cracks that emerged around different parts of Teus’ body as they pulsated with the same radiance. His arm that was once cracked out of place now seemed put together although, clumsy. Flakes of his skin tore off their surface and flew into the air, as they formed an incandescent ember of blue. It looked as though so much of the dragon’s energy had been flowing through his scarf that it began to spread out to the rest of his body. Even his body looked as though it struggled to contain the energy.

The jaw of Kuravana dropped.

“It’s like he’s overflowing! Just how much power did he receive!”

There were no more doubts in Kuravana’s mind, Teus had officially done the soul bound vow.

While Kuravana was still in disbelief, the silhouette of Teus disappeared in a swift flicker.

“Crap! Where is he now!”

A deep pain radiated from the dragon’s chest, as though something were sinking into it.

Time felt as though it had slowed down. He looked down to see Teus’ foot firmly plunged into his being, with a blank expression. His bones began to crack and twist. Kuaravana was barely able to make out that the child had zipped down from where he was in order to kick him, his movements were too fast.

In a flash he was sent flying into the dirt beneath him. His body bouncing off the ground painfully. Though the ego of the dragon had been bruised deeper. Kuravana struggled to dig his hooves in the ground, desperately trying to stop the momentum. A menacing glare forms in his eyes as he attempts to catch his breath.

“Who does he think he is!? One minute ago you were groveling in a puddle of your own tears and now all of a sudden you think you’re better than me!? I’ll show you…!”

The dragon finally stopped his movement and was ready to counter attack, holding nothing back this time. He raised his head, ready to meet gazes with the boy again. He knew he had a second, maybe two at most before the child would strike him again.

“...I’ll show you the might of a dragon! You little peasant human!”

But he found the crater to be empty. He once more had lost track of where Teus had been. Kuravana’s head felt as though it would burn. He was utterly infuriated. Thoughts raced through his mind while his eyes darted from side to side in search of him. Half a second had elapsed, he had little time left to find him.

“For crying out loud, how hard is it to find him!? He's literally glowing neon blue in the middle of the night!-”

A blow to Kuravana’s stomach interrupted his trail of thought as he saw Teus submerge his fist with the same blank face. 

“If you're so insistent on looking down on us peasants, I'll be happy to show you the ground!”

Then before the dragon could react, another blow struck him in his side. Then another blow struck him in the ridge of his sternum, two more blows pounded against his mandible. The beating continued with a fierce flurry of punches delivered by Teus.

Within the ensuing chaos, Kuravana grit his teeth through the pain. His tail erected from behind him as he then zipped its way towards Teus. The boy made no effort to dodge as the tail pierced him through his shoulder. Instead he grabbed the tail of the dragon, pulled him in and sent another fist flying into Kuravana’s snout.

The dragon was sent flying back yet again, his tail following with him as it unceremoniously ripped itself from Teus’ shoulder. Thoughts raced through Kuravana’s mind.

“What..the…hell!”

Teus remained stoic, although he winced as the flakes of skin tore off him and gripped his shoulder, that one had a gaping hole, it was clear he was feeling pain.

“This kid’s freaking me out! I wanted to build distance but he was so intent on hitting me that he didn’t even dodge! Whatever, I still have enough room to move now, I’m getting out of here! This situation isn’t one where I wanna be in now, As much as I love the stench of fish... I’m not even hungry anymore!”

With a quick motion the dragon raised his wings to fly.

“Where do you think you’re going….!” Teus bellowed.

He quickly appeared in front of Kuravana, grabbing his tail once more before he swung him around. Kuravana went in so many circles he almost began to feel nauseous. Teus' voice rumbled.

“...I said I’d show you the ground!”

Kuravana slammed head-first into the land. The impact caused more dirt to break apart, rocks beneath them began to crack and Kuravana groaned an otherworldly croak of anguish before Teus promptly returned to thrusting his fists into the dragon.

Teus continued to wince at the pain as the intensity of the aura surrounding him only grew, the cracks around his body only spread, and his knuckles only got more bloodied. Kuravana desperately attacked him with his tail, but the child did not relent. His tongue attempted to thrust him like a spear, but it grazed the boy’s body without delaying the subsequent chain of impacts. None of this stopped him from delivering shot after shot to Kuravana’s breaking body. The dragon struggled to comprehend it.

“I can’t believe this! He’s getting stronger by the second! It doesn’t matter how much I try to hit him, he’s basically ignoring it all! I should have left earlier! I…am getting beat down…by a child!”

With a swift and well directed punch, Teus struck the dragon in the snout causing the surrounding ground to shake. A large dent descended around them as the ground caved in under the immense pressure. Kuravana shrieked in protest.

“Yewarghraaaa!”

The dust began to settle, and Teus took two steps back from the exhausted dragon, laying in the dent in the ground. He huffed and puffed, his scarf felt like it was burning him as it billowed in the wind. The cracks along his body felt as though they were searing him to a crisp as they spread more rapidly as he quietly yelped in pain, briefly staggering for a moment.

Drops of blood rolled, exiting his nose as he gripped his shoulder tightly. The cracks around his body began to pulsate more and more. Parts of his skin tore off more and more violently. His panting turned into heavy wheezing.

“I don’t have much time left, I have to finish this quickly…”

Kuravana slowly attempted to stand up, his bones painfully cracked back into place, restoring his integrity, as he coughed a few times before he shouted.

“There’s…There’s no way I am going to let you…defeat me!”

Teus quickly bolted to the dragon, his movements so fast it appeared instantaneous, before he grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the ground again. His voice cold and commanding

“...There’s no need to bluff.”

Kuravana silently burned with rage. After all his efforts, the child was now in front of him without an ounce of fear. It had completely been erased. No fear, no hopelessness, no despair could be sensed in his heart. It disappointed the dragon so miserably. The only one who was scared in this moment… was Kuravana.

The dragon mused to himself.

“Isn’t this poetic? we all were so headstrong in order to get what we want, now none of us leave with it. I won’t get a delicious meal today. And he won’t get to save that old geezer. Pride cometh before the fall, indeed…”

He continued to stare into Teus’ unwavering glare.

“...But still though, he must have really cared about that old man. This power is incredible, it’s still growing and it still shows no signs of stopping! He even has enough of it to pin me down…he has certainly lost more than me today. I guess I can live with that…”

The grip tightened around Kuravana’s throat, forcing out any remaining air. Teus’ scowl only had more ferocity and disdain for the creature.

“Time to die, Kuravana.”

A crushed sound exited the dragon’s mouth that sounded like a mix between a cough and a last laugh.

“I- I can’t believe you really did it! Never in all my years would I have expected you to sacrifice that old geezer for the soul bound vow!”

A deep silence echoed throughout the crater. Teus stared grimly into the smiling dragon’s gaze before answering.

“...I didn’t.”

Kuravana’s pupils shrank and his jaw dropped to one side. He was completely befuddled.

“...What?...”

The dragon watched in horror as Teus began to chuckle, still not loosening his grip on his throat. 

The dragon demanded answers.

“But, this power! It’s impossible! How else did you gain enough strength to beat me! Was there another loved one that you sacrified!? Another that you cherished equally as that old geezer!?”

Teus pulled the dragon in with so much force their foreheads clashed. Blood dripped down from Kuravana’s head as he watched Teus’ skin continue to crackle and burn up into shades of saphire. The bright blue cracks on his body continued to throb in pain. His scarf flaring up as though it were lit on fire. Teus continued to glare at him, but this time a wide grin was plastered across his face.

“The only ones dying today…are you and me!”