I Raised A Black Dragon

Noah answered skeptically, “I know how to float. I learned a little bit when I was a kid.”

“Well, you shouldn’t come up. We’re going to dive down. How many minutes can you hold your breath?” asked Kyle. Noah narrowed her eyes and said, “I haven’t measured it… But would a minute be okay?”

“One minute. Not bad. Do you like the waters? Or do you have a trauma?” Kyle inquired further.

“Nothing like that.”

“That’s fine, then.”

“What’s going on…?” 

Before she even felt an ominous foreboding, Kyle lifted the Muell, who was looking down the lake from the side, and in an instant, the little child disappeared. A very faint splash echoed throughout the cave.

Noah almost fainted at the sight, frozen on her spot with her mouth agape as Kyle followed suit, casually jumping down the hole. This time, there was no sound of splashing. Noah let out a nervous chuckle. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”

As she stood alone, she heard a voice calmly answering from under the hole on the floor.

“Hurry up. It’s only scary if you drag it for a while,” Kyle said.

This woman had jumped from a running train, descended to a dangerous place underneath a ship, stood at the court as a defendant, and was now on the verge of diving into a lake, which depth was unknown.

“Why are you doing this to me?” 

“I don’t remember doing anything bad enough to hear that. It’s alright, so come quickly.”

Noah approached the hole where Kyle and Muell had disappeared into with an extremely hateful look on her face. Still, she wasn’t frightened enough to chicken out given she had been through all sorts of things that made her braver. But as she glanced under the hole, she was startled. The distance from the lake was farther than she assumed, and the two, who had already settled on the dark waters, surprised her.

She had imagined that Kyle and Muell would be floating with their necks above the water, but instead, Kyle stood against something black with smooth scales. She squinted her eyes, looking closely, and realized it was none other than Muell’s back. 

Before she knew it, Muell, who had returned to his original form, suddenly raised his head under the water. He was a little smaller in comparison to the usual size he was before. The dragon’s dark red eyes blinked excitedly as if it was urging Noah to come down quickly.

“That’s why you told Mu earlier that he’s going back to the main body?” she stuttered in astonishment.

“Because I don’t know how deep the lake will be,” replied Kyle.

“Can’t you discuss this kind of thing in advance?”

“You don’t talk to me before you get into an accident, do you? Jump, please. I’ll catch you.”

“It would be heavy… What if you fall over?” worried Noah.

“What a useless worry.”

Noah was left with no choice but to sit on the floor and hang her legs under the pit. I’ve never dived before, but… I don’t know. He will take care of it. She closed her eyes tightly and then, she jumped. Immediately, a dizzying feeling of falling wrapped her whole body, but it only lasted for a brief moment as she felt an arm hold her lightly. There was a slight shock to her body, but the pain quickly disappeared.

Kyle, who caught Noah in ease as if he was holding a paper doll that fell from the air, patted the back of her head. “You complain a lot, but you’re good at it.”

“I sometimes wonder if I’m an acrobat. Or an athlete.” Noah joked. Inside, she was commending Kyle. How could he, while standing on slippery scales, receive a falling woman with such ease.

Kyle sat her on Muell’s back. “We’re going under the lake like this. There’s Mu, so there will be no difficulty in breathing. Don’t close your eyes if you can. You have to know the way back just in case.”

Muell gently wagged his tail over the water and dove his head under the lake. Naturally, their bodies leaned forward. If Kyle hadn’t grabbed Noah, she would have rolled onto Muell’s head. As she saw the surface of the water approaching her eyes swiftly, Noah screamed in panic. 

“No, wait…”

Before she could even close her eyes, the glinting water shrouded her vision. From head to toe, he was completely submerged in the water.

This child, Muell, had only learned strange things from Kyle! She shut her eyes reflexively.