Chapter 1: Return of the Dragon-Wolf

"Ahwoo!" a howl shot into the air. But it wasn't an ordinary howl. Sunrise had a shadowy figure in the middle of the valley, a human figure in the middle of the valley, a human figure. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" The figure yelled. The echo went for miles, and then finally large wings appeared in the sky. "I got you!" The figure said and started running in the direction of the wings, so fast it was a blur. "Get back here it's almost time to go home!" He ordered. The wings didn't listen; instead, they shot a fireball in his direction. "You love to play games at the wrong time" the figure grunted. As the fireball got closer it got brighter, revealing a young man in his early 20's. His hair was shoulder length black in the style of dreadlocks in a ponytail. His skin was light brown and smooth. Still running at a rapid rate took out a katana and swings it releasing a whirlwind towards the fireball. The impact made an explosion and it lit up the valley and the sky revealing a dragon and a mountain in the distance. Come on lets go home!" he barked at the dragon. It flew in circles for a while and then finally landed in front of him. "Good boy." The young man said patting its head. "Good training Ozaku, time to go home boy." He said while climbing onto its back. "How come you're not talking today?" He asked the dragon. He could tell something was wrong. It looked back at him with its left eye and gave him no reply and took flight. The wind was cold and harsh in the morning sky; it revealed 4 medallions that the boy wore around his neck. "Almost there, I can see it from the horizon." He said to the dragon. But something wasn't right. As they got closer to their village they could see it was invaded by a foreign army. "Stop short over there." He told the dragon indicating some woods near the village. "Wait here until my signal." He ordered and snuck slowly towards the village. As he got closer he gripped his sword from the sight of a few damaged buildings. Some were on fire, some were broken into, and he moved cunningly to his hut which was untouched yet, but soldiers were getting close. He needed to get in  and fast. He snuck in through the back window grabbed a few items and started to head back out the window but it was too late. A solider came in in the hut. "Found another one!" he yelled. "Now!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs. Ozaku flew over the village causing a distraction long enough for him to escape out the back window and pull his sword out. One advantage of having a dragon for a spirit partner was telepathic communication. "Meet me at the temple." He signaled. With Ozaku being so large the soldiers were shocked dragons were in such a small region that they barely knew what to do until one gathered up the courage to rally up the troops to fight. Moving as fast as he could the boy zipped through the village heading towards the village temple until he heard a cry in a burning building. As he came to a halt he looked around to make sure the area was clear. It was the medicine doctor's hut. He could see inside and It was the doctor's two kids, his closest friends: his son Rio and his daughter Rya. Rya had long black hair that reached to the middle of her back, and light brown skin. Rio had shoulder length black hair in the style of cornrows, and his skin was the same complexion as his twin sister. Rya saw him and yelled "Kiba! Help me, my brother is stuck." Kiba swung his sword and said a chant. "Aqua de Vida." Causing a small wave of water to put out the fire at the front door. As he walked into the hut he could see a beam fell over Rio's legs and Rio was trying hard to lift it off of himself. Kiba stuck his sword in the ground and helped Rio lift the beam off him. "The rest of the village is captured, grab as much medicine your dad taught you to use, were getting out of here." He told them. They grabbed as much medicine as they could and followed Kiba out. "We're meeting Ozaku at the temple!" he said as they stared running. The doctor's children were twins so they looked just alike, with the exception one was a boy and the other was a girl. "But the temple is on the other side of the village, do we have that kind of time?"  Rya asked in a worried voice. "I'm positive." He answered. As they moved through the village they saw a few dead bodies of people they knew which made Rya throw up. Rya could do nothing but cry by the amount of bodies. The further in the village they got the more bodies they saw. "We're almost there" Kiba said. He knew the village more than anyone. Especially the temple area. It was required for all priests in training learn the area. As Ozaku became more visible soldiers became visible too. "Rio do you have a weapon on you?" kiba asked. "knife." He replied. "that'll do for now. Just follow my lead." He ordered and pulled out his katana. Ozaku had the soldiers distracted so it was to sneak up from behind. Kiba stabbed one through the back while rio slit ones throat, both assassination style. They cleared the bodies of all weapons and gave rya one. Rya who trained with them never thought she would actually have to kill someone was a little nervous. Luckily for them they had a dragon on their side. Rushing through all the commotion they finally made it to ozaku and flew out of the village. An arrow wizzed past kiba's head nipping his ear and left a scratch on his cheek. "where did these soldiers come from?" kiba asked. From the west." Rio replied. "then we're heading east until we find out what we are up against." Kiba said. "Ozaku I remember when you were just a hatchling." Rya said hoping to get a reply. He still wasn't talking. "what's wrong with him?" she asked.  "I don't know." Kiba replied. "lets stop at the Shanglao village, that's where our parents are anyways." Rio said. Kiba's father was the head priest of their village. "when are you guys going to pick your spirit partner?" Kiba asked it was their year to pick a partner. It was village tradition, kiba was suppose to do the ceremony. "soon." Rio answered while checking through the medicine bag. Rya fell asleep during the ride. "I'm tired."  Ozaku said. "now he speaks." Kiba said sarcastically as they landed. "good boy, take a rest." He said grabbing one of his medallions. Ozaku turned into a ball of energy and shot into the medallion. "we'll camp here I guess." Kiba said taking his shirt off which covered his tribal markings. Rio took his off which showed his as well. Rya's tribal markings were on her face, not large but very visible. Kiba took his sword out and started cutting down trees to make a hut, rio hunted for animals to eat and set up traps around the perimeter. For a while it was peaceful, then they heard what they never thought they would hear. Gallops, but thy didn't hit the ground like normal gallops. Rya's medallion on her neck lit up. "I guess you get your spirit partner quicker than we thought." Rio said. She looked around and from behind a tree came a pegasas. It was black and brown, fine coat, long mane."rya?" it said. "yes." She replied. " you don't know how long I've been waiting for you. I'm Iban." The winged horse stated. The tribal markings on her face started to shift around and she could feel it. "that's normal, you'll get used to it, both of you will." Kiba said while he finished the final touches on the hut. "I'll check on the traps rio, you stay here with your sister your medallion and say the chant like I taught you." Kiba said while running off into the forest. She did as he said and iban galloped into a ball of energy and shot into her medallion which made a light that illuminated the area for five minutes.

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