"What have I done?" Draco questioned in disbelief, the effects of the drugs and his untrolled rage finally beginning to wear off.

  A sense of horrified realization slowly crept bato his mind as memories about the grisly aftermath of his violent rampage surfaced.

  His whole body ached with a searing, primal pain.

  His throat felt raarched, and an overwhelming hunger g him from within.

  The elemental breath he had used had dried out his throat.

  It was as if his very being was burning through what little energy reserves he had left.

  Draco had beeremely lucky despite his recklessness.

  Due to his natural resistao his own magibined with his race's natural resistao the elements, prevented his elemental magi scorg his throat.

  His partial transformation wasn’t mature enough to withstand a breath attack yet.

  He was still but a dragonkin hatg after all.

  Magic wasn’t something that was easy to grasp and trol.

  One wrong move could have imploded him from within.

  'I have to get back to Vasileios,' was his primary now - he could worry about the sequences of his as ter.

  Gripping the trunk of a nearby tree for bance, Draco began to carefully retrace his steps back towards the cage where he had left his younger brother.

  With each step, the sight of the age he had wrought threateo overwhelm him.

  Broken, bloodied bodies y strewn across the forest floor, their lifeless eyes staring endlessly into the void.

  Severed limbs and viscera were scattered haphazardly, painting the once-verdant ground in siing hues of crimson.

  Draco felt his stomach lurch, the bitter taste of bile rising in his throat.

  But there was nothi for him to expel - he had pletely depleted his physical and magical reserves in his feral rampage.

  Now, with his transformation beginning to fade, he could feel his body shutting down, joints log up and muscles spasm in agony.

  Despite the overwhelming nausea and pain, Draco pressed on, his mind rag.

  'I 't dwell on this now,' he told himself, 'I have to get Vasileios to safety.' The young boy had remained huddled in the cage, hands c his ears and eyes, mercifully shielded from the horrors surrounding them.

  As Draco finally reached the cage, he colpsed against the wooden cart, huffing and wheezing.

  "Vasileios, are you okay?" he mao ask, his voice strained.

  Vasileios hesitantly responded, "Draii?" His young, i voice carried a hint of trepidation, no doubt sensing the gravity of the situation.

  "Good, you're alright," Draco said, relief washing over him.

  "Vasileios, I need you to trust y brother. you do that for me?" Draco asked.

  "Yes," the young boy replied, a trace of fear still lingering in his words.

  "Okay, I need you to stay still and quiet, close your eyes and cover your ears some more. you do that?" Drastructed, his tone urgent but gentle.

  "Yes," Vasileios answered, quickly plying with his brother's request.

  Draew they were in grave danger.

  The smell of blood ah had already begun to attract the beasts and monsters of the forest, and he was in no dition to defend them.

  His transformation was unraveling, and he could feel his body shutting down, rendering him pletely helpless.

  Sending Vasileios off alone would only result in the boy's certain demise, so the best ce for their survival was to try and use the sturdy cage as a makeshift shelter.

  Draco prayed that it would be enough to deter any curious predators until his grandparents arrived.

  With an agonizing scream, Draco felt his transformation finally e undone, his short muscur frame reverting to its normal, weaker state.

  He colpsed to the ground, uo move, his body wracked with spasms and tremors.

  "Draii, are you okay?" Vasileios asked, his voice muffled from within the cage.

  "Didn't you promise not to make a sound?" Draco scolded, his words ced with a pained grimabsp;

  "Sorry," the young boy replied, falling silent once more.

  Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Draco y there, helpless and vulnerable.

  The forest around them grew increasingly ominous, the sounds of rustling leaves and snapping twigs filling him with dread.

  He could sehe predators closing in, their hungry eyes locked onto the st of his weakness.

  Mustering what little strength he had left, Draco reached up and pced a trembling hand on the cage, hoping to offer Vasileios some sembnce of reassuranbsp;

  "Its ok, I am here Vasileios," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

  "I'm so sorry." The young boy said befoing eerily quiet, no doubt terrified by the gravity of their situation.

  As the ominous sounds grew closer, Draind raced, desperately searg for any avenue of escape.

  But his body refused to respond, leaving him utterly helpless.

  Dropping to the ground, Draco rolled his body uhe cart for safety.

  Now all he could do ray that the cage would hold, and that somehow, against all odds, the monsters wouldn’t be ied in him uhe carriage.

  The air grew thick with tension, the oppressive silence broken only by the distant growls and roars of the encroag predators.

  Draco's breath came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding in his ears as he waited, utterly powerless, for the iable.

  Suddenly, a new sound pierced the eerie quiet - the faint rustling of leaves, followed by the distinct ch of twigs underfoot.

  Draco's eyes widened in arm, his body tensing in anticipation of the impending threat.

  'This is it,' he thought, brag himself for the attabsp;

  But instead of a savage beast, a familiar figure emerged from the foliage, their features obscured by the shadows.

  Draco squirying to make out who or what it was, his mind rag with a mixture of hope and dread.

  As the figure drew closer, Draco's breath caught in his throat.

  "Sve trader…..," he breathed, scarcely daring to believe his eyes.

  It was the man he had smmed against a tree, he had survived albeit with broken bones.

  ‘What do I do’ Draind raced but he didn’t get to ponder on it for long.

  “Aaaaaaah” the man suddenly let out a guttural scream.

  He had just been impaled by the tusk of what looked to be a battle boar, a 2 meter tall boar creature.

  The man filed his limbs helplessly as the boar smmed him repeatedly against a tree until he fell limp.

  The boar then shook its head violently, causing the man’s corpse to fall on the ground.

  Then it begaing on his flesh; it didn’t take long before other battle boars joihe fray to feast on the abundant dead bodies.

  Draco held his breath desperately, hoping that they both made it out alive.

  Time seemed to tick slowly as the battle boars eheir feast peacefully, ign everything else except the meal before them.

  He quietly listeo the siing squelg of raw flesh being chewed and the snapping of bones like twigs.

  Vasileios kept silent too adhering to his brother's instru, weird sounds graced his ears but he killed his curiosity and covered his ears more tightly.

  It was good he obeyed because the se around them was too much for a 3 year old witness.

  Sadly the status quo didn’t st very long, how could the other monsters of the forest let the battle boars monopolize the food alone.