Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Kamen Rider. Ryu and his supporting characters all belong to me.

Episode 11

The Archer's Trap

Ryu pushed the handle in, snapping the earth dragon's mouth closed and sending a shockwave of earth magic through the weapon. He charged forward with the glowing shield drawn back, he swung it upward as the harpy neared the ground and knocked her back into the air. She exploded into a massive sky blue fireball at the top of her arc.

Adrian sighed and lowered his shield arm as feathers rained down around him.

"Looks like our work here is done," Korthin noted.

"Guess so," Adrian agreed.

The jeep pulled to the side of the road and the driver and a single passenger stepped out. They stood and glanced around. A few feet in front of them stood the burned out shell of a bar.

The driver nodded at the passenger. He stepped forward, towering over his companion. His hair was dark red. He inhaled loudly. "Scent's faint."

"I don't care how faint the scent is," the shorter man snapped. "Just tell me you can follow it."

The passenger scowled in the darkness and sniffed again. "All right, I've got his scent."

"Lead the way," his companion ordered.

"You said we'd get something to eat first-."

The driver moved fast, his hand wrapped around the larger man's neck and hoisted him into the air. "I changed my mind. Right now, I'm in the mood to hunt."

The passenger's eyes flashed a deep crimson color. He reached his hand up to grab his partner's arm. The shorter man sighed and casually tossed the giant to the side first.

"Keep in mind, I can easily get a new bloodhound," he stepped over to his companion and placed a foot on his chest, pinning him against the sidewalk. "After all, I've gone through three already, but I'd rather not waste any time finding a new one. Okay?"

The pinned mage nodded.

"I'm glad we understand each other," he removed his foot and turned back to the jeep. Opening the rear door, he pulled out a small steel cage. A dark green dragon hunched over in the middle of the cage, staring down at the floor. A pair of small legs supported the back of his body, while he supported the upper half up with his wings, lacking front legs. A pair of long silver horns stretched from the back of his head. His wing membrane was a paler silver. A triangle formed at the end of his long tail. His snout was long and crocodile-like.

"Ah, poor little guy looks lonely," the driver laughed without mirth. "I guess that's bound to happen when someone wipes out your whole village."

The dragon turned his head upwards and hissed at him. The mage raised a hand to the cage. A flash of green light exploded from his palm and slammed the dragon back against the bars.

"Wait a second, you like rock music?"

Meth nodded. "Duh, why is it so surprising that I like any kind of music?"

They sat on the floor of the living room. Mandy sat across from Adrian and spread out between them was their project for school. Meth stood to Adrian's right, while Korthin sat on the couch and listened to the music blaring from the stereo. Adrian's aunt and uncle had gone out to enjoy a romantic dinner.

"I figured since you lived in the forest that dragons wouldn't know any about human music," Adrian replied.

"Not true," Meth said. "We civilized dragons would keep an eye on what happened in the surrounding human cities. Occasionally, we'd hear about unusual occurrences that would lead us to mages."

"Fascinating," Mandy said. "But can we get back to our science project?"

The window over the TV set shattered. The two humans yelled in fright and placed their hands over their heads as glass rained down. Korthin leapt off the couch and hid behind Mandy.

"We're being attacked!" Meth exclaimed.

"No, someone probably just lost a baseball," Adrian said.

A flash of green light shot through the shattered window and struck the back of the couch. It passed through it and presumably struck the wall behind it.

"It's a mage!" Korthin shouted.

"Obviously!" Meth snapped.

"How did it know where I live?" Adrian asked.

"Let's go ask it," Meth suggested. He crawled towards Adrian and leapt on top of his belly, before unfolding and wrapping around his waist as the Ryu belt.

(Outside)

The mage stood on the sidewalk, green metal crossbow pointed towards the window. Green armor covered him from head to toe. His helmet possessed a vague falcon shape to it. He stood absolutely still, listening with inhuman senses for his prey.

The jeep sat behind him, his bloodhound leaning against the passenger door. He looked quite bored with his companion's handiwork.

The house door swung open and a cloud of fire poured from it, fading to reveal Adrian, a flaming dragon head lowering over his face to form his helmet. The Archer mage snapped his fingers as Adrian charged across the lawn towards him.

Moving to intercept, the second mage glowed brown and his form shifted. Dark brown fur covered everything except his face, hands, and feet. His face took on a more primate-like appearance. He swung up a massive foot and struck Adrian in the chest.

The blow knocked him to the ground, but he quickly rolled back to his feet. The mage stepped forward and swung a fist at his head. Adrian raised his arms and blocked before knocking the mage's arm to the side and punching him in the chest. A kick followed then a punch sent the mage flying backwards.

"All right, that's enough," Ryu glanced over at the jeep to find the Archer standing behind it with a steel cage in one hand. His other hand held the crossbow up to the cage's occupant.

"Is that…"

"A storm dragon?" Meth finished.

"Yep," the Archer mage replied. "Probably the last one in existence since I wiped out his village."

"You slime ball," Adrian growled, taking a step forward.

"Ah!" the mage waved his crossbow. "Take another step and the storm dragons go extinct."

Korthin exploded from the ground at the mage's feet, flying towards his chest. The mage moved his crossbow and fired, a green burst of magic knocked the earth dragon back. At the same moment, Adrian reached for Meth's tail and wings. He attached them together and pushed the wings forward before aiming. Unfortunately, the mage was faster. A bolt from his crossbow knocked the gun out of his hand. He squeezed the trigger and three more bolts struck Ryu in the chest. His armor sparked as the blasts knocked him to the ground.

"Now, now," the mage waved his weapon arm from side to side. "I don't want to just finish you off like this. I believe you should have a sporting chance to save your helpless comrade. I'll leave him cage and all at Gordon's Cave. If you want to save your fellow dragon, all you have to do is get to the cave before midnight."

"Don't do it!" the caged dragon shouted. "You'll be playing right into his trap."

The mage chuckled. "That's right. I'll be waiting for you in the woods."

Adrian pushed himself back to his feet and glared at him. He glanced down at the storm dragon then back at the mage's face. "You won't have to wait long."

Smirking, the mage backed toward the jeep. His companion followed. As the Archer slid the cage back into the vehicle, Adrian dived for his gun. The mage turned and launched a barrage of energy blasts from the crossbow. The massive attack struck Ryu and Korthin, exploding against them. Adrian fell unto the grass, Meth dropping to the ground at his feet.

"Maybe you should consider your safety over this dragon's, eh?" the mage chuckled as he reverted to his human appearance, a short man with light brown hair. His partner changed back as well. They climbed into the jeep.

Adrian groaned and tried to stand up as the vehicle started. The tires squealed as the mage pulled away from the curb and sped down the street. Meth slammed a front paw into the grass. "Damn!"

The trio pushed themselves off the ground and quickly headed back into the house.

Mandy thundered down the stairs, baseball bat in hand. Her panicked gaze swept over all three of them.

"Are you guys okay?"

They murmured their assurance that they were. Retreating into the kitchen, the humans sat around the table while the dragons jumped on top of it. Adrian quickly filled Mandy in on their encounter with the mage.

"So he massacred an entire dragon village?" Mandy asked. "Just like that black knight did?"

Meth nodded. "He's one of the mage's dragon hunters. I think I've heard of him. They call him the Emerald Hunter or Hunter for short. Supposedly he's the greatest marksman among the mages."

"I can believe that," Korthin muttered.

"Well, we can't beat him on his own terms," Adrian said.

"Yeah, not with the way you shoot," Meth agreed.

"So we need to outsmart him," he continued. "First, I need to figure out just where Gordon's Cave is."

"I know where it is," the red dragon said. "It used to be the entrance to the fire dragon village…"

Adrian wondered if it was a coincidence that the mage had chosen such a location.

"Okay, so you know the ground," Korthin said. "Probably better than Hunter does, even if he scouted the area ahead of time."

"Despite what he says I doubt he'd leave the storm dragon unguarded," Meth frowned. "The brute will probably be guarding the cave."

"We definitely can't beat both of them at the same time," Adrian pointed out. "We need to distract Hunter so he can beat the other mage and free the storm dragon."

"I can distract him," Korthin said.

"How?" the others asked.

The earth dragon quickly told them his plan. They took a moment to consider other options before deciding to go with his idea.

"Now what about your aunt and uncle?" Mandy asked.

Adrian stared at her with a blank expression. "What about them?"

"What if they get home before you finish this little rescue mission?" she asked. "You'll get in trouble. Maybe even grounded."

"Grounded?" Meth repeated incredulously. "This is war, women! We don't have time to worry about getting grounded!"

Adrian gently smacked Meth upside the head. "I'll just have to hope it doesn't take that long."

"What about the smashed window and the holes?" Mandy asked.

"I'll tell them we went to the library for our project and when I got back the place looked like it'd been shot up," Adrian said, a little shocked at how quickly he managed to come up with the lie. He felt guilty and considered telling the truth instead.

"Can we go now?" Meth asked.

Adrian nodded and stood up. The group stepped out of the house and entered the garage. Adrian pulled the tarp off his uncle's old bike and Meth spat a small ball of fire at it. Flames covered the machine as it transformed into its enchanted shape. The two dragons leapt unto the back of the machine as Adrian pulled on his helmet.

He rode toward the mountains. As they neared the forest, Meth took off and soared over the trees. He returned a few minutes later and informed them that he hadn't seen anything through the trees.

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Adrian ducked low on the bike and leaned it to the side. A bolt of green magic soared over his head and exploded against a tree on the other side of the road.

The bike screeched to a stop, facing the direction of the shot's origin. Adrian stared into the woods, but couldn't see anything.

Meth wrapped around his waist as more shots launched out of the trees. Korthin leapt over his shoulder and deflected the blasts with his body. The earth dragon hit the ground and grunted in pain.

"Henshin!" Adrian dismounted his bike and pushed Meth's horns together. Flaming wings emerged from his back and wrapped around him. More bolts shot from the forest, but bounced off the cloud of fire around Adrian. The fire solidified into armor as a dragon head lowered over the human's and formed his helmet.

"Mess with me and you're going to get burnt!" Adrian shouted as he leapt off the road and into the forest.

The shots ceased for a moment as Adrian ran deeper into the woods, glancing around for Hunter. He cried out as a blast struck him in the shoulder. He spun around and found the Archer mage standing several feet away with his crossbow raised.

He pulled the trigger, but Adrian ducked behind a tree. Constructing his gun, Adrian leapt out from his cover and fired a bullet of fire magic at the mage. A glowing arrow struck it out of the air before it reached its target. Ryu gasped and squeezed the trigger, sending burst after burst at the mage. The crossbow returned fire, each blast shooting through several of Adrian's before one struck him in the chest. His armor sparked as he cried out in pain.

Hunter chuckled and aimed for the Rider's head. A cloud of dust exploded in front of the mage. He gasped in surprise as the cloud blinded him. A second later, something slammed into his shoulder and knocked him to the side. He grunted as he bounced off a rock.

"Let's go!" Meth exclaimed as another blast of dust exploded out of the ground. Korthin leapt out of the dirt and dived back into it, creating another explosion of dust. Ryu turned and charged into the trees.

(Gordon's Cave)

The large mage sat in the cave's entrance. From there he could see if anyone tried to scale the small piece of cliff below the entrance, but his attention focused on his prisoner. The storm dragon stared out at the sky. His expression was hard to read.

"Think they'll come for you?" the mage sneered.

The dragon continued to stare out into space.

"I doubt it," he continued. "Why would they rescue a member of a village that got exterminated so easily?"

The dragon blinked and its head drooped down.

The mage chuckled and continued. "How long did it take Hunter to finish them all off? About four hours after he found the cave?"

"How long would it take him to kill you?" the dragon asked. "Six seconds?"

Rage replaced the sneer on the mage's face as he stood up and kicked the dragon's cage, sending it rolling backwards into the cavern. "Want to see how long it takes me to kill you?"

He stepped after the cage and stood over it. His form glowed and fur covered his body. A club appeared in his right hand.

The clank of steel tapping stone sounded behind him and he turned to find Ryu standing there, tapping his dagger against the cave wall.

"So you got past Hunter?" the Sasquatch asked. He turned and rested his club over his shoulder.

"Looks that way," Ryu replied.

The mage roared and dashed at him. Ryu jumped to the side, barely avoiding a swing of his club. The weapon slammed against the wall and cracked the rock. Ryu slashed his dagger across his enemy's side as he stepped past.

Both opponents spun to face each other, Ryu grunted as the club slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. A second whack from the club sent him flying back into the chamber. He landed next to the storm dragon's cage.

"Quick! Get me out of here!" he exclaimed.

Adrian grunted and rolled over. He raised his dagger and brought it down on the cage, slicing a hole in the side of it. A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back up before he could widen the cut. Fortunately, the opening was wide enough for the dragon to squeeze through.

The Sasquatch mage spun him around and raised his club, but the storm dragon flew over Ryu's head and towards the mage's face. He spat a bolt of purple lightning straight into the creature's nose. He screamed in pain and leapt back.

"Thanks," Adrian said. "My name's Adrian. The fire dragon is Meth."

"Torinidus," the storm dragon said as he circled around the Rider. "Would you like to see just what a storm dragon is capable of?"

"You bet I would," Adrian said.

The Sasquatch roared and charged forward, but Adrian tossed his dagger at him, striking him in the chest. The wound sparked and the mage stumbled backwards.

Torinidus opened his mouth and a green dragon tongue shaped like his head hovered out. It landed in Adrian's hand and he pushed it into the element slot. He pulled the legs on the right side of his belt back and the dragon head extended out of the armor.

"Energize! Storm Form!" It released a ball of green light from its mouth, which swirled around Ryu. The ball stirred up a small gust of wind and the red color of his armor seemed to be blown aside and replaced with dark green. The gold bits changed silver as bolts of purple lightning crashed down around him. Flames moved over the lenses of his mask turning them purple. The electricity struck the dragon head on the back of his right hand. The bolt morphed the head into one more resembling the storm dragon's crocodilian head.

"All right!" Ryu said slamming a fist into his palm. He leapt at the mage and threw a punch. It connected with the creature's chest, but the mage didn't budge. Adrian blinked beneath his helmet and threw another punch only for this one to go unfelt as well. The mage swung his club and knocked the Rider back.

"You can't fight like that in Storm form!" Torinidus' voice exclaimed from the belt. The dragon's body flew over to Ryu.

The body's tail and wings flipped downwards, half of the tail folding up into the wings, leaving a little space between the base of the tail and the end of the wings. The dragon stretched its neck forward and a barrel extended out of its body beneath its neck. Finally, its legs rotated up to become the gun's hammer. Ryu reached out and grabbed the gun's handle formed from the lower half of its tail.

The mage charged at him, swinging its club around threateningly. Ryu raised his new weapon and pulled the trigger. A purple blast of energy shot from the gun barrel and struck the mage in the chest. He howled in pain as the blast exploded in a shower of sparks. Ryu stepped forward, firing another shot. It struck the mage and he stumbled back. Adrian continued to advance, forcing the mage back with his shots.

"Ah!" the Sasquatch exclaimed as it found itself teetering on the edge of the cave mouth.

Adrian spun around and slammed a kick into his chest. The blow wasn't particularly strong when compared with the power of Flame Form, but it was enough to knock the mage over the edge. He fell to the ground and landed with a soft thud.

Ryu leapt after him, but he overestimated his jump. It carried him several feet and he landed in front of the mage rather than behind it as he'd planned to. He didn't worry though; he'd landed well out of club range.

He prepared to spin around, but movement in the trees caught his attention. Hunter emerged from the forest, walking towards him, carrying his crossbow in one hand and the tail of Korthin's unconscious body in the other.

Adrian gasped in surprise. His fists shook with anger, almost so much that he didn't notice the shaking of his gun. It took his confused mind a moment to figure out why the transformed dragon might be shaking. Torinidus was scared.

Hunter raised his crossbow and Adrian followed suite, bringing up his gun…