He could feel the wind rushing past him, keeping him aloft with its updrafts, smoothly gliding over his sun warmed almost black scales. He looked down, taking in the sights of the valley below him, watching the deer leap gracefully through the meadow of flowers, the butterflies flitting between them, and the birds perched in the trees around the small meadow. He looked back up and saw two moons on the horizon and looked back to see the sun setting behind him, "this" he thought, "is amazing"
"Mal, snap out of it!" a female voice suddenly said, interrupting his daydream
"Huh?" came his reply as he opened his eyes, looking around the dark street and seeing his friend Emily looking at him with a weird expression on her face "What?" he asked innocently
"You were daydreaming…again" she replied slowly
"Soooo?" he asked, equally slowly
"So, its not the best idea considering we're walking down a back road in the middle of the night" She said with an exasperated tone
"Hmm, good point" he said, "I'll try to remember that"
"Thank you" she replied "wanna tell me what you were dreaming about that was so important?" she asked, suddenly curious
"Oh…nothing important really" he mumbled, grateful that the darkness hid his blushing face
"Mmhmm, right, and I most definitely CAN'T beat you at almost every game we play" she said sarcastically
"Oh fine" he said "I was…imagining being a dragon again…flying through a strange meadow…with two moons on the horizon" he muttered, getting even more embarrassed now that he said it aloud
"Really now?" Emily asked, giggling at him when she saw him as they passed under a streetlight.
He blushed even more when she started laughing at him "please stop?" he asked
"Oh don't be such a party pooper…oh all right" she said, trying to control her laughing
"You" a voice suddenly said from a shadow
"Who's there?" Emily asked, both her and Raven whipping around to face the shadowy figure
"You hurt my brother, put him in a hospital" the voice said accusingly
"Who, me?" Raven asked, squinting at the shadowy figure trying to figure out who it was
"Yes you, you broke his arm and cut him up so badly that he passed out" the voice said as a guy about 19 stepped out of the shadow
"Hey was asking for it" Raven said, instinctively stepping in front of Emily, trying to protect her, "He threatened Em, and hit her"
"I don't care if he threatened the fucking pope, nobody hurts my little bro" the guy said, taking another step towards Raven, "now, you're gonna pay for it" he growled, swinging his fist at Raven, who ducked quickly and punched the bigger man in the gut. After swinging at Raven for a few minutes, most of which Raven easily dodged, he caught him in the stomach, sending him doubling over in pain.
"Now, it's your turn to sit in a hospital bed" the man growled, pulling out a knife and lunging at Raven, intent on stabbing him. Raven saw the knife being thrust at him and saw nothing he could do to avoid it, and braced himself for excruciating pain. A split second later he heard the unmistakable thump of the knife hitting something or someone, but felt nothing, he looked up to see Emily clutching her chest, the knife's hilt protruding and blood flowing freely, and the man standing over her with a look of pure horror upon his face. Raven got up and caught her then looked at the man, who in turn looked and saw something new in his eyes, a look that he had only seen a few times, a look of pure uncontrollable anger that could only be satiated one way…with blood. Raven picked up Emily and gingerly placed her in his lap
"R…Raven?" she asked
"Shh, I'm here" he said slowly, stroking her hair
"I…wan…t you t…to have some…thing" she gasped out, trying to reach for her backpack which she dropped when she stepped in front of Raven, "the…cape…th…e one I…ma…de, ta…ke it…it's…spe…cial"
"What?" Raven asked, dumbfounded
"Th…e ca…pe, prom…ise me yo…u'll keep…it" she said, gasping for breath, "pl…ease"
"O-ok, I promise" Raven said, trying to fight back tears
"Pu…t it…on" she commanded weakly
"Ok" Raven said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a blood red cape made of silk and a gold clasp with a dragon made out of a deep purple stone set into it. He clasped it around his neck and looked down at Emily's bleeding body
"Tha…nk yo…u" she choked out
"You're welcome" Raven replied slowly as he watched her die in his arms. He reached down and closed her eyes and laid her down among the brightly colored flowers that grew on the side of the road and got up, the thirst for blood renewed, the fire of vengeance burning in his eyes. He ran down the street in the direction of the murderer, with a sudden burst of energy brought on by the bloodlust he covered a few blocks in under a minute, he stopped to listen for a second before taking a right down the alleyway. A few seconds later he found what he was searching for, the murderer was leaning against a wall, holding one of the bruises he got from the fight, and looking around warily.
"You killed my best friend" Raven said, stepping out of a shadow holding his combat knife he always carried for protection. The killer looked up and saw him and instantly knew that there was no escaping the fight, and it would be a fight to the death if Raven had anything to say about it. Raven quickly walked towards the killer, his knife ready to slash and stab. The killer backed up a little bit "hey man, it was an accident" he said, panicking "I don't care what it was" Raven growled, "you killed her" with that he swung the knife, slicing through the killers side like it was made of hot butter. He looked at Raven in surprise and pain, holding the cut and trying to stem the flow of blood that was blossoming across the front and side of his shirt. "d-don't make me kill you" the killer said, hoping to at least scare Raven into thinking twice before attacking again, but to no avail. Raven swung his knife down hard, going through the killers arm and hitting the bone and swiftly pulling it out. The killer shrieked in pain as he backed off, reaching down with his good hand and pulled out the handgun his older brother gave him for protection.
"Stay back!" he warned, but Raven kept advancing on him, knife at the ready. He fired a few rounds at Raven, one tearing through his shoulder, the other hitting him in the chest, a little below and to the right of the heart but he kept walking towards the killer, oblivious to the pain or blood that was now seeping down his torso. The killer tripped while backing away from Raven, dropping his gun and hitting his head on a rock, stunning him for a few seconds. While he was stunned Raven closed the gap between the two and struck the killing blow, driving his knife into the killers heart then stumbled away. He made it a few feet away before collapsing, gasping in pain as his chest hit the ground. Seconds later he passed out.