Kai-Se was reduced to gawking as Nao-Zai slammed his hand on the floor. He watched tendrils of blue and white light swirl around the soldier and Han-Xi, drowning the puddle of blood spreading beneath them. His skin prickled when a foreign and fervent cold nipped at it, his feet skidding back a fraction of an inch from the strong gale accompanying it. Snow—a misplaced detail in this skyless cavern—whipped through the air, pelting Kai-Se's face and eyes.

Through the arm he threw over his face, he witnessed how the snow and shock made Han-Xi stumble away from his prey. The wisps of cold light engulfed Nao-Zai and grew. Apart from the silent hiss of korza in Kai-Se's ears, nothing else aided the event unfolding in front of him. His heart twinged. What's happening to Nao-Zai inside it?

He was about to step forward when a tiger's roar pierced through the dome of blue. One look at Han-Xi's wide, red eyes and nothing the small twitch of the dragon's claws told Kai-Se enough. For the first time, fear danced in the Amber Dragon's features as he watched a furry beast step out of the light and lower its head at him.

A hitched breath tore off Kai-Se. The new beast took the form of a tiger amplified to the size of a palace. White fur painted over with streaks of black shuffled with the cold wind billowing around it. Claws, both sharp and deadly, peeked in between its paws, ready to start tearing everything in its path. Its lips pulled up in a snarl, revealing sharp fangs glinting against the prison's dark ambience.

Nao-Zai was nowhere to be found, which only meant...

Another burst of wind drove Kai-Se's tangled hair off his forehead, created when the tiger dashed towards Han-Xi. Kai-Se's gut twinged as he watched the tiger slammed into the dragon in a flurry of growls and claw swipes. Han-Xi's tail flung in wild angles, leaving Kai-Se to weave through the chaos with his own intuition. Nao-Zai had been right in saying Kai-Se couldn't have dealt with this on his own, but the soldier had been wrong in thinking transforming into dead Divine Beast was the best way to go.

What would happen after the bead's power drained away? Would it take the essence of the original Divine Beast with it? How about Nao-Zai?

The images flashed in Kai-Se's head. He ducked under the tiger's tail and dashed between Han-Xi's legs as he clutched the sides of his head in an attempt to flush the bloody faces out. It's just a memory, belonging to a time and a world detached from them. It's merely his fear talking.

Kai-Se reached a considerable distance and whirled back. The tiger lunged, tail whishing in wild direction and claws extended. Han-Xi answered with an equal fierceness, meeting claw with teeth. Blood sprayed in the air. It's impossible to tell whose it was.

The sound of stone grating against bone rang in the air. Han-Xi pinned the tiger to the ground, grounding its spine into the flat but hard expanse. A crunch resounded, followed by the stringent howl piercing the sky. Then, Han-Xi stumbled off just as quickly, three bright red gashes stinging on his underside, the outer layer of golden scales already chipped off.

Kai-Se's eyes widened. A plan. The tiger had one.

The tiger pushed the rest of Han-Xi's body off with its hind paws and flipped back into action. Before Han-Xi could recover, the tiger's eyes flashed the deepest blue and zoomed ahead. Its claws slammed against the spot in Han-Xi's body still covered with tough scales. Then, Kai-Se watched as the tiger hooked its claws into some of the chinks and pulled. Han-Xi roared in pain. Gold plates didn't break even when they rained on the ground.

Han-Xi whipped his tail in defense, the red bristles that saw the demise of more than one life blazing towards the tiger. A cry meant to warn it halted in Kai-Se's throat as the tiger dragged its claws further down Han-Xi's snake-like body and swung a paw in the tail's trajectory. With a roar, the tiger dug its claws past the barbs, letting some prick its skin and stain its fur with red. Then, as Han-Xi's head dashed towards its exposed flank, it skirted to the tail's opposite side and let the dragon's teeth slam against his own appendage.

The tiger freed the tail and swung a paw down Han-Xi's snout. Then, without missing a beat, its claws extended further, curving and burying themselves deep between the dragon's eyes. With a powerful shove, the tiger forced Han-Xi's head to the ground. The rest of the dragon's body twiched against the ground like a fish out of water. His lips parted and fought against the force of the tiger's grip, grunts and whimpers useless as opposed to its deaf ears.

The claws cut deeper the harder the tiger applied pressure, making Han-Xi gasp in pain. His tail made one last attempt to catch the tiger off-guard by striking at the most random moment. Blue streaked in the air and met with red. A strong crunch blasted across the prison. Red bristles fell in pieces as the tiger's fangs sank on the flesh they're protecting. More red dripped into the floor, mixing together so it's impossible to tell whose it was from.

The tiger let go of Han-Xi's snout, yanking its paw out with a sickening squelch. The red in the dragon's eyes dimmed. When the tiger spoke, it was nowhere near like the mortal wavelengths Kai-Se had heard Nao-Zai spoke. "This ends now," the tiger's voice was both ethereal and haunting. It bounced across the prison, commanding even the roar of korza in Kai-Se's ears to still. "This will be the last thing you'll see in this lifetime."

Kai-Se's eyes widened when the mere notion of what the tiger was planning slipped into his mind. Wait. That's not...

Nao-Zai was the most gentle man Kai-Se had ever had the pleasure of meeting. He would never hurt someone when they're no longer out to kill him, or when they have made it clear they no longer could hurt him and those he protected. It's his rule as a soldier, as an Imperial Guard, and as whatever he had been to Kai-Se during these last few months.

Han-Xi gurgled with his own blood blotting his nostrils and spilling past his teeth and chin. The tiger touched a paw at the dragon's exposed neck and dragged its claws down, chipping more golden scales out from the pinkish flesh showing underneath.

No...

Kai-Se reached out. Nao-Zai—

The tiger opened its jaw and sank its teeth deep into Han-Xi's flank. Kai-Se ran forward, his heart pounding against his chest and threatening to break free. The dragon's lips parted in a silent scream as the tiger closed its jaw around a chunk of his flesh and didn't let go. Red drowned the white canvas and painted over the gold.

Kai-Se skidded to a stop a few meters off the two beasts grappling, his chest heaving. What's he supposed to do now? How in Shaoryeong's loins was he supposed to wrestle Nao-Zai off a Divine Beast who's clearly dying?

He didn't get to mull on that further because a distinct release of breath floated in the air. Han-Xi's eyes dimmed, like a lantern being snuffed out in the night. His tail jerked one last time before plopping to the ground. A harmless twine, albeit bloody.

Then, before his eyes, wisps of smoke flitted between the dragon's teeth. Within seconds a single sphere fell with a light thunk from his lips.

Even gold had darkened into a shade of earth.

Kai-Se released a breath he had no idea he had been holding. It wasn't of relief. Rather, it had more fear and dread. "Nao-Zai,"—no more than a whisper. Then, louder. "Nao-Zai."

The tiger turned to him. Blood stained its nose and lips and matted its mane. It stepped away from Han-Xi's motionless form, its paws thudding in silent brushes on the flat ground. Kai-Se studied its blue eyes, its passive stare, and the small creases starting to appear between its eyes.

He was able to get one step backwards when the tiger roared and lunged, claws flashing in the prison's endless darkness.

Crap.

He turned tail and threw his arms over his head. The tiger's claws sailed past his head. His chest tightened, his mind flicking through the realities of his situation now. Nao-Zai absorbed a Divine Beast's essence. Nao-Zai transformed into this stinking tiger. Tiger killed Han-Xi as easy as skinning a festival sausage. Tiger was now after him even though he did nothing but stand there and watch.

"Nao-Zai, it's me—"

His words were cut-off when the tiger swiped its paw at him. It took all of his flexibility to dodge and clamber away. The haunting feeling of those hooked blades slicing through his gut settled in his body. Then, he was running. Towards where? No idea.

A shadow fell over him and he turned just in time to see the tiger's fangs snap towards his face. He summoned his magic and found a drop left in his well. The prison cut-off anyone's magic besides the ones who made it, and that included this feral creature. Whatever. With a cry, he sent the last of his korza into the tiger's snout. What ensued was a shower of harmless lights, stinging its eyes.

That's all he needed.

Kai-Se scrambled from beneath the tiger and broke into a run. Distance. That's what he needed. Distance...and a lot of time. If he was going to spent an eternity with this creature, he'd really be in his best behavior in trying not to die.

A thought speared into his mind, making him double over. Nao-Zai turned into the tiger. Nao-Zai killed the Amber Dragon. Kai-Se blew a shaky breath, his heart throbbing inside his system in loud bursts that he felt it in his toes. He whirled to find the tiger bounding towards him with its blue eyes flashing with murderous intent.

He had reason to hope. Nao-Zai was still in there. He saw the tiger deal with Han-Xi, peeling off the golden scales first before sinking its teeth into tender flesh. It had let its body be hurt just so it could accomplish its goal. If that's not Nao-Zai, Kai-Se wouldn't know where this beast got that philosophy.

Nao-Zai's still there. He had to be. Because Kai-Se didn't know what would happen to both of them if the soldier wasn't.

The tiger neared, enough for its nigh-silent footfalls to send soft thuds into Kai-Se's ears. He gritted his teeth and whirled. His brain screamed at him to take cover. His limbs trembled, filled with the dire wish to start bringing him away from the rampaging creature about to maul his head off.

He stood his ground.

"Nao," he spoke despite the threat of his throat locking up and his chest squeezing the air out of his lungs. "I'm angry."

The tiger's shadow washed over him. He didn't close his eyes and forced himself to witness his own death, feel his own pain. He had ran from all sorts of things all his life. It's time he turn back and face one of them, even if it's the last thing he'd do.

Pain didn't come. Instead, the tiger slowed to a stop, its fangs inches from Kai-Se's limbs. The snarl didn't ease. The blue didn't fade.

Kai-Se exhaled. His breath rattled off his throat. "I'm angry at the way you threw yourself into this danger without knowing if you'll live to see it through," he pushed his hair off his forehead. Without Nao-Zai to do it for him, he had to. "I'm angry at how you thought you always had to save me and how you insisted on going with me even when I pushed you away."

"Have you no belief in me? Do you think you are someone above me that you walk all over my wishes and put yourself through so much pain and suffering?" he put a hand over his chest, never removing his eyes on the tiger's face. The growl hadn't faded. Not a bit. He shoved his fingers into his hair and tousled it a bit. "As much as I adore you for that, I can't..."

He closed his eyes and swallowed against the lump in his throat. "I can't take it anymore," he said. The tiger didn't move but it didn't betray its feracity either. As if it's stuck in some sort of stasis. "I can't see you get hurt because of me."

"I'm scared, Nao," his voice cracked as he continued. Tears stung the corners of his eyes and, this time, he let them scald his cheeks. "I'm scared that when the next storm comes, when the world threatens to end itself once again, you're going to throw yourself into the fire and never return."

He gave his head a small shake. "And now I stand to lose you," he whipped back to the tiger, clenching his fists to his sides. "How reckless can you be, absorbing a Divine Beast's power without even knowing what it'd do to you? How can you do it without any regret, without any fear?"

"Don't you know, Nao-Zai?" he waved a hand in the air despite knowing the tiger could snap it up anytime if he said the wrong thing. "You'll leave me alone eventually if you keep doing this. And heavens-be-damned, there's no way I can live with that. I told you before—I can't lose you. I just can't. And with you running around like this, I might."

Kai-Se sighed and crossed his arms, averting his gaze. "That's why I said those things to you that night," he admitted. "That's why I pushed you away. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

Sobs overtook him then. It should have felt silly—breaking down in front of a gigantic creature who, minutes before, had been determined to stomp him to dust—but he had nothing else left to hold back the turmoil he'd had simmering under the surface for months. Everything just came flooding out.

He sniffed and regarded the tiger. It still hasn't moved, its paws poised to continue running at any time, its tails flicking behind it. He breathed. In and out, steadying more than the roiling waves inside him. "It's selfish. Horrid. Maybe you'd never want to have anything to do with me after all this, but I need you. I need you," he wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Come back, please. Come back to me, because I..."

"I love you, Nao-Zai," Kai-Se stared deep into the blue depths, watching the faint specks of white like a storm of snow. They were beautiful—the only one of their kind. "And I don't need a thousand lifetimes to prove that."

A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips despite the painful twinge in his gut. He reached out despite his body's protests and laid a hand against the tiger's snout. The beast didn't budge. Didn't even flinch. No claws lashed, hungry for his blood. Despite his quivering heart, he pressed his forehead against the mangy fur. As expected, it was soft, like a warm embrace in the winter.

"This life is enough," Kai-Se whispered, tears choking what's left of his strength out of his throat. "Let's not waste it like this."

He stepped away from the tiger until he was an armslength away. If Nao-Zai decided to kill him now, let it be so. The tiger's claws scritched against the prison floor—a pending cloud of doom hanging over them. A blur of snow and ink. There's no time to close his eyes.

Cold droplets of water splashed on his cheek. Blue and white light nipped at his skin, fizzing out with a dying hiss. He looked down and his heart went still. At Kai-Se's feet lay a battered form of a mortal, curled on his side with his eyes closed. Kai-Se knew its face, knew the name it belonged to.

It was none other than Paekdora Nao-Zai.