She stumbled forwards, losing balance and falling to her feet after the rough shove she had just received, and she didn't dare look up to meet the eyes of the person standing before her.

Since the situation with Heather, her life had changed as she rose up through the ranks through treachery, backstabbing and misdirection. The hunters who came with her when she sold Heather out? Betrayed them when the rest of the guards arrived and framed the entire thing on them - after the company leader met an 'unexpected' end. Six 'killers' caught and a 'traitorous' boss killed looked good for her, though now she was starting to realise how much of a mistake she had actually made. Possibly a few months after she and a new friend took over their particular company, she met with.. Him, and his allies. Needless is it to say, just his presence invoked fear in her.

His hair was black, long and curly, and his beard was braided, and he towered over her short figure. His right arm, was covered in metal armor, and over the same shoulder he wore a cloak made up of dragon scales. In his left hand, he wielded a staff, or spear of some kind, the end of which had a second spike that curved out, almost like a hook.

When he spoke, his voice was rough and hoarse, gravelly that dripped with a toxic malice, and the very presence of him seemed to fill the air with dread, fear and a commanding aura.

"You wanted to see her, Drago?"

"Yes."

She was doing her best to not shake from fear while she attempted to raise herself to her feet, not meeting his gaze. She didn't have courage to speak, no-one did around him, unless they were practically ordered to. Even idle chatter would stop if he walked past. She was racking her brain, thinking hard on all the developments that have happened and trying to figure out why he had sent for her, of all his captains and such. She stood there in silence as he began to circle her like a predator to its trapped prey, making her not only intimidated but infuriated, though she made no move to reach for her weapon.

"Do you have any idea why I summoned you?" He growled.

"N-no." She cursed her stutter, straightening her posture.

"I'm still waiting for your shipment of Dragons.." His voice rattled her soul, and she gulped, not knowing how to explain the situation. Maybe she could use this to her advantage and get rid of some more troublesome hunters. "Where are they?"

"We're working on recapturing them my lord." she didn't once turn to face him, keeping her gaze locked directly ahead and she did well to mask the lie in fake courage. "It would appear the traitors that got Heather killed have allies sabotaging our efforts."

"Then get rid of them."

"We are working on finding the other traitors and arresting them. They're doing better to hide their tracks." She was lying through her teeth, but ultimately it didn't matter to her if it meant she kept out of trouble. Anytime someone got close to figuring her out, she'd get rid of them.

He scoffed, almost like he was annoyed at her ineffectiveness at removing 'traitors' quickly, and grabbed her by the throat.

"Then do better.." He shoved her backwards roughly, but she kept her balance and rubbed her throat, glaring at him. "Now, Tira, you better get some new dragons.. Soon. If you don't want to end up like Eret did.."

She shuddered at the mention of the other Hunter, whom now had a horrible brand on his chest after he lost his collection of dragons, and Tira had no intention of meeting a similar punishment. She would've been much better off with any of the other Hunter captains, but she just had to end up being having to answer directly to him..

He turned his back to her as loud footsteps were heard approaching from behind, and out a dark hallway stepped another individual, someone she hadn't met before, but he was taller than Drago, and even his presence sent chills down her spine. She dared not look at him, when she did she felt physically cold, sick with a level of fear and anxiety that even Drago didn't evoke.

She quickly made her way out without hesitation when just a single word was uttered from the newcomer.

"Leave." His voice was deep, but not raspy and gravelly like Drago's. No, his voice was smooth, deep, smooth but almost uncomfortably animalistic. She didn't even try to catch a sneak peak of him, she just took her leave without any questions, and instantly after leaving the room, with the door shutting behind her, she released a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding, and instantly her tense muscles relaxed.

She had, all things considered, gotten away with everything very, very lightly, but she doubted how much longer her luck would hold up. Casting a quick glance back, she shuddered and quickly made her way back to her small boat, which would take her back across the waters. She kept her head down for the walk, not wanting to catch attention of other trappers and hunters, and she tried not to eavesdrop on conversations. The ship she was on was huge, in comparison to any other she had ever been on, with a massive storage compartment, full of traps in which dragons would be held as bait for other dragons, and a vast arsenal of anti-dragon weapons accompanied the traps and adorned the deck of the ship. The wood was dark, and the boat itself was reinforced with metal plating. There were torches scattered evenly across the ship to provide enough light that one could see almost every detail. Hunters onboard the deck, most, if not all of whom dwarfed her in size and stature, all much more well-built than her lean, skinny frame, and all in groups of atleast four.

Her boat, lighter in color and dwarfed in size, was manned by a total five hunters excluding her, and was nothing like the war vessels of the fleet here. Her boat looked nothing more than the average boat traders had. Descending down the rope, she relaxed once she was in the familiar vessel, and they wasted no time in sailing away back to their home, if it could even be called that now.

"What did he want?" Asked one of the hunters, sitting on the deck, his back leaning against the side of the ship.

"He wanted to know why we haven't handed him our dragons."

"What did you tell him? You told him someone set them free right?" Questioned a second one, standing at the back and piloting the small boat.

"Of course. He still wasn't that happy about it. The sooner we find whoevers responsible the better."

"Tell me about it.. First, the captain tried to have us go to war with another company, then those guys get Heather killed, now they're trying to sabotage the rest of us by setting all the dragons free."

"We'll catch them and deal with them, I'll make sure of it." By that, she meant, catch whoever was even remotely close to figuring her out and arrest them. Keep the truth a secret by eliminating all threats to that secrecy.

The sail back home was long and mostly quiet, the waters calm and skies clear. It was uneventful, though almost nothing of interest ever happened around these waters as it was.

"Apparently Drago has a new friend aswell." She said out of the blue, wanting to break the silence that befell her boat.

"Oh?" This caught all of their attention, all turning to face her with interest. "Who is it?"

At this, Tira shrugged. "I don't know, I've never seen, or heard about him before. I didn't really get a good look at him either but his taller than Drago. He feels like serious bad news though."

"Well, lets just hope we don't have to deal with him then. I hate having to work closely with one of Drago's right hand guys. They're all so judgemental and horrible." The hunter shuddered. "I was so happy when I got reassigned to you, and away from Ryker and Viggo."

"Is Viggo really that bad?" Tira asked out of genuine curiosity.

The hunter nodded. "Yeah, his smart, manipulative and he knows Dragons like the back of his hand. Ryker is more brute force and raw strength but the pair of them together, I don't think there's many who would actually be able to beat them head to head. Outsmarting Viggo is a challenge all in its own."

"So in other words, not the kinda guy you want to get on the wrong side of."

"Definitely. Not a very forgiving type either."

"I'd very much like to meet him some day though. I want to know the kind of people, the allies we'll have when things inevitably go to shit."

"We'll meet him one day, probably sooner than you think. I'm surprised we haven't you haven't met him already if I'm honest. You've met Eret, would've expected you met the brothers aswell.."

She hummed absentmindedly, walking over to the steps that led to the second floor and went down them. Beneath, there were a few empty cages, two chests, and a few simple, makeshift beds. She took to the one claimed as her own and lay down in it, staring up at the wooden floor. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she drifted off to sleep.