Mortal Kombat: The Three Titans

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Vanish

-Kuai's POV- We continue walking down the path, the fog somewhat relentless with hiding the terrors of the forest. Zodith sits on my shoulder as we walk, looking around with wide eyes.
The deeper we get, the quieter it is. I haven't heard anymore birds chirping since I woke up.
We end up walking in silence, since we should be near the middle of the forest by now.

Zodith suddenly perks her head up and growls, spikes flaring up. We all stop in our tracks. She snarls at what looks like a tree up ahead. Only...it's too straight to be a regular tree. One thing I've learned from being out in the wilderness is that nature rarely makes straight lines.

No, it's not a tree. It's a figure standing in the distance. I feel Zodith trembling on my shoulder.
"Don't move," I order in a low voice.
Zodith suddenly screeches, the sound so sharp and sudden that I flinch out of instinct. She lunges up into the air and blasts a ball of violet fire at the figure.

The fireball phases through the figure entirely.
Zodith lands back on my shoulder, still growling with her back arched like a cat.
"Get behind me," Bi-Han mutters, walking forward a few steps. Smoke arises from behind the figure where the fire got snuffed out by the mud.

"Who are you?" Bi-Han demands. The figure remains silent, not moving. We all stare at it as it suddenly vanishes.
Once it's gone, Zodith stops growling.
"This Forest is rumored to be haunted." I explain.
"Haunted?" Hanzo looks at me.

"Whatever that thing was, it wasn't....normal." I say, staring at the area where it stood.
"You could have tried speaking to it...." Hanzo murmurs. "Since you have the ability to speak to the dead."
"Just because I have that power doesn't mean I want to try it out. That, nor Necromancy.....Raising the dead doesn't sound great." I shiver.
****
We end up walking back to my temple, arriving late at night.
After checking the map, we see the red circle in the Dead Forest had disappeared. Was that figure the Titan? If so, why did it just vanish? Why didn't it attack us? Zodith knew whatever that was...was a threat.

She...protected me, but also scared the Hell out of me by screeching like a banshee. Just as a way of saying thank you, I give her two extra pieces of salmon jerky and a kiss on her snout, which startled her.
I'm left alone in my room while Bi-Han and Hanzo discuss whatever happened in the Dead Forest.

All I know is that we're not going back there anytime soon. Zodith shakes herself like a wet dog, tail lashing like a whip. I sit in bed and read more about the dragon book.
Zodith lets out a small hiss to get my attention.
I look up, setting the book down.

She snorts out smoke, running over and curling up on my abdomen, looking up at me.
"Thank you for defending us," I croon, scratching the area behind her curved horns. She lets out a light, high-pitched cry of happiness, tail swishing back and forth.

"Bi-Han told me he saw intelligence in your eyes," I whisper, glancing at the book. It did say that dragons are rather smart, smart enough to recognize basic voice commands if trained right.
"I think he is right," I admit.
She blinks her cool blue eyes, then nudges her head up to my hand, motioning me to pet her.

"Everyone out there may think you are a beast," I begin, petting her as she wishes. "But you're more than that. You are Zodith, the Obsidian Beast. You are my daughter. I...just wonder what killed your mother."
Could it have been that figure, since the woods and that cave system are close together? Perhaps I'll never know.

Zodith ends up falling asleep, wings askew on either side of her body. Despite the fact that I have a large bed, she likes to sleep on me. Either on my chest or stomach. Well, she does view me as her parent. She'd naturally want to be close to me.
I pull her closer and then drape the fur blanket on me, up to my waist. She growls softly in her sleep, claws scratching my armor, then relaxes again.

I watch the fireplace, deep in thought.
I remember finding her egg in that cave, the struggle of taking it here, and building the nest of blankets near the fire. I thought she wasn't going to hatch. But she did, and might be the last of her kind. "Are there more eggs out there, hidden?" I whisper to no one. "Another dragon like you? Maybe...or maybe not. Do you dream, Zodith? What did you think when you first saw me out of your egg?" I ask, yawning and falling asleep.