Another day to rest my sour bones.
Most men work every day during the same insanity as the next. Some men break away from the mold in ways to set them apart from the typical man. Some see the day as just another day or another of the same old struggle. I was one of those men in the most category for a time. It lasted as long as I could but most men in my area of expertise could never have a "normal" day. The times I can rest I cherish more than most can believe.
I'm a Hunter in every form of the word. I hunt people for a living and had to learn how to adapt and overcome the many hundreds of diverse individuals in this world. I had to separate myself from the typical to learn how other people behaved. To blend in and become one with my environment.
Hunting is something I grew into gradually as opposition grew against my livelihood. I used to hunt down my own food only until life got complicated. I never had to strive for the abnormal much while living my life. I usually waltzed from one cause of disturbances here or there once it life did get difficult. Hunting for food became hunting for money. Life and money are so very interconnected that I learned how to mesh the both of them together. If I wanted to control the flow of gold I had to start doing the unthinkable.
My greatest sin is when I've gained the title of dragon slayer. I regret it to this day because it led me to my destiny. One nearly forced upon me not chosen. The moment I triggered the death of that dragon my life before ended, and I was reborn to put it radically just not for the better.
Life was so simple before. It was just me being the magic using assassin that I am; stealing and killing the nobles and dirty scum of the land like I was ordained to. Suddenly, I somehow got curious enough to find my way to some god's forsaken island in the middle of nowhere only to find nothing there except slugs the size of carriages that are annoying to kill without fire. I don't like using fire-based spells that is why I used my specialty at first being lightning. I fried the bastards into next week until I made some escargot on the go only for one to jump out of nowhere to tear me to pieces. Then I had to switched into fire which made brought back bad times from the past.
I should've left when I had the chance. I had one of those feelings that I needed to leave and not explore the ruins around me. I should've listened to the feeling in the pit of my stomach instead of the voice in my head now that I think about it.
I found a rock protected by some powerful magic in this land. In my land breaking spells can be quite difficult but still achievable with the right wording. My curiosity won thus surpassing my gut feeling and studied the spell on said rock. I learned from experienced though it left my skills as crude as a mace made of malformed stone. I was trained in a way from by a human turned monster on how to meld a spell and use souls to my benefit. It did in this regard. Once I broke the spell eventually and opened the door then pushed my way through that opening into the underground lair.
I'm a treasure hunter and lover of all things shiny and desired. Anything worth the currency of the land I'm in I want it like most of my kind would, but instead of gold and treasure a giant bronze golem of all things greeted me with the intent of killing me. It even had the face of a dragon.
It was impossible to take down by regular means but to shackle it down my way of dropping a boulder on top of it worked quite well enough to hold it off for a time. I knew that treasure was down this cave just from the protection and the guardian within. I just knew it. Color me surprised that I wasn't staggered that I didn't find gold at the bottom because gold doesn't attack your mind in an attempt to turn it to mush. The wills of so many against my own. I felt bad for them because my mind if not the best place to be for any that decided to go a little too far. Unlucky for them I can operate on more basic instinct because of the dragon soul in my body.
Within this cavern I found eggs and other treasures as well. These beings within seemed to be trying to protect the eggs around me and the large golden jewels surrounding them. I had come too far to turn back and snagged one of the golden jewels and the closest egg I could grab and gods that bastard was large. Like that size of my entire arm around only just fit around it and I still couldn't touch my side all the way yet the egg still fit snug under my arms none the less. The gem was almost just as big.
Ignoring the roars in the back of my empty mind, I ran back out passing the golem seconds after it got free. The spell broke and the door was closing. I had just made it out with my leg almost caught in the mouth that closed seconds before the Golem reached me.
I left thinking was rich. Rich for that gold gem was so large It had to be worth an entire castle or maybe a city seeing that it had all the elfish like groves on it as well. The egg fit well in my lap as I laid on the stone door not hearing those things anymore in the pit of my mind. The moment my consciousness came back the sonic boom of all those voices came back and bashed on me like a thousand or so drums in my ears. It took a minute to make out most of it. Screams of anger and outrage at my intrusion and desecration of the tomb of whatever they called it. Then the pleading to return the Eluvai-something and the egg I stole as well. Maybe if they hadn't attacked my mind causing me to blank out my consciousness I might've listened, but I was running on primal instinct at the time to protect myself.
It was too late now. I wasn't going back in there. I was happy not to leave the island empty hand with egg that fit on my back well and a gem that fit in my knapsack just as good. I wish I know how ignorant I was back then before it happened. The story I… no We have to tell… best We start there for now. After I acquired the arbiter to my shift and before I became Us. This isn't just my story but Ours.
Almost on it's own, controlled by a force that was never originally mine, our hands moved along the paper with the quill tight in our grip. On his human hand ours layered on top to depict his fall and finally our rise.
