Chapter 45 - 'That dog is on fire!”

Looking around the landscape, the phrase "Hell on Earth" was probably the best description Aiden could come up with. The color palette changed, now it was dominated by the various shades of red, the air was tinted with a lighter variation, with the occasional dark red fluff-s floating high above, probably functioning as the local variant of clouds. The barren plateau they arrived at, was of a dark color, almost black, with a slight red hue going through it.

To the north, at the distance, the edges of an unknown forest could be seen. To the south, opposite from the forest, he could see a long mountain line functioning as a sort of barrier, marking the very end of this 'world'. To their left and right, Aiden could see nothing as far as his eyes could go. All-in-all, the whole place seemed huge, bigger than he anticipated when he heard that this was specially created overnight, just for them.

Looking at the still visibly shaken girl, he decided to give her a little push and let her decide their first destination.

"Hey big sis, since you are the older, wiser of us, where would you want to go first?"

Startled by the sudden question and responsibility, Lily looked up at Aiden and timidly answered.

"I-I don't know! Everything is so scary! I just wanna go home…"

Patting her head, Aiden meekly tried to soothe the young girl's troubled heart.

"Lily, the place looks scary because they want us to grow up and become strong. We have to be strong if we don't want bad things to happen to us anymore. You want to be protected, or you want to be the one that protects what's dear to your heart? You have to decide now and pick the road towards that goal!"

Hearing Aiden's words, Lily closed her eyes, and balled her fists. After a good minute of silence, she finally exhaled, and as she opened her eyes, the newborn sparks of determination could be seen. Raising her balled right fist to the air, she looked at it, and with a cute, yet determined voice she exclaimed.

"You are right brother! I am the big sister, I need to be responsible! I don't want to be protected all my life, I should be able to do that. I need to protect Granny and my brother." As if not noticing that the one he is talking about is standing right next to her, she continued with this newfound zeal. "Mostly brother, he can be stupid sometimes, but he has a big heart, and I love him!"

Smiling wryly, Aiden simply rewarded the girl's exclamation with a few head pats, that was received with some giggles.

Only after she received her just reward, did she continue.

"To answer your earlier question brother, we should head towards that forest in the distance. I have this weird tingly feeling that something important to us is there. Maybe there's the first test?"

"Hmm... you could be right for what we know. I doubt we have anything to do with the mountain line to the south, and towards our east and west, we know nothing of. Judging from what we know of this place currently, our best option is to go towards that forest and gather more information as we go. Good job, Lily!" as a reward he patted her head again which was, once again received with a few delighted giggles.

With their direction picked, hands held, they started making their way through the desolate red plateau towards their destination.

---

"Are you sure, this was the best way to train them? Sending them away to a pocket dimension filled with horrors, and ruin the next few years of their childhood? Lily has been through a lot already…" said Granny with a voice full of worry as she was still looking at the spot where both kids vanished from.

Sighing, Number 3 shook her head as she answered.

"*Sigh*, I know this looks very cruel from the outside, but believe me that this is exactly what they need. If you continue to shelter and protect that little girl, she will never be able to grow up and move past her trauma. She needs to face her demons head-on and learn how to overcome them. She also has Aiden with her, and if worst comes to worst, we can pull them out anytime."

"Yes, that's true. I still worry though. It's still too sudden. A day ago we didn't really know who you were, we just knew that you were always here, watching our every move. In fact, it was Aiden who convinced me that you are not a bad person and have no ill will against us. *sigh* That boy is something else…"

"That he is… Come to think of it, what IS he exactly? I'm sure he is not an ordinary human, but I also don't think he is a dragon either. Dragons of his age shouldn't be able to take on human forms… However, that Aura from back then, that was something I only felt once, and that was from Dragon Royalty. Is he some sort of hybrid?"

Granny looked at Number 3, and with the gentle smile on her face emerging, replacing the worry, she answered.

"To be honest I don't know. My best guess is that he is some sort of Ancient Dragon, he just 'hatched' from his egg less than a month ago. It was in a crater next to the riverbed in the forest. Might be that something destroyed the area around it, and as a result, leave some sort of hibernation prison that it was placed in… I don't exactly know, but what I know is that he has incredible power still sleeping untapped within him, waiting from him to wake it up. Once he manages to control that power of his… It's gonna be spectacular…"

"Ancient Dragon you say? Hmm... " Creasing her brows and caressing her chin, she submerged into deep thought. Several minutes of silence passed before she continued. "I'm not entirely sure, but maybe you are right. There are no records that describe Ancient Dragons, after all, they have Ancient in their names for a reason. It's just… I have this feeling, that maybe, just maybe he is something more, so much more…"

Then turning her head to face Granny, she asked.

"By the way, did you see him fight? How is it?"

"Yes, we went hunting for wolves once, as since we took him in, he preferred meat over anything else. That's the part that puzzled me the most, he is not picking the food he eats based on taste, but on how much it can fill him, or something similar. He never really explained, but from when he first arrived, he tasted everything then settled on the meat eventually, since then he exclusively ate only meat during every meal." Said Granny.

Listening to what she said, Number 3 answered after some thinking.

"He is picking food based on how much energy it contains. Interesting... Anyways, tell me about how he fought during the hunt!"

"He had no real fighting style, he fought with instinct. During combat he seemed to be able to control the transformation and restrict it only to his hands, turning them into claws. Using his claws, he simply tore through all the wolves." answered Granny.

"Hmm, I see. If that's true, then once they get back from their first trial, we will need to do some adjustments in the pocket world, alter it a bit…"

Then, turning around, she started walking back to the house. A few steps in, she stopped and waved back towards Granny.

"Come, let's get inside. There's no use standing here, it will be a few days at least before they get back, maybe even a month…"

Sighing, Granny turned around as well and started walking inside. She couldn't help but worry about both of them, but especially for Lily, as she is still just a small girl with a great trauma plaguing her heart… Hopefully, she will be able to conquer her fears, and grow strong and could proudly stand beside Aiden…

---

Back to the duo in the pocket world, after a long and arduous walk through the dead plateau, they finally arrived at the edges of the forest. Looking inside, it looked eerie. Same to everything here, the red color dominated the entirety, as if this whole world was deliberately painted in the color of blood just to rattle the calmest of minds, set in that never-ceasing uneasiness.

Gulping, Lily shook her head, then, looking at Aiden, with the same determination she had before, she said.

"Okay brother, let's go, we have to be brave! Let's explore this forest, and hopefully, we can gather some more clues about our whereabouts!"

Without waiting for his answer, she started marching ahead. Smiling at this event, Aiden quickly followed along…

A few minutes and only a few hundred meters into the depths they suddenly heard a howl that gave both of them the chills, just ahead of them, through the dense scrubs.

Aiden placed his hands on Lily's shoulders and gently pulled her back, behind him.

"Stay behind me, and let me check what that was, okay?"

Not letting herself be protected and staying helpless anymore, she shook her head, and passed Aiden, making her way through the shrubs.

"No brother, I can't always stay behind helplessly. I have to be strong, I have to-" She stopped abruptly as what she saw when she peeked through stunned her.

Ahead, in a small clearing, looking at them and growling a big black dog covered in flames stood still. However, despite how it looked, the flames didn't seem to hurt the creature at all…

"Look, brother, that dog is on fire!"