"Bring me my son."
The words echoed through the fortress.
The three warriors remained on their knees.
The golden-eyed woman stood from her throne.
Then
BOOM!
A messenger burst through the doors.
"Lady Seraphine!"
She turned.
"The Warrior has entered the northern forest."
A cold smile appeared on her face.
"So soon…"
She raised her hand.
"Send the Blood Hunters."
---
Snow covered the northern forest.
The hero and Kael moved between the trees.
His dragon flew above them.
The hero stopped.
Something was wrong.
"Too quiet."
Kael immediately drew his sword.
SWISH!
A blade flew through the trees.
Kael deflected it.
CLANG!
"Ambush!"
Six warriors dropped from the branches.
Black armor.
Red eyes.
Blood-red symbols across their chests.
Kael's expression hardened.
"Blood Hunters."
The hero smiled slightly.
"Then let's hunt them."
The first warrior charged.
CLANG!
The hero blocked his sword.
Another attacked from the side.
The hero ducked.
The blade passed over his head.
He spun around.
SLASH!
His sword cut across the warrior's armor.
Blood splashed onto the snow.
The warrior fell.
The others attacked together.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The hero blocked one strike after another.
A blade finally caught his arm.
Blood ran down his sleeve.
He looked at the wound.
Then smiled.
"That all?"
The warrior charged again.
The hero stepped forward.
BOOM!
He slammed his fist into the warrior's chest.
The armor cracked.
The warrior flew backward and crashed into a tree.
The hero turned.
Two more warriors surrounded him.
One swung from the left.
The other from the right.
The hero jumped.
Their swords collided with each other.
CLANG!
Before they could react
the hero landed between them.
SLASH!
Blood splashed across the snow.
Both warriors collapsed.
Kael fought the remaining three.
One warrior stabbed toward his stomach.
Kael twisted aside.
The blade cut his coat.
Kael grabbed the warrior's wrist.
CRACK!
The warrior screamed.
Kael kicked him into the snow.
But another warrior attacked from behind.
The hero saw it.
"Kael!"
Too late.
The warrior's sword pierced Kael's shoulder.
Blood sprayed onto the snow.
Kael dropped to one knee.
The hero's eyes turned red.
"Get away from him."
The warrior pulled his sword free.
Kael fell forward.
The hero disappeared.
BOOM!
The warrior was suddenly thrown through the air.
He crashed into a tree so hard that the trunk split.
The hero stood where he had been.
His sword was glowing red.
The remaining Blood Hunters froze.
The hero slowly raised his blade.
"Run."
They didn't.
They attacked.
Bad choice.
His dragon descended from the sky.
ROOOOAR!
A wave of purple fire swept across the battlefield.
The warriors screamed as they scattered.
One tried to escape.
The hero chased him.
The warrior turned and attacked.
CLANG!
The hero blocked.
He twisted the warrior's sword away.
Then struck him across the chest.
The warrior fell into the snow.
The last two looked at each other.
Then fled.
The hero raised his sword.
His dragon roared.
The two warriors stopped.
A shadow covered them.
They looked upward.
The dragon was directly above them.
BOOM!
They disappeared beneath a blast of purple energy.
Silence returned.
Snow slowly fell over the battlefield.
Blood stained the white ground.
The hero lowered his sword.
Kael was sitting against a tree, holding his wounded shoulder.
"You're hurt."
Kael laughed weakly.
"I noticed."
The hero helped him stand.
Then
THUMP.
His dragon landed beside them.
The hero looked at its black scales.
More had appeared.
The transformation was continuing.
He touched its face.
"Hold on."
The dragon's golden eye appeared for a moment.
Then vanished.
Kael noticed.
"We don't have much time."
The hero looked toward the mountains.
"Then we move faster."
Suddenly
one of the defeated warriors began laughing.
The hero turned.
The warrior was barely alive.
"You think…"
He coughed blood onto the snow.
"…you defeated us?"
The hero approached him.
"Who sent you?"
The warrior smiled.
"Your mother."
The hero froze.
"What?"
The warrior's smile widened.
"She wants you to come to her."
"Where?"
The warrior pointed toward the mountain.
"Inside the Dragon King's temple."
His hand fell.
He was dead.
The hero stared at the mountain.
Kael's face became pale.
"The temple…"
"What?"
Kael looked at him.
"No one enters that place."
The hero mounted his dragon.
"I'm going."
Kael shook his head.
"You don't understand."
The hero looked back.
"My entire life has been hidden from me."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
"I'm done running."
Above them, the red moon appeared between the clouds.
Only one night remained.
And somewhere inside the mountain…
a woman was waiting.
"Come to me, my son."
Then her golden eyes opened.
TO BE CONTINUED…