[The enhancement of the body coalesces in the legs]
Egan watched as the cloaked man dashed by him, the young horned girl still shackled. After noticing the severed horn on her head, Egan felt furious. This despicable monster didn't deserve to live. All of the rage and pent-up emotions that Egan had been subconsciously holding back since arriving here began to swell.
He enhanced his legs, soon pursuing the pair again. Since they were going in the opposite direction, they began smothered by smoke, obscuring Egan's sight just a little bit. He began to enhance his body further, shooting across the rooftops as the smoke became denser.
Hazy and thick.
The flow of mist hinders his movements.
He needs to go faster.
Shattering of shingles resonated at his feet while he darted through the ash cloud. With each step he takes, he hears the screaming of civilians, along with the destruction of their homes. But he couldn't focus on saving everyone if he couldn't manage to save her.
His vision was pinpoint, as though looking through a keyhole. He just needed to get through that door and save her.
Reach
'Damn it, Egan, Reach!'
He draws his hand out closer and closer to the target. He can practically feel the girl's essence zap his finger. Her skin was only inches away.
'Reach!'
[An ominous presence is felt]
[It surrounds Egan, completely]
Within an instant, five cloaked figures launch out from the smoke, blowing away what remained. All of the Fire Emblems charged at him, their assortments of weapons drawn, aimed directly at his face. Egan was too focused on this girl he began to neglect his surroundings.
He got carried away in the moment, disregarding the suffering people around him, all for something selfish. He let his guard down, only focusing on the man in front of him. It blinded him to other phenomena, and now he is paying the price.
With a quick draw of his blade, Egan slices one of the men in two. His spine cracks as the blade carries through him. His body incinerates as he falls to the ground.
Egan Dashed forward to continue his pursuit, still set on saving the girl. These low-level insects will not stop the young dragon.
But enough insects can swarm a giant.
With the following step, two more of the Emblems began their attack, swinging their swords high and low, trying to scissor-cut Egan. Quickly, egan grabs one of the blades, his finger being severed from the blow while jumping over the other. Egan's moves were sloppy and unrefined, that of a child imitating his hero. Egan swung Skyrend at the leftmost Fire Emblem, the shockwave sending Egan's hand flying, the clash of power giving the young dragon an opening. With a quick kick, Egan launches the clashing Fire Emblem into a neighboring house, the roof collapsing inwards from the shock.
The other Fire Emblem shoots up, aiming her sword directly into Egan's eye.
He enhances his legs, shooting himself further toward the horned captive, narrowly missing the strike to the eye. He still needed to stay on task. Getting distracted by the other Fire Emblems could cost him the girl. The surroundings grew hotter the further into the town they got, each wave of heat hitting them like a rushing tsunami. The smoke was getting denser. Egan was only guided by the sense of essence in the girl. He was barely able to see in front of him.
From the smoke, another Fire emblem shoots out, blowing the dust away with a shockwave. He was strong, his thick sword colliding with Egan's Skyrend. The impact shoots away all the smoke surrounding them. With an enhancement of his arms, Egan follows through with the strike, using Skyrend to shoot a wave of intense flame at the cloaked figure. The strike sent the man flying, his clothes singed from the burning heat.
Egan reaches his hand out towards the catapulting man, who is now a decent ways away. While Egan is pursuing the girl, he begins to harness the essence within himself.
Resonate
With an explosion, divine flame wraps around Egan, the shockwave sending the smoke around them even further away. Egan harnesses his flame into his hand, claws forming from his fingertip.
He raises his outstretched hands, his horns now radiating a crimson red flame. His eyes began burning with an intense hatred.
He was going to kill this Fire Emblem, no matter the destruction he caused.
***
For that split moment, his flank was open.
*STAB*
A blade from one of the other Fire Emblems lodges into his back.
The sudden sting of the blade hitting his liver sends his body into shock.
His adrenaline was pumping.
Waves of pain flow through him like an orchestra playing their finest minuet.
The knife lodges deeper, shooting more signals to his brain. The area around the blade begins to steam, melting it. With a swift spin, Egan kicks the cloaked figure, their body bouncing across the rooftops like a stone skipping water.
They were getting away.
Egan cannot let them get away.
He made a promise to himself, breaking it now is not an option. For his own sake he needed to save this girl. Not just because it was the right thing to do, but he felt as though he needed to do so. He didn't want to become even more of a failure than he already thought he was.
The crushing of shingles beneath him resonates as he continues to ricochet between houses. Jumping down into the street, the cloaked figure begins to use the crowd of people as cover.
Despicable behavior. A rat with his tail cut off.
Egan still pursued from the rooftops, the crowd obscuring his senses. His touch on them began to dim with each passing second. He needed to get closer. He needed to lose the other Fire Emblems. He needed to refocus
He dashed into a nearby alley, trying to get a vantage point from where he was. He could still discern the girl's location due to her unusual essence density. Maybe that was why they kidnapped her? But because of that, Egan could locate her. After collecting his breath for but a brief moment, he hears a shingle crack above him.
[Another presence is felt above Egan]
With a quick leap, another Fire emblem jumps down from the rooftops, slamming his sword into the ground, Egan narrowly dodges it.
These bastards were persistent.
Egan lunged at the cloaked figure, putting his boot on his face. With a kick, he slammed his head into the ground, his brain matter painting the street, showing his imagination strewn across the alleyway in front of them.
Because of the impact, Egan was able to launch himself out of the alleyway.
[A swift black zooms by from his peripheral]
The pair have left the street.
Egan could pursue them again.
With a large grin, he began to laugh. He launched himself at the pair, the full force of his increase leaving the surrounding houses he jumped from destroyed.
This jump launched Egan at unmeasurable speed, catching up to them in an instant.
Egan wasn't holding back anymore.
This form of mockery was no way to treat a dragon.
With a demonic grin and pinpoint eyes, he reaches the pair within moments. Launching past them, reaching his hand down to try and grab the girl from the leader. Egan's enhanced perception kicked in, analyzing the man this closely was a first. His cloak was different, more refined. As though subtly admitting seniority among others in the Fire Emblem hierarchy.
Egan was now looking up towards the cloaks back, his body completely upside down as he launched at the man from the side. He needed to grab onto her.
His fingers reach out trying desperately to make contact.
Closer
He swiped his hand, trying to reach the chain.
Closer
A small tink in the chain rattles through Egan's fingers as he misses the poor girl. The Emblem leader had ducked just in time, to narrowly dodge Egan's swing.
Egan was moving too fast; he had no way to slow down.
The move was desperate.
And because of it, he failed to reach her…
But he wasn't about to give up now.
With a twist of his body, he lands on the town wall, a good two hundred meters away, shooting himself back at the leader. His body engulfed in flame propels his movement, moving him faster than he's ever gone before.
Egan reaches his hand out, begging for it to connect.
Each vein in his body pulsates the will to strive. To triumph.
'I will… I will reach you!'
Egan was closing in at breakneck speed.
Inches away from the girl.
[An explosion rings in his ear]
A pillow of dust clouds his view for a moment, but his speed never altered. Blowing past this cloud was nothing for the soaring comet hurdling towards the pair.
Within an instant of the explosion, Egan charges through the smoke. His body still glowing with the intense heat of a supernova, and his eyes radiated the presence of a supreme dragon. The very essence itself seems to form wings around Egan, wings the young dragon has missed so very dearly. With this, he soars.
"…"
The pair was out of sight. Gone.
But their presence…
It was still there.
'Below me!'
Egan shifted his body to look down. What he saw was the Emblem leader looking back at him, his back to the ground below. His eyes, a deep forest green. Familiar eyes. Ones he recognized.
Egan puts his hand on Skyrend, ready to strike down his foe once and for all.
But before he could…
PIERCE*
The long stake of a spear pierces the back of the young dragon, hollowing him out and pinning his movements in midair. The wave of pain flooded the young dragon as his spinal cord was severed. Each one of his internal organs skewered, the blood shooting down towards the pair beneath them. The ungodly amount of pain shot straight to his mind, which was screaming to escape his body but couldn't. His eyes roll back as his body begins to regenerate, the steam melting the spear.
As he regains his senses, he quickly spins his body, severing the last remaining attacker's head with Skyrend. The shockwave of the slash left a mark on the clouds above.
Egan was distracted by the Fire Emblem.
He wasn't paying attention to the bigger threat beneath him.
Before he could turn around, he freezes.
Each one of Egan's limbs is stunned, completely locked in place. It was as though every single one of his body parts was shackled by an invisible chain. The chain was strong. Egan tried to break out, but he couldn't move. He was completely stuck. With each writhe of the young dragon the invisible chains grew tighter, squeezing the life out of him little by little, only for it to be regenerated just moments later. It was agonizing. With a thud, Egan collapses to the ground, now struggling to break them upon the town's floor. These chains were holding down a dragon and winning.
He began to use resonance to break out, causing an explosion that broke him from that spell. The process sent the entire block into nothingness.
He looks up.
Struggling to get to his feet he begins to look around for the enemy.
Struggling to keep his eyes open.
Egan's face grew pale.
He knew what had just happened. He felt it in his very soul. The thing he tried so hard to protect had just slipped through his fingers.
He collapses to his knees, looking out over the charred remains of the town block he was in.
'She's gone…'
The sight of the young girl.
Along with the presence.
Have completely disappeared.