~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Three
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Speaking in Dragon'
"Speaking in English"
Thoughts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An ear-piercing wail echoed through the night sky as yet another Pure-Dragon was slain. Akara shook, she could see the men drawing ever closer to the village and it worried her greatly as she hugged Mokuba close.
'Don't worry' she whispered soothingly 'Everything is going to be okay' she continued wishing that she could actually believe that for herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Otoji lifted his head groggily, he had been thrown from his Pure-Dragon after the creature had been slain and had badly hit his head, he could still feel the blood trickling down near his temple but the wound wasn't too severe. He slowly got to his feet and looked around.
There was nothing but mist and carnage, thousands of their kind lay on the blood-stained grass not moving and even more half-breeds had suffered the same fate. Screams could be heard in the distance and the black haired teen shuddered. As he walked around for a few minutes it began to dawn on him that they had probably lost yet amongst all the bodies he did not recognize any to resemble his friend, he didn't know whether to be relieved or more afraid.
'Seto?' he called out uneasily as he walked past the large hole in the mountain. He quickened his pace when he recognised the blade which lay on the floor beside a headless corpse 'SETO?!' he turned in a complete circle before noticing thick amounts of dried blood on the floor leading off to a large mound of rocks.
Now although both Humans and Dragons shared the same blood colour, a Dragon-Kind (A/N: Meaning Pure-Dragons, Hybrids and Dragons) blood was a lighter shade of red, not by much but it was noticeable to those who knew the difference and another Dragon would know that difference.
Otoji began to worry as he followed the trail, his pace broke out into a run as the amount of blood that he saw increased. He remembered Akara's words to him before he had left with the others. She had begged him to look out for Seto and make sure he didn't get himself killed, humph some guardian he was. Eventually he came across his friends hiding place. Kneeling beside him he swore and tried to lean the unconscious brunette forward a little so he could see the extent of the damage, it was already beginning to heal but it was evident that the wound was deep and in his weakened state Seto's body couldn't heal it as quickly.
Otoji instantly regretted moving Seto for the bleeding had started again, oozing out thickly from the large slash in his back. A low wind ruffled long black hair and Otoji could do nothing more other than stare at his friends lifeless form and wish it had been him. Another scream echoed throughout the deserted battle field sending chills up his spine.
Not knowing what else he could do Otoji tried to rouse his friend all the while thinking about what the Humans could be doing to the village.
Seto stirred a little and opened his eyes but then again you'd wake up if someone was prodding and shaking you as much as Otoji was. He stopped at once and tore a thick strip of cloth from his overlarge cotton top and fastened it around his friends back and waist in an attempt to stop the bleeding and cursing him for wearing leather for he couldn't tear off any of the fabric to use as a bandage.
'Are you alright?' he asked quietly.
Seto raised his head groggily 'What?'
'Are you alright?' Otoji repeated.
The brunette sat up a little and winced 'Yes, what happened, did we win?'
Otoji looked around 'Er . . . not exactly' he said grimly 'In fact I think we're the only ones who survived, they are in the village, I keep hearing screaming'
Seto was on his feet at once. A wave of dizziness came over him but he forced it off.
'Whoa hold on! Your not thinking about going to the village are you?! You'll get yourself killed!' sapphire locked onto green stubbornly before Seto turned and started to limp off in the direction of the village 'Hey! Don't just leave me here!' Otoji shouted as he chased after him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A burning wasteland was all that had been left. Nothing but charred ruins and a mass of dead bodies which lay strewn across the stone floor. Part of the village was still standing but it was being brutally attacked by men. Seto strained his eyes as he looked around, trying to see through the thick smoke that lingered and silently praying that Akara and Mokuba had not been one of those killed, as he walked he barely made a sound, he would have been silent, had he not have been limping.
Otoji could see his friends worry but he alone knew the truth 'C'mon Seto, you and I both know that they have left none alive' he said softly whilst putting his hand on a pale arm. Seto pulled away and limped over to a building which was only half standing now 'C'mon, your just making things harder on yourself' the brunette knelt stiffly and started searching through the rubble 'They're dead' Otoji whispered 'Just like my folks, we're the only ones alive'
The brunette shook his head and continued to rummage through the charred bricks 'Gotta find . . . Mokuba' he managed to choke. He scraped away some more bricks and glass, cutting up his hands in the process before drawing back in shock for Akara was laid there with her body covering Mokuba who was crying. She was obviously dead due to a deep wound in the back of her neck and head.
Seto carefully lifted his little brother from what used to be their house, other than a few scratches the ten year old was alright. As soon as he was aware who had hold of him he promptly clasped his arms around Seto's neck 'Please . . . please don't leave me big brother!' he begged whilst crying even harder.
Seto forced a reassuring smile, he felt tired, very tired, he wasn't entirely over the blood loss yet but for Mokuba's sake he had to be strong 'I came back for you didn't I? why would I go and leave again?' he said softly 'Don't worry, I'll find us both a place that is safe, I'll look after you Mokuba' he said wearily
'Where!?' Otoji burst out suddenly which caused Mokuba to flinch 'Where is there left that we can go?! Where is there that is safe in this world now?!' he demanded 'Open your eyes Seto! The Valley was all we had! There are no other places like this, there is no other place where we are not hunted down like dogs and killed! As far as we are concerned we are the last of the half-breeds. There probably aren't any Dragons alive! We are on our OWN!' fear was evident in his emerald eyes.
The brunette stared sadly at Akara's limp form for a moment before kneeling beside her, uttering a few words he bowed his head and stood once again 'No, your talking about places here, I'm not suggesting we try and find a place here for there are none. I am talking about beyond the mountains, far from here. Otoji we are not the last, I know it'
The teen shook his head fiercely 'Go beyond the mountain?! Are you insane?! There are even more Humans there than there ever were here! Face it Seto we've lost! Our kind was doomed to be the servants of Humans, stop trying to fight it and just accept it!' he fell to his knees in defeat 'We can't keep fighting Seto, we can't. We have to face it. The Humans rule this land. Not us'
Seto looked up 'What are you saying, that we just give up right now?'
Otoji looked grim and upset but angered at the same time 'The time of the Dragon is DEAD! We would be foolish not to give up!' he clenched his fists 'Marik has won! And there is NOTHING anyone can do to change that!' he snapped 'You don't know half as much about this war as I do! You don't know anything about Marik or the powers he possesses! Your too young and naïve to understand that's why no one has told you! I know exactly what's in store, WE'VE LOST!'
But Seto wasn't listening 'Shut up, I think I hear something'
'Don't tell me to shut up! Just because you can't accept the fact that we are doomed!' the teen argued back.
Seto glared 'I'm not you idiot, there is someone here' he hissed, turning his head sharply as he heard a twig snap, he could feel darkness closing in.
But Otoji continued to rant and ignore him, his voice echoing throughout the ruins, Mokuba clung to Seto as though his life depended on it.
Everything was quiet, minus Mokuba's cries and Otoji's infuriated shouts until 'Otoji! Behind you!'
The black haired teen turned sharply only to have a sword driven into his chest.
As he staggered forwards and collapsed Seto carefully put Mokuba down and glared death at the battered, bloodied man who stood before him, but there was a difference in his glare, his eyes were much more angled, almost snake-like even, his face was pale, ghostly pale.
He gripped one of the daggers and stood his ground in front of the man, large blue leathery Dragon wings stuck out of his back and were angled menacingly 'You are all the same' he hissed 'Bloodthirsty, warmongering, greedy BASTARDS!'
Mokuba shrank back a little, he had never heard him speak with such hatred before, nor had he ever seen him in his other form. Brown hair was now longer and pure white. His eyes bore no pupils what so ever and if he wasn't mistaken Seto's hands were more dragon-like and bore sharp, piercing claws and were covered in tiny blue scales.
"Holy shit! He's a Hybrid!" The man exclaimed, he tried to run but Seto grasped his shoulder tightly and dug the long claws into his flesh
"Do you delight in misery and pain? Do you enjoy making other people suffer, splitting up families, killing those who have done you no wrong?" he demanded sharply, in English which shocked the man further "I know what your kind call us, I know that you think we are demons, that we should not exist, that we are a plague upon this world that needs to be contained and exploited until we have no further use, you assume that we are unforgiving, brutal monsters without either heart nor soul. When in reality, it is YOUR kind who are the monsters. Not us" Seto tightened his grip, digging the claws deeper into the man's skin.
Blood oozed out and soaked into fabric. Seto pulled out the dagger from beneath his belt and lined it up with the man's heart 'Well, I've had enough, I am going to do something my kind should have done a long time ago, stop all this pathetic training and stand and fight against you with my true power and win back our freedom. Should I fail then I guess I'll see you down in hell!' he hissed, reverting back to his own language and driving the sword down sharply.
Mokuba flinched, tears were running down his face 'Stop big brother!' he pleaded quietly. His brother turned and Mokuba was thankful to see brown returning to his hair and the snake-like eyes shape back to how he knew them, the wings folded and vanished from sight.
Seto blinked and ran his hand through his hair before looking down at Mokuba and seeing his tears, he knelt and allowed the child to hug him 'I'm sorry Mokuba' he whispered whilst reaching out to Mokuba who drew back in fear 'Please . . . don't cry, I'm myself again, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm sorry for scaring you. I forgot that you'd never seen my other side before . . . please don't cry . . . don't be scared, I'm still Seto'
The boy flung his arms around Seto and cried into his chest, he was trembling a little and the brunette felt this 'What are we gonna do?' he asked sadly 'Moms dead and so is everyone else we ever knew'
Seto softly put his arms around the boy 'I know, that's why I'm going to look out for you now Mokuba, I promise I wont let anything bad happen to you'
'You promise? Really?' the boy asked.
'Yeah, I promise'
TBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jaffacake11569: So, how's this going so far, there will be a new character next chapter and I'll leave you all to guess who that will be.
A great big thank you to K*Star and Jenna aka Kitty for reviewing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
