Blood And Iron

Tide the Sweet Siren..

Narina coughed.. shifting in and out of consciousness.. her bones were on fire.. the injuries dealt by Ozone's light blows alone.. how could something so powerful exist? Something that equaled Chasm in power.. 

Her vision went red.. as she saw blurred images of a girl crying out..

"hold on Narina!! just hold on a little more!"

"UUUUUUUGGGHHH!!! RRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" Narina screamed, her teeth turning into fangs and her eyes turning into their yellow dragon versions as she felt immense pain... her dragon blood burning within her. 

Her fingers sharpened into claws for just a moment.. clawing at at the soft bed she lay upon..

She thrashed around, screaming, electricity rippling from her as she felt several individuals hold her down.. 

Suddenly, she saw something much stronger than the others... something that looked familiar, pin her down...

"Calm down.." Valerie whispered calmly. "bear through it... please.."

"Uuuhh.. urr.."

Narina felt Valerie's hand clasp itself around hers. And somehow.. Narina was able to slow her breathing.. sweat pouring down her face.. 

Suddenly.. she felt a sheering pain go across her back..  and the image of a hulking armored figure entered her mind's eye..

"Surrender.. let the darkness fill you.." whispered the knight.

Narina's mouth opened in a horrified scream. She knew this knight.. when she was a small boy. he had seen this thing in his deepest nightmares.. watched as it tortured the deepest corners of his mind..

"MAKE IT STOP!!" Narina screamed, thrashing back and forth. "MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE HIM GO AWAY!!!!"

"NARINA!!" Sandy's voice roared. "IF YOU KEEP MOVING LIKE THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK YOUR OWN SPINE!!!"

Narina couldn't register what she heard.. the dark knight was wrapping it's metal fingers around her neck.. choking her... suffocating her in immense fear and panic.. like she experienced when she was little...

Her worst nightmare had returned.. and this time it felt real.

Narina made horrified choking noises as she grabbed the metal fingers uselessly with her hands, unable to pry apart the iron grip. 

Tears appeared in her eyes..  She couldn't go on.. she couldn't stand it.. she wanted to die.. she wished for death... anything to relieve this pain... and this horror she felt.. 

Suddenly everything went black.. and Narina's eyes opened...

She was lying in bed.. inside some sort of tent.. a blanket over her naked body.. and a cold towel to her forehead..  she felt cold as ice..

She sat up.. as she did.. she felt a sharp pain across her back. Narina put a hand to her back and felt a thin scar going across her back.. and a vicious heat...

"Ozone's burning flames are not the type to heal easily.."

Narina blinked as she saw an elderly woman enter the tent.. She was covered in long rags, and wore a pointed hat-like hood over her shadowy aging features..

"Who are you?" Narina asked.

"The Eldest Ryuu alive.. you could say that." said the old woman, pointing a wrinkled long finger at Narina. 

"But.. I was told Ryuu stopped aging in appearance around their prime.." Narina said.

"Well, you've seen the village chief haven't you?" said the Elder. "Ryuu who live past their natural lifespan of 2 thousand years start to age like humans do.. but it does nothing to diminish our power.. merely our ability to not throw our backs out.."