Chapter Text
Sirens wail loudly as the fire trucks pull to a halt in front of the burning building, the bystanders watching in morbid fascination as the entire kindergarten wing goes up in flames. The plastic slides, monkey bars, and various platforms on the playground melt due to the sheer power of the blaze, and the ash and soot paint the skies red as ravenous orange and gold flames rise up with a vengeance, its roar deafening. A little boy with hair reminiscent of a shiitake mushroom cap and auburn brown eyes watches the blaze in raw terror, his friends cowering behind him as adults frantically sprint around with hoses at the ready, shouting orders to the various bystanders and pushing them to retreat to a safer space.
Nobody else seems to notice it, but the little boy can see through the fiery haze and toward the thing crouched beyond it. There, hidden behind the flames, just beside the playset where they were at a mere fifteen minutes ago, stands a monster. It is giant in size with heavy, bat-like wings crowding its mountainous back, with four thick bear-like legs each equipped with black claws like curved hooks, and a massive, stony tail, which sways slowly from side to side, the club at the end of it leaving deep dents in the ground. Crowned upon its crocodilian head are two long horns that stretch forward and up like twin pikes into the sky. A deep, unearthly growl resonates over the hum of the fire, silencing the crowd as efficiently as a pinched candle.
Nobody moves, nobody seems to breathe as the monster emerges through the hellscape like a demon, its crimson red scales glittering sinisterly against the orange and gold firelight behind it. Its fore talons press against the ground and the concrete shatters beneath its weight as the beast rears onto its back legs, standing almost twice the height of the school itself while its wings fan out like twin tapestries of destruction behind it. Acidic yellow eyes that almost seem to glow glare at them through the inferno, and the dragon opens its maw full of sharp teeth to utter a roar so loud it echoes in the little boy’s bones. People rush past them in a panic while the policemen shoot at the monster, though their bullets hardly do any damage.
It will only be five minutes before the heroes arrive to take down the monster, but in this moment, this instant, everything suddenly makes sense to the boy. Aside from his friends, nobody else knows the truth of this beast. Aside from them, nobody knows just what their monster of a friend is capable of.
Ash rains down around them like snow, and the kids are helpless to stop it.