Powder

Prologue

The sandstorm continues to rage on as he climbed the base of the turret. Despite his goggles, he couldn't see anything as the sand bounced off the glassy surface covering his eyes and fell off against his cloth coverings and his mask.

He glanced up as heard the familiar and faint sounds of a Sand Dragon's hissing as it flew closer, the massive wing beats still seemed too far away to be of any concern... at least for now.

He continued to climb till he finally reached the ledge and picked up his grappling hook and putting it back on his belt as he then looked down and took off his gloves, revealing his pale skin as he drew the crude map of his of the stronghold.

"I'll show them all, and then I'll kill that filthy lord." He assured himself as he slowly crawled down towards the giant barrels before finally jumping down on the lid, causing a small thud.

He whipped his head around as he heard the sound of approaching talon-steps and quickly hid on the other side of the barrels as he heard the growling on the other side, it's rumbles growing louder as it neared the barrels. He resisted the urge to pant and breathe heavily in fear, he instead measured his breathing, exhaling and inhaling as slow as possible, barely making any noise as he hid, not that it would matter.

The dragon ended up picking up the barrel right in front of him. Their eyes met for a moment before he threw his sword up towards the dragon, getting it in its eye.

The dragon fell back and let out an agonized roar and alerted the other dragons in the building as it dropped the barrel of black powder, spreading all across the ground in a large black and gray mass.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon!" He muttered to himself as he scooped as much of the powder as he could before the dragon could get back on its talons. He glanced back as the dragon was fuming and roared at him as blood dripped from the eye's slot where the blade was still stuck. He heard a hissing noise from the mouth and started to run and heard the sound of flames crackling as they hit the powder before a thunderous boom sent him flying and crashing against the stone wall before falling to the floor.

After a few moments, his hands slipped against his own blood on the wall while gripping the crevices in the stone wall as he got on his feet and glanced at the splattered remains of the sand dragon, a piece of it there, a piece of it there, and a piece of it way over there, staining the wall. Actually, there was a lot of flesh and blood staining the wall and ground, and half the wall was completely shattered and destroyed, letting parts of the raging storm to enter the room,

He quickly put his mask and goggles back on as he limped his way out in the sandstorm and readjusted his goggles as he used his compass to head north, not at all noticing the two large eyes peering in on him from above. He continued his journey, the blood trail he left behind quickly covered and swept away by the sand before he stumbled as he reached his destination when his face met the wood of the trapdoor. He quickly entered and closed the bunker's door as he took off his extra garments off and lied on the thatch foundation and panting as he looked in his pouch to see his reward.

The black substance practically glowed in his hands before he put it back into the pouch and headed towards the chest where he grabbed some parchments and bandages to tend to his wounds. "Tomorrow, once I buy that horse, I'll go back, claim the glory, then claim Midas's life!" He assured himself as he lit the candle and made sure the wood pipes and filters were steadily providing enough oxygen before going to the cot and laying down, and promptly passing out with his wounds still fresh as he readied himself for the next day, a day that wouldn't come.

***

"They think they can come into my stronghold! And think they can steal my powder without consequences!" She roared as she threw what seemed to the remains of the dragon's head against the wall next to some other parts of the splattered creature.

"My Queen!" A Sandwing called out as they landed in front of her.

The queen let out an irritated sigh and grumbled before addressing the other dragon. "What is it you want, Smolder?" She asked as her barbed tail flicked angrily back and forth.

"I know where it went your majesty!"

Her eyes widened and her tail stopped as she approached Smolder. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I can show you where the scavenger is hiding." Smolder quickly responded as he bowed his head.

The queen regarded him with cold eyes before a wicked grin formed on her face as she smiled. "A scavenger, perfect, now I'll get some of my powder back as well as a good meal, maybe it will be fun to hear it's screams as I rip it limb from limb." She started walking away and motioned for Smolder to lead. "Maybe you aren't so useless after all little brother, and you two!" She turned to the other two Sandwings standing there. "Clean this mess up."

They both bowed and quickly nodded before picking up some of the pieces of the red and yellow remains, while Burn followed Smolder to find her powder and her prey.

***

The candle had dimmed to a low glow as he slept on the cot, his blood had dried at this point but his sheets were stained red. He quickly woke up as he heard the sound of wing beats outside and the small thatch room begun to shake before he felt the dragon land somewhere above him. He sprung to his feet and quickly limped to grab his invention and a metal ball and a rod. He quickly scooped some of the powder into the capsule before sticking the ball inside and jamming it all the way through with the rod before closing the lid and putting the rod on his belt as he aimed it up, with his finger on the trigger.

There was one minute of silence before he heard the faint sound of growling above, close to the trapdoor. His finger tightened but the trapdoor suddenly flew to the ground and with one talon, the entire ceiling was ripped off to reveal the two sand dragons above. Yet he didn't hesitate and aimed his rifle at the one with the crown. His grip tightened and he pressed his finger against the trigger, only for it to be too late as her talon rushed towards him and sank into his skin as she gripped into the human's skin while the metal tool let out a loud, thunderous sound before the metal ball flew and grazed the dragon's shoulder.

The dragon snorted before lifting him up and squeezing him enough that he let out a pained yell as his bones snapped under her pressure. He struggled and panted to no use as the dragon simply lifted him closer to her mouth till it noticed his hand, and his unusual, pale color.

His metal tool fell to the ground and he let out another yell as she squeezed and made a sound resembling a chuckle. "What are you waiting for-" He let out a pained gasp as her claw pierced his back and dragged down, letting the blood flow out of them. He watched and stared back at the dragon as it looked back at him as his vision eventually faded to black, and his body went limp.

***

"At least some of my powder survived." She muttered as she picked up the pouch of powder. She looked back to Smolder and handed him the limp albino scavenger. "Tend to it's body, it'll look appealing on display in my tower."

***