I sunk into the darkness of unconsciousness.

Human voices woke my senses. They were talking about me. They mentioned how an amazing specimen I was. I was going to result in something never seen before, one of them added.

What did they mean…? I asked myself continually. I wanted to look at them; look at the creatures that had turned my peaceful world into this. I needed to know what they were doing with me. However, I could not observe more than the darkness of my eyelids. I tried to open my eyes. It was strange because I did not feel my body. According to my brain I was moving but nothing happened.

I mustered my willpower and made an attempt to open my eyes. I kept staring at the blackness, nonetheless.

At that moment I could not see myself as a Drago, but as a poor, weak creature that only existed to feed others. For once in my life I was the victim of another living being. I had never been rendered powerless.

I promised, if I had another chance at life, I would never fall on the hands of these heartless creatures. I think I was deceived by men.

I had time to think about Maar… Vidri. What happened to them? They ran away safely. Yes, they must have been safe by now. The humans were interested in me. It was all about the questions and not a single answer.

At some point I got an answer. An indirect answer to what happened to me.

A shock went down my spine. My body was not prepared for it. I woke up in an instant. The shock reached and tortured every part of my body. But at least I could open my eyes again. The sudden light coming from the surroundings hurt my eyes.

Light flashed until I blinked and everything was a little clearer.

I saw my captors, the same filthy humans that attacked us; the same ones that knocked Verdeth off the cliff. I will not forgive them. Ever.

I could only move my pupils. My head was a whole different task. I was restrained by something.

But I could feel something. Coldness under me. It was not coldness in the air, but the one I experience when I lay down on the stone in the period of time when there is snow. It makes me not even try to break free of this situation. From the corner of my eye, I notice a silver material under me; something apparently solid and shiny. The only heat left on my body soon disappears as I shiver.

I locked my sight with a human's eyes.

"It woke up," a man said.

"We don't have time to put it to sleep; he will have to go through the procedure aware of everything," somebody responded.

"Our King will be furious if we don't hurry."

What were they talking about? What procedure?

I tried to move my body again. Nothing responded. I felt so useless. Fear overwhelmed me when I realized something: what if they needed another Drago? Our specie is rare in this area and by now they must have a good idea of the location of our home. Whatever they did to me, they could repeat it on Maar, or Vidri!

I could not give up then. Not with that torturing thought in my mind.

I attempted to roar, to emit any sound, but nothing came out; just a faint groan that probably I could only hear inside of my head.

"Sir, the Drago is completely conscious. I just heard it," a man said.

You could hear me? Then, you will die… The words did not come out. Of course, they could not hear me, is only my instinct wanting to warn them of their imminent death. At that point, not even the strongest of creatures will save them.

A human clapped twice, "Let's start then." He looked back to someone else who nodded.

A loud noise I had never heard before came from behind me. It was overwhelming, too loud, and close to my head.

From my right eye, I saw something towering over me. A strange silver device, thick as a tree trunk and at the end it divided into two thinner extensions, like an arm with two giant claws.

The silver claws held a small, blue sphere between them. I did not understand at all until a human spoke up, "Ready to start mechanization with the right eye. Sir, please start with the removal."

I could not move, however, my whole body tensed. The words stayed in my ears for what seemed an eternity. Removal of my eye? What kind of cruel, insensible creature would do that? For what!

No, no, no… I repeated over and over again inside my head. Another silver arm with claws closed the distance between us. A small thing appeared from between the claws; it looked as pointy and long as a cactus needle. It aimed at my eye. What? Get that away! I screamed, but only a tiny groan–tinier that Vidri's–came out. My pleas were suppressed by the noise of the arms. Nobody could hear me cry for help.

The little needle covered the sight of my right eye entirely. At first the needle made a sound of rushing air and then sprayed something on my eye and the surrounding hide. It burned like nothing I have ever felt before. I could not express my pain through sounds so I could only writhe endlessly inside my conscience. After a moment, the pain ceased. I lost the ability to move my eye. Looking forward, directly at the claw was the only thing I could do.

Tears streamed endlessly down the right side of my face. My body tried to expel the strange substance that had attacked my eye; the needle had done its job though, the eye was impossible to move. Sensation was lost around my eye.

The claw suddenly opened wider and the needle turned longer. I feared to even think what was coming. The arm pulled back, still seemingly staring right into me. With a blinding speed, the arm propelled forward. The last thing I saw with my right eye was the tip of the needle. I felt the faint sensation of the needle sinking into the center of the right eye. It all went dark in that side. After a few moments of peace, an irresistible pain filled my head. The pain hammered my head like nothing before, as a throbbing tormented the spot where once I had an eye.

My breathing accelerated. Why have they done that?

I ignored the humans for a moment until I saw the first silver arm move. It moved in the direction of my right eye… Where it once was. I barely saw the glimmer of the blue sphere it held. It was there shortly and then disappeared from my sight. "The eye is in its place, start reconstruction," a man said.

The arm that half-blinded me appeared again. What was it going to do now? What else could they take from me?

Something entered through the wound the last arm had created. I did not know what it was doing. I was, once again, in the dark. I could only observe a couple of men standing not far from me. They had their arms on their waist, and looked satisfied–if not cheerful–with what they were witnessing. How could they be happy?

I heard the strange, overwhelming noise again. It came from the arms that were on my blind spot. Blood streamed down from the right side of my face; then flowed down my left eye momentarily making me see a wall of red.

"Done!" a man shouted.

Done? What was he…? There was a click in my brain. A click that told me there was something new within me. I wondered what. It was familiar at the same time my mind struggled to realize what this sensation meant. I blinked a few times to clarify my head. My new half-vision of the world was really hard to get used to. I could only see part of what was happening around me. I blinked again and this time something happened. For an instant I saw the frame of a man colored in different shades of red, orange and yellow, while the background was mostly blue… This man, however, was standing to my right, so I could only see him with a right eye… and I was supposed to not have one.

I blinked and then the sight changed. The soldier, the ground, the vegetation looked so clear. I could see as if the sun was at its highest point in the sky. Not even a nocturne hunter could see this well in the darkness. Maybe that blue sphere was not a sphere but an eye.

What was the point of exchanging my eyes, though?

The men cheered, "It worked! We can now see what he sees!"

"I told you!" one of them laughed.

"Come on," when one of them spoke up, the rest silenced themselves. "The important thing is that if the eye indeed works, we can continue with the rest, so you better start moving!"

Every man responded at the same time as they mimicked each other's moves, an extended palm over their forehead.

My lower jaw was the next thing to be replaced. It was horrible, the pain lasted much more time than with the eye. At the middle of the "mechanization" (as they called it) I fell unconscious. When I woke up, it took me time to even get used to the feeling of the silver material that had replaced my lower jaw. Nonetheless, the humans made a test with one of their artifacts to know if my mouth worked the same, and, to my relief it did; my bite was a lot more powerful.

Then followed the mechanization of one of my arms. It was painful, but I felt nothing most of the time. When it was done, I caught a glimpse of my new, silver arm; it was easier to control.

Then the tail. It was a very long, long, seemingly endless procedure. Some man was continuously shouting to "stop the bleeding". I felt weak across the entire process. Later, a human said it was "ready". I had learned they had my tail pinned down with one of the artifacts. Without thinking, I foolishly destroyed the artifact and killed one man… I say foolishly because that provoked anger and another man electrified me until I passed out.

When I regained conscious my new eye helped find out they were in the mechanization of my leg. It was already silver. I found new strength after this. My body was not tired anymore, but filled with a force wanting to come out. I felt anger and wanted to get rid of these humans, but another part of me told me to get rid of any human I saw from now on. They were a danger for me. The only way to eliminate any chance of getting hurt was to eliminate the source of the danger.

With the last addition–the silver leg–I felt powerful and I knew I was ready to break out. I had not been able to try my new strength but I was sure I had something I could use to my advantage. These cruel humans, without knowing, gave me what I needed to escape; I just had to be smart and merciless.

I had the opportunity, but, foolishly, I delayed it to listen to the humans' conversation.

"Alright, it's halfway done," a man said. "I think it's time to work in here," and he tapped his head with a finger.

"I agree," another one responded.

With my head? They could not turn it silver… They cannot do the mechanization to my head. That would be impossible. The limbs that have been through mechanization so far put me in a huge risk, and I am sure that could kill me. I had to…

My thoughts froze the moment I spotted the silver arm. It was there, hovering too close to my head. It seemed to stare at me as if it was hungry to cause me more pain. And I was right. The needle came out again. The memories of the mechanization of my eye began to haunt me. Without any warning, the needle propelled forward, impaling the center of my forehead.

There was pain, but something kept me awake. I could not understand what was happening; there was only the feeling of something forced into me. My eyes stayed wide-open for the whole time the needle was inside my forehead. I could not close them, I could not move anything. I had been disabled, and for a Drago that was the worst thinkable thing.

The needle slowly came out. I regained control of my body and thanked for it; it was about time. A sudden uncontrollable desire to torn these men apart washed over me. Not because I had to do it to survive, but because I wanted… revenge? I wanted to make them feel how Raia and Tyroth felt when they saw Verdeth fall.

Earlier that night, I had to face dire things nobody could understand; I felt like no Drago have ever felt before: weak, powerless. Actual fear ran through my veins. However, it was nothing compared with what kept me going. My desire to see Maar and Vidri again; to keep them safe was what I wanted. But now… I do not want to accept it, but now, what makes me carry on is the image of those men, those cruel, heartless humans dying before me; an unfamiliar fire to see them bleed and die by torture of their own pain. Maar and Vidri's images were still there, but they were blurry, secondary thoughts. My main goal is to kill these humans.

"Don't make yourselves comfortable, the time's running out!" a man shouted.

They were going back to their original positions. This was it.

I was going to start with my tail. I had already proved it could break whatever it was pinning me down. At that time I was fully awake, so I let them know. I roared as loud as I could. They turned around to see me with wide eyes. I flailed my tail until it broke free. A man committed the mistake of trying to grab my tail. Probably he did not have a brain. He gave his last breath before getting close to me, for I bashed him with my tail. The sound of countless bones breaking–obviously delivering an instant death–was as beautiful a sound as the birds' melodies.

The others humans gasped until their apparent leader yelled, "Don't let it escape!"

It was too late for them. With a simple move of my legs and then squirming, I broke free. I sprang to my feet and reminded who they had attempted to restrain from their freedom.

I noticed the fearsome flasher on a man's hands. Not this time, human. He was going to be my next victim. He aimed the flasher at me and soon enough, after a flash, I barely felt something sting my hide. I pounced at him, crushing his disgusting body with my foot, leaving only a crater tinted white and red.

Another human came from behind. He did not have time to even level his flasher, for I extended my neck and torn apart his body in half with a quick bite.

I turned around only to find a man already on his knees, as if pleading to die. "P-Please n-no. I'm so sorry for what I did…" Is that what humans do? Attack non-stop and mercilessly as long as they have the power, but when they lose it, they plea to be forgiven? It was never their intention. Brave at first, but coward at last.

"If Vidri had said that, you had spared us the pain?" I said. He only understood a roar from me, which caused him to shrink. I spun and destroyed his skull with one swift motion of my tail.

I took a moment to destroy their torturing, silver artifacts. As I destroyed their stuff, small explosions resonated and a fire started due to the dry grass in the surroundings. The only artifact I did not destroyed was where they held me. I planned something with it and these humans' leader.

Two men teamed up to use their flashers on me. They had no effect. I bashed a man with my head, and he fell off cliff. The other human stared at me visibly shaken. I acted quickly: I tilted my head completely to one side, and then, using every single tooth I had, I crushed the man, from his feet to his head.

Thanks to my new eye, I spotted a man coming from the right. I did not give him any time to think; I kicked him in the torso, sinking three claws in his body. He dropped dead.

One more.

I turned around to face the leader of these humans. As I walked toward him, I knew seven brutally killed men were proof that what they had attempted here was as unforgivable as continuing to breath. My footsteps were marked by giant blood marks and I was sure that my new look after the mechanization could probably even scare me, but the leader stood there, unfazed.

"Don't even try it!" He pointed a long finger at me. "I know you understand me. Listen to me: if you kill me and escape nobody will finish the progress of your mechanization. And, your body in its current state won't endure what has been done so far. You will eventually die because your body is not correctly prepared. Otherwise, if you don't kill me and let me finish the mechanization, I can modify your body to adapt and you will survive for as long as you wish."

I walked up to the point he could probably smell my breath. I roared, showing every single tooth I had. He cringed and I took the opportunity to softly grab him with my mouth. "Put me down, you damn beast!" he cried, pointlessly punching my face. I trotted up to the shiny silver and round mound where they held me and slammed him down there.

"My back!" he screamed in pain. I stood there for a moment enjoying his writhing. I lifted my foot, and brought it down in his two legs. They were instantly crushed accompanied by the sound of bones breaking. He rested his head back base as his nails were scratching the base in despair; his mouth was wide open and his breathing easy to hear.

"Apparently you died because your body was not prepared for a Drago," I roared at him before finishing him off with a lash of my tail, which sent him flying off cliff.

I saw the man's body sinking in the darkness of the forest. For a moment I felt realized. I avenged Verdeth but I did not get anything back… Still, it was worth it. But this had not ended, for my new eye recognized the familiar frame of humans. There was only one way to keep Vidri and Maar safe after this. I ran off to follow the humans.