Chapter 7
As the weeks wore on, the two did their best to keep the other alive. While Hunter continued to provide Spyro with half of his food, Spyro in turn, kept him warm night after night.
Another day was coming to a close, Hunter was just finishing loading Spyro’s cart for the final climb up the Quarry for the day. Hunter was relieved it was almost over, Spyro was not doing well today, and was only getting worse as the day stretched on. The little dragon looked like he was spent, his tail dragged, his wings flopped out instead of staying tightly against his back. He hadn’t said two words to Hunter all day, not even in the morning before shift.
I’ll give him my entire ration tonight. Hunter thought, I’ll be fine for one night.
With the cart fully loaded Hunter turned to Spyro whose head was down, just staring at the ground. “Alright buddy, you're good to go” he said, his voice hesitant .“I’ll see you in a bit.”
Spyro turned his head and nodded to Hunter, then braced himself and began to pull the cart, but he didn’t make it more than a few meters before he collapsed into a heap.
Hunter watched in horror as the slave driver appeared running toward Spyro, whip in hand. “Stupid lizard! Get up!” he yelled.
Hunter’s reaction was instant. He ran with all his strength, straight at the slave driver who was raising the whip to strike Spyro. He’s gonna kill him, was all that went through his mind.
Hunter slammed into the slave driver, sending the canine into the dirt, and ran to Spyro’s prone body. He braced himself against the cart, placing himself directly between the slave driver who was already getting up and Spyro.
“Out of way cat!” The slave driver bellowed, but Hunter didn’t move. He couldn’t move. Then came the first searing strike across his back, then another and another. He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain.
Spyro, who was slowly regaining consciousness, was now waking up to a nightmare. Hunter was above him being whipped over and over. “Hunter…no” he said with a desperate weak plea“you’ll die”.
Hunter looked down at Spyro and gave him a pained smile.””Just keep your eyes on me buddy, everything’s going to be ok, ” he said, trying not to wince while he spoke.
Spyro could only lay there powerless as the whipping continued. blood began to drip down Hunter’s back onto the ground leaving dark spots on the dry sand.
Suddenly there was a loud noise, the end of day horn, signaling for the slaves to return to their cells. The Hyena stops whipping Hunter, his ears swiveling at the sound, he looks at the bleeding cheetah and the exhausted dragon below him, unsure what to do.
He began rolling up the whip and spoke “back to cell cat” he yelled, before walking away. Hunter let go of the cart and dropped to his knees in front of Spyro. His back was raw and bloody from the strikes, the blood staining the ground below him. The pain was unimaginable but it wasn’t his primary concern. He looked down at Spyro who had passed out again, the sight of seeing his friend whipped too much for him.
Please…be ok Hunter thought, he reached down and disconnected the chains attached to Spyro’s collar, then he carefully undid the bridle and pulled it off, carefully removing the bit so as not to hurt Spyro’s teeth. Slipping his hands under the little dragon, he lifted Spyro up in his arms. “Hang on buddy, I got ya,” he said, as he cradled Spyro. Slowly he raised himself up, every nerve ending in his back screaming to stop.
The walk back to the cell was agonizing, Hunter’s back protesting with every step. The blood from his back left a trail across the quarry, but he didn’t stop, he wouldn’t.
Finally, Hunter carried Spyro into the cell, the door slamming behind him. He sat the dragon down in the corner and checked his breathing and heart rate which both seemed fine. He’s ok, thank goodness, he’s ok.
Hunter slowly lowers himself to the cell floor next to Spyro, his back reaching a new level of pain. “Ah!” he yells, leaning back against the wall. He elevated the dragon’s head, placing it on his knee and stroking it softly.
Spyro’s eyes fluttered open, he stared up at Hunter. “Hey,” Hunter says, “how ya doing?”
“I’m…I’m so weak,” Spyro said, he couldn’t move at all, all his muscles had failed.
“You give me quite a scare there, buddy,” Hunter said, tears in his eyes. He’s barely holding on. Hunter thought sadly.
“Scared you?” Spyro said weakly, “You nearly got yourself killed, you shouldn’t have..” His voice trailed off.
Hunter didn’t say anything, he knew Spyro wasn’t really mad about what he did.
The familiar sound of their ration bowls being dropped in the cell echoed in the room. Hunter reached over and picked them both up and brought the first one to Spyro’s snout, “ready?”
he said.
Spyro weakly nodded and parted his muzzle, Hunter slowly poured the gruel into the dragon’s mouth, a bit at a time. Occasionally Spyro would cough and Hunter would stop and massage his throat, helping the gruel flow down. Once the first bowl was empty, Hunter picked up the second, ready to repeat the process, bringing it to Spyro’s muzzle.
Spyro weakly shook his head. “No, you can’t give it all, you need…you need to eat Hunter.” He was barely able to talk now.
“Look at me Spyro, I’m fine, see? Hunter said, trying to sound tough. “ But you’re not, you need this far more than I do, so please…eat.” He pushed the bowl against Spyro’s mouth, making it clear he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Finally, Spyro slowly lowered his jaw and Hunter once again poured the food down Spyro’s throat.
“Now get some rest.” Hunter said. Spyro nodded and closed his eyes.
What are we going to do about tomorrow? Hunter thought, laying his head back against the wall. There’s no way he can last another day, is this…is this going to be our final night together?
Hunter began to quietly cry, he’d fought for weeks to keep Spyro alive, starved himself, risked his safety and now it was all going to be for nothing, he was going to lose his best friend. He laid down keeping a firm hand on Spyro’s head, and softly cried himself to sleep.
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Spyro was awakened by Hunter once again shivering, he weakly began to crawl on top of Hunter’s chest. This had been the routine for weeks, but something was wrong tonight. The shivering was worse, much worse, the shakes were almost violent, and as Spyro laid down on top of Hunter, he could tell the cheetah was burning up.
Spyro quickly pushed his furnace to full strength , but the shakes didn’t stop, if anything, they were getting worse. He needs more, Spyro thought. He pushed his furnace further and further, the glow in his chest getting stronger and stronger.
Hunter’s shakes were starting to subside, but it still wasn’t enough. Spyro kept pushing, the magic in the collar was scorching his neck, the collar’s usual ambient green light replaced with crackling green sparks. Just a bit more. Spyro thought.
Spyro’s furnace reached its absolute limits, the orange glow in his chest becoming a blinding white beacon that enveloped the cell, lasting several seconds.The light quickly dimmed and went out and the purple dragon started fading immediately.
—
Hunter blinked his eyes open, his body was warm but there was something cold on top of his chest.He looked down to find Spyro laying on top of him, his eyes went wide, instantly the fog cleared.
“No….” Hunter said with fear, he quickly lifted the dragon off his chest and laid Spyro down on his back. He placed his head on Spyro’s chest, nothing, he wasn’t breathing.
Hunter instantly got up and started compressing Spyro’s chest. “Please, come back to me, I’m not losing you, not after all this!”
The process continued for several agonizing minutes, Hunter’s tears falling on the dragon’s body. Hunter couldn’t feel the pain in his back anymore, his only focus was on saving his friend. “If you die then I’ve got nothing to live for!” he yelled
Suddenly there was a sharp, gasping intake from the dragon’s mouth and Spyro’s breathing returned to normal. Hunter hugged Spyro tight, the tears flowing harder than before, I did it, he’s ok.
Hunter leaned back, looking down at Spyro. I saved him, but for how long, in a few hours it’ll be morning, they’ll open that cell door and then…
