Will walked closer to the center. He stopped a few inches from Jade, they both stood like that for a while, just staring at each other. After a moment of silence, Will heard some voices around. But he ignored them. He was only focused on one thing, he was focused on a dragon standing not far from him.

A loud chuckle escaped Will's lips. “I always wanted to fight a dragon"

Jade moved her head back slightly. “You want to fight me? So we aren't friends anymore?"

Will felt a cold shiver through his entire body when he heard what she called him.

Will lowered his head, gazing at the surrounding sand. “Friends…" He muttered, then looked back at her. “Friends are supposed to care for each other!" He shouted, with eyes full of fury. “To trust each other!" Will added emphatically. He clenched his fists, unable to control his anger anymore. 

“I wanted to—" Jade started but was cut off shortly.

“You were spying on me!"

“But I—"

“And you kept it as a secret!"

“I wasn't the only one!" Jade shouted back, pointing out that the lack of trust wasn't just on her end.

That angered Will even more.  “But I wasn't looking into your mind!" Will shouted at her. Then after a short pause, he gestured towards his chest. “The whole thing… the visions… all of them were inside of me… Inside my mind! That's a different case!"

Jade thought for a moment. “You are right," Jade acknowledged. “I should tell you about it sooner" She said, but then a spark flashed inside her. That's enough! This human seemed odd, and mysterious from the very beginning. I must know who he really is! I must know the truth! Even if I have to force it out of him! Jade thought. 

Her attitude changed immediately. “Tell me who are you! Why can you understand and fluently talk in my native language?! Tell me the truth! Who… are… you?!"

Will was a little surprised by her sudden outburst, but he kept his cool. He theatrically spread his arms. “Who am I? I am an ordinary human, who lived the life of his dreams…" Will paused. His anger took him again. “But I lost everything! I lost my life because I was crazy enought to team up with an ageless lizard with wings!"

Jade ignored the insult. “Ordinary, you said? Then why is a part of your life blank?!"

“I don't care! I live and that's what is important!" 

“And secondly, why can you understand my native language?! Who taught you that?!" 

Will narrowed his eyes. “What do you—"

Jade took a step forward. And for a moment showed her fangs. “Maybe you abducted them!"

“I would never do something like that!" Will shouted back. "If it weren't for you, I would never have known that dragons weren't extinct!" Will crossed his arms. “I bet you've seen enough of my memories to know that, right? He said, raising one of his eyebrows.

 If the humans were able to harness the power of magic, maybe they were able to do something with the memories. Jade thought to herself. Maybe his people did something to him. And he didn't even know about it. Then in her mind replayed what he said to her yesterday. His father… maybe she would know the answer.

“I- I don't know… I don't know who you are"  Jade admitted.

A small grin showed on his face.“The answer is really simple…" Will said, as he hid one of his hands behind his back. “I am your enemy!" Will shouted, he threw a fireball straight at her snout and rushed directly at her. 

Jade's dogged the projectile, her muscles tensed, but she didn't rush at him. Instead, she let him come closer to her. When the human was within reach, Jade instantly turned to the side. She swung her tail, using it like a whip, and struck the mage right in the chest.

Will's body scraped the sand for a few inches before coming to a halt. He only managed to let out a loud groan.

Jade slowly went to him. 

"Are you happy now?" Jade asked when she came to a stop. She still maintained a short distance between them, wary of any potential retaliation from the mage.

Will turned his head to the left, and spit out some blood, then locked eyes with the azure dragoness. "Do it! Kill me" He shouted, staring directly into her amber eyes. "End what you started!"

Jade noticed blood on his teeth, She could only speculate about the extent of the injuries she had inflicted. Their fight had been unfair from the very beginning, The human didn't even have any armor or weapon. And he fought with a dragon! A creature which was bigger and stronger than him! 

Jade quickly stopped worrying about him. He was now her enemy. The dragoness went even closer to him.

At last… A death worthy of a true mage… Will thought, closing his eyes.

Jade positioned herself just like the previous time, her right paw had the perfect angle to strike the most vital tissues. She lifted her right paw, ready to deliver the final blow and end the life of the mage, her enemy. Jade swung her paw, but in the last seconds she moved slightly, altering the trajectory of the slash, her paw missed the target by about an inch or two. Instead of hitting her target She hit the sand.

She just couldn't do it. 

After everything they had been through, after that many shared nights together, she could not simply do it. Of course, she still had her inner hatred for his kind. She even wanted to embrace that feeling and use it. She was confident that she could kill any other human. But with him, it was different. 

Jade started to understand this now. She began to comprehend why the Dragons council pressed on them, why they had to prohibit blending amongst humans, why they forbid leaving the city. She was a perfect example, she had spent so much time with one human that her true nature started changing. She never suspected that she would start caring for someone lower than her, a mortal, especially someone who was a mage, people with abilities like his killed a lot of her kind in the past. But now she had him, he was completely vulnerable, was at her mercy! But she was too weak-minded to deliver the final blow.

Jade looked away. “I can't fulfill your request" She said, and moved away from him.

Will opened his eyes and lifted his head. “Wh—"

Will's speech was interrupted by a commotion. He turned his head to the right and noticed the wooden door swinging open wide. Shortly after, he heard similar sounds to his left. Turning his head, he witnessed the same scene as before. He heard something weird, his head again turned to the right, and he saw that a few humans emerged from the open doors. 

Will put his head down on the sand and started to wait for the inevitable. He heard a lot of sounds, which were getting more intense by the second. Yet the absence of metallic clangs made the outcome painfully clear.

All of them are coming after me… and her. 

Suddenly, everything went quiet, and shortly after that, Will heard a loud roar. 

Will's eyes in a flash. He looked forward and was shocked by what he saw. Will gulped nervously and realized that he was wrong about the number of people, there were not a few but at least twenty of them. All of them were equipped with a weapon, some of them even had metal pieces of armor. It wasn't a one vs one fight anymore, it was a slaughter, and the two of them were the target.

Will gaze moved forward, and saw the most brutal and intense fight in his life. The dragoness was outnumbered by humans, but Will only caught a glimpse of her. Despite the odds, she didn't seem close to losing.

Of course! Scales… how can I forget?!… Will recollected why he told him earlier. But she got a few cuts from earlier… so she can be hurt! Will thought.

The mage looked at the scene in front of him, he was speechless by what he saw. The dragoness was doing everything! She was using her claws, teeth, and tail. Each of her attacks was relentless, striking with deadly precision. The Humans were dying one by one. The armor was bending, the shouts, the blood. 

 I need to help her! But as soon as he tried to get up, a wave of pain went through his body, and a coughing fit came over him. Will put his hand to his mouth, secounds after he felt a strange sensation, he removed his hand from his mouth, and saw some blood on it. 

If I wasn't like that, I could help her now! And now I lie here being completely useless!

Suddenly three more intelligent humans moved slightly away from the dragoness, not wanting to suffer the same fate as their predecessors. Obviously knowing that they didn't have even the slightest chance of winning against the feral, fire-breathing dragon.

The three humans looked around and saw him, an overwhelming easy target, a lost cause. All three of them looked at each other, nodded in unity, and started rushing at him. But they didn't move very far away, because the dragoness saw this and caught up to them and tore them apart. After doing that she swiftly came back to deal with the rest of the humans.

Will's lips quivered. “She protected me… After everything that had happened… she still chose to protect me" Will thought aloud. 

When the number of people started to decrease. A few humans started backing away, wanting to live some longer. But the dragoness was merciless, she swiftly caught up to them and eliminated them one after another. When all of them were eliminated Jade stood up on the small hill made from the pile of lifeless bodies. 

“I never saw her like that, she became… feral" Will whispered.

Then the dragoness's gaze shifted downward, fixing directly on the human who was right before her eyes.

Suddenly Jade started charging at him. Will immediately shut his eyes. He felt a light wind on the right side of his face. But that was all. Frightened he quickly checked himself, but everything seemed fine, he didn't feel any worse than before. Right after checking himself, Will looked in the direction that she vanished. And saw her, She was not far from him, Will looked at her and saw that she was standing still, she opened her mouth, only to reveal a lifeless body. 

I was so focused on what was happening in front of me that I was completely blind and deaf to what was happening behind me… But she noticed that and helped me.

Jade's entire body twitched, and after that, she subsided onto the sand.

Ignoring all the warnings that his body was giving him, Will rose. Then he slowly approached the dragoness , he was expecting to be attacked. However, she didn't even flinch, she just was lying on the sand completly motionless.

Will saw the chain on her wings. He exhaled sharply. “Stupid piece of crap!" He went closer to the metal binding, warmed up one of his hands, and after a great moment managed to melt it. He removed the chain from her and dropped it on the sand.

 The mage ventured to her head, intending to examine her eyes, but they remained closed. He nudged her and pinched her neck, but she didnt even flinch.

“Jade?!" Will shouted, then immediately backed away, fearing that he would be attacked. Yet The dragoness didn't react to it either.

Will moved closer to her torso, his gaze went lower and she saw her body. After a few glances, he finally noticed something odd, he noticed the different color of the blood. This blood was darker and, what was more terrifying, the blood of this exact color was flowing in streams.

In the back of his mind appeared the worst thought. 

"Jade, you can stop pretending now! We won! You won! Jade!" Will grabbed her neck and started shaking her roughly.  “Come on! Stand up!" Will gathered the rest of his energy and placed his hands on her neck. His hands started glowing, and shortly after the rest of his energy perished. His hands returned to normal, and he started panting slightly. “Jade?!" Will weakly shouted to her. 

"Jade... please... come back" Will pleaded quietly.

He slowly placed his hand on her neck. He made a slow movement, sliding it over her scales.

Will removed his hand and looked away. "She... She sacrificed herself to defend me," Will said quietly, he clenghed his eyes, trying to hold back his tears.

Suddenly, the crowd erupted in cheers. The loud sound of clapping and cheering bombarded Will's ears, and that was the last straw. Something within him broke.

Overwhelmed by a mixture of anger and grief, Will felt a tingling sensation in his hands, this sensation that soon spread throughout his entire body. Will swiftly realized that something was missing, he thought for a short moment and found out that fatigue, hunger, and pain had vanished. Will couldn't see it, but his appearance had changed slightly. His eyes underwent a transformation, now they were completely blue.

Then, unexpectedly, a wave struck him, but unlike the familiar sensations of hunger or pain, this wave brought a profound sense of pleasure. Unable to articulate the feeling precisely, Will only knew one thing. He felt different… he felt powerful! After this wave, he swiftly discovered that he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. Uncertain of why or how he found himself mysteriously levitating above the ground.

Will wanted to test if he could control this new ability, and to his amazement, he could. To his great surprise, the whole process was overwhelmingly easy, just like he was born with this ability. 

Will cast one last glance at Jade's lifeless body, clenched his fists, regained his balance, and effortlessly ascended some distance into the air. Shortly after he saw them, he saw other humans, most of them were still here, sitting peacefully and watching the whole show from above. 

Will tensed the muscles in his neck, assuming a slightly tilted posture as he flew towards the nearest humans he saw. He came to a stop a few inches from them. All the eyes were watching him. In another context, he might have laughed at the expressions on their faces, but laughter was the furthest thing from his mind. Now, the only thought consuming him was... revenge.

His breath sharpened, his fingers twitched. Will decided to use this new overwhelming energy. He extended his hands forward and released two lightning bolts from his hands and threw them at the two closest people.

To his astonishment, his spell came instantaneously. The lightnings bolts came along with a quiet rumble. In a blink of an eye, two people dropped dead. The rest of the crowd almost immediately noticed the danger and started running.

Will looked at his hands, in shock, and didn't believe what he just witnessed. With this much energy… I can do anything… Will looked around. I can avenge Jade… I can destroy this place once and for all!

"No one will suffer ever again!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the arena. Will positioned himself above the place where the humans were sitting. As he flew along the area, he unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts. The stone was cracking, the dust rose. After he flew a full circle around he decided that was enough and stopped. Will looked around and was pleased by the result. His attacks didn't destroy the whole place, but he destroyed enough, some walls were unstable, and some were completely collapsed. Thanks to him, this horrible place was now unable to fulfill its function.

Will stopped midair, descended, and landed on the sand not far from Jade. He looked at her and rubbed his eyes. Because he couldn't believe what he saw. “Jade?" He called as he flew closer. When he was closer he saw that her whole body twitched.

"Jade!" Will called when he landed near her head.

The dragoness reacted to his voice, she slightly opened her eyes, but her mind seemed absent.

Will placed his hands on her neck and performed a healing spell. He sent her a good dose of his energy.

Will looked at her muzzle. “J-Jade, can you hear me?" Will asked, his voice trembling. 

The dragoness nodded slightly. 

Will gave her even more of his energy. “C-can you turn i-into a human?" The mage anxiously waited for an answer but received none. 

After a few moments, the Dragon began to shrink. She started to have more human features, soon the transformation finished. Will took a quick glance at her and saw that she had deep cuts on her arms.

Will thought of healing her. But I looked around. He gently grabbed her and took her in his arms, and then began to rise. “Please hang on! I need to find a safe place" He glanced for the last time at the destroyed arena, and at the whole kingdom, and then he flew straight ahead. 

When they flew past the walls of the kingdom, Will slowed down a bit. He wanted to fly directly to his old home but quickly realized that showing up like this wasn't the best Idea.

His gaze wandered to the expansive trees, and at that moment, an unexpected weakness enveloped him. Something started to drag him down. The mage gritted his teeth and flew up. 

Temporary… this state is temporary… I… need to land… Will thought, as he looked around. All the trees were very close to each other, preventing him from landing safely.

Think of something! Fool! Do something right for once! Will thought, chiding himself.

He flew some more, then he finally saw a perfect place: A few trees next to the small clearing. He flew to that place, stopped midair, the overwhelming weight was dangerously dragging him down, his eyes were flickering. When he was a few inches from the ground, he lost control, he could only bend his legs to ease the impact a little. Will embraced her tightly, his landing was rough, his legs bent dangerously under the combined weight of two people. He was still holding her firmly in his arms. Will released a small grunt. All of his muscles started to ache, but his health wasn't important now.

Panting, Will gently placed Jade on the grass and checked her condition. He put an ear to her mouth. His heart started beating faster when he heard a quiet panting. 

Without wasting any second Will placed both of his hands on her chest and focused all the energy he had left on the healing spell. His hands lit up with a blinding white-yellow light, he felt himself getting weaker by the second. After a few moments, the Mage poured all of his energy into her. 

“No…" Will whispered, his voice strained. He felt weaker by the second. “I… must" He gasped out. He felt radiating pain all over his body.  His muscles were too weak to support him anymore. His legs buckled under the pressure of his own weight. The half-conscious Will managed to lie down on the ground next to her, his eyes closed on his own. Moments later, he succumbed to unconsciousness.