Why Humans Make Bad Pets!

I am xeno King Arthur V

My squad started running as a disorderly mob, and I would have joined them. But I didn't. I can't explain it, but I felt protective of them. Even though I'd just met them, they seemed like children to me. They were slow, clumsy, and seemingly new to war, at least war as even I had seen it through my second hand experience. I couldn't run. That would be abandoning them. This dragon was a being like me, at least as far as my new wards were concerned. Both of us were creatures of death. Faster, stronger, and harder than they could ever hope to be, sweeping away their greatest defenses as though they were merely air. Unstoppable. How could I run away from this foe? I was their only chance. I was their monster from hell. I guess it had only been a matter of time before I met another one.

I turned to face the dragon, raised my scimitar, bellowed a challenge, and charged.

Manthlel was crying. Not because of fear, but out of shame. He was doing it again. He was running from a foe that he couldn't beat because he was afraid, even though his sacrifice might have meant the difference between the life or death of another. He had been given a second chance to redeem himself, and he was making the same mistake. This was why his tears streamed as he ran. Because he was a coward.

A sound like nothing he had ever heard before stopped Manthlel dead in his tracks. It wasn't actually all that uncommon. It was just a yell. The battle field was filled with those, dripping with them, stained with them. The screams of the dying would haunt this battle field for days after the fighting was over. So why was this yell different? Manthlel looked to its source and saw why.

It was Human, charging the Vulza, Fusion Scythe raised above his head, challenging it in the very moment it was victorious. The rest of the squad, which Manthlel could now see had been running as well, watched in shock as the small alien charged the beast that could not be killed. The yell was different because it was an order. The shouts that filled the battle field were pleas for a savior and cries for release. The screams of the dying and doomed. This was a command. An order directed at everything in its path. A demand that every obstacle bend before it. A promise to anything that wouldn't bow. An assurance of destruction.

The challenge shook Manthlel to his core, bringing hope where there had once been fear. The fear was still there, and in great abundance. But it was no longer the fear of a frightened creature struggling to deny the inevitable. It was the fear of a man who was fighting for the right to continue to live. Manthlel soon found himself giving voice to the shout as well, turned around, and charged back the way he had come. The squad followed suit. It was a good thing they did. Human was having problems.

I may have been a creature from hell compared to your standard alien, but even as much as I outclassed them, this thing outclassed myself even more so. What had I expected, it was a M-----f---ing Space Dragon (I respect my mother and you should too)! I'm lucky I hadn't jump attacked it, or else it would have swatted me out of midair and that would have been the end of my defiance. It swung it's left forelimb at me, which I ducked. It recovered instantly and jumped at me, attempting to crush me through shear force of impact. I dived to the side, but it clipped my legs and sent me spinning into the ground. I hit hard, feeling the vibrations in the ground as it landed, spun around and charged me, preparing to finish the job. I knew I was about to die, but who knows, maybe I still had luck. I tried my best move and rolled. It worked. The dragon ate a mouthful of dirt as it closed it's maw about the ground where I had been moments before.

The problem after you roll is that you have to stop rolling eventually and take the time to get up. This dragon wasn't going to give me that time. I finished my role, and could see its clawed foot rushing down to greet me. f**k.

I was blown out of the way of the dragon's strike by an unknown force. Actually, I'd felt that before. Someone had shot me out way of imminent death with an anti-tank pulse-gun. At least, they'd shot the ground right next to me, which was enough to send me flying several meters out of the dragons reach. It hadn't come quite fast enough, though, and the dragon's claws left three red gashes across my back. This was the first time an enemy had made me bleed, and I got to say, it scared the s**t out of me, and hurt me more than anything I'd felt in space combat so far.

My new friends were helping me, and boy did I need it. Unfortunately, aside from the helpful push, I don't think they were managing to do anything but annoy it. Their weapons were even more ineffectual against this beast than they were against me. Heck, I doubt they were even bruising it. It completely ignored them, jumping after me, the only real prey it had found this entire battle. I knew the feeling. As scared as I was, I'd never felt so exhilarated. Springing to my feet, I dashed to its side, ducking under its lunge and scoring a hit on its back leg. It swiped it's tale at my feet, which was a really good move, because it worked, and I was on my back again for the second time in the fight.

It spun around, attempting to put me into the same position as before. I knew where that would lead, however, and instead curled up into a ball and somersaulted towards and under the beast, getting out of its immediate line of sight. This is how I know it wasn't as sapient as dragons in modern stories, because if it had been intelligent it would have just smashed its body against the ground and me with it. Instead it whipped itself around like a cat trying to find the mouse it had just lost, by which time I'd gotten back to my feet and had leapt for its side. It turned into my strike, which meant I stabbed its shoulder rather than its lungs.

Roaring in pain and anger, the dragon snapped its body like a whip, dislodging me and my sword from its shoulder and throwing us 15 meters before we slammed into the ground. My trusty scimitar fell from my hand. Not so trusty after all I guess. I was exposed, out of position for a boost from anti-tank bro, and unarmed. Roaring in triumph the dragon leapt at me to finish the job. It pulled up short again, although more out of shock than anything else.

Human was down. He had lost his sword and seemed dazed from the colossal fall that should have killed him. The Vulza could see that it had won. Roaring in triumph it prepared to leap upon the exposed Human. Manthlel didn't know what made him do it, but he was close enough, and he did. He took two quick steps and then hit the Vulza in the wounded shoulder with his gun. He didn't even fire it; he just smacked the deep stab wound with his pulse-weapon, using one of the most advanced personal weapons as a club.

"Fight more than one of us!" He screamed. "C'mon, there's more than just Human, fight all of us." It actually worked. The Vulza recoiled, although it may have been in shock rather than pain. When Manthlel got a look at its eyes, he could tell that it absolutely was shock. Shock that such inconsequential a creature had dared to lay a finger upon its mighty side. Manthlel could also see that he was screwed.

Manthlel had distracted it, which was all I needed. He had also put himself within neck hugging distance of the dragon, which was not a good place for him to be. Dragon neck hugs can be lethal. I had regained my feet, and decided Manthlel could use a little boost of his own. Reclaiming my scimitar, I jumped four times to cover most of the distance, then dive tackled Manthlel. I think I broke three of his five legs on impact, but I was able to drag him five meters behind the dragon, which saved his life as the dragon closed its jaws over where Manthlel's head had been. Pushing myself off of the now unconscious Manthlel, I faced the dragon again. We were both bleeding, tired - myself more so than it - and ready for this fight to be over. It jumped, unfurling its leathery wings unnecessarily, as it only had to cover a short distance. Screaming a challenge, I charged as well.

The dragon should have watched my hips, because hips don't lie. It attacked with its head, thrusting it forward to sink its teeth into my soft flesh. My soft flesh wasn't there. I had dived to the right on the final step of the charge, ending up next to the dragon's now exposed neck. I plunged the sword as deep as I could into the back of the dragon's skull. It convulsed, hitting me with its shoulder, ripping the sword from my grip, and throwing me another 7 meters. I have to confess; I landed in a bad way on that last throw, and blacked out on impact.