Pied Piper

4. Face Off

Taehyung was clearly confused, and Kora didn't have the time to explain it right then. Taehyung hissed a bit as he started to move, grabbing the sword that had fallen out of his hand as he had been tossed. The sword had landed by her shattered phone, causing him to nod his head towards it.

"Is this pathetic little gray...stone the phone?"

"You're an idiot," said Kora with a laugh.

"Me! An idiot! Ha!"

Taehyung rolled his eyes as he gripped the sword tighter in his hand; leaning over to grip Kora tightly by the arm. Before he could explain his plan to her, he yanked her to her feet and ran back up the stairs with her. The dragon was facing their way, but Taehyung ran the other direction. Kora felt as if her legs were in pain, but she couldn't stop as she heard the dragon getting closer behind them.

"Run ahead of me!" said Taehyung, dropping his hold of her in order to fall back.

Kora kept running closer to the exit as she swiveled her head to see Taehyung make a slash at the charging dragon with his sword before sliding on his feet like one slid across home base as he did some sort of weird matrix move to dodge it.

"Who the heck are you?" asked Kora softly out loud to herself as he slashed at the underside of the dragon.

Taehyung turned back toward her, managing to run and catch up with her in what felt like a matter of seconds. Kora ran through the hotel lobby; the mysterious man who had suddenly appeared out of no where following close on her heels as the whole building seemed to rumble about them. They were so close to the exit now. Kora was about to run outside when Taehyung grabbed her by the forearm, shoving her down behind the front desk before crouching into hiding beside her.

"What are you doing?! We're so close to the exit!"

"That's what the dragon is waiting for," said Taehyung as he looked over at Kora. "If we run there, we are as good as dead."

"If we sit here too we're as good as dead," snapped Kora as she looked back at him.

"Do you not see that I have this under control?"

"If by 'under control' you mean ducking and hiding everywhere, then yes. Yes you have everything completely under control!"

Kora poked her head over the top of the front desk so that her eyes could face the exit they had both been so close to reaching. She had to squint to see into the bright sunlight outside the hotel to make certain of what she was seeing. She felt her stomach twist when she realized that she was sure. She was one hundred percent sure, and what was worse was that the dragon had spotted them too.

"Oh no. No. No. No, this isn't good."

"What are you talking about?" asked Taehyung as he moved to crouch right beside her.

"I mean, look! By the entrance!"

Taehyung turned his gaze towards the entrance to see two women standing there in matching beach hats; both staring in shock at the dragon coming their way.

"Those are my best friends..." said Kora.

"What is this? Three for the price of one?" muttered Taehyung before following it up with a curse. "This time, I really want you to stay here. Don't move."

She watched as Taehyung vaulted himself over the front desk, racing towards the two women standing there.

- - -

"Kora can't possibly be in there, right?" asked Adelaide as they approached the hotel that looked as if it had a huge bite taken out of it.

"No...no, she couldn't possibly..." said Eve; watching as flames licked up the sides of the hotel that were still standing.

It was then that a roar sounded out from inside the hotel, dragging both of their gazes to one common focus. A bright maroon dragon whose head had turned their way.

"Is that a dragon?" asked Adelaide flabbergasted.

"I think it is, but how does that make sense? Since when do dragons take a vacation?"

"Really? We're going with that?" asked Adelaide as she turned to look at Eve.

A shot of fire flew past them as they both suddenly collapsed to the ground under the weight of someone who had tackled them. Adelaide and Eve scrambled to sit up as the weight was lifted off them to see that it was a man that had caused them to fall down.

'What is he wearing? And is that a sword in his hands?' Adelaide thought as he stood in front of them like a shield; a sword held aloft.

"Are you both alright?" asked Taehyung while still facing forward.

"Yeah, but who are you?" asked Eve.

"Kora's guardian," he said as the dragon came towards them.

"Kora's guardian?!" Adelaide and Eve both said in unison.

Taehyung didn't have time to explain then as he had a more pressing matter to attend to. He looked off towards the front of the building where the hotel had planted a lovely garden. Perfect. He held out his free hand, closing his eyes for a moment. Adelaide and Eve watched as the flowers grew taller and taller until they became as thick and weedy as vines. They seemed to take on a life of their own, slithering across the ground until they started to wrap about the dragon's legs, shackling him to where he stood. A smirk crossed Taehyung's face as he opened his eyes, running towards the dragon again with his sword.

"Now, I can either play nice or I can not," said Taehyung. "So what shall it be? Shall I kill you or are you wanting to live?"

The dragon looked peeved as it glared at Taehyung; only causing his smirk to spread and the plants turned vines to tighten.

"Okay...I see death is what you'd like..."

Taehyung rose the sword above his head when he saw the fleck of fear pass through the dragon's eyes. He brought the sword down. Even though he knew it would be safer to kill this dragon, he still felt compassion for it.

"I can spare your life," said Taehyung, "I know that you're under someone else's control. However, you shall no longer retain this form."

He put the sword back in the sheath as he moved to place his hands on the dragon's head. He closed his eyes again, causing the dragon's body to glow brightly before a burst of what looked like fairy dust filled the air. The dragon was gone, and now - scrambling about the ground at his feet - was a tiny maroon lizard. He watched it quickly scramble off and disappear.

"And why couldn't you do that to begin with?"

Taehyung turned his head towards the hotel as Kora stalked out of the hotel lobby with a bewildered look on her face. He scoffed.

"What? I don't get a thank you for saving your life?"

"Not when you could have done that...whatever it was you just did...and made him a freaking lizard this whole time!"

"Well, I'm sorry! It's not how it works. Sometimes one can't reason with a flipping dragon!"

Adelaide and Eve watched as Kora and Taehyung bickered back and forth. They approached warily as sirens started to sound in the distance.

"Um...Kora?" said Eve tentatively as she placed a hand on Kora's shoulder. "I think you two ought to pause your argument for now."

"Yes," said Adelaide. "It's time we got out of here before things take even more of an interesting turn."