Forbidden

A New Era

*****
53- A New Era

Midsummer

Trunks was on the verge of losing his mind. It had been a hell of a week, and the nightmare just continued. First, his Appa had been severely injured in a blast that was meant for him. For the past week, he had been struggling with the guilt of knowing his Appa had gotten hurt because of him. Now his mate was in pain and fighting through a test Trunks had no clue about. Everything in him was screaming to run to her, but the stupid invisible shield wouldn't let him.

A cool breeze rushed through the air, and the hair on the back of Trunks' neck stood. He looked up at the mountain and gasped as he watched Pan sit up.

"PANNA!" He yelled as he took a step forward. The invisible shield was still up, and Trunks hissed as it shocked him back. "PAN!" He yelled again.

Pan stood up slowly before she glanced around. She looked down at them with a gentle smile, and Trunks' heart pounded at the sight of her. She turned to face the cave to the right.

"Show yourself!" She yelled.

The mountains and ground began to shake. Trunks couldn't keep his eyes off of Pan, who was shielding herself from a blast of wind. The right side of the mountain busted open. Rocks tumbled down, but the shield stopped them from reaching Trunks and the others.

"Oh, my-" Goten's voice shook as Bulla bit back a scream.

Trunks glanced up and gasped loudly. Chills ran down his back as his heart pounded in his ears. Pan was face-to-face with a dragon. A real dragon! Trunks could see its green scales shining in the moonlight. He felt his knees shaking. Those stories were true.

Pan was fearless as she reached out and touched the dragon's snout. They were speaking with each other, though no one could hear it.

Pan took a few steps away from the dragon as it pulled itself up. Trunks watched with eyes full of terror as the dragon breathed fire right at Pan. He screamed, but Goten held him back from getting shocked again.

"Trunks, look!" Bulla yelled as she pointed to Pan.

The fire had formed a sphere around Pan. Trunks could barely see her figure through the flames, but he could tell that she was okay. The orb shot into the sky, and it blazed brilliantly like a star. The dragon jumped up. He flew elegantly through the air as he circled the sphere.

The air was warm and buzzing. Something new was coming. Trunks could feel Pan's Ki spiking. It sent a shift through the air that left him breathless.

The dragon flew up- higher and higher; he twirled until he leaned back to fly down. Trunks' heart pounded in his ears as he watched the dragon fly straight at Pan.

The dragon hit the sphere, and a burst of blinding light escaped from it, causing everyone to shield their eyes.

Warm winds rushed by, and Trunks felt as if he were next to a fire. When he could finally open his eyes, he gasped.

The dragon was gone, and flames surrounded the mountain. Pan was floating above it all, and wings made of fire were on her back.

She was changed, but she was still his Panna.

As she fell to the firey mountain gracefully, Trunks felt something tugging in him. He glanced down to see that his ruby necklace was floating in front of him and pulling him towards the mountain.

Trunks swallowed hard before he took a step forward. He expected to be shocked, but he wasn't. He let out a breath before he took off in a run up the mountain. The fire was hot, but it didn't burn him.