Chp.1: Finding the armory

Darbi drew his spear from the tiger's dead body under his paws. Fighting using a weapon was quite annoying for him, he would have preferred to use teeth and claws, but it would have been strange if a lizardman had lunged at his rival as if he were a beast, so he had to keep up appearances.

The arena spectators were cheering. Never before did they remember a lizardman fighting with such ferocity. Normally, lizardmen used agility and speed as weapons to win against their enemies, and relied heavily on numbers and strategy. Darbi, on the contrary, as soon as the tiger had entered the arena he had attacked it like a fury, and had broken its jaw with a single punch. His behavior had been so unexpected that the other two lizardmen with whom he had entered the arena, and who were supposed to fight alongside him, had remained silent and motionless for almost a minute. Darbi had stood up to the tiger single-handedly and badly wounded it, at least until his ax broke from the force of the blows; but as he was preparing to fight with his bare hands, one of his two companions had thrown his spear at him, and with it Darbi had ended the life of the beast.

Darbi didn't get much satisfaction from killing the tiger. Sure, it had been an interesting battle, but it hadn't forced him to fight with everything he had. Also, he hadn't experienced the familiar feeling of fear and need to stay alert, since he wasn't using his real body. And finally, he didn't even get a chance to taste his prey: the corpse was dragged away and he and the other lizardmen had to go back to the gladiators' dormitory. It was really unsatisfactory.

As soon as they were back inside the arena, they were led into a room where they were required to put away their weapons. The room contained countless swords, spears, axes, maces, halberds, and even bows. Inside there was also what looked like a forge from which a strong heat emerged, and a large slave was working to create new weapons. That was the armoury, the place where the gladiators chose the weapons with which they would fight every day.

As he was putting down his spear, Darbi felt a pat on his shoulder. "Dude, I've never seen anyone fight like that! You are truly a legend!"

Darbi smiled. The one who had just spoken to him was Gord, who was one of the two lizardmen who had (or should have) fought with him. He hadn't had a chance to talk to him since he had spent most of the previous day in Haku's company, and honestly he hadn't cared much for the lizardman, but since he wanted to make his character as pleasant as possible he had to be jovial and friendly. "Thank you. Years of training have paid off"

"Oh, they sure did!" Gord exclaimed as he delivered a small punch to Darbi's abs. "Tell me, why did you choose to become such a mountain of muscle? It's not exactly the way of the lizardmen"

"A while ago I thought so too. But then I met a powerful enemy who made me realize that without strength things like agility and speed count for little. If my arms aren't powerful enough to penetrate my opponent's skin, then no matter how many times I hit them, they will never die" Darbi replied. Obviously what he was saying was completely false, but it didn't matter as long as he convinced the lizardman.

Gord seemed to consider his words, then he asked somewhat hesitantly: "Was this enemy that dragon, by any chance?"

It was a legitimate question, but Darbi shook his head: "Oh, no, my brother has nothing to do with it. Or rather, he has to do with it, but not that much. When I first met Haku I was still following the classic way of the lizardmen and our fight ended in a draw. As we traveled together, however, I began to doubt my beliefs. In the end, the day when we faced that hydra came"

Gord's eyes widened. "Did you face a hydra?" he exclaimed. But thinking about it, this coincided with what he knew about the dragon... some rumors claimed that he was captured after fighting a hydra... and since Darbi and Haku had always traveled together, and Haku was captured after that event...

Darbi confirmed his thoughts. "When we faced it, I was defeated easily. All my years of training had been for nothing. I couldn't leave even a scratch on that monster's skin. I thought I would die that day. But my brother saved my life and almost sacrificed his own. I will never be grateful to him enough for that. Since that day I have completely changed my way, and what you see in front of you are the results of my training"

Gord chuckled. "Seriously, you really seem to have a lot of stories to tell" he said. "You've only been here a day, and already you've proven that you're a formidable fighter, that you have an incredible journey behind you, and that you are friends with that psycho dragon. I wonder what you'll come up with next time"

"Haku isn't a psycho" Darbi corrected him with a certain note of annoyance in his voice. "I know his ways can seem a little... extreme sometimes, and the fact that he's a dragon doesn't help you to trust him... but if you can get him to open up to you, you find he's a very kind, intelligent, and who cares deeply for all those close to him. I think he is far better than many other non-dragons I have known"

"I'd believe it more if he hadn't built a bed out of the skins of our comrades" Gord replied.

Darbi was silent for a moment. "Okay, that's actually a bit excessive... but try to put yourself in his place for a moment. Imagine being caught and confined to a wolf's den. What would be your reaction? The best way to make sure the wolves don't attack you all together is to scare them. Therefore you would kill the strongest among them, put their corpses in plain sight, and then do everything to keep the feeling of terror towards you from the other wolves. Haku did the same thing when he got here. Now he's strong enough to hold his own against all of you, but a year ago he would have surely died if you had attacked him in his sleep. He used terror as a weapon to make sure you didn't make an attempt on his life. He was young, lonely and didn't know how to use mana, while you were many, experienced and could fortify your bodies at will; can you blame him for having done everything to prevent you from ganging up on him?"

Gord looked confused. It was clear he had never thought of it that way. "There's a difference between wolves and people"

"Not for a dragon" Darbi said. "For dragons, there is no such thing as morality. There is only survival. In their eyes, there is no distinction between people and animals. If anyone can harm them, they kill them before they can, whether or not they can speak. And those who don't do so die. Did you know that dragon parents often eat their own children?"

Gord's eyes widened and his head jerked around. "Seriously!?"

Darbi nodded. "Seriously. So don't blame Haku if he has zero amount of empathy. You have no idea what he's been through. He hadn't a moment of peace since he was born, and every non-dragon he's encountered on his path tried to kill him. I'm not saying he did the right thing to kill your comrades, I just want you to understand that he had his reasons for doing so. He's not a monster who kills for fun or takes pleasure in the deaths of his victims. When I traveled with him he always avoided fight if he could, and he never killed unless it was necessary"

Gord looked somewhat dubious now. "I admit that... perhaps... I judged that dragon too superficially. He seems to be more complex than I had imagined"

Darbi knew how Gord had pictured Haku: as a cruel and rabid beast. After all, that was the common thought about dragons, and certainly Haku's actions, however necessary to survive, hadn't helped to change it. "If you want I can introduce you to him. I know he may seem like a grouch at first... but trust me that after a few days of getting to know each other better you'll understand that it's not so bad. After all, he defended that slave girl, right?"

As much as Gord felt sick just thinking about that night, he had to admit that Darbi was right. None of the gladiators had previously thought that Haku was capable of such an act of empathy: from their point of view, he considered Misune only as a means to clean himself without have to do anything. But instead as soon as he learned what had happened he was fueled by a murderous rage and he slaughtered the idiot who dared to touch the slave girl. Not only that, but since that day the relationship between him and Misune seemed to have become closer, and the slave girl almost never left him, and he didn't seem to mind. However brutal his actions had been, that showed that he was capable of feeling interest and affection for another person as well, and that he wasn't just a cruel and psychopathic egoist who didn't give a damn about others. He had some empathy too... albeit a very distorted and twisted one.

"I admit you may be right… but for now, I'd rather keep my distance from that dragon" Gord said in the end. Even though doubt had been instilled in his mind, it still wasn't enough to suppress his survival instinct.

Darbi looked a little disappointed, but he shrugged. "As you like. I certainly can't force you after all" he said.

The two returned to the dormitory, crossing several corridors. The huge door was always the same and it was impossible to miss, and when they were inside they each went back to their friends. Darvi walked over to Haku, who was lying in his usual spot with Misune washing one of his horns next to him. "So? How was the first battle?" Haku asked him.

Darbi giggled. "To call that stuff a battle is a compliment. I didn't even have to push this body hard to butt that tiger. I confess that I am really disappointed, I expected something better..."

Haku laughed in amusement. Darbi always managed to make him smile. "Don't worry, sooner or later they'll give you a worthy opponent... no, maybe I've already fought them all and now they're hanging on my wall" he said pointing to the numerous horns, tails, teeth and claws of the various beasts he had killed.

"Sgrunt! You always manage to ruin my hopes, hm? You really are a bad brother!" Darbi exclaimed in mock reproach, even though he was actually laughing too.

Misune, for her part, was watching the scene rather amazed. Even though Haku had shown her that he was capable of valuing someone else's life as well as his own, she still never imagined that someone would talk to him like that. The dragon and that red lizardman looked like two very common old friends, and if it hadn't been for the fact that she knew it was impossible she would have believed that they had grown up together. Also, she couldn't imagine what courage that red lizardman must have for having chosen to become friends with a dragon to the point of calling him 'brother'... or maybe he was just foolish. In any case it was clear that there was a deep affection on both sides, and that neither of them would ever think that the other could hurt him. Which, given the people involved, was somewhat unusual.

But suddenly they both stopped laughing. "Okay, enough joking. Did you find it?"

Darbi nodded with a satisfied smile. "Of course yes. Now I know exactly where the armory is, which path we have to follow and how to get into it. As a result, we can get all the weapons we need for our army!"