Thanks to my time as a gatekeeper, I knew all of the gate’s blind spots, so I made it out of the Umi Tribe walls without being seen. I remembered that Lucius said that it takes a whole day to walk to Gomorra City, so I decided to run there instead. Lucius’ trail of white roses didn’t help as much as I thought they would: they seemed to be nearly a mile apart.

I ran until the sun began to rise, which was the last thing I saw before I collapsed from exhaustion.

When I awoke, I was in the middle of a field right outside of Gomorra City. The first thing I saw was an old wrinkled-faced, big nosed, bluish-gray haired woman.

“Are you okay, Boy?” The woman said to me with a concerned look on her face.

“I’m fine; I was just tired. Say, would you happen to know how to get to Gomorra City from here?” I asked.

The old lady stared at me for a moment then pointed behind her where I saw a huge sign that read: Gomorra City, Protected by the Hikari Dragon.

I was a little embarrassed. “Thanks. I guess I’ll be on my-“

“WAIT!” The old woman interrupted. “Why would someone like you want to go to a place like that?”

“What do you mean someone like me?”

“You have an untainted destiny; Gomorra City is where people go once they have abandoned their life’s purpose.”

“Well, there’s someone there who could help me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,  ma’am.”

“Such good manners. Let me hold your hand, Young Man.”

I held my hand out for the old lady as she asked. She held my hand with both of her hands and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she looked at me and said, “I see royalty in your future, and I see that you will be faced with a intense decision. I also see destruction. Humph, it seems that no matter what decision you make, there will be some form of destruction. I’d be very careful about the choices that I make if I were you. One form of destruction would be greater than the other.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I forced myself to smile. “Thanks, I think.” I figured that when she was talking about royalty, she was referring to Princess Tuyette. As for destruction, maybe that has something to do with the Crimson Bloods or maybe what the princess will do to me when I return.

Then, the old lady gave me a bag and said, “I know you must be hungry after running all night. Here you go: this will hold you for a while.”

I opened the bag and saw honey glazed rolls.

“Wow. Thanks, miss. . .misses. What’s your name?”

“My name is Winter. It was nice meeting you, Kazai. Ooh, look at that!”

Winter pointed to something behind me, so I turn around, but there wasn’t anything there.

When I turned back around she was gone. I thought out loud, “Weird, how did she know my name?”

When I entered the city, I stopped at a water fountain to get a drink. As I began drinking, I heard a small dog barking. The sound grew closer and closer. I tried to ignore the sound, but, before I knew it, I could feel the small dog jumping on my leg and licking my hand. Without looking, I began to pet it as I continued to drink.

When I finished drinking, I looked down and saw the face of a human on a dog’s body with creepy little human fingers, licking me and touching me. I shamefully screamed like a little girl, and I jumped back but quickly regained my manliness by kicking the thing to the other side of the street.

The dog landed and ran off whining. Some of the people looked at me in disgust. That’s when I noticed. Some of the people in Gomorra City were walking around with pets, but not just any pets. They had hybrids as pets! All of them were animoids, but they were still hybrids nonetheless.

Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out.

I asked a random stranger, “Do y’all just let these hybrids run around free here?” 

They responded, “You’re not from here are you?”

I said, “You think?”

The guy just laughed and kept walking. Then, I looked up and noticed a restaurant called, “Frybrids: Home of the Fresh or Fried Hybrids.” I nearly puked, but, oddly, my stomach started to growl.

At that moment, I looked to the sky and said, “Thank you, Winter!”I pulled out the honey rolls she’d given me. A little later after eating my honey rolls, I did some investigating in order to find out where I could locate the Hikari Dragon. Some said that he was a myth created by the rulers of the city to scare away dangerous hybrids and to keep people from committing major crimes. Some said the Hikari Dragon came from the Hikari Tribe to train the city’s law enforcers. There weren’t that many people that believed that the Hikari Dragon existed, but the ones who did all said that he lives in a mansion on the highest hill in the city, so that’s where I headed.

When I made it there, I saw a baggy clothed, intimidating-looking woman with short hair, standing behind the gate with a sword strapped to her back.

As I hopped over the gate I said, “Hello! Is this where I can find the Hikari Dragon?”

“You’ve got some nerve, Kid-- jumping over my gate. Who do you think you are?”

“I’m sorry; I’m just eager, I guess. I’m here to meet the Hikari Dragon.”

“You can’t just meet the dragon.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m his manager! I’m in charge of who he sees, and you didn’t make an appointment!”

“Well, I would like to make an appointment now. How soon can I see him?”

“That depends. What do you want with the dragon?”

“Well, I just found out that I’m a sun shōkan, and I need help unlocking my abilities.”

“What’s your name?”

“Kazai”

“Kazai, huh? The best time you could meet the dragon would be…uh… NEVER!”

“WHAT? Why not?”

“When I saw you coming up the hill, I knew you didn’t need anything worth his time! Get lost you hobo.”

“Look, if I didn’t absolutely need him or if there was any other Hikari Tribe shōkans around here, I would just leave. But, he’s the only one I can go to about this. Please make an exception: there are lives at stake here.”

“Really? Lives at stake, huh? To top off being rude and coming here unannounced, you’re a liar, too.”

“No, it’s true. See, there are these Crimson Bloods who were made by an evil scientist, and they were designed to take down ocean shōkans. They could ambush the Umi Tribe any day now! But, since I’m a sun shōkan, I’ll be able to give them a fighting chance against those hybrids.”

“Wow . . . did you just come up with all that right off the top of your head? Because if you did, you should be writing books!”

“I’m not a liar!”

“ Prove it! How do you know all of this?”

“I’m an Umi Tribe Protector. Before I found out about my abilities, I was classified as a weapons specialist. Let me hold your sword, and I can show you my skills.”

“Ha ha ha! A sun shōkan is an Umi Tribe protector? Yeah, right? And you want me to give you my blade so that you could use it against me. Yeah right?”

The woman scratched her head and looked up and said, “But, there is something that could be done.”

I cringed as I anticipated what twisted thoughts could be going through her mind.

Then she continued, “I was once a protector myself. So, if you could handle an attack from me, then that’ll prove that you’re not just some fan trying to meet the dragon for an autograph.”

Before I could respond, she charged toward me.

I prepared myself as she came in for a punch but followed through with a kick instead. I was barely able to dodge her attack. I really didn’t want to fight her, so I tried to talk her out of it as she continued her assault.

“My mother always told me not to hit a lady! So, don’t make me disappoint her!” I shouted.

“You’ll have to disappoint her if you want to see the dragon!” She shouted as she continued to attack.

 I dodged and blocked everything she came at me with. I could tell she was beginning to get frustrated, so I cracked a smile. “I told you! I’m an Umi Tribe Protector! Just give it up.”

She jumped back for a moment and said, “Don’t think that just because I’m a woman that you could just take me lightly. I was taking it easy on you! But, now, it’s time to get serious.”

Then, the crazy nut-job of a woman pulled out shuriken blades and began throwing them at me. Forgetting that I was unarmed, I reached for my sword. One of the blades grazed my skin, but I managed to dodge the others.

The lady came rushing towards me with her sword. She swung her sword as if she was trying to kill me. I thought to myself, ‘Is she really trying to kill me or just test my abilities?’ That’s when I ran backwards to create distance between us, “What are you doing! How is this testing my abilities?” I shouted.

“If you can get past this kind of attack, it’ll prove that you aren’t lying!”

“Well, I’m still here. I think I proved my point!”

“No, that’s not enough! You need to fight me like you would fight a man! Or better yet, like a Crimson!”

“I told you, Lady! I’m a bit old-fashioned; I try not to hit women! Just let me pass!”

Suddenly, she threw another shuriken directly at my face. I bent backwards just in time. Then she ran towards me swinging her sword. I began to run backward in order to keep my distance from her. When she realized that she couldn’t hit me swinging her sword, she threw it at me. The sword stabbed into a tree that was behind me.

The woman stopped.

I pulled the sword out of the tree, and I swung it in a fit of rage saying, “If I ever start hitting women, I promise, you’ll be the first to know!”

When I swung the sword several rays of light blasted from the sword like a laser.

The light hit the woman’s clothes and ripped the top half of her wardrobe off. I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God! How in the world did I do that? And how is it that the light extended from my sword this time. If I don’t get a handle on this I could really hurt someone.’

“You pervert!” She shouted as she held up what remained of her clothing.

I looked at her, “You see, this is why I need to see the Hikari Dragon--so that I can learn to get a handle on these abilities of mine. So, do you believe me now?”

She glared at me for a second, but, before she could respond, we heard a voice shout, “Porsha! What are you doing?”

Behind the woman stood an extremely muscular man with a mask over his face. He had lifeless eyes and long, locked hair. His presence alone was intimidating, not to mention his voice. I was in awe. It was as if he just appeared out of nowhere.

Next Chapter: ENTER THE DRAGON