The tale of the fox and the dragon egg

Chapter 29 - Phoenix fire

"But I've achieved what I came for. I don't need you both anymore", Lan Minshan said, his gaze arrogant as it watched the men that dared to stand in front of the exit.

"Lan Zhan", Wei Ying hummed, his voice rough from his silent recovery. His whole body felt drenched, but the burning rage pulsated in powerful waves within his body.

The dragon immediately understood and slowly loosened his hold on the fox. It was not a second later that they both changed into a fighting stance. They needed to make this quick, especially for little A-Yuan and themselves. 

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Wei Ying surged forward. His teeth and claws sharp, his eyes two red glowing eyes in the darkness.

"Wei Ying!", he heard Lan Zhan shout, but it did not matter in that moment. Nothing but that man did, who was still clutching A-Yuan within his hand.

Lan Minshan whirled back and got closer to the phoenix fire. As the other dragon saw what the fox was doing, he instantly went forward to grab him. However, as he stepped over an invisible threshold, the phoenix fire lashed out like a fire storm.

It was only Lan Zhan's more than quick instincts and reactions that saved him from a heavily burned arm, but that meant that his eyes were huge in alarm. With the danger of the fire, it meant he wouldn't be able to get close.

Although the other part was within such distress, the fox did not notice anything of that. He knew that his old friend would not hurt him and pushed through. Both of them knew each other more than well and so the fire did not touch him, allowing him into the tight space of its heat.

"Do you truly wish to endanger both of these dragons so much?", Lan Minshan asked, a little grin on his face. Again, he held A-Yuan in front of his body, just as Wei Ying wanted to slash his throat. The motion made him change the direction of his hand and it crashed against the wall, leaving a little indent there.

"You know nothing! Hand him over!", Wei Ying jelled in his rage, a deep growl coming from his throat. Fur was spreading up his spine, his body aching to turn back into its most powerful form.

The tight space within the room was more than hindering him right now and so he needed to make good out of what he had right now. Thankfully, the whole space was still drenched in resentful energy outside.

His friend Wen Ning, even within this form, had the ability to push every ounce of resentful energy from his flame. It was an instinct to survive, to rest and replenish his strength without the danger or resentful spirits. And right now, it was even more powerful than all the other times before.

"You know that you cannot beat me in this state! Look at you!", Lan Minshan said, dodging every attack or holding A-Yuan like a shield in front of him. It irritated the fox to no end and it showed in the resentful energy that slowly started to gather in the room, called by its master.

"Wei Ying!", Lan Zhan called, an echo against the thick walls, wanting to come close and help within this fight that clearly started to turn into chaos. The phoenix fire hindered him time and time again to come close and his qi was depleted from the last days that he could not do anything against it.

Maybe Wei Ying heard him, maybe he chose to not listen or maybe he chose to ignore.

It did not matter.

Finally, he opened his mouth in a sharp whistle and the resentful energy curled around his body. His seven tails moved like tendrils of dark energy behind him, now almost impossible to see in the dark mist that covered the whole room.

"What, don't you want this thing here back?", the dragon said as arrogance dripped off his words, whirling A-Yuan in front of his body. Quick steps brought him back to the phoenix fire as he stepped even closer towards it.