The Zealot stirred from his bed, waking up from another sleepless night. Though, who could sleep when the sounds of growls and someone thrashing in his cage, was but a few feet from your bed? The Zealot sighed in irritation, growing more and more annoyed with his 'partner' with each passing day. But what choice did he have? If his partner where to get out of his cage and let loose upon the world, many lives could be lost. This monster, despite being small, could end a life with incredible ease. It scared the Zealot to leave him anywhere else.

"It's for the greater good, it's for the greater good," the Zealot mumbled, repeating what his father often told him in these kinds of situations. These thoughts were interrupted as the caged beast began to rattle its bindings. The Zealot walked up to the cage and used his tail to bang on the bars. "Oh, give it a rest already!" he shouted. But of course, the other being did not listen to him, and continued what it was doing. The Zealot could only watch with his tired eyes as the beast stretched out one of its claws towards him, as if it were trying to grab him.

At times the Zealot wished he could just do away with the monster, and at least get some sleep. If he were to complete his mission however, he would need its help. Thankfully the Zealot did not require its help at this given moment, much to his own liking, and decided to leave the room. The rest of his living quarters where nothing to behold. Living in an underground bunker below one of the many sewer channels under Warfang was not a spectacular place to be. The Zealot didn't have a lot of other options when it came to this location though. This was the best at hand.

In fact, when he thought about it, his whole living condition was in shambles. The only comforts in the cramped living space would be his hay bed, but as described before, it's still not all that great. As he walked past the stand that he laid his uniform for the night, he began to think about why his hideout was even more cramped, even though that was his own fault. If he would have just killed Ignitus like he should have, he would have more room to walk around, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. After all it was Ember's father. What kind of person would he be in his father's eyes if he were to kill Ignitus? Speaking of the fire dragon, the Zealot walked up to the spare cage that he kept Ignitus in.

It was small for the adult drake, but it was meant for the monster in the other room, in case he broke out of his cage and needed a new one. Just out of reach from Ignitus was a dark purple gem, one that was meant to keep Ignitus from using his fire element by draining away his element supply. The Zealot groaned once more as he thought about how difficult it was to create the damn thing. It nearly knocked him out half way through the creation.

Unlike his father, Malefor, the Zealot has never made such a gem before, and was not used to the large strain It put upon his body. Some could say that it was a surprise that the Zealot still cared for another's well-being after going several days without sleep, on top of conjuring up that gem. He could easily just kill Ignitus and let the monster run free, and almost be done with his job, but he knew better than that. It wasn't in his father visions for this world and he dared not defy his father less he wished to lose everything he worked for with his father.

He noticed that Ignitus was starting to wake up. Walking over to where he kept what little he had to eat, the Zealot tossed through the bars a small piece of raw meat near the adult dragon.

"Here, you must be hungry," the Zealot said softly before grabbing another piece of meat and ate it himself.

Ignitus, who had just woken up, was confused as to what the Zealot was doing. "Why are you keeping me alive?" he questioned, wanting some answer the many questions that are forming in his head.

The Zealot pondered, wondering if he should or shouldn't tell him. Ignitus wasn't going to escape, and if he could he would have already done so. "I don't like killing." The Zealot admitted. "Not when I have the choice at least."

"That is a wise thing to-" Ignitus didn't finish his sentence

"And to be honest, I didn't want to make Ember sad," he said truthfully.

The moment he heard his daughters name the protective father got angry. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Ignitus roared as he tried to grab the small dragon before him, only for him to just be out of reach.

"I have no intentions of hurting her," the Zealot promised in a very offended tone of voice. "She is not even the focus of my cause."

Ignitus was still not happy to know that Ember was wrapped up in whatever scheme Malefor had for Warfang, but he could tell from the look the Zealot was giving him, that he was telling the truth. He figured he believe him... for now. The Zealot could feel the hostility coming from Ignitus, even if he seemed calm. Not that he could blame him though. Feeling no reason to stay in the room, the Zealot left and walked into another room, this one being completely empty. Picking up the crystal ball, he held it up and concentrated. Slowly, the image of Malefor formed on the ball.

Almost as soon as his father's face appeared it began to talk. "Have you made any progress on locating the map?" The Zealot shook his head.

"I'm sorry father, it has been very difficult lately," he said truthfully. "It has been keeping me up all night," he said referring to the thing in the cage next to his bed.

Malefor gave his son a stern look. "And why have you not moved it somewhere else then?"

"Because, I fear that it will get out and get to the surface and harm the civilians," The Zealot stated as if it were obvious.

"You are protecting the people who we seek to cleanse?" Malefor questioned.

"No, it's not that father, its just-"

"You haven't fallen for their tricks have you now?" Malefor questioned further.

"Of course, not but we are making the world better for them, right?" The Zealot asked, and Malefor sighed.

"My son, I will tell you again. Those that live in Warfang have no wish to be truly free. They don't care that we are doing what is right. They prefer to live in chaos and delight in the suffering other those around them." The large purple explained to his son. "Because of this, you have no reason to protect them. I know it is hard for you to think like that, but trust me, they have made their decision, and nothing we will do can change their minds." Malefor finished explaining as his face took a gentler look.

"If you are so tired because of it, then kill it and make another, if you still have the black gem, then you should have no problems with the new one," he said in a kinder tone.

"About the black gem father..." the Zealot said clearly nervous about bringing up the topic.

The soft gentle features on Malefor's face disappeared. "What happened to it." he demanded, not even needing to know that it was broken.

The Zealot grew more and more scared of his father. "I still have it, but it cracked, and nearly broken, I'm going to need a new one,"

This didn't make Malefor any happier to hear. "I gave that black gem to you knowing full well that I could trust that you could get this assignment done. Now you're telling me you're were careless enough to have be damaged?" He asked, upset at his son. "It is one thing to create it, but it's another to be able to have it fit our purpose."

"I-I'm sorry f-father," the Zealot said growing nervous. Even through the tiny crystal ball, he could feel the overwhelming presence that his father had.

Malefor sighed, and rubbed his temple showing how annoyed he was at the moment. However, it was definitely a step down from the borderline anger a few seconds ago.

"You are beginning to push my patience," Malefor stated. "I will send you a new one, but this is the only replacement you will get. If you break this one as well, I am pulling you back, and your mission will be a failure, and I don't not accept failures from my son." Malefor threatened.

The Zealot nodded his head trying not to show fear in front of his father. The next thing he knew Malefor's face disappeared from the crystal ball, and the Zealot slumped to the floor, his body slightly shaking. He had never heard his father speak to him that way and to be honest it terrified him. He had heard some stories that his father was a maniacal, evil, black hearted dragon, but he never believed them before. However, for a split second he questioned if this were true or not.

He quickly shook his head, removing such thoughts from his mind. 'Father must just be under a lot of stress is all' he thought to himself. 'He didn't really mean what he said...'

Leaving the empty room, the Zealot hung his head low as he pondered more of these thoughts. Ignitus watched as the young drake slowly walk past his cage. He wasn't sure if he should feel sorry for him or not. While he did capture him and help Malefor, just the mere look on his face was a sad sight to see. The bloodshot eyes where a clear sign of a number of nights without sleep, the dull color in his scales telling him that he has not eaten a full meal in a while, and the fact that he was dragging his tail along the ground showed him that whatever happened in that other room was making him depressed or made him sad.

Ignitus also wondered just how powerful this dragon was. If he was both tired and has had a lack of food, would he still be able to fight back if he tried to escape? He pushed these thoughts aside, not wanting to risk his life just yet. The young Zealot was keeping him alive and that was all that mattered right now. Suddenly an idea came to Ignitus' mind. The young dragon didn't seem like he wanted to do him harm. That and it also looked like he needed someone to talk to.

"You seem to be going through a rough patch," Ignitus said in a kind and friendly way.

The Zealot stopped walking and turned his head towards the larger fire dragon. "I guess you could say that," He stated hesitantly.

Ignitus nodded his head. "Well maybe I could give you some advice?"

The Zealot snorted with a small frown on his face. "And why should I listen to you?"

"I have seen that look before on Ember, and I can tell that several things are bothering you just by looking at you. Now I will not tell you that you should listen to what I have to say, but I have been around long enough to know when someone needs help," Ignitus said as he began to lay down to get more comfortable. He was still forced to twist and crane his neck to fit in the cage, and his tail was still stuck under his leg. but comfortable as possible.

Ignitus could see it in the Zealots eyes that the was thinking about what he had said, and it wasn't until the young dragon spoke when he got his answer.

"Tell me, why do people here see Malefor as a corrupted, horrid, monster?" He asked quickly as if worried that his father might somehow hear him ask this.

Ignitus smiled inwardly, happy to see that his plan was working. "You see, Malefor has attacked and killed many of his fellow dragons and has even tried to take over this city. He conquered several other smaller ones all around Avalar, and I have heard many terrifying tales from those places while under his rule. He is hated for betraying all of dragon kind, and the power he wields is what is terrifying so many,"

The Zealot was quick to reply to this. "But I grew up being told that Malefor was doing what he was doing as to rid this world of those who are the real criminals,"

Ignitus gave the Zealot a confused look. "And what did Malefor mean by 'real criminals'?"

"Rapists, thieves, scoundrels, murders, and anyone who wishes to do someone wrong," the Zealot replied. "But also, those who refuse to do what is right. By just being in the middle, and not stopping wrong, they endorse. it." The Zealot defended his father. "This city is riddled with people like that. I can't blame him for wanting to take over this forsaken land." Despite being the one who asked the question, he didn't take to kindly to Ignitus speaking so ill about his dad.

"But is Malefor not a murder himself by trying to make this so-called perfect world of his?" Ignitus questioned.

"Is an executioner a murderer?" The Zealot asked, "It's all for the greater good."

Ignitus nodded his head again, as he thought about the information he was learning. "Now tell me, if Malefor does succeed in his conquest, do you know what he will do next?"

The Zealot shook his head. "I do not know what father has planned afterwards,"

"Father?!" Ignitus said, shocked to learn that Malefor's son was standing before him.

The Zealot nodded his head. "Yes. I'm the son of Malefor,"

"Well I suppose that makes sense." Ignitus said coming to terms with this. "You do hold several similarities to him after all." For the first time since Ignitus met the Zealot, he began to smile. In truth this news only made him worry about how many more children Malefor might have and if they were as strong as him, but he kept up the smile in hopes to keep up the act.

"Thank you" Ignitus just returned the smiled before asking,

"I have one more question if you don't mind," the Zealot nodded his head. "I was not aware that Malefor had a mate. Could you tell me who your mother is?"

The Zealot's smile quickly faded away, much to Ignitus' disappointment. He could tell that this wasn't a good sign. "I can't say that I do. I was told that my mother was killed by someone in Warfang when I was just a hatchling." The Zealot dug his claws into the ground and a clear sign of hatred was in his voice as he continued. "My father told me how it all happened, how she was attacked while he was away, and she screamed for help, yet no one came, even when plenty of people heard her." he started to growl, a rage building up inside of him. "That is how I know that you are all just monsters. Don't take my distaste for killing as an act of weakness Ignitus. I still hate every one of you. For what you do, and for what you did. That is how I know that my father is doing what is right and once we win this war; this world will become a much better place."

Ignitus knew that this was a touchy subject and didn't want to press his luck by continuing. "I'm sorry for bringing that up, I didn't know."

The Zealot seemed like he was calming down, but Ignitus could tell that he still had hatred boiling inside of him. The Zealot, seeing that their conversation was over, spoke again.

"I must go, I have business to attend to," Without another word the Zealot left and went back into his bedroom. Putting on his uniform and mask, he turned to face the beast inside the cage. The monster continued to stretch its bindings, hoping that it would be freed sooner or later.

The Zealot closed his eyes and began to concentrate and after a moment it stopped moving and its body slumped as if it where lifeless. It then rose its head back up, life seeming to come back to it once again. The Zealot walked up to it and unlocked the cage as well as removed the shackles around its limbs. The two then walked out of the room and past Ignitus as they made their way to the exit, leaving Ignitus to wonder what was to come soon.

Once above ground, The Zealot began to make his patrol yet again, something he had been doing each day since he got here. It wasn't something his father ordered him to do, yet he felt obligated to remove as much vermin as he could when he had the time. It only discussed him when he hardly took a few steps outside his hiding spot when he heard the screams of someone in trouble. Guiding his partner alongside him, the Zealot went to find out what was going on and hoped to put an end to it. From across the way, he saw two older males laughing as they cornered a much smaller mole who looked like he was trying keep something away from them.

"Just hand it over and we won't have to hurt you any more than we have to," the green male on the left said, but the mole didn't seem too keen on listening.

"Just go away you brutes, go pick on someone else today why don't you?" This only caused the dragons to laugh at his expense. More anger boiled in the Zealot till he couldn't stand it any further and ordered his partner to step in.

The fight didn't last long and ended with the Zealot's partner breaking one of the older dragon's arm before they ran away. The mole was happy that his savoir was nearby and thanked him for his troubles and soon enough he ran off. The Zealot pondered over if he should finish the job and kill the bullies but knew he didn't have time. He needed to find that map. Calling his friend back to him, he left knowing that he did good that morning.

Or at least so he figured. If he had payed more attention to where the mole ran off to, he would have noticed that the mole ran into the same building as the bullies did earlier. Standing in the room alongside the bullies and the mole was Umbra, who happily paid his actors for their help.

"Thank you all for your help, the ancestors are all very pleased for your work."

"I don't understand, what was the point to all of this?" The mole asked as the two dragons were being treated for their injuries.

Umbra smiled down at the mole and said simply "Why my small friend, it's simple really. So long as the boy sees the people here as monsters, the more use we can get out of him."

"What?!" the mole sounded horrified hearing that from someone such as Umbra, and everyone else in the room who heard this had the same expression. "Why are you telling us this?" The mole started to quake in fear as the dragons growled ready to fight if they had to, but Umbra only chuckled. The room cracked with electrical energy and soon after, everyone but Umbra left the building having no memory of what had happened that morning or why they were there. To them as that was important was that they suddenly had more money in their pockets or satchels than they did before.

As always, I must thank HKGhost for his help with this chapter.