Bleeding Flame

Daren was a knight of the Kingdom of Zenith, he was loyal and brave. He fought many battles for his home and never doubted his King. His family however was the most important thing to him. He would do anything for them, even if it meant sacrificing himself. Daren lived a content life guarding his home and watching his children grow up and start being more independent. After all the blood and warfare he was finally at peace. At least he was, Daren was sent off to defend his home from invaders trying to storm the kingdom, it was an unusual attack as the enemy soldiers fell easily to a barrage of arrows and cannon fire. Daren tried to wrap his head around such a foolish strategy when an explosion knocked him into a wall and he was buried in a pile of debris.

Daren managed to wake and crawl out of the debris pile and stagger to his feet. He looked around and saw a massacre and the wall they had been protecting blasted into a pile of rocks. He grabbed his sword and managed to sneak behind an enemy on a horse. Daren pulled the man off of his horse and dealt with him before he could make any sound. Daren clambered up onto the horse's saddle clutching his bleeding side and rode the horse around the enemy forces. As he was riding he looked up to see flying beasts scorching the earth with flames and explosions. Enemy soldiers were riding these beasts and dropping bombs on the Zenith forces. They didn't stand a chance, Daren rode around the enemy forces and managed to make it back to the capital and saw his home burning and crumbling to the earth with smoke filling the sky as the sounds of people screaming and distant roars of the flying beasts echoed. He ran through the city trying to find his family calling out to them and slashing through any enemy soldiers that got in his way. Eventually, he found his house, it was little more than an ash pile now, destroyed and charred. He jumped off the horse and dug through the piles of ash and debris. He found his family, his wife holding their children in her arms. Daren began to scream and bawl, everything he lived for, was gone and burned. As he sit with his family he watched as his home fell apart before his eyes.

"Look what they have taken from you." an echoing voice whispered to him. "They deserve to pay for this. I can make that happen, I can give you the power necessary to tear the apart." The voice declared. "Give me this power," Daren demanded. The owner of the echoed voice appeared and spoke to him. An enchantress. "There is a price to pay for this power. You have one year to finish your mission or you will forfeit your soul to me. You will become my puppet. That is the price for my power." Daren with his mind fueled with hatred and a thirst for vengeance said "Fine. I'll play your little game just give me the power I need to tear their kingdom to the ground." The enchantress grinned and declared "very well. You'll get my power in the form of an indestructible armor a flame-imbued sword and this." She summoned a small egg and gave it to Daren. "What is this?" The enchantress said, " Do you wish to compete with the enemy's flying army? Well if so take this egg and hatch it atop an active volcano. Only then will you have your defense against the enemy's draconic agents." Daren now frustrated stood tall as the armor burned into his skin and the sword attached to the back of the armor as he held the egg he walked away from his home and the ash pile that was once his life and set out to act out his vengeance.

Within the desert canyons of the east, Daren trudged along in his armor of obsidian black with blood stained into the gauntlets and sword. The armor was chipped and dirtied, and alongside him was a large fire drake dressed in steel armor across its head, back, tail, and legs.

The drake's name was Igneous and had quite an aggressive nature. Igneous was known for his capability of blasting dragons from the sky with his fireballs and barreling through entire defended outposts. Daren was now known as the Bleeding Flame due to the blood-red flame from his sword capable of cutting through the scales of dragons. The year was almost up for Daren though, his journey and mission were coming to an end as he and Igneous stopped atop a cliff face and peered down into a valley of the desert and saw nestled into an oasis was the capital of the kingdom of Reveros, The kingdom that destroyed his home and his family.

Daren and Igneous stayed atop the cliff for the night as Daren devised a plan to burn the whole place to the ground starting with the king's palace. Throughout the night Daren could feel the strain on his soul, his humanity was fading, and if he failed he would forget his family. Something he could not afford. He spent every night of the past year fighting to keep his memory of his wife and daughters. But every time he thought about them he forgot certain details and memories, he barely held onto his memory of their faces, what they looked like, and the love he had for them. The memories of them together faded and Daren was distraught at such a realization. He didn't get any sleep that night. At sunrise, the plan was set into motion, Daren jumped off the cliff and slid down the cliff face, and landed out into the sands having igneous stay on the cliff overlooking the city. Daren began to walk out into the open toward the capital when he heard the echoing screeches and roars of dragons approaching.

They caught his scent and were on the hunt, but as soon as they got close enough to fire down at Daren they were blasted out of the sky by Igneous and plummeted to the earth. They did not die but their wings were blasted apart making flight impossible. The riders lept off and charged at Daren with their swords extended. Daren stood still as the two knights continuously slashed at the armor and bounced off with little to no effect. After a few seconds Daren pulled his greatsword from his back and aimed at the soldiers blasting them with a bright red inferno leaving only ash and melted metal behind. The dragons began to shower Daren with flames but with no effect as he jumped on top of one dragon's back and stabbed it through the chest then the other dragon attempted to bite at Daren but before it could reach him a fireball was sent the dragon across the sands lifeless and defeated. Daren then began to charge full force toward the city gates pulling out a small purple orb filled with some type of magic, he tossed the orb at the floor and jumped as an explosion of purple clouds erupted, and from the shadows appeared Igneous. The teleportation allowed Igneous to ram the walls shattering the defenses with ease and giving the two an entrance to the city. Daren immediately began jumping through alleyways and markets only slashing the guards in his way, he couldn't waste time the city's alarm was sounded and the dragons were sent out to survey the city and find the two intruders.

As they ran through the city Igneous blasted any dragons out of the sky and Daren kept the way clear of guards by blasting through them with his sword. Eventually, they made it to the city square and people were screaming and panicking running in every direction as the military surrounded Daren and Igneous. Igneous and Daerne began to blow fire all around themselves creating a death circle. In the chaos, Daren began to falter, His humanity has wilted to almost nothing left and now he began to shed tears as he no longer remembered his family's faces. They were gone and he was alone, he had nothing left. He had lost the battle against his madness and he was beginning to only see red, he began to tear through every single guard with pure rage. The flames within the sword burst outward and enveloped any within the city square turning everyone to ash. He managed to remember what he was after, the palace. The payment was due, so Daren and Igneous began Charging through the city toward the palace when a ballista bolt struck Igneous in the back. All Daren could do was watch but Igneous bowed his head one final time and Daren not even able to recognize himself managed to grasp the idea and placed his foot on Igneous' head. Then Igneous wrenched his head upward and launched Daren into the air toward the top of the palace. Igneous then collapsed and was overwhelmed by enemy dragons.

Daren crashed through the ceiling of the palace and managed to force himself up. When he looked up all he saw was the King, his goal, his target, his prey. He lunged forward and slashed through every royal guard like it was nothing. When he reached King Daren kicked him to the floor and stepped on his chest flipping the blade down and raising it above his head.

"Who are you?" the King asked with what little breath he had. "Your greatest mistake." Daren then plunged the blood flame sword into king through the floor and the entire palace began to collapse. As Daren's soul began to fade away into the Enchantress' control he managed to see his family one last time for a single moment, but all he saw in their faces was horror.

The entity that was born with the death of Daren was a true monster. From the mayhem, it grew more vicious and tore through the inhabitants of the kingdom. In the wake of the destruction the people and even the armies abandoned the city leaving it to the horrid creature that burns the soil as it walks and with a screech so horrific that it could kill those too close to it. The creature now wanders the abandoned city never leaving its borders, no one knows why. The city became a no man's land and bounties on the monster were outlawed after many warriors and armies were slain trying to challenge the beast now known as Bleeding Flame the Kingslayer.