The Black Dragon Warrior

23. Losing Control

Jace and Eros collided into each other by the gate of the castle and fell to the ground, just in time as Akari tripped onto Eros' shoulder and fell on top of him.

The three groaned at the pain, slowly getting up and de-tangling from the mass of limbs.

Jace sat up, a hand in his head to stop the throbbing, but his eyes widened in realization of why he was in such a hurry. "Eros, Akira!—"

"I know—"

As if on the cue, a large explosion shook the ground, and the three wasted no time in scrambling inside the castle but could see nothing. The whole place was covered in a layer of fog or dust. Whatever it was, it forced the trainees to evacuate and the other three to cover their mouths, coughing from the fine particles going down their throat.

It was chaos. People were running around, trying to get the trainees to a safe place while trying to evacuate themselves to not get hit in the cross-fire.

Eros turned to Akari, covering his mouth and nose. "Get away from here. You can't stay."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"It's for your safety!"

Jace left the couple to fight and ran towards the master's office. He threw open the door and almost coughed out his lungs. He tried navigating inside but couldn't see properly. The dust was way too thick and almost opaque at the place of real explosion.

"Akir!— ahh!"

By not being able to see, Jace fell through the hole left on the floor. He groaned out loud, slowly standing up and eyeing the passage carefully. There was much less smoke inside for some reason, and being a wolf, he had no problem navigating through the  dark.

Jace walked, quietly calling for Akira. It took him some time, but he, too, was nearing the end. He saw the jail cell and immediately increased his pace, forgetting to look down.

But he did. Once he felt something big and squishy under his legs, that let out a groan on being stepped over. His eyes widened before he built up the courage to look down, to find himself standing on Akira.

With a startled curse, Jace stepped off of him and fell on his knees to aid the injured dragon.

"Nevan.." Akira tried, letting a shaky breath, "He—.."

Jace cut him off by helping him sit up against him, "We know why he's doing this," He stated.

Distant hurried footsteps echoed through the narrow passage until a panting Eros reached them, followed by a very stubborn Akari.

Eros looked down, also dropping to his knees to help Akira stand up. Looking at his state, it was pretty clear he wouldn't be able to stand up on his own.

"He's powerful.." Akria coughed, blood sputtering out of his mouth due to several wounds on his body. "Too much, even for me.."

Jace and Eros gave each other a quick glance, "Let's get back first and get you bandaged up. You have a few things you should know." Eros said as he copied Jace and wrapped an arm around Akira's waist.

"I'll get Lyra." Akari stated and was about to run off, but Akira stopped her from doing so.

"Don't bother. She can't do anything for these."

Of course, Akari realized. A wound from a god can't be healed even by the greatest of healers. What can a mere healer do in this case.

Akari gave the three friends time to talk alone inside Akira's room, and she roamed off, her heart sinking as days went by and she discovered more and more about how her brother's life has always been a mess, and will stay as such.