Bound by Blood; Chosen by Fate

Chapter Twelve

Earlier that day

*🧣*

Soft creaking echoed through the clearing, and I let the vines gathering around my right arm. The boulder was moving, shifting.

Caesar was quiet, watching it with controlled breathing. His stand would only be another target, so it was tucked back in.

Hamon flickered at his fingertips.

I took a few steps closer, never one to back down. He followed me, albeit a bit more cautiously. Something cracked beneath my foot, and I glanced down. Instantly regret that decision. Because beneath that layer of darkness that covered the ground as a thick fog, white glistened. Bones. The field must be covered in them- some of them large enough to make me uneasy- others small enough to be mice or deer.

I shared a glance with Caesar, one telling him to be careful. He nodded in return, faintly. I stepped closer to the rock, hoping he would cover my back. It shifted again, rumbling through the clearing. I froze.

Two eyes peered up, blinking. They were each easily as large as me, the iris as big as a plate. The dark red hue did nothing to alleviate my nerves.

I didn't move as it stared at me, slowly uncurling its body. As it did so, I finally got a glance into what it was. A beast stood there-

And I stared at in in shock.

It was... a dragon? Made from... bones?

Caesar sucked in a soft breath behind me. It was obviously a stand. But then, where was the user?

My gaze swept around the clearing, though I saw nothing besides the darkness.

I took a step closer. The dragon's gaze focused in on me, and it widened its stance, bones clattering against each other. Wings spread, the membrane a soft gray. That's how it disguised itself as a boulder.

The vines around my forearm crackled softly.

I stared at it, a plan forming in my head.

That is, until it opened its mouth.

A roar shook the clearing, and I raised a forearm to shield my face as saliva splattered from its mouth.

I choked.

"Your breath stinks!" I exclaimed, lungs filling with the noxious fumes of dead meat. It shook its head, displeased with the insult, and launched itself towards me.

Caesar and I scattered, my vines grabbing onto a branch and whipping me from the stand's reach. Caesar was far enough away from me that a dive saved him, rolling back to his feet with nimble grace.

The monster turned its attention towards the annoying Italian.

As much as I wanted to watch his ego get knocked down a few pegs, I wasn't about to leave him in danger.

Bubbles formed between his hands, eyes narrowed as he prepared an attack. The dragon opened its maw, going in to snap the blonde in half.

Vines wrapped around it's throat, and I wrenched it back. Unfortunately, it was stronger than I anticipated. Instead of moving the dragon, I was moved. Right onto its back. Caesar stared at me in shock. I grinned.

His bubbles shot for the dragon, though most of them missed. Those which did hit it only seemed to nick the bone.

I swallowed thickly.

So his stand wasn't strong, either.

Which meant we'd have to come up with something different than brute force.