Raging hot fires burned around me, and smoke painfully filled my lungs. I closed my eyes from the stinging pain of the sooty air, and water leaked from them. My entire body felt like it was on fire.

What is happening? My mouth refused to open; it felt like someone tied my muzzle shut. A metallic taste filled my mouth.

I tried to summon my armor, but instead of the magical field of protection, only pain erupted from my form. I had no magic left. How am I alive without any magic? What's happening? Why am I here? Where is here?

My panicked mind offered no answers.

"Traitorous monster," Master's voice rang through my mind. "After so many years of loyalty, you run?"

I struggle against whatever keeps my mouth pinned closed, but to no avail. I couldn't find a rope or strap around my face; magic sealed it shut. I didn't want to! I mentally scream and whip my head around in an attempt to find Master, but no one is around me.

There is nothing around me. I'm the only figure I can see or sense. An empty void surrounded me, only filled with pitch darkness that surrounded me and consumed the surroundings.

"I should not have created you, you waste of magic." Master's calm but angry voice once again reverberated through my mind. "You worthless traitor, you are a failure of a monster."

"NO!" I burst awake with a jolt. Light floods my eyes, but after several moments of ragged breathing, I finally realized where I was.

I was still under the rock overhang in the middle of the forest.

It was just a dream.

Just a dream.

Just a dream.

If it was just a dream, why am I trembling?

I'm fine...

I continued to breathe raggedly for several moments before I looked to the still-sleeping Saki. I wanted to be mad, but I felt strangely... empty, emotionless. I was in massive pain, but it didn't fuel my anger as usual. I struggled to make sense of what was happening to me. Something is wrong with me.

For a while, I sat in silence as my mind raced with unintelligible thoughts.

Eventually, I managed to calm my thoughts and focus. I'm just hungry. I'm just hungry, I think. I stood to my feet and sniffed the air, but I struggled to recognize any scents that smelled food-like.

I snorted a bit in frustration, then stepped out of the small nook. I shook away any lingering hesitant thoughts. I will feel better once I find some meat. I walked towards the spring and drank a bit of the clear water.

Once I finished, I lifted my head and licked my lips. Ok, food time. This emptiness is just hunger. In response to those thoughts, my stomach growled a bit, but I ignored it. I've gone days without eating before; I can last a while longer if I can't find anything to eat.

I calmly gazed around with my senses alert, then focused my gaze up and down the small stream. Strange melodic noises like a non-magical version of a siren song reached my ears. However, the noises came from the trees; I couldn't chase them with my still-injured wing.

I huffed in annoyance at the distracting sounds, then forcibly tuned them out. I lifted my nose to the air and focused on the task at hand. However, the confusing scents limited my ability to hunt.

I felt like I should be frustrated, but the emotion refused to arise. I would be grateful, but a lack of emotions is just as distracting as emotions.

SNAP!

My head jerked towards the source of the sound: an unfamiliar quadruped animal stood frozen on the other side of the stream. For a while, I couldn't recognize the beast before me, but eventually, my deep knowledge finally gave me an answer.

A deer, food; It will fix everything.

I didn't let myself ponder why my deep knowledge slowed as I allowed my monstrous instincts to consume me and temporarily fill the strange emptiness inside of me. Strangely, they felt weakened somehow, but I put all of my energy into my instincts. I blindly lunged forward towards the lean animal, but it reacted at a surprising speed and raced away.

A growl escaped my throat as I gave chase, and adrenaline melted my pain away. My mind focused solely on the deer.

It was faster than me, but not so much that it escaped my sight. I have no idea how long I had been running, but eventually, my prey tired to the point it slowed its pace.

I leaped onto the back of the deer that was less than half of my size. My claws sank into its form as it collapsed beneath my weight. The brown animal swiftly died. I devoured my fill of the meat, and then some.

Once I could eat no more, I paused came back to my senses as I caught my breath. The emptiness consumed me once again, unaffected by my attempts to cure it by filling my stomach. Usually, when I stuffed myself, I enjoyed the feeling. This time, however, I felt bloated and in pain.

The experience only further proved to me that something is wrong. It's just magic deficiency. That's all it is.

Even these thoughts failed to assure me.

Suddenly, a faint distant high-pitched scream reached my ears. Saki. I surprised myself with how panicked it made me.

I ripped one of the remaining legs off of my felled prey, then carried it in my mouth as I raced towards the source of the scream. Though my stomach hurt and I felt like I was going to puke, I continued to run. I'm not going to eat that much ever again. My heavy breathing nearly forced me to drop the deer leg I grabbed for Saki.

Eventually, loud sobbing reached my ears, and I emerged from the undergrowth to see the dirty young Stellan making strange hiccuping sounds again, exactly where I left her under the rock.

I sighed through my nose in relief and slowed my pace to an exhausted and slightly-sick walk. She's safe... wait.... why do I care? I remained shocked as I continued to approach Saki as he continued to sob.

I dropped the deer leg, then looked to Saki. "Kid, stop leaking water through your eyes. I brought you something to eat."

The off-white cloaked child jumped and looked up to me with puffy reddish eyes and clear liquid running down her cheeks. "You're not dead or gone!" She stood, then spread her arms and tackled me in the chest. She tried to wrap her arms around my neck, but her limbs could not reach all the way around.

Is she trying to choke me to death? I looked down at her with a raised eye ridge. I opened my mouth to speak, then paused and hesitated when I saw the smile on her face. Her facial expression was not one of malicious intent, but something different and unfamiliar.

A warm feeling arose in me and banished the strange feeling in my stomach. I felt strangely good. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a hug because I was scared you were gone; I'm glad you're not." Saki buried her face in my fur. "Your fur is soft." She released a strange sigh that seemed like contentment, but more.

"Alright, I brought you some food; eat up." I state, "then we can keep going. You should be back among Stellans."

"Where?" She released the so-called hug and looked around in excitement. "I'm starving!"

I reached behind her and picked up the deer leg in my mouth, "'ere."

Saki stumbled back and recoiled with a bit of fear in her eyes, "I'm not eating that! It still raw and had fur on it!"

I shrugged, then winced and immediately regretted it as pain spiked through me from my injured wing. I miss the healing bandages the dees brought me. I placed the remnants of my meal on the ground. "It was good enough for me."

"Gross," Saki gagged, "can't you find me something better? Or at least light a fire? You're a dragon!"

"I'm not that kind of dragon." I snort. "And if you're not going to eat this, then you're going to have to find your own food.

Saki blinked and looked up to be with her head adorably tilted to one side. "What kind of dragon are you then?" A frown slowly spread across her lips, but a curious gaze remained in her eyes.

"I'm a magic dragon, but you wouldn't understand magic." I roll my eyes and snort through my nose.

The Stellan froze, then slowly spoke in a slight whisper, "I have magic...," her voice strained.

"Stellans have magic?" I stared at the child before me. Is that what I'm sensing? I thought it was magic, but I wasn't sure at the time. My pain distracted me from getting a good sense when I could.

Saki slowly nodded. "Please don't tell anyone; magic is bad and illegal." She shakily inhaled and held her hands out in front of her. A bit of pink energy burst from her palms and formed a pale pink sphere.

I could sense the magic easier now than it was outside of Saki's body. It was different than the dark magic that flowed through the bodies of monsters like myself. ...Like myself? Am I truly a monster?

Something about the magic mesmerized me so thoroughly I didn't scold myself for doubting my status as a monster. Why does this magic type seem both familiar, yet drastically unfamiliar?

I snapped out of my trance. "I'm going to teach you to use that magic," I state as I tear my gaze away from the light and back to Saki's face. "I'm no expert at magic, especially this kind, but you should at least be able to somewhat defend yourself for when you are attacked by monsters again."

"But it's illeg—"

"—I don't care. If you're going to be with me, you're not going to be dead weight." I stated in an unwavering firm tone. "Now, either you find some food for yourself, or we leave now."

Saki paused, and in her lack of focus, the magic in her hands dissipated. "Um...," she glanced around, "Shiny and blue aren't good for you, but bubbly red or black will keep you fed." She continued to mutter the same words over and over under her breath, though my acute hearing annoyingly heard every word.

"What was that?" I blinked and scrunched my nose.

"It was a rhyme my... my parents...taught me to keep me from eating poisonous berries..." she shivered, then looked around to the dense foliage that surrounded everything. After a moment, she began to walk down the stream; she constantly swiveled her head as she searched.

At least she's going in the right direction. With no other options, I calmly followed her as she stumbled her way downstream.

Soon, she paused, then raced away from the flowing water. "There!" She tripped over something hidden in the ferns but managed to recover and stay on her feet. "A blackberry bush!" She greedily pouched the small black objects from the bush and shoved them into her mouth.

While she ate her fill, I calmly laid down and rested my sore body as I watched her. I just want to get her to safety, then go back to Master and end this pain. I can continue my life as if this never happened.

"I'm done now!" She announced, then skipped over to me and jumped onto my back. "Let's go!" She briefly dug her heels into my sides.

"Ow!" I snarled at the spike of pain from her weak kick. My nose creased as my breathing deepened. Why am I suddenly so weak? Thinks like that never used to hurt! I paused and slowly shrugged off the pain as I rose to my paws. It's just magic deficiency; I'll be fine when I get back to Master.

"I'm so sorry!" Saki hugged my neck, "I didn't mean to hurt you! I just got over-excited! I'm sorry!"

"I'm fine," my deep voice responded as I simply began to walk with a slight limp, "I'm just low on magic."

"You can have some of my magic," Saki offered.

"Your magic is the wrong magic," I immediately stated, "I need dark magic, not whatever magic you have is not dark magic."

"Oh...," she slowly sighed.

For a while, we continued in silence.

Besides the sounds of my footsteps, I heard only the annoying chirps of birds above me and the occasional rustlings of wind through the trees. This experience would be pleasurable except for my pain.

Suddenly the underbrush thickened, and I suddenly stumbled into an open field of golden grass-like plants. Once I regained my footing, I looked out to the distance and saw several structures atop a hill. Though the settlement did not match my deep knowledge's idea of a city, at least it was bigger than Saki's hometown.

"Now Saki, I brought you to a city; you need to go back to your kind." I look back to her as I kneel. "Time to go."

Saki hesitated, then slid off of my shoulders. She looked towards the town, then turned to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you." She said slowly, then released me and faced back to the hill topped with buildings.

Just as she took a step forward, I sensed a mass of dark magic above us. My eyes widened as I snarled slightly. "Get back into the woods!" I swatted her into a bush with a paw, careful to keep my claws sheathed as three flying monsters dove towards me from a portal in the sky.

I growl, then paused as I caught myself. What am I doing? Saki is the enemy! Not them! They're fellow monsters!

In my moment of distraction, the largest of the three birds swooped over me with its talons extended, then left a gaping gash down my lower back. As it flew out of range of my claws, it cawed in a bit of laughter.

"Hey!" I roared in frustration and snarled at the large black and yellow bird, only to have its two smaller comrades slice my shoulders as well. I could feel the blood loss taking a toll on my already-weakened form.

"Hoshiryu the Strong? More like The Weak Traitor!" The feathered monster flapped it's yellow-tipped wings and taunted me as it flew above me in a circle and made the red-tipped claws on its feet obvious.

"Traitor! Traitor!" The black bird's red and blue companions mocked in a scratchy voice as they flanked the lead monster.

"Master cut you off! No magic for you! Time to die and take whatever's left of you to Master!" The crow monster dove and prepared to strike me again.

This time, I was prepared and dodged, but the two smaller birds managed to slash their smaller talons across my front legs. Fighting is a lot harder without magic. I growled at the birds and hoped they neglected to see Saki.

Master is unforgiving and will never take me back. The realization hurts me somehow, but strangely not as much as the thought of leaving Saki to die. I can't go back to him, ever.

My face contorts in pain as the three birds once again sliced their claws across my back. I could feel my body weakening with each passing moment as what little energy remained in my form leaked away. If I'm going to win, I'll need to use at least a bit of magic. It's the only way to win, especially since I can't fly. If I tip my claws with magic, hopefully, it will do enough damage to destroy them.

I watched the three birds as they flew towards me for another pass. I ducked under the largest bird as it aimed for my hips, then painfully summoned a bit of magic into my claws and swatted the smaller bird.

The second my claws touched the bird, it disintegrated into a cloud of black mist-like magic. That was more effective than I thought it would be. I greedily breathed in the magic, but at the same time, the other smaller red bird slashed its talons across the top of my muzzle.

The magic helped, but I still felt myself become weaker by the second. Touches of nausea began to seep into my mind, but I forced myself to refocus. I can feel miserable later; I need to survive now. While I wasn't using my claws, I reabsorbed the almost invisible thin layer of magic that surrounded the tips.

The large black and yellow bird furiously cawed over the loss of its minion and dove straight for my head, its hooked beak and talons aimed to strike.

It's not going to be that easy. I tipped my claws with magic once more as I dodged and swiped my paw at the annoying feathered fiend. Though it avoided the brunt of my attack, I still managed to hit its right wing.

Much to my surprise, its entire wing dissolved; the avian monster immediately lost control of its flight. Despite its efforts to recover its flight, the monster careened into the ground a few feet away and exploded in a puff of magical mist.

I dodged the panicked final bird as I raced over the mass of dark energy and absorbed it before it dispersed too much. This magic helps— "—GAH!" I instinctively raised a paw and hit the bird as it slashed at my neck.

It died in a puff of magic, but I could feel myself weakening faster than ever before. I stumbled and trembled as my legs felt weak. I wobbled on my shaking limbs, then teetered and collapsed into the tall orangish grass.

"HOSHI!" A frantic female voice echoed in my mind as everything swiftly faded to silent darkness.

Author Notes!

IS HOSHI DEAD?!