THE DRAGON'S RETURN

Hunter and Prey

A cold grave was better than a slow death, but Chen Lan was not ready for either.

The dark cave smelled of wet stone, old moss, and iron. Chen Lan collapsed onto his knees, his hands digging into the cold dirt. He gasped for breath, his chest burning as if he had swallowed hot coals. His scaled arm still throbbed with a dull, blue heat. Beside him, the girl who had pulled him from the cliff pulled a heavy leather mask off her face.

"Are you planning to die on my floor?" she asked, kicking a small pebble toward him.

"I am still breathing," Chen Lan grunted, his golden eye slowly fading back to a dark, human brown. "Who are you?"

"My friends call me Ruo Xi," she said, leaning against the damp cave wall. "My enemies do not get to speak to me at all. You are a very lucky man, Chen Lan."

"You know my name?" Chen Lan asked, his voice cracking. He rubbed his face, feeling the new wrinkles around his temples. "How?"

"The empire is printing your face on every scrap of paper from here to the capital," Ruo Xi said, pointing her chin toward the entrance. "And they do not pay millions of coins for simple farmers. You are the last one."

"The last Dragonbound," Chen Lan muttered, his hand drifting to his chest. He could still feel the distant, weak pulse of Long Ye. "They want to kill us both."

"Well, they are certainly trying," Ruo Xi said with a dry laugh. "But we need to move. That cave entrance will not hide us for long."

"We cannot go out there," Chen Lan said, shaking his head. "Wei Lun is waiting. He controls the sky."

"I know," Ruo Xi said, her eyes flashing in the dim light. "But I have a plan. We just need to cross the canyon floor before he spots us."

"That is suicide," Chen Lan said. "He can crush a boulder with a wave of his hand. What makes you think we can run past him?"

"Because he is looking for a dragon, not a rat," Ruo Xi said, pulling a small, metallic sphere from her belt. "We go low. We stay in the shadows of the rocks. And we run when the wind kicks up."

"And if he catches us?" Chen Lan asked, looking at his human hand. The skin was pale, thin, and shaking.

"Then you use your fire and I run the other way," Ruo Xi replied simply. "Are you coming or not?"

"I do not have much of a choice, do I?" Chen Lan dragged himself to his feet, his joints popping with a dull ache.

"None at all," Ruo Xi said, turning toward a narrow split in the back of the cave. "Follow me. And keep your mouth shut."

They crept out of the back exit, stepping into a narrow ravine that wound down toward the canyon floor. The ash storm was still screaming above them, a thick blanket of grey dust that hid the sun. The wind tore at their clothes, carrying the bitter taste of burnt earth. High above, a pale white light flickered through the clouds. Wei Lun was still searching.

"Keep your head down," Ruo Xi whispered, pulling her hood tight. "If you see a shadow block the light, drop to the dirt."

"I can feel him," Chen Lan whispered back, his teeth chattering from the sudden cold. "The air is getting heavy again."

"Do not look up," Ruo Xi snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him behind a jagged black rock. "Just watch your step."

"He is coming closer," Chen Lan said, his breath hitching. A sharp pain shot through his temple. He could hear Long Ye’s silent cry in his mind, warning him of the danger. "He knows we are down here."

"He does not know anything," Ruo Xi hissed. "He is just guessing. Now move."

They scrambled across a wide, open patch of grey gravel, their boots making too much noise in the howling wind. Chen Lan's legs felt like lead. Every step was a battle against his own failing body. The black scales on his arm felt cold and dead, no longer buzzing with power.

"Stop!" Ruo Xi suddenly gasped, throwing her hand out to block his chest.

A massive shadow drifted over the rocks directly in front of them. The wind stopped howling. The silence was sudden and deafening.

"Well, well," a smooth, calm voice echoed from the ledge above. "I did not think the mouse would have a friend."

Wei Lun drifted down from the sky, his white robes completely untouched by the dirt and ash. He hovered three feet above the ground, his eyes cold and dark. He did not look at Ruo Xi. His gaze was locked entirely on Chen Lan.

"You have aged since we last spoke, Chen Lan," Wei Lun said, his voice carrying a cruel amusement. "The fire is eating you from the inside. Why do you still run?"

"Because I am still alive, Inquisitor," Chen Lan said, stepping in front of Ruo Xi.

"For now," Wei Lun replied, raising his right hand. "But your journey ends today. Both of you."

"Run!" Ruo Xi screamed.

She threw the metallic sphere she was holding directly at Wei Lun's feet. The ball burst into a blinding flash of white light, followed by a thick cloud of black smoke that smelled of sulfur. Wei Lun waved his hand, and a massive pressure wave blew the smoke away in an instant, but Chen Lan and Ruo Xi were already sprinting toward a deep crevice in the canyon wall.

"You cannot run from gravity!" Wei Lun shouted.

He slammed his open palm toward the ground. The earth beneath Chen Lan's feet suddenly bulged upward before collapsing into a deep crater. The force of the strike hit Chen Lan like a physical blow, sending him sliding across the jagged rocks. He felt his shoulder pop, a dull scream escaping his lips.

"Chen Lan!" Ruo Xi called out, stopping at the edge of the crevice. "Get up!"

"I cannot!" Chen Lan groaned, his left arm pinned beneath a heavy slab of stone that had fallen from the cliff. The weight was immense, pressing down on his chest.

Wei Lun floated closer, his face devoid of emotion. "You are weak. Your dragon is weak. The empire will cleanse this world of your filth."

"Never," Chen Lan spat, his golden eye flared back to life. He tried to summon the heat to melt the stone, but his body refused to respond. The age was catching up to him. He was too tired.

"Your struggle is pathetic," Wei Lun said, raising his foot as if to step on an insect. "Goodbye, Dragonbound."

"Not today!" Ruo Xi yelled.

She fired a small hand crossbow, the steel bolt flying straight for Wei Lun’s throat. Wei Lun simply turned his head, a small ripple in the air stopping the bolt inches from his skin. It fell to the dirt, useless. But the distraction was enough. Ruo Xi ran forward, sliding under Wei Lun’s field of vision, and grabbed a long leather strap from her pack. She hooked it to the stone pinning Chen Lan and pulled with all her might.

"Come on!" she screamed, her face red from the effort. "Help me!"

Chen Lan roared, using his good hand to push against the rock. With a final, agonizing effort, he slid his pinned arm free just as Wei Lun turned his cold gaze back to them.

"Enough of this," Wei Lun said, his voice flat.

He clenched his fist, and the air around them began to vibrate. The canyon walls started to groan, cracks spreading through the stone like spiderwebs. A massive boulder, the size of a tavern, began to peel away from the cliff directly above them.

"We need to jump!" Ruo Xi yelled, grabbing Chen Lan’s collar.

"Where?" Chen Lan shouted over the grinding stone.

"Down!" she screamed, pointing to the bottomless dark split in the earth behind them.

The massive boulder detached from the cliff, falling toward them like a hammer. Chen Lan did not hesitate. He grabbed Ruo Xi's hand, and together, they threw themselves backward into the dark, empty void just as the canyon collapsed in a roar of dust and stone.