The Forging Dragon [Book 1]

5 ⚔️ Bella

He let the arrow leave the bow. The arrow danced through the air, diving swiftly across it. The female dragon was unaware of Diato's arrow. Her wings popped from her back as she prepared to throw a massive fireball at Bella, enough to kill her. She was indeed a higher ranked dragon.

She prepared her fireball between her hands with a gesture which reminded Diato of Goku's Kamehameha.

He saw the arrow accurately hit the female dragon's forehead. The arrow pierced through her skin, right into the brain, shattering her skull. 'This bow is damn powerful.' He thought

Blood spattered across her face, as the arrow held itself on the dragon's forehead.

Diato raised back to his feet, watching Bella in shock. She didn't know what happened. She immediately jerked her head here and there.

She saw Diato standing there, holding a bow. She was sure it was him who shot the arrow on the dragon's forehead. She jerked her head back at the tower. 'How did this guy get here? Why did he save me from that dragon that was about to kill me?' She thought.

Diato, however, pushed the bow back on his shoulder and leapt over the bushes he was standing behind.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Bella ciao," Diato started in a jesting manner, "but don't mistake that I've forgave you for taking that innocent life." His jest was gone.

"But... You also killed a dragon!" She urged, "wasn't she innocent according to you?"

"An Adult Dragon," He corrected her, "that baby must have never killed anyone. But these adult dragons just don't deserve to live. Because they have taken many innocent lives. But that baby was an innocent life himself."

"Oh yeah?" She replied, "well, don't you -"

"OKAY!" He said, cutting her off in the middle of her sentence, "I GOT IT! you have comebacks. But those shitty ass talks aren't gonna change the truth that you've taken an innocent Life."

She looked away from him with a sigh. Maybe she was a monster. Who knows? She didn't even hesitate to kill that dragon, didn't appreciate Diato for saving her life, and she's not ready to accept her sin. Who'd say she's not pure evil?

Diato walked away in grief, towards the building. He knew he was qualified. He knew he was gonna be a drayer. Who'd stop him? 'Oh yeah.... She follows the rules. And you cannot let another person win in front of you, or something like that is in the rules. She's definitely gonna try to stop me.'

Diato grabbed the hilt of his bow, prepared to look back at her and face her hand to hand.

She pulled out a dagger from her jeans' belt. She tightened her grasp on the hilt of the dagger as Diato pulled his bow out again. 'I don't think I'm merciless enough to kill her. She is. I'll have to dodge as much as I can. And I'll have to do the unthinkable. Because If I don't kill her - she will.'

He turned around, as they exchanged glances. Diato's eyes suddenly seemed to dry out. With burning eyes of tiredness, he forcefully pushed his pale hand behind his back, to reach for his quiver.

The wind hustled the leaves and dust on the ground, as she threw her dagger to her other hand. Her other hand caught it swiftly.

Her hair blew from the wind and landed back on her shoulders as she blinked several times to get rid of the hairs in front of her eyes. Diato, however, didn't have to worry about his hairs getting into his eyes. They were short enough to barely reach his eyelashes.

He wrapped his long white fingers around the bottom tip of an arrow and pulled it out from the quiver. A sinister smile curled up her pink lips.

He loaded up the arrow in the bow and pulled on the hard string. She started sprinting towards him with her dagger charged, ready to attack.

The arrow was released from the bow, and it went flying straight at her face. She knew that he was going to aim for her face, and she was prepared for it. She knelt but didn't halt her sprint. As soon as the arrow passed her, she got her back straight again.

Diato knew he couldn't fight her in close combat. Especially when he didn't have any close-range weapons. He again launched his hand behind his back, to grab another arrow. He again loaded up the bow and aimed it at her neck this time. He knew he'd miss, and wouldn't hit her neck and the arrow wouldn't kill her. He fired the arrow expecting it would hit her anywhere except vital organs.

She launched her hand with the dagger and hit the dagger's sharp metal blade at the arrow's stick. The shining metal cut through the arrow's wooden stick and broke the arrow in half, also breaking its speed. The two pieces of arrow fell on the ground, as she glanced back at him. Neither of the arrows managed to stop her.

He panicked, 'what the fuck?? How did she do that? She's so close now, I don't have time to load up another arrow. I'll have to throw it using my hand!'

He again launched his hand at his back grabbing an arrow. He knew he had no time to load up the arrow and fire it. He charged up his arm, ready to throw that arrow. He didn't care if the tip of the arrow was in the right direction. The only thing he wanted to do now was slow her down or stop her. 'Why does she have to take the rules seriously? Like we can go inside the tower together without fighting, can't we?'

He launched his hand at her with all his force. The arrow escaped his hand and went flying towards her, but she was faster than he thought. She raised her hand at face level and opened her claw. Her palm caught the arrow. She was way more swift than Diato thought. Her hands moved like a cat's soundless soft paws. She threw the arrow at the ground in an instant. She was still running and didn't stop. As it all happened so fast Diato couldn't even remember what he thought a second ago.

She was close enough now. She decided to jump at Diato with her blade. She thrust her legs on the ground and leapt at him. Her hand ready to stab the blade into Diato's neck, she realized Diato had somehow caught up to her speed. Diato lifted his leg, foot aimed at her.

She was shocked to see how high his leg could reach. His foot thrust at her chest as she was about to land. He didn't push her back, as she expected. But instead, he pushed his leg downwards. His foot seemed to stick to her collarbone, as he pushed her down. She managed to land on her knees as she hit the ground. Before she could do anything else, he had already planned his next move.

He pushed his hand holding the bow towards her face. He pushed the bow down her head, near her forehead, and pulled it with the string behind her neck. Without hesitation, and complete satisfaction covering his eyes, a smile still hung on as he released his grasp on the bow. The strong pull of the bow's hilt towards her face struck her with brutal force. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw the hilt destroy her nose.

'So that's why my trainer focused on practical training, eh?' He thought as pride trickled down his neck.

The hilt of the bow hit her face with brutal force, destroying her nose. Her nose started to bleed, and it didn't seem like the blood was stopping for another fifteen minutes. Although it wouldn't kill her, it would stop her for a while, if she knew how to stop the blood.

"That one was for that innocent baby dragon," Diato spoke with pure satisfaction. Something about his speech pattern seemed as if some demon had possessed him. She realized that Diato had given her a chance to go away by walking away from her. But she was the one who started the battle between them.

'She deserved it', he thought, as he stepped forward towards the tower. The tower seemed pretty odd. It wasn't strong. It was made out of clay and seemed like the floor would break if he went any higher than the ground floor. He glanced at the door.

He looked back at her. She was lying on the ground, pushing her palms on her nose. The smile faded away as he gazed back at the wooden door. It was rotten. Algae covered most of the door, and the handle seemed like it would fall out any minute.

He grabbed the door and twisted the knob. As he pushed the door, he saw the inside. It was surprisingly weird. He peeked inside. He saw no ceiling, and no stairs leading upwards. All that was visible was the top of the tower and the ground. There was no floor, no stairs to go up, no ceiling, nothing. Just the hollow tower with the underground tunnel.