Poachers

Lucian took a step forward and the woman drew the bowstring and aimed it at him. 

"Watch your step, bucko." She smirked, "You don't wanna lose an eye."

He scowled, "Give me my dragon back." He growled, "Or I'll crush your skull." 

"Ho, this is one cocky bastard." The large man said, "I'll handle him." 

Without wasting a moment, the man lunged at him, thrusting the spear at Lucian who blocked it with his forearms, the force slightly pushing him back. 

"Damn!" the woman whistled, "What is his skin made out of??? He's tough!" 

Lucian pushed the spear away and immediately threw a straight punch at the man, hitting him in the face and sending him flying away. 

The man crashed on the ground as the woman aimed her bow and fired an arrow. Lucian dodged the arrow and rushed at her, his fist engulfing in silver flames. 

"What?!" She exclaimed as Lucian threw a punch

Lucian's fist struck her right in the chest, the flames combusting and sending her flying back and crashing through the trees. 

"Tassha!" the man cried out as the woman yelped in pain

Lucian turned around to see the man thrusting his spear him yet again. Without wasting another moment, Lucian swung his flaming fist back at him, punching through the steel of the spear-tip and colliding with the man's shoulder hard. 

"A-Aghh!!" the man said as he was burned, stumbling back

Lucian then spun around, kicking him in the belly, hard and sending him flying into the river. 

"Tch." Lucian said, "These guys are jokes...or maybe I'm too strong..." 

He then turned around and sniffed the air, catching the scent of his wyvern, Lucy. 

"I can smell her after all..." He thought to himself as he took off into a sprint, "Are these poachers? They caught her with a net and dragged her away! Can she fight back? Or does she need me nearby???" 

As he ran through the trees, he heard the loud shrieks of Lucy, echoing through the forest. 

"Shit." Lucian cursed, "I'm coming, Lucy." 

He ran through puddles of the wet forest floor, zipping past trees and jumping over obstacles. He could still feel Lucy's presence and smell her. She was being taken far away and quite far, whoever has her is as fast as Lucian, or maybe faster. 

"Shit!" He said with an angry scowl, "I'm coming girl!" 

Several minutes of running later, Lucian burst out of a tree line and skidded along what looked like a dirt road. He doesn't remember seeing this when he and Lucy wander through the forest. He must've gotten lost before reaching the river because he followed the trail straight east and here he was.

He noticed a large wagon a few dozen meters as a man in a cloak was holding a large iron cage that had Lucy in it. 

The Wyvern looked at Lucian and shrieked loudly, crying for him. 

"Lucy!" Lucian called out, "Break free, girl! You can do it!" 

Lucy flapped her wings violently as the man placed the cage on the wagon, shrieking loudly. Something was wrong and Lucian could feel it; she wasn't fighting back. This was unusual for him; she had displayed great strength against Lunaris, whom Lucian knew was no joke. 

Why wasn't she doing anything? 

Lucian took off into a sprint as he glared at the cloaked man, "Fucking poachers!" he shouted, "I'll crush you!" 

He was suddenly hit by a powerful force of wind, which sent him flying back and crashing against the road. 

"W-What?!" Lucian said as he immediately stood back up

The Cloaked Man had his hand extended, his palm open, "Hm." He said with a deep voice, "You're tough. That body of yours would've gotten shredded by my wind magic if it wasn't tough as iron." 

Lucian glared at him, "Give my dragon back." He growled

The man took a step forth, "This isn't a dragon, boy. This is a Royal Wyvern, a baby at that." He said, "Quite valuable, worth 175,000 Gold. Do you have any idea how much fucking gold that is? It can buy me an entire keep with my own servants. This is my ticket out of this fucking shitstain kingdom." 

Lucian rolled his sleeves up, "You think I give a shit?" He growled, "Get your own Royal Wyvern, Lucy is mine!" 

"Lucy? You named it???" the man said as he pulled his hood down, "What a pathetic loser!" 

The man was revealed to be an older one, with wrinkles and long gray hair with a thick grey goatee. He had blue eyes and a scar underneath his left one, which looked like a knife-wound. 

Lucian engulfed his fists in silver flames, "I am not going to tell you again." 

The Man narrowed his eyes, "Hm, that's an unusual amount of Ether i'm sensing coming from you." He said as he raised his arm towards Lucian, "No matter, I'm going to shred you right with my wind scythes. Get rea-" 

Lucian heard a loud bang, which caused Lucy to shriek loudly in panic. 

"W-What the hell?" Lucian widened his eyes as he saw the man's arm completely blown off

The man had his eyes widened as well, completely shocked at this, nothing but shredded meat and a bone sticking out.

"I...I...." He stammered, "W-W-What the fuck?!?!?"

Lucian felt a presence to his right, through the trees, "Someone else???" He said aloud

He then saw a tall and muscular man walk out of the bushes, holding a strange weapon. 

The man was wearing a dark grey military uniform with black combat boots. He looked to be old, almost the same age as the poacher who got his arm blown off. He had grey hair that was combed to a slick back, his nearly white beard was neatly trimmed as his piercing black eyes stared right at the poacher. He had a thick scar that ran down the right side of his face, cutting through his beard. He even had a massive burnt scar on his left arm while he held the weapon. Lucian recognized the weapon he was holding, it was a modern-era bolt-action rifle from his world. 

This completely shocked him. 

"Hmph." This newcomer said as he aimed his rifle at the poacher, "Scum. How dare you take someone else's royal wyvern? And don't think I forgot about all the basilisk eggs you stole from me!" 

The poacher looked at the newcomer, "Y-You!!" He exclaimed, "You followed us all the way over here?! Nearly a hundred miles away!!" 

The newcomer nodded, "Yes." He said as he pulled the trigger

The rifle fired off a bullet that shot right at the poacher, piercing through and leaving a hole in the man's chest. 

"A-Aghh!" He grunted in pain before collapsing, dying nearly seconds later

Lucian widened his eyes, "What the fuck..." He muttered under his breath, "He killed him...." 

Lucian took a step forward but the newcomer looked at him. 

"I don't think so." He said as he pulled what looked like a pistol out of a holster on his left side, "Stay right where you are." 

He pointed the gun at Lucian who froze, almost instinctively. 

"W-Whoa." Lucian raised his arms, "Take it easy, I just want my wyvern back." 

Could Lucian take this newcomer in a fight should it break out? Maybe. But considering the rifle easily destroyed the poacher's arm, he didn't want to risk it. It shouldn't have been able to do that at least he thought so. 

The newcomer narrowed his eyes, "Hm..." He said, "You...." 

"You Traversed?"