Nicholas rolled around the mountains and landed at the edge of a crystal clear lake hidden by the tall cliff sides. This lake was technically his and Jesse’s birthplace, the birthplace of the dragons. On the other side of this lake, inside a large cave, was the the accurately named Tree of Life, Yggdrasil. The true creator of all the dragons, guarded by Apollyon. Sitting at the bottom of the lake were large gems that held embryos. Embryos of pure blood, powerful dragons. Each one just waiting for an Aura strong enough to awake them. Jesse’s Aura. Well Zenkro’s, but with his soul being fused to Jesse’s they shared one.
“‘Ere we go,” said Nicholas and he flung Jesse off his shoulder and onto the ground. He extended his claws and peeled away the skin over Jesse’s heart. When he reached the bone, he pulled out his knife and carved out a piece. Underneath the breast plate he saw the silver diamond that encased his heart. It was proof that he was dragon. All dragons had the casing, it was basically what made them almost immortal. It stopped their aging after twenty one years, allowed for excessive healing by channeling their Aura’s to any part of the body, and of course made their hearts almost impossible to get to. The two ways to get the heart was by depleting the Aura flow, or with a very special kind of blade. The Spear of Destiny was the only known blade. Which in the hands its in now, put all the dragons at risk.
Nicholas grabbed Jesse by his wrist and tossed him into the water. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He flicked up one and put it in his mouth. Focusing on the end, he twitched his eye and it lit. He took a drag and sat down on the dirt. A few quiet seconds passed before the lake lit up with a bright blue light. There was a faint silver light glowing from underneath the water. It grew bright and brighter with each passing second. Nicholas watched in awe and the spectacle in front of him. He flicked the ash from his cigarette and blew out smoke rings towards the light.
Jesse’s body lifted out of the water, now radiating silver light as brightly as the lake’s blue. The cuts on his body healed and closed without scars. He shifted into his dragon form then back to his human. His hair was now silver as were his pupils. The silver Aura gathered and twirled around his body, creating a silhouette of his full dragon body. A silver line ran down from his chest to the silver jewel in his left arm. He opened his eyes and let out a powerful roar, shaking the mountains around them. Nicholas let out a giddy shout and tossed his cigarette to the side.
“Now that’s a show!” he shouted clapping his hands together.
Jesse’s body fell limp and he plunged into the water. He thrashed and twisted in the water, unable to figure out where he was. His mind was racing and everything was blurry, made worse by him being in water.
“Swim over here, you silly bastard!” yelled Nicholas from the bank. He waved his arms and then tossed a rock at him. It hit Jesse in the head when he bobbed up for air. He finally calmed down and was able to focus on the person sitting by the waters edge. Nicholas waved him over and then held up a cigarette. Jesse swam over and pulled himself out of the water. He rolled onto the dirt and gasped for air. Laughing, Nicholas walked over to Jesse and knelt beside him.
“Come on big brother, now’s not the time to be looking like a silly child. You’re a bad influence,” he said patting his chest.
Jesse blinked a few times then focused on the man kneeling over him. In a moment of shock Jesse swore he was looking at himself. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them slowly, yet he was still staring at himself.
“Why do you look like me?”
“I didn’t think you’d end up recognizing me. Come on then, get up.”
Nicholas helped Jesse up then handed him a cigarette. Still dazed Jesse took it and put it in his mouth. Before he knew it, it was already lit and filling his lungs with smoke. At this point he was too confused to bother asking how it got lit when there was no lighter. He took a long drag and tried to figure out what was going on. The last thing he remembered was touching the large blue stone underneath the kingdom. Then there were just flashes and broken images. Stumbling out of the cave, standing in a large crater, flying through the air, and then plummeting to the ground. Now he was sitting by some lake, with some guy who looked just like him.
“So who are you?” asked Jesse.
“Figured that would be obvious.”
“Not with the way my mind works.”
“Right I forgot about your imagination. A million different answers to a single question.”
Jesse just starred at Nicholas.
“I’m your twin brother Nicholas. Nicholas Romero Ruiz. Please to meet you.”
Nicholas extended his hand; gingerly Jesse shook it.
“You probably waiting on more of an explanation huh?”
“Ya.”
He lit another cigarette and tossed it to his mouth.
“Okay, so some things your probably don’t know about our family. First off, our father is, well was, an angel that was assigned to be a guardian for our mother. Together they gave birth to four children, You, myself, Anthony, and Chris. Now obviously as the sons of an angel, we were to be blessed with holy powers, powers that would allow us to aid our father in keeping our mother and the world safe. When we turned six, right past the age of absolution, we were to be given our blessings. Anthony was given the blessing of control of fire, Chris was given control over earth. Me and you however, never got those blessings.”
“A few days after our sixth birthday, on the day we were supposed to receive our blessings, we were taken. I’m not sure by who, but I do know that it was some old lady with the ability to teleport. Using her powers, she brought us here. We were met by Exodus, the old man that was training you, sitting next to a large diamond similar to the one I’m assuming you released that dragon underneath the kingdom for. As you’ve seen those diamonds contain the life force and sometimes the bodies of dragons. Only to be unlocked by the divergence of Gaia’s Aura and the shattering of said diamond. I was given the task of shattering the diamond, which after Exodus used his powers to diverge Gaia’s aura, was easy. After I shattered it, the Aura of the god dragon Cerulle became mine, making me the second Draco-human. You, on the other hand, were given a better blessing. Exodus passed onto you the Aura of the leader of the god dragons, Zenkro. Which makes sense I guess, I mean you are the oldest, by like two minutes.”
“Anyway, blah blah blah, we are told to not tell anyone of our powers and this blessing. The gods find out anyway when they discover that they can’t bless our souls. Our father is told to kill us, but he refuses. So they tell another person to do it, however my powers awaken and I fight back. Exodus intervenes, and takes me away. The gods decide that they need you alive incase I decided to take up where our ancestors left off. Obviously I didn’t and now here we are.”
“Which is where exactly?” asked Jesse looking around them. They were hidden away from the world by large cliff sides on all sides, putting them in a bowl.
“Right right right. This is the Lake of Draco, that flows directly from Yggdrasil, also known as the Tree of Life. That tree is what creates the jewels, or eggs, or dragons. It itself is guarded by the God Dragon Apollyon, or at least it was, until he was turned to a diamond like the others. Now it’s only guarded by the fact that it’s hidden away in the mountains of former Nepal.”
Nicholas stomped out his cigarette and blew out the smoke looking around. He looked like he was reminiscing about something.
“So what happened to Ashley and the kingdom?” asked Jesse.
“Not sure really, I got there when the fun was all over. Looked like one hell of a party though. Caused some major damage though; destruction and mayhem galore. Pretty awesome stuff,” he answered with a laugh.
Jesse just stared at him, his eyes burning holes into Nicholas.
“What about Ashley? Is she okay?”
“Who the hell is Ashley? Oh the blond? Naw she’s dead.”
“What!” shouted Jesse.
“Chill bro, I’m just playing with you. She’s fine, she’s the one who told me to take you. Exodus was gonna stop me, but she pushed for it. Scary girl.”
It took Jesse a few seconds to calm down and process everything. He took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke in Nicholas’ face. Right now he had to figure out how to get back to the kingdom, or if he even wanted to go back. From his time with Exodus, he knew he needed to find and awaken the other dragons. But considering how well the kingdom dragon turned out, he might not even be able to awaken any of them. Nicholas starred at Jesse, waiting for him to say something else. However, he was so lost in thought he hadn’t even noticed that his cigarette had gone out.
“Okay you silver haired bastard, you obviously have no idea of a plan and if I get one more smoke cloud in my face, I’ll kick your ass. So follow me.”
He pushed past Jesse and walked off.
“Silver haired?”
Jesse and Nicholas walked away from the lake and into a tunnel in one of the cliff sides. They both stayed quiet, Jesse not sure what to say and Nicholas not wanting to talk anymore. There was a lot of tension between them, and neither were sure why. Well Jesse didn’t know why, but he was sure that his twin knew. He was still fuzzy on his belief that they were actually twins, but the proof was standing in front of him. But how come he had never seen any proof, any pictures or found any records. Even if his parents had tried to hide it from him, he would have seen a picture, or something. His mom had bouts of emotional instability where she would threaten to tell the truth about things, was this one of those things. It would explain why his father always tried so hard to keep Jesse from asking a lot of questions. The only memory of the name Nicholas that Jesse had though was when he had asked about why that was his middle name, considering his brothers had been named after their grandfathers and dad. His father would tell him it was just dumb luck, but his mother had mentioned a family member, but then quickly stopped talking about it. There was apparently more secrets then Jesse thought.
The twins come out of the tunnel onto a lush green hill over. In the distance Jesse could see a small town filled with people.
“That’s the town of Sleeping Sirens, it’s about an hour and a half ride to get there. There’s a weapons shop there that you need to stop by ‘cause if you’re gonna survive out here, you’ll need a good weapon. Besides, I think you’ll be very interested in the owner.”
“Why . . .”
Jesse looked over and Nicholas had disappeared, in his place was a very oddly shaped motorcycle. It was very similar to the cycles from a certain science fiction film that he had watched as a child. Large tires looking like over sized dirt bike tires sank into the ground. The body was made sleek and thin like a pullet with the handles barely coming out into groves made to fit the hand. There was a small windshield on the front that would do little good to protect his eyes from the wind. Suddenly Jesse realized what he was lacking in clothing. His shirt was torn to shreds and just dangling off his body, no shoes at all, his pants were in just as bad shape, the legs gone, a hole just above his butt, no real shield from the cold and despite his dragon eyes, the wind would still blind him. He went to run his hands through his hair, only to find a pair of goggles sitting on top of his head. Had he been wearing them this whole time? He slide them down over his eyes and took a seat on the bike.
He looked over the panel in front of him and suddenly remembered, the only bike he had ridden was the bullet hover thing back in the city. Stopping to think about it, Jesse wasn’t even sure how he knew how to drive that thing. At the time he hadn’t even thought about it, he had just known. Most likely though it was due to his connection with Rydar, since she knew, he knew. Obviously though she had never driven something like this. Jesse racked his brain and continued looking over the panel in front of him until he saw a button sitting at the top with a label that read: On/Off. He pressed it and the bike jumped to life, blue tubes of light turning on around the body of the bike and the panel showing off a bunch of options. The first thing Jesse saw was an option that read: Tutorial. He clicked it and the panel ran through driving instructions for the bike. It was actually a lot simpler than he imagined. The pedals at his feet act like normal gas pedals on a car, press to go fast, release to slow down. A difference however was it he pulled up on the pedal by the strap that held his feet, it would initiate the brakes. To shift he simply had to pull the lever by his left hand, to down shift just push it up and it would do so on it’s own.
“Got it,” said Jesse laying on the bike, putting himself in position. He took a hold of the handles and set one foot on the pedals. Pressing lightly, the bikes engine growled but the bike didn’t move. As soon as he lifted up his other foot though, the bike took off. He quickly put his other foot into place and pressed the other pedal. Quickly he shifted as the car’s engine exploded with power. Before he knew it he was in seventh gear and was streaming through the forest. Trees, bushes, rocks; all looked like blurs to him. He howled with excitement as he ran up a fallen tree and flew through the air. As soon as he touched the ground, the bikes tired gripped the earth and he was off. This much excitement was intoxicating, and very dangerous. Something he could definitely get used to.
When he got closer to the town he slowed down and pulled out of direct site of anyone. He wasn’t sure what to expect from these people but wanted to play it safe. The last thing he wanted was any kind of unnecessary attention. He would already be getting enough for looking like a homeless bum. He parked the bike a little ways away from the city inside a ditch and covered it with some bushes he pulled out of the ground. He tore the rest of his shirt off his body and tossed it to the ground. Feeling his pants pockets he realized that he didn’t have his wallet on him, or any money at all. How the hell was he supposed to get a weapon, or even clothes? The answer to that question came as he was passing by a bar. There was a sign sitting in the window describing a cash reward for the success of a defense challenge. Jesse wasn’t sure what a defense challenge was, but he did need the money. He slunk inside and took a seat at the bar. Off in a corner were a group of mean shouting and cheering about something. Suddenly he heard a man scream and run from the crowd holding a hand with the top half missing.
“Another sucker,” said the bartender, shaking his head with a smile on his face.
“What’s going on over there?” asked Jesse.
“That’s the defense challenge. Warriors from all over come out to test their best armor against Rachel’s sharpest sword.”
“Rachel?”
The name sounded so familiar to Jesse.
“She’s our blacksmith and weapons maker. Her weapons are the best on this continent, especially that sword. So far no one has even managed to slow down her swing. I think they’re all idiots.”
“How much is the reward?”
“Three thousand sil.”
Sil? Just could only assume that was the currency here. Hopefully it was enough to pay for clothes and a weapon.
“Is there a sign up sheet?”
“Nope, just walk up and sit down in front of her.”
Jesse covered his hands in scales and walked over to the crowd. He pushed his way through until he reached the front of the pack. Suddenly he was stopped by a familiar scent floating through the air. Vanilla and determination. He followed it around until he found the source. It was the woman sitting at the table, holding the sword. He knew her from somewhere. His head started pounding as images flashed through his mind. They were of him and her. Sitting at a park, then in a van, talking and laughing. Thousands upon thousands of memories flooded his head. He did know this girl, they had met long ago back when Jesse was in high school. She had been with him through a lot of rough times in his life, was the only person he had told the full story about Clarissa, Noel, all of them. He had let her in deeper than anyone else in his life, even Rydar. Why hadn’t he remembered her until now?
She didn’t look too much different than what he saw in the images in his mind. Long brown hair with red streaks, pale white skin, skinny but not small, dark brown eyes, and an infectious smile. She looked taller and like parts of her body had filled out more, but ultimately she still looked like he remembered.
“Are you gonna stare all day or are you gonna step up shirtless?”
As demanding and forward as ever. She raised an eye brow and nodded at the stool in front of her. Jesse smiled and slid the stool underneath the table.
“I don’t need to sit, I won’t be here long,” he said with a grin.
Rachel starred at him with a confused look, like she was trying to recognize him.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Just a stray looking for scraps.”
A hit at their past jokes about him being a werewolf, one she obviously picked up on, but didn’t put the pieces together.
“A stray? Right. Either way, where’s your armor? I ain’t cuttin’ through skin.”
Jesse lifted up his left hand and rolled his eyes at her, knowing it would enrage her.
“Looks like weakass chain mail. Bro’ that ain’t gonna stop jack shit.”
“Just swing princess.”
Now that was the final piece of the puzzle. Jesse saw a wave of sadness pass over her, immediately replaced by anger. She gripped her sword tightly and swung as hard as she could. The blade cut through the air, whistling as it flew at him. He put his hand up and caught it without flinching. There was a loud ‘clang’ from the collision of the steel with his scales. The crowd around them became silent. Jesse and Rachel starred at each other, the sword still pushing against Jesse’s hand. Rachel let go of the sword and cleared the ground between them with a quick step. She reared back and slapped him as hard as she could. His head turned from the hit and didn’t moved. Tears streamed down Rachel’s face as she wrapped around his neck.
“I though you were dead,” she said through sobs.
Jesse dropped the sword and hugged Rachel tight. She cried heavily as she held onto him. Tears were stinging Jesse’s eyes too but he kept them back.
“Alright, folks shows over, give them space,” yelled the bartender.
The crowd cleared out and took various seats around the bar. A few patrons looked over at Jesse and Rachel and whispered amongst themselves. Jesse ignored them and kept a hold on her. It felt good to hold onto her, he was reminded of all the times they embraced well Jesse was crying. How could he forget her?
They hugged for a while longer before Rachel finally pulled back and wiped her eyes. She sat down at the table and pushed her hair from her face. She took deep breaths and calmed herself. Jesse could still hear her heart racing as he sat down next to you.
“After the Blood Angels attacked, I was so scared. They killed Zack, took my family, and I couldn’t get a hold of you. I tried calling you and went to your house, but you weren’t there. When I saw all the blood, I thought you were dead too.”
“I’m sorry Rachel, I’m sorry I left you alone.”
“What happened to you? You look different.”
“It’s a long story.”
Jesse was hoping to avoid telling her everything, but he could tell from the look on her face that he was going to have to anyway. He had never been able to avoid much when it came to her. The loyalty he felt towards her would always overpower his hope to keep her from knowing the things he was going through.
As they talked Jesse could see the pain in Rachel’s face over his disappearance and torture. He did his best to explain everything he could and answered every question she had. Even though he tried to avoid some of the questions he ultimately ended up telling her everything that had happened to him since his being taken by Azrael.
“Oh my god, that’s crazy,” she said when Jesse was finally done talking.
“Ya, it’s been a wild ride for sure.”
“Rydar is such a bitch, when you needed her most she just left for another guy.”
“Ya, but it’s okay. She shouldn’t have to deal with all of this anyway, she’s just one girl. I already hate the fact that she had to go through so much while I was gone. I can only imagine the kind of mental torture she put herself through with the things she chose.”
“She deserves it.”
“Hun that’s not fair. I put her through a lot before all this happened. She can only handle so much.”
“But still.”
“I know, but it’s okay. I moved past it with Ashley’s help.”
“Well I’m glad you found someone else, even though it didn’t last.”
“I wasn’t supposed to last. I still have a lot of hell to go through before I should even consider being with anyone. Besides, Ashley has her own things to deal with, the real king of her people is out there some where.”
Rachel sat quietly for a bit, just staring at the wall. When she was quiet always made Jesse nervous. It was usually followed by difficult questions.
“So have you found anything else you don’t remember?”
“No, you’re the first. What else is there to remember?”
“Well do you remember your other friends?”
“Which ones?”
“Danny, Taylor, and Carlos?”
“Who?”
Those names sounded familiar and brought up an image of Jesse sitting at a table with three people at night, but he couldn’t put physical bodies to these people.
“They were other friends of yours that you were very close with.”
“I don’t remember them.”
“Oh shit.”
Again she got quiet, but this time she was starring at him. It made him uncomfortable so he looked around the bar.
“It looks like you’ve made a nice living though,” he said hoping to change the subject.
“Ya, I’ve taken care of myself pretty well. Speaking of which, we should probably get out of here. You need clothes and a shower, desperately.”
Jesse had forgotten that he was shirtless and probably looked like crap.
Rachel and Jesse left the bar and walked back to her house. She let him use her shower and gave him some clothes to borrow until he was able to buy his own. The only thing she didn’t have was shoes for him. He didn’t mind though, he didn’t want to worry about ripping them if he had to shift forms. Rachel took him from the house to her shop. It was filled with amazing looking weapons. Axes, sword, knives, everything he could think of was there. Jesse played around with a few of them, but none of them felt right.
“Was there anything specific you needed from this weapon?”
“Something powerful and long lasting, I might be traveling for a while.”
“Speaking of that, do you even know where these dragon gems are? Or how to found them?”
Jesse shook his head as he played with a small tomahawk. He flipped it around in his hand and swung it at imaginary enemies. Rachel took it from him and put it back on the wall.
“I can sketch out some ideas for you, but I’m pretty low on materials . . .”
“I’ll go get some them for you. Just tell me where.”
“Well it depends on what you want. The best iron is found on the mountains to the west. There are a lot of strong gems and stones to the north. Let’s see what else? I can also use bones and other material from the wild life around here. But be careful, these aren’t normal animals, these things are huge and scary.”
“Draco-human,” said Jesse pointing to himself, “Nothing scarier or stronger than me.”
“Okay, badass. Just choose a path and bring me back what you can."
Rachel held out a map with different locations circled with little notes written next to them and a huge backpack. Jesse nodded and took both from her. He left the shop and walked back to his bike. He checked the map then took off towards the mountains to collect iron. He figured he’d get a bit of everything for his weapon. It only took him a few minutes to reach the spot that she had circled. It was a large cave that had been tunneled very deep into. Jesse used his claws to dig out the iron ore and other very metals from the ground and walls. When his bag was about a third of the way full, he got back on the bike and took off to the next location.
Again it only took him a few minutes to reach this location. However finding the specific spot was a little bit harder. Jesse walked around the forest, starring intently at the map when he slipped and slid down a huge crater. He hit the floor and rolled to a stop; crashing his head against a boulder. Blood trickled down his face as he sat up and rubbed the spot that he hit. The wound closed quickly and he wiped his face clean. Looking around he saw the floor littered with jewels and gems. He imagined that places like this were what most girls dreamed of. As he filled his bag one in particular caught his eye. It was bright orange and had a faint aura. Jesse picked it up and held it to the sunlight. Inside was the small embryo of a dragon.
He was going to filter some of his Aura into it when he caught the scent of someone creeping up on him. Whoever they were, they were powerful and most definitely not human. He stood up and set the stone inside his bag. The scent was coming from his left and was coming up fast. They were small, tight body, long hair, and female. She was caring a weapon, a few weapons. The ground seemed to raise at her feet an gave her a bit of an extra push. Not on it’s own, but it was being manipulated.
Jesse had to stop for a second to realize what he was doing. His senses and skills had grown so much that he had been able to tell so much about his enemy without even seeing her. And could even feel the changes of the earth and the magic being used to manipulate it. This power was incredible and he could feel it getting stronger by the day.
He made no movement to show that he knew she was coming. Instead he casually tossed his backpack over he shoulder and strolled over to his bike. He looked at his shoe like a lace was untied and kneeled down to play with it. In reality he was reaching for the blade that Rachel had loaned him. A plain sword but in his hands it could be deadly against anyone. Suddenly the scent was on top of him and in one swift movement he moved in time to dodge the stabbing blade and swing his own.
The female warrior moved effortlessly in time with him and easily avoided his swing. She danced around his bike and came to a stop on the other side. Jesse looked her over quickly and actually laughed to himself. She was atleast a foot shorter than him, a body well maintained, her long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. Her outfit was what really caught his attention. She wore a tight black dress that fanned out at the bottom, just high enough to tease Jesse to try to look under it. She word high heels with long stockings that stretch just above her knees. Her eyes were bright yellow, glowing from the inside with a strange power. The smile she wore was playful yet showed the fangs in her mouth.
“Who are you?” asked Jesse.
“You are every bit as powerful as I was told,” she said, avoiding the question.
“And who told you these things?”
“Someone you are very familiar with. He still wants you dead.”
Azrael.
“Well that answers one question.”
“My name is Lust. I’m one of seven made and sent to kill you, by his darkness.”
“Made? What like in a lab?”
“We are children born in darkness and raised in hell my dear. Not to far off from yourself.”
An intriguing statement, however it also made him extremely uncomfortable. This woman was playing with him, obviously sure of her ability to kill him.
“You’re powerful, obviously not human. So what are you?”
“Sin.”
Lust jumped over the bike and stabbed at him again. Jesse swept to the side and connected with a powerful kick to her face. She flew back across the bike and landed hard on the ground. This time Jesse took to the air, coming down with his sword aimed at her heart. To his surprise though, the ground rose around her blocked his attack. Lust smiled as spikes of earth shot up and forced Jesse away from her and his sword. She was manipulating the ground itself, a type of butcher alchemy. To his surprise Jesse could see the strands of magic coming from her into the ground. They rapped around the spike protruding from the ground as well.
Jesse shifted to his dragon form quickly and took to the air. Immediately the spikes turned to spears and shot towards him. He rolled through them and dove at the ground, only to have to rise again to avoid vines shooting up, trying to grab him. Changing tactics he caught a few of the spears and threw them back at Lust. Again the ground rose to protect her and stopped the spears. He let out a blast of Aura that tore apart her soil shield and caused her to leap out of the way. In that moment he saw the strands from her break and she was left open. He shot down at her but before he could reach her, she brushed the ground. The strands dug into the ground and raised a wall of spikes. This one Jesse didn’t turn away from. He instead blasted it using enough force to knocked Lust off the ground again. He was able to reach her before she could touch the ground, grabbing her around the throat. However she was obviously prepared as she produced two small knives. Driving one into his arm and the other one towards his chest. He caught her arm before she could make connection with the other knife and threw to the ground. She rolled and was immediately pushed back up to her feet. With a smile she reached into the ground and came up with two large swords. She could manipulate the material in the ground to form other minerals, like steel. It was impressive.
“Ready to give up yet?” she asked with a smirk.
Jesse ripped the blade from his arm and launched it at her. Lust raised another shield in front of her, just as Jesse expected. He had planned for this and had sent a small blast of Aura in front of the knife. It penetrated the shield and gave the knife a path way directly to Lust. Her eyes widened as she realized what had happened. The knife plunged into her shoulder and lodged deep into her bone. She screamed in pain and the threads weakened. Jesse sent another wave of Aura streaming across the ground, cutting off Lust’s base and sending her flipping into the air.
He met her in the air and hit her in the stomach, keeping her air born. He ripped the knife from her shoulder and stabbed her in the chest. His eyes went wide as he realized something was wrong. Grabbing her around the waist, he rolled around the air with her and threw her as hard as he could. She plummeted quickly and slammed into the ground, sending a ripple through the earth. Jesse stayed in the air for a few seconds before landing next to his bike.
“I know you’re not dead. You don’t have a heart for me to have pierced with that knife.”
He heard a weak laugh in response to him.
“Tell your boss that I’m going to kill him, and anyone else that gets in my way.”
“You. Should kill me now. I will not be so kind if I get the chance. I was. Born to kill you,” said Lust weakly.
“You’re following orders, which makes you innocent in my eyes. Just because you were born to do something doesn’t mean you have to. I’m giving you a chance.”
With those final words hanging in the air, Jesse started his bike and left. But not after throwing some of his Aura to Lust to aid in her healing. Even though she was trying to kill him, he couldn’t bring himself to want to finish her off. There was something about her that felt too human for him to kill her. He wasn’t a monster anymore.
As Jesse flew across the fields between him and the town, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy about something. Suddenly something fell from the sky in front of him and sent him and the bike soaring through the air. The bike hit the ground first, Jesse landing on top of it. He felt the wind rush from his body and it screamed in agonizing pain. Dirt and grass blasted his face as he rolled off the crashed bike. Now staring at the sky, he saw storm clouds coming in, the smell of rain filling the air.
“We don’t hunt alone Draco-human,” said a gruff voice out of Jesse’s sight.
He sat up to stare at a man covered in skin covered in gold platelets. They weren’t scaled, just pieces of metal that seemed to be attached to his skin. His hair was long and red, resembling a lion’s mane. His feet and arms were covered in heavy plated armor but that was it. His entire abdomen, and face were left uncovered, save a small mask that wrapped around his forehead and hung just barely over his face. There was a something evil behind his yellow eyes, completely different from Lust’s. He wasn’t going to play around, he wanted nothing but death, blood on his hands.
“Another one of Azrael’s creations?” asked Jesse.
“The name is Wrath.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Jesse, once against shifting to his dragon form.
Wrath got down on all fours and growled at Jesse. He definitely wasn’t human, but he wasn’t a were-human either. This thing was nothing but evil, a demon. Jesse took off running first, Wrath was happy to follow suit. Idiotically Jesse didn’t get low and payed for his mistake by Wrath spearing him hard. He snapped back with his head slammed hard against the ground. In his daze he felt Wrath crawl on top of him. Instinctively he brought up his arms to guard only to have them forced aside and heavy fists driven into his face. He squirmed and tried to refocus but Wrath wasn’t giving him any time. The demon of a man wailed away on Jesse, each strike powerful. Jesse took a second to gain his focus and inched down along the ground. When he was low enough he brought his legs up and wrapped them around Wrath’s throat. He ripped the man off of him and scrambled to his feet.
His head no longer fuzzy, Jesse was prepared this time when Wrath charged. He planted his feet and caught the charging man, using his own momentum, he flipped him to the ground. Jesse tried to continue the assault but Wrath kicked him in the head. He kicked up to his feet and charged again, Jesse able to retaliate with a kick of his own, then followed up with a powerful burst of Aura. Wrath landed on his feet and laughed arrogantly. Jesse was about to question why he was laughing, when he noticed more armor growing and covering Wrath.
“How the . . . .” Jesse paused as he heard a silent whirring noise, like a fan blade spinning. He looked up and saw the remnants of his Aura floating around Wrath a disappearing behind him, “You‘re absorbing my aura, and using it to create more armor.”
“I hope you don’t rely too heavily on it,” answered Wrath as he charged.
The two warriors clashed again, this time neither got the clear advantage. They matched each other blow for blow, miss for miss. Wrath was slower than Jesse but had enough power to make up for it when he did land a hit. Jesse did his best to play defense until he learned if Wrath had any other hidden talents. It was a strategy that wasn’t working out well for him. Wrath was trained well and had learned to give up nothing without it being absolutely necessary.
Jesse hit Wrath hard in the stomach and followed up with a few good hits to his head. However he wasn’t able to land his last hit and was met with a solid blow to the face. He stumbled back and felt knees drive into his chest. The two fell to the ground but Wrath got on all fours and charged again. Jesse swung around on the ground and kicked the beast hard in the face. He flipped up and landed on top of Wrath, pinning him to the ground. Instead of fists, he drove the point of his elbow repeatedly into his face. Blood now streamed off his face and splashed with every hit. Still Wrath was able to get his arms up and strike Jesse with a hard blow that knocked him to the side He hadn’t even realized that he was bleeding until he saw the blood covering his arms.
Both of them had faces and bodies coated in dirt and blood. Wrath’s face looked worse than Jesse, absolutely drenched in blood and sweat. However Jesse knew that his body was in worse shape. Even with his body trying to heal, the damage was too constant for anything to have any real effect
Wrath leapt in the air and swung wildly with a kick. Jesse ducked it and caught his leg, flipping him to the ground. The beast of a man tried to roll over and swing his other foot but Jesse caught that one as well. He used all his strength to lift him up and slam him to the ground. Wrath continued to squirm but Jesse held his grip tight and slammed him again. Jesse growled and slammed him again and again until Wrath stopped moving. He pulled Wrath underneath him, only to have the back of his knees hit. He fell forward and Wrath struck him hard and spun him over. His massive armor covered arms wrapped around Jesse’s throat and squeezed. Jesse struggled but Wrath had his legs around around him as well. He swung his elbows deep into his assailants ribs until he felt the grip loosen. His blood made a great lubricant as he was able to slide the arms off of him and turn around. Again he drove the points of his elbows into Wrath’s face, yet Wrath refused to give up.
They struggled on the ground with each other until Wrath finally unwrapped his legs and threw Jesse off. Again they were at a standstill with each other; their faces were bloody and sweat covered. Faintly, Jesse could hear the sound of a fan blade. Wrath had a smile on his face as new armor started growing to replace what Jesse had broke off. Where was the Aura for this coming from, Jesse wasn’t putting any out was he? No, it was coming from the plants. He was gathering it from the planet itself.
“That’s right dragon, you aren’t the only source around here.”
Wrath laughed and rolled his shoulders and neck.
“That’s not all I can do with Aura either.”
Suddenly Jesse noticed a glow coming from Wrath’s left hand. Wrath leapt into the air and came down swinging his fist, narrowly missing Jesse. His fist slammed into the ground, causing a massive explosion of Aura. The dust settled as Wrath stood with a smug look on his face. Jesse was stunned until he saw that the armor on Wrath’s hand and arm was gone. It might not be a hug opening, but it was still an opening. If he could stop the Wrath’s ability to take in Aura, he could take control, but he would need to get behind him.
Jesse dusted himself off and got ready. Wrath laughed and got down on all fours. Tension filled seconds passed as they starred daggers at each other. Finally Wrath made a move, and Jesse charged at him. Inches away, Jesse leapt up and barely made it over Wrath. Directly on his shoulder blades were the fans he used for Aura intake. Jesse spun in the air and grabbed a hold of them. Wrath grabbed Jesse as well and flung him off his back. He smiled as he landed on his feet and held up the fan blades.
“Any other tricks up your sleeve?” asked Jesse.
“I have plenty of Aura in reserve you idiot!” yelled Wrath, rage filling his voice. “Then come on then.”
With a loud roar Wrath pounced, only to be met with a powerful kick. Jesse stayed on top of him, stomping on the ground. Wrath rolled over and over until finally he grabbed Jesse’s leg and kicked him back. His left arm was now brightly glowing with the same light as before. This time however, the light turned into a rainbow colored Aura swirling around his hand. Jesse gathered his own Aura into his left hand as well. For the third time they stared at each other, this time however, Jesse hoped it would be the last time.
A light drizzle started, then quickly turned into pouring rain turning the field into a mud pit. The rain washed the blood off of the two warriors, both still standing in place. Lightning rang out and Jesse sprinted full speed at Wrath, who did the same. The Aura’s radiating from their hands was enough to light up the entire field. They came inches from each other and stopped, well tried too. Jesse slid forward in the mud and came to close to his swing to hit. Wrath’s fist though, found it’s mark directly in Jesse’s stomach. He could feel the Aura radiate through his body and explode from the other side. His feet barely touched the ground as he flew back and landed in the mud. It wasn’t long until he saw another glow and then Wrath flying through the air. All of his armor was gone and he had a crazed look in his eye. He came down like a bullet and was aimed straight at Jesse.
Jesse tried to close his eyes but they wouldn’t move, he was going to have to watch himself be killed. As he starred he felt something wrap around his legs up to his knees. With Wrath only a foot away, he was slid across the mud and narrowly missed the fist. He slid a little way further until coming to a stop. Lust came into view and stopped next to him. She looked down on him, with human, emerald green eyes. Her face was emotionless but Jesse could feel a lot of confusion inside of her.
“The fuck are you doing Lust?! I had him!” shouted Wrath.
Jesse forced his head to turn to see Wrath trudging through the mud towards them. Lust stepped over Jesse and stood between him and Wrath, her hands clenched to fists.
“I’m gonna kill you bitch!” he growled.
He was a few feet away from her now, he fist reared back. Suddenly Jesse’s body came back to life. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t get over the feeling of needing, and wanting to protect Lust. She wasn’t going to get hurt while he was there.
Before anyone knew what happened, Jesse was standing in front of Lust and being hit by Wrath’s fist. He turned but refused to fall. Jesse could feel the surprise, relief, then sadness come from Lust. He stood up straight and waited. His arms and legs weren’t responding; he didn’t even know how he was still standing. Wrath swung again, and again Jesse was hit but wouldn’t fall.
“Get out of my way!” he screamed, swinging again. This time Jesse was able to move but came straight back down and sank his fangs into Wrath’s arm, down to the bone. Wrath screamed and hammered Jesse with his other fist; screaming obscenities. Jesse looked back at Lust and met her eyes. She could tell that he was pleading with her to leave, not wanting her to get hurt. Using all the strength he could, he lifted one arm and waved her away. Tears now stinging his eyes and pain filling his body. Life seemed to return to Lust’s body as the tendrils extended from her hands and plunged into the ground. Jesse released his bite and jumped back towards her. A forest of spikes erupted from the ground and hid Wrath in the center. Jesse landed in a heap at Lust’s feet, once again in human form.
“What are you doing here?” he asked through gasps of air.
“I don’t know. I just, couldn’t let him kill you. I don’t want you to die,” she said, to her own surprise.
“I thought it was your mission to kill me?”
“I don’t know anymore. I just know that I’m not a monster, and I want to protect you.”
Jesse starred at her, realizing for the first time that he could see an Aura coming from her. It was faint, but it was still there. She wasn’t the same as she was before, she looked human. With her help Jesse got to his feet and turned to face the forest of spikes.
“I can’t shift anymore, I’ve used too much energy.”
“I can give you the weapons and the opening.”
He wondered for a split second if she could see into his mind and knew what he was planning.
“Can you get him into the air?” she asked.
She knew what he was planning, it scared and comforted him to know that. He took off running at the spikes in time for Wrath to exploded out of it.
The beast of a warrior charged at Jesse with his fangs barred, but the ground shifted beneath him. Jesse leapt up and hit a powerful dropkick that caused him to fall. He landed on the ground in time to grab a spear that emerged from the ground. Taking a few steps forward he launched it and barely missed Wrath. Spikes erupted from the ground around him but also missed. Jesse took two more spears into his hands and bolted forward. He swung them wildly and missed Wrath by only inches. Wrath caught them and two pillars came up and separated the two. This was the chance, Jesse stook a few leaps back and waited. Just as he expected Wrath used the pillars as stepping stones and took to the air. Jesse ran forward looking to meet Wrath head on; his hand sweeping the ground. When he got directly beneath Wrath, he felt the handle he expected. Gripping the handle, he pulled out a large emerald sword from the ground. He brought it up just in time to impale Wrath. Using the force of his fall, Jesse flipped around and when they both landed, he drove the sword deeper into the monster’s stomach.
He stayed still and kept his eyes on Wrath, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly Wrath’s eyes opened and he jerked forward. A spike erupted from the ground and plowed through the back of his head; stopping just short of Jesse’s face. Now shaking, he turned slowly to look at a weakly smiling Lust. He got to his feet, but almost fell. Lust was underneath him immediately and helped him stand on his own. They stared at each other, the silence filling the space between them.
“I should have died,” she said quietly.
“No one has to die for this.”
“You know as well as I do that Azrael will kill me for this.”
Jesse stayed silent, he knew she was right, but he didn’t want to accept it.
“You can’t protect me from. . .”
Jesse punched her as hard as he could with the strength he had left. She crumbled and fell to the floor in a heap. The pain in his hand was bad, but he knew that she couldn’t be associated with him. Not if she was going to keep living. His stomach flipped when he realized what he would have to do to cover it all up.