Dragons existed before beast and man—gods before the gods. Existences that are looked upon with fear and awe, but within them is more chaos than order. They can exist in the void using their bodies alone. I may be the Lord of the Wild Things, but not even I would dare claim sovereignty over a dragon.

~Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things

“Whatever,” Crow gasped and chose not to say anything else. It didn’t matter who this girl was, because he needed to focus on running and minimizing his Soul Burn. The running wasn’t too bad, but the dodging, fighting, and talking caused spikes in his already chaotic energy usage.

“You’re slow.” The girl giggled and kept cutting back and forth in front of him. “Why not stop and play with me?”

“What the hell!? Play your ass. Beasts are coming after us—go play by yourself.”

“Hmph. You really are a meany. Maybe I’ll just…” The girl pushed over a tree in front of him and giggled.

Crow nearly ran into it out of shock and only dove out of the way at the last minute.

“Shit. What’s wrong with you? I—”

Cough-cough!

His breath sputtered outward and black flames manifested in the air from his expelled breath. Crow stumbled to his knees, his hand clasping his burning chest until he could feel beads of blood welling up from where his nails dug into flesh. Several coughs and minor bouts of fire, he felt the burning dissipating.

Not willing to talk to the girl anymore, he decided to eliminate her from the competition. His bow flowed into his hand, and an arrow almost magically appeared between his fingers as he drew the string back. The motion was quick and practiced, and even high-level cultivators would be hard-pressed to manage the same feat. It was one of the skills Barnes left him, the art of the Quick Draw.

Still, as he released the arrows, he aimed to miss. Crow knew he shouldn’t be merciful, but he could just bring himself to kill her in cold blood. Several arrows flew in quick succession but realized even if he had aimed at her, the speed she exhibited was beyond what he could predict or match.

“How is anyone that fast?” He muttered under his breath, feeling a headache coming on. There was no way that was physical ability, so it had to be some kind of technique.

“Hehehe. I like this game—your turn!” The girl called from somewhere in the trees ahead, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. Trees started crashing down around him, and before he knew it, he was tumbling through the air as something smashed into his back.

Rolling a few more times, he barely managed to climb back to his feet.

“You lose,” she told him.

“Fine,” he coughed and spit out a little blood that was already stained black from his curse. As it hit one of the fallen trees, it hissed and burned through it as if it was a caustic acid. Which clan raised this vicious little girl. “You win. I’m not playing anymore. Leave me alone.”

“You can’t be a sore loser. Daddy said sore losers are the worst.”

“He’s right. I’m the worst. Your daddy wouldn’t like you hanging around with me. I’m evil.” Crow coughed out his response and got his legs moving again as he continued to run north.

The girl kept pace, but she was laughing hysterically.

“You’re funny. How are you evil? You aren’t strong enough to be mean.”

He sighed, and to think he’d thought he’d already reached an all-time low. Instead, he was being taunted by a little girl, and she was beating the crap out of him, outrunning him, and just ridiculing at every turn.

“Why is my luck so damned bad?” He sighed.

“Bad luck? I heard that, nuh-uh, you met me. That’s the best luck in the world. Daddy says so.”

“He must be a dragon amongst men to raise a demon like you.” He growled in exasperation. His memory was good, but he could not for the life of him remember who this person was. He’d scanned all the younger generation looking for Song Xue, and he’d gone through his memory a few times. Crow didn’t recognize her.

“Oh, so you know daddy?” The girl appeared ahead of him and grinned, showing cute little dimples, and her face lit up like the sun. “Daddy is a dragon, and he’s chasing all these beasts. Tehehe. I shredded my wedding dress and tossed it among the beasts. He probably thinks they killed and devoured me. Serves him right.”

Crow stumbled to a stop right in front of the girl.

“What?”

“Oh, you don’t know, daddy. You big liar. Do you enjoy tricking little girls?”

*Lily? Please tell me she isn’t a dragon.*

*Truthfully, I’m not sure. I don’t think she’s human, but beyond that, all I can tell is she is much stronger than you think. She is playing with you.*

Dammit. If she really was a dragon, he feared what came next. It was known that beasts could humanize, a method of transforming from a beast into a humanoid. Usually, there were telltale signs, like her green hair or golden eyes. Crow wasn’t why he was shocked because he already realized this place really existed.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Moinnine, but you can call me Nin. I’m super amazing, but you can’t be a pervert.”

“What if I am a pervert? Will you leave?”

“What? No. I’ll beat you up, and when daddy catches up, I’ll tell him I met a super pervert. Daddy doesn’t like perverts, not at all.”

“You can’t just accuse people of being perverts,” Crow said, swallowing hard.

“See, you got the best luck. Beasts won’t come near me. So we walk. Running is so boring, and we can’t talk while we run. It’s no-no-no-no fun.”

Is this girl real? If she is, what the hell is wrong with her? Looking around, he realized she wasn’t wrong. The beasts really were avoiding her, so he kept walking north.

“Nin…? Are you a dragon?”

“Daddy says I’m not supposed to tell anyone. So I can’t tell mister pervert.”

“You can’t call me a pervert. If you do, then I have to act like one. I’m called Crow.”

“Oh, Crows are super nice and so smart. But I don’t believe you, you aren’t nice, and you’re stupid.”

Crow’s jaw dropped, unsure what to say to that. What was wrong with this girl? At this point, he could only take it because, without her, he’d get overrun by beasts, who were supposedly being chased by a dragon. No one’s seen a dragon in thousands of years—at least as far as he knew. Hell, was she even real? It seemed like she was part of this world, but what did that mean? He couldn’t escape his own thoughts, and it wasn’t until he felt a small hand slide into his that he finally broke out of his reverie.

“No thinking about other stuff, just me. Tell me a story.” She demanded, and try as he might, he couldn’t pull his hand free. She was beyond strong, and worse, she was faster than a demon leopard—there was no way to outrun her. “Tell me a story, or we play another game!”

Crow paled and looked over at this little girl with silver-green hair and golden eyes. Her skin was pure as snow, and he realized she wasn’t as young as he thought. Judging by her eyes, he’d say she was three times his age, but her body looked like that of a twenty-year-old female, just… smaller. It was like the figure of a fully grown woman but proportionally shrunken down, making it so her head barely came to the top of his chest.

“How old are you?”

“Hmph. Not polite! Big meany, you don’t ask a girl’s age. Hmph.” She retorted, her nostrils flaring. “Don’t make me angry. Story. Now!”

Crow grinned. Want to play with me, sassy pants? He asked silently.

“I was asking because I didn’t tell you a story you weren’t old enough to hear.”

“I’m older than you. So tell me the story.”

“Well… Once upon a time, there was this lady that worked at a brothel…” about thirty minutes later, the little girl was staring at him with her mouth open. “… the moral of the story is that—”

“Shut up! You are a pervert!” She finally burst out. “You ruined me, now I can’t get married. That story… Hmph! You are an evil man.”

Crow laughed and said nothing else, but he could feel the girl giving him glares. He was oblivious to the more dangerous and possibly disturbing, contemplative glances.

“Is this world real?” Crow asked, breaking the thirty-minute silence.

“Stupid.”

“I’m serious. What is this place?”

“Stupid.”

He sighed, and despite being mad, she still didn’t let go of his hand.

“MOINNINE! You naughty girl, if I find you, I’ll lock you up for an eon.” A roaring voice echoed out over the forest, and upon hearing the voice and the name he called out, Crow could feel the chills spread across his body.

“Hmph. Gotta catch me first, meany,” She said in a low voice and then pulled his arm hard enough that he could feel it loosening in its socket before she ran north at full speed.

“Why are you running away? And doesn’t he think you’re dead?” Crow asked while cursing his luck under his breath.

“Big meany wants to marry me off to Paiste, an old venom dragon who lives a valley full of shiny stones. Dad needs stones for big brother’s scales since I can’t change into a drag—” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “—hmph. You tricked me! I hate you.” She cried out, tears beading her eyes.

“Wait-wait-wait, I didn’t trick you. I asked why you were running away.” Crow reasoned with her, feeling guilty about her tears. “Life isn’t fair. I know this better than anyone.”

“Really? Your daddy tried to marry you to an old hag?”

Old hag? Look who’s talking! Crow grumbled silently.

“No… an evil man took my mom, and a few years later, when I could fend for myself, my dad left to go get her back. Afterward, people I trusted betrayed me, and I ended up cursed. I can’t access my Source. It’s why I’m weak, slow, and maybe even—as you said—stupid.”

Nin stopped running, and Crow nearly stumbled into her. She turned to face him, and her finger touched his forehead. Energy flowed into his body, and it happened so fast that he didn’t even have time to react. He was so dumbfounded he could only stare at her like an idiot. Her head turned sideways, and her golden eyes flickered. Crow sensed fire and anger burning deep in those eyes. Her energy prodded the black flames surrounding his Source, soothing his soul and the swelling. The curse remained, but for the first time, he felt like he could breathe without fear that the flames will consume him.

“Don’t worry. I’ve decided I’ll stay with you and protect you. No one can hurt you anymore unless I let them. Hmph.”

“Protect your ass. I don’t need protection.”

“Then let me flick you,” she said, and her gold eyes lit up while a smile crept across her face.

“W-what!? No. You are crazy.” Crow’s face paled, and he knew any argument he had was useless against absolute power.

“It’s just a flick. If you can protect yourself, I’ll leave. You shouldn’t be afraid of a flick… right?” Her smile widened, exposing her teeth, and at that moment, Crow didn’t doubt for one second that she was a dragon.

Why is my luck so awful? Who the hell did I piss off in a previous life? Crow’s furrowed brow told Nin precisely what he was thinking, and she nearly laughed out loud.

***

“What is happening to that screen?” A visitor asked.

The elders looked at the scrying screen the visitor indicated. A few elders that knew what Crow was figured it out right away. The others looked in confusion—the screen showed the forest and beasts, but no one was there. The other screens all showed the contestants.

“Who is that?”

“We don’t know, sir. We gave the tokens out randomly, and we never marked who had which. It wasn’t necessary since we could see everyone—this is the first time it’s failed.” The Duncan clan’s elder that was running the event explained the situation. However, he wasn’t privy to Crow’s background, so the ones that knew let him keep covering and feigned ignorance.

Mugna witnessed all of this, and when he saw everyone now focused on the chaotic scene following Crow, he sighed. Quickly, he sent Gavin a message.

“The boy needs to leave as soon as he is out, be ready to cover while I take him away. Also, tell Torcail to leave the Arena and find someplace secluded. I need to talk to him.”

“Understood,” Gavin said under his breath. The crowd below him was getting more and more stirred up by Crow’s scrying screen. They couldn’t see the boy, but the leisurely pace left everyone confused.

The Duncan elder finally came up with a plan. “Take a list of participants and start marking off everyone you see. Narrow it down and get me a name. I want to know who that is immediately.”

The visitors and elders nodded at this course of action. However, there were tens of thousands of participants, and this was a low-ranked contender. Most outsiders ended up in this bracket, which meant they might not be able to identify everyone. Even the ones they could identify would take time.