Death

I got up and just stared at her lifeless body. Her eyes were still open, and she had tears running down her face. It was obvious that she had suffered, but even through all that, she had seemingly pushed through to tell me those final words. My eyes felt hot as tears continued to overflow, and I reached for her body,

"Mom?"

Memories of all my favorite moments with her began to overflow in my mind, and as they did, the reality of what had just happened slowly seeped in.

She's really...dead.

I began to yell, as if the dam in my mind had opened up, all of my emotions were pouring out in these shouts.

"NO, NO, NO!

All I could do was shout the word no, I couldn't believe it. So much sorrow and rage consumed me, I'm never going to get to talk to or see her again. This is it. My mother is gone. I stood up, my whole body shaking, I looked towards the cage with Dad, and my brothers in it.

Jason had seemingly passed out from what I can only believe was shock. Dad and Morgan were pounding on the bars while shouting and crying. Their faces were filled with such fear and devastation that it hurt just to look at them.

I turned towards the dragons, they were still laughing, and in a blind fit of rage, I raised my fists and rushed towards them. Even with my knuckles broken in one hand, I didn't care, as long as I could hurt them just once. Even though it wouldn't compensate for the indescribable pain and misery I was feeling right now, just a flinch, a wince, anything. I wanted these monsters to feel anything for what they've just done, even if I break more bones, even if I die.

As I reached for one of them, he didn't move. He just let me punch him with a smile on his face. Screaming like a wild beast as I continued to lay punch after punch into his hard scales, the bones in my hands became more destroyed with each blow. But to me, it didn't hurt because what hurt the most right now was the fact that this disgusting monster killed my mother right in front of me, and I couldn't even doing anything to faze him, even with me using every ounce of strength in my body, not even a blink.

As I went in for another punch, he grabbed it mid strike. He had stopped laughing and then began to talk to me in that weird language again.

"I cant understand you, go to hell!"

I shouted towards his face and started kicking him, still no reaction. It was complete humiliation. With a slightly frustrated look on his face, he turned to the other dragons, said something, and then let go of me as he walked towards my mother's corpse.

"Get away from her!"

I tried to run after him, but the other dragon took hold of me. Again, I was helpless. The dragon kneeled down towards my mother. Sheer horror and disgust filled in me as I watched. He grabbed her throat, ripped it out, and then swallowed it, exactly how the black dragon did to the man previously.

I began shouting and screaming at the dragon so much so that my throat hurt, cursing him in every sort of way I could think of before my voice went hoarse, and my shouts became harder and harder to create.

This disgusting monster just defiled my mothers corpse right in front of me, and I could do nothing but helplessly kick and scream while he remained unfazed. He walked towards me. There was nothing in his eyes. It was as if this situation was boring to him.

"Now can you understand me, boy?"

"Bastard!"

I yelled as I spat towards him.

"Cease your bellowing child, where is your family?"

I looked at him with hatred and disgusts as I responded.

"You just ate the throat of one of them!"

He looked in the direction of where my mother lay and then looked back. "So that really was your so called mother? Interesting, to think that the Child of Taboo would be raised by a weakling such as that, I assume the rest of your this... "family" are the same?"

His sickening words continued to cut into me. There was nothing I could say to him. The truth is we are weak, but why is that a reason to do this? Who the hell made these disgusting beings the judge and executioner??

"Just shut the fuck up." I said.

"Where is the rest?"

I didn't respond.

"If you do not respond, then we might as well start executing everyone cage by cage until we find them."

After thinking for a while, I decided to point towards where they were. If he's looking for them, then maybe he will have more mercy on them, and I wasn't about to test the lives of everyone else here. He grabbed me and led me out of the cage. The other two dragons left our side and went up towards one of the black dragons and began to speak like they were reporting something.

When we got to the cage where Dad, and my brothers were, I led him through all the people. They were all silent and still with fear. When we reached the back of the cage, he asked, "Which ones?"

I pointed them out, Dad and Morgan looked towards me,

"Ron, what's happening?" 

Morgan asked but before I could respond my father jumped at the dragon holding me, he tried to attack him but the monster simply lifted his knee and sent my father to the floor, causing him to puke. He stood back up and almost tried again but Morgan was holding him back, probably in fear of what the dragon might do to him.

Tears were still on their faces, and my heart ached to see their expressions. Jason had seemingly woken up and was standing with guilt and fear on his face behind them.

"Follow me, and I assume you'll know what happens if you don't." The dragon said.

We all followed him out of the cage. He led us to where the black dragons were seated.

"These are the ones, sir."

The black dragon stood up, looked towards the army of red dragons, and shouted something in the unfamiliar language again. It was loud and booming. Then it started.

The red dragons began mercilessly slaughtering all the people in the cages. The dragons began enacting all sorts of horrors and disgusting actions on the people in the cages before killing them. It was a depressing, gruesome sight. My family and I watched in complete and utter horror, blood curdling screams would start and stop as quickly as they began, and before long, every human in the cages that we could see were dead. I turned towards the black dragon.

"Why, why us, why us out of everyone!" I shouted towards who I presumed to be the leader.

"Because we've found what we came here for, you."

He didn't make sense, and before I could respond, he continued.

"We came here to see if you had lived, and if you did live, we wanted to confirm if you had awakened or not. Fortunately, you did not, and so, that makes getting rid of you and this world easier."

Again, I didn't understand, "What are you saying, I don't know you, I was born he-"

He interrupted.

"I am aware that you would not know anything. The reason why I give no explanation to my words is because you are going to die here, along with your family."

Cold shivers ran down my back, and I looked towards Dad, Morgan, and Jason. I already just witnessed my mother get killed, I couldn't bear to see them die as well.

"Then why did you gather us here then?"

"I simply wanted to see the ones that raised you, and if they were anything special, unfortunately, they are just as weak and pathetic as the rest of the humans that inhabit this world."

"Please, just me, will that be okay?" I pleaded towards him, swallowing my rage and humiliation if it meant that the rest of my family could live.

"No, Ron!" My Dad shouted, my brothers were about to interject as well, but the dragon stopped them.

"Do you know where we are, child?"

I looked around. The land was burnt for as far as I could see, similar to how Brooklyn looked before I passed out. "No, I don't."

"I believe your world called this place.. New York?"

My blood ran cold. I looked around again, this is New York? Where are the buildings? The cities the towns? Everything is flat and barren with nothing but black ashy ground as far as the eye could see.

"We knew that you would harbor a unique appearance of crystal white hair and blue eyes, so we decided to search for you on every continent, country, and city of this world, and if we couldn't find you there, we simply destroyed everything and moved onto the next settlement. We started on this continent first, this worlds military prowess is weak, fast moving "bullets" and "missiles" I believe you humans referred to them were futile against our black and white heart strength. When we eventually got the alert that you were found in this area, we set the Aldea to teleport the remnants of this... "New York's" population all here after decimating the.. State, I believe you called it. Where we would carefully search for you. Right now the rest of our forces are working on destroying all the other countries in this world."

"You're a monster!" Morgan shouted at him.

He went up towards him, raised his arm towards him, and pointed his hands in a flicking position towards his forehead. My heart dropped.

"No, no, stop! STOP!"

He paused and looked towards me,

"There is no need for me to explain any further, and I should stop before he hears any more. Just know that I am going to kill you, last."

𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬!

Morgan's head exploded.

Before I could scream, he raised his hands, and my voice stopped. He somehow prohibited my ability to speak with some supernatural power. Nothing would come out. All I could do was helplessly watch in silence.

Then, he went up to dad.

𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬!

"MMPH!!"

My screams were nothing but muffles, I looked towards Jason. He couldn't move, I tried to tell him to move, run, anything. But they were nothing but muffled sounds once again.

He was still paralyzed with fear, his eyes wide open, tears running down his cheeks. The dragon went up to him, "NO!!" I screamed in my mind as tears ran down my face, I tried to run towards him, but I was stuck. Once again, the supernatural power was somehow holding me back. All I could do was watch in agony as he pointed his hands towards my little brother's forehead. He looked at me,

"R-Ron, I'm s-sorry-"

𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬

He was gone. My dad was gone. Morgan was gone. They were all gone.

There were no goodbyes, there were barely no last words, there was nothing. There was only an infinite void of shock and misery building up as a lump in my throat. All I could do was helplessly scream in my mind as tears of flowed down my face.

If there is any God, any higher being watching right now, please, just once, let me make him pay just once! I shouted pleads and cries in my mind while begging.

The black dragon walked towards me.

"Now, for this to finally end."

Instead of raising his hands towards my forehead, this time, he reached for his side.

"For you, it is only right that I use an Onyx Clan's blade."

He unsheathed a long, obsidian sword with a curve at its end. He raised it towards me and swung.

Time stopped. At first, I thought it was one of those things where time slows down as your life flashes before your eyes. But after a while of waiting, nothing happened. Time had just stopped.

"Do you desire strength?"

A woman's voice said, echoing in my mind.

I looked around, "who's speaking?"

"Just once, I believe you said, correct?"

"Yes, but who are you? Are you God?"

"Look over here, child."

I looked around, and that's when I saw her. It was the white dragon that was in the cage. She was speaking to me, but in my mind?

"I'm no God, but for you, so I will give you the remaining mana that I am able to send out."

"Mana? as in magic? That exists??"

"Focus, you will only have one chance to get your revenge before you die. Make sure to concentrate. When I send out my mana, your hands will begin to feel warm. When it does, flex the muscles in them."

"Okay, I understand."

"When I do this, I will be out of mana, meaning I will not be able to help you further, even if it is not the true revenge that you deserve, at least you will not perish without making them suffer once."

"Thank you."

After that, exactly like she said, my hand began to feel warm, I flexed my it, and a light blue flame ignited and covered my hand. It didn't burn. It just felt warm. After that, I prepared myself in a punching stance, the very one my father taught me when I was little

"I'm ready."

"Goodbye then, I am sorry that I could not do more for you in this life."

**

As soon as time began to flow again, I flexed not only the muscles in my hand but in my arms, legs, and back. To my surprise, when I did this, the flame ran up my arm.

I threw the punch.

Right when I threw it, he responded and tried to move out of the way, but it was too late, he was only able to dodge a little bit, because when I threw the punch, a massive stream of blue fire shot out of my hand, similar to the dragons fire breath. It was so much force that I was sent flying backwards, and when the dust cleared, I looked to see if my attack had any effect.

"Damn It!"

He was still alive! The black dragon had lived.

Although I destroyed his hand and sword, he was still alive. I stood up and looked further. A trail had cleared behind them where my attack went, and the red dragon that killed my mother was missing his left arm. and a row of red dragons behind him to his side were gone, nothing left but their torsos as they fell to the ground. It wasn't enough. They ALL deserved to die, If only I didn't lose my balance, I could've gotten the leader, I could've-!

"That was close. Did you awaken in a sudden fit of misery? Or was it.. something, no, someone else.."

He looked around, "I see. It was her. Unfortunately for you, even when gifted the power of the Lumindra clan, you were still unable to take an important life." He said as he laughed.

Despair. That was all I felt at that moment, I'm going to die in vain like this, In the end, I couldn't avenge any of you.

Dad, Mom, Morgan, and Jason, I'm sorry, in the end, I became just as helpless.

I said to myself as I collapsed to my knees with my head down, I let all of the misery and despair fill me one last time. Tears silently flowed down my face.

"Riken, hand me your sword." The red dragon with the arm that I destroyed unsheathed a red curved sword and handed it to him.

"I will at least tell you my name before your demise as a reward for your pitiful efforts."

I didn't respond. All I could think about was my family, their smiles and laughs, and the precious moments that we've shared throughout my life. I want to at least remember that before I die.

He walked towards me, sword in hand, and stopped in front.

𝘴𝘩𝘩𝘬𝘬

The noise his blade made as it pierced my chest. A droplet of water fell on my hand as it slowly started to pour, more rain soon followed.

I could feel the cold steel inside of my flesh, when it went in, it was similar to the shock of cold water when you dip in a pool for the first time, my eyes went wide open as I gasped, and I could feel a sharp pain like no other pain I've ever experienced. When I tried to breathe, I let out a wheeze and cough, then blood shot out from my throat. I started to feel cold, and light headed, I knew I was going to die, but actually slowly feeling the effects before death was much more terrifying than if I were to die instantly like Dad, and my brothers did. I'm at least glad that they didn't have to suffer like this, but unfortunately, my mom did. To think this is what she had to go through in her last moments.

I tried not to think about their deaths. Instead, I focused on a memory, a memory of all of us together, during my dad's birthday. That year, he didn't want to go out. Instead, we had barbecue steak at home, which was his favorite, and he would tell us stories of his younger days as we all listened and laughed. As I let the memory play in my mind, my body fell to the ground, and my vision began to darken.

"Aasimar, that is my name."

I tried to ignore him, I tried to just let the happy memory play for my last moments, but I just couldn't, so much rage and hatred started to overflow in me as I thought about how he mercilessly and effortlessly killed my family, I hate them, I hate all of them!

"I will never forget you and what you have done, Aasimar, I will have revenge, no matter what, I will. Even if I have to wait a thousand years in hell, I will."

It took everything out of me to say those last words, and after that, my vision went dark and I felt the gaze of Aasimar above me as I stared at his armored boots before closing me eyes, and I couldn't feel my body anymore.

"I see, I wonder which one that is coming from, but it no longer matters does it."