A Sense of Victory

Akai was sitting at his desk looking through reports. The door was closed and his helmet off. There was not a single person there that was a dragon. And Miura was unable to get any more information from the villagers. He sighed and began to close his eyes. He knew that there were still dragons around from his senses, but none were near. He would have thought that if a dragon would have wanted to go to King's City, it shouldn't take too long. Even if they couldn't fly, Dragons were faster than most humans on their two feet.

There was a faint flicker in his mind that told him that perhaps the dragon wasn't coming. That maybe the dragon actually hidden herself rather than come to save her caregivers. He wondered whether he should apologize to Nera for his behavior. Ever since he pushed her away and put her in the dungeons, he couldn't help feel sorry for what he has done. He tried to think about how Nera must have felt and it broke his heart. He knew that she was a gentle soul, and Akai wanted to at least apologize to her once before continuing his hunt. He knew deep down that what he was doing was right, but understood that it was genocide as well. Genocide for his own people. But there was no time to regret his choices, now. He has already committed 30 years for his cause. A short period of time for a dragon, but a lifetime for many humans.

Even so, he wanted to apologize even if Nera didn't understand his motivations. Maybe, he thought, that if the dragon wouldn't show up after some more days, then he would let them go. Maybe, even give some of the treasury's money on helping their village. The last time he saw their village, it was in the process of becoming a desolated wasteland. He could only imagine how it looked like, now. Deep down, he knew that his apology would mean nothing to them, and that any chance that he would spend time with Nera would never happen, now.

He stood up and was about to head down to the dungeons, but suddenly something came over him. A feeling that he hasn't felt for a long time. His senses perked, and he knew what he has sensed. It was a dragon. He put on his helmet and ran outside of his room. He strode past the other dragonslayers as they relaxed and chatted among themselves. He ran past the entrance of the dungeons being guarded by two dragonslayers. His thoughts of Nera and the other villagers vanished.

He ran past everybody in a panic, and as other dragonslayers noticed, they began to stand up and follow him.

When Akai reached outside, he looked up at the bright blue sky. He scanned every area of the sky and looked around. There were only crows. No sign of any dragon.

"Boss, what's the matter?"

"Is there something wrong, Crimson Black Knight?"

Dragonslayers ran out holding their sheathed weapons by their side. They were worried that something might have happened.

Although, no expression could be seen from Akai's helmet, the dragonslayers knew that something was wrong as looked around in a panic.

After that brief moment, Akai took a deep breath and looked at the sky. If there was a dragon, then it was unlikely that it would be flying overhead without making any sort of noise. It was too quiet. Only the occasional cry of birds that perched themselves wherever they saw fit.

Akai looked back at his dragonslayers and saw the worry on their faces.

He calmly said, "I got a report of a dragon sighting, nearby. I want all of you to get back to your stations. It seems that the dragon is heading towards the city."

"Really?"

"A dragon coming here? Woudn't be the first time."

"A sighting? One of the crows must have spotted something."

The dragonslayers mumbled to themselves.

"Back to your stations! I want everybody to be fully prepared!" Akai ordered and all of the dragonslayers stopped their mumbling.

As Akai finished his order, his senses ceased. He could no longer feel the presence of the dragon. He suspected that it was outside of the city in human form. The dragon must have saw the checkpoints, he thought, and will return to try and sneak past them.

He believed that it was no coincidence, now. There was a dragon that was coming, and he suspected that it was the same dragon that killed Captain Halido at Kyte Village.

Akai walked past the dragonslayers and back into the Den of Dragonslayers.

As he walked past them with an overpowering presence over them, the other dragonslayers yelled, "Yes, sir!" in unison and hurried to get to their posts and teams.

Akai no longer felt the need to apologize to Nera. After he killed the dragon coming to the city, he would apologize to her and the rest of the villagers, but for now, he had to focus on the task at hand.

Miura just got done handing over a meal to Nera and left the dungeons. She noticed Akai marching towards her.

The witch worried that perhaps he knew what she did to the other villagers and what she was doing to Nera, but nonetheless remained calm.

The two dragonslayers holding spears and guarding the dungeons saluted to the Crimson Black Knight. Miura bowed to Akai.

"Miura, come to my office," Akai commanded as he dragged her by the arm into his room.

The witch exclaimed, "Huh? What's happened?"

As they got into his office, Akai closed the door behind him and took off his helmet.

Akai's eyes were slightly glowing yellow. Miura didn't want to make any sudden remarks, until she knew what was happening.

Akai took a deep breath and his yellow eyes faded.

"I sensed a dragon nearby," he said.

Miura relaxed as Akai was fully ignorant about the villagers's state. She asked, "Are you sure? None of my crows have seen any dragons. Nor any humans with scales."

"But your crows can't tell whether they wear anything like my illusive ring. I know what I sensed. There is a dragon outside the city."

"Do you still sense it?"

"No. It must have turned around after seeing the security."

"I can look through the memories of my crows, but their memory is limited," Miura stated.

"It was only a couple of minutes, ago. Just look through the crows' eyes for the past couple of minutes. Tell me if there was anybody suspicious that would suddenly turn back."

Miura closed her eyes. She looked through many of the crows' minds at once. So many memories filled in her head, but she limited them to only the ones that were flying over outside of the city. Her mind passed through the consciousnesses of dozens of crows at once. There were crowds of people and wagons on each entrance. Many merchants selling goods outside of the city on each road. So many people. She scanned through the hundreds of people, but it all looked like an ocean. There were so many different people as if it was a school of fish. Plenty of them were armored and covered themselves. Miura's crows wouldn't be able to tell whether or not it was a dragon.

However, she changed her outlook and focused on ones that didn't go through the checkpoints or leaving from the city. Instead, she looked for anybody that may have turned around. That limited what Miura had to look for. There were only a few that looked at the crowds and turned around. It must have been a hard time to get to the city, so most wouldn't just turn around. There was a bandit pickpocketing passing people, but his arms were clear of scales and Miura could sense no magic coming off of him. There was an old priest who died of heatstroke. A crowd of people covered and carried him away from the line and prayed for him as they buried him. Her mind split and turned, until there was one that she felt different about.

There was a wagon. A merchant's wagon. Probably somebody who wants to sell something. The wagon waited there for a while, but turned around. Perhaps, the merchant decided to set up a stall somewhere, she thought, but as the crows looked closer at it, the wagon just kept moving away. That was strange. A merchant needing to sell his wares wouldn't just leave.

She focused on that wagon in one of the crows' memories.

The wagon kept riding away until they were no longer in the range of my crows. The crows could see two people. No. Three. There was a man, woman, and child. A married couple, she thought. There was a boy in the wagon with his head sticking out. The woman was dark skinned and wore leather armor. The man was wearing silver armor that covered his entire body. This was strange, the witch thought. She personally controlled a crow that was nearest to where she saw them leave. In real time, she was able to see the wagon as it drove off-road into the forests.

She opened her eyes. To her, it felt like hours and days, but in reality, it was only a few seconds. She breathed heavily as her body tired from searching. Sweat poured out of her body.

Akai didn't bother to check whether she was okay or not. Instead, he wanted only the results.

Miura said with heavy and fast-paced breathing, "There was somebody suspicious. There was a merchant who suddenly turned around."

"Why this merchant over anybody else?" Akai asked.

Miura looked at Akai and replied, "A traveling merchant wouldn't just turn around from King's City. Either they would go into the city or set up a stall outside. He left without doing any of that."

"He? Was this merchant not a female?" he asked knowing full well that the dragon they were looking for was a girl.

"I couldn't tell. The merchant was wearing armor all around his or her body. The image wasn't too clear, but it seemed like this guy didn't want to show any sign of skin," Miura said.

"And this merchant just recently left?"

"Yes. I could see the merchant's wagon for a split second before heading into the nearby forests."

Akai was excited. He looked at Miura's slave markings and it didn't burn at all. She was telling the truth. He put on his helmet and prepared himself. He hasn't hunted a dragon for some time, but he was ready as if it was any other monster hunt. His green blade sheathed next to him. His radiant black and red armor. He was convinced that this silver armored merchant must be a dragon.

"Miura, stay and guard the villagers. Send a couple of crows with us to fly over the forest. We will need vision. I'll handle the dragon, myself," Akai said as he opened the door and left with no doubt in his mind that victory was assured.

Miura smiled with content. She purposely left out some details. She did sense powerful magic coming off of the silver merchant, but she didn't think that he was a dragon. She couldn't tell exactly whether the merchant was male or female, but she had a strong suspicion that it didn't matter. She didn't mention the child or the girl. She closed her eyes and recalled her image of the three. The girl. The dark skinned girl. Her skin was clear of scales, but Miura was almost certain that she was the dragon they were looking for. It wasn't very clear, but with Miura looking through the crows' eyes, she could tell that the girl was wearing a ring similar to Akai's. The witch had an aching feeling that the girl was wearing an illusive ring.

Luckily, Akai didn't ask the right questions such as whether she thought that the merchant was a dragon, she thought. He only asked who she thought was suspicious, and that was broad enough to put that silver armored merchant into that category.

Miura looked up at the dark black ceiling as if praying to the abyss above. She felt a presence that she had not felt since her days on the Western seas. A presence that guided her to where she needed to go. She heard no words, but just knew what she had to do. While Akai had his own plans, Miura was given orders from a far higher being, she believed. She knew what she had to do in order to reach the future that she wanted. The future was shifting, although she didn't tell or show Akai. It was changing, but not set in stone. She still needed a few more pieces in place to make her future a reality.

Akai walked through the den of dragonslayers until his eyes met with Captain Leo.

Leo saluted to the Crimson Black Knight and said, "Sir, I've been informed that you discovered a nearby dragon."

The Crimson Black Knight in a rough voice replied, "Yes, Captain. Prepare a search party in the nearby forests. Gather some men and horses. I will tell you the details along the way."

As soon as Akai, Captain Leo, and a couple of other dragonslayers rode their horses away, Miura waltzed into the streets and into a local tavern. She needed a room to practice her arts and craft.