Finally, the last chapter of this story. In the last chapter Drago went after Hinawa and the twins, though considering how much it's been since the last chapter, I recommend re-reading it :) Enjoy!
Those selfish humans…
My head, my tail, my jaw… My body; it all hurts.
The mechanization had left an agony that made me want to stay lying down all day. That obliged Maar to go in search for food. That was my task, but what was I to do when my whole body refuses to move?
The incredible abilities I had gained after the mechanization soon worn me out when I arrived at the plateau.
I passed out in the cold rock only to be found by Vidri shortly later. He and Maar dragged me inside our cave where I woke up time later, thrashing around after reliving the mechanization in my dreams. For a moment I thought all what happened was but a cruel nightmare–a latent, twisted fear–but no.
I knew my situation was real when I noticed Vidri, lying down, in front of me with his widened eyes fixed on me, examining the mechanized parts of my body. I felt like a stranger, a monster to my own son. I easily detected the fear to the unknown in his eyes.
No question arose until the next morning when Maar and Vidri inquired me endlessly with sad faces that showed more pain than what I was suffering.
Most of my responses were "I do not know" over and over again which made my hatred for the humans burn again.
Once I described to them what happened, we all remained silent, grief breaking through the usual happiness of our lives.
Then Maar told me that Verdeth's family decided to depart from here after I arrived without him.
"His couple already figured Verdeth's fate when she saw me," Maar explained to me with a tone lacking her usual calm. "She decided to depart alongside her son." She glanced at the sky, "They were going to look for Verdeth."
The sun touched the highest point in the sky, it was time to fetch our food. However, to worsen our situation my body felt stiff and weak as if the mechanization was an extra burden instead of a part of my body.
Thankfully Maar said she could go hunting this time. I knew she was fully capable of doing so, but still that was something I always did and it only made me angrier the fact that I was nothing but a useless lump that could not move… or do anything.
I did not feel good, like being a stranger to my body.
In the meantime Vidri played outside the cave–was he afraid of me?
I rested inside our cave writhing about. I roared. Not only I had to bear this paint, fault of the humans, but the heat was torturing me. The sun shining above us made the cave hotter with each moment that passed.
I snapped and kicked a wall,–my strength uncontrollable–and the rocks above me shook; gravel fell on my head bouncing off my tough hide; it was enough to cause me annoyance. It was followed by a bigger rock that crushed my tail. I roared again.
After taking the rock off me, I looked outside and the pain instantly stopped–I forgot it. Where was Vidri? He was not in the spot he was playing a moment ago. I flexed one leg to stand up. It was a difficult task. I continued nonetheless and hoping the mechanization came to be useful again I blinked trying to use my special. It worked. I quickly found Vidri, his red and orange silhouette standing out against the blue surroundings. I approached him and glared past Vidri–anger burning like the fire that burned the woods last night. A human had approached Vidri.
I blinked again to see with normal vision again. I ran off the cave to protect my son from the loathsome creature.
When I saw the human, memories flashed in my head. I t was the hatchling with red hair, son of the female. "Claus," I hissed.
The little human had to throw his head back to look up at me, his mouth agape. Sweat ran down his cheek and his grip on a small fang-like object tightened.
Vidri froze there looking at me, nervous. But, why? And why he stood there in front of a human that was close enough to harm him with his fang. They were dangerous, and Vidri should've known that. He didn't move, nonetheless.
I stomped the ground and growled. The human cringed, backing up in fear.
He recovered quickly, though, and he raised a finger to point at me.
"D-Drago! Why you… did that yesterday?" he yelled, his voice breaking. "We didn't do anything to you!" A tear escaped from his eye.
"You humans started this!" I roared; the humans' hair ruffling under my breath.
To my surprise he did not move. Claus' only response was to tilt his head and frown.
I continued to glare at him, the side of my mouth twitching.
Vidri, who was in the middle of us, looked at me with wide eyes.
"What did you do?" he asked, nervous for the answer he could get.
"What…" Claus whispered. He seemed to have realized something. He stepped forward, closer to Vidri, with sudden moves–the fang in his paw swayed with the momentum–that made me respond pulling Vidri from his tail. My son whimpered, but he was now safe.
And Claus regarded Vidri exclusively, "He, your dad… k-killed my mom!" The last part came out with difficulty, after a brief hesitation.
"Y-You did wha–" I did not let him finish; instead I stomped the ground–tiny rocks bounced around us–and pulled Vidri further back, behind me.
Vidri as still shocked by my abrupt actions. Still, he spoke up, "Why you killed her...?"
"They are all the same," I said with a low, though fierce voice, "They killed Verdeth, attacked you and turned me into this. They are all a threat."
Without warning I bashed my head against the human, careful not to kill him yet.
The human got up, surprised of my attack. However, soon enough his expression turned into a furious one.
"Stupid animal," he glanced at the shivering Vidri, "I just hope he doesn't grow up to be like you: a killer."
He lowered his head to look at the fang-like object as if it had turned into something interesting. "I used to think you were cool, Drago," he said without looking at me, his voice low until he looked up at me and continued, "But now, I will kill you."
He scampered behind me, leaving space between us. I made no effort to stop him because I was going to kill him anyway.
I faced him and we stood there for a moment, Vidri standing on the side worried for the both of us, though he should not, for I am going to put Claus down and no human deserves any amount of concern.
He began running to the left, his hand glowing, which made me wonder if humans could do something I did not know about. I took him a bit more seriously and did not let him get behind me again.
Then he cried and threw a small blue bolt from his glowing hand; it scraped my hide, probably leaving a mark on my side. It did not hurt much, but it burned briefly earning a groan. I glared at Claus for his impudence and roared at him. I leaped forward landing in front of him and he tumbled after the around us shook under my weight.
He scrambled to his feet and tried to surround me, throwing another blue bolt in the process. It hit my hide once more. The burning sensation reappeared. I was fed up.
I spun around and raised one paw as big as him and bashed him; his tiny body was flung towards a rock. His back smacked the rock and he fell face first the ground.
He groaned weakly not moving at all. I only watched him, letting my actions demonstrate who was going to die.
Unfortunately, it was not just me and Claus fighting; there was someone else as important: Vidri.
He had been watching the whole thing with a nervous expression. He did not like what I was doing… But he had to learn! He had to understand who the enemy was! Open your eyes, son.
As I pondered on his reactions, as if on cue, he began walking towards us.
"Vidri, stay back," I told him.
He continued, nonetheless, his eyes showing no emotions, only a blank expression.
I would not have minded this, if I knew he was going to finish off the disgusting human. It would have taught him of the things he will have to do when he grows up.
That, however, was far from reality. He was… concerned.
"Claus," his voice was tiny, "are you okay? Claus?"
Said human growled and clawed at the ground. He extended his arm and took the fang he dropped earlier.
Vidri was too close.
"Get away from him," I growled and swiftly put myself between them both. Claus managed to look up at me; his entire body encased my superior shadow.
He made short, high pitched sounds; he could not breathe well apparently.
Claus barely managed to sit up, his arms shaking when he used them as support.
He scowled at me. "I hope you die," he growled.
In an instant the pain seemed to disappear from him; he sprang to his feet and tried to impale me with his fang in my chest. However, he was slow in comparison; I sidestepped and caught him by the leg, crushing his bones inside my powerful jaws; in the corner of my eye, Vidri was horrified by the sudden struggle, flinching alongside the rhythm of bones breaking.
Claus screamed uncontrollably, birds and such flew away from the nearby trees.
He flailed only achieving worsening the situation. His leg was twisted in an unhealthy position, far from repair. One of the blue objects of his feet fell and blood dripped, creating a crimson shadow under him.
"No, no!" Vidri pleaded, but he went unheard. I had already decided what was to be of Claus. "Do not kill him please…" he whimpered.
The screaming was dying down, his struggle was not as strong, he was losing his conscious. He was going to sleep forever very soon. I tasted each moment. You are going to harm us, humans.
"You can call me a killer now, human, rejoice yourself as you agonize," and with those last words, in his upside down position and still crushed under the pressure of my jaw, Claus laid eyes on me one last time, which made me understand his mindset, understand his pain and motives–he was as hurt as me. He felt as lost. Something was screaming at me to catch my attention…
I threw my head back and flung the human to the void down cliff.
Vidri followed with his eyes the human, and for a moment I thought he was going to drop down when he stood at the edge of the plateau looking down in the search of the death human.
He jerked his head at me, widened eyes waiting for an explanation (apology) for my actions.
"He is gone, Vidri; he deserved it."
I walked away; the only thing Claus left behind was the object on his foot, which I slightly kicked out of my away. "Claus," Vidri whispered.
After my one-sided fight against the human I had to lay down, my mechanized leg suddenly started aching and I could not bear to stand up –maybe I could, but I just wanted to rest.
Vidri entered the cave and left something on the ground. He told me something, but his voice never reached me. It was all silent as I kept staring at the blue object Vidri had dropped. It was the human's thing he had on his foot.
"Vidri," I growled, shutting him up, "What is that doing here…?"
"T-This is what Claus had on his foot. Apparently he had two…" He stumbled his words.
"Get that out of here!" I roared. Vidri looked at me, terrified and then he scurried off, lifting dust behind him.
Why did I talk to him like that?
The silence was frustrating. Vidri had gone off to play somewhere else, away from me I guess; where I could not hurt him. The birds normally sang in the nearby trees until I scared them off. And Maar… She had to go in search of food because I was as useful as a rock. She had been out there for a long time. What if she decided to escape somewhere else like Verdeth's family? Maar probably saw–before me–that I-I was… I was what? Dangerous? Different? No! Why would I be dangerous. Humans are dangerous! Wait, what if Maar actually stumbled upon humans…? Totally plausible. The thought swarmed about in my head like bees, annoying, unrelenting bees. What if–
"…mans!" Vidri screamed.
My leg gave up when I tried to stand up as a natural reaction; I fell back to the ground.
"…lec!" I barely heard Vidri. Argh! I have to see what is happening.
I put the pain aside for a moment and rather focused on Vidri's voice. He was scared again and I needed to help him. I spotted him on the distance hurrying back here. However, he went past me and behind the cave.
He accidentally dropped one of Claus' blue objects near the entrance of the cave. I was not going to say anything about it, though. I wanted to know what happened to Vidri. What he saw.
I gathered strength and won the battle again the mechanization managing to stand up.
The haunting words of the man that worked on my mechanization flashed in my head. He said my body would not endure what they had done and that I was going to die because of it. Is my leg only the start of that? Was he saying the truth…? What nonsense am I thinking! I shook my head frantically. He was nothing but another human who would do anything to manipulate me; another liar.
I exited the cave and went to find Vidri hiding behind it.
"Are you okay, Vidri?" I looked down at him with a concerned expression, and with the protective voice I feel I had not used in a long time. As a reward, Vidri seemed to calm down.
He opened his mouth, but said nothing for a moment. He was clearly hesitant of telling me. When did I lose his trust?
"I saw…" he sighed and repeated with weight on his words knowing the future consequences. "I saw a pair of humans. Alec and another I have never seen. Although, there is something in him that I find familiar, but I do not know," He spoke while looking down at the ground, so when he finished he looked at me; I tried to hide my anger. More humans invading my territory, threatening our lives. I was not going to allow that.
"No, no…" He planted himself in front of me. "What are you going to do?"
"I am going to keep us safe. I will get rid of them; kick them out of our home."
"You will just scare them away, r-right?"
"No."
"You will kick them out... like you did with Claus?"
"It is the only way, Vidri."
I walked past Vidri, my decision taken as soon as Vidri told me what was going.
"Why…?" Vidri whimpered. "Was not Alec your friend? You told me that."
"My friend?" I repeated out loud. There was something trying to catch my attention when I combined 'Alec' and 'friend' in the same sentence.
Logically, it did not make sense. I would never befriend a human. It would be a burden, a constant threat. And still, the nagging thought kept repeating in my mind. A human friend.
Alec was related to the little humans, right? Lucas and Claus? Why, however, I related them? I knew how the little humans looked like but Alec was not but a strange appearance in my mind.
Wait… I think I know who Alec is. I know that human but I cannot access to that memory.
Steps. Just as me, Vidri also turned to the direction the sound of approaching steps were coming from. Two pairs, the two humans Vidri told me about. I knew the one on the right was Alec, heavier than the other nameless human, but more fragile, with white fur on his face and a strange object covering his eyes.
They stopped. The only thing separating us was our cave, our home. "It's Claus other shoe," said Alec–who somehow I recognized his voice.
He moved to the right and called, "Claus!" We're here to rescue you!"
Claus was not here anymore, though: a thought that caused a foreign guilt and at the same time relief.
"Where are you!" he yelled.
I decided it was enough.
I came out from behind the cave in a slow stride, each of my steps rumbling the ground under us.
The expression of the human was instantaneous and pleasant to me.
Their eyes opened widely and had to look up to meet my eyes. I could hear their hearts hammering their chests. An image of said organs emerging from their bodies in a bloody chaos appeared in my head.
I wondered if they had seen the female's body near the river, whose blood temporally dyed the grass around her in red; a red that would later flow to the river and disappear as fast as her presence.
The humans backed away simultaneously, the one named Alec, clearly fearing for his life, for his gait was uncoordinated and his legs trembled at the rhythm of my advance.
However, it was the other human that intrigued me… and deep inside made me… nervous?
Though he was backing away alongside Alec –albeit slower –his eyes were the opposite of Alec's; his gaze was grim under the shadow of the object on his head. I felt as if he could see farther than my green hide, deeper inside. And not only his gaze was fixed on mine, but he showed no emotions beside… anger? He reminded me of myself the night I killed those humans who mechanized me, or when I killed the female human and her companion–Claus. The human's paws were tight shut–the back turning almost white. And his legs were not trembling in the least; his stride was firm and yelled determination, bravery, willpower. I saw myself in him, a smaller human version; about to fight me–No! A human cannot compare to a Drago, let alone by the way he walks. Humans are small, defenseless, ignorant and fragile. I kill them. There is no comparison between the two of us.
The stare clash between the human and I seemed to last a great part of the day, even though it as just a brief moment; a mental fight that had no winner or loser. It was finally interrupted by Alec who leaned a bit closer to the other human, "That's not a Drago anymore." He took another look at me, "I have a bad feeling about this…"
Pain resurged and I unconsciously twitched. That did not stop me, though.
I started advancing toward the humans with a slight limp caused by the hammering pain in the mechanized leg.
They kept retreating until I halted and they did, too.
"You are never going back, humans," I roared. I could not feel it, but I was sure rocks shook and the humans' bodies felt the burst of wind coming from me.
And I charged head first.
The brave human swiftly pushed Alec off the way and he threw himself to the opposite side, landing with a roll.
Both humans were separated, Alec to my right and the other to my left. A brief glance at Alec told me he was old and defenseless in comparison to the other one. Alec struggled to sit up while he mumbled something about his back; he raised his voice and said, "Flint! Please be careful!"
That was an insult to me. How was he urging the human–"Flint"–to be careful against a Drago? You could not. You only had to hope for it to kill you fast and without pain; no more.
I turned to Flint, who was standing with a defiant gaze. He put his hand behind him and took out a long, sharp and… curved object… A fang! My fang; the one I lost when it got pierced in that female human yesterday. What is he intending to do?
I growled at him for having the insolence to bring that and thinking in using it.
He said something for the first time, "Don't you remember where you left this fang? In my wife's heart." He spoke with a hoarse, deep voice. Though there was a tinge of desperation and ferocity in his voice, he did not yell.
He spoke normally, feeding strength to his words and making him look tougher. "Now I am going to pierce you heart with this, so your family finds you like we found… my Hinawa."
He raised his paw grasping tightly my fang in front of his face, almost defiantly. I felt he was daring me to attack. And I was going to do just that. I charged once again with my jaws wide open aiming to tear off the hand that grasped the fang.
But he guessed my movements perfectly. He sidestepped to the right, for which I whipped with my head in the same direction. He did not hesitate and ducked under and ran to the opposite side. I feared he would use that moment to attack me, so I jumped back.
Instead he picked up a large piece of wood with his free paw. I ran toward him and bit the air, since he –once again–dodged me calmly. Before I could try again, he vaulted over a rock, and hid behind a couple of larger rocks.
My first instinct was to smash the top half of the rocks with a horizontal sweep of my head. Lots of rubble leaped at me, bouncing off my hide. No blood however. Where did the human go?
With a cry he rose from the lower part of the rocks and jumped over the rocks I destroyed a moment ago. He reached the height of my eyes. He raised the piece of wood over his head and tried to bring it down on my normal eye. He missed by very little. And as I was going to hit him as he landed, but he swung the piece of wood once more.
I sweep my tail very fast and he jumped over it, but not high enough. I hit him slightly on one foot, enough to make him lose balance and tumble down.
I raised a giant foot, throwing a massive shadow over him.
"Flint!" Alec yelled as I was about to crush the human. For some reason I could not help but interrupt what I was doing; my foot still hovering above the downed human, and look at Alec. His face appeared to me like something else than a dangerous human.
When I returned my attention to Flint, he had rolled away. It made me angry they used a distraction–and succeeded.
The next thing I saw was the lumber about to hit my arm. The strength behind the strike was surprising. A sharp pain climbed up from my arm, for which I jumped back.
He did not wait though, and charged toward me, the lumber ready to strike again.
I spun around and swatted him with my tail. He only had time to drop the lumber and put up his arms as defense. Ignorant human.
I smashed him in his arms, which blocked his stomach; it sent him flying at least two drago-lengths away, near my cave. I was surprised I did not hear any bones breaking. Receiving the full blow of my tail was something that would at least break something on the receiving end.
But this human Flint was not normal.
He grunted and panted for a brief moment until he saw me moving toward him and he got on his knee, his arms shaking and his right cheek bleeding from three large scrapes.
He wiped away the blood with the back of his paw in which he still held my fang firmly.
He got to his feet, a bit disoriented apparently, and got closer to my cave… and Vidri!
This made me angrier and instead of slowly advancing, I charged.
A moment before my head connected with his body, he jumped out of the way, rolled under my head to the opposite side and sprang to his feet, my fang grasped above his head.
I saw this with widened eyes; I knew I was not going to stop it, he was too fast.
Another Drago fang was going to pierce my hide, no doubt, and after that I was going to be an easier opponent. It was my entire fault.
Flint pounced at me, on my side where there was no mechanization. It pierced my hide with ease sinking deep.
I let out a howl. Pain and fear washed over me as a tidal wave that crashed on me and left me to drown.
I bled instantly and it was not going to stop soon.
I bellowed a cry and threw Flint to the side; the fang stayed pierced in my hide, acting like a blockade for more blood to be spilled.
Still, I could not reach it, and from then on every movement hurt.
He took this moment to pick up his lumber, holding it with both paws.
I waited for him to get closer and whipped with my tail aiming higher this time. He ducked under it and swung the lumber with scary accuracy.
He smashed me in the side in the exact spot the fang was; it came out flying with the hit.
I could not bear the sudden spike of pain and my legs staggered.
I had to focus completely on not falling. My vision turned blurry but I got glimpse of Flint backing away. What… Why?
From the corner of my eye I caught a blue blur rushing toward me. I could not react in time and the object crashed with my side–the sore one where the fang was. An explosion occurred at point black range enveloping half my body in vicious fire. I staggered from side to side; the mechanized parts had gained a shade of red and the heat rose in an instant.
The pain reached higher levels as it was becoming harder to stay on my feet. I lowered my head panting with a combination of a growl.
It did not matter how rough my hide was, an explosion at that range was devastating. My sight turned blurry; even if I was looking down at the ground, it seemed to spin around.
I heard footsteps. They approached fast and I tried to raise my head to defend myself. I was too slow, though. I heard one more stomp, followed by a grunt of effort. The next thing I saw was not Flint but his lumber coming at full speed toward my eye. I could just blindly whip my tail at him. I hit him and he hit me. His momentum knocked down Alec.
The slumber crushed my natural eye and the vision in it blackened instantly.
My feet gave up. They gave up alongside my strength and the hope to protect my family.
I toppled to the ground. My face swept the pointy rocks which left my face all scraped. I tried to stand up to no avail.
I slowly felt more tired as I observed the humans with my only working eye–they looked back at me.
Flint stood to his feet with little effort. I guess a smack of my tail was not much compared to what he had done. He watched me lose everything.
Alec got up after Flint, though Alec stayed in his place while his companion got closer standing in front of me.
He picked up the slumber, inserted the fang in the tip, and held it out with a fierce, but hesitant look in his eyes.
He seemed to have a mental struggle. Was he considering not killing me?
I killed his couple after all, I would accept my fate. If he did as slightly as try to hurt Maar, I would kill him, no second thought.
"Wait!"
Vidri sprang out of nowhere, and stood close to my face. "Please, no, Alec!" he plead and licked the blood on my face. If I were to die right now, I would still be happy because my son is in here protecting me and Maar is safe.
And yet, with my son between me and Flint, he kept a firm grasp on the fang.
"Flint! Don't do it!" Alec told him. "That won't solve anything. You'll only make its child go through what Claus and Lucas had to!"
He nodded and put away the fang after detaching it from the slumber he then dropped. Vidri kept licking my face, whispering in a barely audible grow, "I am here, they will not hurt you."
Flint stepped forward, but Vidri was quick to sprang and push him away with his small head.
"Stop fighting!"
I saw from behind how my son grew in mind and valor. I was proud to be defended by him, for Flint and Alec were now respecting the distance.
Vidri said something else but did not understand. A tide of exhaustion came upon me. And I could not hold this feeling back, no matter how much I tried. The noises, the voices began fading, as if everything was moving away from me.
I did not feel my side, my mechanized leg and one of my arms anymore; all my body was going numb. My vision too was failing me, black dots flashing in my eyes; they darkened everything.
And through this slow suffering, lying on the ground, about to close my eyes and rest, I felt peace, I felt freedom–I had somehow lost–and compassion.
Alec observed me sadly and glanced at Vidri a few times. Flint remained crouched keeping distance between him and Vidri; his faze found me and we shared something only fathers could explain.
"Vidri… Maar… I will always protect you, I just need to rest…"
Something wet formed in my eye and a tear fell. Looking though it was like looking inside a beautiful waterfall.
And that's it. Just as in the game, we don't get a positive ending for the Drago. I may add a epilogue in the future when I have time but for now, this is okay. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you enjoyed it. Later!