Ice is Warm

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Ice is Warm

 

It didn't take long before the little fishes came for the bait. Though I was starting to feel sorry for Alan, Oliver and Elvis, who needed to spend the time in camouflaged tents, and for Tyranis, Helios and Pyro, who had to stay always near said tents.

 

Just a couple of days later after the call, one night, I was resting, laid in front of the house and accompanied by Sahara when suddenly a Vital Energy spear tried to reach me. But I had nothing to fear; Patrick blocked the projectile just as he came outside with Vital Energy weapons in hand, and then Tyranis, Helios, and Pyro flew fast and straight like arrows and surprise-attacked a dragon and rider each, their riders taking out targets left and right without the slightest difficulty. Only the leader was spared, the one who shouted the order to retreat. It was Tyranis who brought them to the ground; she destroyed the middle articulation of the wing with a single bite, ripping off half of the wing and leaving the dragon with no aerial control. Eventually, our prey crash-landed, creating a soft cloud of smoke as the dragon groaned and the rider tried to strap himself off.

 

Patrick started to walk toward the assassins as Helios, Tyranis and Pyro joined us on the ground and their riders unstrapped themselves and jumped down, to then take position around Patrick.

 

Suddenly, Patrick’s arm began to emanate dark red smoke as he generated a Vital Energy chain with a slightly curved one and a half feet long blade on the end. It was Patrick’s favorite weapon, and the most complex one I have personally seen. The Chain Blade is the weapon's name, and it took Patrick half a year of intense training to master it. I don't remember a single time Patrick generated the Chain Blade without it being followed by someone's death.

 

Patrick proceeded to whip the Chain Blade at the crashed rider without the least warning, chopping off the rider’s left hand. As the rider grunted and held his stump, the dragon tried to awkwardly get up without using his right front claw, which was broken. Tyranis then rushed at them and pinned the dragon back to the ground as she bit his neck, careful not to cut too deep and bleed the dragon out. The rider drove his energy to his right hand and as he swung his arm to throw some projectile at Tyranis, a Vital Energy circular blade left Oliver’s hand and chopped the assassin’s, now victim, last resort of defense.

 

I felt a soft wave of wind by my back and turned my head to see John and Sahara flying away. They knew what was going to happen now, and they wanted to remain ignorant of this side of us. It’s just how it must be done, good thing they were wise enough not to interfere.

 

When I looked back at our sources of information, Alan and Oliver had got to the rider. Patrick, Elvis, Helios, Pyro and I were just six meters away from them as Tyranis still held the dragon’s neck and Alan punched the rider’s face and unstrapped him from his saddle while Oliver healed him to prevent a bleed out.

 

Oliver and Alan then pulled up the assassin and dragged him in front of Patrick by his handless arms. The surely still surprised killer was each step closer to Patrick and had his face low at the ground as his feet rubbed the dirt.

 

I leaned to Helios and told him...

 

He is trying to find out what went wrong from the moment he put on his socks till now.

 

Helios chuckled lowly, never taking his golden eyes from our catch. I looked at the dragon, bit on the neck and forced down to the ground by Tyranis, breathing hard and showing his fangs, holding the best he could his pain and fear of death.

 

-Hi, Sanchez.

 

Muttered Patrick as lowly as a whisper, but with a very solid tone of voice. His presence was so strong, his delight and pride for this accomplishment so high I could feel even when he licked his lips and the touch of his hands when he comfortably hid them in his pockets. On the other claw... I felt fear. It certainly gladdened me to see the responsible of the death of my friends and my crippling getting caught and about to receive what they truly deserved, but... at the cost of becoming someone I hated?... it felt so wrong...

 

-You... -Said Sanchez-... You made the call… -He breathed hard, frowning at Patrick with a defying look on his eyes. Then he continued-... How did you get this number?  How do you know this name?

 

Patrick looked at the killer for a moment… studying him, quickly figuring out how to break him. But when I thought he would start beating the killer until there was no more of it than mashed meat and broken bones… Patrick’s feelings drifted from proud and dominant to sorrowful and dark… and even an ever so slight spark of understanding for the killer’s position at the moment. Images of memories danced in Patrick’s mind, so vivid I could feel them as my own… I saw, as if it was myself, the nails on my hands to the arms of the chair I was sitting on… each punch and stab, I felt my nerves twitching on my shoulders and belly, where they were directed at on Patrick… I saw once again when Patrick sent me with the Russian to take part in the Non-Rider Raids… and when I came back, I saw through Patrick’s eyes how I sharply blamed him for everything; I saw my own furious eyes and my sharp fangs and it crossed my mind for an instant that I was going to bite myself all of a sudden. It made me feel horribly, even when I had actually gone over it, just to think how deeply I had hurt Patrick when he was in such a sensible position, when he actually needed my strength.

 

But while I was going through that rainstorm of emotions, Patrick’s presence kept being solid and composed. He didn’t shiver, it didn’t disturb him at all to revive all that again, and it impressed me that he stood tall and strong, without getting the slightest crack, when he went through my abandon again.

 

-I was kidnapped once… -Said Patrick all of a sudden-… the night before a meeting with white house representatives…

 

The killer never took his eyes from Patrick nor did he lower his menacing gaze while Patrick talked…

 

-…It was a Russian warrior seeking revenge for his dragon’s death in the Battle of the Bermuda Triangle. He gave me these…

 

Patrick then got his hands out of his pockets and used his phone’s screen to illuminate his left hand, revealing a pronounced scar on both sides of his hand that went from the center to the very end of the in-between of his middle finger and the ring finger. Then he switched hands and illuminated his right hand, one could see Patrick’s famous Double Scars, forming a twisted “X” with the corners of his hand, and the scar he intended to show, with the same roots and ending as the one on Patrick’s left hand. Then Patrick continued…

 

-He had my hands bound together against each other with a lock… I guess you already know how I freed myself… -Patrick then put the phone in his pocket and continued-… The first thing I asked him was "Why? Why are you doing this to me?", and funny thing is that I'm the captor this time and the first thing I'm going to ask you is "Why, Sanchez?" I had nothing against you or all those that I'll eventually kill before you did that... -Patrick turned halfway and, holding his sights on Sanchez, pointed at me with his arm- ... to my dragon.

 

Patrick started to burn in rage, he began to foresee himself ripping apart Sanchez's limbs to then cure him and then repeat, open his dragon's gut right in front of him without even asking for information. Yet he didn't express it, Patrick remained so calm and keeping his voice low and solid I thought... He is going to explode at some point.

 

Patrick then continued saying...

 

-What sick whim then lies behind your intent of killing my dragon while she wasn’t even strong enough to fight back?

 

Then it began to happen... Patrick's rage started to escape as his voice rose and he approached Sanchez...

 

-... Why did you try to take her from me!? Answer me, you...!!!

 

Patrick then kicked Sanchez's chest, throwing him off from Alan and Oliver and to the ground. As he approached Sanchez, Patrick generated a long, thin blade and quickly stabbed Sanchez on the belly. Groaning, Sanchez kicked Patrick away and, with a twist of his legs, stood up and ran off ... but he didn't manage to take five steps before Patrick threw a Dagger at Sanchez's right ankle. The blade stabbed all the way from the tendon to the front, destroying every single bone in the way. And then Sanchez stepped on his right foot, twisting the blade to a side, leaving the foot connected to the body just by a strap of muscle and skin. Sanchez let out a loud cry as he landed sideward on the ground.

 

Patrick walked towards Sanchez, his hands and forearms emanating dark red smoke. Imagining again the scene of Patrick blowing up the cow’s head with a single punch, I roared loudly at Patrick, making him stop and turn to me. Then I told him…  Calm down, Pat, we need to know what he knows. Better have Alan and Oliver bring him up for you.

 

Patrick then said, dissipating his energy… I want to hear that f****r squeal already… (Sighs)… You are right.   Patrick then said out loud…

 

-Alan, Oliver, get that s**t back to me, and heal him, please. I don’t want him to faint just yet.

 

As Alan and Oliver approached Sanchez, he struggled and fought his two captors. They ended up dragging Sanchez up in front of Patrick without lifting him from the ground. Kicking like a mad horse and growling, Sanchez refused to cooperate as Alan and Oliver had him pinned down to the ground by an arm each. Suddenly, Patrick chuckled and generated a tiny blade, and with a quick movement of his hand, he sent the tiny blade straight to Sanchez’s groin.

 

A loud shriek left Sanchez as he finally stopped moving, only because he would hurt himself if he did. Sanchez stayed put on the ground, his body shaking as he cursed and grunted every couple of seconds. Patrick then slowly approached him and stood by his side, next to Alan.

 

-Answers, Sanchez… just give me answers and I’ll stop hurting you.

 

Breathing hard, doing his best to surpass the pain and struggling to articulate his words, Sanchez said…

 

-I’ll talk if you let me and my dragon go.

 

Without a warning, Patrick generated a sword and chopped off Sanchez’s remaining foot with a single swing, bringing out again more agonizing screams, cries and curses from Sanchez. Patrick then went back next to Sanchez’s left shoulder and stepped on his neck, holding himself pressing down, evolving Sanchez’s screams to a mixture of gargling and struggling to breath and muffled groaning.

 

-I’m sure you are smart enough to know you won’t last to see the morning, unless you take that long without us forcing it out of you. Though you have my word as a Double Scarred Rider that I won’t torture you or your dragon as long as you cooperate and that I’ll give you a quick death to both of you when I’m done with you…

 

Patrick then took his foot from Sanchez’s neck and this one quickly breathed hard and coughed as Oliver healed him once again. Then Patrick continued…

 

-… And I’ll tell you something, Sanchez… I can cause you any amount of pain I desire without fearing your death. Having said that, I’ll ask you again… Why did you murder the racers and tried to murder my dragon along with them?

 

Sanchez remained silent for a little while… and then Patrick quickly formed a fist with his right hand and craned back his arm, his fist emanating dark red smoke…

 

-It was Missouri!!

 

-What does Missouri has to do with this!?   -Patrick responded.

 

Patrick held his arm high and fist charged with Energy, as Sanchez revealed his first answer. Sanchez spoke, then…

 

-It was Missouri… David Bowman and his dragon were the fastest racers in the USA since the beginning… their numbers always said it. But for sport’s sake there had to be selections, just to be fair for every Estate. Missouri had the second fastest racers and contacted us to kill the Kansans. I don’t have anything against you or your dragon; it just got mixed up…

 

Patrick then lowered his guard and put his hands back in his pockets as he said…

 

-Yeah, yeah, we are all innocent, sure we are… I guess I have to reward you for answering… here’s your reward… an offer: You tell me all that is useful about your organization, colleagues, your boss and, as long as I like what I’m hearing, I won’t hurt you. If you refuse, I’ll force it out of you and your death won’t be painless.

 

-F**k you! ...-Yelled Sanchez and spat at Patrick’s shoes. -… You think you can intimidate me!? You think you can just face us!? I’ll be the one making warnings, you dipshit! At the second you step on Missouri, you’ll lose everything!!

 

There was then a little silent while, before I hear a low laugh, it was Patrick, and then he said…

 

-I was hoping you would say that… -Patrick smiled and stared at Sanchez’s eyes as he generated a tiny two inched knife, a disturbing excitation being born… -Let us begin then…

 

And it did… with a full moon in the night sky, Sanchez’s agonizing screams didn’t allow a single life form to sleep. Alan, Oliver and Patrick stabbed, punched, kicked, broke, gutted, pulled teeth and ripped and chopped limbs off from Sanchez as his dragon could just grunt, shiver, shriek and twitch from one moment to another, feeling all what his rider was going through as if it was his own pain while being pinned down to the ground by a dragon biting his neck.

 

Elvis says they might try to save this guy now… Said Pyro.

 

Not with the support we have… I answered him… They came this rushed because of the risk it would have been not to strike when we were not ready. Now they know we are ready, and will start getting ready. Then it will be us the ones to strike while they are not ready.

 

Elvis and I will go with John and Sahara, we have to be more careful now.

 

Yeah… See ya later, then.

 

Good luck with the… interrogation.

 

Pyro then turned around and took off, heading in the same direction Sahara and John had gone. Time passed… Helios had taken Tyranis’s place at holding down the dragon after the first two hours and gave Tyranis a chance to rest her jaw.

 

Ugh!... �"growled Tyranis as she walked to where I was, lying on the ground ten meters behind Patrick, Alan and Oliver… -That dragon’s blood was starting to sicken me… -She then let herself fall to the ground next to me and yawned… -You’ve been silent, Furia, what are you thinking?

 

Sanchez’s shrieks echoed in my mind for a moment as I looked away to the trees. Without facing Tyranis, I told her…

 

It sickens me too that we must do this.

 

Come on, Furia, cheer up. You said this was Patrick’s last hunt, right? So once we are done with this you can come and hang out with Helios and I.

 

I then turned to Tyranis and faced her…

 

I know, Tyranis… and thank you, I’d really love to hang out with you… after taking some true time off for myself, of course… but it kind of worries me that Patrick might be enjoying this too much. What if he doesn’t want to stop? What if he finds another excuse to go manhunting again?

 

It was the same when he set off on his own to find and kill the Russian guy, none of us could have stopped him, not even you if you had been there. And come on, be a little fair with Patrick, he would enjoy doing anything it took to protect you, and this will indeed protect you for the years to come. After this, no one will try to mess with you or your friends, knowing such rage would fall on them if they did.

 

Maybe you’re right. Has the dragon spilled anything?

 

Nah, he is as tough as his rider.

 

It continued for the next three hours as the three butchers of our riders made of Sanchez nothing more than a talking torso. Alan and Oliver retreated and rested with Tyranis and I while Patrick, stronger than his friends, continued on his own for another hour.

 

The sky was beginning to slightly light up when suddenly, Sanchez’s dragon roared. Patrick stabbed Sanchez and held the knife inside his belly, panting, he yelled…

 

-Furia!... What is he saying!?

 

I quickly answered Patrick… The dragon is about to give up.

 

Patrick stopped and sat on the ground, next to Sanchez and said…

 

-Well, well, well… What’s it going to be then, Sanchez? My pals are rested up, so… Your next words will measure how a bad day this will turn to be for you.

 

Those were Costanzo’s words when making Patrick decide to fight in the Bermuda Triangle… -I thought for myself-… he used too the Russian’s words before he tortured him… Patrick has been too much in contact with evil… Come on, Furia! This is your rider! Patrick has nothing to relate with those maniacs!

 

Still… I couldn’t hold a shiver run my spine to the idea of dealing with an evil Patrick.

 

Sanchez’s dragon just hummed as Patrick stared at Sanchez. At a moment Sanchez said, his voice broken…

 

-The main assassins are four riders and their dragons, counting us…

 

He spilled everything… where his comrades lived, where this so called Mr. Prisco lived, the lost-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-cabin they use for reunions and executions, one so called Joe that was their torturer, Mr. Prisco’s drug dealing empire, everything…

 

It was an hour and a half later that Sanchez stopped spitting information at Patrick, to then end saying…

 

-I’ll see you in the deepest pit of hell… Double Scarred Rider.

 

Patrick suddenly burst to laughter… without the slightest bit of shame, Patrick laughed for half a minute. Patrick hit the ground with his right hand and held his belly with his left. I didn’t find Sanchez’s comment funny at all, so I just observed as Sanchez’s time to die had come. Patrick inefficiently tried to compose himself, and then he said…

 

-Pfffts!... You think you’ll go to hell!? You’d barely make it to devil’s playground if you did!

 

Patrick laughed another while, his laughter getting into my nerves each second. Then he managed to contain himself and continued…

 

-Oh man… You’d be eaten alive by a couple of dudes I have sent down there with the pass of time… -Patrick then leaned back and supported his back with his hands behind him as he said… -One was a psycho general, grandson of The Government’s Head; that was their name back in the day. He forced me and my comrades to fight against him and his soldiers. It was an obviously lost battle for him and his warriors by our bigger number, but he cared not… he just wanted to be part of a big scale war, regardless of his loyal army’s lives. Not to mention he allowed his father’s dragon to die by my hand, just to admire his opponent’s abilities; and the offer he made to me after partially winning our fight, to let Furia die in exchange of my survival. The other dude was a soldier, a survivor of the army under the first dude’s command; he lost his dragon by the hand of one of my comrades, who knows who… Anyway, he set out for revenge against me and discovered this ability to read and manipulate minds. Add what I already told you about this guy, and join it with this… he tortured me to break me… he did… and by that he created and activated something in my mind that would force me to kill everyone on sight, regardless of who they were… my family, my friends… my own dragon… and then he made me kill him so that no one could cure me from it…

 

Kneeling by Sanchez’s shoulder, Patrick said lowly… -You are what, Sanchez? A loyal hired assassin? You have no conviction to hurt others other than what the so called Mr. Prisco orders you. That’s why compared to the dude’s I told you about, whose names you don’t deserve to even hear before your death, you are just a kid with a lot to learn about evil…

 

Patrick slowly placed his right hand over Sanchez’s head and prepared his fingers as if to snap them… his hand slowly engulfing itself in a dark cloud of red smoke. Sanchez’s dragon started to hum loudly opening his eyes widely and started to claw at the ground, awkwardly and weakly trying to free himself from Helios, who bit hard on the injured dragon’s neck and kept him in place. Sanchez’s eyes were locked in Patrick’s hand over his face, I could hear his hard respiration when Tyranis leaned to me and said… He’s about to s**t his pants.

 

Patrick then muttered… almost as low as a whisper…

 

-And compared to me… you are just an angel.

 

And Patrick snapped his fingers… the detonation made every one of my nerves tense up and the birds from all around the lands cried and shrieked, leaving their nests and resting places to make the barely illuminated sky take life as black spots flew away into the distance as the thunder like explosion echoed in the mountains.

 

Patrick!!

 

I stood up and rushed towards Patrick, who was still kneeling by Sanchez’s side. He had shown me not so strong blows with this new power, and he also said he didn’t know how to direct the explosions. This explosion was exponentially louder than the ones he had shown me, thus the shockwave surely was as strong. Patrick may not have blown himself up, but he could have hurt himself seriously.

 

As Helios quickly broke the dragon’s neck with a fast snap of his head and dropped the corpse on the ground, I approached Patrick by his side, having him on my left, and lowered my head to see him better. Patrick, Patrick! Are you ok!?... His back was straight like a gunshot and his head firmly over his shoulders. It seemed he was ok, but his mind was empty and his consciousness completely gone. Sanchezs’s head, on the other claw… it was gone… spread a meter away, staining the whole area with blood, brains and small parts of skull… I think I saw the jaw with just a couple of teeth somewhere. Patrick’s hand was completely soaked with blood and it dropped too from Patrick’s down looking face. Patrick! Please look at me!

 

-I’m ok… don’t fret, everyone… I’m ok…

 

As Alan and Oliver reached Patrick’s side, they backed away as Patrick started to get up, cleaning blood from his face with his sleeves and wiping his hands on his shirt and pants. The expression on his face resembled one coming after a good night’s sleep.

 

I thought you didn’t know how to direct the explosions. You scared me like…

 

Don’t worry… -Interrupted Patrick-… I’m ok… I just…

 

-Patrick, are you…?   -Said Alan.

 

-I’m ok guys… -Answered Patrick-… I just want to go to bed.

 

Patrick slowly stumbled past us as Oliver said…

 

-Well… good night then…

 

-Night, everyone!... �"Said Patrick with a loud drunken tone as he just walked to the house… then he climbed the porch… awkwardly opened the door… and disappeared inside the house.

 

That was weirder than anything that took place in the whole night.

 

Said Helios as he approached us and joined the group. Alan received him with a pat on the shoulder and said without finishing a yawn...

 

-I'll just call Elvis and tell him we are done... we can question Patrick in the morning.

 

And picked his phone out of his pocket. But he didn't finish typing the number before Oliver said...

 

-What about these?... -And signaled the headless torso with its legs and arms scattered around in different sections or pieces and the dragon's corpse with its neck twisted in a way it shouldn't be… adding too the rest of the gang’s leftovers.

 

-Let's just set them on fire...  -Answered Alan.

 

Not the dragon… Stated Helios… Our scales are fireproof.

 

Through the whole conversation, I found myself as well troubled by the situation, yet I stayed silent. Oliver said we could hire some guys to bury the dragons, but making holes that big would cost a lot of money. What would Patrick do?... I asked myself… Knowing Patrick’s lack of touch for details and the big scale situation we were involved in, I had to be the crude one then when Patrick wasn’t around.

 

Let them rot exactly where they are.

 

Dragons and riders stopped their babbling and faced me in an instant. They just looked at me dumbfounded, until Alan said…

 

-The point is, Furia, not to let Patrick’s father see all this. It could disgrace his business and scare the dragons around.

 

I directly spoke to Alan through his dragon, Helios…

 

All of Texas will know what has been going on and it will also be a warning for anyone who comes near with wrong intentions. We’ll dispose of the riders’ bodies by burning them to ashes, but the dragons will stay put until we finish this for good.

 

Sounds fine by me… Said Tyranis and walking over to the headless torso. Her flames lit up the entire area as Alan and Oliver expressed their goodbyes and entered the house. I silently stared at the body slowly turning to nothing inside Tyranis’s blaze, exhalation after exhalation. My hopes for peace died with Sanchez’s gang and their dragons. This was the point of no return… a point that marked the beginning of another war. Again, lives will be put on the line and some, if not many, won’t be able to keep themselves on the side of the living. But there’s no bother in my mind or heart than the desire for it to stop… I was used to be on the line… and I was used to push others to the other side.

 

Suddenly, Helios walked in front of me, blocking my view. He quickly got near me and pressed the side of his neck against mine, turning his head and embracing my neck. Pretty much what humans would call a hug, just that dragons didn’t do it with our arms. Yet it was as meaningful, for the back of our necks was our most vulnerable area. Yeah, one would say dragon’s most vulnerable area was our bellies because that’s where the softest scales are. But the belly can be pretty easy to defend… in order to strike a dragon’s belly one would have to surpass its fire exhalation, its jaws and its claws… Meanwhile on the back of the neck, what defense could be found there? Dragons can’t turn their heads all the way to the back like owls and there’s nothing other than some not so long spikes to protect it, and while the scales are pretty hard, all it takes is a dragon with a jaw strong enough to break them and that’s game over for you… I know it first claw. So, the meaning? A hug is an offer that means exactly that: “I’ll take care of your weakness, while I’ll trust you enough to leave mine on your care”.

 

The contact startled me and made me shiver at the moment I felt it was too close to my collar of bite marks. But in just an instant, it felt so warm, so protective in a moment I was feeling so alone… my rider thinking on nothing but revenge and slaughter, all my newfound friends dead. And in general… it was a long time since someone expressed so much care for me. Helios then said with a very soft tone…

 

Come on… don’t stare at that.

 

I embraced his neck as well, making that moment last at least a little while longer. Then I felt him pushing me sideward to turn around. I did and then we started walking away, the illumination getting slowly poorer with each step. For a couple of minutes all that could be heard were our steps on the dirt and crushing sticks of variable size under our claws. My mind was blurry… with so much in mind or so little if not. Helios just walked by my side, not making much presence of himself except for the sound of his steps. I started to think about him… We had pretty much the same origins, we born to fight the same war; we continued serving the same causes… What was different between Helios and me? Would he be falling apart like I am if it had been Alan the Double Scarred Rider?

 

How can you do it?     I suddenly asked him.

 

Helios looked straight at my eye and said…

 

What do you mean?

 

The Hunt… You switched from being an L&SDO Agent to being a Bounty Hunter… and now you are helping Patrick get his revenge without the slightest sign of fear or hesitation… What is it that makes you stronger than me?

 

It took Helios a full minute to answer me, and his answer wasn’t by far what I expected. He said…

 

I haven’t stopped looking up to you, Furia. What you ask is not a matter of strength, at that you are greater than me and any dragon alive… even Francesco’s dragon.

 

A matter of what is it then?

 

Helios then stopped and laid on the ground, stretching open his wings to then close them back again. Not taking my sight off him in expectation for his answer, I laid too on the ground, crossing my claws one onto the other. He then said…

 

Tyranis and I were born in the brink of war, Furia. Ever since I can recall, I prepared for war, mastered the arts of killing and related. Our riders, Alan and Oliver before us, have as well devoted their lives to the cause of the Dragon Society against “The Government” long before even meeting Patrick. While you and Patrick, you don’t belong to this world of tragedy and death, you knew first what was peace and tranquility. You know what’s like to wake up without a clue about what to do that day, you know what’s like to just go around and talk for the mere pleasure of doing nothing… That’s your place, where you’d be happy… And still you have the strength to fly toward the red skies. I promise you we’ll get you back to that.

 

Get me back to it…   I lowered my sight and laughed a bit, then I sighed and looked at Helios again at his eyes and said… No one can get me back to that… I’ll just continue getting my friends killed at the time I meet them or find myself again in the middle of a slaughter of innocent people and dragons… It’s like I have a talent for that. You or Tyranis, Hunters for Life, might enjoy my position for some real killing, not just some contracts every once in a while, but you don’t know what’s like to be a murderer… an actual murderer. I should have died that day after the Battle of the Bermuda Triangle…  I then turned away from Helios and laid my head on the ground… A lot of people that didn’t deserve to die would be alive today if it wasn’t because of me.

 

Helios then laid down his head and turned it away, looking at me just with the edge of his eye. Then he said…

 

I guess, then, you enjoyed the taste of their blood…

 

That was just crossing the line.

 

I sprang up and hissed loudly, opening my wings and showing my fangs at Helios as I said, my blood burning with rage…

 

I didn’t enjoy that, you sick, twisted snake!!! I value life! And I would never kill for fun or money!!

 

A couple of seconds passed without any of us saying a word, all that could be heard was my hard respiration, exhaling small puffs of dark smoke. Suddenly, Helios said, without even looking at me…

 

Why are you calling yourself a murderer, then?

 

Carrying all that I have done through my life stained by war and meaningless bloodshed, I had started to lose the idea of being any good at all. I didn’t know what I deserved for the general meaning of my actions. I mean, I did change the world for good… but in such a short time I have murdered so many innocent people and warriors as well without getting the least punishment because of the reasons and the situations it actually felt like I had permission and general acceptance to go on a rampage for any merely meaningful excuse to do so. Yet I wanted to stop… I wanted the bloodshed to stop… I wanted to stop being surrounded by death, pain and sorrow… I wanted to be able to go around and do nothing… Yes, I wanted to take advantage of Patrick’s and my retirement and travel and meet people and dragons, do stupid s**t for no other excuse than mere fun.

 

After half a minute, my guard was gradually gone; I took my sight from Helios and looked up to the edge of trees and sky… the incoming dawn giving it a soft illumination. A moment later I just dropped myself back to the ground and sighed, my face turned to my side, away from Helios, then I said… Sorry for calling you a snake.

 

It’s ok… Helios said with a grunt… You are a good dragon… and just a moment later he was lying by my side and his wing embraced me. Helios’s contact made me shiver at the surprise… it felt uncomfortable at first, since I haven’t been this near to another dragon… especially in such an intimate situation. Yet again it was so warm… I was safe… a sense of tranquility drove me to such comfort even our doing today seemed to be just some other chore. I thought for myself… Helios is right… I can overcome all this and still be the same dragon who started all this… I’m just worried about Patrick… Nah… he’ll be ok, he just needs to finish this and it will be over then… He could have slept here outside and give me some company, though… Then I spoke to Helios… Coldhearted killer, warmer than my own caring rider… thanks. Couldn’t do more than thanking Helios, who knew how vulnerable I was feeling lately.

 

Whatever you need, sis…

 

Then I strode away in sleepy, blurry thoughts as I let my consciousness fly around aimlessly.