Deus Didymus: Rend

Pt2Ch26: ChaeKkura

Chaeyeon eyed her team. The trees outside IZLand's proud walls rustled, beckoning the team of seven to start their journey. Among their numbers, there was no doubt she was the strongest. Chaeyeon always held her head high; only their commander could challenge her. However, a ball of pink caught her eye in the back.

"You, Pinky, in the back. What's your allele?" Chaeyeon asked.

"I'm a healer," Sakura replied.

"Healer?" Chaeyeon scoffed, "Why was a healer assigned to this squad? Honda Haru can already heal. Ayame probably can too."

"I cannot," Ayame refuted.

"From what I was told, this is a long and dangerous mission. The commander told me that my job is to make sure everyone is at their peak because we'll never know when something unexpected happens," Sakura explained.

"The commander's just scared we can't fight a dragon," Chaeyeon dismissed. "Just don't get in our way. Junho, you'll be responsible for watching over her. This will be a no-death mission."

Hikaru dug her daggers into the drakes' bodies, carving what she could for later. Xiaoting watched from afar while Ayame and Haru chatted atop a toppled tree trunk. Dust and dirt caked the group's uniforms, but none sustained damage from their fight.

Chaeyeon approached Sakura with a smug grin. "See? We didn't need you. You could have stayed home and relaxed-"

Chaeyeon's eyes widened. She rushed behind Sakura, pushing the cherry blossom to the ground. A resounding thud filled the area, diverting the team's attention to the large dragon as it swatted Chaeyeon into the mountain side.

"Oh shit!!" Xiaoting screamed.

Chaeyeon laid against the cliffside, clutching the gaping wound in her torso. Three gashes the size of her forearm tore into her ribs, and ripped her right arm off. Through her fading vision, she eyed the dragon standing among the corpses of its brood.

Fireballs the size of trees collided with the dragon, pushing it back while Xiaoting sprinted along the dragon's body. Crystalline arrows bounced off the hardened scales, earning disgruntled comments from Hikaru.

"Can your aim be any worse?" Xiaoting asked.

"Get the fuck out of my way then! It's hard shooting the eyes of a building when your fat ass is right there!!" Hikaru shouted.

Xiaoting scoffed, "As if you could hit me!"

Sakura rushed to Chaeyeon's side. Junho erected a barrier around the three, blocking a plume of dragon's breath while a green light enveloped Chaeyeon's wounds.

"Why did you do that?!" Sakura questioned.

Chaeyeon laid her head against the rock. She flashed Sakura a prideful smile, "No death mission."

"No, I mean why didn't you just pull me out of the way?" Sakura repeated.

"Ah..." Chaeyeon closed her eyes, "Shut up."

Though she couldn't sense it, Sakura watched Chaeyeon's life begin to fade.

She's bleeding internally too. I can't heal that without cutting her open!! What do I do?

Xiaoting skidded across the ground and into the cliffside. She coughed blood, buckling as she tried to regain her footing. "Pink one... Can you heal a broken leg?"

Sakura glanced toward Xiaoting. Her ankle hung on by a small clump of skin, prompting Sakura to turn to the rest of the group. Hikaru keeled over as the dragon pierced her with a talon, and Haru and Ayame rushed in front of Junho, spewing a wall of water to contest the incoming wave of fire.