Note to Readers: To this that have read my story up to this point, Drag'lan is going to be wiping out 4 members of the squad he used to be a part of, the Reapers. One is going to be a mercy kill, another is going to be impaled on his pauldron spikes. I'm looking for input on what to have Drag do to the other two, but keep in mind that this is Drag'lan doing it.

Chapter 25 - Reliving the Horrors of the Past

Drag'lan sat in the cockpit of Fral's ship, deep in thought. It had been about an hour since he had gotten up. His sleep had been rather peaceful, and Fral hadn't moved when he got up, though his hands had traveled from being around her midsection to gripping her hips, more or less. They were still speeding back towards Lai'Kairis. However, before they arrived there, he had to have a talk with Fral concerning their relationship.

A few minutes later, He walked back into the bedroom. He saw Fral hadn't woken up, so he let her rest and walked to the armory. He looked around, and his gaze fell on the queen's head again. Without thinking, he walked to it and ran his hand across it. Instantly, he was whisked away to the start of his entire life of anguish.

He was about 33 in human years, but only 7 in Regollen years when it happened. He had just finished the training regimen of his father. He stood looking at the forest in awe, watching nature doing its work.

So enraptured with it was he that he didn't sense his father walk up to him. His father placed his hand on Drag'lan's shoulder, causing Drag'lan to look at him.

"Hey, dad." He said. "The forest seems awfully alive today, doesn't it?"

His father nodded.

"It does, Drag'lan, it does." His father said. "But nice job on finishing my training."

"Thanks." Drag'lan said. "But with you as a father, nothing less would do."

"That's right." His father said. "But that doesn't mean that-"

"Oh, Drethlorgee, leave him alone." Drag'lan's mother said, cutting in. "You've put him through enough as it is."

"Alright, Lanorre." Dreathlorgee, Drag'lan's father, said, after turning around. "Wasn't like I was going to say anything negative, though."

Drag'lan turned around and saw his mother. She was about as tall as his father, but had a much slimmer build. She looked beautiful, no matter what anybody said. Here eyes were a deep purple, matching amethysts. Her golden brown hair was in a basic ponytail and reached to the middle of her back. Behind her were Drag'lan's siblings: His younger brother Grethgorge and his younger sisters that were twins Yorlashe and Treelinge. All three were rather young. Gethgorge about 10 years younger than Drag'lan, and the twins being about 5 years younger than that.

"Let's just go to wherever it is you were taking us, Drethlorgee." Lanorre said. "I don't think the twins like this place."

"No, we don't." The twins said in unison, something they'd started to do. "This place gives us the creeps."

"Alright, then." Drethlorgee said. "Come on. Hey, Grethgorge. You wanna ride on my shoulders again?"

"No thanks." Grethgorge said. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Suit yourself." Drethlorgee said. "But anyway, let's go."

The group then started walking down the path. Once they reached their destination, the base of a gigantic tree, Drethlorgee told them that they had reached the spot. They unpacked what they had brought, a large picnic, and sat down before eating.

Drag'lan was just starting to eat the meat sandwich his mother had given him when he heard something hiss above them. He looked about, confused.

His father saw this and looked at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I just heard something hiss." Drag'lan said, not looking at his father. "Something's not right."

Drag'lan was brought back into reality by somebody grabbing his shoulder. He looked over his own and saw Fral standing there.

"Hey, Fral." He said.

"Drag, what's wrong?" Fral asked.

"Nothing." He said.

"Bullshit." She replied. "I know when something's wrong. Tell me."

"I was just thinking about what happened when I was young." Drag'lan said.

"You mean when you lost your genetic family?" Fral asked.

"Yes." He said. "I was thinking about that time."

"Tell me about it." Fral said. "It will help your pain go away. Trust me, I know."

"Very well." Drag'lan said. "However, this is only because I trust you so much. Also, I don't want anybody aside from you knowing."

Fral nodded.

"I understand." She said.

"Okay." Drag'lan said.

After that, he explained everything to the point when she had broken his flashback.

"That's the stuff before you came in and got my attention." He said.

"Your father seemed like more of a family man than you made him out to be." Fral said.

Drag'lan shrugged.

"When he was training me, he was deathly serious." He said. "While he wasn't the whole 'Yes, sir!', 'No, sir!' type, he demanded respect and earned it."

"Interesting." Fral said. "And your mother seemed interesting, too."

"Yeah." Drag'lan said. "She's the one person that could tell my father to do something and get away with it. She also was the one that taught me how to be kind to those in need."

"So what happened after that?" Fral said.

"Well…" Drag'lan began.

Drag'lan's father chuckled.

"I didn't hear a thing." He said. "Might just be your imagination."

Before he could reply, Drag'lan heard multiple hisses sound through the forest. His father looked around at hearing this.

"Okay." He said. "Now I know what you mean when you said something doesn't feel right."

Before anyone could take any action, a blur of black slammed into Drethlorgee, sending them tumbling away.

"Lanorre, take the kids and run!" He said after they had stopped rolling. "I'll hold this thing off!"

Drag'lan's mother shook her head.

"I'm not leaving-"

"DO IT!" Drethlorgee said. "I'll be with you when I kill this thing."

Then, a group of about 5 others fell into the clearing. Drethlorgee snapped the neck of the creature that had tackled him and charged at the group that had surrounded his mate and children./I

"Why would your father tell your mother to take you and run?" Fral asked.

"He was one to sacrifice himself if it meant those close to him would survive." Drag'lan said. "But back to the story…"

IDrag'lan watched as one raised a long tail with a blade on the end and try to strike at him, but he grabbed onto it and pulled, whipping the creature over his head and into another. This stunned both of them just long enough for them to get tackled by his father. The final one decided to jump on Drethlorgee's back. BIG mistake on its part. Drethlorgee promptly reached over his shoulder, grabbed onto its head and flung it into the group of three creatures in a pile.

He was preparing to trample them when another group, this time being about 6 in number, jumped into the clearing. Without warning, they all dove onto Drethlorgee at the same time, ripping apart his armor, then doing the same with the Regollen beneath. The sent Lanorre over the edge, and she went flying into the group, only to get ripped apart herself. Drag'lan tried to pull his siblings along, but one of them tackled him. As he struggled to keep its head away from his, he watched as his siblings fled into the forest, followed closely by the creatures. Their screams and yells echoed before getting abruptly stopped. Drag'lan then balled up his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the side of the creature's head, sending it sprawling. After standing up, he heard a deep voice echo in his head.

"Run…" The voice said. "Live to avenge your family."

Following the voice's instructions, Drag'lan ran. He ran and he ran, never looking back, but hearing the creatures hiss as they sprinted behind him, trying to catch up.

As Drag'lan finished his story, he felt tears start to flow. He didn't try to stop them, but saw what had happened to his mother and father, as well as what might have happened to his siblings. The tears freely flowed down his face. He closed his eyes in remembrance.

Fral, upon seeing this, embraced Drag'lan in a hug. She put her head next to his.

"Don't worry." She whispered. "I'll make sure that you don't ever feel that kind of pain again."

"How can you promise something like that?" Drag'lan asked, sorrow still lacing his words. "And how do I know that you'll keep your word?"

"Simple." Fral said. "By saying the one sentence that will seal our connection as mates: I'm ready."

Drag'lan released his embrace and looked deeply into Fral's eyes. His eyes narrowed briefly, through the tears, which were dieing out.

"I can see that, Fral." He said, his voice returning to normal. "Now we just need to get the symbol engraved into our shoulders."

"First, my mother needs to accept you, though." Fral said. "My father has already consented to us being mates."

"I believe your siblings have already accepted me." Drag'lan said with a smile. "I daresay Ter has."

"I agree with that. Ter'thig looks up to you as an older brother." Fral said. "I would also say that Greth'ler sees you as something of a brother."

"He also sees me as something of a rival." Drag'lan said. "Though it seems like a friendly rivalry, if that makes any sense."

"To a point, it makes sense." Fral said with a nod. "He has seen what you can do when in combat, but he can't do anything that can compare, at least to my knowledge."

Drag'lan chuckled.

"There are few that can." He said. "People who have the adrenaline levels that I do, even when at their normal state, are rare."

"What do you mean?" Fral asked.

"Okay. Say you take human blood and test it to find how much adrenaline is in it when they're at peace." Drag'lan said.

"Alright." Fral said with a nod. "Go on."

"Well, with Regollen Brutes, increase that level by about 50 percent." Drag'lan said. "That's how much adrenaline is in a Regollen Brute's veins at normal times."

"I don't see how this connects." Fral said.

"I'm getting to that." Drag'lan said. "Now, with me specifically, take that level of adrenaline, and then increase it by another 20 percent, so at normal times, my adrenaline levels are 70 percent higher than that of a human."

"Wow." Fral said. "How does your body not burn itself out with that high of adrenaline levels?"

Drag'lan shrugged.

"I don't know. Nobody in my family understood it." He said. "But those levels made blood tests when I was in the Reapers very problematic."

"I can see that." Fral said with a laugh. "When you look like a normal human, it would be a shock to them when seeing that your blood has a 70 percent increase in adrenaline even when calm."

"Yeah." Drag'lan said. "But I really should do something right about now."

"Oh yeah?" Fral asked, her eyebrows raised. "And what would that be?"

"Lean forward a bit, and I'll show you," Drag'lan said, his voice level.

Fral did so, and the moment her head hit his level, he pushed his mouth in between her mandibles. He saw her eyes widen slightly when he did this, but then he heard as well as felt a purr vibrate from her face into his.

I guess she likes what I'm doing. He thought.

Again, he felt a tongue run its way across his lips. He opened his lips and the tongue entered his mouth, only this time, he was ready for it. His own tongue wrestled with it for control. This game went on for a minute before Fral pulled away. She giggled slightly.

"So that's what you wanted." She said.

"I'll call that payback for what you did to me the last time this happened." Drag'lan said. "But based on how you're tongue moved and everything, I'll bet you're feeling better."

Fral nodded.

"Much." She said. "Though where are we headed?"

"Back to Lai'Kairis." Drag'lan said. "Having said that, I should check on the cockpit, make sure that we're on course and everything."

Fral nodded.

"You do that." She said. "While you're checking on the computer, I'll go take a bath."

Drag'lan nodded and left, walking towards the cockpit. When he entered, he sat down and pulled up the navigation map. As he inspected it, he saw that the ship was perfectly on course. He sat back a bit before a sudden ping nearly made him fall out of the chair.

"What the-?" He said loudly.

He looked on the control panel and found that the radio receiver had picked up a signal. He activated the message. Though the message was slightly garbled with static, Drag'lan was able to piece together the message.

"Help. Stranded new-blood party. No way of getting off the planet. Pilot killed in crash caused by Oomans. Under attack from a special group of Oomans. Very organized, and very deadly. Need help."

Drag'lan cursed slightly at the words.

"What's wrong, Drag?" Fral's voice behind him asked.

When Drag'lan turned around, he was met with an eye-full; Fral was drying her dreadlocks, and her entire torso was showing. It was hard for him to keep a straight face.

"Picked up a signal." He said. He was struggling slightly to keep his voice level. "New-blood hunting party. They're stranded without a pilot, and are under attack by a group of marines."

"Where at?" Fral asked, still oblivious to her bare chest.

"Take a look." Drag'lan said, standing up and gesturing to the navigational computer.

Fral, without further adieu, started to sit down and then noticed her reflection. She blushed profusely and hastily covered herself up.

"Why didn't you say anything about my upper body being bare?" She asked.

"It would've seemed inappropriate." Drag'lan said. "Plus, with how you sleep, I figured you were okay with being naked around me.'

Fral blushed at this

"That's not the point." She said, though her tone said that she was flattered that he didn't care that she was naked around him in private. "The point is that you shouldn't let me walk around naked."

"Okay, okay." Drag'lan said. "But in any case, would you please look at the planet? Does it look familiar?"

Fral looked at the planet the signal originated from. She looked intently at the picture. After a minute, she finally nodded.

"It does." She said. "This is the planet that held my first hunt. The fact that this group ended up there means that they're most likely form Lai'Kairis."

"Okay." Drag'lan said. "Anything else?"

"Yes." Fral said with a nod. "The fact that the group got attacked by marines isn't surprising. They were starting a facility when I was there, about 3 years ago."

"Okay, so expect heavy resistance when we go planet-side." Drag'lan said out of sheer habit. That saying was a common one when he was in the Reapers.

Fral's response to this was to look at him with her eyebrows raised. Drag'lan caught the look and mentally cursed.

"Sorry." He said. "Pretty much, expect fights immediately after we land."

"Yes." Fral said, nodding. "But are you okay with killing marines?"

Drag'lan locked eyes with Fral at this.

"If I had a problem with killing marines, I wouldn't have killed so many on my first hunt." He said, his tone somewhat stern.

"That may be true, but then why didn't you kill that human, Adrian Fox?" Fral asked.

"It's complicated." Drag'lan said. "But it has to do with my marine family."

"Okay." Fral said.

"So, what's the plan when it comes to the new bloods?" Drag'lan asked.

"We go in, get them, get out and back to Lai'Kairis, and kill any marines that attack us." Fral said.

"Simple enough." Drag'lan said. "But if the squad mentioned in the signal is who I think they are, we're gonna have a bit more trouble than normal."

"Why would that be?" Fral asked.

"Let's just say that the squad is pretty much a mercenary group that is permanently hired out by the USCMC." Drag'lan said. "And they're highly specialized at taking out Khainde Amedha hives."

"You mean the Reapers?" Fral asked.

In response, Drag'lan just nodded.

"But you said that they were wiped out." Fral said.

"They've been rebuilt, then." Drag'lan said. "I remember Davis saying that his squad wasn't the first group of them. Apparently, the Reapers were over 20 years old as a group when I joined."

"So how do they choose when people join?" Fral asked.

"Normally, they pull in other mercenaries that have proved themselves, or pull soldiers out from different squads." Drag'lan said. "Then, the potentials are put through a VERY tough training regimen to weed out those that won't cut it."

"Interesting." Fral said. "But let's go save a group of new bloods."

"I couldn't agree more." Drag'lan said. "And let's just hope I'm wrong, even though we'll be able to handle them."