I Raised A Black Dragon

“Hold on a second…”

Noah grabbed Kyle by the sleeve as he tried to stand up. He smiled at her and lightly uncurled her hand. Noah did not miss the way his touch lingered for longer than was necessary.

“Muell will come soon. Just hang on for a little bit more.” Kyle whispered as he tucked Noah’s hair behind her ear and got to his feet. Noah stared in disbelief as he walked away, wondering how he could be so blasé about the casual physical contact and walk off so naturally like nothing had happened. He may be acting like the small gesture of tucking her hair behind her ears was normal, but she could feel the heat rising to her face.

“That man, I swear…” she muttered under her breath. As she contemplated what was going on, she felt a gust of wind blow from the balcony on top of the hotel. She turned in the direction of the wind to see Muell flying down and landing on the ground.

The impact he had on the ground caused the ladder, which was already hanging by a few loose screws, to completely detach from the outer wall and crumble to the floor in a pile of scrap metal. Muell vanished in a puff of black smoke and within a few seconds, he transformed back into a small child.

“Noah!”

Muell called her name as he launched himself at her. Pain instantly shot through her as he landed on her with a thud. Noah, struggling to catch her breath, barely managed to compliment him.

“Good… job, Muell. You came right on time.”

Hugging him tightly in her arms, she kept her eyes on Kyle as he was restraining Adrian’s wrists. As she explained everything that had taken place, she winced as she witnessed Kyle stomping on Adrian's injured arm. She had never heard a soft crunching sound like that before.

A few minutes later, Kyle approached Noah and knelt down in front of her.

“Earlier, you said you hit a rail. What did you hit? Your arm?”

His face and voice were full of emotions, but Noah couldn’t notice any difference from usual.

“Below my collarbone.” She murmured, unbuttoning the top of her blouse and sliding it off her shoulder. She hissed as the fabric brushed over her skin. Glancing down, she gasped at the bruising below her collarbone, the dark colour contrasting against her skin.

“Close your eyes, Noah.” Muell said as he closed his own. Noah reluctantly did as he asked, flinching slightly when his hands lightly pressed against her bruise. Within a few seconds, the pain radiating from her collarbone and down her arm began to subside.

A warm and tingly sensation spread throughout her nerves, and soon she could no longer feel the bruise. She opened her eyes as Muell’s hand moved away from her collarbone, and she looked down to see that the ghastly bruise had completely faded away. Cautiously, she lifted her arm up and marveled at how easy and painless everything was.

“How are you feeling, Noah?” Kyle said, still crouched down in front of her. “Any pain?”

“Thank you, Mu.” Noah said with a smile, before turning to face Kyle. “I’m not in pain anymore. The ancient miracles have worked their magic again.”

She hoped that he would back away to allow her to stand up and examine the scene that had unfolded, but instead he reached out and gently took her hand. Startled, Noah snatched it away. She regretted it as the pathetic sight of Kyle’s face, which was full of hurt.

“I want you to promise me something, Noah.” Kyle said, not meeting her gaze. “I want you to promise that you will never leave my sight ever again. I cannot bear the thought of you being alone.”

Noah scoffed. After all she had done, going into the so-called hotel and solving the problem by herself, even going as far as to find Adrian and rescue Lenia… Kyle did not trust her in the slightest.

“Look at all I have done!” She gestured to the factory. “I did this! I solved the mystery! And aside from hitting my collarbone on the railing, I am perfectly alright!”

“That’s not what I mean, Noah!” Kyle grabbed her by the arms. “Yes, you solved all of this, but did you ever stop to think about how I felt? You could have died and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to help!” Kyle exasperated. He sighed heavily and lowered his head. “I’m sorry. You did what you had to do, and I appreciate that. You were the one who told me not to get hurt, and then look what happened to you.”