Young man I hear you. I hear you, in the bushes. I have heard you following me for three days. Why don't you come and join me. I have meat and a fire. It must be cold in that bush, and you have not stopped stalking me long enough to gather food. I have no ill intent. There shall be no bloodshed tonight.

Yes come. Let me see you in the light. I have only caught site of your shadow for three days and nights. You look awful. Eat. Indeed I did hope you would starve or succumb to nature by now. You do not look as worthy as you have proven. I have killed men twice your stature and age. You are unworthy.

You who know not why I am the enemy. This fight, like myself, is older than you can conceive. I have witnessed entire evolutions of man compared to your couple of decades. I have outlived anyone who knows my name. You are hunting a myth. To your credit, I have not been hunted in what feels like eons.

Indeed you have found the last dragon magic left in the world. This very fire is merely a product of ancient magic. Nothing like those odd sounding tools you carry and point. Do not click that one again. Those tools are nothing like the swords and guns of the past. Man has changed. I was once like you if you would believe. You hardly would.

What story have they told this century. The first was that I was the last dragon shapeshifted by Merlin himself. The second tale I heard was that a woman fucked a dragon producing what some called a hybrid and others a mutant. The last hunter claimed I was a traitor dragon hunter that had stolen the dragons' power for himself.

Had I known when I took a position in the dragon's guard that I would be here, I would have taken the death of my people. They died fighting the hunters in the name of the dragons. The dragon were dying. They had chosen my people, not only to protect them but the magic of the dragons.

That is what you want is it not. Or should I say what they want. All hunters are just hired by someone to do a job. I cannot blame you for trying to make your coin.

Unfortunately, you are far too late, hunter. This night was your last if you continued without food. You knew that, yet you continued. Brave, but stupid. What is to say I do not kill you at this weak point. Bravery only goes so far. I thought I was brave. Until given a magic that forced me to run for millennia. This magic was a blessing for my people, but your people turned it into a curse.

Still this fire and this food is all that remains of the dragons' magic. Before you sits nothing but an old man. I am too old to fight. I came to die here by this fire in this unrecognizable place where it all started. This magic is the only thing I have left. I watched the slaughter and slow death of my people, the rise and fall of civilizations, and killed many a man to protect a joy I could not share. You may take my heart when I die, though I doubt it will be enough to satisfy your employer. All I ask is that you let me fade into the darkness that I have been chasing for so long. Please, hunter.