Draconian Bonds

Chapter 4: The Head Hunter

Thoughts ran through his mind as he trudges through the woods. I have failed my lord... What will he say? Thought the hunter.

The woods were dark with the warm night. If there was a moon out, he could not see it through the thick trees, trees as far as the eye could see, with the sound of animals that lurk in the night. A wolf howled in the distance but the hunter knew that it was too far to be concerned with. He knew that there are things that are worse than wolves.

The hunter trudges on as he mutters to himself. Then he takes out a sword and stabs it in the ground. "I nearly lost this precious gift from my lord," he mutters. "That damn brat just came out of nowhere and messed everything up."
The hunter then starts pacing around his sword. "Who did he think he was!?" he exclaims angrily. "Acting all courageous and where did that power come from!? He nearly killed me AND I nearly lost this dear gift from my lord!"
He stops pacing and places his hand on the hilt of the sword. Memories of how he got the sword after he captured a black dragon, a rarity of their kind in this country. Which the lord then used its scales to create this sword.
The hunter then picks up his sword and keeps trudging through the woods, muttering to himself.

He spends a few hours muttering and trudging in the dark. The hunter then stops again and thinks of the fight with the boy. That strange power with the water and his eyes, he thought. That was something no normal human can do. But I don't care what he is, I swear that he will pay for the humiliation that he caused me!

The hunter starts running through the woods, full of anger and bloodlust. "I need to kill something," he mutters. "That's how angry he had made me!"
He then starts laughing but stops as soon as he comes across a clearing.

The clearing was flat and trees circled the area. The moon above shone itself onto the clearing with a pale light. The grass and trees looked faded within the moonlight. The hunter put his back against a nearby tree and waited.

A few low guttural growls  sounded from the clearing behind him. The hunter peaked his head around the tree to see three creatures in the moonlight.

The creatures were black with what looks like white bones coming out of their skin. They looked as though they could be wolves if not for the bones coming out of their legs and back.

The hunter put his back against the tree again and started to think of how he was going to kill those moon touched. Should I try to have them slowly die with poison? The hunter thought. Or should I kill them quickly by cutting their heads off? So many choices to choose from.

The hunter then looks up and then he got an idea. He stealthily reached his hands out to the tree to find a way to climb them. As soon as he found a hold, he started to climb up the tree until he found a branch that was low enough that if he fell, he could land without getting hurt. The branch was high enough that he was hidden from the creatures.

He steps onto the branch and looks down to see the creatures are circling the clearing. He took out two silver daggers and covered them with a deadly poison that he keeps on him at all times.

The waiting game then begins as the hunter waits for the right moment to strike. One of the creatures stalked towards the tree that the hunter was in. When the creature came close enough, the hunter jumped from the tree with his daggers in each hand and stabbed the back of the creature. Right where the creature's lungs would be.

The creature then screeches and starts running as the hunter takes one dagger to cut its throat. The creature collapses with black mist steaming from the body and black blood spills onto the ground.

The hunter turns and switches his daggers for his sword before he meets the eyes of the other two creatures. The top half of their heads were white from their skulls showing. Their eyes were red like the color of blood.

The hunter then presses the button on the hilt of his sword. Liquid starts to coat the edge of the sword and drips onto the ground. The grass immediately starts to wither as the liquid touches it.
The creatures leap at him at the same time. With one slash, the hunter slices both of their exposed bellies and fell behind him.

The hunter starts to put away his sword when he heard a blood curdling scream. He turns quickly to see that he made a mistake. He left one of the creatures alive. The screech woke the dead creatures back to life as they stumbled back onto their feet.

The hunter starts to laugh hysterically as he thought that this was going to be too boring but was proven wrong. A small wind starts to pick up and the hunter uses this and swings his sword. The poison slings from the sword and hits two of the creatures. They start to claw at their burning flesh as the poison slowly kills them.

The hunter then rushes at the creature that screeched and takes out a dagger. He throws the dagger at the last of the original three and beheads the last creature.

The hunter starts to walk away and puts his sword away when he heard another but louder blood curdling scream. He quickly looked around but saw only the bodies becoming black mist. Then he notices that the blood was moving towards the center of the clearing and he knew that he stayed here too long and starts running.

A dim light comes into veiw as the hunter stops to catch a breath. The light looks like a normal fire and the hunter starts walking towards it when he catches his breath a bit. When he got close enough he heard a voice. "Halt!" says someone running from the camp. "Who are y-" the man stopped as he saw who it was and stood up straight. "My apologies Sloan, I didn't recognize you for a second."
The man wore a leather torso with a tan hood with which his long brown hair wasn't completely covered and brown boots. He also had two daggers tied behind his back and a long sword strapped on his back.

"Its fine," says Sloan slightly annoyed. "Just as long as you get me a drink."
He starts walking towards the center of the big camp with many tan tents and a few campfires.
"Um sir?" says the hunter.
"What is it?" says Sloan, getting more annoyed with him.
"The lord wants to speak with you."

Sloan stops immediately. The lord already wants to talk to me!? Thought Sloan. I don't know what to say to him though.
"Where is he?" asks Sloan nervously.
"He is in your tent sir." says the man.
Sloan nods and heads towards his tent. His tent was the largest of all the tents. He moved the flaps aside as he went in and saw only the fire in the middle.

He walked closer to the fire until he heard the fire sparked and an outline of a hooded man shows up in the fire.
"I see that you have finally returned Sloan," says the lord in a smooth voice. "I was beginning to think that you would never return."
"Well I am here all in one piece." says Sloan nervously.
"Is something the matter?" says the lord as the figure in the fire turns toward him.
"Its nothing," starts Sloan. "Its just..." He pauses for a moment.
"What is it?" asks the lord, his voice starting to sound raspy.
"Its just that me and my men encountered a white dragon in the woods," Says Sloan. "We tried to capture it when a mettlesome boy intervened and they killed my men."

The lord turns his head slowly.
"But!!" Sloan adds quickly. "The boy wasn't some ordinary boy as he showed powers and speed not of an ordinary human but of something else. His eyes also changed too, for they weren't that of a human's either."
The wood in the fire moved and caused the fire to flare up. "I don't care who the boy was!!" Yelled the lord in a really raspy voice. "You just costed me the dragon that I have been searching for so many years!!"

Sloan slunk back a bit and the lord seems to regain himself a bit. "You have failed me," says the lord, his voice still a bit raspy. "I have sent one of the seven to capture the dragon. You will remain here until I have ordered you. Do I make myself clear?"

Sloan nods, worried of what will happen. "Good." says the lord, his voice become smooth again. "He should be there any second now. I also hope you give more promising reports from now on."

The figure vanishes from the flame as it dies down a bit. Then a flap from the tent flew and a man entered.

He was big and muscular, with long brown hair and brown eyes. His hair is sticking out in all places. It goes down to his shoulders and he also has a long scar over his left eye. He looks as though he is about a foot taller than Sloan. He is wearing light armor and a giant hammer that looks like it's made out of stone.
"I hear you have a dragon problem," says the man. "Well, Archie the alpha of the werewolves and one of the seven is here to take care of that!"

Archie smiles with a couple of fangs showing as he lets out a hearty laugh.