Chapter 59-Imperfection

Sunlight warmed the side of his face as Tanui slowly returned to consciousness, finding he had rolled over onto his back during the time he had been asleep and had his right hand over his chest while his left lay on the grass beside him. Lifting his head, he glanced down at the knuckles of his hand to see no trace of the damage he had done to them weeks before, an injury that had finally healed after so long of leaving him crippled. A weak chuckle rose from his throat at the thought of much sleep he had gotten during the last four days while trying to keep the illusions active. Having only gotten about two hours of sleep a night, he could see why the wounds hadn't already begun to heal as the energy required from his own body simply wasn't there.

Moving his hand from his chest, his gaze traveled downward to his mangled leg and he stared at the stump that was left. He had been bested by the inferior once again, although he had been able to deal a few injuries back this time as their fight had lasted for hours, adrenaline keeping him standing all the while until Nethial and Ladetis had shown up. Surprisingly, he had not passed out even then but realized it hadn't been long after they left that he had blacked out and then later woken up in the forest under Nathan's care. How had he survived for that long with as little sleep as he had gotten? Perhaps the dragon blood in him had made it possible for him to do all he had . . . even scaling that cliff when he remembered nothing of doing it.

Shaking his head, he sighed and rolled over onto his stomach, looking for the water flask he had consumed from hours before. Using the restored strength in his arms, Tanui pulled himself out of the sunlight and under a large tree, welcoming the cooler temperature as his skin simply wasn't able to handle high heat for a long time as a result of years spent in the dark underground training to fulfill his destiny and take Tamli's place as the superior hybrid. Grabbing onto the tough bark of the tree he had struggled over to, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and collapsed against the hard surface, closing his eyes as the simple act had left him exhausted. His own shallow breathing rattled him as he listened to the area around him, reminding him of just how close he had come to death already. He hadn't eaten in days, doing everything in his power to keep those illusions active, although at the cost of damaging himself in the process.

Tanui was surprised he hadn't been plagued by the voices recently, having expected them during his slumber but his rest had been calm and peaceful. He was glad for the quietness as it gave him time to reflect on all he had been taught, trying to plan a better way to attack the original hybrid as his previous attempts had not been successful. The back of his throat stung as he inhaled, sending him into a coughing fit that drove him to his hands and knees and made him wonder if the fight had left any internal damage. Being without food for days on end might be another cause as well, a part of him reasoned as he opened his eyes to see the grass before him tinged with specks of crimson and he swallowed, tasting blood.

"I see you're awake."

Glancing over his shoulder, Tanui saw Nathan coming from deeper within the forest, a bow held in his right hand as their eyes met and he snarled softly. He wasn't sure if the gash on his face had been healed or not but his nose seemed to be back in its right place . . .although that meant nothing if he was still recovering from the fight and its harsh demands on his already taxed body. Pressing up against the tree trunk, he watched the man who had saved him stop in the middle of the open field where he had been asleep at and look at him with suspicion.

"You've been asleep for nearly a day, bud, and, to be honest, it worried me a little. How long have you been without food?"

"Near . . . Nearly five days," Tanui admitted, whispering the response as he swallowed and lowered his head in shame, moving around so he was sitting on the ground under the tree's roots while his arms crossed over his remaining knee.

"It's a good thing I went hunting then," Nathan remarked as Tanui found his gaze drawn to the stump of his right leg.

He had been so sure of himself that he had, unwillingly, left his own demise up to the one that he hated with all his being. Tamli could have killed him but, for some reason, the hybrid had not done that and instead left him for dead after seeing Nethial. Were the memories of his betrayal of her that strong after all this time?

The smell of fresh meat broke him from his thoughts and Tanui blinked, finding that Nathan had placed an entire deer before him, the man having gone back into the forest to catch something for himself. Chuckling under his breath, he studied the broken form before him, contemplating how the man justified his dual nature with something as meaningless as an entire meal for a dragon. Grabbing hold of the two back legs of his prey, he jerked, ripping them off the corpse and laying them to the side before he also broke off the front legs as well. Limbs contained the least amount of meat and he wasn't in the mood to pick through numerous walls of connective tissue. Turning the remaining meat over onto its back, Tanui slid it back slightly and moved around to place his weight on his hands and remaining knee, allowing his right leg to hang in midair as he forced himself to shift forme, realizing he would need to regain his strength if another fight were to happen between the inferior hybrid and himself.

A single bone snapped and he collapsed to the floor, feeling the change in forme try to consume his senses and make him forget who he was. His limbs burned with pain as he found the strength to raise his head, eyes staring down the meat as several cracks along his spine forced a scream from his mouth as he buckled back to the grass under him, twitching as he felt the beginnings of scales break through his skin and nearly bleed him dry. Gasping for breath, unsure of why it hurt so much to shift when it usually did not, Tanui failed to see Nathan emerge from the forest, an arrow already fitted onto his bow and aimed at the hybrid's chest.

"You shouldn't have told me all you did. It was far too easy to inject a small dose of Dragonisicm into that deer corpse. The more you touched it, the more its lethal poison seeped into your bloodstream. Combine that with the fact you've been without food for five days and it made it quite simple to ensure you touched the meat."

Agony flowing through him, Tanui could only snarl at the man as his gaze flickered to the bow, quite certain he would be dead within minutes. He had been outsmarted by a commoner that knew nothing of the forces he was dealing with. Another couple of bones painfully snapped and then silence . . .

No pain tore at him and both Tanui and Nathan glanced around, finding no evidence of the hybrid's attempt to shift. Blinking, he raised his head and noticed his already shredded clothing had not gotten any worse, slowly allowing a slight chuckle to rise from his throat.

"Thank you," he whispered as his gaze returned to Nathan, the man having retreated a few steps out of shock. "You've shown me just how much the dragon essence within me can take until it temporarily extinguishes itself. Perhaps it is fortunate for you that I cannot move, otherwise your head would be ripped from your body in a matter of seconds. It does interest me though as to how you knew about the Dragonisicm, or Dragon's Blood Flower that is poisonous to dragons and hybrids alike."

Tanui watched as Nathan shifted uncomfortably, the man's gaze dropping to the ground, a gradual understanding coming to him of why this commoner knew about the toxic plant. His Master had told the weakling, probably given him orders from beyond the grave to see to the destruction of his most prized tool now that it was failing its initial purpose. Eyes narrowing, he hissed in anger before noticing that the bow was still aimed at his heart, even with the lack of attention from its owner. Nudging the object with his mind, he managed to loosen the arrow from it and break off the head, turning it around to be pointed directly at Nathan's face.

"Listen to me, traitor. You will drop your weapon, which I've disarmed already, and turn around. Then you will wait until I can move and accept your death as it will come swiftly."

A sudden explosion of pain within his mind caught him off-guard and he screamed, thrashing around on the ground and unable to defend himself from the mental attack. He saw Nathan take advantage of his lack of concentration and run, leaving him to suffer his own fate. Slowly, a quiet chuckling echoed through his mind, the sound oddly familiar to him . . .

'You honestly thought you'd killed me . . . . How predictable,' the soft voice sneered, quickly informing Tanui that Amia had somehow been responsible for this to happen to him.

"Master," he whispered, noticing the mental aguish slowly fading and leaving him barely conscious. "I've done all of this for you . . . just give me a little more time-"

The anger of his Master spiked and Tanui found himself clutching at his throat, barely able to breathe. 'I've allowed you multiple chances to kill him by now and yet you continue to fail my instructions. You, like all the others, are yet another failure.'

"That's not true," he wheezed, wondering if this was why the voices had been silent since the death of the hybrid's son and its mate. "I've learned . . . Please give me another chance . . ."

'You were my hope that this would work and it didn't . . . Now you must pay the price for your failure!'

An unrestrained current of his own lightning surged through his body and Tanui screamed, smelling his own flesh burning away as his Master tortured him for his failed attempts at killing Tamli. He wanted to defend his actions but knew it would be of no use to argue with the dead when he was being stricken with his own abilities to the point of death. Convulsing, he felt the last crackles of electricity dance over his smoking skin as Amia withdrew from his mind, allowing him to fall into unconsciousness . . .

Wisps of smoke trailed along the barren ground as the steady pounding of wingbeats told him all he needed to know. Luring the dragoness here had not been hard, given how vulnerable her master was at the moment with the life of his firstborn son on the line by Corruption's forces. Glancing down at his feet, he noticed that his right leg, from knee downward, was all metal and bearing a distinct similarity to what Nethial's reconstructed legs had been like on Tel-var. Brushing aside the front of a black cloak that hung tightly over his shoulders, he fingered the rough end of the wood staff that was tucked neatly against his back, its worn features carved by hours of work to ensure it would be as durable as any metal sword would be. Sensing the unease of the scale-flier as it neared him, he softly smiled and lowered the hood of his cloak as his muted red irises searched the blood red clouds for any sign of the one he was destined to destroy.

As pearled white scales fell into his view, Tanui retreated to allow the dragon to land, intent on discovering the location of his foe and making the hybrid feel his pain. Tendrils of power coursed through him but he restrained himself, noting that the use of his primary weapon would cripple his artificial limb and lead to his downfall. A soft hiss from the she-dragon signaled her readiness to end their conflict and he grinned, the cracking of his face from the wraith's essence inside of him painting his ghostly skin in lines of black.

Welcome, Finca, he whispered as he drew aside his cloak and reached for the staff strapped to his back. I see time has not lessened your urge for violence or your desire to protect those close to you. Quite a fatal flaw, wouldn't you agree?

Thanks to you and that parasite, Raoul and Nethial are in danger and Tamli chose to protect them over me. I am his dragon, his soul mate, yet he picks the weaklings over his own love . . . She hissed in reply, eyes narrowing as the tip of her tail quivered in anger.

Such is the balance of existence, my dear Finca, Tanui hummed as he shed his cloak to reveal a light grey tunic and black pants, bringing out his carved staff to grip it in front of him with both hands.

A staff made of wood. . . and you call my mate weak, Finca snorted in disgust before she sprang for him, her claws smacking against the hardened wood as Tanui ducked and raised his weapon.

Dropping to the ground, he rolled under her chest and came up beside her left side, lashing out with a telekinetic shove that splintered the bones in her wing before leaping back to avoid a blast of Shadowfire from the pained dragoness. Planting the end of his staff in the ground, Tanui gripped it with both hands and jumped, swinging himself around to deliver a powerful kick into both her side and her snout as she craned her neck to try and reach him. Getting his feet back on solid ground, he lifted his staff and backed up, bracing it out in front of him as she turned to face him and opened her maw to send another blast of Shadowfire at him . . . .

His own screaming woke him up as Tanui jolted upright, hands trembling as he examined his arms and hands, finding no evidence of the electrical torture he had gone through. Surprised, his gaze flickered to his leg to see someone, he presumed Nathan, had wrapped the stump in white linens despite how clean the wound had healed. He quickly glanced around to find he was under a tree, shivering despite the comfortably warm temperature. Pressing a hand to his temple, he gingerly leaned back against the tree trunk and raised his eyes to see the sun was high in the sky.

Had he experienced a prolonged vision? The torture had felt real and so had the dream but had it all just come from his mind? Shaking his head, Tanui did his best to put the thought from his mind and used the tree trunk as a base to get to his feet, leaning against the aged wood as he pondered the fight with Finca. He had set his sights on other individuals close to Tamli before but he had made a point to stay clear of the original's dragon for reasons he was unsure. Going after Finca seemed his best chance to get the hybrid alone now, especially after having killed his dragonic son and its mate. Closing his eyes, he sighed and raised his left hand, feeling the grass under him stir and break off to float before him. Making a new leg would not be challenging after all he had gone through but it would tax his still weakened body and if his mental state was as broken as he thought it was . . .

"You're awake!"

Nathan's shrill remark startled him from his concentration and Tanui snarled, dropping his hold on the floating grass as he opened his eyes and stared down the man in anger. A large pack was swung over one shoulder as Nathan approached cautiously, slowing to a stop as Tanui let out an irritated hiss. He had been close to making a limb for himself but to do that required complete concentration on the task and it seemed impossible for that to occur in his present company.

"Get out of here," Tanui growled as he crossed his arms over his chest, a faint hum of electricity sparking from his fingertips as he thought back to the vision and how he had been betrayed by the man.

"I mean you no harm, Tanui," Nathan insisted as he took a step forward, only to get thrown onto his back by a weak telekinetic push as Tanui closed his eyes, the back of his skull throbbing in protest.

Raising a hand, Tanui let loose a stream of electricity and watched as it surrounded Nathan, the man's screams bringing a smile to his face as he returned to making his new limb. He again levitated grass into the air and manipulated them into a replica of the design for Nethial's legs in Tel-var before gently touching the floating plant life to turn it into metal. Sliding the stump of his right leg into the new appendage he had made for himself, Tanui opened his eyes and glanced down to examine his work.

Bands of metal curved around the base of the leg, slowly becoming smaller until they reached the foot where a single piece of steel had been broken into three pieces and welded together to give the impression of talons, allowing the limb a bird-like appearance. Tanui had also built up the steel higher then just the point of injury to protect the flesh around the wound as well, although it could be seen as another way to keep the new mechanism attached.

"You have outlived your usefulness," Tanui remarked as he walked forward, lifting up Nathan in a choke hold telekinetically due to his fear of destroying his new leg if he used electricity. "Be thankful I am choosing to destroy you in this manner, otherwise your death could be quite painful."

Clenching his outstretched hand, he saw Nathan collapse against his hold and he flung the man to the ground, snapping his neck as he did so before he walked past. He may have lost his sword but, from the vision he had experienced, he realized he could create something that could be as strong as the ancient steel used to form the deadly blades. Finding the resources necessary to recover his strength was of the upmost importance before even beginning to consider how to craft the staff he had seen within the dream. Tamli would simply have to wait until he had restored himself as best he could, otherwise his death was all but certain.