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They had gotten their victory…but victory wasn't always the opposite of defeat. What they had was a defeat.
The reek of rotting flesh and oxidising blood along with the smell of the smoke that did not go away even as the harshly falling rain that started to put out the fire around them mixed together, creating such an unpleasant concoction of odours that it made even the little air he was getting pungent. The air did not provide any relief to his lungs,it suffocated him.
The once majestic dragon was trapped under the same pillars that once supported the place he once considered his home. It was a cruel irony played by time itself,the pillars holding the villa had fallen, just like the family they had found in each other also fell into destruction.
Adrenaline was probably the only thing keeping him from feeling the pain of having his whole body crushed, pressed by the weight of the pillars and concrete. But he was a dragon,how could he be simply buried alive? It wasn't that.
At first their group was the one chasing after the hunters world to world,then the tables were cruelly turned,they became the prey, the ones getting chased from world to world. Still they fought back in moments they couldn't escape and confrontation was the only option. Fate was cruel…why did the last fight,the last struggle, have to be at their home?
Cale had forced Choi Han to run away before the fight,who had begged Cale to change his mind again and again. Before he understood and went silent…with heavy steps and heavier gaze,he had left.
They burned everything to ashes,their enemies and themselves as well. After a long fight their opponents had fallen but so had they. The hunters did not leave them unscathed, they tormented them,not in ways that were only physical.
Eruhaben wasn't sure how long he was trapped that way, he didn't know if an eternity had passed or just a few minutes,but one thing he knew was that…it felt endless. No matter how hard he tried to will his eyes open,he could not open them,he did not have any energy to.
The rain was freezing but he did not feel anything,he could not. Through the loud noise of rainfall,a trembling broken voice cut through the haze of his mind,he tried his best to interpret the words, growing more and more restless.
“Why…why…why again…”
It was Cale's voice,one of the people he had started to consider his own children. How could he not recognise his voice?
The exhausted dragon tried harder and harder,to somehow move himself,to somehow do something! He had to…he had to!
But he was exhausted, his large amount of mana spent until not even a drop remained,he was without any energy,his body pushed beyond its limits, broken and crushed. Not only trapped under the weight of the ruins of their home but also trapped under the weight of his grief.
It was pure desperation that made him struggle even harder but his bones were crushed so badly that even his dragon nature couldn't help him.
There was a disgusting metallic taste in his mouth,he definitely had internal bleeding. Only his right hand was sticking out of the rubble,a piece of metal had his right hand hammered to the ground, sticking out from the back of his hand. There was the sensation of his other hand being twisted in an unnatural angle as well and his left femur sticking out of his thigh.
Every breath Eruhaben took was accompanied by unbearable pain,he couldn't breathe, the dirty air and the rubble were making it even harder. If he was more mentally present he would have probably realised that some of his ribs were broken when he was trapped by the heavy weight, falling on his stomach.
Finally the ancient dragon managed to open his eyes a bit,they were trying to close again but he was too desperate to let it happen. The pillars that fell on top of each other left a tiny gap between them, it was only thanks to this crack that he was even getting any air. The golden dragon was putting all his energy into lifting his head up a bit to stare through that gap.
A cold sensation settled in his mind when there was a maniac laughter accompanying the sound of rain. The half conscious dragon could make out the blurry figure of Cale laughing uncontrollably until he doubled over with the force of his laughter.
“Hahahaha! I should have hahaha! I should have known! Hahahaha!”
It wasn't a laughter of mirth, it was a laughter of a person who was in so much anguish that crying couldn't express it.
“The ancient powers are gone…I can…join them…”
When Eruhaben heard that,the tears escaping from his eyes only increased,he was so so tired, so desperate and so extremely scared…he was an ancient dragon,he knew what was coming,what was inevitable but just because he knew it, didn't mean he wanted it to happen. He wanted to save his child! He just wanted to save Cale!
Yet he could only watch as Cale picked up a broken sword from the ground and stared at it longingly as if it was his only salvation from the pain, then…slowly brought it up to his throat,but there was no hesitation in his actions when he slid it across his delicate throat.
Eruhaben would only watch through the gap, unable to reach, forced to be a powerless witness. The golden dragon was trying to scream out,he wanted to scream so bad but no sound would come out of his larynx because he was trapped.
Eruhaben couldn't just watch it! It didn't matter if he died,but his child couldn't die…he had to move…he had to… he couldn't watch as new blood joined the old muddy river of blood on the ground.
When he forced himself out of the rubble…he didn't come out complete…his right foot was severed…from ankle onwards it was left behind under the pillars as he crawled…crawled for his child…
His knees were broken,one elbow was broken and the sharp edges of the bones sticking out made everything worse as they dragged on the uneven ground as he forced himself to crawl. The piece of metal was still lodged in his right palm but he couldn't care less. The clothes were torn…hunters had also taken his dignity as they forced his child and remaining family to watch. But Eruhaben didn't care! He would sacrifice his dignity countless times if he could have his loved ones safe.
“Please…no…”
Eruhaben's words were barely audible as he begged but there was no one to listen to his pleadings. While he was crawling towards the too still body of Cale, his hand made contact with something soft…the texture of scales that he could recognise even in his sleep. The little kid…the poor baby dragon was lying lifeless…near Cale's motionless form. There was bitter bile flooding his mouth at the sight but Eruhaben ignored it.
But by the time he was close enough to embrace the limp bodies of his children, Cale had also gone cold… his children had left him…his family…his entire family had left him behind…
Eruhaben could only vaguely feel himself sitting up somehow and shaking his children…everything felt like a bad dream he couldn't wake up from. For some reason his throat was hurting even more, he didn't know he was screaming, screaming with his already injured throat until he was choking on his own blood.
“Why…Why?! Wake up! Wake up!! Why won't you wake up?! Why won't you wake up…”
The ancient dragon had once considered himself above any attachments, ready to peacefully complete his life cycle and return to nature. But now? He was sobbing his heart out but no matter how hard he wailed or how many times he begged, nothing was going to change…because everything had gone to ruin.
“Wake up…I'm the old one…I'm the one who is supposed to die…not you…please…please…”
After a while the heart wrenching sobs of the grieving dragon went silent…sitting there in the remnants of a fight that took everything from him with the bodies of his children in his arms that did not hold the warmth of life. He stayed unmoving until the rain stopped and the red moon was peeking through the clouds.
Just then,the golden dragon snapped out of his dissociation when a clear melodious chuckle broke the silence. There was a figure dressed in complete white untainted by the grime they were standing on. Their face half covered by an equally pristine veil that covered down to their nose,only the lower half on their face was visible.
Eruhaben didn't need to see the rest of the face to know it was not a normal person,it was a god.
The deity kept smiling as they talked in an amused tone. Eruhaben couldn't make out what they were saying but he was filled with rage all the same. This god was finding amusement in their suffering. All gods were selfish, using lower beings for their selfish reasons. Eruhaben was about to say something when…
“Say,what should I grant you? I was supposed to grant a reward to the one in your arms but it seems like only you are left little dragon”
The god must have read the mistrust on Eruhaben's gaze, because he let out a laugh again.
“You don't have to look at me that way, I'm just trying to give you a reward for taking care of something troublesome for the divine realm. But don't ask for something like time reversal, I can't gra-”
Probably for defeating the hunters, because they had been a headache for the deities as well. But he cut off the god,he hated every higher being.
“Give me death”
The unknown deity was looking at him in surprise,the dragon could tell even without seeing the whole expression of the being. Eruhaben was bound to die anyway,so him asking for death was the same as rejecting the god's reward.
“Hahahaha I can't give you that! Instead I'll make you…”
Suddenly in a gentle manner the being put their hand on the top of Eruhaben's head,voice turning gentle.
“-live”
As the being finished the sentence, Eruhaben could feel himself losing his consciousness. Before he completely blacked out,he heard the faint voice of the god again.
“I'm sorry…”
______
When Eruhaben came back to himself,he was in an uncomfortable posture,head down on a table of weird material. Was he sleeping on his folded arms while sitting?
There was a voice calling him and shaking him. A familiar voice?
“Dr Eruhaben! Wake up! Don't sleep like that”
What? What did the voice of the woman mean? Only when he focused his eyes,he realised it was someone he knew, wearing clothes of an unfamiliar style.
“Mila…?”
“What's with that tone doctor? Are you still half asleep? Are you…sick?”
Just when Mila was about to reach out to touch his forehead, Eruhaben stood up, only for the world to suddenly tilt.
“Doctor Eruhaben!”
The golden dragon’s head felt like it was going to burst. Something foreign was flooding his mind in an unpleasant way…memories?
Mila was trying to help him to the seat but he suddenly stood up and he was running before he could stop himself because…Cale…Cale!
Eruhaben ran until he reached the room he instinctively knew Cale was in. Mila had also run after him, now standing behind him at the doorway.
“Doctor? Is something wrong? Why did you suddenly-”
“Cale…”
The golden dragon didn't hear what she was saying because he could only stare at the redhead's peaceful sleeping face. He was suddenly overcome with so much relief that before tears could fill his eyes or he could reach out to his child,his body gave up on him,he blacked out. But this time he was happy because he knew…he was going to see his loved ones again.
“Doctor!”