The Forging Dragon [Book 1]

17 ⚔️ Unleashed

This was the worst timing. Diato panicked, not knowing what to do. Somehow, he held himself together. You can do this. He told himself. He had to stop the fire somehow. He couldn't let thousands of trees die because of his tiny mistake. I wish I hadn't asked Max to bring him a book. So I wouldn't have caused the librarian to misrank my mission and I wouldn't be Dying in twenty-four hours! He thought. After all, he was the one who led to this all.

He spread his fingers and tried to stop the fire. He tried to control it, stop! Extinguish! Unheat! What is it? He thought. He couldn't figure out how to stop the fire. He tried his best, not to panic. Now even the top of the trees were on fire. He heard faint screams of people fading away. They were probably running away from the fire. He still couldn't hear the fire alarm but he knew the fire Brigades were on their way.

*****

Terra slammed the door of Diato's room open. She strode across the room and reached the table. She tried to find something. She didn't know what she was searching for. But something that would - You know - save him. She didn't know what she was looking for - But something. She sensed the scent of maple wood. It was probably the table. It was quite old.

She went to the bed and pulled the blanket. She didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't this. It was a short and thick book. A notebook. It looked much like a diary. She snatched it from the bed and flipped the hard cover open. She read the first words. Diato's Diary. She flipped another page and kept flipping them until handwritten text started appearing.

She read the words.

I wish I could meet her again. It was a tough time when I saw her getting adopted. She didn't even turn around to give me a wave. I couldn't even say goodbye. Well, probably the world doesn't revolve around me, after all.

She didn't know who he was talking about. She wondered for it a bit until she saw the date on the top. Her eyes grew wide in amusement. It was the same day the drayers took her by acting as her adoptive parents. She had joined the drayers but needed to get out of the orphanage. She was just fifteen when the drayers arranged two people who'd act as her adoptive parents and do all the paperwork.

She flipped even more pages, backwards this time. She found another text.

I made some gud frends. We played hide and seek. They was nice tu me. Their nemes were Timmy and Daniel.

She again saw the date. She somehow remembered the date. The grammatical mistakes made it clear that it was written by a child. She knew it was written the same day she met Diato. She recalled the old times as a child. But she was now a young adult, almost twenty-one

She again flipped the pages further. She flipped more and more, trying to reach today's date. Maybe he had written what happened in his Diary? She wasn't sure but it was worth a try. She finally reached the page where the year in the date was twenty-twenty-three. She saw other texts as she moved on, like

today I ate some French pizza with Italian french fries.

It was just what she had expected of him. Diato took everything like a joke. He wasn't even worried even in the worst situations of his life. And Terra knew it very well. She flipped more pages until she reached the blank pages. She went two pages back and found the last text written there. It was before the day of his first mission.

Today, I got qualified as a drayer! I passed the final selection test. I wish Timmy was here to see my achievement. Ever since she left the orphanage, the building just felt shallow. Until my trainer arranged some fake parents for me for the paperwork to adopt me.

That was the text written at last. He missed me, didn't he? She thought with a sigh as she slammed the diary shut and let it fall freely on the bed. How do I tell him? She thought as she strode across the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Okay, Now, I'm Hungry, she thought as she made her way to the corridor. She didn't have to memorize the building's map like, Diato. She just knew what was where because she went there countless times. I need to tell him that I am Timmy. And also find a cure for the inferno seed. What do I do? I guess I'll think about it while eating.

She went to the counter and ordered a cheeseburger with coke. She grabbed her meal and threw herself on the metal stool, attached to the table with metallic rods under it. Her gaze wandered around the cafeteria as she devoured the food. It was almost seven-thirty. Her gaze suddenly froze on the television hanging from a rod at the eastern wall. The television was put on some news channels. She saw that the Cobble Garden was on fire, but she couldn't care less. It was the government's matter after all. And if it were some dragon activity, some Drayer already would've been sent to eliminate the dragon. Diato and John would've also left the place by now, as it was getting dark.

She peacefully ate her meal as she heard the faint screams of people on the television.

*****

The fire was too big to stop now. Diato had no other option but to flee. He panicked. He tried his best to control the fire but it became worse and worse. His knees were rigid as concrete and his eyes felt watery due to the heat. He barely managed to see what was going on. He had tried everything he could do. But there was nothing he could do. He finally decided to leave the place as he saw the large lights of a helicopter. It was flying so low, he could see the people in it. They were probably fire brigades. He ran into the dense forest, avoiding going into the cobblestone path.

One of the flames touched his T-shirt. Although he couldn't feel the heat, his clothes could. He ran into a wall. It was hard concrete but just at head level. Diato backed himself. He knew what he wanted to do. He'd jump over the wall and turn into a dragon. Then he'd fly away. He couldn't turn fully into a dragon but he decided to turn halfway to a dragon like that S-Ranked Dragon.

Diato didn't even notice his burning clothes as he sprinted towards the wall and leapt on it. The leap was high enough that he now just had to pull up his legs. He was halfway on the wall. He raised his legs with some effort and climbed on top of the wall. He didn't even bother balancing himself. He let his body fall with a thud on the other side. He knew no one would be there to see him transform into a dragon. He again concentrated on his hands, thinking of transforming into a dragon, transform! Dragon! Transform into a dragon! I mean - half transformed into a dragon, he thought as he tried his best to get his brain into thinking that he had half transformed into a dragon.

He felt a weight on the back of his T-shirt. He finally opened his eyes again as he straightened his legs, standing up. He looked back over his shoulder. He saw a big lump on his back. He wanted his T-shirt to stay in one piece so he quickly shoved his head and arms out of it. He threw the T-shirt on the ground so he could again concentrate on his hands and turn into a dragon. He needed something to concentrate on and his palms seemed to be the best option.

He let the lump on his back spread as he concentrated more and more. His knees gave up as he fell on them. He balanced himself with his palm on the ground, dirt infiltrating between his fingers, as he squeezed the ground with his fingers. The pain dug into his back as wings popped out of his bare skin. He saw his nails getting sharp and his fingers turning almost orange. He again felt a lump on his back. On the back of his hip this time. It was the tail that was trying to get out.

He was so close the the dirt that he could feel the cold scent of damp soil in his nose. His wang shrivelled as his tail made its way out of his hip. It sure was painful. So much that Diato tried to scream but sound just seemed to ignore his request. He was screaming from the inside. Something seemed to push his scream back down his throat. His eyes grew wide. He couldn't take his eyes above the dirt. The pain prevented him from doing so.