As Rarian walks through the woods, he remembers the times where he and Anya would play around, collect fruits and nuts, or find treasures. Of course, whenever it was about to rain, they would hurry back to their home immediately and watch as their parents would close up their homes and caves. No entrance must be left unopened, according to their parents.

Rarian also heard stories from his dad and other dragons in the village about ‘Devils’, which many of them described as evil forces, like what his dad mentioned earlier. Monsters that lurk in the foggy rain, hunting down anything to devour whether that’d be dragon, animal, or livestock.

Rarian was the skeptical type as he just believes these are just stories told by their parents to scare their hatchlings from leaving during the rain.

“Devils…” Rarian thought to himself, “I wonder if I’ll encounter some. Dad always leaves me alone in the cave because he wants to protect me”

Rarian shrugged at that thought considering all he did for the last 12 years of his life was being isolated in the cave. Just eat, sleep, play, go home whenever it rains or becomes dark, rinse and repeat. It felt tedious in his eyes and was wondering if this whole “devil” thing was truly something to be feared as his elders say.

He listens to the sounds of birds chirping and the distant sounds of dragons from the village. “I do enjoy a nice walk from time to time, it’s probably better than being stuck in a cave,” Rarian said to himself.

He eventually arrived at the Great Lake, one of the largest water bodies in Tatsukan. Looking at the reflection of the lake, it was a bit murkier than last time he ventured here. The surface of the lake was covered in water moss and algae, but across the deeper end, there were less of them.

As he sat down, Rarian removed his hoodie whilst enjoying the peaceful and serene nature of the lake. Looking at the lake once more, he was reminded of one of his dad’s stories about this lake involving one of his so-called “war” stories.

Long ago, when Merlinus was a youthful dragon, he woke up with slight amnesia near the lake. He didn’t exactly remember what happened, but only said that something terrible occurred. Yet he remembers losing his friends whom he can still remember their names, but forgot what lead up to that point.

Last thing he remembers was hearing the voice of an old friend, apologizing for their actions for not protecting them hard enough. When Rarian asked who this friend was, his dad just replied with “It’s a story for another time”.

“Typical,” Rarian thought, rolling his eyes. But at the same time, he is concerned for his dad's well-being, worried that he might dive into something worse. He has been doing this for more than several months now, yet he refuses to talk more about it to his own son as if he is afraid.

“C’mon dad… at least keep your promise this time when you come home tonight. I want to help you ever since mom’s gone,” Rarian said to himself pensively.

He didn’t realize he went and drifted off to sleep.

RUMBLE!!

Rarian jolted up from the sound of a loud boom, it felt like a deafening thunder. He looked up and saw storm clouds approaching his way. “Oh shoot! A storm!? My dad is gonna kill me,” Rarian said worryingly.

However, he gave it a second thought. The more he thinks about it, maybe he wants to see an actual “devil” this time. Prove to himself that these things are not real as what his elders and his dad says.

Rarian looked around and saw a small grove of cattails nearby, to which he dove into the murky water and hid in between the cattails.

For some reason, a part of him tells him this is a bad idea. But another part of him wants to know the reason. What are these devils that he’s been hearing about? Are they truly evil and dangerous as people say they are? Nonetheless, he must find out.

Seconds passed, minutes passed. Nothing… No sign of life anywhere, but he felt a slight chill run down his spine when less birds began to chirp and fly about.

Just as the first flash of lightning appeared, in an instant, all of the birds in the area stopped chirping. As if they were being more conspicuous to the predator that’s about to come out, effectively becoming harder to locate.

Then, when the first droplet of rain fell, the humidity increased and fog started to form. But Rarian kept on waiting like a stubborn child seeking validation.

C’mon, just a little more… Rarian thought to himself.

When even more minutes passed and rain began to fall, Rarian felt disappointed that he wasted his time. Maybe it was a coincidence that those birds suddenly stopped the moment rain fell or when that lightning flashed?

Nonetheless, he should head home. His dad is probably worried sick about him. As he stepped out of the grove of cattails, he heard the sound of rustling nearby, as if something or someone was about to come out of the woods.

“I know dad, I’m sorry for not going home sooner…” Rarian said, expecting his dad to come running at him in an angry parental tone. But instead, it was another dragon?

“Hm? Oh? Hello mister!” Rarian waved, “What are you doing out here in the rain?”

The dragon looked at Rarian and their appearance was more clearer the moment they stepped out of the fog. Their color was unlike any dragon they’ve ever seen. They’re not colorful like flowers, nor were they green like foliage. Their posture was like that of a hunchback, and their wings were torn and ripped, like they’ve gotten into a wild fight. Along with them being covered in thick thorns and vines. They also seem to be looking down, avoiding eye contact on the child.

“Help me… I’m so cold… I can’t find any shelter,” the strange dragon cried out.

“Oh! Are you hurt?” Rarian asked, gently approaching the dragon with open arms but something about this feels wrong. Extremely wrong.

Rarian took a step back, something in his head is telling him this dragon is dangerous. But he brushed it off thinking he's probably being irrational, despite how "weird-looking" the dragon looks like.

“I'm sorry if you're mad. I didn’t mean to startle you, little one,” the dragon softly said, trying to assure Rarian they wouldn't hurt him.

“S-startle? But I didn’t do anything… I just need some safe space, y’know,” Rarian whimpered, feeling mildly uncomfortable.

“You know I would never hurt you on purpose,” the dragon said, still trying to avoid eye contact.

Okay, now this is really uncomfortable, Rarian thought. He felt like his heart was about to explode out of his chest. The thunder began to rumble in the distance and the rain began to pour on him and the strange dragon.

“I’m sorry, I should go,” Rarian apologized before attempting to leave.

However, the dragon said something that shook Rarian to his core. “If you cared about me, you would help out a fellow LushFang Dragon, young Rarian?”

Rarian’s eyes widened and turned around to face the strange dragon. “W-what?! Who… who are you?” Rarian stammered.

“One of the villagers in your village, ostracised because I got bitten and infected with pestilence,” the dragon said, with an unnerving smile. Rarian can see their sharp razor teeth alongside viper-like fangs.

Pestilence? Infection? Bitten? Rarian also heard of this, an infection caused from devils and lower ranking devils called Pestilence Beasts. Wait a second…

“A-are you…?!”

The dragon chuckled and then looked up at last, revealing their eyes are slitted, much like a snake or any other ambush predators. This, this is…! This is no mere dragon!

This is a Devil!