Chapter 16: I Am a Dragon
Han liked the idea of exploring Demi-Human races because of how different they were from humans. But now he’d learned their origins lay in humanity’s woes. It felt strange. No one even knows where humans came from. Many have studied it, even delving into genetics, but no one is one hundred percent sure.
Yet here, Han saw a Demi-Human’s birth.
It does make sense for them to have human forms since they come from humanity’s feelings. Is that human form why Wyrds became Demi-Humans? How does that connect to the Dark Families? I want to know more!
Then his Father gave him his first objective.
[Help the brave Hero succeed. We will continue afterward.]
So that’s my first objective. Fine!
Han looked up and roused his mana. No circle of Dark Flames appeared. He narrowed his eyes at his hand. His mana was there, but off. Wings absent, his dragon traits felt muted here.
Why would Father do that?
While Han pondered his Father’s goal, the young man with the ax failed to hack at the minotaur. He took a punch from the monster and flew into a mound of snow. Coughing up mouthfuls of blood, he slowly picked himself up. It was amazing he hadn’t dropped his weapon and still pressed on with the mission. That single blow had clearly broken his ribs and bruised him badly.
He couldn’t fight it alone for long.
"Xena, I can’t summon my Dark Dragon. Oh, right, you can talk again." Han turned to Xena.
"Just because you don’t have your wings out, you think you’re not a dragon?" Xena sneered.
Her words snapped the last piece into place for Han.
He smiled. "Yeah, you’re right. But I have to work without the Dragon Bloodline first. Dark Cauldron Arts, then."
Xena’s face contorted.
Han sneered. "Good riddance, but I’m not using you for now. I’ll brand that minotaur and weaken him. We’re assisting the Hero. Use your threads more than the needle."
Clicking her tongue, Xena dropped into a stance and pressed her palms together. In an instant, a dark crimson needle coalesced between them. She spun it with her mana and slammed her dominant hand into its base, sending it forward with force and mana.
It flew like a bullet and lodged in the minotaur’s knee. No blood came out, and the needle didn’t seem buried deep in the thick muscle. Yet it howled as if its leg had been cut off. It looked down and grabbed Xena’s needle. It wouldn’t budge.
Xena sneered. "Spells from the future are more than a bloated cow can handle."
Thin threads sprouted from the needle’s other end, wrapping around the minotaur’s leg and further disabling it. Then the threads wormed into the ground and pulled the monster’s knee down. It was now completely immobile and exposed.
The young hero didn’t miss it and used the opening to slam the ax’s sharp end into the minotaur’s forearm, just below the elbow. He barely made a cut. His lip curled; then he gritted his teeth and repeated the blows as if chopping wood until the minotaur headbutted him away.
Meanwhile, Han focused on his Dark Mana. His spells usually came with Dark Flames, their circles seemingly written by fire. He lacked that element now, but he still had mana. As he concentrated on the boon from Tenaxis, a magic circle began to inscribe itself. A cold, carved obsidian circle formed, the horned cauldron etched within.
It’s so fucking cold!
Han shivered before the circle, but pressed on. Sending his Obsidian Cauldron forward as if it were the Dark Dragon, Han carefully controlled its speed and trajectory. He maneuvered around the monster and branded his spell on its wounded leg.
"Ha!" Han grunted, activating his Dark Cauldron Arts and drawing the minotaur’s mana and essence into the cauldron.
A biting cold sank into the minotaur’s leg, making it howl at the sky. It sounded even more agonized than when Xena had stabbed its leg. She spat and looked away. Han ignored her and increased his spell’s output.
Time was against them.
"You two are amazing! I will now get this Wyrd’s arm! Count on me!" the hero swore, rushing toward the weakened minotaur.
He threw himself in and aimed again for the cuts he’d left on its forearm. Against all odds and the monster’s brutal attacks, the hero kept his guard up and pressed on until he achieved his goal. The arm collapsed lifelessly into the snow. In that instant, the man lunged and scooped it up. The move cost him another brutal punch to the side, sending him flying again.
But this time he got up faster, wearing a victorious smile.
Han and Xena exchanged a confused look.
"Why is he smiling? This shit’s not done yet," Han asked.
"This must be an ancestor of some Dark Family. They smile like idiots," Xena said.
And then the hero did an even more bizarre thing—he cut his own forearm and attached the minotaur’s forearm in its place. He groaned and spat blood. Foreign flesh and mana connected to his body and crawled into him. He bit his shirt and endured the agony, praying it would work.
A miracle. He succeeded.
"With this... we can kill them all..." he muttered to himself, panting harder than Xena after her time with Han.
He extended his new hand toward his ax and called for it. The weapon flew into his palm. He clenched it, coated it with his new mana, and threw it straight into the immobile minotaur. This time, the ax’s sharp end easily cut through the monster’s neck, beheading it and claiming the trophy.
The hero stepped forward, then looked up at Han.
"You... smell like a Wyrd," he said.
Han smiled.
He had wondered why his Father had sealed his Dragon Bloodline in this artifact. Perhaps he wanted to see whether Han could use Tenaxis’s Dark Mana on its own, or maybe he wanted him to work with the hero. Even so, Han realized a few things from this.
"Yeah, I am a dragon," he said as wings sprouted from his back on their own, tearing through his robes. Two curved black horns sprouted from his head.
His eyes narrowed into dragon slits as he glared at the hero.
Han’s Dragon’s Pride thumped in his chest again.
I understand how to control my wings better and how to tell my Dark Mana from Dragon’s mana. That was a good lesson, Father!