Silver's Flame

Nighttime was an important time for one creature in particular. Awakening in a foreign land, the only thing that gave it comfort was the darkness that night brought with it. Its yellow snake-like eyes glistened when it noticed its next group of targets.

Humans.

It knew what its food was called. Each time it gobbled up a human its range of knowledge increased.

"Humans."

It said. It moved its limbs that were covered with black scales, gently moving its enormous wings. With every step, it gained momentum before finally bursting forth.

Like a meteor, it shot forward.

A total of 11 targets.

Four soldiers with guns.

Most likely a commander in the front.

Information that it received from consuming other humans ran through its mind. It knew what it had to do.

With a flick of its wing, a gust of wind was generated, targeting the soldiers first and it made its appearance.

Immense pressure immediately fell onto the group. For the survivors who struggled so much to survive this long, despair filled their empty hearts.

"D-dragon!?" The soldiers screamed in surprise. Unable to react, the pitiful soldier was directly struck by the gust of wind knocked on to a nearby rock.

The commander was calm. Captain Silver quickly gathered the survivors and shielded them. "Seek shelter. Run!"

Despite facing a creature that came straight out of a legend, Silver was able to keep calm. For him to be chosen as the leader of a rescue group, he was naturally not a regular person.

The dragon was about the size of a two-story building. It had yellow slit eyes and pitched black scales that concealed its body into the night. Its silhouette was that of a western dragon with four legs and a pair of wings.

Silver stood tall and proud facing such a creature. Just as he was about to step forward towards his other soldiers who were getting ravaged by the wind, he was stopped by an unexpected person.

It was Spring-Autumn, the new kid he picked up along the way. For some reason, the kid was able to keep calm facing such menacing pressure too. "Wait."

His deep green eyes were glowing a strange light as he looked at Silver. "What are we going to do if you die too?"

And to that, Silver merely smiled. "Why are you so certain? It's my duty to save them. If my heart, as their leader, is not with them, how can I accept their loyalty?"

Silver shook the handoff and arrived at the dragon with blazing speed. It was a simple sentence that Spring-Autumn could understand but not comprehend.

Spring-Autumn looked at the other survivors who were cowering in fear and to Blue who was on the more calm side of things. He let out a small sigh and took a step back. Despite having a special power, facing such a creature, he felt uncertain about his abilities.

When faced with a barrage of life-changing events in a few short days, there was a certain point until an individual began to feel numb. For Spring-Autumn, this point has already been reached. So many events have happened that he did not feel many surprises seeing a dragon.

[Black Dragon]

Those two words seem to contain so much meaning when in a situation such as this. The familiar blue screen calmed his heart down. He did not know why. Perhaps because he knew that the awakening of his power was directly related to this blue screen.

He focused his gaze onto Silver. He could not see very far but he knew what was going to happen. It was a strange sensation he could not get enough of.

Silver stood directly in front of the dragon.

The night wind gently blew. A few specks of dust fell onto Silver's boots.

The dragon stopped its movement to meet the gaze of Silver.

Time stopped at that moment.

The dragon was a majestic creature. It did not have the beastial, barbaric creatures that other monsters had. On the contrary, it seemed very refined.

Its eyes seemed to be filled with infinite wisdom and it did not make much noise. Its long, elongated mow was shut closed which made it look like it was concentrating hard.

Its two frontal limbs did not touch the ground, instead, it stood on only two legs in a very human manner.

When the nightly gale came for the second time, Silver's sleeve fluttered, and out came an amazing sight.

Red hot flames came spewing out his hand like a flamethrower. The sheer heat of it scorched the ground and arrived at the dragon.

A few days have passed since the awakening of Spring-Autumn's power. It was not too surprising that others would begin awakening their powers. Spring-Autumn already had a hunch that it was something that would most likely happen.

What was surprising was the extent of Silver's power. Spring-Autumn lifted one arm to cover his face. He could feel the scorching from all the way back.

"So you are a toaster man," Spring-Autumn commented before finally taking more steps back to join the other survivors that had faces filled with excitement. The rush of despair they were feeling earlier had been completely replaced after one move by Silver.

The flame blast covered the entire body of the dragon with a sizzle. From this, one could see the sheer range of Silver's ability.

The enormous silhouette of the dragon was temporarily replaced by that of a giant ball of flame. It was an anticlimactic, yet exciting unfolding of events.

When the flame flickered out, the silhouette of the dragon returned. Before any could celebrate, it opened its eyes, revealing the pair of yellow eyes with slitted pupils that lit up like a lantern.

Before Silver could react, the dragon's face was already in front of him. Just the size of its head already almost exceeded the height of Silver.

The dragon was completely unscathed but it did not show any kind of emotion. Its huge maw slowly opened.

"Human."

It started with a word with a deep voice. The one word was heard clearly by all surrounding men sending shivers down their spine.

"Human. You feel special, unlike the others."

It said each word slowly but with clear enunciation.

"You can do things that they can't do. Interesting."

Before anyone could react, the dragon turned around and vanished into the sky with a flap of its wings.