Despite being locked in a bloody and surreal battle, Kairon caught my screams and immediately tried to escape, flying as high as he could. However, the armadillo didn’t seem pleased with the idea, and as if the earth itself obeyed its will, thick, gnarled black roots sprouted beneath its feet, twisting around Kairon’s body in the blink of an eye, blocking his escape.

  "RRRAAAAARGH!"

  Struggling against the bindings that were slowly dragging him down, Kairon let out a furious roar that reverberated across the prairie. His body, like a lobster thrown into boiling water, changed color, turning into a blazing shade of red and orange. But it wasn’t just a visual transformation—the roots that held him melted away with ease, as if his entire body had turned into molten lava.

  "GRUUOOONNNGGHHH!"

  Seeing its prey escape, the beast lunged after him, hurling jagged rock shards to wound his wings while more roots erupted from the ground, trying to ensnare him like a cowboy lassoing a wild steer. However, none of its attacks hit their mark, and Kairon managed to reach the safe zone.

  With a thunderous *BOOM*, the beast, chasing him closely, crashed into an invisible barrier, leaving it stunned. It was the perfect moment to strike back. But I lacked the strength, and Kairon was gravely wounded.

  Even though I couldn’t carry out my revenge yet, at least I had confirmed my theory: a barrier prevented animals from approaching the city. The beast regained its senses, but not its composure. It continued to lash out with ferocious attacks, yet nothing it did managed to break through the air in front of it.

  My body was paying the price for my exhaustion and adrenaline, but even so, I forced myself to stand and ran toward Kairon, who lay motionless on the ground.

  —Come on, you need to rest.

  His legs were shattered, his wings riddled with holes, and his body covered in numerous wounds from which ivory-white blood flowed. The sight was anything but pleasant. As I struggled to hoist Kairon onto my back, I swore I would find that damned thing and turn it into barbecue.

  With Kairon on my back, I trudged forward at a slow, grueling pace. My skin burned from the residual heat of his body, and the drops of blood falling onto me felt like scalding oil. Kairon had grown fast, and his weight was no joke. It took an enormous effort to carry him back to the city.

  The pain from the burns urged me to drop him, but I bit down on my lips and pushed forward until I brought him to the castle vault—the best place for recovery… at least according to my own experience.

  Seeing Kairon in a safe place, my body deemed the mission accomplished and gave in to exhaustion. I collapsed face-first onto the ground.

  I knew I needed water and leaves to clean his wounds and stop the bleeding, so I tried to get up again. However, my body simply refused. It would not obey me.

  And soon, I was swallowed by unconsciousness.

  ???

  *Crak-crak-crak!*

  It was already nighttime when I woke up to the sound of something being crushed. My body had recovered from the heaviness, though I could still feel the sting of the burns on my skin. I slowly sat up, searching for the source of the noise, and saw Kairon devouring several rocks in large bites.

  —Buddy, I get that you're hungry—I am too—but that doesn’t mean you have to eat rocks like that. You might get rock-itis. Trust me, it’s a real disease, and it’s very dangerous.

  I stood up and approached Kairon, advising him not to let hunger take over. However, he ignored my words and continued his mineral feast. To my surprise, when the night’s darkness no longer obscured my vision, I realized that the wounded creature I had carried was nowhere to be seen. He was back to being the same vigorous dragon from before the fight.

  —....Are you telling me these rocks can heal wounds? —Honestly, they didn’t look like anything special. They had the same texture as any random stone you’d find on the ground. And yet, they seemed to be the key to Kairon’s miraculous recovery.

  Intrigued, I picked one up, intending to eat it, hoping to experience the same healing effects. However, the moment I held it in my hand, I realized it was impossible to break it with my teeth, let alone swallow it.

  —Hey, could you break this for me? —If I couldn't do it, there was still one Kairon who could. Without stopping his feast, he casually crushed the rock into smaller fragments, making them manageable enough for me to swallow.

  I had never eaten stones before, but I was sure that if someone ever tried to swallow knife shards, it would feel exactly like this. I had no idea how much I needed to eat, but I didn’t want to suffer for nothing, so I endured the discomfort until I had swallowed the last piece.

  —Hey, give me some water.

  Water poured into my mouth, and as it flowed down my throat, it only intensified the pain caused by the rocks.

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  —How long do I have to wait for it to take effect?

  Kairon had stopped eating and was now looking at me with an expression that clearly said, Did you seriously just do that? Then, with a flick of his claw, a warm, refreshing energy coursed through my body, erasing my wounds, my pain, and even my exhaustion.

  —....So you're telling me I ate that rock for nothing? You could heal me, and yet you just watched me make a fool of myself without saying a word. Is this your revenge for putting you in danger?

  Kairon, amusement flickering in his eyes, shook his head in denial.

  —Forget it…

  Whatever his reason for staying silent, I guess I had it coming.

  —How do you feel? Did all your wounds heal? —As I spoke, I ran my hands over his scales, making sure there wasn’t an injury I had missed in the darkness.

  —Grah-grah.

  The young dragon flapped his wings energetically, lifting himself into the air to prove he was back to his best form.

  We had slept enough, so we went out to enjoy the nightlife—from the safety the city offered. We climbed the tower and sat down to watch the darkness. I couldn't see what was happening in the prairies, but Kairon surely could. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had night vision or something similar—after all, he usually hunts at night.

  —Hey, I need to learn that power of yours. I don’t like it, but even if it involves pain, teach me, please.

  Naively, I once thought I could compensate for my weakness with ingenuity and effort, but now I couldn’t help but laugh at my own foolishness. After all, even in my world, where this strange magic doesn’t exist, you can’t do just anything through effort alone. It was stupid to think I could overcome something I didn’t even understand, relying solely on the knowledge in my mind.

  Sure, I’m an adult, but the reality is that, in this world, I’m nothing more than a newborn. I’m the same age as Kairon, yet I’m weak—excessively weak. I don’t know what happened to bring me here, why I ended up stranded in this world, but without a doubt, Kairon was my lucky charm. I’m sure that without him, curiosity and hunger would have driven me to wander outside the city, and that would have been the end of me.

  The night passed. In the end, I had fallen asleep. I thought that after the beating he took, Kairon would be afraid to hunt again, which would be the normal reaction. I mean, I was still terrified of running into that beast again. However, when I woke up, I was surprised to find that the dragon hadn’t lost his courage. He had gone out hunting and, at the first light of day, was feasting on the carcass of an adult goat. Just by looking at the body, I could tell that it had definitely been one of the strongest in its herd.

  "It seems that instead of making him fearful, his previous defeat only gave him more courage" I thought as I climbed down from the tower, strengthening my resolve to learn how to use that power no matter the cost. At this point, I had placed my entire future in the hands of the unknown.

  For the next three months, I devoted all my effort and attention to learning how to manipulate that mysterious energy. I used every bit of knowledge I could recall from movies and books, but nothing worked. I meditated, prayed, performed rituals, begged the heavens, and even drank Kairon’s blood… but nothing worked. Well, when I drank the blood, there was a reaction—just not the one I was hoping for. High fever and a week of dysentery were the result. Now, a small square east of the city, near the wall, has become a minefield.

  Kairon, my mentor, has done his best to teach me his tricks, though I always get the feeling he looks at me with pity. I’m almost certain he knows the reason for my failure.

  A tired sigh escaped from the depths of my being. I stopped meditating and turned my head to look at Kairon.

  —I give up. I just don’t get it.

  I had tried to stay positive, but after these months without the slightest result, it was becoming hard to keep up my initial drive. With each passing day, I felt more and more cornered—like a chicken in a factory farm, doomed to become fried chicken, unable to change that fate.

  It was pure terror, haunting me day after day. I wanted to find a way out, but no matter how hard I thought, nothing viable came to mind. Every idea seemed laughable when compared to the looming danger ahead.

  Upon hearing my words, Kairon made a complicated expression. I’ve grown used to him enough to read the shifts in his expressions, and I knew that right now, he was deep in thought, contemplating some draconic ideas I couldn’t begin to understand.

  Feeling defeated, I walked away from the young dragon, who now stood at my height. His growth was absolutely insane. I was sure that if he were to face the armadillo again, he could escape without suffering any major injuries and maybe, just maybe, even win. Though I wasn’t entirely sure, since I didn’t know if his powers had grown along with his size. That being said, even if he now weighed a ton, his personality remained the same.

  Like a soulless zombie, I walked toward the city gates. Not because I wanted to do something reckless, but because I wanted to etch the landscape into my mind—the one I might never get to see in person. I knew that someday, maybe when he reached maturity, Kairon would leave this place. It was impossible to think he would stay here forever. I had never said it out loud, but it had always been on my mind, and his rapid growth only reinforced that thought. I wasn’t expecting him to stay either…

  He's a damn dragon. There are probably a lot of dragon things he wants to do—like finding other dragons, starting a family, forming a clan… whatever. And I didn’t want to be the dead weight holding him back from his future.

  Lost in the scenery, tangled in my thoughts, I didn’t notice when Kairon arrived by my side.

  —Grahh —murmured the young dragon, rubbing his head against mine. Then he turned around, urging me to follow.

  —What is it, buddy? —I was surprised to see his eyes filled with determination, as if he had made a very important decision. I wanted to ask more questions, but the atmosphere felt tense, so I simply followed in silence.

  "All roads lead to Rome"—a phrase often said in my home world. In my case, it should be: "All roads lead to the castle vault."

  Kairon could still fit through the hallway, but at the rate he was growing, in a month or two, he wouldn’t be able to enter this place anymore. Under his silent guidance, I stepped into what we could consider our room. With a soft "Grah" and a swipe of his claw, he signaled what I should do.

  I was confused, but I obeyed nonetheless. I sat in front of the pile of rocks, and Kairon lay down at the other end, positioning himself so the rocks were between us. Following his instructions, I took a rock in each hand and closed my eyes in a meditative pose. I didn’t know what this was about, but I trusted my companion.

  A warm sensation spread from my hands through my entire body, but before I could even begin to understand what it meant, the warmth intensified. In the blink of an eye, it went from something pleasant to a feeling like I was plunging into molten lava. But I didn’t even have time to scream—because at that moment, I lost all sensation in my body.

  It was as if I had been separated from myself. As if I had become a wandering ghost, wrapped in absolute darkness.