Thread: Into the Dragon's Den(Traveler x Princess P)

RE Into the Dragon's DenTraveler x PrincessP The royal plaza sparkled with silken clothes, bejeweled draperies flowing gently from the parapets, and the tinkling laughter of the wedding attendees. Everyone was dressed in their finest and were groomed to impress. After all, it wasn't every day that two royal families united. The crown princess of the Gold Coast Kingdoms had traveled with her entourage and ambassadors to the Kingdom of Eldron. Her marriage to the newly crowned King would seal their two lands together. In the raised platform That could have been you, the Huntsman smirked at his companion as they stood in a balcony far above the festival. Far below they could see the priests officiating,and when the final pronouncement was spoken and the two kissed , the crowd cheered their approval. The two men on the balcony wore similar garb, that of the Royal Outriders. Unlike the traditional knights, the Outriders roamed far and wide, using unconventional methods to keep the populace in check. They were, in the words of the late king, a 'necessary evil'. Even with the king passed away and made the oldest of his sons king, the general opinion among kingdom leaders were that some things needed to be done and not spoken of in polite company. The younger man shook his head at his mentor. That was never me, Huntsman. The pomp, the politics... he smiled at the scene below. My brother is better suited to that world than I. Perhaps. So much so that you traded names and birthright with him? Harlen startled and turned his gaze upon the Huntsman. No one knew of that - not their parents, not their nannies... no one . How had the Huntsman known? I wasn't sure at first, but your reaction has confirmed. The man removed his helm of office and cradled it in the nook of his right elbow, against his hip. It's a dangerous game you play, Harlen Montgomery Munrowe. You know that now that your brother is married, any chance you have to inherit is gone. Once you take the final oath to the Outriders all else is forfeit. I do know, he slowly spoke, weighing his words, I've always known this is my path. Very well. The Huntsman began to turn away from the rail. Let us- Then the world as they knew it exploded. A blinding flash of light and sound poured upon all in the plaza, in an instant turning joy and frivolities into unspeakable horror. Harlen felt the world around him turn into the segmented, under-water clips that his mind would allow him to remember. There was a maddening dash to the rooftops to attempt to attack the damned creature that continued its soulless murder of the nobility and their guest. He remembered seeing his brother and bride engulfed in flames that writhed and strangled them until mere blackened crisps remained. He fought alongside the Hunter until the dragon chanced to turn towards them and spew acidic fumes at the more experienced warrior, then finish him off with a precise line of flames. Somehow Harlen managed to keep his senses intact, even as he battled the flames himself. He heard the royal knights climbing the stairs, heard words that made him hastily remove his ring of office and slide it on the Huntsman's charred finger, then slide the helm of office over his own head, to hide his identity. Somehow... Somehow he managed to convince them that Prince Harlen had died, and somehow he managed to convince everyone that he was the Huntsman... ...who was buried later that week in the crypt that would have been Harlen's. He looked around at the knights, at the newly self-appointed Magistrate who was taking control of the Kingdom of Eldron, and wondered how such a horrid thing had happened. How had it been orchestrated? Did the knights really mean what he had thought they meant when one had said to the other Let's find Prince number two and make sure that he's dead too. Or was that merely paranoia? - make sure he's dead too - Not, 'find out if he's dead'. And so, the Huntsman had sworn fealty to the Magistrate, and as the last surviving member of the once-elite Outriders, had been sent out to chase the dragon who had killed the dream of Eldron and the Gold Coast Kingdom. He stood now upon a cliff, his eyes glassing across the tops of the forest below. The mountain ridge beyond the valley was rumored to be one of the possible lairs of the heart-less dragons. The beasts who murdered and killed despite the tenuous peace treaty they had made nearly a hundred years prior. The Dragon King had dismissed Eldron's cry for justice. He had told them to basically move past the event as if it had never happened. But Harlen could not forget his mentor's words. That could have been you. And now, to avenge his brother, his sister-in-law, and all the others murdered that day, he would find the rogue dragon who caused this misery. He would find it, and torment it until any secrets it knew was revealed...and then he would find a way to inflict upon the Dragon King the kind of pain and horror that was inflicted upon his own people...and see if was something they could move past as easily as they had expected his people to have done.