Chapter 6:Welcome To Warfang

The journey was long and full of hardships, his body was a bit worn from the struggle. From fighting wolves, to hunting and collecting food and drink when deep in the wild. Not to mention his flight up the mountain and fighting off the might of an ancient Earth golem. Asher was winded, and he did not have much of anything any more, he didn't even have his red long coat any more. His left arm was tired after being fixed up from a dislocation, and his right arm's wound needed to be redressed soon.

Thankfully, he was at long last reaching his destination, the city of dragons itself, Warfang. It was so shiny and gold, like a lovely and colorful oasis mirage within the harshest of deserts. But this civilization was all too real, and it humbly awaited his arrival, much like the people inside. The weary dragon was looking forward to this, he needed a hot meal and some relaxation. Above all else, he needed answers to his sister and all that filled his mind, his obsession needed sustenance.

But he continued to go slow, and make sure he had plenty of energy to explore the city. He was on the approach to the city's main gate, he looked up to see for any lookout moles watching the gate. None were on top of the gate itself, but there were plenty in the towers beside the gate. He raised his right arm up to wave, and two pairs of binoculars were already on him, two moles nearly jumped out of their fur. Quickly, they rushed to the corners of the towers, and blew their great horns.

"Open the great gate! The lost black dragon has arrived!"A black and gold armored captain of the moles called out and got the moles to mobilize to the gate.

Asher looked up to witness the moles mobilizing to the top of the great city gates. He kept on waving for a minute more as the horns slowly ended, and the moles blew into strange tube like contraptions. Suddenly, that's when the double door gate began to slowly open for Asher. It was almost flattering to see the moles opening up the gates just for him, usually such treatment is unheard of for a merc. But it was more than appreciated, as the city opened up for the dragon.

Asher slowly started to stroll his way through the great gates, as mole soldiers mobilized to the gate. Preparing to close it back up with torches and oil to blast hot flames into more tubes. Once the dragon was in, he turned to see this mechanism in use, as flames filled the tubes. They swirled and flowed till they were filling up to in sync bars, the rest of the moles slowly closed the gate up. Then they needed to hold it shut and wait, while the bars filled with molten fire till they reached the circular center piece.

All that was left to do then was dump buckets of cold water onto the bar. This was a team effort for a dozen moles consistently filling and splashing the bars, letting steam gush off the bars. This was a repeated action until the iron hot bars cooled down and harden into an impressive obsidian bar. This locked up the gate with a seal of obsidian, this would guarantee that no intruders made it inside. This left the moles to relax and release the gate, allowing them to leave, accept for three.

Another humble mole captain, and two spear moles stayed behind and stood at attention. The captain removed his dragon head shaped helmet and kindly bowed to the black dragon. As did the two spear moles, for they were expecting him, and this was truly the very last black dragon they would see.

"Greetings, and welcome to Warfang, lost dragon. We were told to prepare for your arrival."The captain respectfully informed Asher of the city's awareness for his arrival.

"Really? Word gets around Warfang fast, I suppose. Even for a large city,"Asher figured as much as the next round of small iron bar gates opened up for him,"Then you know that I seek the guardians and Hunter for some answers on Cynder. But first, I'd like to find a place to get some hot food, and much needed rest."

"Of course. Just head into the lower city, after you make it down the first main street, an inn will be right next to a gate leading into the military section of the lower city,"The captain was quick to inform Asher of a place serving all the needs he required after his journey,"The Inn is known as The Dragon's Cauldron, serves some impressive meats ranging from smokey to spicy."

"Good… The journey felt longer than it truly was after leaving Cheetah town."Asher admitted and attempted to leave for the city, only for the captain to notice the wound on Asher's right arm.

"Wait! I would suggest you redress that wound. That bandage job looks a bit old,"The captain insisted while Asher looked to him, and then to his old wound,"Infection might not be recommended for when you meet the guardians. They'd hate to see you grow sickly…"

"You should see the beasts that gave me this… Where might I find a doctor?"Asher asked after assessing his dressed wound that was drenched in blood that was old and black.

"First building on a secondary street before the main one. Look for the mole mistress with the red mask,"The captain explained before putting his helmet back on and saluted,"We must take our leave now. The citizens will greet you warmly, and Hunter will be meeting you at the Inn."

"Thank you. I look forward to enjoying your city."Asher responded, and finally got on his way to see the city.

The moles returned to their work, and the dragon casually passed through the iron gates. Before he was able to enter the city of Warfang, it's golden statues and foundations were quite the sight. Ancient dragon structures were interesting looks for the dragons of old, if only he could see live ones. He liked the styled houses of red and stone, it's like everything in the city was to compliment dragons. There was so much he wanted to learn, and who knew how much time he would spend in Warfang.

But before he could look around and be a tourist to the city, he needed to get his wound redressed. That seemed easy enough, at least until he entered a square that put him out in the open. Before he new it, numerous mole people were out and about after finishing up their first shifts of work. Crowds either went home, conversed with each other on their day, or went shopping. But now they had a special guest in their grand city, and boy was Asher an easy visitor to spot.

Many eyes darted to the big and dark dragon that truly stood out and over the crowds. Asher's eyes rolled in both directions to scan the crowd that was now staring right at him. He then cleared his throat, hoping to perhaps snake his way pass the crowd of moles and make it to this doctor.

"The dragon fly's words were true…! It truly is another black dragon…!"He could hear their gentle and quiet conversations that surfaced from the curiosity.

"He really does look a bit like her… Cynder truly did have a twin…!"Once again, he heard another compare his looks to that of his sister.

So much more was said, but he needed to stay focused on where he needed to go. But that only got more difficult to do once moles were then following him, and wondering about him. Normally, he would either scare unwanted attention away with some roars and sneers, but these people were dragon lovers. Nothing could scare them, barring the actual warning of great pain. But just like with the Cheetah town, it would be a very bad idea to vilify himself and lose this one chance he had to learn about Cynder.

"This is going to require my full patience… Just please don't stand in my way…!"Asher begged to himself that no one gets between him and where he needs to go.

"Please, take this necklace of drakes. It will give you the best of luck for the future."A lady suddenly offered him a necklace with small red drake heads threaded together with some gold looking wire.

"No thank you, I've got plenty of luck at my side already."Asher tried his best to be polite, but politeness was in short supply when raised by obnoxious and cold blooded mercenaries.

"How about a lovely obsidian dagger? Capable of piercing the hides of iron scaled salamanders!"A mole offered a straight dagger made with refined obsidian and a golden tip.

"I've got plenty of weapons for whatever comes my way."Asher replied, getting a bit irritated as he tried pushing his way through the crowd.

"But do you have a shield for that extra defense for the creatures of the wild?"The same mole tried to then offer him a kite shield of black iron with dragon scale patterns.

"Don't need one…!"Asher insisted as he then spotted a open window business with a red cross on it, just what you'd expect for a doctor's place.

So he tried rushing through the crowd, hoping not to knock people around since they were only trying to be kind. Even so, whatever patience he tried to have, it was burning out fast. Especially now that he was being offered gems and jewelry, like he was some sort of greedy feral dragon.

"Take this sacred heirloom, it will give you unfaltering confidence!"

"This chest plate will make you impervious to the strongest of raw steel weapons!"

"How about some rings that will give you bountiful strength?"

"No, no, and NO! Please, I just want to get to this doctor and patch myself up!"Asher tried to keep his voice from getting too loud, but these enthusiastic moles were unbearable.

"Oh goodness, your arm! Please, I can offer you some leeches to remove some blood!"A mole lady offered a bizarre and unwanted treatment.

"I can offer an elixir that will take away all the pain your feeling at the-"

Finally, Asher had enough, if they weren't going to respect his need for space or his mission. Then he was going to scare them into getting out of his way, and nothing did that better than a simple roar. He cut off the next offer of elixir by rearing his head back, and unleashing a primal roar. This was a rare thing for dragons to do, especially in this day and age, where dragon rage was almost nonexistent. But Asher brought it back as his roar, nearly split their ears and traveled through the skies.

He let the fear of his potential rage and future actions sink into the crowd that was so bold as to push his buttons. Once his roar finished echoing through the skies and through the chilled spines of the people. He slowly brought himself down and watched the moles try to recollect themselves. Such a sudden burst of anger was unexpected from dragons, then again this was Cynder's alleged twin. So perhaps their fear was understood, while they started to understood what Asher was about.

"Now PLEASE! Will all of you disperse? I have important places to be, people and dragons to meet,"Asher gave them a moment to collect themselves before sternly insisting that they leave him be,"As kind as your gestures are, I can handle myself. Please stay out of my way…!"

With a little thought, the crowd quietly dispersed and allowed the black dragon safe passage. Asher nodded in kind and walked through the crowd, letting his eyes watch the crowd. They seemed a bit devastated by his outburst, and after he simply roared at them to give him space. Were they just behaving like children, or did he really scare them that bad? He didn't bother with it, he just focused on making his way to the doctor's house, and knocking on the door.

The dragon then waited for a solid few minutes before knocking again, and getting an answer. That answer was indeed a female mole opening the door, wearing a square shiny helmet with a red cross on the face. While the rest of her was garbed in a sort of church like white robe. She looked around, and saw the crowd silently watching them, she scoffed at their prying eyes. She then looked to the client before her, and gasped lightly before swinging her door open for him.

"In here…! Quickly, dark dragon. Come in and away from all these nosy moles."The doctor insisted and Asher was more than willing to do just that for her.

So he entered the building, and shut the door behind him, leaving the people to be on their way. Asher was finally able to relax for a moment after that heated moment with the moles. Before the fiery lanterns lit up the building, and the mole mistress gestured him to follow her. The building was a bit cramped for his size, but Asher was willing to make due with what he had.

"Apologies for all that. Those people tried way too hard to be friendly, it goes from endearing to unbearable in a flash,"The doctor explained while clearing space on a wooden table and placing a white cloth over it,"We were all informed of your arrival, and told to greet you warmly. But not smother you."

"You don't say…? Now they're all sporting long faces just because I snapped at them,"Asher admitted his shock for their lack of strong hearts for handling a small scolding,"Among the Alphas, we either just laughed it off or just understood and stayed strong."

"Well… We live in a time of peace and softness, and last thing they wanted to do was upset the brother of Cynder,"The doctor put on her mask and patted the table to invite Asher to it,"After how much grief your sister was given for her past. So failing to warmly greet her brother is quite the blow to their soft hearts."

"I see… Well I apologize for lacking the patience that could never be shown among mercenaries,"Asher sighed and felt a bit bad while sitting next to the table and putting his arm up,"Now… Can you redress this wound? A mole captain insisted I get it redone."

"Of course…! Lets have a look here,"The doctor agreed and lifted his arm up to unwrap the make shift bandage and see the stitching,"The field dressing is good, and the stitching is pretty good. Though I have to tighten the stitches a bit, and disinfect the wound."

"Do what you have to do. Whatever is gonna get me on my way faster."Asher responded and relaxed to let the mole doctor redress his wound.

"Care to explain where this wound came from?"The doctor asked while tossing the rag aside and pulling out some ointment and alcohol.

"Great wolves, ferocious pack hunters of the Avalar forests. One of them scratched me in the scuffle,"Asher explained as he felt the doctor wet a cloth with water to wipe up the dry and dead blood,"Killed the pack and it's leader in return."

"I'd hardly call this a mere scratch, but so be it. So, you lived a mercenary life, did you,"The doctor asked and got deep into the wound to get it cleaned out,"Boy, if Cynder knew that, she'd have quite the stern conversation with your group's leader. The way she has changed since Malefor, she never would have tolerated such a life style for you."

"I wouldn't know… All I remember of her is her screams while Malefor and Gaul drilled their corruption into her head,"Asher admitted while the doctor then started to tighten his stitches up with a real needle,"And some… Choice words she offered me before I never saw her again…"

"Ah… Did you hear that she has not been seen since her visit ten years ago?"The doctor asked while cleaning up some excess blood that leaked out once the stitches were tightened.

"Yes, she dropped off the present I now carry on my right claw. We wear one, and it symbolizes our freedom."Asher explained what he knew of Cynder and the things she said to him.

"Indeed… They say when she left… She went on her own journey to find you."The doctor admitted a rumor that was floating around ever since Asher was spoken of among the city.

"Really? Is she going to get a surprise when I find her…!"Asher manage to let out a little chuckle before the alcohol and new bandages came out.

"Sure will… Now you may want to brace yourself for this next part."The doctor warned as she got ready to bring the burning pain of pure alcohol on an open wound with some ointment laced bandages.

The half an hour was filled with quite the work put into Asher's wound getting washed clean and disinfected. Half way through the process, he nearly blasted the windows out with some hot fire. For alcohol on open wounds were not a fun process, whether you were a child or a grown dragon. Thankfully, it was over before too long, and some clean white bandages were around his arm. Stopping the bleeding, and ensuring the wound's full recovery, it was quite the relief.

As much as the rest of the treatment stung, it was at least something he could handle. Now that he was patched up, the time had come for him to be on his way to this Dragon Cauldron Inn. He held his wrist to fix his bracelet and moved his arm to test out the work that got done on it with some flexes.

"Nice… That should be all the tending that my wound will ever need, thank you."Asher gave the doctor his gratitude for patching him up, though he decided to keep the dislocated left arm a secret.

"Just try not to do anything that might open up the wound again. Dragon scales are quite the chore to stitch,"The doctor informed while cleaning up her table from the operation,"Where will you go, now? Straight to the palace of the guardians, perhaps?"

"No, first I need to get to this Dragon's Cauldron Inn, and meet up with Hunter,"Asher stretched it out and walked to the door before spotting some dragon lilies on the window sill,"I need to get some hot food in me and rest up before meeting these guardians."

"Suppose that is wise. Fighting wolves and traveling through the treacherous regions of the Avalar valley,"Asher slowly picked up one of the lilies and smelled it before looking outside to the moles,"That's almost enough to be made into a small novel."

"And I'd be the only one to read it when I'm feeling nostalgic… Thank you for your help,"Asher bowed to the doctor for her kind assistance with his wounds,"May you discover great fortune in the future."

"That's a new one, but I can make that a new trend to pass around…"The doctor thought as she watched the dragon leave her home quietly with a flower.

With that, he emerged from the doctor's building, and into the public once again. Where the crowd was more quiet and more spread out, still a bit nervous to even approach the dragon. Fearing that he now only had hatred for their meddling, it gave him a small bit of guilt inside. He almost wanted to turn green with the guilt trip he was getting, this feeling deeply annoyed him. So the dragon needed to mend this situation before it made him puke, and act of kindness should do it.

So as a token of his apology for getting irritable and yelling at the people, he looked to a small mole girl. He knelt down to her, and offered the child the dragon lily as his means of apologizing. She was slow and hesitate to accept it, for she now believed that he was a temper mental dragon. But new found patience aid off, and she kindly took the flower into her small paws. With that, Asher was able to show his more peaceful side, and prove himself at least a little bit reasonable.

With that, it loosened their fear somewhat and gave them a sense of ease as he looked to them all. Before he then turned away and walked pass them to get on the main path to the Inn. He kept his head low, and thought deeply about how different this city was, as well as it's people. So much bigger, so full of life, so full of many complex and different characters, it was so very strange. But so far it did have a charm about it, the people like to be nice and offer peace and prosperity rather than violence.

Sounded like the place to be if he were to completely retire from the life of a mercenary. Perhaps even after he found his sister, that would be more than enough for him to retire from the life he lived. He let a smirk form as he thought of the possibilities that awaited him in the future of this visit. As he found the main street and traveled down the path on his way to this Inn. Before he then caught wind of fluttering clothes flapping from within another building, he froze in place.

Before walking to the open window that allowed him to look into the building. Checking out all the outfits the building had to offer, he could use some worth while clothes to look civilized. He preferred a civilized look, it helped disguise his savagery and his true self when he wanted to be under the radar. However, it appeared that there wasn't anything that looked to be his size at all, not even close. So he pounded on the table of the open window, and moved on with disappointment.

So he continued on, wondering what Cynder might have done here while she was among them. Was her small arrival and rescue of the city really all she did here, or was there more? Better yet, what was this legendary Spyro fella like if he was the one who saved her? Asher was quick to shut his mind down a bit, for it had threatened to give him even more questions than he already had. He needed to keep himself focused on the here and now, until he could meet with these guardians.

After minutes of walking, he then stopped to take in a sudden glorious smell. It smelled the flesh, smokey burning meat that was a heavenly aroma for any predator, especially dragons. The smell was strong and it's steamy musk right in his face, it was too much for him to pass off. So he ran off, following the lovely steamy smell that called to him so sweetly with the promise of good food. He would soon find out that he would not be disappointed with what the smell had to offer him.

Sure enough, the dragon made it to the iron gates that would take him up the steps and into the next section. And right by that guy was the building he sought, the Dragon Cauldron Inn. It's foundation and walls were made of pure red wood and paint, with a style matching green roof. It even had a black iron sign that spoke it's name, while right below the red and orange letters. A red dragon was crawling out of a black cauldron and blasting fire underneath it to get it smoking.

"So this is the Dragon Cauldron…! They couldn't have made that more obvious,"Asher thought and took a moment to admire the inn and the good times it had to offer,"You better be able to top the food at my guild…!"

With that, he slowly walked in and demonstrated more patience, hoping to get awarded for it. He pushed open the small red door with gold dragon carvings, and entered a very homing place. There was fancy red wood tables and chairs with gold legs, and backs to them. There was some fiery foundry looking fire pits with black iron bars lined up with meats from beef brisket to sausages. All of which was being cooked and smoked from burning pieces of either apple wood or cherry wood.

The other pits, all lined with black iron protected hardwood behind the bar in an open kitchen. The colors were off, and the people here look less rough and tumble, not an ounce of intimidation. But it still had some forms of home to it, the laughter, the worker moles messing around and eating dinner like pigs. Not to mention the arm wrestling and classic dart games, it was just like the guild, except for it's more civilized atmosphere. Asher nodded and approved of this inn, he needed to give this place a good try.

Then he spotted the big cat himself, sitting with his hood over his head and keeping it low. But his feet gave him away, unless there was some other Avalarians working undercover in Warfang. The dragon snickered and decided to play it cool and casual, as he took a seat at the bar next to Hunter. He sat tall, though the seat seemed a bit small and struggled under his weight, while eyes were on him. That was to be expected, after all these people were made aware that he was coming to the city.

But Hunter was incognito as well, that was a bit disconcerting and unexpected of him. That was the thought, until he recognized a familiar face he got to know outside the Alphas. The dirty looking shrew in rags he knew as Grits, Felious's go to for knowledge outside the Cheetah town. If he was here, then he was on the job, and he was playing it discretely with mugs of ale. As Asher cleared his throat, and put his claws up before the cook saw him waiting at the bar and ran to him.

"What can I get for you, black dragon? We've been looking forward to your arrival."The cook admitted while Asher took a good look to the fire pits.

"Thank you, I'll take vanilla chai tea, hot. And How about some thick cuts of that brisket?"Asher suggested, and the cook nodded before getting into the kitchen to do some work.

"Hungry after your journey through the valley?"Hunter decided to break the ice with Asher while peeking over to the shrew in the corner.

"You might say that. An earth golem and a pack of wolves were also involved but they weren't nearly as much fun,"Asher joked and slowly looked to the discrete hunter,"I was told you'd be waiting for me… Care to explain all the discretion you got going on here?"

"That shrew over there is shady. He's been watching me non stop, along with the goons to the right,"Hunter gestured to his right, and Asher spotted some bandit looking moles with curved daggers at their sides,"I'm not so sure that they're big fans of mine…"

"You mean, Grits? Yeah… He's a rat for Felious, doesn't surprise me that he's giving you the stink eye,"Asher informed before his piping hot cup of tea came out in a red jade cup,"Probably got wind of me leaving Cheetah town, and he's suppose to be a spy or something."

"Not exactly doing the best job. Not when he's easy to recognize through the eyes of an Alpha."Hunter pointed out and Asher chuckled while taking up his tea.

"Don't worry, he's far from any kind of fighter. He's more of a cowardly hit and run guy."Asher let Hunter in on the methods and actions of the shrew.

As Asher then went to slowly sip his tea, the shrew then decided to make a move. He huffed and got out of his chair, twirling a finger to the nearby waitress to give him another ale. He marched over and planted himself in a seat next to Asher, he was a dwarf compared to Asher. Though his abnormally large nose could beat Asher's hands down, either way, he was a runt. His fur looked dirty, he wore the rags of a common thief with some smudged up plated armor over his chest.

His beady little black eyes watched Asher sip his tea before swinging his paw up. Knocking the cup of tea out of Asher's claws, and letting it spill on the wood floor next to a waitress. Asher paused in that position for a moment, before his eyes slowly looked down to his spilled cup of tea.

"That was my vanilla chai tea… You don't get that kind of tea very often,"Asher explained and slowly looked up and into Grits's small eyes blankly,"And you just made me spill it… I'm thinking you owe me another cup there, Grits."

"You owe an explanation for leaving the Alphas, boy…! Felious might have dropped you on your head one too many times."Grits demanded answers after hearing of Asher's desertion from the Alphas.

"You gonna buy me a new cup of tea or not?"Asher felt that there was nothing that needed to be explained to a lowly rat of a shrew like Grits.

"How about I fill you up a cup of my hot piss for dodging the question,"Grits suggested an alternative drink, deciding to play his connection to the Alphas card to seem fearless,"You upset a lot of your comrades by just suddenly leaving them. Felious is more than furious about it."

"Right… Excuse me miss? Are those blue berry muffins?"Asher suddenly confused Hunter and Grits by flagging down a waitress with a plate full of muffins.

"Why yes they are. They're for a gentlemole at a table for three."The waitress insisted while Asher casually took a muffin from the middle that had a knife stuck deep in it.

"Tell him to take a gold piece in exchange for this one."Asher responded and placed a gold piece on her plate before holding up the muffin by the knife handle.

"Very well, good dragon."The waitress humbly nodded and moved on to her waiting customer while Asher looked over the muffin.

"You know… We all have our families and our places in this world. And for a time, I though it was the Alphas I belonged to,"Asher suddenly went on a deep thinking explanation as he slammed the knife down and cut the muffin in two,"But I would never come to be with them if it wasn't for my sister. She made me a possibility for the group."

Asher then suddenly took up one half of the muffin and looked at it closely. Before he then proceeded to eat it slowly and casually, Grits was beyond confused by these calm actions. Only for Asher to take up the other half and slowly offer it to the shrew, as if he was giving up a peace offering.

"She sacrificed her sanity and good will to keep me alive, for that she was given a second chance,"Asher got a bit more stern with his words while Grits slowly reached for the muffin,"The least she deserved was the satisfaction knowing I was alive and that I am here in this world for her…"

"Yeah…? But how does that excuse what you did?"Grits asked before he got one painful answer.

Asher went zero to sixty, snatching up the shrew's paw and raising the knife to it. Before ramming the knife down and clean through his paw, and even completely into the bar. He yelled with pain, only for Asher to grab the back of his neck and slam it down on the bar. He was then held there while Asher kicked his stool out, and held the rodent in place to listen to much fiercer words.

"Because I got more family than just the Alphas in my life, and she's out there somewhere,"Asher viciously explained and twisted the knife in the mole's paw to stretch the injury open,"That's more than what I wanted to share with a rat like you…!"

"Let me go…! You'll have a lot to answer for after this…!"Grits warned while struggling to maintain himself, even with a blade through his paw.

"Lets clear something up so we both understand each other nice and clear,"Asher squeezed at the shrew's neck while ripping his paw wide open and freeing him from the knife,"I have a path of my own that I must walk, and my sister lies at the end of it. And I will kill everything that stands between me and her, even if it happens to be the ALPHAS!"

Asher threw the shrew to the ground, as he gripped his paw in agony letting it bleed. Once Grits was on his back, the cronies shot out of their seats and pulled out their daggers. Hunter was ready for them, and swiftly slipped his bow out from under his cloak with arrows at the ready. Before the two lackies could even advance towards them, Hunter aimed and shot his arrows in a flash. Letting two sharp arrows drill clean through their legs and pinning them to the floor.

Allowing Hunter to jump, and kick one mole to his left, while using momentum to twirl and round house the other. This put out the cronies lights, breaking off the arrows in their legs before they were on their backs. Leaving Asher to deal with the shrew and send him on his way, beaten and a bit wiser.

"You can go ahead and tell Felious that I will not return till I find her,"Asher jabbed his wrist spike against the shrew's neck,"Or I can send you to him in pieces with a note, your choice!"

"Ok… I'll go…! But you're going to pay for all this…!"Grits warned while crawling back and standing up to hold his injured paw.

"We'll see…"Asher neutrally responded while watching the shrew run away and leave the inn.

"Leave…! Let this inn be, now. Take what remains of your prides and go."Hunter demanded gently to the cronies, a soft spoken voice to mask his ferocity and skill.

He then watched the moles slowly try to help each other up, as eyes all remained on them. It took minutes before they were able to stand and get limping out, while the two victors watched them with pity. They were seen all the way out, and once the last of the trouble makers were gone. Hunter and Asher then looked to each other, respect was easily forged between the two of them. And just in time for their food to arrive, thick slices of brisket for Asher, and a dozen chicken legs for Hunter.

"You fight well, you'd make one heck of a mercenary."Asher admitted as they both stared at each other with approval.

"My loyalties lie with the dragons and my friends. I will serve them for the good of this realm and it's people,"Hunter professed his true calling before sitting back down at the bar,"You're welcome to join us if things go south for you and the Alphas."

"I'll sleep on it… Though I'm guessing it would make my sister happier with me."Asher admitted while sitting down as well and driving his fork into a slice of brisket.

"She certainly would… Cheers for new found friendship and a brighter future to come?"Hunter offered and stuck out a chicken leg to give cheers.

"Wouldn't say friend just yet… But I think a comrade will work."Asher agreed that much and tapped his brisket with Hunter's chicken before digging in to some hot food.

Next time, it'll be time for Asher to meet the guardians and learn the truth of what transpired in his time. Many of his questions will get their answers, and his adventure will soon begin. An adventure that will test his will, and his skills to survive the wild, and the enemies to come. Stay awesome every one.