Dragon's Blood - Chapter One
Author's Notes: I'm taking a little break from the CSI fandom. I know I promised a sequel to If You Can't Stand the Heat…, but inspiration isn't forthcoming at the moment. I'm hoping while I type this one up my muse will descend upon me.
Disclaimer: StFu, I oWn NoThInG. HaPpy?
The setting sun threw splashes of deep orange light through the openings between the leafy treetops of the forest.
He was the deer, as it snagged a few leaves from a low branch to nibble on. So intent on it, that Iolaus could almost feel the muscles along the back of its neck tense when it sensed him.
If he didn't do it now, he wouldn't get another chance before dinner ran away.
Faster than the eye could follow, Iolaus knocked an arrow onto the string of his bow, aimed, and let fly just as the young buck leaped up to run.
It sped true through the leaves branches, directly into the buck's throat. It fell gracefully to it's knees and let out a keening wail that made Iolaus flinch. He sent up a quick prayer to Artemis as he sprinted over to his catch.
Iolaus knelt down beside it and put a hand on the neck. He pet him, trying to soothe away his fear.
"I'm sorry, friend," he murmured, taking a knife out of his boot.
Iolaus waited for a few minutes while it died. After his own brushes with death, the hunter believed that nothing should have to die alone, be it friend or enemy. Even an animal he'd killed himself (somewhere on Mount Olympus, Artemis smiled on the actions of her golden hunter).
When he felt the last of the buck's life trickle away, only then did he look at the knife he'd pulled out. Despite being a hunter, Iolaus still didn't enjoy what he had to do next.
Deftly, Iolaus ran his blade along the buck's stomach, mentally gagging when the smell his hit nose. Blood and entrails spilt from the cut and Iolaus dragged out what he could, given that he only had his bow, a quiver of arrows and a knife. There was nothing in his small pack slung over his shoulders that would be able to cut through bone. There was a larger pack back at his camp that held his sword, but he left it because he didn't think there was anything he'd need it against.
After he cleared it out the best he could, Iolaus wiped his bloody hands in the grass, along with his blade. When it was as clean as it was going to get for the moment, he stuck it back in his boot.
Iolaus sat back on his heels, trying to decide the best, quickest way to transport the carcass back to the fresh, cold stream back near where he'd set camp. A high pitch, screeching roar from overhead made him start and slip the dagger back out into the open.
He looked up in time to se something huge soar over the tops of the trees. It seemed to glitter in the rapidly fading sunlight.
"It's landing over there!" a gruff voice called, startlingly close. "We must have wounded it!"
Apparently, the voice wasn't alone, because there was raucous cheering at the words. Iolaus stood up and took cover behind one of the thicker tree trunks near him. He had only a few seconds to spare before a group of seven to nine men jogged by about fifteen feet away.
They were all scruffy-looking and they all wore the same black leather armor. Each one of them had a weapon, ranging from simple clubs to swords, right on up to expensive looking crossbows that Iolaus wouldn't mind owning himself.
'Wounded…?' Iolaus wondered.
"We'll get that damned dragon this time!" one of them growled at the others. "Teach it not to steal our livestock!"
Iolaus had a sudden flashback to when he and Hercules dealt with a certain dragon. The hunter had learned a lesson that all dragons weren't evil, some of them were simply misunderstood.
His conscious begged him to take action and stop those hunters before they did something awful. The little devil told him to shut up and mind his own business before he got into something over his head. It had killed livestock, after all…
Iolaus sighed and looked down at his prey, having made his decision.
'I swear, Herc must've rubbed off on me at some point,' thought Iolaus, running through the forest.
With distaste, the hunter noted the messy, obvious trail left by the group ahead of him. It was like someone wanted him to follow it.
The thought made Iolaus stop in his tracks. Did they want someone to follow?
Iolaus was still wondering when something caught the fading sun. It glinted on the ground. Completely alone and in the opposite direction of the trail he was currently following.
The hunter, forgetting about the men he was tracking, went over to investigate.
'Smells a bit like… brimstone,' he thought, squatting next to it.
It looked like a drop of molten silver, about an inch and a half in diameter. It took a moment to register, but Iolaus managed to recognize it as blood.
'Dragon blood,' he amended. 'So they did wound it.'
The sun slid behind the horizon within the minute, leaving the sky with a violet-orange glow. Even that faded. Then the full moon began to rise.
Suddenly, the silver droplet began to glow. It was so dim at first, that Iolaus thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, but as the moon got higher, the brighter the drop of blood glowed.
Another spot caught his attention, exactly the way it'd been captured a few minutes ago.
"Tartarus, they did get it good," Iolaus let out a low whistle as he looked at the undisturbed, glowing trail laid out before him.
Iolaus stood, adjusting the his pack and bow. He'd stopped back at his camp, as he figured he'd probably need his things. With no more thought, the hunter was off.
He took it a little faster than he had been going before, since following the new rail was childishly easy.
It led uphill, towards the mountains fencing off half the forest, and the further Iolaus went, the rockier the terrain got. The amount of blood steadily grew.
'I just hope I'm not too late.'
Author's Rants: So… I'm hoping that by typing this… thing… out, I'll be hit with sudden inspiration on where to go with it… (FF.N are jerks. I had this thing all nice and typed out. Indented and everything. Then I went and posted it and it looks all shitty. What ever happened to proper formatting? I really worked hard on that, too...)