Tears of a dragon

2. NIGHTMARE

~Teenage Dusty•s POV~

After my gruesome debut, I would stand eye to eye with many different entities. Most of them were dragons just like me. It pains me to have to do something like this to anyone, especially my own kind. Every time I try to warn them, convince them, sway their natural response to fight. The sight of dragons driven insane by hatred and fear is something I'll never be able to forget. I try to tell them that there must be another way. That we can do anything, not just fighting. I talk to them but they won't listen, why won't they listen? I despise myself and that I have to use  my weapon against them for my own survival.... There hasn't been any exceptions, it always ends in bloodshed. The blood never gush in a constant flow, but in time with the dying beast's heart. And the humans... Why are they like they are? They love seeing me slay. They love seeing me struggle and fight for my survival. They love seeing me "die". I uttered my thoughts loudly in my new cage. It consisted solely of metal and possessed elongated cylinders going from the ground to the roof; instead of the old stone bricks they used to keep me in. It was also much, much bigger. I could actually stretch my wings and fly a bit. But apart from that, there wasn't much else I could do.

I heard a scream of terror. Someone is dying out there. And I assumed  that it must be my turn soon. I knew that today was a very special day: the day I am to face the nightmare. She is currently the number one fighter; accountable for many deaths. Her sheer size poses a threat. I could be crushed like a bug. Not a single person has managed to defeat her ever since she arrived here. And It's only been a couple of years since she arrived. She must've bored the audience, otherwise they wouldn't have changed the rules. As it is now, those who manage to survive long enough are sometimes set free, if the audience allows for it. I suspect that the human elite has a say in this as well, since not everyone gets freed. Freeing a creature from the arena was strictly forbidden before she came along. They seem aware that we dragons possess some sort of intelligence, and they use it to their advantage. Our will to be set free forces us to use every drop of strength we have left. 
I often dreamed myself away, trying to imagine how it was out there.

A sound echoed through the space and confirmed that it was time to fight. For the first time I was the one running into the arena before my opponent. But then, when I saw my opponent, my happy thoughts of freedom disappeared. I froze, unable to move as I spectated the gigantic monster in front of me. She was almost three times bigger than most of my past opponents, and probably ten times my size .
"Hello there." She exhaled with a strangely calm and deep voice.
"Ehhg ... Hello" I gulped. Until that point I hadn't realized that she was hanging upside down from the metallic roof of the arena. I thought I was first in. Without any hesitation, she spit fire everywhere. Surrounded by flames, I was unable to move away without getting hurt. I tried to fly over, but the flames rose and threw me back again. I panicked, this strategy was new for me. Smouldering fire licked my body like a hungry kitten. It was playful at first, flickering, flaring like a fountain. Then the plumering thick smoke came, and it felt as if the whole world was devoured around me. From the flames she appeared, faster than I expected her big form to carry her, and she stared into my dizzy eyes. I couldn't breathe - the smoke was overwhelmingly thick, the inferno in her eyes glared at me. I grew weaker for every breath. I was dying in the flamers of hell.

"Goodbye" She whispered. Her words splinter inside me, causing more pain than the fire. I wouldn't be able to see the outside world. I stared at her face, and with my last breath , I charged my deadly spikes at her. The immense pain had faded away to an icy numbness. Black consumed my vision and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. Then I lost my balance and plummeted down to the burning ground.

I woke up in my cage, barely able to lift my head. Uncertain of how much time had passed. I opened my eyes after some time and saw that the cage door was surprisingly... open. Immediately stronger by the rush of adrenaline, I rose on my legs, and ran out to the arena where the chains had been removed. There was no roof, nothing to stop me from flying away. "I'm free" I stuttered. "Im free!" I screamed as I flew into the air, out from the arena and everything I knew existed. After three minutes I was far away from my cage and the human colony. Everything was amazing! The burst of the wind against my wings, the soft grass dancing over the hills and all the beautiful mountains... It was impossible to describe to a wild dragon. But the best of it all was that I won't need to use my tail for anything but balancing myself while soaring in the sky. Never again would I use it to harm any other living creature. This was the fondest memory of  my life. As I flew over the most beautiful river I roared for my freedom. I flew down and landed on a great rock. Then I decided to climb one of the trees, but quickly changed my mind. Instead I jumped down onto the ground. It was green. Green. In my entire life in captivity, I'd never felt anything other than sand and rocks... But this was grass. It was so soft, nothing like the stones in the arena. I sat down and listened to nature all around me, knowing it was here I belonged. I'd always belonged.

I felt nature's song slowly beginning to lull me to sleep. It was as if a blanket was pulled over me. It wasn't warm but it felt safe, and it made my eyes heavier and heavier. I finally blinked and let myself feel the comfort of the grass tickling my back. The grass was so comfortable. I fell asleep while watching the stars. They burned with the brilliant sapphire pallor of electric light, dancing on the midnight blue sky above me.