1 Draconic Legends

The night was cold and the moon was full. The air was rich with the smell of blood. I heard the wolves howling. I am certain they hunt tonight. After all, the Mystic Huntsmen haven't been seen for decades, they have nothing to fear. Servants of the night terrorize the people of Boston. If not terrorized by the servants of the night, the people hide from the beasts of the day. I feared not these evils, for I was above them all. I was not a servant of the day or night. I have no weakness. None dared strike a creature like myself. Striking me would be striking both vampire and wolf, for I am one and the same. I am a hybrid.

I wandered the streets without fear, searching for my contact, Dexter. He claimed to know of power beyond any other. He found me outside of town. How he knew who, and what, I was; I did not know. He spoke of a power thought to be extinct; the power of a dragon. I didn't believe him, but I couldn't let such a possibility pass me by. I have studied the legends of dragons ever since I learned of their past existence.

They were a race of great and powerful beings, superior to all other races. All races feared them, even the Mystic Huntsman dared not challenge them. At the peak of their existence, they were peacekeepers between the natural and supernatural worlds. They maintained order among these domains. However, their reign was cut short, by a plague. It only affected the dragon race. It was believed all dragons had died from it, but according to Dexter, their power still exists.

I felt foolish roaming the streets, looking for someone I didn't know. When he met me, he told me to be in the city at midnight, he gave no location. He said he would find me at midnight. I wandered the streets of Boston for hours, and found no trace of Dexter. I smelled the air, trying to find his scent. From what I could remember he had an unusual scent, a metallic and bloody one, but there was nothing resembling his unusual scent.

I reached in my pocket for my watch. Five minutes until midnight. I would have detected his scent if he was five minutes away. Unless he's not human. But even then I would be able to find his scent. I knew my presence in this town would likely be for nothing, but I didn't want to pass up the possibility. I saw no harm in staying until midnight and decided to stay.

I looked at my watch once again, four minutes have passed since the last time I checked on the time. I stood still in the middle of an empty street. I listened to all sounds and paid close attention to all the smells, I kept my eyes on the watch. Thirty seconds. Nothing. Ten seconds . nothing!

The clock struck twelve, when it did I heard footsteps; they came out of nowhere. I smelled the air, searching for Dexter's unique scent. I could also detect the odd scent now, as if it had appeared out of thin air. The footsteps approached from behind. I looked around and saw a figure in a black coat. He slowly approached me.

"You wish to see the dragon race's last hope?"

"I would not have come if it were otherwise," I answered.

"Follow me," he signaled for me to follow.

He walked down the street, not speaking of where he was going nor of what the 'last hope' was. After walking for a minute, he turned down an ally; which lead to a dead-end.

"Where are we going?" I asked

"Have patience, all shall become clear in due time,"

"I have no patience for trickery!"

Dexter stopped and spoke calmly "If you wish to see what you have come for, you will follow. If you don't wish to follow, then leave. I won't force you to follow me,"

I decided against leaving, and stayed behind him as he reached the dead-end. He walked up to the wall, and raised his right hand placing it on the dead-end, and lightly pressing one of the stones. To my surprise, the stone moved back and returned to its position as he removed his hand.

He looked down and took ten steps backward, placing one foot directly behind the other, and stopped. What is he doing? My question was soon answered, when the ground by his feet slowly moved away, revealing a staircase. A secret entrance? That must be why he moved in such a specific pattern. As the entrance was revealed, I smelt a foul stench.

"Does this eradicate any further doubts?" Dexter asked.

"I'm impressed, but I still haven't seen this 'last hope' and until I do I won't be convinced of its existence."

"I can't blame you for being cautious, it has been over six hundred years since the dragon race has gone extinct."

"What awaits us down those stairs?" I asked pointing at the opening.

"I've already told you,"

"No, you haven't. You told me that it is the last hope for the dragon race. You haven't told me what this 'last hope' is. So I will ask you once more, what awaits us down those stairs?" I asked angrily

"You wish to know what the last hope is?"

"Yes!"

"Before the plague struck, a wise seer foretold the downfall of the dragons. He was ridiculed and hated for his prophecy. Everyone thought he was going mad" he paused "all but one. A powerful draconic warrior. The possibility of his race being wiped out, drove him to seek counsel with the seer. The seer gave him a solution that would save his race from complete extinction..." he trailed off.

"What was the solution?" I asked impatiently.

"Storing a dragon's blood,"

"How will the dragon's blood save the dragon race?" I asked doubtfully.

"Unlike the blood of other races, dragon blood has special properties,"

"Special properties?"

"Yes, whoever drinks it will receive the power of a dragon. Not only will he who drinks of the blood receive power, but their blood will change and become like that of a dragon,"

"It cannot be that simple. Otherwise, it would have happened already"

"Very clever of you. It's not that simple. If a weakling drinks the blood, he will die," he explained.

"That can't be all, everyone who is strong believes they are the strongest, and even though they might die from drinking the blood, it would be depleted by now,"

"that's the reason I have asked you here, something had to done to prevent the weak from reaching the blood,"

"Oh?"

"Have you noticed the foul smell?" He paused, "that's the smell of a creature, created to protect the dragon's blood; the only way to get to the blood is to defeat it," Dexter explained.

"Why doesn't the guardian drink the blood? If it is as strong as you say; it would survive,"

"It is a mindless beast, the only purpose it knows is to kill anything that enters its chambers,"

"Is that why you brought me here? To kill the guardian?" I asked him.

"Yes, I have the power to survive the dragon blood; however, I'm not one for violence,"

I considered what he told me before I spoke. Am I strong enough to survive? I questioned myself. If I'm not, I will surely die, but I don't fear death, there is something inside of me which tells me it is my destiny to drink the dragon's blood.

"I will help you get the dragon's blood," I said looking down the entrance.

"Excellent. I will follow you, but you will have to face the guardian alone" he replied.

I wasted no time preparing myself. I focused all my attention on the deepest corner of my being, to the place where I kept the beast. It is time. I felt the power of the wolf come forth. My entire body started to change. My face grew longer, my body rapidly grew hair, and my fingers grew sharp claws. I heard my clothing tear under the pressure of the transformation.

After I finished transforming, I felt the power coursing through my body. It has been a hundred years since I've changed into this form. I looked at the entrance. It will be difficult to enter now, but it will prevent me from being defeated before transforming. I went down on all fours in order to fit in the entrance. It was a tighter fit than I thought it would have been. I could barely place my hands next to each other on the steps as I walked down.

My surroundings grew darker as I went down further until I could no longer see at all. I paused for a moment, allowing my eyes to adjust. If I hadn't been part vampire, I would not have been able to see at all.

After going down the stairs for, what felt like, three flours, I finally reached the bottom. It was a large room with a pedestal in the center. I sensed a great power resting on that pedestal. Could that be... the dragon's blood? Something didn't seem right. I couldn't see the guardian.

I slowly approached the pedestal, keeping my senses sharp in case the guardian revealed itself. There was a shift in the air, I froze. I slowly scanned the room and caught sight of movement, it came from my right. It was only a jerk but changed into a clear movement of limbs. The Guardian, it is even larger than I thought. I couldn't see its features, but I could clearly see it's size. It was nearly as large as I was in my transformed state. It was clear the guardian was no natural creature, but rather a creation of dark magic.

It sensed my presence and slowly moved towards me. As it got closer to me, I saw some of its features more clearly. It only had one arm and a fierce razor where its right arm would have been. Its feet were short, and its movements slow. Even though it is strong, I can defeat it with my superior speed.

When it came within striking distance the creature raised its bladed arm, and brought it down with terrifying speed; I narrowly avoided the attack. Seems the guardian's speed is only inferior when moving around. Its striking speed is almost as fast as my own. I rose from all fours and prepared myself for the fight of my life.

The guardian's striking stopped only when it had to move. I had one opportunity to strike back but the creature blocked my attack, which would have been fatal. It lost an arm, but it didn't seem to be phased by the loss, and it continued swinging its bladed arm. I knew I couldn't evade the creature's attacks forever. If I hope to win this fight, I will have to kill it with my next attack.

I stood back far enough for the guardian to walk over to me. I had a plan for defeating the guardian, but the timing had to be perfect. The guardian approached me, and when it reached striking range it pulled back its arm and slashed. I evaded the blade just in time. I pointed my right hand at the guardian's chest, using it as a spear, and thrust my claws into its chest. As my claws went deep into the creature's chest, I felt a strange power below my hand. That must be giving the guardian life. I closed my hand around the strange power source, crushing it.

The Guardian fell limp. I pulled out my hand and looked at what I had crushed. A stone? I thought, looking at the pieces. I then remembered why I was there. I have earned the right to drink the dragon's blood. I walked to the pedestal, took the large glass flask, which stood upon it, and broke the seal. I brought it up to my mouth and drank it. I only drank half of what the container held, before putting it back. My body felt strange as if it was heating up. I suddenly felt an overwhelming pain in my stomach. What is happening? I fell to the floor like a wounded dog. Then I heard it, a slow clapping.

"I guess I should thank you," the voice said "It's not every day a supernatural helps the man who will bring back the Mystic Huntsmen" It was Dexter.

"What was in that container?" I growled in pain.

"The blood of a dragon, what else?"

"What is happening to me?"

"The blood is testing your strength, to see if you are worthy. I have no doubt you will survive," he said taking the container in both hands.

"Are you just going to kill me?" I asked trying to get up.

"Why would I want to kill you? You did help me after all" he started "Now I will become even more powerful, and I will rebuild the huntsmen from the ground up,"

After speaking, he walked away disappearing from my sight when he reached the stairs. I tried with all the strength I had left to get up, but my body refused to move. My senses slowly faded. Seems I wasn't strong enough. I thought as I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

I awoke as if it was a dream. I was on a cold floor, the guardian's lifeless body laid ten feet from me. That was no dream. I slowly sat upright and looked around the dark room to see if there had been any changes. Everything was just as it had been before I passed out. I looked at my own body. I was naked and in my human form. I must have turned back when I passed out.

I rose to my feet. As I rose I looked at the empty pedestal, all the memories of what happened came flooding back to me. What have I done? I ran to the exit as fast as possible. By the look of the trap door, I knew it had been closed for a long time. I pushed and broke ease. I hurried through the opening to the outside.

I was beset by sounds and smells I had never experienced before. There were enormous buildings, reaching out to the skies. The road, which was once cobblestone, seemed to be covered in tar. I must have been asleep for many years. Enough time for Dexter to restore the Huntsmen.

At that moment I realized why I survived after drinking the blood. I was chosen to put an end to the only other one who drank the blood, Dexter. Fate chose me to put an end to Dexter and that's what I will do.