An Unknown Castle Somewhere In Avalon...
"Sir!" A loud voice announced. A solider ran through the halls of a large castle sliding to a stop in front of a door as he breathed heavily. "Its Imp sir... He's... He's dead, I fear."
"You fear..." A voice asked in a questioning tone.
Past the door that the solider stood at, and within the room was a simple stone room lit by candle light. A young man could be seen standing within the room. Not much of him could be seen due to the darkness. All that could really be made out was the fact that he was dressed in a simple black business like suit complete with a red tie.
"Lord Pride." The solider announced getting onto a knee and placing his hand over his heart as he gave a bow. "The Dragon Known as Imp seems to have perished sir. We have not heard back from him, and the home he had claimed as his has burnt down along with several bodies being located. I searched the area and found out two strange people had entered it."
"I see... Imps dead. No worries. It isn't as if he was a serious member. They couldn't even evolve to a higher stage. That fool Count of the New World can always make more. You mentioned these two people? Who are they?"
"I was unable to get names sir as the villagers were never informed. However many reported that one of them was a young male, who had grey hair as well as a milky white eye that they assumed was blind."
"Ahh. A Marked. Its been a while since I've seen one of them." The man who seemed to go by Lord Pride let out a few amused sounds as he crossed his arms. "And what of the second one? You said there were two did you not?"
"Yes sir. The second was a woman and believed to be a member of one of the ten Guilds, of Arcane Hunters, that serve the King. She was said to have expensive gear to so she must be a powerful Arcane Hunter and a high ranking one. Unlike the first though she wasn't said to have grey hair, nor a milky eye, meaning she can't be one of the Marked. Other than that I am sorry that I don't know anymore my lord."
Lord Pride let out a small hum. "Someone able to slay a Dragon, who is a member of the Guilds... I see. Now this is amusing."
"My Lord?"
"Tell me Parks." Lord Pride said to his trusted warrior. "Despite being a weak pathetic member of our team what do we still do when someone kills one of them?"
"Sir! We get revenge. Imp was a low ranking grunt entrusted to us by one of the Five Devils, but he was still a warrior under our faction of Pride. As such his death is an insult to us at pride!"
The man finally stepped out of the darkness reviling the fact that he wore a black knight like helmet shaped in the form of a peacock and a large metal great sword rested on his back. It was large. The thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron. Many runes all covered it keeping it lit up with a blue glow.
"I think I'm going to have some fun..." Pride mused.
***
"Hey Davi."
"Yeah Tori?"
On the roof of a large castle two boys could be seen. The first was a black haired and yellow eyes Davi Hawker. The other though... He remained unseen due to the fact he was covered in flames.
"This was..." Tori gave a smirk for a moment as he slid off of the roof and began to fall down towards the ground. "Fun." He said before slamming into the ground and becoming a red smear across it from the long fall.
Davi remained sitting a small smirk on his lips. "Yeah... It was."
Davi found himself sitting in a black void with metal arms raising up all around him. Next to him was a pitch black outline of a person who only had a pair of glowing yellow eyes. "Hey..."
"What the hell do you want." Davi sighed.
"I just wanted to talk-"
"Kill yourself dumbass."
"But-"
"Useless."
"I-"
"Pathetic."
"Can't we just-"
"Fucking worthless coward."
"Why are you like this..."
Davi turned away from the shadow as he closed his left eye and his right eye lit up becoming a bright red once more as the white was replaced with black. "I'm... Not a good person. But thats okay. I don't have to be. At least... I don't think."
"But... You used to be."
"Yeah. And I used to have friends."
"...I'm sorry."
"Just. Die."
"...Okay... If... If I had to die I think I'd like to go out sacrificing myself... Going out and saving others also... I... I think we still like saving people right? So... So if we really have to die then why not have us die by saving lots of people. It'd be special and nice. After all its better to be hurt then to hurt others. Just like-"
"Don't. You. Dare. Say. His. Name."
Davi's duel eye colored, orbs, opened slowly as he woke up from his dream staring up at the roof of the carriage...
The carriage pulled down the stone road at a slow pace.
A strange large bird like creature was connected to the wooden carriage pulling it along. It stood on two powerful legs and had a pitch red like fur as well as a large metal like beak. Its wings were to small to allow it to fly but would perhaps allow it to do other things.
Squire rested in the carriage's seat her knuckles white as she gripped the harness. A small scowl on her face as Shelly's words went through her mind over and over again forcing her to replay the words again and again.
In the back of the carriage Davi Hawker rested. He was laid out on his back his left arm wrapped in bandages once more and him staring up at the cloth covered roof using his arms as a make shift pillow.
Silence carried on between the two of them neither of them saying a word.
Finally Davi sighed. "Something on your mind?" He asked casually as he wiped the sleep from his eyes fully waking up.
"...No..." She snapped bitterly.
Davi snorted as he set up his legs crossed over one another as he folded his arms. He leaned back and tilted his head back staring at her his milky white eye staring at the girl. "Really?"
"Leave me alone. I'm only allowing you to ride in the carriage due to your silly debt."
Davi let out a sigh resting his arms in his lap. "Hey. I'm a bit bored okay? I guess you didn't get the memo but... I'm not... I mean I'm not a good person..."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... I can have trouble... Caring..."
"I don't believe that. You're a known liar."
"You don't... Believe me?"
"I'll admit Mr. Hawker. You aren't the best person. And you're not the first kind of person I'd like to have in this carriage. But I think you aren't giving yourself enough credit. The fact that you're even telling me this proves you at least somewhat care." She sighed.
"First time with the Dragon."
"No... I've fought Demons before. I know how they work. They place themselves into the body of someone else wearing them like a flesh suit and rip their way out when they fight, feeding on people." Squire said in a simple tone as she stared ahead of the carriage as it slowly moved down the road. "I'm an Arcane Hunter. Fighting rouge wizards, bandits, Oddity Beasts, and Demons, are what I do."
"That isn't what I meant when I asked you if it was your first time." Davi said shaking his head. "I didn't mean in general. I meant. Was it your first time dealing with a Dragon that took over the body of a little kid."
"O... Oh that..." Squire was silent for a moment. "Yeah... I... I've fought many Demons... Most were in their transformed state though... And the ones that weren't were... Their forms were total strangers... I'm a soldier... I've killed people before. Killing a stranger is nothing new. But... I... For one to take on the form of a little girl... To come to be and pretend like it wanted to work with me... To play so naive... That was... Cruel... Far to cruel."
"I've come to learn they can be as cruel as humans. Dragons are a tricky thing." Davi noted sitting back and using Squire as a back support the two back to back now. "Then again its not to shocking. They used to be human after all..."
"I have a question then."
"Hmm?"
"Actually several. The first being why do you call them Dragons? Dragons were beasts around during the time of King Arthur. Great beasts of the skies. Only Eight were said to have existed and those eight were killed off, hunted down and slain. I'll admit that Demons are weird but... Calling them Dragons?"
"Its just a thing I do." Davi said giving a shark like smile. "Think nothing of it. Its not important."
"I see. In that case my next question. Whats up with... Well... Honestly all of you. Those teeth. That eye. And that left arm of yours. What... What are they?"
Davi reached up poking at his teeth with his right hand. It was wrapped in bandages from the stab he took in it. "My teeth are from my mother. Lets just say all her kids have teeth like these and leave it at that. As for my eye. Well its also what caused my hair to turn white. That Dragon said I was cursed remember. This is a by product of that. It doesn't do much. Its more aesthetic than anything else. And lastly my left arm. Well it was removed. So I replaced it with the Enforcer Stones, or Devil Stones, as some people call them. I'm likely the only cursed person with it. Honestly I've never been good at magic only using my mana to enhance my body so I've always had to use these magical weapons to fight. Now they're inside of me and turn my arm into its sword."
"I see. You really are quiet odd aren't you." Squire said frowning.
"Odd. I take offense to that. I prefer weird. Or strange. Or even sexily bizarre."
"Good luck finding someone who will call you that last one." Squire said flatly. Squire was silent as she stared at him. "Well then. I have one last question that I'd like you to answer."
"Yes?"
"Yesterday... When I thought you were a Demon, you pulled out a Phoenix Flight mark did you not?" She questioned her hand going over to her shoulder where a cloth rested that had the mark of a flaming bird. "This cloth is handed out to us. Its our branding sign. We wear it with pride to show which Guild we're in. You have one. Yet I never once heard the name Davi Hawker? On top of that you are supposed to give up your banner when you leave the Guild and yet you still have yours? Any reason why?" She asked curiously.
"My, my. Quiet the suspicious one aren't you."
"The entire world has been at war for four hundred years... If we're going to be traveling together for some time I would at least like to get to know you."
"I see." Davi nodded his head as he reached into this red tunic shirt pulling out the flag that had his guild marker on it. "Well... As I said last time I showed you it. I was indeed a member of Phoenix Flight. As such I was gifted a Guild symbol when I joined. I used to wear it with pride. Now though. My body has learned to suppress its mana if I need to. Only when I allow someone to sense my energy will they be able to, though skilled people, like you can see through it. Most Dragons simply don't know enough about how our magic works to sense me though. As such I hide my mark so I can pretend to be a normal human and slip away, or later hunt them down. The reason I still have my flag is simple actually. I technically never quit the Guild. Instead I just... Kind of woke up in a strange manner and set out on my quest all alone. So. I guess you could say I'm still a member." He chuckled.
"Your quest?"
"Oh don't worry about that. Its more of a me thing then a we thing."
"...Right... But that doesn't explain why the Master of our Guild would have never mentioned you?"
"...I doubt they want to bring up old memories such as that..."
"Whats that supposed to mean?"
"Once again. Don't worry about it. Its a me thing. Not a we thing."
Squire sighed. "Very well. Keep your secrets strange man. But know that I shall do the same then."
"Thats fine with me." Davi slouched down laying on his side as he stared ahead out of the back of the carriage. His milky white still stared at Squire transfixed on the blue butterfly which rested on her head something she didn't seem to see or feel. "Honestly I have a feeling you'll catch on quick if we were really meant to meet."
"Meant to meet-"
'Boom!'
"What was that!" Squire asked her eyes going wide. Her and Davi set up and stared ahead.
Off in the distance ahead of them was a large city that rested at the end of their road. The plan had been to pass it but currently the cities sky was a dark black as shadowy clouds hovered above it and the city rumbled many lights shooting off into the distance. Davi let out a whistle when he saw.
"What do you know. An Awakening is taking place." He mused.
Meanwhile in the city many men all in the same cloaks as Squire could be seen fighting in the square. All of the men had the same kind of cloak Squire did but theirs didn't have the flaming bird on it. Instead it showed a golden coin, meaning they were in a separate Guild. In front of them many Dragons could be seen. All in their skeletal form.
"Commander Khinn what now!" One of the men yelled out.
Standing atop a hill was their leader. Like them he was in the same cloak with the coin on it. Unlike them though he wasn't human. Instead he looked like a strange lizard man. Blue and white scales all across his body as well as a set of curved horns and a snake like tail. He wielded a large claymore in one hand and a small battle axe in his other. Small puffs of lightning rolled off of him as he gave a smile.
"Keep at it men! We'll wipe out every last one of these Demons!" He announced.
Him and his men charged the metal skeleton like people and got to work slaughtering them all. They tore through the metal beasts with blades and magic many casting spells. This was one of the many jobs of an Arcane Hunter. To slay monsters and demons.
Many of the Dragons fell as the Hunters ripped their way through the horde. Only a handful of the Dragons remained. One of the beasts looked off. Its body was slightly taller and covered in cracks and its red eyes had been replaced with glowing black orbs. It eyed all the soldiers up slowly like an animal that had been backed into a corner.
Then slowly...
Its face twisted into a grin as it opened its mouth as wide as it could the thing getting stretched to the limit as a large black hand came out and grabbed, not the Hunters, but rather the other Dragons, pulling them into its stomach and swallowing them all.
"I don't know what the hell you're doing but don't think I'll just let you get away with it!" Khinn yelled dropping down with his great sword. "Row Lightning Blade!" The lightning seeped out of his sword as he slashed it down.
But it was to late.
A wave of darkness seeped out of the creature as it let out a loud laugh. The darkness formed a bubble around it keeping it hidden from sight as Khinns sword bounced off of it throwing the man back.
Where the creature had been was now just a ball of pitch black darkness...
Something...
Was happening...