LET THERE BE DRAGONS (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Playing With Fire

As the mysterious man removed the hood he was hiding himself with, the face of a handsome middle aged man who had jet black hair with grey streaks, and a french cut beard, was revealed. He seemed to be in his forties, the years he had endured made evident by the crow's feet around the corners of his eyes, and the lines on his cheeks and below his mouth.

"I don't know who you are. Nor do I have any clue why you are wasting our time. Do you really believe you can stop ALL of us?" Bakrasur asked incredulously.

Shivam and Tiyasha eyed each other again, nervous. They couldn't believe that the very man they had suspected of being evil had come to their rescue. The Infernos who had grabbed them and had been pushing them had also loosened their grip on them, surprised by this unexpected turn of events. "Who's he!" Josh mused aloud, but no one bothered to answer him.

"I speak for the final time: let them go. It's not a request. It's an order," the mystery-man said.

"You're playing with fire, my friend. AND YOU SHOULD NEVER PLAY WITH FIRE!" Bakrasur growled, and swiped his spear through the air. Burning chains of white flames emerged from the spear again, and they hit the mystery-man before he had the chance of dodging them. His clothes lit up, he was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards with tremendous force. He hit the farthest wall with a solid thud, and then fell to the floor.

"Good riddance," Bakrasur said.

But it appeared that the mystery-man wasn't yet done. He stood up again, and removed his cloak, which had caught fire. His hands had been burnt too, but his face didn't show any sign of pain.

"Playing with fire is my bad habit. I have been doing it since my childhood," he said. "I'm Abraham. I'm a Raiser."

Without wasting any time after revealing his identity, the man named Abraham conjured a pentagram of fire on the wood-panelled floor of the restaurant with a simple click of the thumb and middle finger of his right hand. Everyone gasped, surprised by the suddenness of its appearence. Even Bakrasur took a step back.

"Are you going to call a...?" Bakrasur began. Abhraham had already started his incantations:

Nobis quae offeramus

simplicitate cordis,

Si tibi videtur.

Draco , surge.

"Get ready, Infernos! Let's see what this self-proclaimed Raiser comes up with!" Blikrot shouted to his men.

"Get ready to run." Abraham spoke softly, looking directly towards Shivam.

And then they heard it, a frightening roar ripping through the sky, the roar of some unimaginable creature raised from its ancient lair. Soon the beatings of huge wings were heard, and the closed windows of the room rattled with air turbulances caused by them. The roof the restaurant was blown away in the blink of an eye, and through the gap that appeared, the fearsome, red face of a dragon poked through. It was looking at Abraham, as if waiting for his command. Everyone had been frozen into silence by its dramatic appearance. "O boy. A fire dragon," only Josh found his voice, his round face comically awestruck.

"Kill the Infernos," Abraham told the red dragon, and pointed towards Bakrasur.

"Kill it!" Bakrasur ordered his men, but he didn't need to. All Infernos were already using their trademark unsheated knives, and about twenty of them rushed towards the dragon. Bakrasur used his spear and unleashed the chains of white flames again.

But it appeared that the dragon didn't care. It flew straight through the knives and the flames, reckless in its fury. It released its roar again as it smashed through the Infernos and villagers in a matter of seconds, scattering them on the floor like discarded toys of a child. As it did so, Shivam was hit severely by the backward beat of one of its wings, and he was jerked back to the table they had been seated around. He fell, whimpering, near the large mirror he had studied himself in. As he started struggling up he happened to look at the mirror again, which was still unscathed by the dragon's invasion.

And instead of his own reflection, he saw a man in black robes. Their eyes seemed to lock, although separated by glass.

"It's Blikrot! Break the mirror immediately!" The man named Abraham screamed from Shivam's behind.

Shivam wouldn't have needed his warning scream, though. The moment his eyes had locked with the eyes of the stranger inside the mirror, he had sensed imminent danger--it was as if the apparition inside the mirror emitted physical ripples of darkest evil.

Shivam picked up a chair and smashed it on the mirror, breaking it into pieces. He thought he heard an angry scream as he did so.

"Get out of here. I'll hold off the Infernos," Abraham said.

Shivam looked ahead at the door, only now there was no door. The dragon had stormed through it to the sky, and was now coming back again. As he watched, Bakrasur attacked it with his spear again, but the dragon blocked it with a jet of fire released from its own mouth.

Shivam looked for Josh and Tiyasha. Josh was standing with his mouth opened like a well, his jaw in danger of dropping to the ground. Tiyasha was getting up from the floor, hair dishevelled, her black saree in disarray.

As she stood up, the Infernos nearest to her caught fire. The dragon was now directly flying towards Bakrasur. It opened its reptilian mouth to simply gobble him up.

"Let's go," Shivam said, grabbing Tiyasha and Josh's arms. They left the wrecks of the restaurant behind them easily, as none of the Infernos were really watching them now. As they started running, they heard the roar of the dragon again, but it wasn't a triumphant roar, it was a howl of agony.

Tiyasha turned back to see the dragon retreating from Bakrasur, its head bleeding. And then she tripped on her saree and fell headfirst to ground. "Argh," she yelled.

"Come on now, we need to hurry," Shivam said. Behind them, the battle continued.

"It's no use. I can't run wearing this saree," Tiyasha said hopelessly.

"I'll carry you, then." And without wasting a second and giving Tiyasha a chance to complain, Shivam picked her up and carried her in his arms, and soon Tiyasha coiled her arms around his neck so she wouldn't fall down again.

Shivam ran remarakably fast even though he was carrying Tiyasha, and the farther they ran from the battle scene, the weaker the gigantic dragon became.

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