Dachu and the Child

> “Come on, Dachi! Tell us the story again!”
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Dachu sighed. It had been 3 years already, yet the children were still enthralled by his story of killing the leech. Almost every night, they would ask him to tell the story. And of course, he still remembered it vividly. The pain, the blood, the cutting and the breaking. Every aspect was sharp in his mind, and only served to remind him how foolish his decision was. But he could not disappoint the children. Even with the more heavy details removed, the children were still absolutely fascinated by how he pulled off such a legendary feat. And in the end, it was a bit healing for him to repeat the story anyway. Remembering it over and over helped dull the pain of it all, and made him realize just how fortunate he was to still be standing.

> “Well since you asked so nicely, my pups. Come now, come now, settle down. Let me tell you the story again, of how I brought down the most deadly creature to roam these lands……”
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An hour later, almost all of the children were asleep. As much as they loved the story, they could never quite stay awake for the ending after the fifth time of retelling it. Dachu sighed. It was late, and he was exhausted. As much as it helped to say the story over and over, he still felt repressed. Stress had gotten to him, and every year he could only feel more frustrated. He had pushed himself through a much more tougher training regime to make up for what he lost that day, but even then Dachu had felt incomplete. And nothing seemed to be able to fix it. But that was a worry for another time. Another child had joined the ranks today, wild and scrappy. However, its enthusiasm was unlimited, and the child had charmed Dachu instantly, even more so than the others he cared for.

> “Dachi? Do you think I could take on a leech as well?”
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Dachu jerked up, in surprise. That very child was standing before him, eyes filled with wonder, with its hands clasped together as if he was praying to Dachu.

> “Dachidachidachi I want to take on a leech as well! I want to be famous, and big andstronglikeyou! Dachi could I do that? DoyouthinkIcouldtakeonaleechaswell?”
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The child’s excitement was palpable, as he could not even pause with words merging together. Dachu smiled outwardly, but inside a pang of pain could be felt. Dachu himself was the strongest Sergal he knew, besides his own grandmother. Yet even he could barely handle a single leech. The child, on the other hand, had no strength in him, and was flimsy from his rough life before being found by Dachu. Even fully trained, Dachu doubted the Sergal stood a chance.

> “Well maybe some day you could do it, but not now. You’re still just a bit too small for something like that. Maybe, if you’re ever as big as me, I could help you take one down!”
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> “Thank you Dachi! You’re the nicest dad I ever had!”
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Dachu couldn’t help but smile. So innocent, so kind, and so heartwarming. Children were the happiness in his life, and his very driving purpose. This one especially was charming beyond belief, and the enthusiasm was unsurpassed.

> “Now it’s time to head to sleep, little one. We’ve got a big day ahead of us, don’t we?”
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> “Every day is a big day, Dachi, when you’re around!”
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> “Well I’m going to be here tomorrow! So best to head to sleep then, huh?”
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The Sergal sighed, before allowing himself to be led away by Dachu. Another day had finished, and Dachu was happy. Things had gone fairly well, and it seems misfortune had been avoiding him for a while now.

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>  “Suppose killing a leech brings good luck. Or maybe it just scares away all the bad luck. Either way, I’m certainly not complaining.”
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 Morning soon came, quicker than Dachu had expected. As he woke, a weight could be felt in his stomach. For some reason, something was off today. Something wasn’t right. He had felt this only twice before. One was before one of his children got lost. The other was the day he decided to kill a leech. Either way, he had grown to trust the feeling, and take it as a warning. And since he certainly hadn’t been planning to kill a leech, something had either gone wrong with the children or even Zintarloc. Dachu swiftly glanced over at Zintarloc. Asleep, and fine.

> “One down. Now for all the children.”
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 It was still early, and most were asleep. Dachu quickly moved from room to room, checking on every child. As he came to the last room, he realized one was indeed missing. The young, scrappy one who had stayed up to ask about killing a leech, just last night.

> “He wouldn’t…..surely he wouldn’t…..there’s no way he actually thought he could take one on!”
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> Dachu crossed the room in an instant, to where the child had slept. His fears were realized as he saw upon a piece of a paper, a simple note reading “Off to beat up a leech!”
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> “No…..no why would you…..” whispered Dachu, his spirit broken.
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There was no time to be wasted. He didn’t know how far the child had gotten, but he would save the child, at any cost. Without a second lost, Dachu rushed for the door, stopping only for a moment to grab his mace, abandoning everything else, even his armor.

> “Please, please have tripped. Be slow, or have just gotten out. Please, don’t make it out there. Don’t reach it…..”
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 Dachu was moving with elevated fear, for even though in any other case there was no chance of a lone child reaching a leech, Dachu had been following the intended path of the leech he had killed years ago, only to discover it was not random. It had been heading somewhere, and with fear already floating through his mind, Dachu began to consider the worst of possibilities, that there was an undiscovered nest somewhere near the city, where the Sergal could reach it before he did.

2 minutes. Dachu crossed the city in two minutes, already having adrenaline pump through his body. He had not checked the trail for 3 months, yet he knew exactly where it lead. And even though there was no reason that the Sergal would know about it, for some reason, Dachu was absolutely sure that was where the child had went.

The next moments were a blur. Dachu burst out of the city, running for the spot he knew the trail would end. Time could not be afforded. But before he could even see it, he could hear it. The familiar sound, coming from the moving body of a leech.

> “No. Please just be a leech, without the child. Please, please let the child not know about. Please let him be no-”
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 The thought could not be completed. A single arm, shattered in opposite directions, was lying on the ground. Even in that state, Dachu was able to instantly recognize that it was the Sergal’s arm. Blood was splattered everywhere, and darts were embedded in the ground. It was too late. As the leech took notice of Dachu, shifting upwards to face him, Dachu was instantly overcome with blind rage. He had sworn he would never hunt a leech again. He did not think this would happen. Nowhere in his mind did he ever predict such an event. A child, one of his, dead by a leech. Even at the cost of his own life, this monster would pay with its life. As he came to bear upon the leech, his adrenaline pumped more fiercely than before. His mind was completely gone as the chemical overwhelmed him, and before the leech could even fire a volley of darts Dachu was swinging down with his mace as hard as possible.

 The mace solidly impacted, this time not breaking like the halberd had once before. Dachu had it reforged this mace, this time designed for sheer durability rather than lethality. Had he wanted to, he could have kept using it. But even that sensible thought had left him. His normally soft voice was now terrifying, as he roared and shrieked, reaching vocal levels not normally possible. He abandoned his mace, charging forward with his head leveled directly at the leech. Even as darts freely cut through his fur, he smashed into the dome of the leech. The sheer force of it pushed the leech back, as Dachu’s hands scraped at the mouth, hoping to tear it open. Before the leech could do anything, Dachu leapt back then charged forward once more, using his own head as a battering ram to bring the creature down. Even as Dachu’s mind was filled with pain, he continued to press forward, cracking the carapace of the leech through his sheer strength. Another volley of darts flew, but it mattered not. Dachu was no longer simply hunting a leech. He was avenging one of his children, and with it, releasing his long held anger and stress. The leech attempted to move back, trying to get clear of Dachu, repositioning itself. This was a mistake. Dachu immediately grabbed his mace, and instantly brought it down upon the head of the leech. More cracks formed in the armor, before the mace was swiftly tossed aside again as Dachu tore forward, intending to use his head to break open the leech’s. There was not even enough time to react for the leech. Dachu smashed through the beak of the leech, and moments later his hands were going for the eyes and brain of the leech itself. Dachu’s own skull was cracked from the intense pressure, but he would not be slowed. Cuts had formed all over Dachu’s head, and his eyes were blinded from his own blood, yet he did not need to see. The leech screamed in pain, as its very eyes were ripped out, pulped in an instant as Dachu responded with his own scream. Without a second thought, Dachu used his very own mouth to tear through the inside of the leech, burrowing to the brain. The leech could not resist. Its very being was overwhelmed by the aggressiveness of Dachu, and moments later the brain was torn out by Dachu, screaming beyond all vocal possibilities.

This was the second leech Dachu had killed, once more all on his own. Any other person would have celebrated victory, or felt relief at survival. Dachu, however, was heartbroken. His whole body was wracked in pain, with three-year old wounds reopening, like a hook carving into his skin, stretching from the past. As the leech’s body slumped to the floor, Dachu could only collapse and cry. He had failed to protect the child, and even with vengeance exacted, it was still mind-breaking for him. No matter what he did, Dachu could not hope bring the child back. And so, tears flowed from Dachu, for with the release of his stress and anger upon the leech, so too fell his grief.

Zintarloc would find him in the same spot, hours later, still crying. He understood instantly what happened, as he saw the Sergal’s arm lying on the ground. But he realized there was nothing that could be done. And so, Zintarloc was barely able to coax Dachu back, who despite everything, would never fully recover from the loss of a child. It was a permanent pain for Dachu, something that would always torture him for the rest of his life. Even as Dachu’s mind processed the fact that he had lost more of his life in this act, he did not care. Those years were worthless, compared to the entire life of a child. And nothing could convince Dachu otherwise.

Years later, he still remembered. But instead of anger and stress, all Dachu could feel was sadness for the memory of what happened that fateful day. No one besides Zintarloc was even aware that the Sergal was killed by a leech that Dachu had then killed. It was a secret, a failure of Dachu that he kept hidden, as to reassure the children. The leech’s body had been left where Dachu had killed it, and Zintarloc also held himself to never mention it. Yet, this buried history would be the one that followed Dachu most closely, taunting him daily of a failure he could never correct. But all Dachu could ever do was strive forward, caring for others, while reminding himself to never make the same mistake again. And so, the memory would pursue him until the end of his days, like a devil on a shoulder, malicious and always whispering.