Shield up! Protect the mage!"
The tank's command still hung in the air when the cavern erupted in blinding light. The mage's spell exploded outward, revealing three monstrous shapes charging from the darkness—each one a nightmare of muscle, gnashing teeth, and glistening, blood-slicked fur.
"Shit—three Menators! We can't even handle one!"
The young warrior stumbled back, his sword wavering in trembling hands. The lead beast lunged, its massive form moving with terrifying speed, jaws unhinging to reveal rows of jagged, yellowed fangs.
The tank barely raised his shield in time.
The impact sounded like a thunderclap—reinforced oak exploded into deadly splinters, shards embedding themselves deep into the tank's forearm. The force sent him flying backward, his arm twisting at a grotesque angle, bones snapping audibly before his body struck the cave wall with a sickening crunch. His helmet caved inward, the metal buckling under the force, and blood gushed from his shattered visor, pooling beneath his twitching body.
"Craige—!"
The mage rushed forward, her boots slipping on the damp stone now slick with fresh blood. She fumbled for a healing potion—then froze.
Craige lay motionless, his breathing shallow and wet, each exhale a bubbling gasp. Blood trickled from his ears, nose, and mouth, his armor crumpled inward like a crushed tin, jagged edges piercing his ribs. His left eye had swollen shut, the other staring blankly, pupil blown wide with shock.
"No… no, no—"
Her scream echoed through the cavern, raw with grief. The Menators circled, their yellowed fangs dripping with saliva, their growls rumbling like distant thunder. The largest of them dragged a claw along the stone, leaving deep gouges, its nostrils flaring as it scented her terror.
Across the cave, the last swordsman stood rooted in place. His wide eyes met hers—filled with the kind of primal terror that turns men into cowards.
"I-I'm sorry!" he choked out, his voice breaking. "I can't—I won't die here!"
He turned and fled, his footsteps splashing through the growing puddle of Craige's blood before fading into the dark.
The mage didn't call after him. She clenched her fists, tears streaking through the dirt and blood on her face as the beasts closed in. The largest Menator reared up, its claws glinting in the dim light—then swung.
The blow connected with a wet thud, tearing through her robes and flesh alike. A deep gash split her chest open from shoulder to hip, ribbons of skin and muscle peeling back as she was lifted off her feet. She crashed to the ground in a heap, gasping, her fingers scrambling at the ruin of her torso, trying in vain to hold her own insides in. Blood poured between her fingers, hot and thick, her breath coming in ragged, choking spurts.
The Menator loomed over her, its breath rancid with decay, saliva dripping onto her face as it prepared to finish the kill.
But she still breathed.
For now.
Then—
A knife whistled through the air, embedding itself in the lead Menator's eye. The creature roared, clawing at its face in agony.
The other beasts whirled as a group of armed figures emerged from the shadows.
"Jen, Jack! Handle the ugly ones—I've got the girl!"
A young woman stepped into the light—Sylvie, her expression fierce. She sprinted to the wounded mage, dropping to her knees beside her.
"Hold on," Sylvie murmured, uncorking a high-grade healing potion. The liquid glowed as it sealed the worst of the injuries. "You're safe now."
Behind them, Sylvie's teammates made quick work of the remaining Menators, their movements precise and lethal.
The mage's voice was barely a whisper. "D-Did you find…?"
Sylvie's jaw tightened. "The coward who left you? Yeah. He's with our team."
The mage's eyes welled with tears—relief, grief, exhaustion. No more words were needed.
As the group gathered the Menator horns and prepared to leave, Sylvie helped the mage to her feet. Together, they carried Craige's body home—followed by the trembling swordsman, his head bowed in shame.
Back at the Dukedom of Venator, sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows of Elizabeth's chambers as Lena prepared for the final treatment.
"This is the last one," Lena said, her hands glowing with golden light above Elizabeth's reclined form. "After today, you'll be completely healed."
Elizabeth smiled warmly. "I'm just relieved you didn't have to exhaust yourself like that first time. I still wake sometimes remembering how pale you looked."
Lena chuckled, the magical light pulsing gently. "Neither did I. That initial treatment two weeks ago was... more intense than I anticipated."
As the glow intensified, Elizabeth studied Lena's delicate features. "Even now, I can scarcely believe you're one of the Fair Folk. That glamour you maintain is remarkable."
Lena's hands faltered momentarily before steadying. The duke, standing nearby, quickly interjected, "Our promise stands, Lena. Not even the royal physician knows your secret."
Releasing a slow breath, Lena nodded. "Thank you." With a final surge of light, she stepped back. "There. You're healed completely now."
Elizabeth sat up, marveling at her renewed strength. She clasped Lena's hands in her own. "How can we ever repay this gift?"
Before Lena could respond, the duke clapped his hands together. "First, with celebration! The banquet hall awaits."
As they moved to join the others, Elizabeth kept her arm linked with Lena's, their laughter echoing down the sunlit corridor.
The banquet hall doors swung open to thunderous applause as the duke, Lena, and Lady Elizabeth made their entrance. Noble guests, maids, and butlers alike cheered, raising glasses to Elizabeth's full recovery. The trio moved through the crowd, exchanging pleasantries, but Lena's eyes kept searching the room.
"Duke Venator," she finally asked during a lull, "where's Kael?"
The duke's smile faltered. "I owe you an apology, Lena. He departed on a mission with Captain Ludger this morning. He... requested I not tell you."
Lena's grip tightened around her goblet. "What mission?"
One day before the mission
Kael and Ludger are having a sparring session after Ludger trained his solders. Swords and spear clashing against one another. "Come now Kael! Put your back into it!" Ludger pushed Kael back as he swung to his body.
"I'm trying the best I can do with the skill I have!" Kael lunged forward, his spears tip inches from Ludgers eye. As if time slowed Ludger moved to the side and used the handle of his longsword to hit Kael in the stomack. Kael collapsed "I-I surrendered." Ludger laughs at Kael as he was on his knees holding his stomack.
Duke Venator marched into the training grounds. "Ludger, Kael. I have a mission for you and two others of your best scouts. Go to Baron Fan's territory and find out why he has been silent for so long. Baron Fan has never declined my invitations.
Ludger and Kael saluted at the duke and then Kael stepped forward "Duke, please don't tell Lena about the mission…It would only worry her." The duke nodded and then walked off.
"Get ready Kael, tomorrow we'll see how you handle yourself in the field."
Present
"Just routine reconnaissance near the border," the duke said smoothly. "Nothing to trouble yourself over."
Forcing a smile, Lena excused herself and stepped onto the balcony, the night air doing little to cool her rising concern.
Beyond Venator's borders, in Baron Fan's territory, chaos erupted.
"Fall back! Now!" Ludger's command cut through the screaming.
Kael and two elite soldiers sprinted through the forest, their armor clanking with each desperate stride. "What in the Seven Hells are those things?" Evander gasped between breaths.
"Dragonhunters," Kael spat. "Abominations that grow stronger with every kill."
Ludger suddenly skidded to a halt, spinning to face the pursuing horrors. "Go! Warn the duke!" He brought his sword to salute—fist to heart, twice—the soldier's farewell.
As his men fled, Kael planted himself beside Ludger.
"I'm staying."
"Don't be a fool!" Ludger roared. "You've got your whole—"
"I've fought these before," Kael interrupted, a grim smile twisting his lips. The first dragonhunter lunged, only to meet Kael's spear through its skull. Ludger's aura-bladed sword cleaved another in twain.
Then five more emerged—larger, their maws dripping fresh blood, teeth like daggers glinting in the moonlight.
Ludger's face paled. "Kael, you need to—"
"Captain," Kael said urgently, "what you're about to see... swear to me it stays between us. Not even the duke can know."
After a heartbeat, Ludger nodded.
Kael tore off his shirt, revealing a tapestry of scars that made Ludger whisper, "Gods, what battles has this boy survived?"
With preternatural hearing, Kael caught every word. He glanced back once—then his body erupted in transformation. Obsidian scales armored his limbs, vast wings unfurled like a nightmare given form, and his eyes burned with hellish light.
Ludger stumbled back, sword half-raised in instinctive dread.
Then the half-dragon moved.
The battle became a blur of fang and claw. Kael moved like living shadow, but the enhanced dragonhunters matched his speed. A glancing blow tore across his back, drawing a pained snarl. Something primal stirred in Kael's chest—a fury begging to be unleashed.
Back at the estate, two bloodied soldiers burst into the courtyard. "Fetch the duke!" they demanded. "Emergency report!"
Venator arrived scowling. "This had better—what in heavens name?"
The soldiers exchanged glances. "My lord... we need to speak privately." Their ashen faces told more than words ever could.
In Fan's territory
Kael's world narrowed to the pounding in his skull and the feral glow of dragonhunter eyes. His spear thrust went wide as another wave of agony crashed through his mind.
"KILL THEM ALL!"
The voice wasn't his own—yet it came from deep within, slithering through his thoughts like poison. His vision pulsed red as he clutched his temples, scales rippling across his skin uncontrollably. The transformation wasn't just physical anymore—something darker was taking hold.
A shadow loomed over him. Too late, Kael looked up to see talons descending—
CLANG!
Steel met claw in a shower of sparks.
"Get your head out of your ass and fight, soldier!" Ludger roared, muscles straining against the monster's weight. Blood dripped from a gash across his brow, but his stance never wavered. "I didn't stay behind to watch you die!"
The captain's sword screeched as he forced the beast back, giving Kael one precious moment to breathe—to remember who he was. The red haze flickered at the edges of his vision, the bloodlust momentarily held at bay by Ludger's unshakable presence.
Kael's fingers found his spear. The weapon felt foreign in his half-clawed grip, but the weight was familiar. Somewhere beneath the rising fury, the boy who fought for his friends still remained.
Kael rose to his feet, scales still rippling across his arms. "We fight together now," he said, locking eyes with Ludger. The captain gave a single, firm nod before they turned to face the threat as one.
Dukes estate
The two surviving soldiers stood rigid before the duke's mahogany desk, their armor still splattered with grime. "Your Grace," the senior man began, voice hoarse, "it started when we reached Baron Fan's territory..."
Baron Fan's Territory - Morning
The four men crossed into the barony under a sickly yellow sky. No guards greeted them at the border; no farmers worked the fields.
"Place is a damn ghost town," muttered Joll, scratching his stubbled chin.
Ludger's hand rested on his sword hilt. "We'll proceed to the baron's mansion. Stay alert." Though his tone remained steady, Kael noticed the tension in his jaw.
As they moved through deserted streets, Kael kept his voice low. "You think something happened here?"
Ludger's eyes scanned the shuttered windows. "This was the liveliest market square in the duchy last summer. Now?" His boot kicked a child's abandoned doll. "Something's very wrong."
The Baron's Mansion
The grand doors hung ajar, revealing only darkness within. No guards challenged them; no servants scurried about.
"Gods, this is wrong," one soldier whispered, his voice echoing through the vaulted hall.
Ludger froze. "Blood. Fresh." He drew his sword in one fluid motion.
Kael gagged as the metallic stench assaulted his enhanced senses. The odor grew overwhelming as they pushed open the ballroom doors—
—revealing a mountain of corpses reaching the ceiling beams. Men, women, children stacked like cordwood in a grotesque pyramid. One soldier retched violently.
Crunch.
The wet sound came from beyond the pile. Ludger peered around the mass of bodies to see a nightmare made flesh—a hulking beast with obsidian scales feasting on the baron's remains.
"Dragonhunter," Kael breathed, his blood running cold.
Ludger raised three fingers—their attack signal—when the ceiling exploded above them. A second monster landed with earth-shaking force, its roar shaking dust from the rafters.
Before they could react, a third emerged from the corpse pile.
"RUN!" Ludger's command tore through the chamber as the horrors lunged.
Present - Duke's Study
The soldiers stood at attention, their uniforms still streaked with dirt and sweat from their harrowing retreat. "We reached the forest edge," the senior man reported, his voice tight, "but the creatures were gaining fast. That's when Captain Ludger gave the order—he and Kael stayed behind to hold them off while we rode ahead."
The duke's fingers whitened around his armrests. For a long moment, the only sound in the opulent study was the crackling of the hearth. Then Venator leaned back in his high-backed chair, the leather creaking as he drew a slow breath through his nose.
"Mobilize the Third and Fifth Regiments," he commanded, his voice like tempered steel. "Full battle readiness. And send word to the capital—we may need the Royal Mages."
The soldiers snapped their fists to their chests in perfect unison—the double-tap salute echoing through the chamber—before turning sharply to carry out their orders.
The Battlefield
Steel shrieked against claw as Kael and Ludger fought in perfect sync—Ludger's greatsword carving arcs of silver while Kael's spear darted like a striking viper between the captain's defenses. Their movements flowed as if choreographed, yet the circle of snapping jaws tightened with each passing second.
"Damn it!" Ludger roared as his aura-blade flickered weakly. Sweat and blood streamed down his face. "They heal faster than we can wound them!"
Kael barely deflected a swipe that would have gutted him. "We need—" A claw grazed his ribs, "—a new plan!"
Then came the breakthrough. Kael's spear found an eye socket, punching through bone with a sickening crunch. The beast collapsed.
"Four left!" Kael panted.
Ludger's answering laugh was wild as his sword severed another head. "Three, boy!"
Their eyes met—a fleeting moment of triumph—before Ludger pivoted to block an incoming assault. Kael used the captain's broad back as a springboard, launching himself onto a creature's skull. His spear plunged downward just as Ludger's blade flashed horizontally—head and body separating simultaneously.
"Two!" they shouted together.
The remaining dragonhunters were different—larger, their maws dripping thick saliva that sizzled where it struck the ground. When they attacked in unison, Kael barely raised his scaled arms in time. The impact sent him skidding past Ludger, tearing furrows in the earth.
Ludger charged with a wordless battle cry, but his unpowered blade merely pinged harmlessly off the beast's hide.
DING.
The metallic ring seemed to hang in the air. Before Ludger could react, the creature's bladed tail whipped around—punching clean through his abdomen and lifting him like a ragdoll before flinging him at Kael's feet.
"Ludger!" Kael's voice cracked as he dragged himself toward the captain. The man's breaths came in wet, shuddering gasps, his lifeblood pooling beneath him.
Then—a voice like crystal shards piercing his skull:
"Kael! Can you hear me?"
"A-Althea?" Kael's mental voice trembled. "But this isn't—"
"No time! I'm forcing a full transformation. You'll have minutes—maybe less. Kill them and get out. Understood?"
As the dragonhunters advanced, Kael watched a drop of Ludger's blood seep into the thirsty earth. "Understood."
Agony erupted in every cell. His bones snapped and reformed; his skin split as obsidian scales erupted across his body. When he vomited, it was a torrent of blood and fire. The last human sound he made was a scream—then the forest shook with the roar of a fully awakened dragon.
The grand ballroom's festive atmosphere shattered as the double doors burst open. Duke Venator strode through the entrance flanked by a contingent of armored guards, their polished breastplates reflecting the chandelier's light like grim warnings. The orchestra's melody died mid-note as hundreds of confused faces turned toward the disruption.
At the raised dais, Vice-Captain Soren - still clad in sweet stained training gear - brought his gauntleted fist down on the banquet table. The crystal goblets trembled as his battlefield-honed voice carried across the hall:
"By order of His Grace!" The vice captain's announcement cut through the murmurs like a blade. "All guests are to immediately return to their estates. The duchy's borders will be secured within the hour."
A wave of alarmed whispers swept through the nobility. Ladies clutched their pearls while gentlemen's hands instinctively went to absent swords. Before protests could form, squads of guards in Venator colors began ushering attendees toward the exits with military precision.
Near the champagne fountain, a baroness dropped her glass. The shattering crystal punctuated the sudden evacuation like a funeral bell.
Lena sprinted through the emptying halls, arriving breathless beside Lady Elizabeth as they intercepted Duke Venator. "Willhelm, what's happening?" Elizabeth asked, her fingers tightening around her husband's arm.
"Not here," the duke murmured, his voice low but commanding. He guided them swiftly to his private study.
When the heavy door clicked shut, Venator gestured to the chairs before his desk. "Sit. Please." The words carried the weight of impending doom.
Lena remained standing, her knuckles white on the chairback. "Where is Kael?" The question came out as barely more than a whisper.
Elizabeth placed a steadying hand on Lena's arm. "Willhelm, tell us what's happened to Kael and Captain Ludger."
The duke sank into his chair like a man bearing the world's weight. "The mission to Baron Fan's territory... it uncovered something monstrous." He hesitated, then forced out the words: "Until we have confirmation otherwise, they're presumed lost in action."
Lena's knees buckled. Elizabeth caught her elbow, guiding her into a seat as the girl's voice trembled. "Presumed dead? That's impossible—"
Venator slid a parchment across the desk. The charcoal sketch depicted nightmare incarnate—a hulking, scaled creature with too many teeth and eyes that seemed to follow the viewer.
Lena's breath hitched. Her fingers trembled as they hovered above the drawing. "Dragonhunters," she whispered. Then louder, her voice cracking: "These are dragonhunters! They're far more dangerous than anyone here could possibly—"
Elizabeth interrupted gently but firmly. "Willhelm, what exactly happened?"
The duke's shoulders slumped. "The entire barony... gone. When our men arrived, they found only these creatures feasting on the remains. Ludger and Kael held them off so the others could escape and warn us."
Lena shot to her feet, the sketch crumpling in her grip. "Then we go back! We can't just—"
"Lena." Elizabeth's voice was steel wrapped in velvet. "Breathe. We will find the truth. But first, we need to understand what we're facing."
The duke reached for a fresh piece of parchment. "Then tell us everything you know about these... dragonhunters. Every weakness, every vulnerability."
Lena's eyes darted between them, her chest heaving. For the first time since her arrival at the estate, true fear shone in her eyes—not for herself, but for what might have become of the young man who'd stood by her through everything.
Kael soared just above the treetops, Ludger's limp form cradled in his massive talons. The wind roared in his ears, but Althea's voice cut through clearly:
"Kael! You need to land now—the transformation won't last!"
"I... c-can make it," Kael growled through clenched teeth, each wingbeat sending fresh agony through his draining body. The duke's estate still lay miles away, its lights barely visible on the distant horizon.
Then the world began to spin. His wings faltered. The dragon's form melted away like smoke in the wind, leaving only two figures plummeting toward the unforgiving earth.
With the last of his strength, Kael twisted mid-air, taking the full impact on his own body. Bones cracked as they struck the ground. Blood filled his mouth—hot and metallic—but he forced himself onto his elbows, vision swimming.
A cave. Shelter.
Gritting his teeth, Kael dragged Ludger's unconscious form across the rocky ground, each movement sending white-hot pain through his ribs. Inside the damp darkness, he tore strips from Ludger's shirt, binding the captain's ghastly wound with shaking hands.
"J-just hold on..." Kael's whisper was barely audible over his ragged breathing. His fingers slipped against the blood-soaked fabric. "We're... so close..."
Then his body betrayed him. His arms gave out first, then his vision tunneled into nothingness. The last thing he felt was the cold stone against his cheek as darkness swallowed him whole.