Chapter 1

"You can't run away from the President."

Wu Han looked up and stared into the speaker's eyes. He gritted his teeth and tried to speak.

"Wrrwwhooo argrree you …" Wu Han croaked. His throat was dry as he had been on the run for months. No food, no drink, no resting. Yet, this man had been able to catch up with him.

Wu Han's hand gripped the railing as his knee suddenly gave way.

"A dragon can be so weak. I'm amazed."

The voice spoke directly to his mind.

"So you are telepathic as well. I'm surprised." Wu Han replied mentally. It saved a lot of his physical energy and relieved his vocal cord of its workload.

"You underestimate my kind."

"Your kind? You still have not answered my question."

"I answer no questions except that of the President's." The speaker bowed.

Wu Han did a hasty check on his vital capacities. It was obvious that his mortal body would not be able to sustain life any longer. He had to escape. But how?

He allowed the wings to sprout from his back and stretched them to their full wingspan.

"You are fast on the land. But can you fly?"

Wu Han leapt off the ground with his remaining strength and flapped his leather wings. He felt himself being lifted off the ground and quickly ascended into the air. Climbing up, he soared off and away from the speaker.

"Dragon, I am behind you." The voice smirked.

"It can't be." Wu Han turned to his back and saw the Apache. The speaker was sitting beside the pilot with arms crossed in front of his chest. He was not happy at all.

"I am disappointed. I thought you could put up a good fight against me. The President trained me for that. You escaped."

The speaker pointed out.

Wu Han winced and flapped his wings harder, lifting his humanoid figure higher into the air. He then proceeded to soar through the sky as fast as possible. He had to shake the Apache away.

"Your plane-fan is nothing. Catch me if you can."

Wu Han tunneled through the sky and plunged downwards. The Apache followed. He swerved around a mountain tip quickly while the Apache unfortunately had to crash into it.

The snowcap was knocked off as the Apache burst into flames and fell into the depths of the air towards the far ground below.

"Bye Mr. Speaker."

"I am afraid I have not yet gone."

Alarmed, Wu Han noticed the Speaker hovering by him.

"Now, can you put up a fight? I need to settle this issue by tonight. The President will be pleased to see the last of the dragons."

The speaker rubbed his hands against each other.

Wu Han was tired. Yet, it was not a characteristic of his to give up easily.

"Fear me then, for I am "Long". Feel my power."

His hands morphed into three-fingered claws as he tunneled upwards. With a roar, he executed his change quickly and in the place of the human hovered a dragon. The leather wings were now more impressive. Humane eyes now turned into that of a beast and the body turned red with scaly hides. The speaker marveled at the gracefulness of the figure.

"Dragon. A creature of power, embodiment of Yang, ruler in the water and manipulator of weather. Wonderful." The speaker rubbed his chins.

Swiping one of its massive claws at the speaker, the dragon roared, releasing a fiery ball of fire at its enemy. The speaker blocked the fire with a mere sweep of his palm.

"You know why you are so weak? You let the dragon take over your mind. You let it control your thoughts and emotions. It is a predator of animals, not man. It cannot think. It is not intelligent. Your supernatural power is derived from the essence and spirit of the dragon, not its form. Yet, you do not shed the useless physical form of the dragon. Why? It is weak. Like this."

The speaker flew towards the scaly hide of the dragon and aimed a blow at its chest with his fist. The thrust sent the dragon flying to the ice mountain. The enormous shards of ice displaced incurred a massive snow avalanche.

Whimpering, the dragon lifted its injured body with its claws. It turned to face its enemy and opponent. The speaker was now wielding a claymore.

"Last of the dragons, eat my blade."

With a quick carving of the blade, the speaker threw himself forward and smoted down on the dragon with his claymore. The blade bit into the scaly hide but could not go any further. Frowning, the speaker applied more force and shoved the claymore deeper. The claymore came into contact with an organ and pierced into it.

The dragon screamed as the blood spurted out of the wound. Pulling out the claymore, the speaker instantly screamed along. The blood was none other than the essence of the dragon, the Yang in its body.

The blood which landed on the speaker seeped into his skin, setting his internal organs ablaze. Convulsing the speaker fell from the sky, plunging into the darkness below. He was lucky of course. It was the night and the Yin of the night had countered the Yang's effects, decreasing its toxicity. If the fight had taken place in the day, the speaker would have instantly burst into flames. Human combustion.

The speaker will survive the fall.

Whimpering and trembling, the dragon morphed back and retreated into the human, Wu Han. It was to stop the continuing of the loss of Yang. Too much and he would perish. Wu Han silently traveled back to his home and rapped quickly on the door. The door swerved open.

"Wu Han, what happened to you? What's with the snow on you?" the woman exclaimed.

Wu Han brushed off the snow on his coat.

"Enough of it, Xiao Ling. Bring me inside. I want your husband and son to meet me now."

"Yes, my elder."

Wu Han was brought inside where he instantaneously collapsed on the sofa. Xiao Ling gasped when he saw the injuries and rushed forward to attend to it.

"I SAID BRING THEM TO ME!" Wu Han roared. He was frustrated with being disobeyed.

"Yes, elder." And she shuffled away.

Wu Han grunted as he tore away his vest to reveal the wound where he was stabbed by the speaker's claymore. It was a two inch long cut across his chest. The claymore had pierced his liver. Pressing on the sofa, he attempted to lift himself up, only to cough up blood.

"Wu Han, don't aggravate the injury, we will try to heal you."

"Shu Qiao, you are here. At last."

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, where is your son?"

"Here, with me." Shu Qiao turned abruptly and reached behind him to take a newborn baby.

"Let me hold him."

"Yes, elder." Shu Qiao passed the baby to Wu Han.

Wu Han examined the baby and flipped it over. He took out a dagger and pricked the soft baby skin with it.

Xiao Ling screamed and pounced forward. "Elder, why are you injuring the baby?"

"Fear not, I just need to infuse my blood into him."

Wu Han pricked his finger in the exact manner and let a drop of blood drip from the wound into the baby's.

"Now we will wait."

"For what?" Shu Qiao asked. Wu Han did not need to reply. A minute dragon had been imprinted onto the baby's back

"Shu Qiao. Xiao Ling. I may have to entrust you with my life and that of our bloodline. You do know who I am right?"

"Yes elder. You, Wu Han, are the last of the dragon clan and sole survivor of the massacre. We are the descendants of the clan and you are here to protect and guard us."

"Yes, Shu Qiao. That is right. But I am afraid that the organization behind the massacre is back to finish its job. I have fought with one of them and I am powerless against him. He traces me through my dragon scent. I am afraid the only way out is to kill myself."

Wu Han turned to Xiao Ling.

"Ma'am. As the mother of the baby, I ask for your permission to bury my soul in his body. I promise that I will not harm him. As the guardian of the bloodline, I need to complete my mission. I foresee a tough road ahead. The only way to escape momentarily, the pursuing of the organization is to transfer myself into the baby. I will not take over him. He will be one of his own and independent of thoughts. I merely sleep in him and awake when its time so that the speaker cannot access my thoughts and trace me down."

"The speaker?"

"The one who injured me. Xiao Ling, please?"

"Yes, elder. I agree."

"Thank you, Xiao Ling." Thereafter, Wu Han placed his palm on the baby's forehead and closed his eyes. Pressing his other free palm on his chest, Wu Han spent the last of his strength to channel himself into the baby's little frame. His former self broke up into dust and got carried away by a gust of wind.

Shu Qiao bent downwards to pickup the baby.

"Wu Han, do you hear me? Wu Han?"

"He's asleep. Don't disturb the baby."

Shu Qiao shrugged. He didn't know how long it would be before Wu Han will awake in his son.

"Mister, I believe you were calling the dragon's name?"

Xiao Ling screamed and whilst fainting, fell into Shu Qiao arms, intentionally knocking the baby out of Shu Qiao's arm. The baby cried as it flew out of the window and fell ten stories to the ground far below.

"Oh Xiao Ling, what did you do?"

The speaker smirked. He had survived the slow fall to the bottom of the mountain. Yet the combustion had done great damage to his body. His tongue was now charred and his organs encrusted in soot. Every movement was painful. Yet, he had to track down the dragon. He heard the calling of the dragon's name and immediately swooped down from the sky into the house.

"So, mister. Put aside your unconscious wife. I am sure she will recover." The speaker commanded and Shu Qiao quickly did as he was told. The tone was commanding and it was unwise to disobey it.

"You called the dragon's name. Where is he? Tell me. Do not lie for I detest false words."

"He … he died."

The speaker read it in his eyes. It was the truth. His mission was completed. Yet, he could not believe that it was accomplished so easily.

"How are you related to the dragon?"

"We … we … are … the descendants of … the dragon clan."

"We finished them long ago. A few escaped. Wu Han was one of them. Tell me, Shu Qiao. How is it that you are not a dragon yourself?"

"I will not tell you. I am sworn to secrecy."

"I know the answer to the question. The dragon is born every 50 generations in your bloodline. Your current generation is the 47th. Your baby is the 48th. It cannot survive the fall and your wife cannot conceive again, for she is, well dead. As for you, I will handle it. The President will not consent to having another dragon birth."

The speaker smirked and brought his claymore above Xiao Ling's body. He then plunged the weapon into her heart.

"Nooooo … You beast … beast …" Shu Qiao stamped his feet and took out a revolver from his pocket. He quickly pulled the trigger and shot the speaker. The bullet ate into the speaker's shoulder and the impact forced him to take a step backwards.

The speaker swooped forward and placed his palm on Shu Qiao's forehead.

"Hello. Let's be closer, shall we?"

The speaker needed a new body and the female one was useless. This male was a descendant of the dragon and resembled closely the human capacities of his old frame. It would be easier to adapt to this male's body.

Groaning, Shu Qiao collapsed to his knees and clutched at his chest. He squinted at the speaker's body and found it disintegrating into ashes.

"Now, now. Do not resist. It is useless. Succumb to me. We are going to be together for ages."

It was easy to suppress the male's mind. Yet, the speaker was not powerful enough to completely eliminate and vanquish the male's soul. How horrible to be a neighbour.

Meanwhile, Shu Qiao was losing the mental fight for the body. Applying more strength, the speaker detached more of the body's controls away from the male.

Shu Qiao/Speaker opened his eyes and smiled.

"Let's leave. We must meet the President and tell him the good news."