Onboard

The wind rustled Ling's dark, unbound hair as Maga flew up to the big ship. Maga was able to hold on to its other cargo despite the man's struggling in an attempt to get out of the dragon's hold.

With the past few days spent inside the Sikat troupe's camp, it was restricted to explore around the area because of the fear of the troupe members, so it was glad to be flying again. Maga shoot up like a cannon, the speed almost stopping the screams of the man in its claws.

The large ship had a 'mist' on top of its deck, shaped like a concave barrier, which was slightly unusual. The sea was one of the areas where there were no harmful 'hazes' because of the frequent strong winds dispersing it. Moreover, the barrier had to be maintained by the crew at all times which was tiring, together with dealing with the storms in the sea. Except for traversing a few seas like the Limaw Sea, a ship's crew wouldn't bother with a barrier.

Maga circled quickly around the ship, looking at the 'mist' surrounding it. It ignored the accompaniment curses below as it circled and tumbled in the air, roaring. This garnered a small smile from Ling hence, he didn't stop the dragon's fun.

After a while, Maga hovered somewhere higher than the ship's main mast and looked down the deck. It was able to see the small people rushing about below them.

As for the struggling man in its claws, Maga bent its head further to look at his status. Therefore, the dragon saw the man visibly swallow when they caught each others' eyes.

Seeing the man had only minimized his movements, Maga thought, 'Why is this guy still struggling to get off? Does that mean, he wasn't afraid to fall down from this height?'

From Ling's signal though, Maga didn't try out that speculation. It turned its head to the ship below them again, and dived down with the same speed as it flew up, the screams coming from the man starting too and continuing.

Once Maga's snout was only a few meters away from the wooden deck, it flapped its wings forward, the air from the movement buffeting the people around. A few men winced and moved farther away from the area.

Then, Maga hovered before slamming on the deck with an audible bang. Meanwhile, the man in the dragon's claws already stopped his movements earlier. And now, he was banged not too gently on the wooden floor. He really wanted to cry from this injustice, but being noticed by the dragon again might make him pee his pants. That large, dark red eyes, staring at him earlier was so different from a human's or other animals' stare.

Onboard, the men were tense, staring vigilantly at the dragon, as well as the boy that just got off the dragon, his feet slamming on the floor with another bang. Of course they were familiar with the two. They had already thrown them off board before, therefore, they were not afraid to do it again. They just had to get their captain to help restrain these intruders.

"Hey, boy, you're not welcome here anymore. Haven't learned your lesson?" The others also laughed.

"We were kind enough to help you before but life is not that easy, kid."

"Maybe we should remind him of the experienced." Someone guffawed.

"Yeah, we were kind enough to let you off near land but not this time." Another said as the raucous laughter continued.

Whoosh!

The flap of Maga's wings as it situated itself on the floor startled the men again, stopping their laughter. They took another step backward when the boy moved in front of the dragon.

Still exhilarated from their flight, Ling was smiling as he turned his head to stare at the men onboard. "You can't throw us off board again. Maga has this guy," Ling pointed at the man now on the floor, his expression slowly changing, "and I know he was important to your captain."

Yes, Kana, the pitiful guy still lying face down on the deck was actually the only illegitemate son of the ship's captain. Or more like, he was the only son that has moved forward to introduce himself, despite the captain's frequent travels and 'getting acquainted' with other women.

A while ago, Maga was kind enough to remove its claws and not lean on the man's body, or he would have already fainted from lack of air in his lungs due to the heavy wait of the dragon's claws. Seeing that the others had removed their attentions from him, the man tried to crawl away from betside the dragon's legs, but, with Ling pointing at the man, Maga realized that its hostage was trying to escape.

Maga could sense Ling's excitement earlier so it was watching the boy's next movement. When it was now time for Maga's part, it hastily turned its head to its side and just in time, saw the man trying to get up to run.

Kana was aware that the he should move fast to escape the dragon's claws. He knew that, once he got to the crew's side, they could turned their knives and spears to the intruders.

What he hadn't expected, however, was a dense 'mist' suddenly enveloping him. It felt like the hand of his father was pushing him down again while the 'mist' rose up from his chest to his face, covering his nose and mouth and making him unable to breath.

His right hand raised to clutch his chest tightly, his own mouth opening wide to try to get some air while his own was 'mist' oozing out of his pores. His eyes widened when he noticed that the orange 'mist' covering his face had now extended to his whole body, his own 'mist' trapped around him.

All the noises and movements of the people onboard stopped during that episode. The crew saw that it was the dragon and not the boy who was controlling the orange 'mist'. They had never thought that an animal could also control the 'mist' like this.

Yes, some beasts could enhance their strength using the 'mist', but to be able to control it and incapacitate a human could only be done by humans. Now, their views has changed.

Once Kana had stopped moving, Maga walked forward step by step until it reached the man, then its claw came down near the man's neck so it could not escape again.

That was only the time Maga removed the 'mist' suffocating Kana. The orange 'mist' together with the red ones were absorbed slowly into the dragon's body and the still conscious man was finally able to breath again. Kana's inhaled breath after that was big, and he kept inhaling and exhaling like he misses the air.

"Don't move while we talk." Ling spoke to Kana with no trace of his exhilarated feeling earlier, then he ignored him to command the other men in a louder voice, "Call your captain if you want. We just want our gems back."

The whispers among the crew followed. Their captain, Yati had been drinking since this morning. If they called for him now, they might be punished. But if they didn't and the captain's son was hurt further, they might also be punished. This was the crew's dilemma, until they all heard a loud slurred voice coming from the front of ship.

"Who's causing a ruckus in my ship?!"