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The Good

One month full of cruel fights made Seraphor very hardened to the prison's life. He managed to defeat more pit fighters than most other fighters in his tier, and he managed to win a tournament, earning the respect of some Parusans along the way. Aside from that, Karkariz that was also his caretaker (or in Seraphor's case, a manager) earned popularity by time. Seraphor's popularity didn't come from how he killed his victims. He was given the title of 'forgiver' because on the way he didn't finish his opponents and helped them stand, whether they liked it or not. The opponents mostly respected him back, and what was once a bloody fight became a harmless match with the worst injury being a large cut produced by claws. This worked well with the Parusans, though in Seraphor's perspective, it wasn't for the humans watching the fights.

There was one small event he once had when he was fighting two dragons at once. Both of them were very wild and vicious with only a bloody fight being the best strategy. Seraphor knew the Parusans were testing him whether he would become a forgiver or not, and especially true, Seraphor knew there was Konaz behind all of this.

It wasn't an easy fight when you need to hold off the dragons, but a well-timed, well-placed attack to some of the pressure points managed to subdue them quickly and harmlessly. It was a hard decision to make since the dragons didn't want to relent, and he didn't know the point to make them unconscious. Only until a female violet Parusan called off the match did Seraphor stopped thinking about it. Then with the help of Karkariz he managed to reverse his damage, again earning their trust.

For that one month, Seraphor finally got the privilege to fight a Parusan and integrated into the Parusan community with Bartoz and Karkariz. Though he seemed to like the love of luxury from the new cell he was given into, he wasn't fond on them. Ten years living in a tropical life with a little twist of a monk lifestyle did change him from a greedy dragon into a lifestyle without gold, yet he still drank alcohol.

"So, how's that gathering with the other top fighters?" asked Karkariz after Seraphor went back to his cell.

"It's lame. My kind of luxury is not being cramped in a room full of blinding gold. This is why I hate uncivilized dragons..."

"Whoa, don't give the wrong idea, Sera. The Parusans are civilized dragons, but they made gold their treasures. They are still a traditional breed, unlike us more...modernized dragons."

Seraphor turned his head to Bartoz. "What I made treasure the most is my memory. That's the best treasure me and Spyro can get as parallels."

"All dragons have different view on treasures. I believe my knowledge is a treasure, and Kar believes on..."

"I still like gold, though," said Karkariz cutting them out. "I'm still a Parusan."

"Don't make that bother you, Kar," said Bartoz while smiling. "I believe the bio-dome is your treasure."

"Oh, that's just my habitat. I like swampy places."

"A Parusan likes to live in a wet place?"

Karkariz didn't reply on that. The light blue dragon glanced around if he could see any of his other friends. Fortunately, the place was only occupied by other dragons, and both Bartoz and Karkariz were assigned to the section for the night. Then, when he saw everything was clear, he said, "I'm not really a pure Parusan, Seraphor. I'm a half-breed."

"That explained your small body. Other Parusans had a regular size for a body, and they were around one and a half time bigger than Bartoz. At first I suspected that you're a child labor, by then I should've know that no Parusans had that bright green slit eyes of yours. Most had yellow."

"I have blue eyes."

"No, it's blue green eyes, with a dominant emerald shading. It is the source of your shimmer, if I recall correctly. Your denial is the thing that made me believe that you're a cross-breed between a sea dragon and a Parusan."

"Now that you said it, Karkariz really had the eye of the emerald sea," said Kranos after overhearing their conversation. "You really are different and smart, Seraphor."

"Now that you said it, I'm a half-breed, but I'm not a sea dragon hybrid. I can't swim despite of my heritages. My father is a rare Parusan since he didn't follow normal Parusan's lifestyle, and my mother is a Swamp Stalker from the central west river."

"A swamp stalker?! You mean your mother is..."

"Yes, she's one of the last breeds of pure earth dragons in the south with the ability to control both water and land. I respected her, but she kinda creeping me out."

"It's damn right she scares you. I myself never believe a swamp stalker would mate with Parusans. Your father's kind normally put purity over love."

"Well then I have a very happy family, then," said Karkariz grinning. "My father told me not to be a Parusan, but to be a dragon. That's why I longed to be free from this prison."

"We will be free from this place," said Seraphor. "I'm sure of it."

Some days later Seraphor was called to the waiting room with the other seasoned warriors. It wasn't a very pleasant gathering since most of them bragged on how they managed to defeat one under some times and also how they would be seen as a towering leader, but Seraphor kept silent about it. What he really liked from most of them was that despite of the greed and luxury they got, they still wanted to be free, and they refused to kill, much like Seraphor.

"They don't want to kill to gain a way out," said a young dragon. "If they ever go out they will be as vicious as a dragon could be."

Seraphor saw the owner of the voice was a young bipedal yellow dragon with some scars covering his otherwise bare body. The dragon was carrying a small dagger tied to his waist while he occasionally pulled it out and swing it around before putting it back. At first the silver red thought that it was a Parusan, but the way the dragon watched the others without making a mocking remarks, followed by the collar wrapping around his neck did he knew what race the dragon belong to.

"Fancy to see a Cerbesan down here," said Seraphor. "Your enemy gave a pardon to you?"

"I'm here as an insult, silver dragon, and you know it! What kind of a bugger threw me in this place underage?!"

"How old are you, exactly?"

"I'm 35. Those that can fight come in here, but they must be 50 years of age before they could. I knew those bastards are cruel!"

"We're around the same age, then, Cerbesan."

"Wait, I thought you're 135?"

"It's a long story, and you won't gonna believe me."

"Then I'll leave you to your problems, then. It's so rare to see a feral with such young age roams around in another race's matter. What's your name?"

"I'm Seraphor."

"Well, mate, I'm Anoki. Just for you to know, we ask other dragon's name before fighting, whether they want to talk about it or not. Let's see we survive this together, eh?"

"Don't know if that's a good..."

Suddenly a voice called out to the contestants in a form of an announcement. The dragons didn't heed that much on the first sentences of opening eulogy, but what took their attention was the sentence, "You prodigies will fight as pairs against a pair of our race! Pair to pair, eye to eye! Got it?"

This caused uproar, with some of the dragons (obviously) objected to the idea and roared in protest. Both Anoki and Seraphor were affected, too, but not as much as a protest as the other dragons.

"Bugger me! I won't survive fighting with the other bastards! Just do me a goddamn favor and let me fight alone!"

"There goes another test for all of us," said Seraphor with a sigh. "Goddamn those fuckers..."

"This is how you test your cooperating skills. Now, I will give you one chance for you assholes to find a suitable dragon for the rest of the match. Pick wisely. You must know one that can always get your back when there's trouble. There will be two on two and one on one match, and if you choose poorly, you won't survive much."

"Are you goddamn serious?! We don't even know any dragons aside on ourselves! What do you want to achieve, Parusan?!"

"I'm giving you a chance on having a friend in this lonely place and you don't want it? I don't blame you, dragon, but it's your loss. Also, I will add that to the insult list of mine."

Suddenly two Parusans went to him and grabbed his body, with the red dragon started to thrash around before a shock ran through his body like a magic and he quickly got unconscious and put away. This caused the place to go silent, which gave Seraphor a little bit uneasiness, knowing that a simple act like that could make the prideful dragons to submit to it.

"Any objections? Good. Now find your goddamn friends before I put you with a random one!"

It didn't come nicely for some dragons. In fact, they couldn't find any suitable ones and they exchanged many deadly glares to each other. Ragunost seemed to find a dragon as his team, and they went along pretty well. Seraphor then got a kind of idea, though he didn't know if Cerbesans were also independent.

Just as Seraphor wanted to turn his head to Anoki, the yellow dragon said, "You know, Cerbesans are not suited to fight alone in a double fight. Maybe I really got no choice but to believe in you."

"Oh, jackpot!" thought Seraphor in his mind, then he said, "I was just thinking the same thing."

"So? Wanna be mates?"

"Wait, you're not thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You're a Western. Partners, then."

During the next week the partnered dragons were put in a special place where they could train in leisure, which somehow made Seraphor felt out of place after spending three months in the dirty cell. He got even more worried when he realized that despite of being a nice place, it was still essentially a prison, based on how there was a glass separating their room to the scenery of the pit where he could see other dragons fight with the hope of getting the luxury.

Seraphor then scanned the whole room to find something to eat, before he stumbled upon a plate of fresh meat reserved for both of them. Thinking that the whole marbled room would be easy to clean with so many golden objects around him, he just ate his share with an intention of eating up the whole thing, before he realized that he forgot to bring the stone with him.

Anoki somehow realized his worry, and said, "Don't worry, mate. Normal meat has drug in it to control the subject. This is genuine red one."

"It's just...living for three months here somehow caught up with you and you become aware that your well-being is being tested."

"At least here you don't need to survive again. We have a degree of freedom around this big place, and there's a room for us to spar if we need to."

"You know a lot about this place. It's like it's more human than dragon."

"Well, Cerbesans are like humans a little since our knowledge enabled us to study the art of war and fights. Because of territory feud, my race and Parusans occasionally went to war, and many were captured."

"Do you have parents, Anoki?"

"Both of them died because of being hunted. For me, this place is more as a shelter from those filthy humans."

"Well, it's ironic considering this place is more like a human home," thought Seraphor. "And I guess Anoki isn't aware on who's running this place."

"But I'd pass the whole reward to you, Seraphor," said Anoki. "I see that you're eager to win this to get out from this place."

"Why won't you? I can wish our freedom."

Anoki then smiled. "Well, unlike most prodigies I know, you care less on the wealth you could gain from beating ten Parusans. Most dragons would want to live a luxury life than getting out. Most retired and died in here, without any taste of freedom. Much like Ragunost."

"Ragunost?"

"That golden scales had been here for some times, and he had no desire to get out from this place. He's as ruthless as he could be, but he's a calm one, even deadly."

"I can sense that."

"So, back to what you want, why are you fighting?"

"I can't be certain, but...unless the conflict in my home region is over, I won't stop. I have a goal to reunite with my mate again."

"Your...wife?"

"Her name is Avila. I can't wait to see her again, and I wish I could even if it takes my lifetime to find her."

The Cerbesan was somehow touched by the silver red's confession. He knew Seraphor really wasn't the dragon he knew. He then smiled and said, "Never thought you can be a good friend to talk to."

The next day, there was a fight that came before them, with they were seeing how the dragons were being put. The dragons were able to employ any strategy they could to fight a Parusan, and the first team won. Somehow, they had a good coordination and movement that they could defeat the Parusan, leaving him with a very deep wound that couldn't heal quickly. Seraphor wouldn't want that, not after what he did to the Parusan before.

When Anoki and Seraphor was the next to fight, they were facing two Parusans, which was different from the previous one. This prompted Anoki to say, "Hey, I thought it's a one on one fight!"

"There's a set of one on one tag fight and two on two fight, so don't complain," said the Parusan with a smile of mockery. "C'mon, I'm itchy to give you a good beating, Cerbesan."

"Let's give this fight a good show, shall we?" said Seraphor, eager to fight. "Which goes first?"

The two Parusans suddenly lunged at them, both with their swords pointing to their heads. Anoki managed to fly to dodge and Seraphor flowed the energy of the sword to struck the point beside him, before he jumped and made a body drop on top of the dragon's head, making him dizzy.

"Nice one, Seraphor!" said Anoki while flying.

"Yeah, thanks! Twelve o'clock!"

Anoki didn't know what that meant, but he somehow sensed the attack and move to dodge it. Seraphor himself was still preoccupied with the dragon in front of him, where he started to attack again after regaining his posture. Seraphor had no time to deflect the sword attack as it swung in front of him and gave a shallow cut to his leg. He knew it was different than the Parusan he fought before. This one was less cocky and more experienced. The other one was eager to finish a Cerbesan, but lacked the speed Anoki had. Seraphor knew he needed to stay calm to prevent himself from getting berserk again, but then it happened.

A great pain from his head made him roar. The pain was strong enough to make him lost his balance and enabling the other one to attack him. The adrenaline kicked into him and tried to make him vicious, but his consciousness was still strong. He was ready for what would happen, and in a great roar, he let the other dragon to give another cut to him, giving him another pain and returning him to his normal self. Now that the other dragon was caught off-guard, Seraphor could pull his tail and jumped over the dragon, giving another body slam to the dragon's back, making the Parusan roared in pain. Seraphor didn't relent. He proceeded to jump and turned his body so his torn wings were facing the ground. Seraphor then let gravity took him, and the wings acted as his cushion, where they helped Seraphor to support Anoki's body for a boost so the Cerbesan could have enough speed to stab the other one through his arm. The silver red then proceeded to ran to the front and slashed the Parusan's face three times before a tail whip caused dizziness.

"I think playtime's over, whelp. It's my..."

The dragon suddenly vomited with no apparent reason, and he couldn't stand, only stay there pondering with his surroundings. His effort caused him to become more and more sick, and he couldn't even move anymore.

"Get a good punch to your head really make you lose your body coordination, huh? In the previous attack I hit your back skull, and this time I hit your cranium, giving a slight cranial trauma that affected your brain. With a little pressure to your spine, you lose your body coordination and gave random ones like that vomit...which is gross. That's...what I read from books."

When the dragon couldn't talk clearly, Seraphor said, "So, wanna yield?"

"It's over!" said a voice. "You, silver red, finished the fight by making the other contender loses his balance, so stop the fight and get the hell out!"

With cheers from the Parusan audiences, Seraphor and Anoki left the pit, leaving the two dragons contemplating their defeat. Seraphor saw what Anoki did to the other Parusan. He had no serious injury, but Anoki made him unconscious by giving him a pain from the leg, digging the dagger in it and started to twist and turn, giving excruciating pain to the dragon before he couldn't take it anymore and yield.

They proceeded to fight three groups of Parusans for the next weeks, often helping each other in a teamwork that exceeded the other dragons. Seraphor never thought the Cerbesan he just knew for a while could keep up with his 'wild' fighting style. They would be good dragon and rider if Anoki would be smaller and Seraphor bigger.

With the help of the reward from defeating at least 8 Parusans, they managed to liberate eight dragons, giving them freedom. This earned the two to be freedom fighters, greatly earning the respect of the Parusans and the prisoners alike. Also, with their victory count, they had a degree of freedom in the prison itself, often visiting their friends and exchanging stories of the fight. The silver red sometimes could see Konaz in the distant, clearly disgusted by their victories, which made the silver red even happier.

When their visiting time is over and they must return to their places, Seraphor asked Kranos on the rock, which the sea dragon still had and kept safe.

"But, kid, how do you keep your sanity without this?"

"There are exceptions, Kran," said Seraphor. "They don't want to risk good show."

"Oh...I get it. Anyway, Seraphor."

"Yes?"

"There's a lot going on around here when you left. Get back soon so I can give you to insights, okay?"

Not sure if the sea dragon was serious or not, Seraphor didn't reply and returned for the night.

The next day Seraphor went back with Anoki (the silver red wanted to introduce him to some of his friends) to find Kranos. Unlike the previous day, they were greeted with silence, which made Seraphor worried than angry. He quickly found Kranos. The sea dragon was also greeting them with silent, until Seraphor said, "You're uttering the sound of silence. What's wrong?"

"It's...about this...fight. You shouldn't try to be a nice dragon, kid."

"Are you okay? I don't like where this will go..."

"You won't, Sera," said Bartoz from behind him. "When you left for the fights to liberate us, the captives started to riot with their caretakers, and some of the Parusans had a different idea of being nasty. And then, our good friend came in and started to drag one Cerbesan with him. I don't know what he had done but I'm damn sure he gave that whelp hell."

"W-what happened to that Cerbesan?" asked Anoki.

"Well...how can I say this.... He's...literally torn apart."

What Bartoz said was true. In the middle of the silent group, there was an open part where both dragons could see what was in the middle. Both gasped and they turned into anger.

The Cerbesan Bartoz mentioned was in a state of a wreck. The body was put in the middle of a circle made of blood, where the dragon was in the middle of it. It was gruesome scenery for some dragons and they tried to look away. Seraphor saw that the Cerbesan was barely two times Seraphor's size, and the dragon was completely a mess. The body had no head, and the head itself was put on a stake that was impaling the dragon's body. His limbs were impaled by five metal rods and his stomach was thrown apart. There were many cuts all around the body and a wound on his chest indicated that the heart was missing. The head itself was also a wreck. Like a plastered haunted house mannequin, the dragon's head had his brain exposed and the state of the face itself was horrifying. The snout was broken and there were signs of being burned.

The sight itself provoked Seraphor's anger. He wasn't sure if he was angry or crazy or disgusted, he wanted to know that any dragons that did this was going to pay.

"Which dragon did this, Bart?"

"I can't say it out loud, Seraphor. If he heard this..."

"I don't have any fucking time to be scared of some shitty son of a bitch! If you want to be a coward leave me and beg for his mercy and give him some fucking blowjob if you want!"

"I said not here!" said Bartoz with a roar. "Do you know how much Karkariz had done to us? If not for him I wouldn't know which dragon did this! If you demand the answer, follow me quietly with no Parusans, okay? Don't...blame...them."

The silver red couldn't find any other reasons to talk about it and left with Bartoz. He was clearly angry on what happened to the dragon, and his friend knew that. He was followed by the similarly angry Anoki to the black dragon's new residence in the healing bay. He closed the door behind him and he quickly showed his real expression; a clearly angry dragon.

"Sera, you goddamn idiot! Do you know how much rage you put in that when you saw that body?! You're one step from killing all of us!"

"I don't give a shit unless that dragon is killed!"

"Konaz may be a sadistic killer but if you ever do that again while the others were watching I have no choice but to kill you. Do you understand me? And you, Cerbesan...I suppose you have a good reason to conceal that anger aside from your expression?"

"I want to do just like what Seraphor did, but in our position, I am sure to die if I make a move to that black dragon."

"One thing to get straight out. Konaz is more dark purple than black. Then, Seraphor, I know you've got strong elemental powers with devastating results and all of that, but let me tell you this. Until that collar is opened, you cannot do anything to stop Konaz, you understand? That crazy claw fights won't save you all the time."

Seraphor tried to find another reason, but knowing that Bartoz was true and he had a dangerous power to kill him there and now. Despite of being held by the collar, the idea of him drawing darkness from all around him was disturbing enough, and Bartoz was serious about it. He knew it was impossible to fight the dark dragon without his usual strength, so he just relented with a grunt and said, "Just what do you want to do about this?"

"I'm an insider, Sera. It's my job to find out what the Dragonsbane are doing. We are still in this together, right?"

"Should Anoki know?"

Bartoz stared at the Cerbesan for a moment, then said, "One thing I can help myself to trust him is that he's a Cerbesan, nothing else. You're Anoki, right?"

"Yes?"

"I'm not like most dragons you might know in your lifetime. If you ever betray us, I will give you the worst pain you will ever get before I kill you. You try to act tough, I will make sure I'm not bluffing."

"H-hey, Bart...what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I've never felt excited since seeing that body. What I'm mad at most is that I'm not the one doing that. And, Seraphor, you know you can't trust any dragons. Not in this prison. Especially NOT in this prison. I just wish aside from that old sea dragon and Kar, this Cerbesan can be useful, too."

Without any words, Bartoz went out from the place, and upon closing the door, Anoki that didn't quite understand the threat said, "I wish he never insulted me like that."

"And I'm grateful your guts are not splattered all over the place. Seriously, Anoki, do you know the time when you must not try to challenge any dragons at all. I don't know if Cerbesans are an elemental dragon or not, but let me tell you some secret about us."

"You're a Western, mate, so what's the catch?"

"If I were you, I would try to calm Bartoz down. He has anger issues and...yeah, he is a natural sadistic son of a bitch. He is a healer, he kills dragons with darkness, and he can't die."

"So what? I'm not going to make more enemies. Konaz is my enemy, nothing more."

Seraphor knew he could trust Anoki in a basis of the same goal. He just smiled and said, "Yeah...nothing more."