Chapter 54-Torn

The fresh scent of sea salt wafered into the cave system gradually, as it did every night, but unlike most days, the familiar smell could not calm Tyst. He was still shaken up after the encounter with the clone and seeing its condition be poorer then his mother had figured. Lingering in the main chamber, he hesitated, glancing back towards the direction of their guest's room. It had been several hours since the event but he couldn't get the meeting out of his mind. Sighing, he laid down on the sandstone floor and tried to relax, realizing quickly he wouldn't get much sleep during the night.

He wasn't sure how long had passed but he figured he must have drifted off soon after because he was suddenly jolted awake, getting to his feet as he listened for any sort of sound that could have aroused him. Not hearing or sensing anything out of the ordinary, Tyst scolded himself for being too paranoid and sat back down, curling his tail alongside his right side. It was then that he heard the low whimper that seemed to come from the direction he had been skeptical about going into anyway. He must have been awakened by the clone's misery, he reasoned as he stood and turned to face the general location of the sound.

Deciding to risk taking a glance at the man to make sure he wasn't dying, although the sounds coming from the room seemed to suggest just that, Tyst left the main area and went down the small path that connected the two chambers. He paused at the room's opening, peering in to see that Tanui was on his back, hands clenched tightly at his sides and still uttering that quiet mummer that rose and fell in volume irregularly. Having witnessed how his father had treated the man after identifying it was a copy of someone important, he was all but happy to leave the hybrid alone and have nothing to do with it.

Yet, despite how he personally felt, he entered and stood there watching, silent as stone while the continued low sounds coming from Tanui began to turn into something much more interesting. The clone's words were disjointed and fractured at best but Tyst made out several things he hadn't expected to hear from the broken man laying before him. A bonded dragon and a lover had departed from the copy to parts unknown, leaving him to struggle against his own mental collapse. The decay had been gradual, hidden from the one who had deemed him so successful in every aspect, but the eventual shift in mannerisms had ultimately given away how shattered he had become.

Shifting slightly, Tyst hesitated as the deep breathing he had heard come from the clone abruptly vanished, only to find red irises staring up at him a minute later. He took a step back as Tanui rose, lifting a hand and letting electricity flicker from his fingertips. Crimson eyes narrowed sharply, the muted red masked by the paled skin around it and the faint appearance of veins along the hybrid's left temple.

"You refuse me of sleep?" Tanui questioned, a venomous hiss added to his words as he rasped them out through clenched teeth. "I sense your fear and unease, dragon. Why be afraid?"

I am not afraid, Tyst snorted angrily, retreating until he was standing in the doorway. His words might fool Tanui but he was uncertain of how the clone would react.

Tanui chuckled softly, maliciously under his breath. "Is that so? Then why does your pulse quicken and you back away from me as if I was a rabid animal?" He snorted, amused as Tyst bared his teeth in protest. "Come now, I am as harmless as a fly."

Father thinks the opposite. His distrust of you is enough for me to be worried-

"Worried enough to call for either that disillusioned healer or the survivor who witnessed the death of its siblings and did nothing to save them? I expected better from you." Tanui smirked, curling a hand and lowering it to his side.

Take that back! Mother and Father did what they could to get to this point. Their pasts are flawed but, then again, who doesn't have a troubled past? I suspect you had quite a rough time yourself. Grown in a vat and all just to obey the wishes of a corrupted former rider-

Tanui's irises flared and his lowered hand rose, unclenching so he could seize at Tyst's throat with a telekinetic choke hold. The dragon, realizing he had mis-spoken and said something he never should have, growled in pain and tried to snap at the hybrid. Arcs of lightning crackled from the fingers the clone had never relaxed since being rudely awakened, the red flickers of light illuminating his ghostly skin.

"You will regret angering me," Tanui retorted as he moved forward, letting a jolt of electricity loose to strike at Tyst's captured frame. "I do not take kindly to those that bring up my past."

Relaxing the telekinetic hold slightly as he stopped right before the dragon, Tanui placed his sparking palm on the beast's snout, only to cackle in delight at hearing the pitiful shrieks rise from the tortured creature. With a sigh, the clone finally dropped his risen hand and glanced into Tyst's misery-filled eyes. Unable to do much besides catch his breath, the fledgling could only return the gaze with a stare of disgust.

Just get it over with, pest. Kill me already, if that's what you want. Father will only return the damage tenfold upon your miserable frame.

A sudden laugh from Tanui startled Tyst, making him flinch and realize the clone was removing his hand from the dragon's snout. "Kill you? No, I will do much worse then that. You and your family are the perfect bait I need to lure him here." The reddened irises slowly muted their color, returning to the dulled crimson the scale-flier had originally seen when Tanui had arrived. "I have always been the superior one and I shall prove why that is the case."

Tyst snarled, crouching low to the floor as he retreated a step, watching the clone's hands in case Tanui tried anything. He was still in shock and still pained from the electrical surge that he thought would have killed him. What plans did the disillusioned hybrid have for him? Could he call for help in time if the man made good on his word and attacked him?

Attack me and you'll find yourself without an arm, he snapped, trying to get the clone to at least fear his skills.

"It will just grow back given enough time." Without batting an eye, Tanui levitated his sword free from its sheath and held it even with Tyst's irises. "Care to question me on that?"

Why would I? You'd just kill me before I could move to attack.

"Suit yourself, dragon." Tyst quivered, noting the sheer amount of venom the words had held. Tanui wasn't playing around anymore, certainly not with the clone in the position to kill him if he so chose.

An idea struck Tyst a second later, the outcome worrying him but also possibly providing the rest of his family a means of escape while he fought off the disillusioned clone. Moving back half a step, he clenched his back talons against the sandstone floor and lifted himself up, trusting in his hind limbs to support him for only a few seconds. Letting loose a mighty roar, he threw himself forward, flaring his wings and swiping for Tanui's chest.

The clone ducked, thrusting his sword upward as Tyst scraped against the ceiling, frantically trying to turn around to attempt another attack. Cold steel scraped against the dragon's side, leaving a burning scar as it dropped back onto the ground. Landing with a disgruntled snarl, teal irises flickered with rage as the hatchling opened its maw to deliver a piercing shriek right into Tanui's back and knocked him to the ground.

Slow was the movement from the clone to get back onto its feet from the blast, Tyst realized as Tanui staggered back upright. The hybrid's hands gripped his knees tightly as his body tensed, a low hiss of air rasping from the man's throat as he stayed bent, red irises fixated on the floor as everything else was too painful to currently take in. Feigning concern, the scale-flier tentatively took a step towards him, only to watch as he threw himself against the closest wall, visibly shaking as his gaze seemed unfocused and lost.

"No more . . ." Tanui whimpered as Tyst snorted, startled by just how quickly the man's mood and even behavior had changed. One minute he had been about to be killed and now he was watching the hybrid have a mental breakdown. It greatly unnerved him to be standing where he was but he wanted to see how the clone would change next.

You still need our help, despite what you think, Tyst growled as Tanui turned around and slid down against the wall to sit with his lower back against curved rock, burrowing his head in his hands and beginning to weep uncontrollably.

Turning his back on the insane man, Tyst shook his head in disbelief at just how close he had come to death and how narrowly he had escaped with his life. His father was right to be wary of the hybrid, a lesson he had learned very clearly for himself.

You should be lucky I am forgiving, otherwise Father would likely kill you himself if I were to tell him everything that happened tonight-

A sharp burst of pain from his left hind leg startled Tyst and he whirled around to see that Tanui had, at least, partially regained his senses and had taken advantage of the dragon's back turned to lash out and rip away one talon from the now pained appendage. Snarling, he watched as a shallow grin crept over the hybrid's features and the reddened eyes seemed to glow with an inner light.

"Mine." The word was hissed through clenched teeth as veins crawled along the left side of the clone's face, distorting the waxy pale skin and sending a wave of fear crashing through Tyst.

The dragonet wasn't sure whether to run or stay where he was as Tanui's crimson eyes met his own. He noticed the pain hidden deep within and wanted to speak up but figured the man would likely kill him if he so moved from his current spot. Likely, there was too much aguish for the hybrid to deal with and so it had driven itself mad trying to compensate for something it no longer could control.

What do you plan to do with that? Tyst snarled as he lifted his injured limb, trying to soothe the pain that flowed through it and distracted him.

"Get your sister and yourself out of here. I can't control it much longer but, please, trust me and flee. Innocent blood on my hands is not what I want, despite what you think of me as a monster."

It took Tyst a moment to realize Tanui had actually spoken. His words were soft and guarded, very different from the dark killer he had witnessed hours ago. It was almost if there were two different personalities within the hybrid, a raving murderer and a reserved clone. Glancing at the man, he noticed Tanui had closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the rock wall, one hand curved around the bloody claw he had seized from the dragon.

"I cannot give you much time to flee, so hurry up before there is nothing left to stop him. Within the depths lurks something that could easily destroy all four of you and I want the next generation to have a chance at survival. Certainly you can understand that at least."

I understand but how . . . ?

Tanui wearily opened his eyes just enough to peer through the slit and found the dragon's curious yet reserved stare. "There are things I discovered on my own, things my Master knew but never told us for our own good. He . . . implanted more than just memories into our mind. I was the test subject for one particular wraith - as he called them - and as time passed I found my very personality changing and blacking out for periods of time . . ."

That thing was the cause of it? Your madness, I mean?

Tanui shook his head, giving a weak chuckle. "No, my mind has deteriorated over time by itself. The wraith, however, has used it as an excuse to begin a spree of slaughtering those it feels are inferior by taking over when I lose control. The more deterioration, the quicker I lose what remains of myself."

Those veins that crept along your face . . . Are they a sign? Tyst growled, folding his wings against his back and gingerly placing his wounded leg back on the ground.

"Yes. The faster they grow, the more it has dominance over my slipping persona."

Yet no one else knows of this? Tyst snorted, retreating a step as Tanui cringed, his other hand curling into a fist as faint flickers of lightning shimmered along the pastel flesh.

"I hid it from my dragon and from her to protect them. I followed in the inferior's footsteps to keep those I love safe . . ." Tanui sighed, dropping his head back to normal height. "Get out of here."

Tyst paused for a second later and then turned, limping down the corridor as fast as he could as he tried his hardest to keep the pressure off his injured hind limb. Malie had to be kept safe; he had to protect both of them in order to give the next generation a chance at survival, or so Tanui had phrased it. Once he had aroused his sister, who hadn't been keen on waking up, they fled into the night sky, leaving behind their home on silent wingtips and hoping their parents would make it out alright . . .