Chapter 13: The Hunt

Amani and Iskatl had just joined the adventurer's guild, and Iskatl wanted to waste no time. He went to the quest board and examined it before a specific quest caught his eye: A red dragon was terrorizing a small village in the forest and had been for months. The reward was 10,000 gold and a treasury token. It must have been quite threatening for the reward to be so hefty. Iskatl intended to take out a Dragon Priest, so this wasn't a time to back down.

"Well, Amani? Steel yourself. This is the moment we show our resolve. This is the first step on our quest to stop the War."

"Duh. You don't have to explain yourself to me, silly."

"Sorry... I got excited..."

She'd beckon him over to the quest counter as she went over to the counter herself. There she was, the lady who tended to the counter. A shorter elf woman with moss green hair, and piercing gold eyes. Her mana had an air to it that felt similar to the air back home. She had to be a Druid of some sort, though she wore a blue uniform, buttons clasped on her long sleeved blouse. White cufflinks at her wrists, and finally of course the blue skirt which he could barely make out. She'd bow before he placed the quest paper on the counter.

"Oh? You two have only just joined and you're already after dragons? Interesting~"

"Is that a problem?" Iskatl asked with a head tilt.

"Not at all, just surprising. Most new adventurers pick easier stuff. Here, here." She pulled out a stamp and slammed it against the paper, the words "accepted" now stamped on the paper, with quite the fancy seal to boot.

A deep sigh as he turned to Amani who had kept quiet during the whole interaction. She was fiddling with all of her various pieces of gear, tightening buckles, pulling up her gloves, adjusting the snow white cloak she wore. He could tell that's what she'd been doing during her entire prolonged silence. Suddenly, his head shook as he chuckled and beckoned for her to come with him.

"Let's go, Miss Moon Maiden. No time to waste."

"Heh? Yeah, yeah of course!"

He'd turn the quest sheet over as he walked out of the Guildhall. There was a map on the most direct route to the village. Surprisingly, it was close to the area they were in now. All these guards and a dragon was so bold to be active? Right... This place was full of the rich, that much was obvious. Did they not care about their fellow man? Or, well... elf?

He bit his tongue in frustration. He couldn't help but feel like no matter where he went, things never changed. The rich were always selfish and lacked empathy for anyone that wasn't them. Nodding to the guards on his way out as he placed a hand on his blade. He was told a great power lied within it but over the course of 50 years, it lied dormant, silent at that. He couldn't imagine why that was.

Wandering down the road toward the village, Iskatl shut his eyes and opened them. Narrowed slits gazed in the direction of the village and he saw flames in the distance. An attack was ongoing. Looking to the map, and to Amani, he'd nod softly before his body was covered in flames from head to toe, and he felt the chilling warmth of her moonlight before the two ran forth at top speed down the road. The most direct path mixed with their speed and they found themselves there in moments.

Finally, they found themselves at the burnt ruins of a village. The air was pungent with the stink of death, yet the dragon was nowhere in sight. Iskatl couldn't even detect it's mana at all. Did it leave already?

"LOOK OUT!"

Amani shoved him out of the way, and he smelt her blood in the air as he looked to Amani, claws slashed into her back as he went wide eyed. There it was, the red dragon - surprising that such a large beast would resort to ambush tactics.

Jumping forward, Iskatl went to slash the dragon with his blade, and he was met with what sounded like a clanging of metal. Eyes widened before he went flying, his back hitting a crumbling wall; the dragon's tail had slammed into him before the beast laughed.

"So many cute adventurers come to slay me, so many fall. Where are the heavy hitters? The Paragons? Why do they just send whelps? Though, there've only been two other parties so I suppose I understand."

The beast's neck began to glow before flames spewed from its maw like some wicked biological flamethrower. Right at Iskatl. The blade in his hand began to hum and he held it before him, and any flames that made contact with the blade would dissipate as it began to glow. Examining it with his mana, he could see the dragon's own mana within it. A smirk as Iskatl stood up slowly, shakily.

"Heavy hitters? Do you not know who I am?"

It felt as if the blade was guiding his body. He saw Amani behind the beast, panting and doing her best to recover from the vicious slash. The sun was out, and bright - even with her own source of moonlight, fighting during the day was always unfamiliar terrain to her.

"Amani! Watch out!"

The second she heard that, several barriers of moonlight appeared between her and the dragon as she backed away before Iskatl gripped his blade in two hands, flames covering every inch of his arms before he took a step forward and slashed his blade down. Flames roared and escaped the blade, before being honed into one slender arc of orange energy.

The Dragon went to avoid it but the slash came out too fast and before it could react, it's wing fell to the ground and Iskatl stood there, panting heavily. The Dragon appeared shocked and rushed forward, roaring loudly - the roar seemed equal parts strained and powerful, as if it were both hurt and angry. Iskatl went to dodge but flames spewed from its maw, and went about wildly, he couldn't block, parry, and dodge it all.

Singed by flames, Iskatl stepped back and conjured several energy orbs. He shouted, "Magic Missile!" as the orbs flew toward the dragon and struck its hide. He found himself by Amani's barriers she had erected; looking over to her, she looked a little worse for wear still. Dragons were no joke, even for the Moon Maiden. Though, the Sun's rays did weaken her considerably.

Exhaling deeply, Iskatl tried to regain his composure but his hand twitched as he gazed upon the dragon. Twirling his blade before stepping forward.

"Angry? How silly. Come come, silly little lizard."

He was trying to keep the beast's attention so it wouldn't go after Amani who was recovering. But he also wanted to end this quickly. Looking at the dragon, he could sense it's mana everywhere but from it. A torrent of flames erupted directly behind him before the dragon vanished.

In an instant, the beast was above him, spewing flames all over him. The area was too wide for him to dodge, and thankfully Amani erected a barrier directly above herself to block the flames so she could avoid any further damage.

He was a demon, he was supposed to be able to take flames. His scales shifted and malforming to dampen the fire's heat but he felt himself about to succumb, his eyes closing slowly as he felt himself begin to fade.

Then, he felt his heart was on fire, his mind heating up, every inch of his body felt like it was on fire, and he loved it! His skin was covered in burn scars which immediately dissipated as the fire inside him began to burn hotter than the fire around him. Reaching out, he'd grasp those flames in his hand. Fire had no physical form, it couldn't be touched right? But, commanding the mana and the very essence of the fire the dragon produced, he'd hone it into a ball and shot it back at the beast with even more intensity.

His blood ran hotter than ever, and he felt his heart beating in his chest, and something deep within his veins, something wicked made him feel so very wonderful.

"Well?! Is that all you have, lizard?! Come on, I wanna feel hot!"

An uncharacteristically wide smile lie on his face as flames covered his body and then shot forward viciously, burning even the red dragon's scales. The dragon fell, unable to keep itself up any longer - upon closer inspection, it made a construct of its wing out of flames. This wouldn't stand any longer.

Laughing as he charged forward, his speed accelerated by the flames coursing through his very veins. He covered his blade in flames which it would absorb. Cutting and carving away at draconic flesh, his eyes twitching and that laugh echoing throughout the area as he carved into it, every slash empowered by the dragon's fire which he had absorbed.

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! DIE!!!"

Each repeated statement was accompanied by another slash, then another, then another. Before he even realized it, the dragon was dead but it still existed - and that was a problem. He continued to carve away at it, his laughing only grew before he finally raised his palm.

"PENANCE FLAME!"

Fire erupted from his palm in a wide cone, it felt as if the dragon's sins and its existence itself burned away, and then there were only bones, charred black by flames. It seemed like even Tyrants of Flame had a melting point. Of course, Iskatl of all people proved that.

Next thing he knew, Iskatl had come off his high and fell to his knees. Amani conveniently finished healing before she held him up, smiling softly.

"You're catching up to me, aren't you?.."

His senses reclaimed him and his boiling blood calmed itself.

"Yeah... I suppose I am. Sorry, we should have waited for night to fall."

"At least we got something out of it. Come come, let's go."

Amani was so strange. Sometimes she was angry, sometimes she was understanding and caring. He adored her.