Zhaiothe's Tale Act 3 (0.5) - Second Heartbeat
By Bartan Tirix

	The pain was overwhelming. Unlike anything he could've ever imagined. The jaws of the red dragon held tremendous strength, more than he expected. Enough to break his ribcage. The pressure of them suddenly gave out though, and the red one slowly gazed in horror at what he'd done. The red one... His own lover. Overcome by rage and greed. But He could not blame him. The red one just... fell too far for him to reach until it was too late.
	The red one's breath began to get choppy, and fell into sobs of denial. "Shhh..." the Silver one said, doing his best to ignore the massive flood of pain that quaked his now fatally wounded body. "It's alright..." The red one attempted to say something between his sobs, but he couldn't make it out. He just slowly embraced the red dragon. "I vowed long ago that my life was yours to do with as you pleased, Zhaiothe." More denials came from the red one, as the pain rose up. The silver dragon's vision began to tunnel, and he knew he didn't have much time left. Zhai wouldn't be able to do this on his own, and if he couldn't... "...You cannot keep yourself this way, Zhaiothe. Things can only get worse if you cannot control this obsession of yours-" Taath! The pain was too great. (Not now! I have to do everything I can to save him...) After a few breaths "You must take back control of what is truly yours. You need to reclaim your life for your own, and not let this obsession overtake you. I do this for the benefit of you." (Keep going... Endure the pain... Just a bit more...)  "You will become unborn until you can overcome this. You will instead grow young until the day you find out what you've truly done wrong. You will not know death as I have, but unbirth, unless you can make up for what you've done. I do this for the benefit of you!" (He will suffer... Probably alot. But this is the only thing I can think of that could change our final destinations.) All the silver one could do was repeat his last sentence to his lover, until the energy in his body dissipated. Slowly his world went dark, and the last things he was hearing was the final sobs and apologies from his mate.

	I... Just hope 400 years was enough...

	Khol woke up in a darkness. The floor he rested on was cold, almost painful. His right side still hurt alot, but the wounds had disappeared. He could still remember everything... The feeling of fading away, it was Terrifying. As if something out of a nightmare. "It never goes away." A deep voice came behind Khol and he spun around, still not being able to see anything.
	"Who's there?" All Khol could feel was cold. There was no scent, no sight, just... Cold. The ground he stood on lit up in a dark bluish light. It revealed a quadruped, dressed in a black robe. By the shape of it, it seemed to be dragonkin, but Khol could not be sure. "Who are you?"
	"I don't have a name. But if you must call me something..." A dark chuckle came from the shrouded one. "...Call me Zhaiothe."
	Khol growled at him, his spines flaring up a bit on his head. He certainly didn't sound like Zhai, was even smaller than him. "Why would you choose the name of my Ma-"
	"-Your Murderer! Or has death made you forgetful?" Khol gave a low snarl. He figured he was dead, but that just confirmed it.
	"He wasn't a murderer. He made a mistake."
	"More than one, I can tell you that." The shrouded one seemed to be unimpressed by Zhai.
	Khol gave a snort, and curled his neck to an S "Odd choice for a label, if you think of him so ill-ly."
	"Humph."
	"He wasn't a bad person-"
	"He was a Fool with a Savage Heart-"
	"You know nothing of the contents of his heart!" Khol roared at the figure, and it seemed to step back. His breaths started to thicken. "Don't judge what you cannot understand."
	"...You speak rather highly of him. Why is that?" The cloaked one took a few slow steps toward Khol. "To think so passionately about the one who took-"
	"Stop." Khol flatly demanded. "...Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
	Another dark chuckle, and he walked past Khol "I am your Judge." Khol's eyes widened, and he turned about.

	As Khol turned around, the darkness began to fade. It lit up into Khol's and Zhai's home... His last place on earth, and his final moment on it as well. The Shrouded one seemed to tower over the two dragons laying on the floor. Although not being able to see 'Zhai's' face, Khol could only assume that Disgust masked what Façade he had. Khol himself walked on the adjacent side of the cloaked one, where he could see the real Zhai's face. Momentarily, Khol glanced at his old wounds and felt the pain once again. He licked the real Zhaiothe's tears a few times, unable to taste them.
	"Why comfort your Mu-"
	"If You Are To Judge Me, You Will Never Call Him That Again." Khol said sternly. And he laid down, nose to nose with the real Zhai.
	The shrouded one was quiet for a bit, then gave a snort. "Why comfort him, when you know he can't feel you?"
	"Because he deserves it. "And he attempted to embrace the now hurting Zhai.
	"He gave you D-"
	"He gave me many things... Death was one of the very few cons. Even then, that is no excuse to hate him." Khol said calmly, almost with a smile. "Why must you continue to tempt me to loathe him?"
	"Because-" The shrouded one was unable to come up with an excuse. He gave a low growl. "Because he doesn't deserve one such as you. He deserved an animal's life and a barbaric death. He took advantage of you-"
	"You're wrong there." Khol said, a few tears in his eyes and a light smile on his face. "I took advantage of him." The dark one curled his neck to an S. "You have no idea, do you?" Khol said rather surprised. "For one that's supposed to 'Judge' Me, you're doing a terrible job of it." He snickered a bit, and got up. "Shall we?"
	"Hmm?"
	"To the next scene." The cloaked one seemed surprised. "I understand how this game of yours is played, mysterious one. If you want to judge me, then I welcome you to find the worst possible thing in my life and spew your disgust all over it."
	The figure chuckled "But I've already found the worst possible thing in your life." Khol's smile faded. "Regardless, there are a few things I must have answers to. One of them is why love such a vile creature."
	Khol studied the real Zhai a bit. "He was my counterweight. Everything that I was not, and everything I half wished I could be... He made me whole, and was willing to make me happy. How could I possibly ask for anything more?" With that smile returning. "Whether or not you are able to understand such a thing, that is the answer."
	The dark one snorted and turned around. "Come."
	Khol began to follow, but stopped. He turned to the real Zhaiothe and embraced him one long, last time. "I'll see you again soon. Don't give up..."

	The shrouded one lead to an Eden scene. There was boundless grass and trees that looked heavenly, a Past version of Khol was studying intently into the waters of a nearby bowl, that was held up by a small tree. "I remember this place." The present Khol stated, and looked around as if he hadn't seen it in a thousand years. Curious, the dark one looked into the bowl, and turned away in disgust. That got the present Khol curious as well, and when he gazed into it, he laughed loudly.
	"Why would you look at such a thing?" The dark one asked, trying to shake the image out of his head. Khol couldn't stop laughing, and motioned him to wait a bit.
	A much larger silver dragon landed in the garden, not even getting the Past Khol's attention. As the larger one looked around, he spotted Khol, and shook his head smiling. Walked toward him he asked: "Why do you look at such things?"
	The past Khol didn't even remove his gaze at the water, revealing the act of two humans mating. "Because it's fascinating. Honestly, it looks like such an act would induce pain, but all I can read on their faces is pleasure." He smiled a bit, and nuzzled when the larger one got closer. "I never understood why we immortals are unable to do such a thing."
	"It's to promote them to breed, if I understand Ezeria's explanation." And the larger one returned the affection. "But we immortals can feel pleasure" And he breathed on the smaller silver one. Past Khol shuttered and gave a sharper embrace. This made the larger one chuckle a bit.
	"It's wonderful, I know. But it's still not quite the same. It's the act of such a thing, and the meaning behind it."
	"Meaning?" The larger one looking puzzled laid down beside the smaller one.
	"The idea of giving the Gift of Pleasure to another one. Perhaps even the conceiving afterword. The Gift of One's Self. Or maybe even... The Gift of Creation." The Larger one gave a heavy sigh, and Past Khol looked at him sadly. "Is... Something Wrong, Ziikrhi'd?" {Zeek-Creed}
	"...Galore."
	"Yes, he seeked an Audience with you today." Khol stopped the water from displaying it's pornography, and leaned into the much larger dragon.
	"He said that I could never create."
	"What? Why?"
	"Because I lack Conviction."
	"Conviction?" Khol began to comfort him. "I don't understand. I thought you'd be the perfect creator. You don't have a lack of Conviction, you have freedom. You can be what you wish, without following a code..."
	"Galore stated that I must choose a path, if I am to follow my dream to create a species, as the others have."
	"Ziik..." Khol licked his neck a few times. "You don't need to choose a path that they've created. You created me from a Vaneless Feather."
	"I created you as an Immortal, Kholryik." Ziik smiled, and gave Khol hard embrace, nearly making him yelp. "And I love you. But to create an entire species, and watch it grow... Watch what it could become. What it could build, and create on its own..." Another heavy sigh. "It is... A Dream. It's a Gift I can reside to myself, if I can choose a path." Past Khol remained quiet, and just enjoyed Ziik's company for a bit. The conversation seemed to pause here.

	"You... Were an Immortal?" Zhaiothe asked.
	Present Khol gave a small smile, and walked up to Ziik. "I was. I was created to give company to Ziik. Even though it may sound a bit dark, I never thought of it negatively." The shrouded one was quiet. "You seem surprised."
	"I never thought I'd take an Immortal to the afterlife."
	"I'm no longer Immortal."
	"I see... He took that from you too." Khol gave a harsh glare at the dark one. Then returned his gaze to Ziik.
	"I've... Missed him so. And I sympathized him as well, for I fell in love with a Male. And I could never create either. At times, I wish I was a Female instead. So I could give Zhaiothe that gift..."
	"I think you've given Him enough." The dark one said shallowly, and turned about.
	After a bit of Embracing with the much larger dragon, Khol parted himself. And the Scene changed to Night, with the two silver dragons resting in the garden. "250 years, he dwelled in that conflict." Present Khol stated. "And I tried every day to convince him that he didn't need to choose a path..." And Khol laid with him for a bit. After a few minutes, Ziik sat up, and looked to the sky. Present Khol said it with him, word for word: "...If it's to follow my Dream..." And a sharp breath came from the Present Khol, and he let his head fall to the ground. Just to see he Past Khol's face... The expression of betrayal and defeat...

	"So, you couldn't convince him after all..." Zhaiothe said rather bluntly. And the scene changed to the inside of a large temple. Ziikrhi'd sat with two Pedestals within arm’s reach of him. The Past Khol sat far in front of him, spectating sadly. Ziik picked up a longsword of his size, and went into a Harakiri stance.
	"NO!" Present Khol screamed, and rushed toward him, only to hear that god, awful sound once again. As soon as Khol touched Ziik, he paused like before. A few tears came from Khol's face. "...I was weak... I should've fought for you. Should've kept fighting until the day you dismissed me... To give in to such a thing gave you death in an unrestful way, and you Ziik... You were the last one to deserve such a thing." Khol slid from the body of Ziik, and slammed his paw down on the floor, cracking it a bit. "I just... didn't know enough to fight for you back then. If there was ever a mistake in my life..."
	"This wasn't a mistake." The cloaked one said.
	"It Was!" Khol roared. "I didn't do everything I possibly could to stop him. He Never Needed To Choose A Path! He Never Needed A Path To Follow His Dream, And I..." A hesitant breath. "I failed to make him see that. I... Just..." He gestured a paw to his past self. "Watched... Not even accepted such a fate for him, just... watched..." Khol fell to the ground.
	After Khol was completely off of Ziik, Ziik resumed. He roared loudly in pain, and withdrew the sword. He took his two massive paws deep into his wound, and ripped open his chest. The sound made the Present Khol nearly curl up into a ball. Breathing heavily, Ziik ripped out two hearts: One of them white, while the other is black. He set them on the pedestals and laid down. After a bit, he stopped breathing.
	The Past Khol slowly walked toward Ziik with sorrow. He laid with him, not moving from his warmthless embrace. As time seemed to speed up, the two hearts began to metamorphosize into two dragons. One fully white, and the other fully black. They looked at each other in a small standoff, then flew directly away from each other.
	"...One thousand years..." Present Khol mumbled. "One thousand years I never left Ziik's side. One thousand years I mourned for him, only to see... that."
	"The birth of his creations?"
	"Creations... They were not creations. They were seeds of infection that poisoned Ziik's mind. Seeds that Galore planted." Khol dragged himself closer to Ziik. "But I never could hate Galore for such a result. And doing so would just desensitize what Ziik taught me. I couldn't learn to hate Ziikrhi'd's best friend."
	"And So...?"
	"...I left." And Past Khol got up, gave one last embrace, and left the temple.

	The next scene was back on earth. The Past Khol was in the forest eating a few apples. The Cloaked one was looking at the scenery. "This was...?"
	"My third day on the mortal world. My third day as a Mortal."
	"Why would you throw away your immortality?" The cloaked one snapped.
	"I was done with it. Without Ziik there, there was no need for me to be in such a place. He followed his dream, and I wished to follow mine." Khol said rather harshly. Then suddenly smiled, making the dark one back up and curl his neck to an S. "3...2...1..."
	"What are-?" And suddenly, the past Khol was tackled by a red dragon coming from the sky. The two rolled down the hill a few times in a grapple and came to a stop. Present Khol gave a bit of a laugh when the cloaked one jumped at the sudden tackle. Then the two raced down the hill to meet up with the past ones.
	The Red one pinned the Past Khol on the ground and was going for a claw to the face. Then suddenly, and rather calmly, came "I surrender." Leaving the Red one with a rather surprised and disappointed look on his face.
	"...Well, you're no fun." He lowered his claw, but kept his pin on the silver dragon. "What are you doing on my land?"
	"I didn't know it was taken. I was just tired of flying around and got hungry." Still keeping his paws up as if to reveal he was unarmed.
	"If you want the honest truth..." Preset Khol said with a smile. "This was about the first time I ever got turned on. I really liked Zhai's strong body." And the dark one gave an annoyed grunt.
	"Well, you're on my land. And I don't like other dragons on my land." Past Zhai snorted.
	"Errm, where exactly is your land's boarders?" Past Khol asked.
	Zhai pointed up to a very tall mountain in the middle of the horizon. "Everything that I can see from there. If you want to exit my lands, then you want to head past the mountains to the east."
	"I... can't see." Past Khol said, trying to see past the trees in the opened area. Zhai studied him for a bit then released his grapple. Khol looked around to the west, then to the east. "Wow. You own all of this?"
	That fed Zhai's ego a bit "Yes. They're my lands. And you're trespassing."
	"I'm sorry, I didn't know." He studied the mountains to the east. "That seems to be nearly a day's flight from here..."
	"Pretty much, best to start now while it's still daylight."
	"Hmm." Past Khol pondered a bit, trying to hide the slight erection he was getting. Present Khol couldn't help but giggle, remembering what was coming next, which puzzled the cloaked one. "Could I... Make you a deal?"
	Zhaiothe glared at him, expecting something shifty. "What kind of deal?" He sure as hell wasn't going to divide any of his land with another dragon.
	"Just one night's stay in your territory. In return, I could perhaps... Pleasure you?" Present Khol started laughing a bit harder, more or less out of the louder grunt the Dark one made.
	"Seriously?" The cloaked one asked. "How could that have possibly worked?"
	"Ziik was a very neutral being. And he created me the same way. To the point that I've been told that I look rather feminine." Khol was trying to explain through his laughter. "Zhai here thought I was a female when he first seen me." And he feel to the grass.
	"Mmm..." Zhai pondered a bit. "Fine, you have a deal. But the pleasure first, and no funny stuff. If you attempt to castrate me, I'll do more than just burn you alive."
	Past Khol gave a thankful, yet innocent nod. With a slightly embarrassed smirk, he walked toward Zhai, and leaned his head to Zhai's crotch. The dark one Froze the scene "Stop-Stop-Stop! No more." This only made Present Khol laugh a bit more. "The first time you met this miscreant, you muzzled him for a place to stay?"
	Khol caught his breath. "Yep. He actually didn't know it was my first time either. I spent years to understand how others pleasured their mates, and so I just tried it. Apparently, it was so good that he came back the next day before I left, and said I could stay a few more nights. Even after finding out that I was a male." The cloaked one gave a shudder. "Disturbs you, does it?"
	"I just can't see what you see in this egotistical, overgrown, lizard."
	"Honestly, I couldn't quite place it. But he always treated me well. And did whatever I told him..." Khol's eyes reflected the past they had, and shown happiness. "There was kindness in his heart, he just didn't know how to use it."
	"There was also something else." The dark one said harshly.
	"There was greed, vanity, even wrath. He wasn't a paragon like Ziik was..."
	The shrouded one's tone suddenly changed after a long sigh. "Ziik... Wasn't..."
	"Hmm?"

	The darkness devoured the scene, and left them both back where they first started. The black, with the blue lit floor. Khol didn't take his eyes off of the false Zhaiothe. "What do you mean? What did you say?" The cloaked dragon took a heavy breath and looked away from Khol. "Speak!"
	"...Ziik wasn't a paragon." Khol snarled a bit. "He was a selfish god who only thought of himself..." The dark one still didn't face Khol, but his words spoke in regret.
	"He thought of everyone that lived. Maybe he wasn't a paragon by definity, but he was never selfish."
	"He abandoned you to chase after his dream."
	"So?" Khol stated bluntly. "Everyone needs to move on once in a while. Ziik wasn't completely happy with his life, knowing that there was something missing in it. I admit, that he could've been convinced of it differently-"
	"He could not." The dark one snapped. "He was obsessed with his dream, so much that he threw away everything he had for it. Including you! How can you not realize that?"
	"I realized it well enough. To dwell on it does nothing. He made a choice to try to change, and last I checked: that is the true meaning of existence."
	"To disrupt and sever the happiness of others!?"
	"To change the disruption and set a course for happiness! The meaning of existence, of life itself, is to Change it!"
	"So it can be the benefit of you while destroying the peace of others-?" Khol swatted the dark one across the snout, causing it to yelp.
	"...If everything you see is in the negative, then you can only develop in the negative. Dwelling in that will never cause you to ascend past what you could be. If there's one thing I loved about the creations of the others, is that they are able to get past the negativity and become something better. If You make a mistake, fine. Fix it, get up, and try again. It's called Learning. It's called LIVING." Khol's voice started to thicken quite a bit. "Seriously, why did I get such a pessimist as a 'Judge'. You've hardly done anything but try to make me angry at Zhaiothe this entire time. Why? What do you have against him? Who are you really?"
	"I'm..." The cloaked one sighed, and pulled off his hood. Revealing a smaller version of Ziikrhi'd.
	"...Ziik?" Khol took a step back.
	"I'm not Ziik." Still unable to look into Khol's eyes, he slightly lowered his head. "I'm just... what's left of what you felt for him."
	"You're..."
	"The personification of your love for him. I'm the one who trapped you here, and is what's blocking your way to Lothranis."
	"...Because you can't understand why I choose him."
	"Because I can't understand why you gave up your mortality to a tainted being!" Khol growled at him. "You deserve so much better than that..."
	"You have my answer for that-"
	"But I can't understand it. Why you would choose that, over trying to get back Ziik. Even going with one of the two-"
	"Because-" Khol gave a heavy sigh "Because they were no longer Ziik. Not what I loved about him. What I loved... What you are, is his neutrality. He, himself, was the perfect judge. He himself, was a paragon. But he just couldn't get Galore's toxin out of his head."
	"And so you settled with something far less-"
	"I made a different life. One away from the torment of loneliness!" Ziik didn't respond. "I know you cannot see it, because you're incapable of understanding the love I have for Zhaiothe. You don't Want to understand it, because then you'll-"
	"Fade away." Ziik was quiet once again.
	Khol walked up to him and embraced him. "Regardless of your understanding, you do have to realize that I love him."
	"And he Mu-"
	"Loves me too! Even if he made a mistake. I have committed the same sin as he has." Ziik took a sharp breath. "I didn't save you when I could've. Do I deserve to be thrown into Momaganon like Zhai would?"
	"Never..."
	"And he doesn't either. Even if it means my death, I will save the one I love. I've learned from that mistake... And I will do my best to fix it, even if it will cause him pain..."
	Ziik was silent. And held Khol in his arms. After a long while of thinking "I'm sorr-"
	"You don't need to say it..." Khol said softly. "Just... accept it." Khol then released his embrace on Ziik, held his head, and looked directly into his eyes. They almost looked afraid really. Then he licked his face a few times. "I loved you Ziik. But... things have changed."
	"I..." He looked away after getting freed of Khol's grasp. As if looking into Khol's eyes revealed a dark truth. He began to walk toward the edge of the blue lights that made the floor. "...In order to get into Lothranis, you need to give up something."
	Khol looked at him with worry. "Ziik..."
	"Let me make it up to you... Please. What I did wrong. What I... Did to you." Khol darted toward him, but before he could reach, Ziik shattered, his pieces floated up, then seemed to form a bridge before Khol. With a sad smile, Khol whispered his thanks, and didn't waste any time.

	Within Lothranis, Khol began to relive his life at its happiest moments. Although he was happy with Ziikrhi'd, Khol's life never actually began there. He relived most of the moments with Zhaiothe, but there was a sad ache in his heart. Even though he was there with him, Khol still felt something rather familiar... Loneliness. After much pondering, and reliving the 400 years spent with him several times, he came to a conclusion: He was going to bring Zhaiothe to Lothranis, regardless of what it took. Because...

		It Is My Dream...