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"A legendary black dragon said to have prowled these lands from the days of old. Many skilled hunters have sought to challenge it, but none ever return."

Thirteen Hallowed Nights

The Twelfth Night:

"Fate"

By Corvus no Genmu

Castle Schrade, an impregnable fortress built far into the forgotten-lands of Germany. A relic of a time before where monsters of all kinds roamed and stalked the countryside. Massive beasts that made it a point to be an overall nuisance to anyone who lived on or near their territories, the castle was constructed as a stronghold against the strongest of beasts, they who ruled the land and sky with the fires of hell belching from their jaws.

Dragons.

The fortress did its job well, serving its purpose well into the centuries after the Great Disappearance, a single event in time lost to the mundane world and nothing but myth in the world of fanciful wand wavers. Monsters still roamed but those that remained proved to be easy prey, nothing but dumb beasts that a single jab to the heart here, or the impalement of the jaw line there, and BAM! They're dead on the ground with their remains useless for armor or weaponry; even the dragons that remained behind were naught but overgrown lizards with a bad case of heartburn.

The Hunters, their true names and titles lost in history, had grown bored with their hunts and so became sloppy and just as arrogant as the wizards. They never thought that one of the greater races had remained behind, that something far more powerful than a mountain troll or wyvern still roamed these lands until it was too late.

Centuries later, Castle Schrade remained lost to history…

Until today…

The Hunter stood in the massive grounds of the castle's center, an area that served as both training ground and for trapping the bigger flyers that came barreling down from the skies. The Hunter was almost bare of the usual standard of armor, at least as one would expect. He wore no steel, no iron, just hardy leather weathered with age and old scars hastily re-stitched. This could of course be forgiven as simple misunderstanding of just what he was about to be dealing with but considering the fact that he bore no weapon on his person.

Well, that was more than just a little foolhardy wasn't it?

He looked around the old courtyard, noting the massive claw marks, both old and fresh, that littered the floors and walls and how one particular tower was heavily ravaged by a localized inferno. Bits and pieces of armor was scattered about, the skeletal remains still inside bleached by the sun and time. The sun was at its zenith and yet the sky was black as moonless night, the horizon colored in violent hues of red and violet, a blazing inferno that covered the sky in smoke. There was little doubt now.

It was still here.

It was still alive.

"I know you are here!" The Hunter called, his voice echoing in the massive courtyard, through old halls and ancient towers. "Will you face me truly or will you slither about like a frightened snake!" He was goading it, taunting it into action but it was older, wiser. The Hunter was too obvious with himself and too under-protected. There was something more to this… Still, it would not sit idly by and let this foolish little thing taunt it in its lair any longer.

A roar shook the skies as massive ebony wings lifted a reptilian body high above the castle turrets, a slow glide over as a serpent's tail whipped past, breaking loose an old weapon from its perch to the grounds below. The beast was in all appearances sake, a rather ordinary looking dragon with blackened scales and shadowed wings with four great horns curving back along its skull but by its size and the overwhelming power of simply being in its presence, it was obviously something more than mere.

It was a Fatalis.

Amber eyes narrowed and the massive beast landed on all fours before rising up onto its hind legs, wings half spread and tail lashing angrily about. Smoke trailed upwards in lazy wafts from its fang-lined jaws as its nostrils flared. It glared down at its prey with cruel intelligence in its slitted eyes. This was not some dumb beast of mortal flames and hardy scales. No, this was a dragon of the ancient times and would be treated with the respect it was due.

"You should have gone with them." The Hunter whispered, his voice thick and his head bowed low. "It wouldn't have to be like this… but you had to stay didn't you…? You damned, stubborn, son of a bitch."

Lightning roared and a belch of dragon fire flew through the air and impacted against the ground. The flames rushed forward in a massive inferno that overwhelmed the Hunter. At least, it should have.

Another burst of dragon fire started to rise up and push back against the breath of the Fatalis until the two streams cancelled each other out in a massive explosion that sent the black elder dragon stumbling back, flapping its massive wings to blow back the smoke. It hissed and angrily fell to its forefeet and seeing the Hunter alive and unharmed, with one gloved hand outstretched, its head snapped forward, jaws ready to bite and drag the Hunter to his doom but the Hunter was quick on his feet, rolling away at the last possible moment to avoid the attack and return it with one of his own.

Another powerful blast of dragon fire hit the Fatalis in the face and scorched its eyes terribly, blinding it long enough that by the time the pain subsided, the Hunter was gone from the courtyard. Snarling, the Fatalis lifted up into the air, hovering above the castle with angry eyes scanning the grounds trying to find some sign of the Hunter's presence.

There!

A massive fireball launched down and exploded against an empty suit of armor.

What?

Massive wings tucked themselves tightly and the Fatalis landed hard upon the castle's outer wall, glaring down at the melted remains. There was nothing but melted steel and ash, so then how? How had the armor—A flash of iron and its tail lashed out like a massive whip and snapped a javelin into useless twigs. A flap of massive wings and the Fatalis was airborne and releasing another thick stream of dragon fire along the ground before circling back anew to find—nothing.

Jaws opened in a primordial roar that shook the earth as the sky above ripped itself apart with lightning. The Fatalis was no fool, it recognized that javelin for it had laid there on the ground for the last decade, untouched save for the wind of his wings. It landed at its former resting place and glared into the stairways leading up to one of the castle's massive turrets and unleashed another payload of dragon fire until the flames traveled upwards and burst forth from the tower's roof.

A faint screaming in the air, a weapon of cold, burning iron pierced the back of the Fatalis, just between its wings. It screamed in agony and turned its head about to see one of the castle's old harpoon launchers, its chain stretching back to its massive cannon and at its side was the Hunter.

Red lightning danced above and the chain snapped in half as the Fatalis jumped to the side and skittered forward at startling speeds. Its head turned and unleashed another great ball of fire that impacted like bombs against the opposing tower that managed to withstand the assault easily though the remaining weapons that armed it were now completely beyond use or repair.

The chain suddenly pulled tight, drawing the Fatalis' burning amber eyes away to see the Hunter standing down just out of reach of its massive tail, the thick chain impaled into the ground by a massive lance, another leftover of the castle's former residents. The Fatalis roared and with a painful jump forward, pulled the chain free of its back, the bloodied spear with its serrated spikes fell free, leaving a gaping hole in its back.

That was the last mistake it made.

In an instant, the Hunter was racing towards the Fatalis, the same hand aglow with dragon fire as the Fatalis' own jaws lit up with a hellish inferno. The Hunter jumped to the side, dodging a ball of flame as large as a small car, rolling beneath a thick stream that would have left his legs standing, the rest of his body naught but ash on the wind. He twisted out of the way of a whipping tail, ducking beneath a vicious swipe of draconian claws and was there upon the Fatalis' back like a monkey.

He didn't hesitate.

Fire was unleashed through the open wound and burned its way through the Fatalis' unprotected insides. The Fatalis screamed in agony as fire not its own exploded out from its mouth. Its cry echoed in the empty woods and the skies trembled before the dark clouds slowly started to fade until the sky was clear and the sun began to shine again. The great dragon fell to the ground, not dead but it would be soon enough.

It struggled to breathe but its lungs had been badly burned and every exhalation released another cloud of ash into the wind. Before its snout stood the Hunter, on one knee with his head bowed. Before him was a large metallic carving knife with an ornate hilt made to resemble a dragon in flight. It was not a weapon but it was recognized by the Fatalis.

"Forgive me…" The Hunter whispered, "but know that your death will serve a purpose, Elder Dragon…" The Hunter reached up and pulled free his protective cowl, revealing a head covered in ivory, eyes like sharpened emeralds and a face young yet worn. The face of an Old Boy…

"Your death will give life to a weapon that will make all who stand in its way tremble in fear. It will be mine for however long it chooses to be and in my hands it will do many things… but it is not my hands that it will stay with… In that boy's hands it will do many terrible things… and many great things… but that is still not enough to make what I've done right."

The Old Boy took a shuddering breath of air and something wet fell from his bowed face. Tears… The Fatalis realized. "Speak your last request and be it in my power I will see it done without fail. You have my word."

A deep, pained gasp, a choking laughter, wings clenching tightly in pain. "The word… of a human… is worthless…" It rasped. Another choked cough of ash, the world slowly darkening though the sun shined high above. "But… it is not… a human… that promises… There is one thing… you may grant me… my last… request…"

"Name it and it will be done."

"Go… back…"

"Go back?"

"Go… back… to… the beginning…"

And it was dead.

A gloved hand clenched tightly, the stone talisman dead and dust within its grasp. A carving knife flashed in the daylight as the Old Boy whispered his promise.

"I intend to."

You can't change the past, but you can improve the future.