Tecnomagic Engineer

- "Huff... huff... huff... Come on... Vothrial... please... h-help me one more time... Please," I murmured between gasps, raising the crystal, trembling, towards that colossal creature.

My fingers gripped the crystal so tightly they almost dug into it. The drops of sweat and blood running down my face mixed, blurring my vision. My heart felt like it was going to explode as that monstrosity, with its deformed wings and hungry eyes, got closer and closer to the dragon eggs.

- "Come on... come on... w-work... please," I begged, my voice almost fading in desperation. The creature approached, each step echoing through the cave, as if fate was rubbing its cruelty in my face.

- "No... no... WORK, WORK, WORK, DAMN IT!" I screamed, my throat almost tearing from the effort, as I saw its gigantic mouth open, ready to devour those eggs. But that couldn't happen.

Tears streamed down, burning my face, as my mind surrendered my body to impotence. Everything seemed to repeat: failure, loss, death. My knees gave way, and my vision went blank as the horror unfolded before me, once again.

- "No..." I murmured, my voice barely a whisper.

- "NO! YOU WON'T!" This time, I screamed.

Then, something inside me broke. Or maybe something awakened. A wave of rage, more intense than anything I had ever felt, exploded within me. The pain in my broken bones, the blood flowing, everything disappeared before that fire burning in my heart. I refused to accept that fate. No, not again.

- "I SAID YOU WON'T EAT THEM!" I roared, standing up with a strength that seemed foreign to my destroyed body. An unknown energy emanated from me, fueled by memories that came like a whirlwind: my parents, Elyndra, Ignarion... their faces, their voices, their pleas. They wouldn't have died for nothing.

The Vothrial crystal, which had previously remained inert, now pulsed with an indescribable light. It was as if the entire universe had held its breath. The light filled the cave, passing through the holes in the ceiling and spreading across the world outside. For a moment, night turned into day. It was something no mortal could ignore.

When the light ceased, leaving behind the usual darkness, I could barely see. The energy that emanated from the crystal seemed to have consumed everything. I staggered, trying to focus my vision, until I saw it.

The creature, once so terrifying, was now static. Its movements had ceased, as if time had stopped for it. Its once powerful limbs now seemed to collapse upon themselves, and a sound of agony escaped its lungs. It was a scene both grotesque and incredible.

- "...huff…huff…huff…T-that was… incredible…huff…huff…the creature… seems to be… disintegrating… Did the Vothrial stone… really… work?" I asked myself, incredulous at what I was seeing.

- "..huff…but still… I … have to make sure it won't try… anything else..huff" I said, staggering towards the eggs.

- "...Huff..huff…it seems now… it's.. huff…the end, huh? …huff" I said, looking directly into the creature's eyes, holding my broken dagger in a defensive position.

For some time, I stood there, staring at the creature, which did nothing but remain still, with deep breaths, as if in agony.

During this time, as we stared at each other, something caught my attention on the creature's face. Its head, its body, although larger than normal, and its several wings, all those were parts belonging to Wyverns, everything except one thing. On the creature's forehead, I noticed something peculiar, a mark I had never seen before. It was a kind of pentagram drawn on the animal's flesh, possibly with a sharp object.

…heavy sighs of agony…

- "...W-what is… that on your forehead?" I asked, seeing that strange symbol.

That was something that only made everything even stranger. First, the sounds from the previous day, then, the creature in the forest, in the distance, finally, during the night, that creature had appeared and attacked precisely the cave where the dragon eggs were, as if it knew what it wanted. What was happening there? Why was all this happening at that moment? Despite several questions bombarding my mind at that time, the tension I had gone through, and the physical and mental exhaustion, prevented me from thinking more openly, in search of answers.

- "...huff….This… is very strange… what the hell… happened here?... why now?" I asked myself, trying to find answers.

- "...Arghhh…m-my leg…. cough…cough…d-damn… am I this tired? … tsk… it seems I broke a rib…" I said, pushing my thoughts away, while feeling pain.

Then, I decided I wouldn't think about all that at that moment, after all, I still had to be alert and ready to defend the dragon eggs in case that creature still tried to attack.

Time passed, and seeing that the creature hadn't moved for a long time, I decided to slowly approach. When I got close enough, I extended my arm to touch it, but at that exact moment, the creature seemed to lose the strength in its legs and collapsed. That gave me a big scare and made me return to my initial position, on alert.

- "Tsk… this creature hasn't moved for a long time… it should be dead by now, because if Vothrial managed to make what I thought a reality, the cells of this creature lost their existential bases.." I thought.

- "But… this mark… and this creature… it seems to be suffering… can I try… to get closer to understand a little more about what is… happening?" I asked, extending my hand to touch it.

…Sound of the creature falling to the ground…

- "ARGH… D-DAMN, WHAT WAS THAT?" I said, stepping back and returning to a defensive position, scared.

At that moment, the creature seemed to be dying. It writhed in agony on the ground.

…Sound of the creature in agony…

- "…w-what is happening?.. maybe it's the effect of Vothrial?" I wondered.

- "…Tsk… but why… why do I feel a tightness in my chest while watching this? … it tried to end what still keeps me alive.." I thought, watching the scene.

After a few seconds, seeing all that, I realized that, as much as that creature had done all those things to me and had tried to eat the dragon eggs, I felt that something was wrong, and that those Wyverns were not to blame for it. In fact, they seemed to have been victims of something, victims of something that should never be done to such incredible creatures. So, unable to see a being I liked so much, like the Wyverns, in that state, I approached and, with the tip of my broken dagger, I stabbed it in the skull to end its suffering.

As I withdrew the blade, I fell to my knees. The weight of what had just happened crushed my chest. What I had just done — saving the eggs — should have been a victory. But all I felt was the bitter taste of a darker fate approaching.

From then on, seeing that it was all over, my body seemed to understand that it could finally relax, and then, the exhaustion and pain, which should have made it impossible for me to even stand, took their toll.

- "Goodbye… May you find peace wherever you are going," I whispered, looking at the creature that now rested definitively.

I took a deep breath, but even that seemed like a monumental effort. My eyes scanned the environment, observing the remnants of the battle with a vacant, exhausted look. The silence was almost unbearable, interrupted only by the distant echo of water droplets falling from stalactites on the cave ceiling. The relief of having survived mixed with the weight of insurmountable fatigue.

- "...What happened here? Sigh…" I murmured, my voice almost inaudible, echoing faintly through the cave.

At that moment, a searing pain shot through my chest, my legs gave way, and the strength that still kept me standing disappeared. I fell to the ground with a dull thud, my consciousness flickering like a flame in a strong wind.

- "Argh… AAAARGHHH…! Damn…" I screamed, as my body refused to obey.

At that moment, my vision darkened, my body no longer obeyed me, and then, I fell to the ground, lying down.

- "…Argh… w-what happened?" I thought, as my vision darkened more and more.

- "…Ah… I think… I understand… the adrenaline is gone… and the exhaustion and pain are taking their toll now, huh?" I thought.

There, lying down, my vision darkened slowly, becoming more and more nebulous, and the edges of my field of vision dissolved into shadows.

While lying there, and my vision saw in the distance the door of the hall leading to the cave exit, and it got further and further away, I could see a silhouette approaching, the same silhouette I had seen earlier, passing in the distance in the forest. It approached and seemed to come towards me, as if wanting to finish what that creature had not managed. Desperate, I tried to force my muscles to work, so I could protect myself, but it was in vain.

- "…Tsk… now I'm having… hallucinations too?" I asked myself, seeing that silhouette approaching me, coming from the cave door.

- "…It's getting closer and closer? … this seems very real" I thought, as it approached.

At that moment, the figure was getting closer. It no longer seemed like a shapeless shadow; its presence was palpable, suffocating. I could almost feel its intention. My heart raced, but my body remained paralyzed.

- "…Tsk… it doesn't look like a hallucination… in fact… it reminds me of that thing I saw in the forest… did it come… to finish what this other creature couldn't?" I wondered, forcing my muscles to work, but without success.

- "…Damn, I can't move at all….Argh… so this is my end?" I thought, as the creature was almost within reach.

However, suddenly, an intense light exploded inside the cave. It was as if the sun had risen there, blinding all senses. The environment was taken over by a blinding luminosity and an unexpected heat. My eyes, even half-closed, were invaded by a golden glow, and then I saw them: Wyverns. Countless, emerging from the light like celestial beings. Their scales shone as if made of polished metal, and their eyes sparkled with ancient wisdom.

- "…Huh? Wyverns?…" I thought, incredulous at the scene before me.

At that moment, the shadowy figure, which had been approaching me, stopped, as if afraid of those Wyverns. Then, with overwhelming force, they attacked that thing with precise blows, while the creature coming towards me suffered unimaginable damage. In the end, after a few seconds, those Wyverns had destroyed that thing, which, before dying, let out a roar that echoed through the cave. A primal sound that made my body tremble even in immobility.

- "ARGHH… what a horrible sound…" I murmured, feeling my head throb with the intensity of the noise.

The battle was short but devastating. When everything ceased, the Wyverns turned to me. Their gazes did not convey hostility, but something deeper. A feeling of gratitude? Respect? They lowered their heads as if bowing.

- "…Thank you…" I murmured, my voice almost fading. There, I was no longer sure if I was speaking to them or to myself.

Finally, my body succumbed to absolute exhaustion, and everything went dark. My mind was enveloped by the void, and the last things I saw, in the distance, were the forms of the Wyverns, still bowing, as everything darkened.