Nia with tired eyes laid her big sister on the cold floor wrapped in her cloak. She assumed that if Nera was alive before her arrival, then the others must be as well. Nia stood up rubbing her baggy eyes trying to see among the dark dungeon's cold landscape. She looked at the woman on the floor with maggots eating the face. It looked to be some kind of mercenary. The body wore leather armor and a cloak. However, the skin had been eaten by other bugs. Only red muscle could be seen and even that looked to be rotten. Nia didn't know any of the villagers having any kind of armor nor recognized who it could have possible been. Some lone mercenary, she thought. Nobody that she needed to be concerned about. Miura stood by the stairs watching the entrance in case of anybody wanting to come in, however she knew nobody was coming.

Nia looked at one of the cells with an open door.

"That must have been her cell," Miura said.

"I see," Nia said trying not to convey any emotion.

Then, when the green dragon's eyes met upon the other cell, her whole body froze in terror. An amalgamation of flesh and blood. Bodies of rotting men, women, and children mutilated. Their body parts and bones all mixed with each other. The mere scraps of cloth were from the village, but none of them she could recognize. Their faces have all become nothing but heaps of flesh. Maggots, flies, and worms chewed erratically among the dead. Even the bodies of dead children being covered by their parents before their death became nothing but food to bugs.

As Miura walked over, she gasped in ignorance.

"What the hell is this?" Nia asked in horror.

Miura puked on the floor before replying, "Their torturers must have done this. The dragonslayers are ruthless. They must have wanted information. Probably of a dragon, but there hasn't been a dragon for a long time. Their deaths must have been slow, excruciating, and pointless."

With that, Nia came to a realization.

"They were tortured... for me. I did this? I'm the reason for all of this death?" Nia said taking a few steps back.

"No," Miura jumped in, "No. This wasn't your fault. You came as quickly as you could."

"I wasn't fast enough. I shouldn't have wasted any time helping villages on the side," Nia said. She then remembered Belze and her promise to save his parents.

"If this all of them? Were any other prisoners kept elsewhere?" she asked.

Miura shook her head.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I remember them coming in. These are all of the prisoners. I'm sorry," Miura said trying to sound sympathetic.

Nia fell to her knees in defeat. Her eyes stared at the ground. Everything she tried to accomplish failed. She failed to save the villagers. She failed to save Belze's parents. She failed to save Nera. She failed her big sister. She failed everyone.

Miura offered Nia a friendly hand.

"This wasn't your fault," the witch said, "It was their fault. The dragonslayers. The knights. The ones who took them from you. Do not put the blame on yourself. Put the blame on them. The race of humans care for nothing but mindless pain and suffering. They stand on the backs of all other life including their own for their own personal gain. They have no care for anything that they trample upon but themselves."

At this time, the words made sense to Nia. Everything she loved was taken from her twice. Both by the dragonslayers.

Miura added, "As for killing that woman, you're not responsible. They brought her here to be tortured and killed once they find their dragon."

"It was their fault," Nia said, "Even big sister Nera's death. It was all them."

The green dragon's mind was tired and confused. She didn't know what was real anymore. Her only hope was that it was a dream or magical illusion, but quickly came to the realization that everything in front of her was real.

Nia gripped her teeth. Emotions flooded in. Rage. Hate. Anger. All directed towards the dragonslayers that took everything from her. Her eyes were enveloped in a green shade. A tail and two green wings shot out from her back.

Miura gasped as if she was surprised. The ground shook. The dragonslayers and people above thought that there was an earthquake.

Nia's teeth sharpened. Her body began to grow. Her illusive ring started to crack and soon snapped in half to the floor. Light green scales covered her entire body. However, her leather armor started to morph as well. They changed in size and continued to fit on Nia's large and evergrowing body. Miura wondered what kind of magic allowed that. As Nia continued to transform, the witch stepped back to the dark wall. Her face of surprise slowly faded as the shadows covered her. No longer needing to put up a facade, she put up a magical barrier around herself.

Nia's entire body grew and grew. Her neck grew and her face elongated. Two horns grew out of her skull piercing her forehead. Her mind reduced itself to that of an animal of endless hatred. She walked on her fours. Her leather armor continued to fit her all throughout her transformation. As soon as her body grew to the height of the ceiling, she breathed out one large stream of fire above her destroying the Den of Dragonslayers from below. The dragonslayers were unprepared from an underground attack. Their bodies were reduced to ashes in seconds. As the entire building toppled to the ground, Nia's large green wings emerged from the rubble. Then, the entirety of the light green dragon appeared out of the rubble with all of it's awe and might. She was in a form that she hasn't used for a long time and it grew far larger than any time she turned into a dragon before.

The surrounding people froze in awe and terror. The green dragon casted a shadow from the full moon over King's City. Nia climbed on top of another building looking down upon the people of King's City. Her mind was utterly gone. Reduced to nothing but an animal. An animal with an intense urge to burn. As Nia looked at the people, she saw them not as regular civilians. But as dragonslayers. All of them. Which were actually dragonslayers and which were regular people? Her green eyes couldn't differentiate the difference. To her, everybody wore the same dragonslayer armor. Her green eyes brightened. The green dragon roared into the night sky reverberating all across the city and beyond.