Dawn of a New World - Akatsuki no Yona

Chapter 25

"Princess... You look really displeased." Yoon muttered as he stared at Yona's expression. It was very obvious that she wasn't happy with how that turned out. Personally, I feel a deep amount of sympathy for the Blue Dragon. "There was nothing in that room. Is he getting enough to eat?" Yona wondered, "I feel like I've left someone very important in a dark cage. It's strange. That was our first meeting, and yet..." Yoon and I glanced at each other before looking back at Yona who held a faraway look in her eyes.

"Get back!" The sound of Ki-Ja's voice brought my attention back to what was in front of me. Ki-Ja was blocking the entrance into the tunnels, at least a dozen of the villagers attempting to get past him, every one of them wearing a mask. "Ki-Ja..." Yona mumbled before noticing the villagers staring at her. "They're back." One of them muttered, "They came back." "Finish them." My eyes narrowed at the words that were leaving their mouths. Ki-Ja and I both held our arms in front of Yona. "Princess, stay back." Ki-Ja gently commanded.

Yoon stared at the villagers, "I knew it." Ki-Ja let out a sigh, "They intend to eliminate us, to keep the Blue Dragon hidden." Yona looked at Ki-Ja incredulously "Eliminate us? Why?" Yona was extremely confused.

"Now that you know about him. We can't let you leave here alive!" One of the men exclaimed as they all began to raise the daggers in their hands. Yona stepped forward slightly "Why? Why do you hide the Blue Dragon?" she asked with confusion lacing her tone. Ki-Ja glanced down towards her, "Perhaps this place really is the opposite of my village." he then directed his gaze to the distressed villagers "They called the noble dragon's power a curse..." I lunged forward in anger, Ki-Ja throwing his arms out to hold me back "How dare you say something like that!"

One of the villagers threw themselves towards us, his dagger pointing outward "Quiet!" Yoon ducked, covering his head with his arms "Don't fight in this narrow space!" he pleaded. The man who had leaped forward with his dagger, was quickly countered by Ki-Ja, him diverting the dagger away before raising his arm and slashing at the mask on the man's face. The mask flew through the air before landing on the ground, breaking apart into small pieces. Yona widened her eyes "Ki-Ja!"

"Don't worry. I'm not using my power against these amateurs!" Ki-Ja attempted to lessen Yona's worry. Yoon and I deadpanned "You only punched him with tens of times the strength of most men." Yoon retorted sarcastically. Yona diverted her attention back to the villagers, "Please tell me. Why does the Blue Dragon have to be shunned? What is this curse?" I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. "I'd sure like to know the answer to that."

"Quiet!" Another of the men exclaimed, in hopes of shutting us up. I threw myself off of the wall and basically launched myself towards the man. Holding up my hand with my claws elongated against his throat, I smirked deviously. "Honestly, I believe that you are the one that should be quiet." I moved my fingers slightly, nicking the skin and causing a line of blood to appear. The man flinched in fear, which was what I was aiming for, so I backed away. Yona glared at me for being so violent with him.

Suddenly, the area around us began to tremble, "An earthquake?" Yoon exclaimed in confusion. Everything was shaking, the roof was beginning to crumble. "Run!"The villagers began running away in an attempt to avoid being injured. Yoon held himself against the wall, while Ki-Ja threw himself over Yona in a means to protect her "Princess!". I had to grab a hold of the wall so I wouldn't lose my balance. Glancing over at Yona, I saw her eyes clenched shut in fear. Finally, the rumbling lessened before coming to a halt altogether.

I let out a large sigh of relief before turning back to Yona. My eyes widened in fear as I noticed that she was unconscious. "Yona!" I ran over to her before shaking her shoulders rapidly "Yona! Wake up, damn it!" Ki-Ja bent down next to me and began calling out to her "Princess... Princess.. Princess!" Finally, Yona began to stir before opening her eyes slowly. "Ki-Ja? Amaya?" My eyes softened as I wrapped my arms around her. "Oh, thank god!"