The twilight glow filtered through the forest branches, casting dancing shadows over the dirt path that led to the village. After surviving the depths of the dungeon, the Crimson Squad decided to rest for the night at a nearby inn before beginning their journey back to the imperial capital.
Upon arrival, they stumbled upon an unexpected scene in the town square. A towering stone statue stood at its center. It depicted the Crimson Knight with his sword sheathed and his gaze resolute, as if he still watched over the world from his pedestal. At its base, a bronze plaque gleamed:
"Here lies the most loyal soldier of the Solar Titan, fallen not by betrayal, but by truth."
The group exchanged puzzled glances. That version of the story didn't match what they had been taught. According to imperial records, the Crimson Knight had betrayed his lord. Yet here, in stone, he was revered as a martyr. Doubt quietly took root among them.
That night, Yurichi dreamed.
Fire. Screams. Fields ravaged by chaos. He saw the Titans not as gods, but as fallen. He saw the Crimson Knight, alone, fighting enemies and allies alike. And then, he saw betrayal. Not by the knight... but by those who had sworn to protect the light.
He awoke at dawn, brow furrowed and body tense. He said nothing as the group prepared to leave. His mind remained trapped between dream and reality.
Already in the carriage, rolling along the damp dirt roads, Rose noticed his silence.
—"Yurichi… are you okay? You seem really quiet. More than usual."
He took a while to answer, as if struggling to find the truth in his own words.
—"Yeah… just a bad dream."
Raika, leaning casually on the edge of the carriage, added teasingly:
—"Looks like you saw a ghost. You sure you're okay?"
Yurichi opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't.
The carriage came to an abrupt halt.
The driver shouted, and the screech of the brakes and the horses' whinnies shattered the tension.
In front of them, blocking the road, was a dragon. Young, no more than five meters long, but still imposing. Its body was covered in red scales, and its green eyes glowed with wild hunger. It looked like it was hunting… until it noticed the squad.
—"This one's mine!" Raika exclaimed, a spark of wild excitement in his voice. "I'm gonna take it down and make it my pet!"
But Yurichi's voice stopped him.
—"No… it's mine."
He leapt from the carriage without hesitation.
The dragon roared and charged directly at him, jaws wide to tear.
Yurichi didn't move… until the very last second.
—"OUT OF THE WAY!" he shouted, drawing his new sword with a crimson flash.
In an instant—too fast for anyone to follow—the dragon hit the ground.
Split in two.
A deathly silence fell over the group. Rose and Raika stared wide-eyed.
Yurichi calmly sheathed his sword. He said nothing.
He was no longer the same.
And everyone knew it...
Inside Crimson Dawn's hideout, Kaera enjoyed the silence with a cup of coffee in her hands, seated beside a small fire in the center of the refuge. Blowing gently over the rim of the cup, she whispered to herself:
—"Looks like it's the season when dragons start coming out of hibernation…" She took a sip, eyes never leaving the entrance. "Hope the others don't run into trouble on their way back."
Miles away, the forest exhaled steam after a brief drizzle. Okita, Nael, and Velka moved stealthily, camouflaged among wet branches and twisted roots. The mission had been simple: covert escort. But nothing in those lands stayed simple for long.
Velka was the first to stop. Her bow, still strapped to her back, vibrated slightly—alerting her to something… unusual.
—"Did you hear that?" she whispered.
A few meters ahead, in a clearing hidden by undergrowth, lay an egg. Not an ordinary one. It was scaly, grayish with reddish veins, and no larger than a small backpack. But most alarming was that it was surrounded by four wolves—starved, alert, growling at the slightest movement.
—"Get out of here, you hungry mutts!" shouted Okita, drawing his katana.
With precise movements, he slashed one after another. The wolves fell with only a final whimper.
—"Nice work…" grunted Nael, then smacked the back of his head. "But try being more subtle, idiot. You want half the forest hearing us?"
—"Agh! Got it...!" Okita groaned, rubbing his head.
Velka approached the egg, crouching cautiously.
—"This is weird… Dragon eggs aren't usually this small."
—"How small are we talking?" asked Nael, frowning.
—"Most are around eighty to ninety centimeters. This one's barely forty… like it's from a dwarf species."
—"Or maybe a weak hatchling," Okita added, arms crossed. "Or maybe a mutation?"
Suddenly, silence was broken by a soft crack. Fine fissures spread across the egg's surface. The three instinctively stepped back. A faint glow shone from within the cracks, as if the shell's heart burned with warm light.
The egg opened.
And what emerged left the three of them completely stunned.
It wasn't a dragon.
It was a girl.
Naked, with slightly scaly skin and reddish hair, she stood wobbly at the edge of the shell. Her eyes—deep purple with slit pupils—looked straight at Okita.
—"Ma… ma… Mama!" she babbled.
Total silence.
Okita froze, eyes wide as plates. Velka covered her mouth to keep from laughing, while Nael turned away, barely hiding a chuckle.
—"This…" Velka mumbled through held-back laughter.
—"No way..." Nael murmured, squinting in disbelief.
—"She…" was all Okita could manage, unsure how to react to the semi-human creature that had just called him "mama."
And thus, in the middle of the forest, in the middle of nowhere, the squad found a new mystery… one that breathed, stared at them, and had just been born calling the least prepared person "mother."
Night cloaked the mountain like a thick mantle, and inside the Crimson Dawn hideout, Kaera calmly sipped her coffee, her silhouette outlined by the flickering torchlight.
—"I hope the others didn't run into trouble."
She didn't have to wait long.
The hideout's door creaked open, announcing the return of Okita, Velka, and Nael. With them came Minato and Akane, still cloaked in forest mist. However, their arrival wasn't what caught everyone's attention.
It was the creature resting in the corner: the draconic girl.
—"What… is that?" Minato whispered in awe.
Without answering, Akane calmly approached the child and, with the same serenity she showed while cutting down enemies, pulled a cookie from her tunic pocket. She held it out to the girl with unexpected gentleness.
—"Here… it's good," she murmured.
Minato frowned, uneasy.
—"Wait… Akane, those aren't..."
—"Yes," she cut in. "Before we left, I took them from a soldier I killed. From his bag."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Okita raised an eyebrow, confused.
—"You're aware you looted a corpse, right?"
—"Yes. Why do you ask?" Akane replied, unbothered.
Minato, Velka, and Nael exchanged glances—part disbelief, part concern.
—"Is she even human...?" Nael murmured.
—"Sometimes I wonder," Velka added softly.
Kaera chuckled from her corner.
—"Doesn't seem strange to me… coming from the Crimson Star Clan."
The tension rose.
—"Crimson Star?" Okita repeated, tilting his head slightly.
Kaera nodded, her tone turning serious.
—"Yes. The Hishōgami Clan, also known as followers of the Crimson Demon. A lineage of assassins molded from childhood… it's said their founder was none other than the Titan of Blood himself. After falling into darkness, he was sealed inside a cursed katana. That weapon… lives. It feeds."
—"Feeds?" Velka asked, intrigued.
—"Yes," Kaera continued. "The demon's ability is called 'Bloodthirst.' Each time it kills a powerful enemy, the sword absorbs their essence. If the enemy has a hereditary ability, the sword—and its wielder—can replicate it."
Okita frowned.
—"Then… that katana..."
Akane stepped forward, calmly looking at the hilt strapped to her back.
—"Yes. I haven't yet faced someone with a hereditary technique. But soon..."
A chill ran through the room. The little dragon girl watched Akane with bright eyes, as if sensing something familiar… or dangerous.
Kaera crossed her arms, expression firm.
—"That being was originally a titan. One who fell so deeply into darkness… that his name was erased from the records. The Empire now calls him 'the Crimson Demon.'"
Silence reigned for several seconds. The torch flames danced along the walls, as if reacting to the secrets just revealed.
And among them, the little dragon girl slept—unaware of the tension that filled the room...
Kaera's voice rang through the clearing, sharp and firm as a blade of steel. It cut through the forest's stillness with a determination that allowed no debate.
—"Back to the matter of the dragon child," she said bluntly. "We can't just leave her out in the forest. Someone's probably looking for her, and we don't know who or why. So..."
She slowly turned toward Okita and Velka, who were still processing everything that had happened.
—"Okita. Velka. Since you found her... it's now your mission to care for her until we figure out what to do."
—"What?! Velka and me?" Okita exclaimed, taking a step back, incredulous.
Velka, standing behind him, jolted. Her face lit up red with embarrassment and nerves. Her voice, though trembling, emerged with unexpected courage.
—"Let's do our best, Okita..."
The scene made Minato burst into laughter, unable to contain himself at the look of utter defeat on his friend's face. Meanwhile, Akane kept eating, completely unfazed, as if a dragon girl wasn't any stranger than a normal day.
In the middle of it all, Okita could only hang his head, spirit crushed.
—"Just kill me..." he muttered to himself, a quiet plea to the heavens for mercy.
And so, under the fading sunset, with a girl of impossible origin at the center of their gaze, the Crimson Dawn Squad took another step into the unknown. Because some challenges arrived with drawn swords...
And others came in the form of small voices saying "mama."
What they didn't know… was that this decision would trigger something they weren't prepared for...