The Draco was an animal, albeit a very powerful one. Despite its nature, it was more intelligent than the most intelligent animal in both worlds but as it became stronger, its mind became sharper as well. It was an almost fully sentient creature.
Its sentience wasn’t like that of a human in which humans can talk, comprehend, or think about abstract concepts but it understood many things as well. Like humans, the Draco had desires, needs, and, as of late, wants.
It desired food and had complex enough taste buds to prefer tender meat compared to tough meat. It loved the feeling of sunlight directly washing over its scales. It enjoyed hearing the screams of its prey compared to the silence of slaughtered ones.
And similar to most humans, the Draco wanted to have offspring. It wanted its offspring to prosper and mature to become, at the very least, equal to it, if not better. In addition, it had paternal instincts, something that not all humans have.
So, when the Draco heard the roar of its mate, all of its anger and rage toward Evelyn was suddenly extinguished. The Draco looked upward and felt cold lead enter its bloodstream.
Its children were in danger.
Evelyn saw the color drain from the Draco’s scales. Its imposing and dominating aura was gone and was instead replaced by a feeble and terrified appearance.
Gone was the tyrant of Teremarae and now present was a terrified and weak father.
Evelyn couldn’t let this opportunity go. She immediately moved toward the Draco but terror was faster than vigilance.
The Draco leaps upward and lifts its massive body off the ground. It quickly supports its weight by flapping its wings, conjuring a storm of dust and stone everywhere.
Shielding her eyes but continuing forward, Evelyn jumps up in a mad scramble to grab hold of the Draco.
Evelyn’s hands manage to find purchase on one of the many arrows lodged in the Draco’s muscle-bound thighs. Despite weighing heavier than the average person due to her powerful build, the arrows barely managed to carry Evelyn’s weight.
She internally whispered a “thank you” to Michael who used resin-reinforced shafts to create the arrows.
Evelyn felt an immense pressure crush her body as the Draco climbed upward then she felt weightless. Quickly looking around, Evelyn saw that the two of them were high in the air.
The Draco was terrified. The roar of its mate kept repeating in its mind, forcing it to forget about Evelyn. It even temporarily forgot about the pain caused by Evelyn’s attacks.
It flew with abandon.
It didn’t care if Evelyn, the one who made it into a pin cushion, escaped today.
Evelyn feels the weight of gravity push her down as the Draco starts to fly upward. It continued to fly and eventually breaks past the wall of clouds that covered parts of Teremarae.
For a moment, Evelyn felt reprieve from being battered against the Draco’s powerful body. Opening her eyes, she even manages to admire the beauty of Teremarae, even if it was only for a moment. Remember Earth and its many artificial forests, Evelyn can’t help but sigh.
Beautiful…
Then the Draco folded its wings and dived down.
Evelyn used every ounce of her almost superhuman strength just to barely hold on to the Draco.
The air moving past her face caused Evelyn to close her eyes. She knew that with each passing moment, the two of them were getting closer to the Draco’s nest.
Michael…
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Michael dashes forward the moment the ultra reptile released its roar for help. He only had a few minutes to finish this fight before the Draco came crashing into the cave.
The ultra reptile glared at Michael. It knew that the next minutes would determine if it would survive or not. It couldn’t run away now, knowing that its mate was coming. It roars and charges forward.
Michael leans downward. The ultra reptile responds by opening its maw and biting downward.
It was bait.
Using the momentum of his dash, Michael jumps up. The ultra reptile’s jaws clamp on empty space as Michael lands on her back.
It desperately thrashes its body, trying to throw off Michael but the superhuman quickly jams his hand in the ultra reptile’s pierced shoulder. He tightly grips the hole as he would a handle, causing the ultra reptile immense pain.
The ultra reptile cries in pain as each thrash of its body caused Michael to move, widening and mangling the wound he was hanging on.
Bob safely watched Michael from the higher parts of the cave. So far, there weren’t many opportunities for him to help Michael. Instead, he focuses on the task given to him.
Carrying a hammer and a pouch of crudely made nails, Bob started hammering them on various parts of the cave. With each nail embedded into the cave, Bob slowly increased their chances against the fight with the Draco.
Using his other hand, Michael stabs the ultra reptile’s back with his spear. Without the proper momentum, Michael couldn’t draw any blood except an inconsequential nick. But Michael didn’t stop. Once he created the small nick, Michael starts to push down the spear with all of his strength.
It quickly realizes what Michael was doing as it felt the spear slowly enter its body. The ultra reptile was reinvigorated and started to desperately thrash its body, roaring in desperation and pain.
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With each passing second, Michael continued to push the spear deeper into the ultra reptile’s body. He angled it in a way so that it would pierce the beast’s heart or lungs.
The ultra reptile frantically looked around. There must be something it could do in front of such determined brutality.
While thrashing, it heard Bob hammering nails into the walls. It then runs toward the wall with the intention of crushing Michael.
It runs with all of its might. Since the creature stopped thrashing, Michael’s grip was more stable. He looks at the incoming wall and frowns. Without warning, the ultra reptile switches momentum, planning to slam its body on the wall with Michael in the middle.
Michael would have let go and dodged but he couldn’t risk letting the ultra-reptile go. At any moment, the Draco would appear and all of his preparation would have gone up to smoke.
Then an opportunity presented itself. Michael smiles as he realizes that he didn’t need the momentum if the ultra reptile was the one who would do it instead. Before the ultra reptile reaches the wall with its body slam, Michael quickly jumps off but not before angling the spear’s tip in the wall’s direction.
Michael falls to the ground and he rolls to reduce the impact. Using the momentum of the fall, Michael stands up just in time to see the ultra-reptile collide with the wall.
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The Draco was getting closer to its nest. As it gets nearer, it hears the desperate cries of its mate.
Just a bit faster.
The Draco was desperately flying. It used every ounce of its strength just so it could reach its home a bit faster.
How it wished it had four wings instead of just two.
While the Draco was focused on getting home, the woman hanging off of its body was preparing her next move.
Barely hanging on, Evelyn exerts a large amount of strength on her right hand to hold on while her left-hand lets go of the arrow she’s hanging on.
Evelyn knew that she was tough and if she activated her evolved gift, she could probably withstand the Draco’s assault but she wasn’t sure if she could survive a drop a few hundred meters from the sky even if she activated her gift.
With her free hand, Evelyn carefully pulls out her steel dagger. With all of the force she can muster, she stabs the Draco’s side, just slightly below its powerful wings.
The Draco saw the entrance to its nest. It was close and it only needed a few more flaps to get there. Then it felt a sharp object pierce its side. It screeches in pain as it suddenly loses its focus. Its ability to fly is hampered as it tries to resist the pain.
But Evelyn wasn’t the type to only go for one round, she would go for multiple. She pulled out the dagger and pushed it to another part of the Draco then again and again. She kept stabbing the Draco.
The Draco roars and tries to maneuver itself but Evelyn used the dagger as a grip as well. No matter how much the Draco moved, Evelyn held on. She felt the brute force of the Draco’s body battering her.
Despite that, Evelyn continued to stab the Draco’s side. Eventually, Evelyn manages to stab one of the Draco’s nerves and its flying was suddenly disrupted by immense pain.
The two started to fall.
Facing the consequences of her brave but very brash actions, Evelyn screams.
“FUCKKKK!!!!!”
The Draco tried to recover its flight but Evelyn, the type to double down on a losing hand just to bluff everyone else, starts to stab the Draco’s body with renewed vigor.
“DIE!!!!”
The Draco swipes at Evelyn but the lack of momentum prevented it from dealing any real damage. It wanted to rip apart Evelyn but it was so close to its nest. It just needed to fix its flight.
But Evelyn stabs the same spot which caused them to fall and the Draco releases a guttural roar of pain. Desperate, the Draco instead closes its wings, angling its fall toward its nest.
No longer attempting to fly, the Draco’s body fall started accelerating which causes Evelyn to panic. The Draco knew it would take damage and made sure to keep its wings safe.
It was confident that it would survive the fall.
Evelyn watched as she and the Draco approached the ground with accelerating speed. She immediately wills her body to use her evolved gift. Her body becomes unbelievably tough as her skin becomes rough-looking.
Then the Draco hits the ground like a small meteor, releasing a shockwave around the area and covering it with a cloud of debris, dirt, and dust.
Due to her gift, Evelyn managed to survive the fall but the exhaustion caused by her gift combined with the impact gives her a mind-breaking concussion. At least now, she was sure that her evolved gift can survive heights that would turn normal humans into a paste.
Fading in and out of consciousness, Evelyn tries to stand up but stumbles instead.
She tries to stand up again but the dizziness was too much and she falls to the ground.
No! I can’t fall asleep now! Michael… Michael… needs my help.
Steeling herself, Evelyn manages to stand up with wobbly legs.
Yes! I did i-
Before she could complete her thoughts, Evelyn is struck by the Draco’s tail.
She feels an immense force strike her body as the air gets pushed out of her lungs. Gravity momentarily lets her go as she is sent flying.
She falls off the hill of the Draco’s nest and lands on the dirt floor. Already suffering from a concussion, the second strike knocked Evelyn out.
The Draco snorts, ignoring Evelyn the moment it knocked her away. The Draco weakly stands up. After falling from such a great height, it was momentarily stunned. Fortunately, it didn’t suffer any direct damage from the fall but its wounds had worsened.
Each knife stab felt like a lodged spear and each arrow felt like a lodged knife.
Despite being bloody and weakened, the Draco continued onward. Adrenaline and desperation motivated it. Its legs felt heavy and each movement was tedious and tiring but it couldn’t stop now. After all, it could no longer hear any roars or whimpers from its mate.
Limping forward, the Draco slowly entered its nest. It roared to call out to its mate.
There was no response. It roared again, desperately clinging to hope.
After all, it was more than just an animal. It didn’t want to accept the worst possible outcome. As it limped through the pathway toward its cave, the Draco heard a terrifying sound.
It was the sound of an egg shattering.
The Draco forgets its body’s pain and runs forward. Its eyes widen in fear as it takes in the horrid image of broken eggshells. The egg’s liquids and yolk were scattered about.
There was no saving them.
Then the Draco hears the weak breath of its mate. Turning toward the sound, the Draco immediately rushes to its dying mate, only to see a sharp object protruding out of its back. The object pierced her body, entering from its back and exiting from its chest.
The Draco lightly rubs its face on its mate’s face, trying to comfort it in its last moments. The ultra reptile’s breathing was getting slower. It was dying and the Draco knew that.
It felt despair but it wasn’t given time to mourn. The moment the Draco lost strength in its legs, its body was suddenly assaulted by ropes.
In a panic, the Draco looks around and sees a small furry creature jump from embedded nail to embedded nail, throwing out rope toward it. It sees another hairless creature throw jumping from nail to nail, throwing out rope towards it.
The Draco recognized this creature. It was Michael.
The ropes were long and started to overwhelm the Draco.
Seeing the murderer of its children and mate, the Draco was suddenly filled with rage. It started to move but it quickly notices that it couldn’t. Hundreds of lengths of rope start to tangle and tighten across the Draco’s body.
Slowly but surely, the Draco’s mobility was being restricted. With its rage-fueled strength, it manages to snap a few lengths of rope here and there but they were quickly replaced by dozens.
Eventually, its weakened body fails it and the ropes manage to restrain the Draco. Despite no longer being able to move, Bob and Michael continued to entangle the evolved super reptile.
After all, if a single length of rope cannot stop the Draco’s body, what about 10 or 100, or 1000 lengths of rope?
Kilometers worth of rope entangled the Draco to ensure it wouldn’t escape.
Eventually, the Draco could no longer move at all.
Seeing that the Draco was fully restrained, Michael signs for Bob to go down with him.
The two safely land on the ground.
Michael had a surprised expression, admiring the number of wounds Evelyn inflicted on his enemy. Worried, Michael looks for any sign of Evelyn. Not finding any sign of her, he instructs Bob.
+Bob, look for Evelyn.+
Bob nods and scurries away.
After Bob leaves, Michael turns to look directly at the Draco’s eyes which were filled with unending hate directed at him. Its eyes were bloodshot due to the pain of its growing wounds and its broken heart.
Seeing the Draco unable to struggle, Michael internally sighed.
He pulls out his steel dagger.
The Draco’s eyes turn to the weapon in Michael’s hand. It glared angrily at the gleaming piece of metal as its wounds started to sting. Never before has it experienced such a weapon. After seeing its dead mate, the Draco knew that the same type of weapon slew its mate as well.
Seeing his enemy bound and bloody, Michael wanted to offer some words of respect for the immensely powerful predator as a form of farewell.
After all, Michael spent a long time alone in Teremarae. Due to this, he respects and values strength.
He wanted to speak a few words but he still couldn't. After all, he promised Evelyn that his first words would be her name.
Gripping the steel knife, he then stabs forward with physical strength that dwarfed even Evelyn’s full might.
The knife’s movement was quick and it immediately connected with the Draco.
Michael’s eyes widen in surprise when his steel knife shatters on impact.