Kaito drifted in a haze.
Every breath burned. Every heartbeat hammered in his chest like a war drum. The world around him was muffled, distant—voices of medics, Aria, and the husky Dex fading in and out, as if he were underwater.
His vision blurred. Pain lanced through his ribs and legs, every movement a reminder that he had been pushed beyond limits no human—or dragon reincarnated as human—should ever face.
Aria's face hovered above him, streaked with dirt, blood, and tears. "Stay with me, Kaito. Please… don't leave me."
He tried to respond. Tried to open his mouth. But only a hoarse rasp came out. Even speaking felt like lifting mountains.
Dex pressed against him, whining softly, pawing his shoulder. The husky's warmth was the only thing tethering him to the world.
Kaito's fingers twitched. He felt the blue energy buried deep inside—the power he had barely restrained during the fight—scraping at the edge of consciousness, but his body refused. Every muscle screamed, every limb trembled.
"You're not leaving me," Aria said again, louder this time, trembling. "I won't let you—don't you dare…"
Kaito wanted to push back. Wanted to fight. But even his own mind was failing him. Darkness nipped at the edges of his vision, cold and absolute.
The medics moved around him, lifting him gently onto the stretcher, pressing crystals and cold metal against him, murmuring reassurances that barely reached his awareness. He could feel their hands, but he could not focus, could not act.
Blood loss. Exhaustion. Pain. Each was a chain tightening around him.
Dex whimpered again, pressing his muzzle against Kaito's face, forcing his eyes open, forcing the faintest connection.
Something stirred.
A spark of awareness.
Kaito's hand twitched against the cold stone floor beneath the stretcher, a single finger curling. His lips parted, trying again to breathe, to speak, to resist. The blue energy inside him pulsed faintly—not fire, not aura, just a whisper of the power that had been unleashed in the courtyard.
It was enough to remind him… that he was still alive.
Aria leaned closer, whispering directly into his ear. "Hold on. Please, Kaito… just hold on."
The world tilted. Pain threatened to drag him under. But for a moment, just a flicker, Kaito's eyes—the faintest blue light in them—fought against the darkness.
He was teetering on the edge. Between life and death. Between control and surrender.
And even there, in the fragile line between breathing and nothingness, a thought forced its way into his mind:
I will not die tonight.
Dex nudged him again. Aria's hands gripped his tightly. The medics murmured instructions around him, their voices sharp, insistent.
Somewhere, deep inside, Kaito felt the first stirring of what could save him.
The fight wasn't over.
Not for him.
Not for anyone.