Black Dragon

Kiyohime

I was so weak, I couldn't even scream. I just laid there with my arm stretched out as I watched them disappear. I wanted to die.

I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the sky. This wasn't fair.

Several men formed around me and the one who took the arrows out of my back bent down. "I'm going to carry you over my shoulder to not hurt you any more, princess. Your back and legs have many wounds."

He goes to pick me up and I stop him. "I want to see the sky."

"Princess we need to get you medical attention so we can return you home to Hiryuu Castle. You're bleeding very badly."

"I want to see the sky."

He picks me up regardless but carries me that way I can still sees the clouds rolling by. "I hope this suffices." He says.

"I'm growing tired." I say.

"Please stay awake princess! Keep talking to me or something! Sing me a song, tell me a story!" He was full on sprinting at this point.

"Am I dying?" I ask.

"No! You're going to live princess, I'll make sure you do. Just stay awake!"

"What's you're name?"

"Junichii Ken." He says

I let my head fall back as I am no longer able to keep it up. "It hurts."

"We'll get you to someone who can help, don't worry."

"My heart hurts. It hurts so bad."

"Were you shot in the chest? Oh God, we're all going to be killed." He says as he starts running faster. "We're almost there, princess."

I turn my head to see a camp that had been set up. "Thank you for helping me, Jun-kun."

We run into a tent and he lays me down on my stomach as a woman approaches and another pushes him out of the tent. His worried expression was the last thing I saw before everything went black.

"Meissa."

My eyes flutter open and I look around me. I was in a dark room, debris littered the room from wall being knocked in. The clanking of armor surrounded the building as soldiers ran by.

"Where am I?" I ask.

"You are in the deepest part of your subconscious." The voice responds. "Come, hide behind the shrine."

I look behind me and sure enough an ebony statue of a dragon stood unscathed by the damage in the center of the room.

"Hurry now. You wouldn't want to be seen."

I rush over to the statue and squat down at the base. Heavy footsteps enter the room.

"My Lord!" A man calls. "This statue could be sold for a heavy price. It seems to be solid ebony."

Another pair of footsteps enter the room and I peak over the base of the statue. My eyes widen as I see my father approach the statue. I start to stand up so I could run to him but a woman appears and places her hand on my shoulder and a finger at her lips to tell me to be quiet. I nod my head and turn back to the scene before me.

"We'd have to melt it down first. I can't imagine anyone buying it. Round up some men and get it placed on a wagon." He goes to turn but stops at the sound of a tiny cry. At the foot of the statue was a baby. The baby began to wail as it was aware that there was someone in the room and it wanted to be held.

Father approaches the baby and the baby reaches out to him and he picks it up to inspect it. He cradles the baby in his arms as he inspects it. He looks into the dark eyes of the child and smiles at it lovingly. I had never seen him look that way before. He returns his hard expression as he turns back to his men.

"This infant is this village's only survivor. Do you know what that means?" He asks. His men remain quiet. "It means that this child is destined to be great one day, that fate has something planned for it and that it was not ready for it's story to end."

"What are you saying, my lord?" One of the men ask.

"I will raise this child as my own, and bring her to glory as she is destined to be, and her name shall be Meissa." He states. "Leave the statue men, this child will be needing to be fed soon and I don't believe any of us can provide it with what it needs." He leads the men out of the room.

I face the woman and she wipes away a tear I wasn't aware that I had shed. "That was me." I say quietly and she nods.

"We are in the part of your subconscious that stores memories. I couldn't allow him to see you because it could have altered the way you remembered that moment, and the memory would have changed completely." She explains.

I hug my knees to my chest. "Why am I here?"

"You died for several minutes and you entered a dream state that started to allow you to see your life up until the moment of your death."

"So I'm dead?" I ask. "Will I be able to see Father now?"

"You're asleep, but they think that you are still dead. I'm not exactly through with you yet though. That's the only reason you're alive."

"Who are you?" I ask.

She stands up and holds her pale hand out to me and I take it. Her nails were long and black like her hair and her eyes were black as well. "My name is Kiyohime. I am the Black Dragon goddess of destruction and evil." She explains.

"You don't seem evil." I point out.

"Not all snakes are venomous, but they all bite."

"Why are you here? What do you mean you aren't through with me?"

"My spirit lives in you, Meissa. I knew from the moment you were conceived that you were destined to be great, so I chose you to carry on my legacy as the Black Dragon." She explains.

"I don't understand." I say.

"It will make sense eventually. There isn't enough time for me to explain. Someone is waiting for you."

"But-" my vision fades to black again as Kiyohime and the memory disappear.

My eyes flick open as I take a deep breath, filling my lungs up with air as if they had been deflated of it. A person beside me jumps and we make eye contact with each other.

His eyes were red and glassy as if he had been crying and he scoops me into his arms and squeezes me tightly. "Meissa!" He cries. His voice sounded weak. "Thank God, you're alive. You weren't breathing. I didn't know what to do."

He squeezes me tighter and his breathing becomes more rugged. I held him back. "It's alright Soo-won. I'm still here." I had never seen him cry before.

"You can't die, Meissa. You're all I have."

"I won't die, Soo-won." I hugged him tighter. He was all I had too. Hak was dead now and I had no one left but Soo-won.