Chapter 32: Heat Of The Flame

**Ester**

The demon let out a roar and wrapped its hands around the dragon’s neck. It tried to pull him away until it finally succeeded in forcing Chester’s dragon to let go of its shoulder. Only to receive a blast of flames directly into its ear.

The demon grabbed Chester’s legs and swung him around before throwing him. Such an action didn’t do much when Chester had wings that could keep him in the air.

He blew fire on the demon’s back. It turned around and tried to shield itself. It started roaring in frustration and what seemed like pain. I could feel the heat from where I was. The demon finally got tired of being blasted. It pulled a pillar out of the ground and threw it in Chester’s direction. It didn’t do much.

Chester dodged that easily. I wasn’t that fast. The piller only missed me because I dropped to my stomach in time for it to pass over my head. I glanced back up. The demon jumped into the air and reached for Chester to pull him back to the ground. All it got was puffs of fire in its face. It jumped a second time and this time it grabbed onto one of Chester’s wings. Both of them fell from the sky, creating a cloud of dust when they hit the ground.

“Chester!”

Some of the dirt went into my throat after passing through the gaps in my helmet. I coughed. The vibrations under my fingertips caused me to look up. Chester’s dragon was struggling to break free from the demon’s hold. Its claws were aimed at the dragon’s chest where his heart would be. It's trying to pierce through the thick black scales.

Chester scratched the demon’s face. It managed to break one of its horns. Black goo started to spill out from where the horn used to be. My lips stretched into a smile as I saw Chester break free from its hold and ascend to the sky.

This is it. Chester is going to win. Watching his dragon in action was better than watching any superhero movie in 3D. His majestic form was enough to make someone fall in love with it. The dragon’s power and strength was scary, but also so captivating that it was hard to look away. If Chester keeps this up then we can avoid the disaster.

Maybe I thought that too soon. The demon wasn’t frustrated, it was pissed. It released a soundwave. The soundwave was so strong that it pushed Chester further into the sir. I gripped a handful of grass to help me, although it became hard to resist.

The ground broke before my eyes. The demon stomped two times. More and more stone and dirt broke free. Soon, one third of the plateau, along with the ruins, formed a landslide headed directly to Tetherfield.

Chester took that moment to dive in. His feet dug into the demon’s waist. His clawed wings kept an unmovable hold on its shoulders. With no hesitation, he bit into the back of its neck. It didn’t go down without a fight.

It took some work but at long last, its head broke off from its body.

Chester’s dragon blew fire at the corpse and didn’t stop until it turned to ashes. At long last, the fight was over.

My heart was beating out of my chest. Red ember floated from the demon’s burnt corpse. This is good but…

“Chester!” I shouted. “The town!”

**Tetherfield Resident**

I couldn’t sleep. How could I with all that ruckus going on outside. Don’t they know that people have to get up for work tomorrow?

“Honey.” My wife shook my shoulder. “Honey, get up. Did you hear that?”

I grunted and covered my head with the sheet. She didn’t get the message and shook me again.

“You should check that out. What if someone is dying?”

With an annoyed sigh, I sat up. “If you’re so concerned then why don’t you check it out yourself?”

The look on her face told me that I had made a big mistake. I got out of bed in record time.

My motion sensing drone lit the way as I walked downstairs to the bakery. It’s probably nothing. Maybe some kids are making a ruckus and lighting firecrackers. I used the keys to open the door, mumbling under my breath. To my surprise, there were a couple other people on the street. I trotted over to Jimmy, a fellow business owner who resells clothes.

“Hey man.” I placed a hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing out here this late?”

He didn’t say anything.

“Jimmy?”

His mouth slowly opened up but no words came out. He pointed towards the ruins with a trembling finger. I followed it. Soon, my expression resembled Jimmy’s.

A large creature that seemed like some kind of dragon hovered over a landslide that was heading right at us. Then again, what other creature would blow flames out of its mouth?

It didn’t want to attack us ,more like, it was saving us.

But that’s not possible. Dragons were supposed to be extinct. My grandparents told me stories about them and how dangerous they were. They were protected by the dragon god and created thousands of years ago to guard the mortal realm.

I found myself holding my breath. The flames burned a bright red and formed a beam that pierced the earth. It created a trench large enough for a truck to drive it. But would that be enough?

The landslide entered the trench. It filled it up. Some of it escaped, thankfully not enough to be a threat to the town. The dragon flew back and forth, using its flames to solidify the ground. By some miracle, it actually worked.

A breath of relief escaped my mouth. No one dared to say a word, but I did see a few phones capturing the moment. What the hell happened while I was asleep?

I can’t wait to tell my wife. She won’t believe this.

**Ester**

Chester landed peacefully back on the ruins. Or what was left of it. While he was taking care of the landslide, I made sure to destroy the circle. The portal is gone now. I didn’t know what I was feeling when I saw him change back and rest his bare feet on the uprooted grass. His clothes had been ripped apart and he was completely naked.

That didn’t stop me though. I ran to him.

Chester checked out his work. He wiped his forehead with his arm. “That should hold it,” he muttered. When he turned around, I hugged him.

My arms wrapped around his torso, my cold armor cooling his hot flesh. At that moment I didn’t care about anything else. I was just glad that he was alright.

I cared too much about this man to bear the thought of something happening to him.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” It came out in a mumble, too low for even me to make out. However, he heard it.

I felt a pair of arms surrounding me. Chester didn’t say anything. Tears started to brim at my eyes. I closed them and leaned further into his chest. My heart was still beating so much it hurt, but for a different reason this time.