Rage

"Oh... I had no idea!" cried the large man, before slapping Abe hard enough to knock her over.

"Now, who er you?" he said, walking towards Ashlard.

"My... My my, my name is a-a-a-Ashlard."

"Well... a-a-a-Ashlard," he said with a sneer, the other members of his crew chuckled, "I'm at a loss with the likes of yer. See, I've known Hyit here for a long whiles, I know all his family, and I know his trade, but yer... I don't know yer, so I'm gonna assume you have nothin to do with any o this. So how about we settle for a quick introduction.." Pulling Ashlard close enough that he could smell the wine on his breath, "My name is," and with that the large man slid a large hunting knife between Ashlard's ribs.

Ashlard, too shocked to scream, could only focus on this white hot burning sensation in his chest, falling to his knees he heard Abe screaming his name, turning his head he could see her tear streaked face as she strained against her chains, Quip, stood behind her, white as a ghost, and Hyit had averted his gaze. The large man gave the knife a flick, causing it to bounce around, this sent rods of agony throughout Ashlard's chest, snapping his attention back to the large man.

"Trust me lad," he said, "it's better this way."

One of the bandits undid the chains holding Abe and she threw herself towards Ashlard, only for the large man to grab her by the hair and drag her away, kicking and screaming as she went.

Ashlard was beginning to feel faint, but as he watched Abe being dragged away, he knew he had to do something, he dragged himself back to his feet, one of the men laughed.

"look, poor sods still got some left."

The man approached Ashlard and undid his chains and with a laugh said, "well go on then," and gave Ashlard a kick in the rear, causing him to collapse on all fours. Ashlard felt something soft land on him, as he grimaced and struggled to his feet a second time, he was horrified to recognise the pattern from Abe's blouse. Looking up at the scene in front of him, the large man was covering her mouth with his hand, whispering "sh sh sh sh" to her, as he took a long knife and slipped it into her belly, her eyes went wide and she spat up blood between the man's fingers. The large man stood up, turning and seeing Ashlard staggering slowly towards him, he smiled, a big happy grin.

"OH! Ye found me knife!" He cried, taking two long strides towards Ashlard and yanking the blade free.

Ashlard fell back to his knees, the pain was becoming dull, it was too late for him to help, too dangerous.

"Ye know, I think this looked better on ye than it did me laddie," said the man, before plunging the knife back into Ashlard's ribs a second time. His last thought as the ground rushed to meet him, was of Abe screaming.

Ashlard's world was fuzzy, he could taste blood, but everything was black. He tried to move and found himself partially buried in black dust, he could barely breathe and his whole body hurt, especially his chest, reaching up he was relieved to find the knife had been removed and the bleeding had stopped. He felt so weak, as he pushed himself to his hands and knees, the world swaying slightly, unbalanced under all this darkness. It took him a moment to see that the darkness stopped but a meter away, looking back at his surroundings, there was a post that rose up behind him, from this post was tied a blackened skeleton, it's head hanging limply to one side, it's lower jaw having fallen to the ashes below.

He felt the world shift again and Ashlard collapsed into the ashes, he knew now where he was, he was shocked to realise that even in human form, fire could not harm him, and the ash at least seems to have stopped the bleeding. Suddenly he felt heavy hands grab him, dragging him roughly from the remains of the fire. He begged inside, that if whoever was dragging him sought to harm him, they make it quick. He was dropped limply in a puddle of liquid, opening his eyes, he could see the silhouette of a man kneeling over a woman. It took a moment to realise what he was seeing was Quip, bloodied and bruised, but still very alive, gingerly covering Abe in what was left of her clothing, her eyes staring into the distance, they no longer gleamed with such... life...

"Ashlard, I know you can hear me," Quip said, "I need you to honour her memories, they contain the memories of her child, her child's memory deserve to live on... please..."

Ashlard could only look at Quip's broken face, see such a kind and gentle man barely holding onto his humanity, he could see desperate tears flowing down the man's face, Ashlard knew what he wanted from him. Rolling onto his front, he crawled to Abe, dragging himself as gently as he could over her limp body. Ashlard could hear her shallow breaths, Abe was gone, but her body was yet to give up, she was in so much pain. Kissing her cheek gently, he pulled her head slightly to one side, making a suitable sized area. Feeling what remained of his energy, Ashlard extended his fangs, and gently as he could, bit down.

FLASH

Running, fear for her life, her father dead, her mother captured, her little sister disappearing into the forest in front of her.

FLASH

Watching from high above in a tree, a man with one eye explaining how their friend, the barmaid had betrayed their family, to her younger sister.

FLASH

She's been alone for years, wild and free, she is following the tracks of a deer, as she rounds a bend, there he is, someone just like her, he looks up from the deer carcass.

FLASH

Bubbling with excitement, she's pregnant, after all these years, she's never been so happy, she'll have to tell Hyit later, there's a strange boy working with them at the forge.

FLASH

It's warm, comfortable, I think I'm a boy like my daddy. Mummy provides me with so much energy. I can't wait to see what she looks like. But everything is going quiet, mummy isn't moving very much, perhaps... sleep....

FLASH

Ashlard is crying, he removes himself from Abe's neck to realise her hand is resting on his head. He leans in towards Abe's ear and whispers, "it's a boy, he loves you dearly, he's not in any pain, he's gone to sleep."

Abe's hand falls from his head, her breathing has ceased, her eyes are closed. Ashlard slowly sits up, only to come face to face with Quip, who had silently sat beside him throughout the ordeal.

"Hyit owed money... He paid bandits to help us escape after we were found out, after the bandits themselves found out what we were, they doubled their demands, we couldn't pay..." Quip broke down in tears. "Poor Abe... The mans name was Rothkin... If you want any more information, you'll have to take it from me," with that, Quip stood up, and hobbled away towards the doors.

Ashlard tried to stop him, "Quip, just tell me, we'll get the guards," he said.

Quip just laughed, "they won't help us, once they find out what we are, they'll even pay Rothkin for killing us," Quip replied with a snarl.

"There must be another way!" plead Ashlard.

"There is no other way!" screamed Quip, whirling around to face Ashlard, "NO OTHER WAY!" Quip's expression softened, "please, I have nothing left, my family is gone, my shop will be burnt to the ground one way or another, I'll be hunted to the ends of the Earth," Quip, took off his shirt, dropped to his knees, and said, "I know what you are, I beg you, end this nightmare."

Ashlard, got to his feet, and made his way to Quip, kneeling in from of him, at eye level, he was so very thirsty.

"Please," he said.

FLASH

Abe screaming... Quip couldn't look at her, Hyit was crying hysterically, Ashlard was laying in a pool of blood

FLASH

Hyit begging for mercy as the fire surrounded him, his screams filled the air as the fire took hold, Quip watching them throw Ashlard's limp form into the flames, no doubt to make sure the job was done.

FLASH

Everything is quiet now, Rothkin hands him a note, it's a map leading to a nearby forest, where the road forks in the middle is a small building off the road, that's the meeting point, Rothkin punches him again, before releasing his chains and walking away. Several of the others spit on him as they walk past, it hurts far less than when he sees others spit on Abe...

High above the world, the air was warm, there was a nice up-draft carrying Ashlard with almost no effort, only having to beat his great wings occasionally to keep from drifting away, he could see the bandits starting to arrive, they must have gone to separate bars throughout the day to ensure nobody aroused suspicion about a large number of armed men all in one place. One arrived, a large man, he looked up at the sky, as if looking for him, Rothkin, it was time. Folding his wings slightly, Ashlard began circling down towards the Earth, he landed in a nearby clearing, returning his features back to human form, he wanted to take them by surprise, there would be no mercy.

Ashlard made his way through the trees, the small building came into view, it looked like a tannery, though long abandoned. The vats now just collected rainwater, these bandits must have been pretty sure of themselves, there wasn't even a guard posted, though it would be hard to check if there was one further up the road. Ashlard knocked heavily on the front door and it swung open, inside was blackness, there was nothing, empty room devoid of even rat droppings, as he walked through, something caught his attention, a slight breeze coming from below. Ashlard followed his senses and found a floorboard was cut to an odd length and had left a gap, pushing his fingers into this gap he found it was the latch for a hidden door, opening up to a shaft and a ladder, looking down, Ashlard saw a man looking up at him with a confused look. Ashlard took a step, dropping 20 meters in just a couple of seconds, straight onto the shoulders of the man, who crumpled almost silently into a heap.

Ashlard stood to his full height, realising he was in a large room filled with tables and giant crosses with chains hanging from them. There were 30 men scattered throughout this room who had all fallen silent at the sudden and violent entry.

One of the men stammered, "that... That's him... The boy."

Ashlard took several steps into the room, nobody responded immediately, but a man standing to Ashlard's right, suddenly swung a sword at head height, intending to decapitate Ashlard in a single blow. With a surge of energy, Ashlard extended the scales in his left hand and caught the blade a hairsbreadth from his neck, and with a quick yank pulled the man towards him, and now grasping him by the neck, began crushing his windpipe with one hand, so violently the man barely had time to realise what had happened until his eyes popped from their sockets and his neck audibly snapped.

The room flew into chaos, mugs of ale, knives and even a sword were all thrown at Ashlard, who simply stepped past all of them, or in the case of the sword, caught and threw it back, impaling a man through the midsection. Ashlard leapt through the air carving holes through multiple men at once, tearing others limb from limb. A group of five managed to draw weapons and raise shields, attempting to organise a defence, Ashlard squeezed his jaw rolling flames across the floor, roasting them from the ground up, screaming as they collapsed into liquid fire. There was a familiar whistle before a sharp impact, Ashlard could see the tip of a large arrow poking out the front of his shoulder, grabbing the tip, he pulled the arrow completely free of the wound before rounding on the man. He was surprised, as there was nobody else standing except the single bowman currently aiming another arrow at his chest. With a slight twang, the arrow flew towards him, only to casually knock the arrow from the air with the flick of his wrist, before the man was able to send another arrow, Ashlard closed the gap between them and punched the man in the chest hard enough to cave in his rib-cage and sending him flying off his feet into the wall behind him, the blow didn't kill the man, but he wasn't able to breathe, and wouldn't last long. Ashlard surveyed the room, he was missing someone, where was Rothkin? The crash of the trap door closing followed by heavy footsteps gave Ashlard his answer.

This was a new emotion for Ashlard, the thrill of the chase. What Rothkin did to Abe was inexcusable, blood begets blood, and nothing will prevent Ashlard from taking back that piece of a soul that should never have been broken. He approached the bottom of the ladder leading up to the shaft, jumping straight up through the door, smashing it to pieces, twisting his head around he bathed the inside of the building with white hot flames, there would be nothing left. Stepping outside, Ashlard felt a surge of energy as he unfurled his wings and with the sound of clapping thunder he leapt into the air, now was not the time for subtlety. Ashlard marvelled at his keen eyesight, hundreds of meters above the treetops, he could make out individual footprints, they snaked into the trees until they reached a small stable, those footprints were then replaced by hoof prints and from the look of things, Rothkin wasn't alone.

Eyes wide with shock, his head on a swivel, Rothkin along with Svart, his right hand man, were riding like demons through the forest. Svart was yelling at him, wanting to know what happened, but all Rothkin could think about was the boy. What was he? Retribution? A demon sent from hell? Or just a monster? He tossed the boys limp and lifeless corpse into the pyre himself, the boy was still blackened from the soot when he dropped in through the hatch, but then... He didn't know how to express it, the boy changed, his form became that of a demon or... Dragon... Yes... Dragon, he was breathing fire after all. What now? Escape, escape was all that mattered, Svart would just have to keep up for now, he'd explain the situation later. Svart to his credit was loyal to a fault, and even with no idea what they were running from, managed to catch up and was even now scanning the trees for a threat.

THUD

This made Rothkin jump in his saddle... A pit had formed in his stomach, that sound, like the wing beats of a great bird of prey... Only larger... Looking behind him, he swore he could see a dark shape looming above the trees, was it circling? He couldn't tell, he had to keep going. Svart heard the sound as well, it was loud, not unlike a giant wing beat, when he saw Rothkin looking around wildly he twisted in the saddle himself to see what had Rothkin fleeing in terror, he couldn't make it out for a moment, the bouncing in the saddle made it hard to focus, he could see a crow in the distance. It's black silhouette standing out in the afternoon sun. But as it circled around he was able to get a better look, it wasn't a crow, whatever it was, was too large and misshapen to be any kind of bird, it was almost... manlike...

"Rothkin!" he cried, "what is that thing!?"

Rothkin turned around, a look between fear and desperation plastered across his face, "the boy!" he called back, "it's the boy," before doubling down and urging his horse onward.

Svart hadn't a clue what he was talking about, but if he wanted to keep his leader safe, he'd better find out. Slowing his horse Svart twisted in his saddle, this thing was moving in their general direction, it seemed to be getting closer too, Svart realised at this rate, they probably wouldn't get home before the creature caught up with them. He noticed a slight shimmer in the air around the creature, this shimmer spread out in all directions and a second later it hit, the sound was so high pitched, almost like tearing metal apart. It vibrated his bones and hurt his chest, making it difficult to breathe, his horse bucked and Svart lost his balance, landing hard on his side. He laid on the ground for several moments clutching his ears in agony before the sound stopped, opening his eyes, he noticed dust settling on the ground around him, and the forest was unnaturally silent. His horse was gone, and there was blood on his hands. Orange light caught his attention and he leapt backwards as the beast swooped overhead, bathing the forest with flame. Svart only saw it for a moment, before it was gone again, rising high above the trees, he wasn't the intended prey.

It took all of Rothkin's concentration not to fall from the horse, that sound could only have come from one place and he had no intentions of being caught. Looking behind him he realised that Svart wasn't following him any more, there was a flash or orange light... no... flames behind a clump of trees.

"Fool..." he growled.

Just a few hundred meters until the secret entrance, once he was in the tunnels, the beast would have trouble tracking him. Just as well, because he could hear the beating of great wings approaching. Rothkin diverted off the main path, if he moved into the trees, the beast would have difficulty catching him. It worked for a few moments, but with the sound of crashing branches the beast dropped through the canopy and was now running on all fours, Rothkin was given a burst of confidence when he realised the beast wasn't as fast as a horse on land and he was slowly gaining distance.

As Rothkin neared the entrance to the tunnels, he veered sharply around in order to break the line of sight between himself and the beast, before diving off the horse, landing behind a large shrub. Curling into a ball, he sat silently, and waited, it was only a few moments later, the beast came into view, it was heaving and huffing but still making a good pace as it tore past, leaving gouges in the ground from it's claws. Rothkin slowly got to his feet, running further into the forest until he came across a fallen tree, propped up by a large rock, he winced as he heard that metallic screech again, this time it was a ways off. Quickly moving to the base of the tree, still half buried in the ground, he slid into a gap between the roots and dropped into a well lit cavern below ground.

It was good to be home.

Ashlard was furious, circling high above the forest again, trying to determine where Rothkin had escaped him. He wasn't allowed to escape, it wasn't fair, not after what he had done, not knowing what he could do in the future. Ashlard, remembered the other man, the one thrown from his horse, perhaps he would be easier to find. So it was very much a surprise to spot him running through the forest, even more so to spot Blain, leading a group of men on horseback baring down on him, if they killed him, his chance was gone, Ashlard slowly rolled over in mid air before tipping into a steep dive.

The sound of rushing air was all Ashlard could hear as he shot, faster than an arrow, at a spot of ground, just meters ahead of the running man. Flipping around at the last second, Ashlard tore through the canopy of branches, landing on all fours with a loud thump. The man skidding to a halt in front of him, Ashlard realised this was the same man that released his chains, how he hated him...

An arrow struck Ashlard in the shoulder, bouncing harmlessly off his scales, he looked up letting loose a low growl at the approaching rider, and seeing Blain beside him, swat the bow from his hands as they too came to a stop. The man collapsed to his knees, not knowing what to do, he was terrified, leaving a small puddle where he sat, Ashlard was satisfied that someone knew their position.

"Ashlard!" Called Blain, "do you remember me?"

Ashlard tried to respond, but all he managed was a serious of low growls, while his vocal cords worked, he couldn't move his mouth and tongue to form words. So he concentrated, and slowly began to shift back to human form. The man on his knees seeing the beast transform back into the small boy from earlier, took this opportunity to pull a knife, intending to swipe Ashlard across the guts and make his escape. Ashlard simply caught his arm, following through with his knee, hearing it connect with the mans jaw, he was unconscious before he hit the ground. Ashlard realised with a pang, that the wounds on his chest weren't fully healed and were bleeding. He healed quickly, but even that had his limits.