All Chapters of Dragon-kissed : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

It took several more jumps to and from a higher trapeze, which was diagonally above. Aki also made a mistake once because the three Drop Targets were very close to each other, which reset the word “ERA” by clearing all the lit Everlite crystals. Aki didn’t mind as long as the game didn’t restart the whole play field. Compared to the jump from the trampoline, this part was tolerable. Finally, when the word “ERA” was activated in the right sequence of colors, Aki hung from the trapeze and mouthed back down to Sasha: {What’s next?} “Jump to the Lock Sinkhole… hole… hole…” {The what?} Aki gestured her inability to hear. “Look up… up… up…” Sasha shouted while pointing up. Aki did. That was when she noticed something had changed in the flat surface of the play field. Several blocks of ice had retreated, creating a square indentation that was big enough for her to crawl into. Along the smooth and slippery cabinet, seeing this was like seeing an oasis in a desert. Aki checked again with

Temujin’s conflicting feelings manifested in the fire in the center of the igloo. The flame was dipping, which signified that the element fueled by his will was weakening. It also flickered several times, which meant that his heart was being clouded by doubts. Temujin was ashamed to admit it but he disliked Sasha. He knew it was unfair of him to judge Sasha because they had just met but in his mind, Sasha represented everything he didn’t have: loving parents, a big family, a tight-knit community, an identity. Sasha was the youngest and it showed in his gentle soul and the natural way he both gave and expected affection. He had known only his sheltered world and thus had the trusting and contented aura that Temujin didn’t. And because of these things, Sasha and Aki were a perfect match. This last realization hurt Temujin above all else. It was his own fault anyway, for entertaining the slightest possibility in his mind that Aki would develop feelings for someone like him. He hadn’t ev

Aki stared at Sasha in shock. “Powerful? Is that what it feels like?” “Well… I’m no expert considering that I only started changing into the Kuma-wani last year. And on sporadic occasions at that. The thing is, when the dragon takes over, I get a sort of sensory overload. My theory is that the dragon’s very acute senses get in the way of my forming human thoughts. “Those dragons who swore off human flesh in the Days of Dragon? I’m guessing they fought an uphill battle or they had iron discipline. Whenever I was in my dragon form and swimming underwater, I could smell a few drops of blood and hear the sounds of a dying sea creature hundreds of miles away. It was like being a deity (kamuy) when your devotees are praying to you all at the same time. It’s almost enough to drive you mad.” “That’s no gift,” Aki blurts out, a hand going over her mouth. Sasha shrugged. “It sure is a distressing experience when your senses become overwhelmed. You’re robbed of all reason and unable to tell

There is a secret prophecy known only to Belshazzar, the first Yin-Yang Master, and senior members of the Ciconi imperial family. It declares: | {Four and four, the moon is bitten. On the last, a new kage shall rise; son of the enemy, thief of the Stork Empress’s heart; prodigious feats of all elements five. Before a dragons-tongue path, warrior-lover shall stand; light or dark seals the fate of heaven, earth, and man.} | History has proven that the “Stork Empress” is none other than the heiress to the Gold Lotus throne, Aki Rokkaku, whereas the “son of the enemy” has revealed himself to be the orphan slayer from the Vulcanus Clan, Temujin. This was the true reason the reigning Emperor and Aki’s mother forbade her from exchanging words with the red Dragon Slayer. Yet a fresh enigma rises in the guise of the Undina clansman Sasha Babor. In a world of feuding clans, any male Dragon Slayer could well be the “son of the enemy”. What lends further credence to this theory is th

Because of Sasha’s ice-generating powers, they didn’t have any trouble extending the shelf life of the meat or the vegetables, and they also ate ramen, rice, and bread for variety. Cooking was where Temujin shone, far eclipsing Aki and particularly Sasha, who had been used to preserving his mom’s cooking and eating it cold. Temujin learned how to cook when he was surviving by himself in the wild, including during Griffin’s first molting period. Sometimes Sasha would summon his fish brothers to swim straight into the fishing net that their ship dragged behind. Aki was amazed by this relationship between the blue Slayers and nature. It was deeply philosophical and rooted in Buddhism, in which everything was connected and animal brothers were willing to sacrifice themselves to nourish the bodies of blue Slayers. Aki and Sasha were both content to eat their catch raw after he had cut them up in small sashimi pieces like his mother did back in Blarjokull. Temujin, on the other hand, wasn