Dragoned in Half

Sacrificial Lamb-Slater

As the moon shines I can't seem to focus. So many emotions rush through as i look at my mates. My body feels so light that it seems at any moment i could take flight from the ground. Looking at my mates I can see the two children that stand beside them and yet the anger that the sight should cause isn't there.

What I feel instead is indescribable. It is a connection that I know I have longed for forever. It's the connection to my mates that I witnessed so many others have. A connection that brings these tears that I cannot stop down my face. Looking around the rest of the yard in front of the cabin I can see all the others.The dragons that I have manipulated and deceived.

The pain in my chest from what I have done is insurmountable. My eyes close as the images play in my head and I want to vomit. My hands claw at my chest wanting to rip my heart out for all the atrocities that I have committed. I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve to take one more breath on this earth for all the lives that I have taken. When I realize that I know the number I feel even sicker.

"Slater, you must stop, '' Avery yells. Her tear stained face comes into view as I open my eyes and I can hardly look at her. The tingles that alight my skin at her touch are a feeling of beauty that I should not know. The fact of that doesn't stop me from leaning into her though.

"What did you do to him?" i hear Morbius asks. My head turns in his direction as he looks at me peculiarly. For a man that he saw with no emotion ever this must be the oddest display for him. I care not that he is seeing me this way. He deserves to see much worse after the childhood that I gave him. Looking at my mates i know the truth before i even speak it.

"You can not make me live like this. Nothing that i do in this life will ever make up for the ones that i have taken. Nothing on this earth could change the damage my soul has already caused "I tell them as I plead. I look at Salvatore as I say the words knowing that he will agree. He lets go of the children as he walks over to me.

"You will have your death my love. I promise you this. But there is something that you must know first. We cannot let you die unknowingly of the truth of Avery's actions" He says as he cradles my face.

My shoulder relaxes as my tears stop. Knowing that I will be dead soon eases the pain and the torment that I feel in this body now.  I will miss my mates of course but in this life I have done too much. I have hurt too many and helped too few. I watch as he turns toward the two children and beckons them over. I stare at them confused as I realize that it feels like I have seen them before.

"That day in the forest as I waited for you, I found out something special. I found out that I was pregnant by one of you. "I listen to the words Avery says as I look at her in awe and at the children who stand before me. Barely children at all are nearly grown. "When they were born I knew that it was not Salvatore who fathered them but you," She says.

"Avery and I ran that day to protect them. She wanted to make sure that our children weren't raised by a murderer" Salvatore says as i look at him. I can see the truth in both of they're gazes and yet their words are hard to comprehend. I'm a ...father.

"What are their names?" I whisper as I look at them.

"My name is Marla and my brother is Slay" The girl answers. Tears fill my eyes seeing that they named the boy after me. AS he smirks at his sister, the small smile reminds me of the one that I used to give as a kid. Looking away from them I look at the ground as I speak.

"I understand," I whisper as my mind works. Avery suffered without a family in our youth just as I did. We had always said that if we had kids that we would never give them the childhood that we had. We said that they would have a life much like the one that Marla provided. And we promised that no matter what we would always keep them away from harm. My actions made it so my own children couldn't be around me.

"To kill the life of someone is the same as to kill all humanity" I state as I lift my head to look at Avery with tear filled eyes. The quote is one that I lived by in my youth because I believe in it. I read the book to her so many times that she would know it as well as the next lines.

"And humanity is as the ocean, a few drops that are dirty, do not make the whole ocean dirty. A few drops that are dirty, do make that ocean tainted" She says with tears as she recites it. Salvatore looks at us both and smirks knowing that it is from some book. It was never what he connected to Avery on but the quote is easily understood. Looking at my children I understand the decisions she made. She was wrong to lie but she knew that I told her to save them long ago.

"It has been my honor to meet you. I am sorry for the stories that they will tell about me. They will not all be good and some will be down right unbelievable. I'm not a good person and your mom and dad know that. Even though I would never harm you, I wasn't around because they wanted to keep you safe. Forgive them someday because I already have "I say to them as I look them both in the eye. They nod their heads as they look at my mates and I know nothing else needs to be said.