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A tear drop slowly ran down the red cheek of the dragon, a pained look on his face. "My past..." He said, choking. "You have no idea what pain is.... no idea.... very well, I will tell you the story of when I lost everything. When my whole world was crushed right before my eyes. It all began when I was a young hatchling..."

-

A young hatchling not more then three years of age lay sleeping in a nest. His stomach was full from the large dinner his mother had brought for him. He was not yet old enough to fly and hunt for himself, and still had all of his hatchling teeth which was barely enough to tear small bits of meat off of a carcass. The small creature rolls around to his other side, his red scales glimmering in the light of the moon.

-

A half moon shone over a vast forest reaching for miles around a cave with a large opening. Standing outside the cave is a large figure which cast a shadow over the landscape below. Her scales glimmered an eerie blood red in the moonlight as she sniffed the air. A soft growl escaped her maw before she looks back to the cave to check on her eggs.

The white shells with faint red spots can barely be seen nestled in a small pit of sand. There were sixteen in all, a large clutch for a dragoness so young. As she passed her first hatchling, the only survivor of her first clutch of five, she lowers her head to give him a soft nuzzle. "My sweet Dakaru." She said in the dragon tongue before continuing onto her eggs.

The eggs that were nestled in the warm sand shook every few minutes, showing that they were about to hatch. The mother dragon smiled warmly as she said in dragon tongue, "Soon, my children." She lovingly nudged one of the eggs as a thin crack appeared. The mother then whips her head up in the air as she hears something. A twig snapping? She begins to head toward the entrance of the cave to investigate such.

-

"Dakaru, wake up!" A voice echoes in the hatchlings head. Was that his mother? No... This was a different voice he didn't know. "Dakaru, time is short.. wake up now!"

The hatchling stirs, his whole body feeling as if it was shaken. He looked around confused. He didn't see his mother anywhere. "Dakaru, get to the back of the cave now, hide!" He hears the strange voice again which seemed to come from nowhere and yet everywhere. A roar sounds from outside, his mother! What was wrong? She sounded so mad!

Dakaru quickly got up and ran to the back of the cave, running past his siblings that were beginning to hatch. He climbs up the wall at the very far reaches of the cave before crawling into the crevice that his mother had shown him and told him to hide there if there was anything wrong. After he gets settled, he looks over the edge before peering towards the mouth of the cavern. Below were the shimmering shells of his brothers and sisters who were being born. Dakaru looks down at them as he sees the first head emerge.

-

His mother's roar echoed through the forest which sent deer and small critters scurrying away in fear. "There she is!" Shouted a man mounted atop a horse. His full plate armor shone in the moonlight which granted him a haunting look of grandeur. A crest on his left breast marked him as a knight. "Ready yourselves! Not all of us will live to see the sun of a new day, but we will all be honored in history as great heroes!"

All around the knight, twelve men stood who looked rather nervous. Three men wielded large pikes with standards held high. Five carried long bows, readied to fire. The other four bore large shields tempered to withstand high temperatures and a long spear. The knight looked up at his imposing enemy and grinned. This was the moment he had waited for his entire life. This was the moment he had trained years for. This was the moment he was to become a hero.

-

The enraged dragon roared again at the men who had come to her cave. Why were they here and what did they want? It certainly was for nothing good. Bad things always happened when humans came around with their metallic shells and pointy sticks. The humans always wanted blood for the sake of seeing it which was usually for their false glory. She again roared at the intruders, spitting out a small trail of flame. Maybe if she intimidated them they would leave her and her babies alone?

-

One of the archers who had on finer leathers than the rest walked up to the knight. "Sir, what are your orders? She's not attacking like you said she would." He looks over at the angry dragon, a glimpse of worry in his eye.

The knight looks down at the archer with disgust. "Am I to tell you how to aim and fire as well? Wait until she breathes her fire again and then aim for her throat!" He looks back up at his enemy. "And then we charge in."

-

Tears fell from Dakaru's face. What was going on? Why was his mother so mad? He was scared and didn't move from his hidden perch. He just laid there shaking as the sound of his mother's roar and the hatching of eggs echoed in the cave. A bright flash of light came from the entrance of the cave which was shortly followed by the familiar smell of sulfur from his mother's fiery breath.

Then a pained screech that he had never heard from his mother silenced the whole world...

-

"Charge!" The knight shouted as he dug his heels into his battle hardened steed. The horse reared up with a loud whinny and then bolted forward. The knight drew a javelin from the holster on the side of his horse. "We've got you now, beast!" The knight shouted as he loosed the javelin that was aimed for the dragons chest.

-

The red dragon roared and hissed in pain from the spines now in her neck from the humans curved sticks. She tried to breathe her fire at the approaching humans, but she couldn't work up a flame with the arrows sticking in her neck. She whipped her tail around which knocked a javelin headed toward her chest away and stretched her head forward, roaring mightily.

The first of the men that were armed with the shields approached her, hiding behind his metal wall before poking at her with the spear. She hisses as she swipes at a spear, her sharp claws cutting it in two and then reached with her other claw to grab the man and throw him aside. She then sweeps with her tail at the remaining three which caught two off guard, who quickly crumpled under her assault.

-

"Damn it!" The knight cursed. "Pike men! Get in there now! Do your damned jobs!" The men quickly followed his orders, more afraid of him than the dragon. "Archers! Shoot another volley of arrows for god sakes! What the hell are you do-" His shouting was cut off by a boulder soaring his way. He quickly jumped off his mount, which was soon crushed by the man sized boulder, the sickening sound of bone crunching echoing off the trees.

The knight curses while he takes the shield off his back, quickly donning it and drawing his broadsword. "You won't win lizard! I will cut your head off myself!" He spit. Another volley of arrows soar over his head as the knight started toward the dragon.

-

The dragon twisted around, hissing and snapping at the men. The last set of spines had hit her right front leg, giving her a handicap and slowing her down. She felt a pain in her side as one of the men with the sharp sticks stabbed her. She roared in pain, whipping around as she swipes her left claw at her assailant which nearly ripped him in half. Then another pain became evident as she felt arrows enter her back.

Why! Why were they doing this!?! She did nothing to them! Tears streamed down her face as she took out another pikeman.

Then a blinding pain.

She looks down as she sees the man in the shining shell with his sharp metal plunged into her chest. She could feel her heart struggling to keep beating, though it had been stabbed cleanly through. She wails out in pain, making the men all around her grab at their ears as she weakly swung at the man who had impaled her with only enough force to knock him away.

The magnificent creature stumbled, her vision blurring. She grabs desperately at the metallic thorn sticking from her chest, clawing and scratching as blood poured from the wound. She cries out once more. She cries for her Dakaru and she cries for her brood that were only now hatching. She cried with her last breath for the ones that mattered most, her children who she had laid her life down for.