Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 3

He opened his eyelids just enough to let the light come through.  It felt like days since he'd last seen any form of light,  but then again,  he didn't think he had even been awake before then.  A woman with short, fire-red hair sat beside him, polishing her sword.  He groaned, rolled over on his side to face her.
  She glanced at him with haunting orange eyes that stared into the darkness of his soul.  "Oh, good.  You're awake, sleepy-head.  I was wondering if you'd ever wake up after these long three days, but here we are."
  "T-Three days?" Another groan escaped his lips.
   She ignored his question, went back to polishing her sword.  "My friends brought you to me, you know?  They  said you were dangerous, needed to be taken care of, and that you've done something horrible."  She paused for a second, a scowl possessing her face.  "Sometimes, things we people do are forgiving, and others aren't.  Yours is the one that isn't!"
  She threw her silver weapon on the ground in frustration, along with her polishing tool. "Why did you save her?  Saving her was the worst mistake you could ever make."
  He just stared at her in confusion, his head pounding with every word she said to him.
  "Answer me!"  She got up so fast that her chair flew against the wall,  making a loud, crashing sound that caused Fluego's ears to ring violently.  She walked over to him, climbed on top of him on the bed, and laid a hand on his cheek.
  "Tell me why you did it, Fluego.  Why was that dragon so important to save?"
  A tear escaped his eye, travelling down to his chin.  "You mean Mystice?  Wouldn't you have saved her?  She was alone, everyone she had ever loved was dead,  and I couldn't leave her afraid and in pain, so I took her in."
  "That was a mistake," She growled, digging her nails deep into his cheek, forcing him to let out a scream of anguish.  "Dragons are an abomination to humanity itself.  That's why I sent the Tongku to assassinate every last one.  She can't stay human forever, if she doesn't get a taste of human blood soon.  Then, when she turns into that hideous monster, she'll kill everyone in her way;  she won't even recognize the ones she loves."
  She climbed off him and walked towards the door.  "This little, precious dragon of yours needs to be killed, or the blood of everyone she does kill will be on your hands."

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"I'm sure we'll find some help here,"  Valemon told Mystice.
  "I hope you're right," She sighed.  "I just want to get to Dad as fast as possible."
  They walked up to a large, wooden gate which separated the other half of the forest from the side they were standing on.
    Knock, knock.  Silence.
  Valemon growled impatiently, and knocked even louder this time.  Mystice wasn't sure why he expected whoever was on the other side to answer right away, but she kept her mouth shut.
  "How long does it take to answer a freakin' gate?"
  Slowly,  the gate opened until a boy with black hair could be seen standing on the other side.  He gestured them over, turned around,  and started walking back the way he came from.
  Val grabbed Myst's hand and ran after the strange boy.  "We need help."
  The boy stopped in his tracks.  "Help?  Help with what?"
  "Our dad,"  Mystice answered sadly.  "We think Tongku took him last night; he was trying to save us when it happened."
  "Did you say the Tongku?"
  She nodded.
  He turned to face them.  "Why would They take him instead of killing him?  Wouldn't that have been a lot easier?"
  "If we knew,  then we would've told you already,"  Val explained, becoming impatient with how rude the boy was acting.  "Please help us."
  "If you are going to have sass with me,  then you take your little piercing covered face and your lady friend back where you both came from, and I can forget that you ever asked for my help."
  Immediately,  Val kept his mouth shut.  He wanted to save his dad, and that probably wasn't going to happen if he had attitude towards this guy.
  The boy cleared his throat.  "That's what I thought.  My name is Aske.  If we head to my house, we can grab some weapons and get a good night's rest, so we can have energy for our journey tomorrow."
  Aske started heading for their destination,  Mystice and Valemon walking side by side behind him.  Val sighed, then whispered to Mystice, "I have a feeling this is going to be a long night for us both."