Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire- Chapter Eighteen

At the time this is being written, Halloween was yesterday!! I didn't go out for Halloween. I drew a picture. Anyways, you probably want to read the next chapter, so I won't stop you. Yeah. Well. This feels awkward somehow. Hm.

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Oh no. No, no, no. It wasn't happening. I was dreaming again, another horrific nightmare that was sure to be over shortly. Because this... this couldn't happen.

Thick blood spread over the tough blue denim, staining it a darkened puce. I kept my eyes on that growing patch of blood, despite my fear, because there wasn't anywhere else to look. Glancing up at Hayden's grimacing face would only bring me more pain; I couldn't let myself panic. Hayden needed help.

With trembling hands I unwound the cloth from around his neck and wrapped it over his midsection. He hissed in pain when the fabric pressed into his wound, blue eyes dull and unseeing as they stared into the distance.

"Hayden," I whispered hoarsely, brushing my fingers against his face clumsily. No response. It was impossible. Hayden couldn't die. He was Hayden, brave, funny and reckless. And now he was-

"This is getting boring," a voice rasped, snapping me from my grief. I turned my head slowly to stare in the direction of the speaker. There, on the opposite side of the cavern, stood a rather stout man with black hair and blue eyes turned up in the corners. "Hello, girl. So sorry about your little boyfriend. Nothing personal, I hope you know. Well, maybe not nothing personal."

His head tilted to one side, a leer on his face as he stood with thick hands on his swords. Just his aura was enough to frighten me; so powerful I could see the Diànyuán emanating from him even in the Substance World.

"Why are you doing this?" It was more of a question than a statement, and barely carried across the room to his ears. In response he grinned sadistically. The evil in his eyes sent shivers down my spine, and by the glint in his eyes, he knew exactly the reaction he was having on me.

"Oh, scores to settle, ancient grudges. I might as well tell you all about it, there's no way you can leave this cavern without either joining me or passing through the veil again. And we both know you aren't willing to do that." His smarmy grin melted away into a scowl. "Do you know who I am, little girl? I'm not surprised. Nobody knew who I was, no matter what I did. But now, now all will fear me. Don't you get it, girl? I'm the one everybody forgot. I'm the one that had nothing. No family? Check. Scarce Diànyuán? Check. Weakest Dragon? Check."

Weakest Dragon? Oh. Oh. George Willson, Qiānxùn shuòshì, the lost Master. Master of the Brown Dragon, weakest of all. It explained the brown fog that was always showing up. He was behind all of this, somebody who could get on the inside, who knew all about the routines of the Dragon Isles.

"I don't expect you to understand. You're the Diànlì shuòshì; no matter what others said, you still had immense power. But not me. Hardly any Diànyuán, even including that of my Dragon. I was ignored in classes. Nobody cared about me. Every other Dragon Master, most of them older than me, shunned me for my lack of power, teased me about my Dragon.

"But not now. Do you know what happened to the Zhǎngwò Xǐyuè and the Zhǎngwò hǎo yùn? What will happen to your precious Hayden? That sandstone you've been searching for was rather helpful. A recipe that allowed you to harness the power of the other Dragon Masters. Exactly what I needed. Not to mention the rest of it. That brown fog? The mind control? All learned from the Shāyán de xié'è."

"So you killed innocent children?" I whispered, clenching Hayden's hand and rejoicing internally when I felt the feeble squeeze. "Of anything you could have done, you had to destroy their lives?"