My Asian Dragon

Joy heard a sliding snapping sound, and realized the gunmen were reloading. Taking advantage of the momentary respite, she scrambled to her feet to take off again, seeing a large rock maybe fifty meters ahead of her. If she could make it there, she might have a chance.

Just as she started to sprint, a harrowing roar split the early afternoon air. From the corner of her eye, she saw a green blur come from the direction of the village. Not stopping her run, she dashed behind the rock, dropping to cover just as she heard a sharp scream, and gunfire bray in response. None of the gunfire was in her direction however, so she turned to see what had happened.

What she saw amazed her. Longwei, in full dragon form, had already killed one of the gunmen, the body laying in two pieces on the ground. The second was pointing his rifle at Longwei, who was circling him with his jaw open, a harsh rasping sound coming from his mouth as his tongue flickered back and forth. The second gunman was obviously terrified, but managed to squeeze off another burst of fire towards Longwei. Joy swore she saw Longwei’s image almost shimmer in the air before darting forward, the powerful jaws snapping around the barrel of the gun to tear it out of the gunman’s grasp. The same move caught part of the gunman’s left hand, severing it and sending hot jets of blood spurting into the air. The gunman dropped to the ground, screaming before passing out, and Longwei quickly shifted back to his human form. Pulling the man’s shirt off, he quickly knotted it around the gunman’s wrist before twisting, making a rough tourniquet and stopping the blood flow.

Joy came running up, her desire to help Longwei overriding her instinct to flee. “What can I do?” she asked, kneeling next to him.

“Are you all right?” he asked her in reply, before glancing around. “The hand cutter.”

She grabbed the tool off the cart, giving it to Longwei who threaded it through the wraps of the tourniquet to give him a better handle to twist with. When the blood flow was fully cut off, he locked the handle down using the man’s belt. “The doctor will be here soon,” Longwei replied. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Joy replied, “just scared out of my wits.”

“I understand. Help me with the other.”

Joy looked on in disgust at the other body, which had been torn almost in half at the stomach area. Longwei shook his head in frustration. “Help me search the body, quickly!” he said. “Before his blood ruins any documents or anything else that may help us figure out who just tried to kill you!”

Swallowing her gorge, Joy started patting down the legs of the half corpse, pulling out a wallet and some papers from a pocket. Longwei took the upper body, yanking off the remains of the man’s tactical vest before quickly emptying his chest pocket. He then grabbed the belt, setting it with the tactical vest until he was sure the rest of the torso was searched. Joy held up what she had found, which he took and started looking over. His face clouded blackly, and she swore she could see his eyes flash greenish in anger. “What is it?”

“Triads,” he said, handing her a piece of notepaper. “I will guarantee you once we wash this man’s body, we will find a Triad tattoo on him somewhere. The paper is a full description of you, and directions to the village from Heifei.”

“What? But why?”

Longwei looked down at the surviving gunman, his face tight with anger. “That is what I want to know as well.”

*****

That night, as Joy lay in her bed, she couldn’t find sleep. She thought after the adrenaline wore off, and hours wore on, she would be exhausted. Instead, she could tell from a quick glance at her cell phone clock that it was now almost eleven at night, and she had spent the past three hours tossing and turning in her bed, the lights off. Finally, with a huff of anger, she threw the covers off, pulling on a tank top to go with the boxer shorts she normally wore to bed. Heading out into the halls of the temple, she headed towards the courtyard, where perhaps she could get some fresh air and let herself find sleep.

As she walked near the small room that Longwei and her often used for eating meals together, she saw a flickering light. Coming closer, she saw Longwei sitting up, a single candle illuminating the room as he read from a book. Joy was surprised to see the title. “I didn’t think you were into Nietzsche,” Joy said quietly, trying to avoid startling him. “You okay?”

“Mmmmm,” Longwei replied quietly, as he turned a page on the book. “I actually don’t like him very much, he’s very convoluted. But, I thought after today it would be more fitting to my mental state than Marcus Aurelius.”

“I see,” Joy said. “Should I leave you alone, then?”

Longwei shook his head, setting his book aside. “No. Actually, I’ve been sitting here trying not to go to you this whole time. I was afraid that if I did, I would not be in control of myself.”

“What do you mean?” Joy asked, sitting in the chair next to him. When Longwei didn’t answer, she reached out, placing her hand on top of his. “Come on, Longwei. Talk to me.”

Longwei stared into his lap, and his voice was barely audible. “I was scared today,” he whispered, his voice harsh. “I’ve never been scared before.”

“Well, that’s to be expected,” Joy replied. “They had automatic guns. Even if you’re in your dragon form….”

“Their guns could not have hurt me,” Longwei said, cutting her off. “You saw how easily I dodged their bullets. Joy, I was scared because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.”