Tzegorn walked to the edge of the lake, and then began walking parallel to it. He continued for a full half an hour, until he found a large stone half immersed in water. It was very wide and flat, suitable for sitting or even lying down. It was there that he stopped and sat, watching the sun slowly set in the distance. He waited, until a voice behind him said: "Why did you come right here?"
Tzegorn didn't need to turn to recognize Haku. "You know, there weren't many lakes in my homeland. I only saw one once, when my father took me along on a visit to a nearby town. I was young at the time, and although my father was busy with political matters, he still found time to take me fishing. Those two hours sitting together on a corner of the lake, holding a fishing rod and watching the sunset, is one of the best memories of my life" he answered. "So... I thought this would be a good place to die"
"Mph. Well, at least you already know you're going to die" the dragon said stepping forward and sitting next to him. His voice was calm and his body betrayed no irritation, but his eyes clearly showed his murderous intentions.
That sight made Tzegorn shiver; even if he had accepted to die by now, it was still hard to give up on life. But he wasn't willing to give Haku the satisfaction of scaring him. "By now surely you understand everything, and I certainly can't run away from you and your vengeance. If I deluded myself that I could confront and stop you, I certainly wouldn't have caused this situation and wouldn't have worked so hard to find out how a sandstorm forms. I could have tried to slip away quietly, but you would have caught up with me anyway. So why should I run? I know when my back is against the wall. The only thing I can do now is not shame my ancestors by running away like a coward and accept death with dignity"
Haku lowered his head until Tzegorn felt his warm breath on his neck. "Tsk. I have to admit you're brave… not many men would remain unmoved in the face of death. But after all, there's no point in being afraid of the inevitable" he whispered in a voice so cold it sounded like a ghost's.
Tzegorn gulped and was tempted to move away, since he almost felt the dragon's teeth on his shoulder, even though Haku hadn't even opened his jaws yet; but he restrained himself and remained motionless in his position. "Stop dithering and get to the point. Why didn't you let your friend kill me? Or why didn't you yourself kill me? You had every right to do so. All you had to do was reveal my conspiracy and everything you did would be justifiable, and I would become a traitor. You could have left me to die in the sandstorm if you wanted to. I know for a fact that your motives aren't based on forgiveness, so… what do you want from me?"
"The truth" Haku replied by stepping away from his shoulder and instead positioning his head so that he could look into the tigerman's eyes. "You know, I knew you were an asshole... but I doubt you're a bastard. Not a complete one, at least. And so you must have had a motivation for what you did. I can take a guess, but I'd rather hear it from you... why did you want to kill me so bad?"
Tzegorn twitched his mustache. As he'd guessed, Haku was keeping him alive to get an explanation... though he doubted that he really cared about her motives. Rather, it was likely that he was trying to figure out if he had acted alone or at least if someone else would be willing to try another assassination. "Because I know I can't trust a dragon. No one in this village can trust a dragon. And above all, we can't trust you" he said. "You may have been able to fool someone with your nice words, but I know who you are. I know what your kind is. You are nothing but monsters who demand more and more. Today you settle for a finger, tomorrow you will want a whole arm, and tomorrow you will devour a whole body. This is what dragons do. My people have witnessed it once before and I and the other members of the nobility have reminded this: never trust a dragon. And you… you are something we can trust even less. I know who you are, Haku: a snake that sneaks into a garden pretending to be part of it, but then consumes it and poisons everything it finds. You aren't interested in blending with other life forms, you just want to steal and exploit whatever you find. You are no different from that disease that is making life difficult for us. Maybe now you're showing the sweet side of you... but sooner or later you'll show your claws. And then you will completely destroy everything. Because that's what you are, a destroyer. The other dragons… your brothers and sisters, and any other dragon in this world… they are monsters, but still they manage to strike a balance between themselves and their surroundings. You on the other hand… you are like a parasite that creeps into a territory, deprives it of all resources until there is nothing left, and then moves on to the next one. Whenever a person is no longer useful to you, or they find something that could be more useful to you, you throw them away. You don't care about other people. You don't care about anyone but yourself"
Haku narrowed his eyes and let out a huff so loud that it ruffled the tigerman's fur. "If you think so, then you don't really know me"
"Oh, I know you enough. And I know your kind enough" Tzegorn said. "You aren't able to get along even within your own family. You have secrets even between yourselves. You know, you really should ask your dear brother Rhaegal what really happened during his captivity"
Haku's gaze became confused for a moment. "What are you saying?"
Tzegorn grinned wryly. "I'm saying maybe you don't really know everything like you think you do" he answered. "But after all, secrets are common among dragons, aren't they? You're jealous even of your knowledge. That family you think you've built holds many more secrets inside than you think"
"Explain yourself better! What didn't Rhaegal tell me!?" Haku roared; his breath went straight into Tzegorn's face and nearly knocked him to the floor.
But the tigerman didn't get upset. "You know what? I really think I'll leave you in doubt. At least before I die I'll be able to plant one last thorn in your side" he said, then he became serious and looked at Haku defiantly. "Enough playing. Just know this: you won't get anything from me. You may as well kill me here and now. I will never tell you why I know I can't trust dragons, or what your brother is hiding from you, or many other things that I know. This conversation ends here"
It all happened in an instant: Haku's paw closed around the tigerman's body and lifted it as if it were a twig, then slammed it to the ground, being very careful not to damage the head, neck or other vital point. Tzegorn instinctively closed his hands on the dragon's paw, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to lift it, and in fact Haku positioned himself on top of him with all his weight. "You are absolutely right. The conversation is over. Enough playing. And for this very reason, now I will reveal an important truth to you" he said, looking at him with burning eyes. "I really don't give a shit about your motives. I don't give a shit what you know about my kind or what you know about my family. I could get the truth out of your throat in many ways, but it would take too long and you're not worth that much. I'll find out all by myself, I don't need you. If you're still breathing now, it's because you can still be of use to me"
Tzegorn let out a gasp. "What do you want, you bastard!?"
"Just create a little lifesaver... for myself" Haku answered. "Remember what I said back in the Council? There's a lot of disgruntled people around. They're hotheads now, but if they could find a lord to follow they'd have an army. And what better lord to follow than a famous tigerman whose hostility towards me is well known? Through you, I'll have constant tabs on the troublesome, the malcontents, the crafty, and so on… and if they ever start to get too hard to handle, I'll rally them with you in command so I can lead them where I want and delete them in one fell swoop"
Tzegorn blanched as he realized the dragon's intent. Haku already had great control over the village, but if he created someone who could control dissidents on his own as well, then his power would be greater than anyone else's and it would be almost impossible to oppose him. "You'll never get my help with this"
"Oh, I don't need your help, kitty" Haku replied with an evil grin. "I just need your body"
Tzegorn's eyes widened, immediately realizing what Haku wanted to do. He was about to retort, but the dragon blocked his mouth with a paw. "And you know what's the best part? I don't need your whole body to be intact" Haku said as his gaze grew more and more fierce. "You know, if you'd just tried to kill me… I probably would have just killed you. Or maybe I wouldn't even have killed you. I don't hold a grudge against those who try to take advantage of the situation to get what they want, because that's the nature of living beings. In fact, I don't even mind playing with those who want to kill me. I did it with that human king, I did it with Carrion, I did it with many others. But…". His eyes narrowed, and Tzegorn's heart missed a beat. "... you didn't just try to kill me. You involved my family. You led them through that sandstorm and tried to get them lost. This is not something I can forgive. As long as it's me, I can pretend nothing happened; but if you touch my family... you won't see another day, and you don't deserve a painless death!"
And with one sharp swipe of his claws he ripped off the entire jawbone of Tzegorn. The tigerman's eyes widened in a clear expression of pain, but he couldn't express it as his tongue was no longer attached to his palate. Haku looked at the freshly detached jaw and dripping blood in his paw, and then threw it on the ground as if it were nothing more than any stone. "Sorry if I started from this, but I had to make sure you didn't have any hidden poison bottles under your lips or any other way to commit suicide" he said. "And apparently you didn't have them. Well, thank you; you saved me the trouble of destroying them. Oh, don't make that face: you didn't hope to leave so soon, did you? The night has just begun... and I want to show you very clearly what happens when you anger a dragon"
The dragon lowered one of his claws and began to cut a deep wound along the breastbone, then with extreme precision he made another and another; finally, with a single tug, he ripped the skin off the chest exposing the flesh underneath. "The outer layers have fewer nerves" he said. "It's natural, otherwise you wouldn't even be able to get dressed without feeling pain. Fortunately, it takes very little to remove the skin and reach the underlying flesh, which is full of it. Cut this stuff..." and so saying, he slightly sank his claw into the tigerman's flesh and began to penetrate it more and more. "...it's much more painful"
Tzegorn couldn't repress a few tears at the excruciating pain he was feeling; he had imagined that his end would not be painless, but he would not have expected such suffering. "I think I'll gouge out your eyes last. So you can see everything else" Haku said with a cruel grin. "You don't want to miss the whole show, do you?"