Chapter 10, The Breath of Fire

    She knew it was this one. She cold sense the evil emitted from this place. Of all of the islands she had passed only this one stood out. An almost tangible evil hovered around the slopes of the now dormant volcano. Rei rowed right into the cave, a tunnel trough which lava once flowed, one could only guess how long ago. As she moved further into the dark tunnel she ran aground. Rei transformed and continued on foot. As she went down into the deep cavern the temperature rose to an unbearable level, but it did not bother her. In fact as the heat grew so did her strength.

    There was a knocking on the door. Kioku sat up startled as he strained to sense who it was. The power he tried so hard to suppress had now left him. It came and went in the most annoying fashion. He had learned to focus this new sense, to be able to use it for what he needed and not to be distracted by unimportant information that concerned him not. But he could not use it now, why? What had his father said so long ago.
    "You must be calm at peace. Beware anger fear aggression darkness are they, quickly do they join you in a fight, a great cloud they create, confuse your thinking it will, but let it rise and it will dissolve away."
    Fear that was what he felt, and why not. Such power should cause fear. He did not know to what extent his powers went. Or if he could contain them. The knock came again. No time to clear his mind Kioku just went to the door.
    It was Urawa Ryo. He was dressed in gi, but instead of the traditional white his was dyed blue. He carried a sword wrapped in a cloth so as not to draw attention to it. "I have come to continue my training."
    "So we meat again my old friend." Kioku answered. Old friend indeed, Kioku laughed, a thousand years was a long time to wait.

    The monster lay sleeping on its bead of ill-gotten treasure. Sailor Mars moved quietly into the cavern past the sleeping dragon's nose. Unfortunately either she did not know or she had forgotten how keen a dragons sense of smell was. The beast rose at once blowing fire straight at her.

    Kioku and Ryo sat talking to each other. Both tired from the long training session. "How do you deal with it?" Kioku asked. "Your ability to see the future."
    "A good friend once told me that a person makes there own destiny, I only see what current events may lead to." Ryo smiled "I was wrong once, and I'm glad of that. To know that what I see is not always certain, that is what allows me to deal with what I know."
    "I see." Kioku answered.
    "I stopped trying to see my own future, always in motion is the future, It is difficult to see."
    "I know little about the future." Kioku said. "But I can sometimes know what is happening now, and sometimes I would rather not know."
    "I do not understand."
    "Well lets say I know that two bad things are happening and that I can fix either one, how do I choose?"
    "Perhaps it is not for you to fix everything. Maybe you should talk to Rei or her Grandfather about this. They both can sense things at times."
    "So that's how he knew!"
    Ryo just nodded as he stood to leave.

    Rei flinched as fire poured around the bolder she was hiding behind.  She had use every attack she knew and they did no damage to the dragons scaly hide, almost like iron the scales seamed to shine in the dull red light. Well no use hiding. She jumped out from behind the rock. "Mars lava wave!"
    A giant wall of molten rock rushed towards the huge lizard. When the smoke cleared the dragons hind paws and tail were stuck in now solid rock. Re ran for it but the dragon was too fast. It grabbed her in its fore claw and picked her up. Re managed to grab a long curved stick as she was lifted into the air. She almost fainted from the smell as the beast opened wide its jaws and placed her in its mouth. Rei looked in horror as it began to close its mouth, two large fangs heading down towards her. She looked at the stick in her hand than jammed it back into the creatures throat, propping open its mouth. It began to gag running in circles as it tried to dislodge the annoying staff. Rei looked closely at it realizing that it was a bow, and it was already strung.
    Rei held out her hand in which appeared a long arrow. Red feathers attached to a ruby shaft. The head appeared to be made of fire. Rei fitted it to the string and looked down the creatures throat. Firs down the esophagus than the wind pipe. She pulled back and let the arrow fly down into the dragon's lungs. It gagged and coughed. Rei fell out of its mouth and hit the ground. She was unconscious. Far away over the Pacific the flying hordes lost strength and fell forever into the depths of the sea.

    Slowly Rei got up. How long had she been out? She looked over at the smoldering scaly skin, all that was left of the evil lord of the dragons. She tried to de-transform but she couldn't. "Well I should have known." Rei said out loud. She walked over and picked up the bow. Its wood was of a red tint and it shrank in he hand until it fit nicely into the bag she had brought with her. The crystal itself glowed and flickered like it was burning on the inside. She pot it into her bag, and got out a change of clothes and the white head band that Ami had given her. She walked back to the opening of the cave only to find the canoe gone. "Great now what do I do!" She sat down to think but she sensed something. Something large right behind her. She spun around.
    It was another Dragon white as snow. Its scales looked like feathers, except for on its head where they were orange and looked like hair. This was the Mystic White Dragon, and it was Rei's ride home.

Chapter 11