Author's Notes: I own nothing except Klaxon and Rift.

Aiden and Wala belong to HKGhost.

Chapter 14

Rift sat down in the tent that he was ushered into and looked up at Malefor while clutching his arm nervously. Malefor's shoulder wound was bandaged up and Malefor looked down at the white dragon, not with disdain or hate but with intrigue.

"Explain to me Rift, how were you able to do that?" said Malefor sitting across from the young dragon.

"I...I don't...I don't know...it just happened...after witnessing everyone dying around me...I...I have no idea how it happened...this stripe...it...it wasn't always there...is it getting hot in here?!" said Rift as he began breathing heavily.

"Just calm down kid, calm down. Nobody is going to harm you."

"Okay...*deep breath*...okay...*deep breath*...I'm fine...it's just...my two brothers disappeared a while back and things have been getting worse...ah! I'm going nuts!"

*SLAP!*

Rifts holds a paw up to his now stinging face after Malefor slapped him with flat edge of his three-pronged kunai-like tail blade and the glare he was receiving told him to calm down some more.

"Sorry...that form that you saw...it doesn't feel natural...it...it made me...a bloodlusting monster...but...only for Apes...I think watching everyone around me die...might have done it...somehow..."

"HELLO!" said Klaxon phasing through the wall right next to Rift.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" screamed Rift before he jumped onto Malefor's head and clung on for dear life and Malefor shot a death glare at the masked man.

"Sorry." said Klaxon as he backed up slowly.

*EXPLOSION!*

"I'm blasting off again...!" screamed Klaxon as he was blasted through the roof of the tent and into the morning sky. Malefor looked up when he heard Rift laughing and then he began laughing himself.

"That guy is constantly annoying me, been doing that since I was five, but I guess constantly blowing him up is funny." said Malefor.

"Why are you being nice to me? Hardly anyone was nice to me, aside from my brothers, they were always put off by my purple eyes, heck some even said they were evil eyes." said Rift.

"Evil? To me, they're actually unique. I mean, have you met Wala?"

"Who's that?"

"She's an old friend of mine. She's half wolf, half lioness."

"She's half and half? Hmmm, that's unique."

"You know, I like you kid. How about I keep an eye on you until we find your brothers? That sound good?"

"Okay. Just...be careful. I think seeing someone come under attack turns me into...whatever that form was..."

"How about we call that form 'Vortex'?"

"Hmmm, name is similar to my real name...its okay...I guess."

"Hey, lighten up. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

"I'll believe it when I don't have this bad feeling in the bottom of my stomach."

Suddenly Ram enters the tent, a solem expression on his face.

"Sir, we found two dead dragons in a trench outside the village...they were...tortured to death..." said the Earth dragon.

The look on Rift's face tells Malefor that Rift already suspects who the two dragons are.

"Well, let's...go see what the damage is..." said Malefor slowly as he gets up and exits the tent with Rift following slowly.

After walking to the trench from the camp they had set up, they see the bodies and Malefor turns away instantly with his facial scales turning a slight green while Rift runs off and empties his stomach.

The condition of the bodies, IF you could even look at them, are so bad that you would turn away, and try to keep your stomach from losing its contents. You would try to force the images out of your mind, but they are burned into it.

"Have an Earth Dragon bury them...nobody needs to see that..." said Malefor to Ram, which is ironic since Ram is an Earth Dragon.

"Yes sir." said Ram ignoring the fact that he's an Earth dragon and his commander doesn't seem to notice at the moment.

Malefor walks over to where Rift is sitting.

"Why? Why would Apes do that? They were the only family I had." said Rift sadly as he curled in on himself before he looked behind him upon a paw being placed on his shoulder.

"Apes do that for kind of stuff for no reason, well actually for fun, greed, or the pleasure of having their 'revenge' against us dragons." said Malefor sitting down next to Rift.

"But those two were my only family, where do I go now? What do I do?"

"I said I would take care of you 'til we found your brothers, and well...we did...but now I'm changing the deal. I'm adopting you...just like my father did me..." said Malefor, the last bit in sadness.

"Uh...what happened to your father?"

"He died...crushed by a fortress which...he took down..." said Malefor looking away.

"Sorry about bringing that up."

"It's not a problem. Like he told me, don't dwell on sadness. Use it so nothing bad happens again."

"So...you're adopting me? Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. Besides, you look like you might be a good chick magnet."

"DON'T YOU DARE USE ME LIKE THAT YOU PERVERT!"

"Hah ha hah! I was only kidding!"

"Some joke..."

"But you could be helpful in this war against the Apes..." mused Malefor stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"And don't you dare turn me into an emotionless weapon." said Rift crossing his arms as he stood on his hind legs and glared at Malefor.

"If that were to happen...{Demonic} ...I'd rip the ones that did that apart!" said Malefor as his scales became a twisted purple and his eyes became a demonic yellow before they flashed back to normal, "Oops! That slipped!"

"What was that?!" said Rift as he cowered behind a tree.

"Oh, nothing...probably overprotectiveness kicking in. Hehehhehehe." said Malefor nervously.

Suddenly an Ape jumped down behind Rift and raised its sword to decapitate the young dragon before the sound of a metal closing in on flesh is heard and the Ape is now headless before it drops dead and both Malefor and Rift look to see a Fire Dragon spit out the Ape's head.

"Well, isn't this ironic?" said the dragon with a smirk, his teeth shining in the sunlight and giving off a metallic gleam.

"Do I know you?" said Malefor pulling Rift close to him as he raised an eyebrow at the dragon.

"Here's a hint: Gargoyle to the head."

"Wait. You're the one I dropped that chunk of rock on? What happened to your teeth, matter of fact, what happened to your jaws?!"

"I had some...enhancements with my jaws...which is from my fight with Rupture. They're now Bionic Titanium Death traps. I don't hold any grudges for that. Oh...um, tell Wala I'm sorry for picking on her back then and...Vulcanus died protecting her mother from Rupture." said Crater looking towards the horizon.

*Explosion*

"Apes found your camp, I managed to make sure everyone got away safely. Now go! I'll hold the Apes off!" said Crater as he ran back towards the approaching Ape platoon. Malefor picked up Rift by the scruff of his neck, forcing down memories of Aiden doing it to him, and placed the white dragon on his back before he ran off towards safety.

*SCRUNCH! {Echoes}*

*Ape Does "Howie Scream"*

END CHAPTER

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Anyone care to guess WHERE the Ape was...chomped?