26 Nera's Good-Bye

It was morning and the dragonslayers were ready to leave. Carriages carried the squad of dragonslayers. Captain Halido brought his horse. There was also an extra carriage filled with green dragon scales of Kytlmyne.

Akai was about to get on the carriage to go back to King's City.

He took one long look back at Kyte Village. The landscape transformed from a bright and optimistic land to a dreary one. The crops began to slowly die out. The soil was turning black. He saw the nearby forest having dead trees where green lush plant would have been a day ago.

Akai looked at Miura and asked, "Do you think we really did the right thing?"

Miura was unsure whether he was referring to killing Kytlmyne or using that green poison. She looked down at the dying grass and then back up to his face. Akai looked at the village and saw the dying crops. The soil had been poisoned.

Miura replied, "It's for the greater good. One village or the entire world? You know my visions are real. If the dragons aren't killed, then life perishes."

"I know. I know." He sighed.

Akai paused and asked, "Nera is safe, right? Your crows are still following her."

"My crows followed her. She's safe," Miura lied as the crows only followed her up until the point where Akai was and as far as the witch knows, the village girl was safe the last time she saw her. So, the slave markings didn't burn her and Akai noticed it. He had no reason to think she was lying.

Akai looked away and she gave a devious smile for a split second. As far as she was concerned, the only thing she needed to do was keep the black dragon alive. She couldn't care less for some naive girl.

Akai smiled and said, "That's a relief. I wish I was able to catch up to her. My body feels a lot better after a good night's rest. I was just worried about Nera, but if she is safe, then we can go."

Captain Halido heard and said, "You sure you don't want to at least say good-bye to her. She seemed to really like you and I'm sure that you two could make-up if that's what you're worried about."

Akai shook hid head. "No. It would just make it harder on both of us. I have an important job that needs to be fulfilled."

The captain sighed and continued, "Well, alright. I sure hope you're sure."

"I'm sure," Akai said as he got on the carriage. Captain Halido looked back at Akai as he got on and saw that he was biting his lips.

Miura then entered the carriage, hiding a devious smile underneath, and took a seat.

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Nera had just arrived to the Kyte village with her clothes all bloodied from the dire wolf. One of the villagers noticed and asked whether she was alright.

Nera nodded and immediately asked, "Where's Akai?"

As soon as she heard that they were leaving, she ran over to where the carriages were.

She ran holding the red blade in her hand.

"Wait, Akai. I don't want you to leave, yet. I'm sorry that I called you a monster. I want to hear the rest of your story. I want to know all of your stories," she said to herself as she ran as fast as she could in an exhausted state.

She ran past farmers that were cutting down crops that were yielding far less than usual.

"I want to hear it from you. I know now that the larger world is scary, but even so, I want to know more about it. Maybe, you could even take me with you," she muttered to herself.

She ran as fast as she could. Faster and faster until her legs gave out, but it was too late.

She arrived to where the carriages were, but they had already left. She didn't see any carriages or horses. They had left far before she arrived.

Nera's hair flew in the wind as she looked up at the cloudy sky. Tears flowed down her face, but she still smiled.

"Akai... I know you'll come back one day. Wherever you are, I know you'll come back one day."

She held up the red sword to her face as tears fell onto it.