A decision that proved impossible weighed before you. As the fighting began, you could only watch in horror as your group of fourteen men went into battle with the two lone dragons, without your protection.
"Gah, Damn it all! men, forget orders and destroy all you see. Forget about the damn stone!"
'What? Stone... do they mean the egg?’ Not much time to ponder the question, the dragon pair soon ran down upon your group. The dragons obviously had much more strength than the humans did and because they were protecting their little one, they were all the more dangerous. The humans however had numbers on their side however much it helped against two full-grown dragons.
At first, the dragons seemed to be winning with their sheer power as they slashed through the first two victims in one fell swipe. The tides quickly turned however, to your surprise, and the last attack left them open at the rear that which quickly did five men flank. 'They are more skilled than i thought...' The family seeing this attempted to hit them with their tails but only struck three as the others jumped to their backs and tried to slash at their spines. A quick jump jarred the attackers off and the fight resumed.
You quickly realized that through the chaos, the egg was completely vulnerable and nearly crushed more than you would have wanted. Knowing that if you could save someone, it would have to be the young, you quickly readied your most powerful defensive spell, Strictura Callum. However, this would not be the case as when you delved into the magical energy you felt a strange presence enter your mind. Having no time to ponder what was happening you threw your arms palm outward toward the egg and nearly screamed out,
"INVIUS OBMOLIOR!" A dim, rainbow colored impenetrable orb soon circled around it and protected it just before one of the men fell right onto it by the power of the dragons. The dragon gave you the slightest glance than quickly went back to the fight. Though it was strange that they did this, it was not you concern now. The egg had to be protected at all costs, even if it was the "enemy." For some reason you could not bear to see it be destroyed.
Though the men were losing numbers, the dragons were tiring with many gashes and cuts in their wings, head, and abdomen. Of the fourteen men, only three remained, including the Captain to your dismay. Surprisingly their moral had not faltered in the least even though more than three quarters of the group rested eternally on the cave floor. The dragons, in their weakened state, gave the men a small advantage. The two others quickly overtook the female and while she unleashed a powerful blast of flame onto one, rendering him no more than a pile of ash, the other rushed in and sliced through her neck, severing the head.
The male seeing this became mad with rage and quickly bit the killer in half, but in his blind rage, he left himself open and the Captain stabbed him in the heart through a week spot above his shoulder. With his last moments in life, he quickly turned to his own killer and opened his giant maw. Before he bit into the flesh, the captain seemed to sigh outward. "I never should have trusted that bastard..." And the dragon bit him directly in half, throwing both halves aside. The Dragon then gave a glance at his young, the egg, and then looked at you with sorrowful eyes. A voice then ran through your head. "Though you are a human, you still protected our young even as we tried to kill your fellow companions, I thank you... " 'It was the Dragon! But... but how?' "I am no longer able to protect him so I put him in your caring hands... rider..." and with that he took his last breath.
Baffled by the dragon speaking in your thoughts and even more so he entrusted you, a human, with his young, you took the time to gaze at the carnage around you. This was a complete slaughter. No one left alive, save yourself. You could not save anyone, human or dragon. The emotions running through you were too vast to control. Hate, sorrow, pity, but worst of all, weakness. Overcome with emotion, you could do nothing but stare. It did not take long for the smell of burnt flesh to have an effect and you curled over and threw the remains of your pre-battle meal over the ground.
After a period and your stomach drained its contents, you looked at the egg that you protected and thought of what the Father had said. Why did he call me rider? You thought for an answer but found none. Throwing it off to dragon custom, you set your mind and returned to the previous topic. If you took the egg you would be fulfilling the last wish of its father, but taking it and then raising it... could prove to be a worse fate than your draft into the army. You could not parade around human villages with a dragon. It would only get you and the dragon executed. It would be self-exile. If you did go back with it, you would have to turn to hiding, but you would eventually be found out. Things this big always have nasty habits of grabbing attention in some way or another. Nevertheless, leaving it there would only make you feel even worse. Not only had you aided in the killing of its parents to an extent, you would leave the egg their all alone only for it to hatch at the sight of the carnage before you now. 'It would not survive a week...'
You had to choose...