Chapter 15: Before the Barrier
This was the third day since I was kidnapped that night. This was also the third person who was guiding us. The third man seemed to be in a big rush and didn’t even let us have enough time to rest. Hannah and I were so groggy from having to ride on the dragons for hours that we almost dropped from exhaustion after we were let down for lunch.
At that time, the dragons who were running quietly cried out, “Kyyee.”
We became aware of our surroundings again when we heard the cry for the first time, and the dragon in front of us slowed down when it heard this.
“Oi, what’re you doing!? We’re nearly at Frontier! It’s just a little more.” The man said, but the dragons slowly dropped their pace and stopped. The man quickly got off the dragon and sped towards us.
“You guys, what’d you do!” Having said that, he should be able to see that Hannah was in no position to do anything since she didn’t have any energy left in her. He looked at me, but there was no way a baby could do anything. The dragon softly pushed his head onto the man’s back.
“What?”
“Kyyee.” The dragon shook its back.
“…… Are you telling me to let them have a break?”
“Kyyee.”
Dragons shared their feelings. Once I was recognised as part of their group, I was cherished by them even if the dragons were switched. In short, I couldn’t go far away from them to go toilet. The dragon concluded that it was dangerous for me, a baby of their group, to move any further than this.
“…… It’s really just a little bit further.”
The man looked ahead. He had made the dragons weave through the forest edge, and the mountains that were far off in the distance to our right was getting closer. In front of our eyes were trees and prairie. The man looked like he knew where the edge of the barrier was even if he couldn’t see it.
I wasn’t in any condition to stand, and Hannah just laid on the ground as if she’d fallen out of the basket.
“Bwanket.”
“What’d you say?”
“Hannah, bwanket, give.”
“Tsk,” the man clicked his tongue and gave Hannah a blanket. I let Hannah sleep and laid down with her on the blanket. The dragons lowered their heads in worry. Just a little, let us rest for a little.
“Oi, wake up!” I think I was only asleep for a second. The man didn’t just speak, he also shook Hannah awake and shoved us back into the basket.
“Our pursuers are coming,” he muttered as he frantically made the dragons run. Pursuers. I stood up on Hannah’s lap, got her to hold me and looked over her shoulders. I couldn’t tell for sure, but I did feel like shadows were coming towards us.
The man said that we’ll be at Frontier soon. What is Frontier? What would happen to us when we get to Frontier? The shadows chasing us were definitely getting closer.
“A little more, just a little,” the man’s loud voice could be heard from where we were. But, I was watching the pursuers while clinging onto Hannah. Fast. Are those black clothes an army uniform? Amongst them, I saw a person in grey. His bright hair could have been mistaken for grey because of his grey clothes.
“Otosyama~!”
“Lei!”
I couldn’t help but yell, and father replied to me. He came! He really came!
“Target discovered! Surround them from the front!” The unit spread out after hearing those words. They were probably trying to stop the dragon in front of us.
“Woaaaaah~.”
The man pushed on even though he was being surrounded. And father’s dragon drew next to mine. My eyes met with father’s, and I stretched my hands out towards him even though he couldn’t reach me. Just a little more, just a little bit. Then, the unit sandwiched the man in front of us, and he fell off the dragon. But, instead of slowing down, the dragon continued running on.
“Kyyee!” Our dragon suddenly quickened his pace. Father wasn’t able to keep up and was left behind.
“Otousyama!”
“Lei!”
The dragon passed the dumbfounded men in black with us still riding on him. Then, the atmosphere around us changed.
“So this is the barrier?”
I turned around and saw that father was being held back by the dragons and men in black.
“Let me go. Why!? Lei! Lei!”
“Otousyama! Otousyama!”
But, the dragon didn’t stop, even though father had finally came to get me. All I could do was stare at father in a daze. The dragon ran until it was dark and then finally stopped. Fortunately, since the man had been in a rush, he’d forgotten to lock the basket. The basket opened with a light push from Hannah.
We staggered down from the dragon, and cuddled together.
“Leila-sama, what should we do?” Hannah was so exhausted that she was relying on a one-year-old child.
“Bacw. Dwagon wide.”
If they won’t come to us, then we had to go to them. But how do I turn the dragon around without a rein?
“Hannah. Can chu wide dwagon?”
“I can’t. I’m fine being in the basket, but I’ve never ridden anything this big before……”
“Bacw shith?”
“Leila-sama, I can’t. I can’t sit there!”
Is that so? Then, will the dragon follow us if we start walking?
“Kyyee.”
Yes. Don’t go far. He stopped me. I’m stuck. Well, this is the only thing I can do for now.
“Hannah. Wather, bwead, bwing outh.”
“Okay.”
Hannah went to the opposite basket and fiddled with it.
“Leila-sama, it’s impossible. It’s locked.”
“Shthone. Hith with shthone. Big.”
Hannah looked for a big stone around us and hit the lock. The dragon looked displeased.
“It opened!”
“Bwing outh. Wather. Bwead.”
Hannah prepared some feed and water for the dragon and quickly took out our bread and water. She finally began to move steadily. Then, we both sat down and ate. We didn’t know what was going to happen, so we each held the flask and drank our fill. I put a small piece of bread into my pocket.
“Ah.”
“Leila-sama?”
There was a paper wrap in my pocket. The first man had put it into my pocket. I opened it and saw a pretty piece of candy inside. So candy exists in this world too.
“Hannah, ave wan.”
“Oh, my!”
Hannah took a piece of candy from me while looking as if she was going to cry. Then, we both put it into our mouths, and it melted immediately. We couldn’t move unless the dragon moved. Then, it happened when we were getting ready to sleep. Our long, long, day had yet to end.