Chapter 1: Dragon vs Fenix

Prophecies and legends about the final battle between the Phoenix and the Dragon circulated among the clans. It was said that the battle would be so epic and destructive that it would mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

These prophecies only served to increase tension and anxiety between the two remaining senior members of both clans, who prepared for the inevitable day when they would meet in a final battle to the death.

Finally, the day of the final battle arrived.

Act 1: Dragon vs Phoenix - Bloody Battle.

CHAOS, DEATH, DESTRUCTION: What was once a thriving forest full of life now resembled hell itself. The ground burned under the flames that spread uncontrollably, devouring everything in their path. The trees, once majestic and leafy, lay on the ground reduced to smoldering ashes. The air was unbreathable, permeated with dense black smoke that obscured the sun and dyed the sky an apocalyptic red.

Among the rubble and the corpses of animals that succumbed to the fury of battle, two titans faced each other in a duel to the death. Their thunderous roars echoed in the valley, shaking the earth to its foundations.

Moments ago, peace reigned:

Moments before, tranquility reigned in this natural paradise. The animals coexisted in harmony, enjoying the fruits of the earth and the freshness of the crystalline water. An atmosphere of peace and serenity reigned in the air.

Until that peace ended:

In the sky, two colossal figures materialized among the clouds, dominating the horizon with their intimidating presence. One, in the shape of an imposing dragon, and the other, with the majesty of a phoenix reborn from the ashes.

At first, the animals believed that these creatures posed no threat. However, they soon realized their mistake.

-GROOAHHHHHHHHHHH!

-GRYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

With a ferocious roar, the dragon released a powerful flame of fire that lit up the night sky like lightning. The phoenix, with surprising agility, dodged the attack and rushed towards its opponent with the fury of a hurricane.

The two creatures engaged in a titanic struggle, exchanging ferocious blows and roars that shook the earth. Its sharp claws and powerful fangs tore through the air, leaving a trail of blood and destruction in its wake.

In the midst of the chaos of battle, a group of ducklings and their mother, swimming peacefully in a nearby lake, were unable to escape the dragon's fire. Their innocent bodies were consumed by the flames, leaving a tragic void in the heart of the forest.

The phoenix dove towards its opponent with dizzying speed. Its sharp claws and flaming wings sliced ​​through the air like blades, searching for a vulnerable spot in the dragon's armor.

-GRYYYYYYYYYY! .- With his position and launching herself at him, she used his claws, digging them into one of the dragon's wings.

Due to that unexpected attack:

Unable to maintain flight due to the wound in his wing, the dragon plummeted to the ground with a roar of pain and fury. The impact with the earth created a massive crater that devastated the flora and fauna of the area, crushing countless innocent creatures that had nothing to do with the battle.

Shaken, his jaw bloodied by the impact, the dragon tried to get up, but the pain from the wound on his wing was too intense. His angry roar echoed through the forest, announcing his determination not to give up despite the disadvantage.

The smoke surrounding the phoenix dissipated, revealing the majestic figure of it. His body was covered in iridescent flames, his outstretched wings looked like a radiant sun, and his sharp beak glowed with infernal fire. He was a creature of unimaginable power, undoubtedly another embodiment of strength and destruction...

Being badly wounded, his enemy descended from the sky to see him face to face. Who would swoop down on the dragon.

Wanting to dig his claws into his other wing.

But at the last second something made him stop.

It turns out that the dragon, in a very dirty move:

At the last moment, when the dragon was about to launch a fireball towards a group of defenseless animals, the phoenix swooped down and intervened between them. The burning fire of the dragon enveloped the phoenix, but with a titanic effort, the fire bird managed to deflect the attack, protecting the animals from certain death.

The animals, who had witnessed the phoenix's heroic act, were stunned. A raccoon, a wild boar, and a jaguar, who were about to be incinerated by the dragon's fire, watched in amazement as the phoenix had saved them. With a mixture of fear and gratitude, they left the battlefield, seeking refuge in the depths of the forest.

Despite having managed to protect the animals, the dragon's attack had left its mark on the phoenix. His breathing was labored, his body was covered in ashes and the fire around him seemed less intense. The unexpected attack had taken him by surprise and left him momentarily stunned.

As the phoenix recovered from the attack, the dragon saw an opportunity to counterattack. With a deafening roar, he lunged at the firebird and head-butted it hard in the stomach. The impact was so brutal that the phoenix was thrown backwards, crashing into several trees in its path.

A clumsy bear, who was engrossed in his meal of honey, did not notice the chaos unfolding around him. When he finally looked up, his eyes widened as he saw the phoenix's body crash into him.

The collision of the phoenix against the ground and the trees caused an explosion of fire that spread rapidly through the forest. The flames, fueled by dry vegetation and hot air, spread uncontrollably, devouring everything in their path. A rabbit, terrified by the chaos around it, ran to hide under a tree, trembling and begging for mercy.

Despite the shock and pain, the phoenix stood back up with renewed determination. He rose into the air and dashed towards the dragon with dizzying speed. Their sharp claws and flaming wings searched for any vulnerable spot on the dragon's armor, leaving bloody marks on its scaly skin.

The dragon, roaring in fury, also lunged towards the phoenix. His claws and fangs sought to tear the flesh of the fire bird, while his powerful tail whipped through the air, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The battle escalated, becoming a deadly dance of claws, fangs, and fire.

A small rabbit, hidden under a tree, watched the battle in horror. The shadows of the two fighting titans were projected over him, creating a terrifying image that filled him with fear. A drop of blood, the product of the battle, fell on his white fur, dyeing it red. The rabbit trembled even more, silently praying that the nightmare would end soon.

Would history repeat itself?

Then, the entire place of combat was just as I described it at the beginning of the story.

The forest that was once a place of peace and harmony was now a charred inferno, littered with smoking craters, trees reduced to ashes, and the corpses of animals that were not lucky enough to escape the fury of battle.

Lakes and rivers that once teemed with life were now dry and evaporated, victims of the scorching heat of the fire. The skeleton of the bear that was hit by the phoenix still stood, in a macabre pose of astonishment.

"A constant reminder of the brutality of battle."

The rabbit, trembling and with its heart pounding, had managed to survive the massacre. He watched in horror as the two beings who had once been considered symbols of peace and love were now responsible for the destruction around him.

He survived to watch as those two causes of destruction stopped the chaos they were making.

For what reason? Simple: there was already a winner.

As the smoke cleared, the figure of a blonde-haired man became visible. He was lying on the ground, exhausted and badly injured. His body was riddled with scars, third-degree burns and a deep wound on his back.

—Aghh Agh.....- he was breathing with great difficulty.

The shadow of the dragon loomed over the man, an imposing silhouette that contrasted with the fragility of the fallen warrior. As he descended, the silhouette transformed, taking the form of a humanoid with a macabre smile on his face.

—"I did it! Ha... Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA!"-the humanoid's laughter echoed in the forest, a mixture of euphoria and sadism. The initial grimace of joy transformed into a dark expression, revealing the darkness that lived inside him.

The fire completely dissipated, revealing the true identity of the person lying on the ground. She was a woman with brown hair, as dark as the night, and eyes that reflected the depth of an abyss. Her body was covered in wounds, blood flowed from one of her eyes like crimson tears.

The rabbit watched suspiciously as the woman got up with difficulty and walked towards the injured man. However, suddenly, she stopped in front of him. Her blood-red eyes rested on the small animal, creating an atmosphere of palpable tension.

—"I need to replenish some energy, I'm hungry."-said the woman with a hoarse voice full of pain. She slowly turned her neck until her gaze was fixed on the rabbit, and then she gave him a Machiavellian smile.

The rabbit sensed the imminent danger. He tried to escape, but the woman, with inhuman speed, caught him with her hand.

"Huh?!" With horror he was forced to contemplate what would be an atrocious act.

From his position, the defeated man watched in horror at what was about to happen. He saw how the woman, without any mercy, incinerated the body of the small animal with fire coming from her own mouth. A high-pitched scream rang through the air as the rabbit fought for his life.

Not satisfied with that, the woman squeezed the rabbit's neck with enormous force, causing a crack that chilled the man's blood. And as a final act of absolute cruelty, she pierced the animal's belly with her hand, then pulled it out covered in blood.

The dragon woman, with a macabre smile on her face, wiped the blood from her teeth and threw the remains of the cremated rabbit onto the ground. The brutality of her act left the man stunned and horrified.

Motivated by terror and survival instinct, the man tried to escape. However, the dragon woman was too fast and agile. With a swift leap, she caught him by the leg and tackled him to the ground.

—Heh, you won't escape!

—AHHHHHHHHH.

The dragon woman squeezed the man's leg with enormous force, causing his veins to swell and he screamed in pain. Then, she picked him up and spun him in circles with brute force, finally throwing him against a nearby rock.

The dragon woman approached him, a sadistic smile on her face. She tasted the blood that had remained on her lips, enjoying his pain and suffering.

"It almost seemed like all this turned her on."

With a voice full of irony and cruelty, the dragon woman addressed the man.

—"Heehee, poor fool. You had the opportunity to do me great harm, but you preferred to protect those pathetic 'soulless beings' called animals. While I, the protector and hope of the dragon clan, did not mince words in play dirty like you guys did against us in the past! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

However, the dragon woman's words and actions did not match her self-proclaimed image of her savior. Her demeanor was more that of a ruthless predator seeking revenge, not that of a benevolent protector.

They were not very close to each other, but she still heard him say a few words, remaining incredulous.

—"Listen well... Do you want me to forget everything you Phoenix clan did to us and suddenly forgive your life when I was always longing for this moment?"

She pretended to think about it for a while, holding her chin. Then she laughed, grabbing her face with her hand: "Hahahaha! It says a lot about your state that you ask me that, it's obvious that you're on your last legs."

She laughed, sticking her tongue out to mock him even more.

Seeing him in such bad condition, she took the opportunity to say something to him.

—Don't you dare judge me with that face. You have committed atrocious acts against us in the past. They hunted us as if we were animals and did not see us as human beings at all. Even worse when we wanted to make another deal for peace, they rejected it and now we have come to this: "The death of all of you."

Very ironic indeed. As she herself said, they launched the first attack wanting to completely exterminate them. And now, as the woman was babbling, they rather met their own end and they would be the ones who would become extinct for more prestige than they had in the past.

—Hey... Between you and me, you shouldn't accept your end so calmly old friend...

She walked until she was so close to him that she stood firm waiting for her to finish him off. Then the aforementioned joined two fingers of her own hand, which she slowly approached until she touched his windpipe. She started there and then moved them up to her throat and continued holding his chin with both, forcing him to look up.

—And your little daughter, she will also join you. It would be so sad after all not to be able to let a father be able to continue seeing her special baby, wouldn't it? - She would whisper into her other ear, making the pupils of his eyes flutter into hers. they shrink.

A chill ran down the man's spine as the woman's words sank into his heart like sharp daggers.

—...Grrrr...- he closed his eyes for a moment while his hand trembled and he seemed now to be in doubt for some reason.

But he would quickly clear up his doubts. And he wouldn't waste any more time and he lunged at it. She lunged her sharp nails right at his neck.

A second after stabbing them and soaking them with his blood, an unexpected event occurred.

A terrifying roar, "GRRRRRRRRRRR!", rang through the air, aimed at the woman's neck as it was a jaguar.

Who attacked her in slow motion.

The tension was palpable. What would happen first? Would she reach the man's neck or would the jaguar reach her and kill her?

Without even turning around, the woman acted with supernatural speed. Before the jaguar touched her, her body split in two, each part of her falling on different sides, dead.

The woman shook and wiped the blood from her hand with a contemptuous gesture. Her gaze was cold and implacable.

—Poor kitten, a shame about the decision he made, wanting to defend you when you defended him. "It was very stupid, but if he knew what you had done, he would not have suffered and given his life in vain." She stated, squeezing the knuckles of the hand she used to kill the animal.

In any case, this time it would not fail, and after having seen that, the other animals would not be so stupid to try to interfere, preferring to remain simple spectators.

—"Die, fire bird!" She screamed with rage. "You and your clan have been the ruin of my people!" She exclaimed with a sadistic smile.

It was the moment of the end, a battle so long that along the way it had left so many corpses of innocent people. All of that was about to end right here.

—Eh?... Thunder?

Blinding lightning thundered across the sky, tearing through the dense layer of gray clouds and plummeting onto the battlefield, adorning the already chaotic scene.

—"A gray sky, as gloomy as your soul, don't you think?" He snapped with a cruel smile. "Even the dragon god himself roars with his thunder demanding your death. We could both say that we acted under divine will, but your goddess Phoenix will not save you. She has abandoned you to your fate in this battle."

Ready to deliver the final blow, something unexpected happened. The man, resigned to his fate, moved his lips and whispered a few words to the woman.

Her reaction was total astonishment. Her eyes widened and her face froze in an expression of disbelief. She turned to look at him, unable to believe what she had just heard.

—What?... So be it! DIE, DESCENDANT OF THE PHOENIX CLAN!

A deafening roar tore the sky, like furious thunder announcing the end of time. The dragon woman, with her flaming eyes and razor-sharp claws, lunged at the man, ready to finish him off once and for all.

And the last thing that was heard in that place... was a stabbing.

A clang and a muffled gasp. The victory was his. She had avenged her family, saved hers from the cruelty of the Phoenix clan.

There was no way for them to defeat her. She was the winner, the only one who could put an end to tyranny.

But why question her triumph? The answer was simple: that event was just a memory. A memory of the same woman who established herself as the winner that day.

It no longer thundered or rained furiously. The storm that had accompanied the battle had dissipated, giving way to a comforting calm for the remaining animals that survived. The rivers and lakes, previously dry and cracked, filled with water again thanks to the rain that now fell in that place, purifying the land and washing the wounds of that war.

But... in one part of the place, a red line like paint marked the floor. It began at the site of the battle and extended to one side. If we followed her, she would lead us to a macabre discovery.

"History repeated itself"

A bloody hand lay on the ground, and the red trail continued down the body of someone who was painfully crawling. His other hand, also covered in blood, helped him move forward with difficulty.

The woman who called herself victorious, now lying on the ground, was dying. Her little strength allowed her to sit up for a moment, leaning on a tree.

—Coughcof... Glupp, Puaghhhhhh! -The dragon warrior, with the life escaping her body, clung to the trunk of a tree in a vain attempt to stay upright.

"I already had it! I had the bastard in my hands and... Pughhh!" Her fury and frustration colored her words as she vomited blood, falling to her knees weaker and weaker. She dragged herself along with no clear destination in mind, only driven by agony and helplessness.

—I'm... I'm a fool, just when I had everything to put an end to this, I let my guard down for a few seconds and caused everything to end the same as always. We, the dragon clan, are condemned to disappear because of them... I really wanted to believe that this would be the day and that our clan would thus ensure its survival Glupp, Puaghh!...(But I ruined everything). ...-His sobs mixed with the earth that he squeezed furiously in his hands.

Poor dragon, her destiny cruelly cut short from her. But a doubt remained: was the battle really as she remembered it or had her mind, in a last act of hope, given him a happy ending that never came?

Suddenly, a new smell alerted her. She sniffed the air and looked around her in terror. A terrifying howl tore the silence: Auuuuuuuuuuu!

The blood she had spilled from her had attracted a pack of hungry wolves.

"PUAGHHHHHH!" He vomited again, his vision becoming increasingly blurry. It was evident that she had no chance of facing those wild dogs.

His howls seemed like music to her, but it was funereal music.

"Sorato... I failed... I wanted... PUAGHHH!... I wanted to protect our future, I didn't want any more of our people to suffer because of those damned ones who have killed so many of us!" He shouted without noticing how his eyes broke like glass, an indication that...

Then the footsteps came closer and closer, and she tried to continue fleeing.

—They're almost reaching me... I... I can't finish like this... Puaghhhhhh.- Another vomit, but this time she didn't hurt as much, because the pain was no longer so strong. -I struggled for years just to...-she stopped crawling when she reached an unexpected place.

Next to her was a river, and when she looked down she saw a huge waterfall. Seeing her, he understood that her end was imminent. Filled with frustration, she finally realized something else, something she didn't want to accept.

—My eyes filled with tears without me noticing. Because? All my life I had striven to maintain a serious and calm countenance. I always believed that not even death would break me. But it was inevitable. Although my tears were not because of the physical pain, which I no longer cared about, I cried...

"Because now, without me, they would all be easy targets! They would probably die a gruesome death!"

"I screamed it with the little strength I had left, full of guilt and an inferiority complex."

"So many years spent for nothing, to simply fail. Even with all the cruelty and evil I had shown in my actions, I felt sorry for myself."

-Because?! I did it all for my family! I sank into absolute darkness just to put an end to all of this. Because almost nothing mattered to me anymore, even when I had to lose my parents when we only lived in peace. They found us and attacked us mercilessly, as happened with the clan, even though we no longer wanted to continue shedding blood on either side! And now... they've beaten us again. It's too unfair. GRRRRRRRRRR! AHHHHHH! We always lose! Because... "The dragon is always destined to lose against the phoenix."

She closed her eyes, ready to give up. There was nothing to do. Her clan was about to be exterminated.

But before the darkness consumed her, she wanted to do one last thing. Scream, not at herself, nor at her enemies, but at the sky itself.

— "Dragon God, help me! Please do not let all of us, the Ryunaki clan, perish!" She extended her open palm towards the sky, imploring the intervention of her god.

But there was no response. The silence was deafening. Her plea had been in vain.

Filled with tears and certain of her fate, she threw herself down the waterfall. The extinction of her clan was inevitable. She was the only one who had managed to confront her enemies, and with her death, her people were doomed.

One last memory crossed her mind. Her little face, the one she would never see again. Or maybe yes. If they found him, they would meet her at the place she was now heading to. But without a doubt, that was what hurt her the most and she wished it wouldn't happen.

History was repeating itself. The life of a dragon was extinguished. Just like in the past, the phoenix had represented the tragedy and doom of the dragon.

With all that pain, as she fell towards her death, she wanted to ask forgiveness once again from the only thing that had motivated her to keep fighting.

—Sniff sniff sniff I'm sorry, I failed you, I failed you, I'm worthless, excuse me for this and for leaving you at their mercy... Sorato...- she pronounced her name, but not just once. She said it more times, with more and more intensity.

.....Sorato

.....Sorato

...

...

...

SORATOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Finally, her body fell down the waterfall, followed by the wolves who jumped after her.

The battle that would decide the fate of two clans had ended. The Phoenix, symbol of hope and renewal, had emerged victorious, while the dragon had once again been consumed in the flames of defeat, leaving behind only a trail of smoke and ashes.

Or was it not quite like that?

Despite the apparent annihilation of the dragon clan, a small ray of hope shone among the rubble. In a makeshift crib, hidden among the ruins of what was once a great temple, the faint sobs of a baby could be heard.

—BUUAAAAABUAAAHHHH.

A baby who, although born in the midst of tragedy and desolation, represented the possibility of a new beginning, of a different future.

The dragon woman, despite her defeat and her fatal destiny, had left one last legacy: a new life, a new opportunity for her clan to rise from the ashes.

That hope was called... Sorato.

To be continue