the last dragon (yona of the dawn)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three: The First Mistake

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Shin-Ah ducked to the ground, his head just barely missing the raging bear's claws. He gritted his teeth before proceeding to deliver a swift and heavy blow to the bear's neck, the force of it making the creature let out a long pained howl before collapsing on the ground.

He panted and slowly knelt to the ground, his wide eyes staring at his trembling hands. Why had it took him so long to kill the beast? It usually takes him only a few minutes to bring it down but this fight lasted much more than that. Besides that, the whole time he felt unbalanced. He always expected his reach would be far, his legs longer when he ran, and his height taller. Being in this body now made him severely disadvantaged since he doesn't know how to maneuver it yet. It was lucky he only encountered the bear or he would be seriously injured by now.

He needed to train harder. He cannot afford failure, not when everyone is relying on him. He needed to train himself to move again using his shorter limbs. He almost died earlier when he misjudged his reach and the sword only grazed the bear's back instead of instantly killing it, making it angrier and wilder.

He watched as Ao slowly approached the bear before squeaking affirmatively. Less cautious now, Shin-Ah checked to make sure the bear is truly dead before beginning to grab it by the leg and drag it along back to his campsite. A bear would sustain them for weeks, making their journey quicker since they didn't need to hunt for food.

Sitting down beside the fire, he quickly set to work; skinning and gutting the creature and cutting it up into little pieces before washing it. He then brought the water in the pot to a boil before throwing the meat in to make it tender while he grounded the herbs he had collected in a nearby field.

Before joining the group, he had already known how to hunt and cook; such is the case when one is left alone with no one remembering to bring him food. However, Yoon helped teach him more about it, especially about how certain herbs increased the flavor, new recipes about all sorts of animals they come across, as well as how to cook seafood. Yoon had figured that one of them should at least know how to cook in case he's not there.

At the end of it, only him and Jae-Ha were successful. Kija and Yona kept on burning the food, Zeno was only interested in eating it, and the least said about Hak's cooking, the better.

Ao waited patiently beside him as he prepared the food, skewering it into some sticks he carved out of some trees before handing some to the squirrel. Sending a quick prayer of thanks, both quickly began devouring the meat.

After leaving the Blue Dragon village, they had traveled for days; skirting along the edge of the mountains away from any villages and the nearest nation, Saika. He has no spare cloths to use as a blindfold, so he is forced to travel once again wearing his mask. Because of that, he mostly stayed away from villages mainly because he doesn't want to be stared at. Besides, Shin-Ah has no money, which makes traveling there impossible anyway.

This made the journey much slower; however, the amount of time greatly helped Shin-Ah plan his next move.

Unfortunately, Shin-Ah encountered a major problem. First of all, he has no idea where exactly in the timeline he ended up in. Judging by his current body, he would wager he's about fourteen or fifteen, which makes it a really long time before he could meet Yona again. The same goes for Hak. He couldn't exactly barge into the castle, he would be arrested on the spot, and he absolutely refused to use his eyes even though he could search control its power now. He wouldn't take any chances.

So all that's left is to find the rest of the Dragon villages. The problem is, they never went back to the White Dragon's village in the past, so Shin-Ah has no idea where it is. He could only rely on their stories so he could piece together the location, however vaguely. He knows it's hidden and at the edge of the border, but that's it.