A Time of Dragons

The World We Live In
Some 400 years ago....

Sunlight flooded across a chain a mountains as the sun rang in noon. A flock of birds whipped across the sky, soaring over a sea of trees, hills, rivers, and creeks. The fowl were jet black with dark eyes, Crows, not the birds of bedtime tales. They trailed toward a clearing ahead where a wavy pillar of black smoke rose and the stench of brimstone hovered.

The earth was washed in ash and burnt black with craters scattered about. Trees, vegetation, and grass had been wiped away. Shimmers of glittering red decorated the ravaged ground. Smalls fires still burned as countless trees had been turned to blackened stalks. Carving its' way across the forest floor were small streams of bubbling lava, turning the earth into a further, volcanic ruin.

A sole figure loomed in the midst of destruction, his eyes downcast at a human corpse that had started the mess. He kicked the battered and burned body once more to check for any signs of life, no response came of it. His black eyes did not leave the body, the man had been far more trouble than expected. But, nothing exceptional, no, just troublesome.

Reggie had seen far worse. The young man ran a dirty hand through his flowing, white hair. He would need her to tend to a few minor wounds, but it was nothing serious, nothing to get scolded about. The sounds of crows and bubbling lava rang into his ears. It was time to get moving.

"Catch."

He turned to see a brown sack coming his way and quickly caught the bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, a pair of cold eyes caught his own. Her golden hair struck an alluring contrast to her tanned, bronze skin. Something of a bonus for some men as her body and face on her worse day could already tempt any man.

"He's gone," Reggie said slowly, "I apologize for things...dragging out unnecessarily. He had been more rabid than expected."