The monster’s blood-red eyes slowly scanned the bank of the stream; they had a cruel gleam.
Its gaze slowly settled on Noir, then on the little white wolf. Its rough tongue ran over its fangs; it seemed to be deciding which of the two would be the first course of its dinner.
Noir tensed up; his situation was only getting worse as the minutes ticked by.
’It’s all because of that damn LED light that brought me to this damn place.’
The creature took a step forward; the dark scales covering its body glistened with forest moisture, and its enormous claws left deep marks in the muddy ground.
The little dragon tried to sit up, and the pain in his side was immediate; his legs gave way again.
’...Perfect. I can’t run.’
On the other side of the stream, the wolf cub wasn’t in any better shape either.
It tried to put weight on its front paw; a whimper escaped its muzzle... and it fell back onto the grass.
The two lay motionless—the little black dragon and the little white wolf.
The monster let out a satisfied growl; it had understood the same thing.
...No one could escape it.
Despite the desperate situation, Noir took a deep breath, trying to endure the pain; he couldn’t give up so easily.
’Think... think—there has to be something that will let me survive this situation, but what could it be that will help me?’
His mana reserve was almost nonexistent; he hadn’t had enough time to recover. At most, he could use a single ability once... or twice.
Will that be enough?
The monster took another step, then another; it seemed in no hurry at all; it was as if it knew that its two wounded prey would never escape.
Noir quickly scanned his surroundings—the stream, the rocks, the trees, the roots sticking out of the ground—anything that might be of use to him.
’Damn it! Come on! There’s got to be something!’
Then he heard a soft growl.
The little black dragon turned its head; the cub was watching it. Its blue eyes were still full of suspicion.
...But there was no longer any hostility.
Noir sighed, calming his mind.
’Great... to think that a little pup like this will help me calm down—I’m still an imperfect dragon...’ He chuckled to himself, remembering a certain character who claimed to be perfect.
’Well, let’s try to survive this.’
Noir sat up, his body screaming in pain, but he had to persevere.
The monster crouched on its hind legs, preparing to attack.
The little dragon’s Draconic Senses kicked in.
’Now!’
Noir opened his mouth; what little mana he had left surged through his throat, and a small flame shot out.
It wasn’t the devastating Dragon’s Breath of before; it was just a puff of fire... But it was enough to force the monster to close its eyes for a moment.
’Let’s run!’
He didn’t know why he had shouted that; maybe he was too used to the golden sphere, so he wasn’t sure if the pup would understand.
The wolf reacted purely on instinct.
Both of them tried to run with all their might.... However, they both stumbled at the same time.
Noir rolled downhill, and the puppy fell face-first into the mud.
"..."
"..."
For a split second, they stared at each other; the little black dragon wanted to burrow into the ground out of embarrassment.
’...We’re pathetic.’
The monster roared. It clearly wasn’t in the mood for this; a massive claw came crashing down on them.
Noir rolled to the left.
The pup went to the right.
The ground exploded on impact; rocks and mud flew everywhere.
A rock accidentally hit the little wolf on the head, and he responded with an indignant bark.
Not at the monster, but... at Noir!
’Why are you looking at me?! What did I do wrong?!’
The little dragon had barely finished thinking that when another rock flew toward him. This time, it struck one of his horns directly.
’...That hurt.’
The golden sphere suddenly appeared in front of them both and spun frantically, as if in desperation. It shot off into the trees and then returned.
It repeated the process three times, and Noir, of course, understood; it was showing them a way to escape.
The monster roared again.
They didn’t have much time left.
Noir looked at the puppy.
The puppy looked back at him.
Neither trusted the other, but they both understood one thing: staying there meant certain death.
The little dragon clumsily pointed with a claw in the direction indicated by the sphere.
The cub hesitated for just a moment.
Then, limping, he began to run.
Noir did the same.
Neither of them was fast.
More than a flight, it seemed like a contest to see who would fall the fewest times; behind them, the monster’s roar shook the entire forest once again.
And, for the first time since they woke up by the stream... a black dragon and a small white wolf fled in the same direction.
Not because they were friends.
But rather because Magical Valley had just decided that both were on the same menu.
***
The monster burst out of the bushes with a deafening roar.
Its body plowed through the vegetation as if the branches were mere strands of grass, uprooting young saplings and sending leaves flying in all directions.
Noir barely had time to react before he shoved the little wolf’s head forward.
The pup reacted purely on instinct. Its legs were still trembling, but it began to run alongside the dragon anyway.
The difference was ridiculous.
One moved forward, taking small, clumsy hops on its four new legs.
The other seemed to have forgotten what coordination was.
The wolf tripped over the first root it came across.
It rolled downhill.
The two were tangled up for a second as the monster continued to approach.
Noir slowly raised his head.
The predator was there.
’...I think we just made fools of ourselves in the face of our own death.’
Without wasting any more time, the little black dragon grabbed the cub by the scruff of its neck with his teeth and began to run again.
The wolf protested by kicking its legs in the air.
’Stop kicking! I’m trying to save us!’
The golden sphere flew past them, leaving a desperate flash behind it, pointing the way through the trees.
The branches kept brushing against its scales as they made their way through bushes that were too dense for its size.
Behind them, the monster’s every stride made the ground tremble.
Noir finally let go of the pup when they both reached a small clearing.
’Now run on your own!’
The wolf took two steps.
It tripped over its own feet.
And fell face-first onto the ground.
’...’
Noir closed his eyes for a moment.
’Why did the universe pair me up with someone even more useless than me?’
He didn’t have time to keep complaining; his eyes frantically scanned the surroundings.
Then he saw a slope covered with loose rocks.
A horrible idea occurred to Noir.
’...That’s a terrible idea.’
’...So it’ll probably work.’
Without giving it a second thought, Noir pushed the pup toward the slope.
The little wolf immediately rolled downhill.
’That’s exactly what I wanted to avoid!’
Noir sighed resignedly and jumped after him.
A second later, they were both tumbling around without a shred of dignity.
The pup crashed into Noir.
Noir hit a rock.
Then they both bounced off a fallen log.
And they kept running.
Behind them, the monster tried to chase them, but its size worked against it for the first time. When it put one of its legs on the slope, the ground gave way.
The rocks tumbled down along with the monster.
For a few moments, the entire valley seemed to turn into an avalanche.
Noir barely managed to protect his head as he kept rolling.
’I’ll never... ever... criticize... falls... in movies again!’
Finally, they were both hurled off the edge of the slope.
SPLASH!
They fell straight into a deep pond connected to the stream.
The water cushioned the impact.
Just a little.
Noir surfaced, coughing, while the little wolf floated to the surface on its back.
The little dragon immediately pushed it toward the shore.
The cub slowly opened one eye.
Then it sneezed.
It was still alive.
Then a roar echoed through the valley once more.
They both slowly turned their heads.
The monster was still at the top of the slope. But it couldn’t get down right away because of the landslide it had caused.
’I guess... we survived.’
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