Annnd after an obscene long time, here's the next part with Drago hunting down the humans he saw in the forest. Enjoy ;)

I had been silently watching the humans for a while now. Fortunately, in the meantime, rain fell upon us and extinct the fire that was consuming the forest. I was relieved the raingot rid of the fire, but it made me interrupt my watch. The new eye behaved strangely under the rain and I was not able to use it correctly. However, after a short time I resumed my hunting.

I could not believe it. Those heartless humans I killed had just helped me in my quest to get rid of any danger for my family when they gave me this powerful eye.

I stood on top of a hill, following the humans with my eye, even though they were very far away. It was amazing how easily it had become to hunt them down. With a simple blink of the new eye everything turned different. Trees, plant life and any body of water looked all different shades of blue, while the humans, squirrels, deer and any other living creature were coloredby different shades of red and orange. I did not know how the eye worked but it was an amazing tool for sure.

The humans walking down the forest looked so happy, I felt revulsion toward them. There were three of them: a female one, taller than the others and covering her body with something red. It was long enough to hide her legs and torso, but not her detestable face. Her mouth was curved up in a smile and her features were soft. Her smile almost seemed to challenge me to go and try to fight her, but that was not the case since I could have killed her so fast she would have never had the opportunity to fight back). She looked down at hertwo hatchlings that ran in circles around her.

The hatchlings reached a little below half the female's height and looked completely identical with the exception of their hair–a hatchling's hair was orange and the other's was yellow. It was ironic how their hair stood out on the forest like the stars in the night, which was going to make it easier to me to hunt them down. It was going to be less enjoyable–in comparison to killing the humans in white–but at least I could quickly kill them and go home.

The humans were moving away into the depths of the forest. I guessed their future trajectory and moved in a different direction to save time.

When I first sighted the humans I got a chance to test the power of my new leg and, to my surprise, I found that it not only felt stronger but I could jump several times farther than I ever could before tonight. I used this to my advantage and from the top of the hill I leaped to a small cliff. My claws sunk in the rock to help me stabilize my body as the rock sunk under me. I trotted a short distance, leaving two small craters where I landed, and leaped again toward another cliff. I went on like this, travelling through the cliffs nearest to the forest.

My positioning on the cliffs that towered over the forest allowed me to watch both sides of the forest since the cliff separated it. On one the forest were the humans, oblivious of what was really happening.

The opposite side of the forest was a whole different story. I had the opportunity to witness something that filled me with despair and sadness. It made feel powerless.

It was the forest. It was no longer the beautiful, lush green I once knew. Where I once played with Vidri and met Maar. No… There were no more peaceful animals walking on its natural paths with flowers that were a gift to the smell. It was all gone. The scent of life was replaced by the horrible odor of soot and smoke and burned vegetation. I saw dead animals lying around as its once loved ones looked down at them uselessly trying to help them. Screeches and wailing was the disturbing melody of the forest that night.

Wait… I remembered when I destroyed the human artifacts it burst into flames and made a small fire expand across that part of the cliff.

If their artifacts can make fire and there was no thunderstorm beforehand… Were they the reason the forest set on fire?

The discovery made me roar releasing suppressed anger… so much suppressed anger. I bashed a tree and sliced another one with my claws. And I did not remember what happened next; I only knew I had gone berserk like never before. I destroyed everything in my path in a futile attempt to clear my mind.

I only needed a moment until the outrage finished. I looked away from the forest and searched for the humans. I really desired their deaths now; more than anything else. That was going to teach them to not mess with our home.

I spotted them. They walked down a path that would eventually take them to a clearing inside the forest. I could trap them in there and still have enough space to move around. I did not really need it but it would make the whole process faster.

A memory silently slipped into my head: Vidri and Maar; and now Verdeth's family, too. I never found out where they had gone. As soon as I got rid of the humans I would make sure they are all okay.

I stalked the humans until they reached the clearing. At that moment, I knew it was about to begin. The hatchlings were walkingin front of the female. They did not have the slightest idea of what was about to happen.

I hid most of my body behind the thick foliage surrounding the clearing. I thanked the color of my hide to help me blend with the leaves and grass. The only downside was the mechanization of my body, for it reflected the moonlight and made it clear where I was.

I was very careful of this and made sure to crawl under the crawl that would protect me from the moonlight.

It worked for a moment; and I was about to come out of my hiding place when one of the hatchling squinted in my direction. I had reflected the moonlight on him accidently.

I gave him no time to find out what really reflected the moonlight on his face. I leaped out of the foliage with a mighty roar. I planted myself before them and let them know who was going to take their lives.

The female's eyes went wide and I could almost see the fear her body was radiate. She instantly took her hatchlings by their hands and yanked them back as close to her as possible.

The hatchlings accepted the "protection" of the female and hid behind her, burying their faces on her body.

"Drago…? What happened to you?" she asked. I did not know why she referred to me as if she knew me. "Who did th–this to you? Your tail and your head…" She was talking about the mechanization.

"It was you who did this, human!" I roared.

Even though fear seemed to run through her body faster than blood and she was visibly shaking, her gaze was fixed on me, not moving at all.

"Kids…" she whispered as low as her voice allowed her. That did not stop my hearing to clearly understand her words, though. "Something's going on. If we can't talk some sense into Drago, we may need to run away."

They cannot run from me. That female underestimates my speed, and that is a mortal mistake.

"Drago, please…" Her voicewas shaky at first but she fought against it and continuedmore clearly. "Stay calm. Don't you remember us? Lucas, Claus… Please…"

"Maybe he won't attack us," the hatchling with read hair whispered.

I glared at the hatchling. He cringed and shrunk back.

The female knew I was determined and would not back down at this point. She slowly backed up and said, "I know you understand me, Drago. Please don't do anything to us…" Her eyebrows rose probably realizing something. "Are you angry, Drago?" Why did she keep talking to me as if I knew her? It wasbaffling

I growled. I was really angry–with her and any human. Had not she seen what was done to the forest?

"You are angry with us, Drago?" She passed a hand over her body. No, I was not angry with the three humans only, but every one of them.

"Don't you remember this morning?" I looked at her with curiosity. Something clicked inside my head. I knew said morning was a good morning, but could not remember why. Her eyes told me that she participated in said morning. "You played with Lucas and Claus and visited us. I-I also gave you some food; not any food, but your favorite meat." She forced a barely perceptible smile.

Her words went through me, and for a moment I hesitated and considered to leave. No, I could not do that now.

I roared again. This time my full set of teeth showed. She flinched and as she attempted to back up, she tripped–her hatchlings, too, fell to the grass. Her hair went crazy with the tempest I created with my roar.

She gulped. She was breathing through her mouth, which was easy to hear. She planted a foot on the ground and with the support of her shaky arm stood up.

"I–We can help you, Drago, with whatever was done to you. You can trust us, Flint, the kids, Alec…" She trailed off in the search of more words.

I could not bring myself to finish them at that point. I was still curious of whatever happened that morning. And I wanted to understand why she seemed fond of me.

I glared at them again trying to fight that side of me that wanted to spare their lives.

"Wh–What about Vi–Vidri and Maar?" she suddenly blurted out

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Was that some kind of indirect threat? Was she trying to intimidate me showing me she knew Vidri and Maar's names? I did not take this gently. I growled.

The female gave one step forward and raised her hands in an innocent manner. "Easy… I'm not going to do anything."

The curiosity was gone when I analyzed the risks if she knew Maar and Vidri. If I let her go, not only she could be a future danger for us. Maybe she could tell the rest of the humans about this encounter. Knowing humans, they would come back for revenge. Not only that, but sparing her life would make the humans think we are weak. We do not mind they destroyed our forest, our home, and we could forgive them living like cowards. We are not weak. The humans could get the wrong message and think we like them and if they do something to us, we will not fight back.

I am not the prey. I am the hunter.

I leaned forward. With this the female was warned. I told her to enjoy her last heartbeats of life. She would lose it soon.

She got the message instantly. Her expression twisted into horror and panic. "No, no, no, Drago. Please! I beg you… Let us go…" She backed up slowly, keeping firm grasp on her hatchlings' paws. She will try to escape.

Then, try to escape, human.

"You destroyed our home, human. And you did this to me. You deserve death," I said. I pulled my head back and pounced on the humans.

"Run!" The female yanked her hatchlings away and broke into a run. Their only way to escape was toward the river. But they were too slow. I was going to catch them in a moment.

I could smell the fear they left on their trail. They seemed to run like never before, but I did not need much effort to stay close to them.

One of the hatchlings was at my bite's range. I was about to attack him, however the female screeched to a halt.

"Go…" she gasped. "I'm right behind you."

The hatchling with orange hair did not hesitate. He took the opportunity the female gave her and continued toward the river. The one with yellow hair, however, was another story. He halted to look back at the female with sad eyes. "I don't want to go," he said.

"Come on, Lucas!" the orange haired yelled. He ran up to Lucas and pulled him away. "We need to go. Mom will be behind us."

The hatchlings were escaping.

I was surprised when I noticed I had been watching the scene before me too attentively. I tried moving to the right to keep the hatchlings from escaping but the female stepped on my way. She gazed into my eyes; there was as much fear on her eyes as there was braveness. Why would she try to stop me?

"Claus!" Lucas screamed, pointing at us–the female and I–, "The Drago is about to attack mom!"

"I'm okay. Just run!" the female snapped. She kept her eyes locked on mine. And there was something keeping me from attacking her. A tiny voice in my head kept me from doing what I thought right. Killing her.

I could not force myself to kill her (for which I was struggling inside my head), so I could only intimidate the female with non-lethal force. I roared and smacked the female with my head. It was just enough strength to throw her to the ground.

The hatchling Claus kept pulling Lucas closer to the river. Each time they gave a step away from me, it frustrated me more and more. They were going to escape… They would have escaped already if it was not because of Lucas. The problem was nobody escaped from a Drago. I was not going to be the first to lose its prey.

A rock hit me right under the eye. I growled as I turned to the brave female standing to my right… No. Do not pay attention to her, I repeated to myself. The hatchlings were escaping.

"Kids! Jump into the river!" she yelled to the hatchlings.

Do not dare to do that…

I raised the volume of my voice and roared at the hatchlings as I ran toward them.

"Lucas, co-come on," Claus said with desperation.

"He's gonna stop. Drago won't attack us… And what about–" Lucas yelped.

Lucas was yanked by Claus as the latter one jumped into the river. Lucas was unable to whine any more, for he was forced to dive into the river. They entered the river with a noisy splash and excessive flailing from Lucas. He screamed and gasped for air at the same time he slowly moved away. Claus erupted to the surface getting a firm grasp on Lucas' shoulder. Claus pulled the other hatchling closer and kept him within his embrace. Lucas continued flailing, not because he was drowning but because the female was at my mercy. And want it or not, she was going to pay for whom I supposed were their sons.

"I love you!" the female shouted as her hatchlings disappeared from sight. Even though her voice was really loud, it maintained a soothing tone.

She was going to try to escape. But she had not way out. My back was facing the river and her only escape route would be the forest. My home. Nobody knew it better than me. Go on, female. Attempt to run just like the humans with the flashers.

She spun around and was about to run. I leaped forward and struck her with my leg. She let loose a bloodcurdling scream as she hit the ground. Birds fled from the area, probably fearing to meet the same destiny as the disgusting human on the ground. My claws left three bleeding gashes on her back. She tried to crawl away from me. From her last breath. It was all a waste of energy and rewarding scene.

She finally gave up the useless attempt at escaping and she turned around her body to face me. "Why did you do this, Drago? You looked so happy this morning. Why would you do this to me… Hinawa..."

I was done listening.

I opened my mouth wide and aimed for her chest and brought down my fang in that exact point.

All life extinguished from her eyes in an instant. Her body just let out a faint moan as instinct, and I felt relief witnessing the death of my enemy by my own effort.

The disgusting, rewarding and strange taste of blood took over me. A fountain of said fluid flowed endlessly from the female. It dyed the perfect green grass and stained my paws.

I began to walk away. I was not going to eat her useless body. I was going to leave it there so its rotting essence and disgusting image would make it easier for the humans to find it.

It was the perfect message.

What do you think? And with this there's only one more chapter left...