TTotBD Chapter 2-1
The night sky on Dragon Earth could be described as nothing less than a spectacle. Colors of blue, red, and yellow splashed across the dark sky like a dazzling piece of abstract art, lighting up the world in its beauty. Down below, Auron--having retrieved another cloak some time ago--was wandering through the town streets. It had been several weeks since he'd killed Belphegor, and already word had begun to spread about his demise. Rumors were told of how the stench of his corpse brought attention to the back room during a service, and how when they went to check it out they found him already dead. Apparently an investigation went underway, but they could find no evidence on who the killer was. Theories on this mystery killer began to circulate, aided by many children's later confessions about Belphegor's predatory behavior and what he did to many of them. Auron didn't pay much mind to it; he figured it'd be easy to stay out of that story now that he was in the next province over. Within the town, an inn lay quiet, not enjoying much service tonight. Much like the majority of the buildings in the country of Cinum, the inn was supported mostly by wooden posts and beams, with the walls only serving to separate the rooms. The slight curvature of the brick rooftops gave off a sense of elegance to the design. Two stories comprised the inn; the lower tavern level, and the upper bedroom level. Inside the tavern, only a group of six half-drunk soldiers were enjoying themselves, most of them being Catalans. Though they seemed to keep mostly to themselves, they did take some enjoyment out of tormenting the maid offering them drinks. "Oh come on!" one of them shouted, stroking the young wyverness' rump. "Just one night!" The wyverness scowled and tore herself away from him, taking care not to accidentally spill any of their drinks. "My answer is no," she hissed. "I'm a maid, not a whore." "Aw, come on, just one night," he insisted, gently stroking her face. "It'll be fun!" The wyverness lunged and nearly bit his hand. "Go bite yourself!" The others laughed as she hurried away and she resisted the urge to go back and slam each of their faces into the table. She was only in her drakeling years, having taken up the job so that she could hopefully soon have enough money to afford her own place. She walked towards the inn's bar, plopping the metal tray onto a stand and looking around. Inside the tavern, many paintings and carvings decorated the walls, with dim, circular lamps hanging from the ceiling to give the place light. All of the windows were circular, with intricate black designs adding to the aesthetic. "Wow, pleasant company you got here," someone said next to her. The wyverness jumped, startled by the voice. Seated at the table next to her were two dragonets, both appearing to be close to drakehood, one male and one female. The male was the one that spoke to her, an Animan Firewing with crimson scales and arms and legs so black she thought they were charred for a moment. A halberd was planted into the ground next to him, the shaft of which was resting on his shoulder. The female was also an Animan, but a Lightwing instead. She was covered in white scales that outshone any other she had seen, with equally white feathers on her wings. Lonely silver eyes looked down at a crossbow in her hands, almost oblivious to what was going on around her. "What the hell are you two doing here?" she demanded. "This isn't a place for kids." "I know, I know," the crimson said, waving his hand. "We're not here for anything; we just wanted some place to go." The wyverness scoffed. "Not exactly an ideal place to go," she said, looking back at the group of soldiers. "They're unbearable! I can't believe Asmodeus allows them to act like this." "Wait, he lets them?!" the crimson asked. "That's the only conclusion I can draw," she said. "He is our province ruler, after all. Though he could at least take some measures to ensure his soldiers' behavior." She growled and cracked the knuckles on her wings. "Sometimes I wish I could just go over there and teach them a lesson myself." The dragonet looked up to her and smirked. "Why not let us?" The wyverness looked at him in surprise. "Just pay us about 190 pentas," he said with a wink. "I'm sure we can put on an entertaining show for you." The wyverness looked hesitantly at the weapons the two were carrying, both tools designed to kill. She feared what this could lead to and didn't want any trouble. However, when she looked back at the soldiers, she had to admit that the idea seemed entertaining enough. Quickly she came up with a compromise in her head. "Alright, I can't promise anything," she whispered. "But if anything starts to happen, I'll pay you 380 pentas to take them out." "380?" the crimson echoed, dumbstruck. He looked back at his sister and saw that she was still frozen. "That sound like a good deal to you, sis?" "Huh?" she asked, jumping as though snapping back to reality. "Oh, yeah, it does." "Only if something happens, though," the wyverness said. "I don't want any unnecessary trouble here." "Fair enough," the crimson said, leaning back against the table. "We'll stay out of the way until trouble occurs; then we'll take care of it." The wyverness nodded. "Thank you." Without waiting for a response, she headed back to the bar, prepared just in case the soldiers wanted another round. "Oi!" one of them called. "Can we get another round, please?!" The wyverness groaned, not looking forward to getting close to any of them again. However, she pulled her act together and set up their drinks, bringing them over to the table on her tray. As she passed, she nervously glanced at the twins sitting at the table. 380 pentas. Just 380... It wasn't the thought of paying them that bothered her, but the trouble that could come out of it. If a fight broke out, it could cause some trouble for her and could create problems for the bar and her job, especially if someone got killed as a result. Still, a deal was a deal and at least she had someone to help her if the soldiers started to get out of control. Before she knew it, she was forcefully grabbed by the back of the neck and pulled onto the table, making her drop her tray and the drinks along with it. The glasses all shattered on the floor and the drinks spilled over the wooden floor. The wyverness hissed and lashed against the soldier holding her down. "Oh come on, you just spilled our drinks!" one of the soldiers cried to him. "Who cares?" the soldier growled. "I'm having this whore tonight whether she wants it or not." "I am NOT your WHORE!" the wyverness roared, lashing at him with her tail. She struggled furiously, trying to get out of his iron grip. In desperation, she looked back at the twins, seeing that they had already gotten out of their seats and were coming up behind the soldiers. "You won't get away with this," she growled. "Oh yeah? Who's going to stop me, then?" Right after he asked the question, he felt a hard whack on the side of his face that sent him careening off to the side. He stumbled over, releasing the wyverness and gripping his own aching face, allowing her to escape. When he looked up, he saw two dragonets standing over him. "I think the answer would be us," the crimson said with a cocky smile. The soldier growled and pulled himself back onto his feet. All of the other soldiers froze, staring at the twins. The soldier wiped away a bit of blood that had leaked out of his mouth before glaring at the twins. "You're going to regret that, kid," he growled. "I don't regret it," the crimson said. "Well, you're going to." "And yet I don't." "I'm not saying you do, kid!" he roared, advancing on him. "I'm saying that in about five seconds now, I'm going to make you regret it!" "Ohhh!" the crimson cried as if finally understanding. Immediately after his face turned to confusion and he gently scratched his head. "Wait, how exactly are you going to do that?" The soldier nearly stopped, dumbfounded by his question. "Are you trying to mess with me or are you just stupid?" "I don't know, let me think for a second." The crimson gently grabbed his chin in his fingers in an attempt to make it appear as though he was deep in thought. Behind him, his sister was trying hard not to burst out laughing. "No, I'm pretty sure I'm stupid." He turned to look at his sister. "What do you think, sis?" "I'm pretty sure you are," she said, still trying not to giggle. "There you go, then," the crimson said. "That's your answ-" The soldier hurled a clenched fist into the crimson's chest, knocking him back into his sister and sending them both careening onto their backs. They both grumbled as they pulled themselves onto their feet. "Come on, guys!" the soldier called. "Let's get them!" The crimson groaned as he pulled himself up. "Hey, that wasn't very-YAH!" He jumped away as a fist nearly connected with him. The soldier pulled his arm back and swung at him again. The crimson ducked under the strike and hit him under the chin with the shaft of his halberd, knocking him back. The soldier growled and rushed at him again. Before he could lay a claw on him, the white rammed into his side. He grunted in surprise and careened away, stumbling over himself as he careened into the wall. "Nice one," the crimson said to her. The white shot a smile in response. Soon the others had pulled themselves out of their seats and moved to attack them. "Split?" the crimson asked. The white nodded, and a second later the two ran to opposite sides of the rooms. The soldiers followed each of them, three coming after the crimson while the other two went after the white. The crimson turned to face the three soldiers coming at him and stopped, giving a coy smile. "Oh come on, three on one?" he asked, lifting his arms out. "Is that really fair?" "Who said this had to be fair?" one of them asked. The crimson dropped his arms and cocked his head as if thinking. "That's actually a good point." The crimson backed away as they lunged at him. He kicked the center soldier in between his nostrils, sending him sprawling back while the other two continued towards him. He ducked under a second swing aimed at his head, moving away from the soldier on the opposite side. As the soldier closest to him moved to strike again, the crimson grabbed the nearest seat and flung it towards his face. The soldier grunted as the chair struck and stumbled back. The second soldier quickly circled around him and attacked from the side. The crimson ducked away and knocked over a nearby table with his tail as the soldier rushed at him again. Failing to notice in time, the soldier tripped over the overturned table, his face planting itself into the ground. The third, having recovered from the kick previously dealt to him, leapt over the knocked-down dragon and lunged at him. The crimson quickly jumped away and the soldier found his face, too, planted into the ground. "Agh, stop moving around so much!" he cried. "Oh, sorry," the crimson apologized, still holding that grin on his face. "I can't really help myself." Meanwhile in the other room, the white was avoiding every swing that the soldiers threw at her. She ducked under a strike and rammed the butt of her crossbow into the soldier's chest, knocking the air out of him. She jumped away as he stumbled back and the other rushed at her. Quickly noting the light source, she flared her scales, creating a bright burst of light. The light stabbed the soldier's eyes and he soon lost his footing, stumbling into the ground right in front of her. The white cried out as she felt something hard hit her in the side, sending her stumbling away. When she looked back, she saw the soldier who had started the fight was back on his feet. "You'll pay for this, bitch," he spat. At the back of the tavern, the wyverness was watching with wary eyes, observing the twins fight the drunken soldiers. She bit her talons as she watched. Oh dear, this place is going to be a wreck. This was a bad idea--I need to get out of here before anything gets worse. With that last line of thought, she came out through the back of the tavern, intent on alerting the town guards. The twins soon found themselves back in the same spot again, standing back-to-back. Both were panting hard, visibly out of breath. "You two ready to give up yet?" the head soldier asked. "Ha! You wish!" the crimson said, trying to fake the same cockiness he felt before. "Have it your way, then!" The soldier gave the signal and all of the soldiers quickly rushed at the twins. Slam! Everyone froze as the door burst open and a hooded figure walked inside. Time appeared frozen as they all stared at the unexpected guest, noting a sense of coldness that seemed to radiate from his very presence. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Auron asked, not too differently to how he asked Belphegor. "Who's this kid?" one of the soldiers whispered. "I'm not sure, but I already don't like this." The twins watched as the hooded figure slowly advanced towards them. Neither of them knew who he was, but they were feeling pretty similarly to the soldiers; something was definitely off about this person. "Hold it!" the head soldier said, holding his claw out to stop Auron. "Just who are you?" "A simple guest, that's all," Auron said, keeping his voice level. "And you are all soldiers of Asmodeus, right?" "That's correct, and we're in the middle of something here. Now go on home; this isn't a place for kids." "I can't do that just yet," he said, slowly advancing towards him. "I have something to take care of here." The soldier growled at his persistence. "Did you not hear me correctly?! I said we're in the middle of-" His words quickly turned into pained shrieks as Auron's blade tore through his arm. He fell onto his side, madly clawing at the stump where his arm used to be, trying desperately to stop the furious bleeding. All of the others in the room stared nervously at the dragon thrashing around on his side and the severed arm that lay just to the side of Auron. They all looked up at Auron and saw the blood-soaked jian he held in his hand that had been previously hidden behind his cloak. "Yes, I heard you just fine," Auron said. The other soldiers pushed back their fears and charged at him. The twins watched, frozen, as Auron cut down each and every soldier that came at him, barely suffering a scratch from any of them as he ducked and avoided every claw that came at him. Before either of them knew it, ever soldier lay dead on the tavern floor, their blood oozing out of their broken bodies. At least, all were dead except for the one with the severed arm, the same one that had tried to rape the wyverness. The soldier had watched as all of his companions had been struck down. Auron soon turned his attention on him and his eyes went wide with fear. He scrambled away as Auron advanced on him, letting out fearful shrieks as he saw the blood-soaked blade draw closer to him. "P-please!" he cried. "Leave me alone!" "Sorry, but I need a little message to be sent to Asmodeus," Auron said. The soldier soon found his back against the wall and was reduced to mere whimpers. "I-I can d-deliver the message!" he cried. "J-just please, d-don't hurt me!" Auron hesitated for a moment. Unlike with Belphegor, this soldier's cries made him question whether he should really go through with this plan of his, whether this was the right course of action to take. Still, he bit back his thoughts, knowing that this was probably the best way to send a message out to Asmodeus. At least I can make this quick for him. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary," he said, keeping his voice calm as he raised his sword above the soldier's head. "All I need is this to send it." "Wait-" The soldier's voice was silenced as Auron plunged his blade into his skull, killing him instantly. A second later, he pulled the blade out and turned to the twins, who were still frozen as they watched him. "Are you two alright?" he asked. "It looked like I interrupted a fight." "Uhh, yeah, sure," the crimson nervously said. The white merely nodded. "Good," he said. "Anyway, my work here is done. You two take care." With that, Auron turned to the door and made his way there, stepping through the blood of the soldiers. Before he made it very far, he found his path suddenly cut off by the crimson dragonet. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA!" he said, waving his arms in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?" "Leaving, of course," Auron said. "I don't have anything else to do here." "No, I don't think so," the crimson said, advancing on him. "You think you can just walk in here and kill a bunch of soldiers and just walk out?" Well, that was the idea, Auron thought. "I think we're owed a bit of an explanation," the crimson continued, "considering the fact that you likely just put us out of a job that could've payed us some good money." "How much?" Auron asked "380 pentas." "380? That's pretty cheap work, if you ask me." "Yeah, well it'd be enough to feed both me and my sister," the crimson spat. He folded his arms and reduced his voice to a grumble. "Considering it's more than we usually get, I was quite looking forward to it." Auron noticed movement in the corner of his eye and saw the white had her eyes closed like she was sleeping while she was still standing. A second later her eyes shot open and he could see panic in them. "Magnus! Soldiers are coming!" she cried. "Shit!" the crimson said, looking around in panic. "What do we do now?" "These places usually have an exit near the back," Auron said. "Follow me. I think I know where it is." Auron ran towards the back of the tavern and the twins reluctantly followed him.
Soon the three of them found themselves in the alleyway behind the tavern. They made their way through the maze of alleys connected to it until they felt that they were far enough away. The twins doubled over and breathed heavily with fatigue. "We should be safe for now," Auron said. "It'll take them time to find us here; more than enough for us all to get away." "T-thank you," the white said quietly. Auron remained silent and began to walk away from them. "Hold it," the crimson growled, stopping him. "I'd still like an explanation for all of this." Auron gave a frustrated growl. "Look, I got you two out of a lot of trouble and I have some things to take care of. I don't have time to deal with you." "I don't care!" the crimson said. "You just barged into a tavern and slaughtered an entire group of soldiers. I think that's something that's worth explaining." "Look, I'd be a little more willing if we had time right now, but we don't, and my business is my own anyway." "Magnus," the white pleaded, "just let him go. We don't need anything from him." "No way," the crimson whispered back to her. "Who knows what kind of guy this is. He could be a psycho for all we know. Do you really want someone like that running around?" The white gave a small whimper but otherwise didn't respond. The crimson turned back to see Auron walking away. "Hey, I'm not done yet!" he said, stopping him again. "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers out of you." "And if you don't?" Auron asked, turning his eye back to him. "Then maybe I can force it out of you." The crimson pulled out his halberd and planted it into the ground, creating an audible clang as he did so. The white gasped and backed away, surprised by her brother's sudden aggression. "Put the weapon away," Auron said. "If you want to challenge me, I'm afraid I'll have to decline." "I don't really care," the crimson said. "I just took on three soldiers at once." "Who were most likely half-drunk as well," Auron said. He turned away before continuing. "I'm not interested in fighting you; if you feel the need, go take out your anger elsewhere." Before Auron could walk away, he heard the crimson run up behind him and ducked as he swung his halberd at his head. Drawing his sword, Auron turned and swung at him, forcing him back. The crimson charged again and lunged. Auron deflected the strike and backed away as he swung again. He parried a blow to his chest, locking the halberd's shaft in his guard, and kicked the crimson in the stomach, knocking him back onto his knees. The crimson took a moment to catch his breath before charging at him again. Auron avoided and parried each attack with ease, noting every weakness in his form. He sidestepped out of the way of a lunge and found himself backed against the wall. The crimson stepped in front and lunged again. Auron parried the strike to the side and kicked him back, swinging at him to back him up even further. The crimson hit the wall before running at him again, swinging down at him. Auron moved to the right and jumped away as the crimson swung at his blind spot. He moved too slow, however, and the crimson managed to open a shallow cut on his arm. He stumbled back, ignoring the wound. Though it was nighttime, it was no challenge for him to see the damage inflicted. Encouraged by the wound, the crimson rushed at him again. Auron ducked under the swing and rammed into his stomach, knocking him onto his back. He swung down at him, but the crimson raised the shaft of his halberd just in time to block the strike. He wrapped his tail around Auron's ankle and pulled his foot out from under him. Auron fell down on his back. He raised his blade as the crimson swung at him, deflecting the blow before kicking him in the face. Both backed away and got back up to their feet, weapons aimed at each other. Auron noted that the crimson was breathing very heavily and was holding his weapon a lot more loosely. "You want to stop yet?" Auron asked, lowering his blade. "I'll stop right now; I don't even want to fight you." The crimson gritted his teeth and clenched his halberd. "Like hell I am!" He charged at Auron again, and their weapons locked together. Auron gritted his teeth as the crimson's persistence began to frustrate him. "Well if you won't end it, then I will," he said. He pushed the crimson back. Without missing a beat, he unleashed a relentless assault on the crimson, striking him too fast for him to muster up a counterattack. Auron's blade, reflecting the light almost blindingly, whistled loudly as it swung through the air, clanging loudly every time it hit the crimson's weapon. Auron made quick note of every weakness in the crimson's defense and exploited every one of them, moving straight through his guard and landing bruise-inflicting blows and shallow cuts along his body. The crimson struggled to keep up, feeling his footing give way under the relentless assault. Wanting to get the upper hand again, the crimson jumped back, letting Auron's blade strike open air. He jumped back forward, lunging his halberd at Auron's chest. Auron parried the attack, locked the shaft in his guard, and yanked the weapon free from the crimson's hands. The halberd clattered to the ground behind them, right at the feet of the white, who'd been watching the whole fight from a distance. The crimson made a move to retrieve it, but Auron stopped him by pointing his blade at his throat. "Now will you stop with this madness?!" he growled. In that moment, the crimson swore his eyes were glowing. "Our fight is over!" Auron lowered his blade and walked past the defeated crimson, who slowly sank to his knees in fatigue. "Now leave me be." Auron's breath was heavy as well, having exerted much more energy than necessary when he went on the offensive. Not five seconds after walking away, a line of soldiers appeared and blocked off the end of the alleyway. Auron's eyes shot open and he turned and ran back towards the twins. "Soldiers!" he cried. "Run!" He grabbed the crimson by the shoulder and carried him off as the white joined and ran with them. Before they could reach the end, however, another line of soldiers blocked off the way they came. All soldiers on both ends were armed with wingblades--small blades attached to the outer joint of a dragon's wings and commonly used by Catalan soldiers. "Shit," Auron said, drawing his blade as the two sides converged on them. "We're trapped." And in no condition to fight them off. "Well, if it isn't for our little mercenaries," a voice called from in front of them. A lone Animan came forward, presumably the captain. "I wasn't expecting the murder of six soldiers to be caused by dragonets, of all people." Auron fixed himself in place and raised his blade in front of him as the captain advanced. "And look, you even have a Darkwing with you, too," he said with a chuckle. "Honestly, I think Asmodeus will take a very keen interest in you." Auron glared at them, angling his blade to reflect the light of the stars. "Well, just know that I'm not going down without a fight," he said. The captain laughed before flaring his wings open. "SEIZE THEM!"