Hello to all you readers out there in the world. A lot of you have reviewed and PMed me about how Jack/Tamhigan was acting like an evilish bastard in the last flashback. You see I pay attention to what you guys say and your opinions about things so I wrote a scene in this chapter that explains why he was so heartless. Enjoy the chapter and review or PM.
Chapter 14: Victim's Revenge
Tamhigan entered the family apartment to see Frysa and Bedagi talking to each other in the living room. They both went silent as soon as he entered and shut the door behind him. The former human silently sat down next to his brother like usual, not really caring about what they were talking about.
"So… how did therapy go?" Bedagi asked awkwardly.
Tamhigan just shrugged and formed a line of dark blue electricity between his forepaws. The two other dragons simply watched the electricity dance.
After a minute or two, Umbra walked into the kitchen with dinner.
"Hi there, Tamhigan. I made steak." the black dragoness smiled warmly.
She gave everyone a plate and sat down next to Frysa. Bedagi and Frysa thanked her while Tamhigan nodded in gratitude.
"Hey Frysa, are you okay? You seem upset about something." Umbra said gently when she saw that ice dragoness's eyes were red and puffy from crying.
"I'm okay, really." the ice dragoness assured quietly before she started eating.
Umbra knew she wasn't okay, but decided not to push her. The four dragons ate in silence. For some reason, the air had a feeling of dread that made everyone tense.
Once everyone finished eating their meal, Umbra and Frysa worked together on the dishes in the kitchen while Bedagi and Tamhigan had the living room to themselves. They both just sat there in silence.
"We need to talk." Bedagi said finally, motioning to his room.
Tamhigan simply nodded and followed his brother into the room. Bedagi shut the door behind them and they sat down on the bed, facing each other. The former human's brother sighed and looked at him with a serious expression.
"Frysa told me everything. How you broke her heart, how she tried to kill herself, how you saved her… everything." Bedagi began.
Tamhigan nodded in understanding.
"You really did break her heart you know. She's been crying all day and I've been comforting her. We've been talking and… I care about her... more than just a simple friendship." his brother revealed nervously.
Tamhigan was caught off guard by this and looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow.
"I think I've made her feel better. She wasn't crying as bad when I came in to comfort her. I want to tell her my feelings, but I want to wait until she's ready." Bedagi explained.
They both sat there in silence for awhile. Finally, Bedagi broke the silence once again.
"You need to apologize you know. Even if you don't love her, tell her you're sorry for hurting her. You owe her that much." he said sternly.
The former human sighed heavily, but nodded in understanding. Bedagi smiled and gave his brother a quick hug.
Tamhigan stood up and left without a word. He saw his mother hug Frysa goodnight and then approach him. She wrapped her wings around him and hugged him closely.
"Goodnight, sweetie." she said softly.
The black dragoness released her son and walked into her other son's room to hug him goodnight as well. Tamhigan walked up to Frysa, who stared up at him with a tired and sad expression. The former human sighed and placed a paw on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry." he said quietly with his ever so deep voice.
Before she could respond, Tamhigan let go of her and walked into his room without a word. Frysa's lips curled into a small smile and she layed down to sleep.
Nix has finally made it to the Mountain of Malefor. He is sweating heavily from carrying the dragon and climbing the large mountain. He found a stone platform with an entrance to the ancient ruins.
"Almost there." the ape said quietly as he tiredly entered the ruins.
After some navigation, he found the throne room. The skeletons of many apes and even a dragon were present on the floor as well as old chains. The gears that were used to kill Culus were still there as well. Nix shuddered when he saw the ice dragon's crushed bones.
'I can't even imagine how much that hurt.' the ape thought to himself.
Nix placed the bag containing the dragon on the floor with a relieved sigh. He untied the rope keeping it closed and pulled it down so he could see the unconscious fire dragon's head.
'Well I found an innocent dragon.' he thought with a sad expression.
He took the dragon out of the bag and used the chains he found in the ruins to bind his limbs together in a hogtie style. The dragon's wings and tail were chained together to decrees the chances of escape. Nix found a dark crystal shard near the gears and chained it to the back of the dragon's neck. This was to prevent him from using his fire element.
Once the dragon was completely bound, Nix sat down on the throne. He rested his head on his palm in deep thought.
"What am I supposed to do now? The Dark Master wasn't specific on how to sacrifice him." the ape thought aloud to himself.
As if hearing him, the sound of chuckling could be heard in Nix's head.
"Excellent work! Now… see those gears on the far side of the room? Once the sacrifice awakens, you are to attach one of the chains to them and activate the gears. They pull the sacrifice into them and crush his body." Malefor explained in the ape's head.
"Why does he have to be awake?" the ape asked.
"Because I told you to wait for him to awaken. Do you understand?" the dark voice asked threateningly.
"Yes master." Nix said quietly, regretting that he has to kill someone to get what he wants.
"Do not worry; your people will get the power they deserve." The Dark Master assured with a chuckle.
Malefor's influenced ceased and Nix groaned, feeling exhausted from his long journey. He decided to rest his eyes and within moments, he fell asleep on the throne.
The only thing Jack could see was darkness. He groggily looked around to try to see through the darkness, but it didn't help. Something was on his head and prevented him from seeing. The human tried to move, but he felt that his arms and legs were restrained to the chair he was sitting on with rope. His legs are tied to the chair's and his arms air secured on the arm rests.
"Hey look! The savage is awake!" he heard someone's voice.
Jack felt the trash bag be taken off his head and he saw nothing, but a bright light. He instinctively squinted his eyes to try to adjust to the lighting. Once he felt he could see again, he looked around the surrounding area.
Jack is in a well lit room with bloodstains on the wall. He is securely restrained to a metal chair that is bolted to the floor and there is a medical table to his right. Standing in front of him are two men wearing lab coats. One of them is wearing a white gas mask like the soldiers, but the other doesn't have anything on his head.
The man without a gas mask has a black buzz cut and a clean shaven face. His face is wrinkled from old age. His blue eyes stared at Jack with interest. This man seemed to be some kind of doctor.
Jack remembers what happened last night. A few Klan soldiers snuck into his den and caught him by surprise as he was sleeping. They knocked him unconscious and must've brought him here.
Jack doesn't have any of his equipment. He's wearing his black cargo pants and steel toe boots, but he is shirtless and his gas mask is back at his den. His hair has gotten slightly longer and his five o'clock shadow is now a full on beard from lack of shaving.
"So that's what the Black Death looks like under his mask. I'd be impressed if you weren't a redskin." the gas mask man mocked.
Jack just sat there in silence as the doctor kneeled down in front of him. He is carrying a scalpel in his right hand.
"You've been a real pain in our necks as of late and… I've been given orders to execute you. You haven't been given the honor of dying on a stage. Oh no that would give you too much credit." the doctor said chillingly calm.
He leaned forward so that he could whisper into Jack's ear.
"I'm going to make your death as painful as I possibly can." the doctor said quietly.
Jack was silent as his torturer leaned back and brought the scalpel to his left hand. The extremely sharp blade slowly cut into his fingertips, just enough to pierce the skin. Jack grunted quietly as blood dripped from the wounds.
The gas mask man walked up to him with a jar of sand. The jar was brought up to his left hand so that his fingertips were forced under the sand.
Jack growled loudly in pain as he felt the stinging sand in his cut fingers.
"Does that hurt?" the gas mask man mocked, finding sick glee in the pain he and the doctor were causing.
The doctor brought the scalpel to Jack's chest and made various small lacerations. The man in the white gas mask proceeded to rub the sand all over his chest and over his bleeding cuts.
Jack hissed in agony as the sand found its way into his stinging injuries. This pattern continued for awhile, but after what seemed like years, the doctor put the scalpel down and turned to the medical table. Jack realized that the scalpel was close to his right hand and inconspicuously started sawing into the rope.
"I think it's time we moved to something bigger." the doctor said calmly as he took out a large bone saw.
The doctor knelled down in front of him again and brought the saw close to his face.
Before the doctor or the gas mask man could do anything, Jack pulled his newly freed hand away from the armrest and stabbed the doctor on the on the side of the head. The doctor's eyes widened as he dropped the saw to the floor. The gas mask man just stood there, frozen in shock.
Jack pulled the scalpel away and the doctor fell to the ground, dead. He proceeded to quickly cut the bindings that were restraining him as the gas mask man shakily took out an AA12 automatic shotgun.
Jack leapt off the chair and sliced the man's throat open before he could get a shot off. The man gurgled loudly as he fell to the floor and started to choke on his own blood. The former prisoner dropped the scalpel and picked up the shotgun. He is very weak from the torture and he didn't know how long he'd stay conscious.
The weak man slowly made his way to the door and opened it. He aimed the shotgun down the hall, but saw no one. He cautiously walked down the hall while looking down the iron sight.
As he was walking down the dark hall, he heard whimpering in the room to his immediate right. He approached the door and attempted to open it, but it was locked. He brought his ear to the door to listen and he heard a whimpering of a child on the other end.
Jack's face crunched up in anger and he aimed for the padlock. He squeezed the trigger and the doorknob flew off. He heard someone shout in surprise and run down the hall to check on the gunshot. The angered man brought up the shotgun and squeezed the trigger. The soldier fell dead with a bloody mist surrounding him.
Two more soldiers ran down the hall, but one of them was shot down by the 12 gauge pellets. The other soldier dove behind an open door for cover. The Klan member brought his hand out and started shooting blindly with his glock 17, but Jack quickly shot his hand.
The man screamed in pain and fell out in the open. The enraged escapee aimed at the soldier's head and mercilessly squeezed the trigger. The upper half of the soldier's head exploded into a cloud of blood and gore.
Jack turned to face the door and kicked it open. He saw a small African-American boy sitting in the corner of the room with tears in his eyes. The little boy is bruised and has a large cut on his leg.
"P-please don't hurt me." the very young child begged with a sob.
Jack silently slung the shotgun to his back and picked up the child, bridal style. With the child in his arms, Jack ran into the hallway and sprinted down the hall. He kept running, avoiding the soldiers as he went, until they reached the free territory of the Colony. Jack finally slowed down to a walk and wondered around the market district.
The boy in his arms cried into his bloody shoulder throughout the whole ordeal. People gave them strange looks, but didn't say anything to either of them.
Jack approached a red colored medical tent and went inside. There is a doctor and a nurse inside who seemed to be cleaning their medical tools.
The doctor has gray balding hair and a long beard. He is wearing a clean lab coat and glasses. The nurse has red hair that is tied back in a pony tail. She is also wearing a lab coat.
"What happened to you two?" the old doctor asked with a worried expression.
Jack was silent as he gently placed the child on one of the medical beds.
"Thank you, mister." the child sniffed.
Jack nodded and softly patted the child's shoulder. After a few seconds, he turned to leave.
"Wait! You're hurt too." the nurse said.
Jack pointed to the little boy, urging them to help him instead, and walked out before they could say anything else. He walked out of the market district and into his den which is farther underground. He locked the metal door behind him and placed the AA12 shotgun on the wooden rack with his other weapons.
His den is very small, but well kept. His gas mask is resting on his nightstand and he has an entire shelf for his tomahawk on the wall. His bed consists of a simple mattress with a dirty blanket and pillow.
Jack stood their shakily for awhile, but he eventually collapsed on his bed and passed out.
Tamhigan's eyes shot open when he woke up from the dream. He groaned and shakily sat up while sweating vigorously.
The former human looked out the window to see the sun beginning to rise in the horizon. He sighed quietly as he rubbed the small scars on his chest, remembering that painful day. He remembered that the boy made a full recovery and was taken in by the nurse and her family. The boy would always give him some bread whenever he found some.
Tamhigan got out of bed and walked to his desk. He put on his sling and securely clipped his gas mask to it. He tugged it a few times to make sure it would stay in place.
Once he had everything he needed for the day, he opened the door and walked into the living room. He saw Frysa's sleeping form on the seating pillow. She was breathing quietly and seemed to be at peace.
Tamhigan placed a paw on her shoulder and gently rubbed her scales. She smiled from his touch and curled into a comfortable ball.
The black dragon drew his paw away from her and walked out of the apartment to get some fresh air. He was surprised when he saw Spyro sitting in the grass and watching the rising sun in the distance.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" the adult purple dragon asked when he noticed the former human.
Tamhigan looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"I guess I should be in bed too." Spyro chuckled.
The former human sat next to the purple hero and they watched the sunrise together.
"Your father was a good dragon. He would always go out of his way to make others happy and help whenever he could. He was very energetic and wouldn't let people push him around." Spyro told him.
Tamhigan didn't respond, but he was listening.
"I remember when you and your brother were just eggs. Your father was so happy when he held your egg." the purple dragon smiled at the memory.
"Your father would be proud of you." Spyro smiled at the young dragon.
Tamhigan stood up and faced the apartment building.
"No he wouldn't." the former human said as he walked back inside.
Spyro frowned at this and looked back at the sun.
'Your father is proud of you, no matter what you think.' he thought to himself.
Spyro slowly stood up and walked back into the apartment. He climbed the stairs until he reached his family's apartment. Before he could do open it however, the door opened with Cynder smiling at him from the other end.
"And just what do you think you're doing wandering around?" she asked with a playful scolding tone.
"Hey Cynder, I was just watching the sunrise." Spyro said with a weak smile.
"Is something bothering you?" she asked seriously as she let him inside and shut the door behind him.
"It's Tamhigan. I worry about him." the purple dragon sighed as he sat down.
"We all worry about him." Cynder said softly as she sat next to him.
"He just seems so cold and distant. I worry that he might try to…" Spyro couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.
Cynder wrapped her wings around her mate and held him closely.
"Everything will turn out okay in the end. Vex will cure Tamhigan and he'll have the life he always wanted." she comforted while resting her head under his chin.
Spyro smiled and held her as well. They sat there and rocked each other back and forth as the sun shined through the window.