My audacity hung in the air, thick and heavy, mingling with the scent of burnt trees and frustrated dragon. I'd dismissed his grief, prodded his pride, and essentially told him to stop being a mopey sack of scales and get back to work trying to kill me. A calculated risk. I needed him angry, but not so despairing he just... gave up.
He stared at me from the gloom, his massive form unmoving. The anger I'd tried to reignite didn't surface immediately. Instead, the sadness I'd glimpsed deepened.
"Humans," he rumbled, the sound heavy with a crushing weariness. "You are everywhere. Like a disease. No matter where I go, you come. Hunting. Taking. There is no escaping."
The hopelessness in his voice was palpable. It wasn't just about this jungle. It was about the world. About his future. A creature of immense power, cornered by the sheer, pervasive spread of a species he despised.
"I know," he continued, his voice gaining a grim resolve, "someday, one of you will be strong enough. Skilled enough. Ruthless enough. Someday, one of you will kill me."
He shifted, his massive claws digging slightly into the soft earth. This wasn't the posture of a hunter. It was the posture of a warrior preparing for a final stand.
"But I will not run," he declared, and in that moment, the pride I'd tried to provoke finally surfaced, not in anger, but in a defiant, tragic acceptance. "I am a proud dragon. We do not flee. We fight. To the death. And I swear," his voice dropped to a low growl that vibrated with chilling intent, "I will take as many of you to whatever hell awaits with me as I possibly can."
A mighty, fearsome resolve. A warrior's pride.
"Sounds like a plan, Draco," I said, injecting a casual, almost dismissive tone into my voice. "Just one problem."
The dragon tensed, waiting.
"You know you'll die like that," I stated flatly. "You just said it. You know the outcome. You know you can't win, not long-term, not against the sheer numbers. You call it proud, preparing for a fight you know you'll lose just to take a few enemies with you. I call it... idiotic."
ROAR!
This time, the bellow was pure, unadulterated rage. Not just at being called Draco, but at the stark, brutal truth of my assessment. His tragic pride, laid bare and called foolish. The ground shook, trees swayed, and a wave of raw, unbound fury washed over me. It was the essence of the Cursed Series. Close. So damn close.
I braced myself, ready to dodge the inevitable attack. But he didn't charge. The roar died down, leaving behind a tense, quivering silence.
"If... if you were me," the voice was thick, rough now, the raw edge of pain returning, "if you had seen... had lost... everything... seen them used... harvested..."
He trailed off. In the dim light, I saw his massive head lower slightly. More glistening trails on his scaled cheeks. The tears of a creature of vengeance, shed for ancient wounds.
"...would you still blame me?" he finished, the question a low, pained whisper, asking for absolution from the very species he hated.
Would I? If Myne, Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki had slaughtered Raphtalia, Rifana, and Filo to make shiny gear... if they had hunted down every single person I cared about and reduced them to crafting materials... would I show remorse for turning the world into my personal revenge grounds? Would I feel bad for every guard, every soldier, every so-called hero who got in my way?
Honestly? Probably not. The rage would consume me. The need for payback would burn brighter than any other light.
"I don't know," I answered honestly, the pragmatic truth cutting through the emotional weight of the moment. "If I were you, steeped in your pain, your loss... maybe I wouldn't. Maybe I'd be just as blind. Just as consumed."
I took a step closer, my shield hand hanging loose, a deliberate sign I wasn't attacking. "But I'm not you, Draco. I'm me. Right now. And as me... I can save you."
The dragon's massive form tensed again. This time, the emotion was disbelief, laced with bitter scorn. "Saved? By a human?" The word was spat like poison. "One of them who killed my lineage? Who made lower dragons their pets? You dare speak of saving me?"
"Yeah," I said, planting my feet. "It may sound ridiculous. Coming from one of them." Another memory of Myne's face flickered, cold and sharp. "But I'm not like them. And I'm not asking you to surrender. I'm offering... companionship."
I wasn't sure where the words were coming from. Companionship? Me? With a grieving, vengeful dragon? But the thought had surfaced, surprisingly clear.
"You help me," I laid out the terms, simple and direct. "I need power. I need to get strong. Fast. And I need to protect those who are with me. You... you have the power. The rage. The connection I need." The Cursed Series. I didn't say it out loud, but the unspoken goal hung in the air between us.
"And in return?" I looked up at his massive form, pushing aside the cynical voice that screamed 'liar' every time a human made a promise. "I promise you this. I won't let your pride be hurted. Not by me. Not by anyone else in my wake. No one will be able to give you as much as a scratch. They'll pay. Every single one of them."
A wave of heat washed over me, the shield vibrating faintly. My own rage, resonating with his. That was the currency here.
The dragon was silent for a long moment. The air hung thick with unspoken pasts, with ancient grudges and potential new alliances.
"You humans," he finally said, his voice low and filled with suspicion. "Just a bunch of liars. Promising anything until you get what you want. Then you discard us. Hunt us. Make gear from our bones."
"I'm not lying," I insisted, holding his gaze. "And you're right. Those humans... the ones who did that to your family... the ones who betrayed me... yeah, I hate them. I hate these humans." I gestured vaguely towards the direction of Seyaette, of the kingdom. "Most of them? Scum."
The dragon's head tilted. He stared at me, that single tear still visible on his cheek. "Then why," he asked, the question cutting through my justifications, hitting the core of my own complex, contradictory motivations, "why are you helping them?"
Why? Why was I here? Why was I protecting this world? Why was I saving villages, taking in children, preparing for Waves that threatened the very humans I despised? The question hung there, heavy and demanding.
I had no simple answer. No easy platitude. My trauma screamed for destruction, for payback, for letting the world burn. But Raphtalia's trusting eyes, Rifana's small hand in mine, Filo's cheerful 'Master!'... they were the inconvenient, undeniable anchors.
"Tell me," the dragon pressed, sensing my hesitation.
"It may also happen," I finally said, finding the words, pulling them from that complicated, contradictory place inside me, "that you hate your own kinsmen. The ones who hurt you. The ones who betrayed you." I thought of Alna. Her face, twisted in feigned tears, then cold indifference, then pure fury. "But that doesn't mean you become so heartless as to bring their destruction. To wipe out every single one, good or bad. The ones who didn't do anything. The ones who are just... trying to survive."
I took another step, closer still, reducing the distance between the hated Shield Hero and the vengeful dragon. "If we do that, Draco... if we become blind in our rage, if we destroy everyone just because some hurt us... won't we just be the same as them? The ones who killed your family? The ones who... who broke me?"
The question hung between us, heavy with shared pain and the potential for mutual destruction.
"Right now," I said, my voice low, raw with the admission of my own limitations, "right now, the only one I'm capable of saving... is you." My own personal white whale. The source of my dark power. The embodiment of the rage I understood.
"And I will do it," I promised, locking my gaze with his, ignoring the System, the task, the Cursed Series for just this one moment. "All I want... is your approval. Your agreement. Become my companion, Draco."
The jungle fell silent, waiting. Waiting for the dragon's answer. Waiting for the next turn of the wheel in this cycle of rage, revenge, and unexpected offers of companionship.