Raven
~
The beast snarled at him, releasing steam from it's nostrils as it did. It's serpentine eyes zeroed in on him and it was as if he was staring death right in the face. It made his heart race. This is it. This is what he lived for. This thrill that came with the aspect of a dangerous hunt. When his life was in peril, that's when he had the most fun, that's when the adrenaline pumping through his veins made his heart soar and his lips part in a lunatic grin.
Other men found pleasure in drink, others in women and others in riches, he on the other hand, found pleasure in battle. Some people called him a battle junky and he wholeheartedly agreed with them.
"Heads up, Boss, it's making its move!" One of the men in his party warned him just as the dragon took a deep breath before letting loose a stream of flames from it's throat.
Raven ducked to the side and some of them men he had been on quests with before managed to dodge the attack too, most of the newer ones were nothing more than roasted lamps on the floor now. The scent of burnt flesh made his nose crinkle in distaste.
He had come into the mountains to hunt a dragon that had been going on rampages in nearby villages. Out of the party of fifty men he had arrived with, only thirteen still lived and they hadn't even started battling the dragon yet.
Raven signaled his men to distract the beast so he could get a hit in, he had taught the new recruits these signs over and over again as they traveled together. His men, the ones who had been with him longer, already knew to look out for the signals, the newer men on the other hand, were too distracted by the beast to spare him a glance. That would be their downfall. Out of the thirteen men that were still with him, five were his older men, the other seven were the last of the new recruits. Out of those seven, Raven noticed about three that had seen his signal and they sprung into action along with the more experienced ones.
With battle cries, they run towards the dragon, their swords raised slicing and deflecting the attacks they couldn't dodge. Normally, a sword would melt if it came in contact with the flames of a dragon- especially one as powerful as the one they fought now- but every adventurer was advised to get their swords imbued with reinforcement magic, that way they wouldn't break easily and they could cut through some magical attacks.
Raven watched as the dragon tried to fend off his men, it was fairly distracted but he couldn't jump in yet. He beckoned one of the new recruits to him and instructed him to sneak up on the dragon and slice it with his sword while it had it's back turned, then he told the mages to fire their most powerful attack spells right after the new recruit went in. Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and got into position. While the others distracted the dragon, the new recruit saw his opportunity and went for the dragons neck, he didn't get too close as the dragon flicked its tail and swept him away in midair. The mages didn't wait to see what happened next to the recruit, they fired attack spells at the dragon with all their might, the spells landed true and the dragon weakened a little. This was the moment Raven had been waiting for, it was his chance to deal the final blow. He sprung from his spot and lunged at the dragon but the beast quickly spread it's wings and took off into the air with a pained roar.
"No! No! No! Come back here!" Raven yelled at the beast but he knew it couldn't understand him and even if it could, it wouldn't do as he wanted. Raven's heart hurt, he was so close to feeling his blade slice through the dragon's scaly skin, he was so close to feeling that satisfaction that came with a kill, but all that seemed to be ripped out of his hands in one moment. The beast had figured it was too hurt to keep fighting so it chose flight instead- literally.
Raven knew if he had come alone he could have done a fine job at slaying the dragon and he would have gotten to feed his hungry savagery that lurked within him, the one that wanted to battle and battle till he was drenched in blood, whether his or his opponents, it didn't matter. He had taken up some men and formed a party as per the guild's request, not that he needed them. At first, he just did the jobs and let the men stand back and watch, but after getting reprimanded time and time again by the guild master, Elaine, he had opted to let the men have their fun in the beginning and then he would take over at the end and finish things off. The method had worked for him so far but... The dragon.
"Boss! Boss! Look! The dragon is headed for S'rinyl," one of his men told him. S'rinyl had been one of the villages being terrorized by the dragon.
"We need to go after it before it causes major damage to the village," one of the mages, Ninha advised.
Raven let out a deep sigh, "aye, let's get this done with."
He led his men down the mountains, at the base he used his magical ability to teleport himself and his men straight to the village of S'rinyl. From there they were supposed to head back out of the village so as to meet the dragon halfway, making sure it didn't get too close to the village. That was the plan but Raven felt something weird, almost like there was a boost in his strength and magic. It felt rejuvenating. He felt all the energy he had used up throughout the day return to him, his body that had become cold from being outside too long warmed up. He hadn't ever experienced. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips. Whatever was doing this, he needed to find it.
Raven looked around him, at the people of the small village who still walked around the streets, the vendors who still sold their products before the sun went down in a few hours. It was nearing sunset, still plenty of light outside to see but Raven couldn't spot anything or anyone who could have caused this refreshing feeling to go through him.
The mighty roar of the dragon pulled his attention back to the task at hand. While he searched for this mysterious object, he had lost sight of his job and the dragon had gotten closer to the village. At the sound of the dragon's second roar, panic ensued, the villagers packed up their things quickly and ran to their homes to hide, others had left their stalls still stacked with fruit and everything else they sold in favour of hiding.
Raven turned back to his men and told them they had no time to waste, with that they ran out the village and towards the dragon. He had decided to put whatever he had felt at the back of his mind for now. He would slay the dragon and then, and only then, would he go in search of the source of that rejuvenating power he had felt.