I Raised A Black Dragon

Her heart pounded heavily. As she jumped off the platform with no caution her wide-brimmed straw hat flew off behind her. Noah turned around after belatedly realizing it.

“My hat…!”

“…I told you to be careful.”

A hand suddenly reached out from inside the door and narrowly grabbed it. He, holding two large luggage bags in one hand and the straw hat in the other, was the last to get off the train.

“At this rate, you’ll lose your hat.”

“Thanks. By the way, I want to get off quickly. I’ve been riding trains for the past few days, so I’m starting to feel weak.”

“Who was the one who acted stubbornly about having to ride the train back since she came in on one?”

Noah naturally ignored Kyle’s comment. Instead, she pulled her hat strings down, tied it under her chin, and gestured to Muell.

“Ignore his nagging Muell, let’s go!”

Muell laughed like a baby as he ran first towards the train station exit. Noah, feeling weak, followed behind him with sluggish but energetic steps. Kyle’s sarcastic laugh could be heard from behind.

“Is it that good?”

He too was freshly swayed by the appearance of a human woman and dragon who acted like they’d found their area of comfort. Noah turned to him as she blurted out playfully,

“If you don’t hurry we are really going to leave you behind.”

Even Muell, who was way ahead of her, waved at him. Kyle let out a breath that sounded like half a laugh and half a sigh.

“Leave your luggage with me…”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I meant let’s go together. Wait. Don’t run, Muell. You’ll trip and fall.”

The young dragon excitedly took the lead, and Noah was tired again after walking a little, so she followed him a little ways behind. And Kyle was walking in the same manner behind her.

It didn’t take long for them to reach halfway up the mountain where Fairy Lake in west Sorrent was located.

Of course though Noah had used teleporting magic at the halfway point.

Still, rather than moving straight into the house, Noah thought it would be realistic that she had to take the last few steps to really come back, so she deliberately moved to a spot a few feet away.

That alone was still somewhat arduous for a body that rarely exercised. The slope on the way home was no joke.

However, eventually, after a few minutes, Noah finally caught sight of the view that she had longed for for months.

“I’m… here.”

At the end of the narrow and steep trail, a two-story house protruding sweetly in the middle of the mountain welcomed them. It was a small, cozy log house that at one point had been a witch’s house, and now it belonged to her.

More than ever, her heart was beating harder than the day she had first gone back to Seoul and found her body. Her lips kept drying, and she was struggling with the rising expectations. She knew the name of this emotion: A thrill that made her feel good.

Muell, who had grown a hand taller than when they’d first left, reached out to the doorknob. When he narrowly grabbed it and turned it the lock made a snap sound and became loosened.

The door opened wide.

The cozy and warm space Noah had left behind just a few months ago was revealed in front of her eyes.

Her breathing stopped for a moment before she exhaled. And slowly, she scanned the inside of the house.

The living room, small kitchen, and table in front of the kitchen where the investigator, whom she had met a week ago from then, had cleaned up every grain of dust.

The spiral staircase going up to the second-floor bedroom; the tightly closed, locked, and meticulously curtained windows; even the shawl folded into a perfect rectangle and neatly placed on the sofa.

It looked just the way she remembered. She unconsciously took new steps. As she’d been living here for about two years, she still remembered the entire basic manual vividly.

She clapped her fingers twice. Clap. Clap. The lights hanging from the ceiling responded to her signal. Warm yellow-orange light bulbs brightened the living room.

Then, when she wiggled her finger, the curtains hanging on the walls rustled by themselves. It was as if they were saying “hello, welcome back”.

Her tiny voice burst through her blocked throat.

“…I’m back.”

It wasn’t until she said that that she realized that she’d ended the most dramatic journey of her life and she was back in her haven.

“I’m back!”

Muell jumped onto the sofa and rolled around with the shawl wrapped around his body. Looking back, Kyle, who had just stepped into the house, was putting his luggage down by the front door.

He lifted his head. Their gazes met.

Before she knew it, his purple eyes warped kindly. Striding to the living room after setting the bags down he lifted her chin. He made eye contact up close and asked in a drowsy, mischievous voice,

“Do I have to say ‘I’m back’ too?”

“You have to since Muell and I did. Please greet this house. So it knows we’ve returned safely.”

“Anyway.”

Kyle grinned as he kissed her. The last greeting came in between his slightly parted lips.

“I’m back.”

Their lips pressed deeply. The air surrounding them was filled with the scent of well-dried cloth and the heat of early summer, and the deep kiss was like sweet honey candy that had been heated and melted.

Noah closed her eyes as she felt a dreamlike sensation.

Finally, she was back in the place that had kept her cozy for the past two years and will continue to be her beloved home. This time, she won't take over other people's bodies but will be herself alongside the people she loved.

She was the same person as when she’d left but different; somehow no one had gotten injured between them, and they’d returned safely from Sorrent. Noah was finally able to laugh happily for the first time without a shadow of a doubt.

The journey was over.