Murder and Pillage

Outside the town was in flames. They had arrived out of nowhere, four Islander longships led by the dreaded Drowner's Whisper. All the ships were of Athanasios' House, whose emblem was of a dragon taking out a ship from the waves. They had immediately attacked, looting buildings and then setting them on fire, killing any who dared resist, raping mothers and their daughters while their fathers and brothers drained of their lifeblood on the ground. The captain of the raiders was heedless of the cries of the young woman under him, who had given up fighting and thought tears might make him leave her, or at least be more gentle.

Shows what she knew of Athanasios. When he was done with her, his men took their turns. While the girl's sobbing went on, the raider captain looked with his one eye at the mother who, after suffering the same treatment as the one now suffered by her daughter, was trying to hide her two young boys behind her, both from the raiders and from the scene taking place before their eyes. She wasn't making such a good job at either.

"Which is your favorite?" asked Athanasios with a sly smile. "Tell me which it is, and I will spare him. As for the other one..." he left his sentence in suspense, let her imagine the worst. It was always fun to see on their faces their worst fears play out. He unsheathed his saber, the blade sharp, made of the Isles' black iron. "Quickly now, before I grow bored and butcher the both of them."

The mother's eyes were wild, crying. Oh the poor sweet thing, she couldn't decide could she? Maybe she needed the proper initiative. All it took was one step, one step towards her precious son, and she cried out, collapsing on the ground. "Please, don't hurt them, I beg you!"

The raider shook his head slowly. "Not what I asked, woman." he told her and took another step. She cried harder and said a name. From the look on both boys' face, she had chosen. She'd rather save the youngest then? Obviously that didn't sit well with the eldest, who looked terrified, pained, and... oho! Hatred! Ah yes, just what he needed!

"There's nothing quite like betrayal, is there boy?" he told the eldest. He couldn't be more than thirteen years old. Meanwhile, the cries of their older sister were still heard as she was taken by another of Athanasios' men. There were five of them in the room. "Maybe you'd like to even the score? Give the boy a knife! See if he has the guts to survive." When the eldest had his knife, Athanasios continued.

"Simple really; kill your brother and you live. Don't kill him, and you die just like your mother wanted." he told the boy. He would do it; he could see it in his eyes. With a wordless cry of rage and agony, the boy threw himself on his brother and stabbed him, regardless of his pleas for mercy. Athanasios waited, the mother's helpless cries mingled with her daughter's music to his ears. "Well that was fun." he said, right before cleaving the surviving boy in two with his saber.

"NO!" howled the mother. "You said you would..." she begun, but was cut off in mid-sentence when Athanasios cut her head off.

"I lied." he told the headless corpse that fell on the ground. He looked back at the girl distractedly, it seems the men were done with her. "Bring her back to the ship, if any of you weren't done with her, we still have a long way to go yet." he told the men. They were mutes, and as such they did not reply. Only Athanasios' crew had their tongues ripped out, the other men belonging to his House did not suffer such treatment. The reason why the crew of the Drowner's Whisper did was quite simple; his last ship had been betrayed by one of his men. Now they all suffered the price.

He and the men with him left the house, setting it on fire as they did, and moved further in town. The docks were the only place where flames could not be seen, and that was because the raiders had their ships there. Setting fire to it would have been an idiotic mistake. Corpses were laid about in the streets, cut down by the Islanders as they took what they wanted from the townspeople. Athanasios looked around once before walking again, to see if there was more suffering to inflict upon others.It was a fine day one who ended in a sea of blood. Especially when it wasn't Islander blood.

"Go on, run." Oroan said to the family behind him as his blade clashed against that of one of the raiders, knocking the man back into his comrades. There were four bodies at Oroan's feet as he stood between the attackers and the small family that was now fleeing the town. If they were able to escape so much the better, but Oroan wasn't here to be a hero. He had simply been cooling his heels in the town when it had been attacked and was working to fight his way it.

He had seen the emblem of the raiders and knew who was attacking, they were known and feared throughout the lands, and Oroan hadn't been unlucky enough to encounter them before this battle. Now all he wanted to do was to get out. He wasn't the heroic type and he knew that aside from fighting his way out, he wouldn't accomplish anything by fighting them. If he managed to save a few lives along the way, would certainly be nice.

There was a furious look from the man that Oroan had knocked back. He gave a small smile as he lifted his weapon.
"I'm not interested in the outcome of this raid, I just want out." He said as he slashed at a man coming in from his side. The man fell to the ground as a corpse. Oroan shifted to defense as the others came in, fending them off by using his reflexes and surprising speed for using the weapon he held. Two more fell to the ground as Oroan headed along the path the family took to get out. They knew their town fairly well and that meant it was likely that they took a quick route out.

Soon enough he found them, butchered and surrounded by even more of the raiders. He himself was now surrounded and looked up seeing that the key to his true strength wasn't going to serve him this time, he would have to rely on his base abilities. Using parries and sidesteps along with ducking and weaving, Oroan was keeping himself alive as he was attack, tweleve on one. Only his reflexes and stamina keeping him alive. He was hoping that the men attacking him wouldn't get any backup before they were too tired to keep fighting. If he could outlast them instead of beat them, he might be able to get out of this.

Athanasios was on his way back to his longship when he saw the commotion down the streets, a single man fighting off a score of the Islander raiders. Well that wasn't a sight he often saw; usually one of those soft land lovers would take an Islander by surprise and the fool would pay it with his life, but then another, prepared, would cut down the lander. Now though, there were a few bodies of Islander origin on the ground, dead, while others were furiously trying to cut down the lander who yet resisted.

Were the Islanders growing too soft? To Athanasios, all humans were soft, especially compared to a dragon such as him. Really, all it took to break them was a little pressure on the neck, or another fragile place, and there, dead. Even their flesh was easily cut to ribbons. In his human form, like all dragons, Athanasios still had dragon scales beneath the skin, smaller than his dragon form, yet resistant enough to shrug off most damage.

"Enough!" sounded Athanasios' voice over the sound of battle and burning buildings, snapping like a whip, a commander's voice. His men stepped away from the lander, though they still held to their swords, while their House lord and captain walked to the man. Athanasios was wearing a suit of light black iron chainmail with the colors of his house on his chest; deep blue and black.

"You are no villager, that much is obvious, and neither are you a deluded hero, you do not seem troubled by their deaths." he said, motioning to the dead bodies of those the man had tried to protect earlier. "Wrong place at the wrong time, hey?" he said with a grin that showed white teeth. It was said that Athanasios' smile was deadlier than his saber, for he was a highly unpredictable man. A show of teeth might be a friendly gesture, or the only warning before being burnt to ashes.

Oroan grinned as his foes finally started slowing down. Two more feel before the order to stop was given. Apparently these people listened to their boss without the slightest hesitation. Oroan lowered his weapon as the men backed off, though he kept himself at the ready as he turned on his heel to face the man who gave the order to halt. And he was then facing Athanasios. He had heard descriptions of the man before and there was no mistaking him.

Oroan made a show of deep even breaths to indicate that he was tired, he had the feeling that if this man got the idea that he was anything but a highly skilled swordsman, he wouldn't be getting out of this too easily, not that he was expecting to leave without some difficulty. He gave a small grimace at the man's comments.
"Pretty much. I was just passing through when you attacked." He said before waving his free hand at the fallen townspeople.
"As for them. I gave them a chance, looks like it didn't take." He added as he let his hand drift back to the handle of his sword.

He gave a quick glance around and knew that even with getting a surprise attack in, he wouldn't get out without a lot more trouble than he could handle.
"I guess the only question is how this is going to work. I can't get the word out to anyone who might be able to stop you before you're gone, meaning I'm not much of a threat." He said as his breathing returned to normal.
"If I cna leave we won't have any problems. If not, you'll more then likely kill me, but not without a lot of trouble and needlessly dead men in the process." He said while giving a slightly feral grin. Oroan wouldn't go down easy and he would make that much very clear.

"So the question is if you are going to resume this attack, or if we can work something out where I just leave. I'm not fond of what you do, but it's not my business. I'm just trying to get by." He said, his attention only on Athanasios, the others really didn't matter until they moved in for an attack.

The Dragonborn watched the man, never blinking, as he spoke. In some ways, Athanasios was as the sea, raging and deadly one moment, and then calm the instant after. Of course, with him, the expression of the "calm before the storm" had never been truer. Once the man was done speaking, he walked to the pile of corpses, the family the man had tried to save, and crouched beside them. "Raids do nothing to improve a man's appetite, much less a dragon's." he said. His true nature was no great secret, at least among Islanders. Athanasios did not know what rumors circulated about him, though he was pretty sure people thought him to be a demon rather than a dragon. It was not as if he transformed in his true form when raiding, unless he wanted to burn the entire town to cinders.

He got the child out of the corpse pile, and willed his hand to transform in its dragon-like aspect. When he had claws instead of fingers, he pierced the body's chest and, his hand closing around it, teared off the child's heart. He discarded the heartless body back in the pile and after taking a step back, opened a mouth with teeth no longer human and breathed forth his dragon fire. The flames were blue, a fire that would burn even on water. A scourge of ships. Athanasios then held the dead heart above the flames and waited as it cooked.

"Sometimes I get hungry enough to take snacks." he added. He didn't have to wait long for the heart to cook before eating it, and soon he was back to standing before the man. "I think we both proved our points. I could try to kill you, yes, perhaps lose some men, or end up with a full meal. Or I could let you go, but if you do leave, I want you to spread the word. Tell every soul you meet, every traveler of our presence. Go to the Regent himself and warn him if you feel inclined to do so. Be my herald, fill those land lovers' hearts with fear, and I'll be a happy man." he told him.

Why he would want the Regent's attention was unknown by all, but Athanasios was far from a fool. Unpredictable, yes, but he was no madman or fool. He had a plan, behind all those seemingly senseless slaughter.

Oroan lifted an eyebrow at hearing about the draconic nature of the man standing before him. Word had it that such a thing was what was behind the man's abilities. So now it was confirmed. He watched as Athanasios prepared his little treat. He wasn't sure how it was supposed to affect him, if it all. He decided to ignore it as much as possible. There was nothing he could do for the kid anymore, attacking on principal would serve only to get him killed.

"That seems to be a little suspicious. I go around telling people about you and you're happy. If I was more curious, I would wonder what the reasoning would be." He said as he looked around, seeing if a path was cleared for him.
"But fine, you want the word spread I don't see any reason not to do so. It isn't my problem, get your minions to clear me a path and when I come into that regent's territory, well I might be able to tell him you're on the prowl." He said, keeping his tone impassive. He really didn't need this problem on his hands.

Readjusting his grip, he gave a slight grin.
"Or we can keep at this and see where it goes, I'm never above a little bloodletting." He added as he kept a slow shifting of his glance going so he could keep from getting jumped.
"I guess it's really up to you though, I'm not in the position to be making those decisions." He said while shifting his weapon to rest at his hip, keeping it at the ready for a draw strike style attack. He wasn't in a great position right now, but he'd be damned if he didn't go out fighting.

The smoke had been a clear indication as to what was going on. The group had been going through the area when they smelled it. Then as they came closer, they saw it. The group looked like a normal group of ragged soldiers but upon closer inspection could see that they were not ordinary looking at all. Each was adorned with black stains upon their skin where the Corruption had touched them. Tainting them, marking them as monsters.

The group stopped at the top of the hill and Saturn turned his head to his men. His 3 officers were standing, awaiting orders. "Lerar, you board the ships, punch holes where you can. Harou, you are going to take the right side of the city, save all, spare no evil. Finally, Urock, you are with me. We shall take the center and cleanse the city. Oorah." The three chanted back "Oorah" together and went off with their platoons and went for their missions. Saturn and Urock began their march through the city. Upon entering immediately feeling the pain and death that these poor people had suffered. Any raider straggling was cut down mercilessly and finally when they saw the mass standing around Oroan, they let out a battle roar together, Saturn standing at the front.

Their bodies began to more, the skin cracking and blackening. Pure rage exuded from them as they transformed and 50 men came rushing forward ready to attack with hand tooth sword and shield.

Saturn ran forward at the front line and wasted no time in cleaving a path for Oroan for if he wanted to run. He stood beside the man and looked at him, Half of his face showing a blonde haired man with brown eyes, the other side showing a monster of demonic fire and snarling fangs. In an echoed voice Saturn said to the man, "Can you fight?" He looked up at the man in charge and held up his sword, pointing at him, challenging him.

"Do tell him to bring all his friends too, I fancy a great feast." Athanasios replied and was about to tell his men to move when he saw the soldiers, who quickly charged at the raiders bellowing battle cries of some kind. The Dragonborn did not show fear, or looked even troubled by that sudden arrival. His men imitated him in that regard, to their credit, and when the soldiers charged, they had the common sense to let an opening in their ranks where Athanasios was.

"Sounds like I'll have my feast earlier." he remarked, before unleashing his blue dragon breath on the soldiers. He didn't care if they were Corrupted, their tar-like flesh would burn like the rest. Or like any beast faced with fire, make them hesitate. His men uttered their own battle cries as they fought, using the tactics they had learned from fighting for the Dragon House. Honour had no place among raiders, especially not among those of the Dragonborn's. They killed, and they didn't have to make it look pretty.

The arm that had been in draconic form returned back to its human form as he took hold of his saber, a fearsome thing that Athanasios could wave around with the strength of a score of men, if not more. He saw a couple of corrupted head to his ships and growled, nothing that sounded human. If one of them made even a scratch on the Drowner's Whisper, he'd be spending the trip home tied to the ship's hull drinking seawater until he exploded.

He looked back at the man pointing his blade at him. A challenge? Was he one of those idiot knights who went around rubbing honour in people's faces? "The little landling wants to play? Let's!" he said, but instead of charging, he just breathed fire again. He had never said he would play fair.

"Tholrak, get your men back to the ships and kill any of those little heroes." he told one of his men, who along with others went back to the ship. While it lowered the number of raiders fighting, Athanasios' dragon breath prevented them from overwhelming them with their numbers: it burned even on stone.

The debate was interrupted as a new group came in, clearly intent on fighting the raiders.
"Looks like this is a moot point for me, always glad to not have to satisfy another person's ego. You have fun with this." He called while giving a two-fingered salute and then running along the path cleared for him. Seeing the destruction that was being dealt by the dragon in human form, Oroan knew that he was out of his league here, Even with a solar Eclipse, he wouldn't be able to fight this battle against the raider captain. He was a powerful human, but still a human.

Cutting through some raiders, he made his way to the edge of the town. Dragons, corrupted, such things were not his idea of a reasonable fight. He paused as he heard a cry for help. Looking in the direction of the call he saw a young woman, barely through her teens being surrounded by some of the raiders and the bodies of what was likely her family. He knew all to well the fate in store for her and he gave an exasperated sigh. It was one thing to not be phased by these events, and another to simply ignore such an act when something could be done about it.

Seeing that there were only five men, Oroan decided to make a difference here. At least one life could be saved for certain. Charging in, his blade tore through one raider and his body fell to the ground as the other four tore some of the girl's clothing away. Turning at the fall of their comrade, the girl was forgotten as the men pulled their blades free and attacked. In less then half a minute they were dead on the ground, Oroan's blade dripping with their blood as he extended a hand to the girl.
"You're getting out of here, at least one person should be spared this." He said as he gripped her upper arm and dragged her along with him, not giving her a choice as he dragged her through the town.

Soon enough they were at the exit and he released her.
"Get going." He said as he scooped up a sword from a fallen raider and handed it to her along with a few coins.
"You've got nothing left here now, that sword is easy to use, cut or stab anyone who attacks you, and go find a place to start a new life. That's the best you can do." He said while giving her a push. She gave him a haunted look before running off. It would be the last time they met as far as he knew. Turning back to face the town, Oroan's eyes narrowed. He would certainly tell people about this, but not to spread terror. He could see it in Athanasios, there was going to be something big coming, and he might not fight it himself, but the people wouldn't be without warning.

"Such a tragedy." He muttered as he wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it. Turning on his heel he walked from the town as he draped his cloak over his shoulders and resumed his wandering. He couldn't do anything about this, and what really troubled him was that he didn't even feel any true rage or actual sadness, just a hallow feeling from the needless loss and destruction. His tattered cloak billowed behind him as he pressed on, concerned with how he of all people would be able to spread a warning when he was essentially a nobody. The only reputation he had wouldn't serve him well, and his face wasn't matched with the reputation.

Saturn didn't even blink when he realized the other had left. He wouldn't call him a coward, only imagine that he had some sort something they wanted and this town wasn't their problem. Such a shame really that having a heart wasn't a requirement in this world. Saturn was on his own with this Monster. He lowered his shoulder and brought his shield on the ground while the flames licked at him. The leather holder allowed him to ignore most of the heat hitting the steel, but it wasn't going to handle this for an extended amount of time. So the monster was a dragon. Hard to kill, but not impossible. Once the flames stopped, Saturn brought his shield up and attacked, making a zig zag motion while heading toward him, sword in hand. He swung at the monsters head and rammed his Shield against him before backing up. One of the other corrupted had finished the raider and was attempting an attack from behind. Saturn gave a smirk.

Back at the boat, the men swam silently up to the side, climbing their way up to the deck. The officer peeked over the side and saw the captives, including one young woman being carried by some men into a room. Oh that just wasn't going to ride with him. He bent down and said to the man beneath him. "new plan... Save the prisoners. The boat is secondary." He climbed over the railing and made quick work of the first man, waving the others to come forward and star their attack. 4 of them ran into the room with girl and the rest fought off the raiders as a wall. The survivors jumped over the edge into the water behind the men, while they stood as a wall of shields, swords, and spears.

While the shield would spare him from being burned alive, the sea dragon's fire would still burn on the shield itself, and on whatever it touched. Each breed's breath had certain characteristics, and in the case of sea dragons, the breath came with a substance that allowed the fire to burn on nearly everything, and was incredibly difficult to put out. Water only fed it, and trying to put it out with a piece of cloth would only end with the cloth burning. Sand was the key, but alas for the corrupted, sand was not in their immediate vicinity. Otherwise the fire would burn for an hour before fading.

As the Corrupted charged in zig zag, Athanasios saw his movements before he made them, giving the dragon enough time to avoid the swing that was meant for his head, and when the landling tried to slam his shield against him, Athanasios met the shield with a fist covered in dragon scales, slamming it against the incoming shield. The man might as well as slammed it against a castle wall. However he saw the smirk, knew, or had an idea, of what it meant. The dragon spun around, and saw that his instincts were right. He cleaved the other corrupted in two at the waist before his saber flashed again, now covered in black blood, to strike at the corrupted leader.

The raiders under attack on the boat did not lose time. One sounded the warhorn, a sound every Islander knew, along with the proper reaction to it. As they fought, raiders on the other boats shot down the fleeing survivors, killing every last one of them with arrows. The raiders themselves had a strange battle formation, with one gaping hole in the middle of it... a weakness... if it wasn't for the ballistae armed on the other ship, the Drowner's Whisper. The mute crew shot the ballistae in the middle of the corrupted formation, the heavy bolt crushing everything in its way as it passed on the other side and eventually fell in the water. The raiders were not long to fill the hole in the corrupted formation, their axes making the hole larger and larger. The few corrupted who might have survived being pushed off the boat were killed by a flight of arrows.

Saturn's eyes widened at the sight of his officer getting cut in two so easily. The man slammed to the ground and grabbed at his bottom half, reaching and pulling it toward his top. He was panting quickly, pressing the two together. It could be seen that the corruption was working to reconnect, but the light in his split skin was already fading. He gave a few panicked breaths before turning toward the dragon and throwing his sword out of frustration and as a final act. He fell to the ground, his body cracked and bleeding, his bottom half only half connected once more.

Saturn reeled back in pain. The shield slam had done nothing but dented his flaming shield upon his arm. He slung the heavy piece of burning metal to the side, before looking up at the dragon man. His eyes looked around the battle field, the raiders were falling fast, unused to fighting proper enemies. This was only a small solace though knowing that this dragon seemed able to take two of them out at once. He'd need at least 10 of them to take this beast down, and they were just too spread out to do a coordinated attack.

On the ship, the men were chanting in order stay in tune with one another they pressed together and waited. The raiders came closer and closer, and when they thought they were going to have some sort of advantage, the group broke apart and dashed through, cleaving the surprised soldiers before running as fast as they could out of range and down the road. They had failed. The survivors dead. The city was beyond saving at this point. The most they could do is fight another day.

Saturn stared at the dragon. His body blackened, his skin cracked. Suddenly, he felt a flutter. The light flickered and returned. Saturn didn't have much time left. He took a few steps back, ready to counter whatever was thrown at him.

The dragon had his back to the dying officer, considering him a threat no longer with half his body cut from the other. Thus, he did not see the sword thrown at him, only felt its bite at his leg. He roared in surprise, a roar dragon in nature and not human in the least. He spun, breathing flames, but the man was already dead. The spin allowed him to see in what state his raiders were, losing... Except at the boats, where their numbers were greater. The horn had given the warning, and what few raiders that had been in town still came running back to the boats.

"Now!" Athanasios snarled, and the raiders fighting at his side jumped back from their Corrupted opponents, allowing the sea dragon to breath his blue fire once more, effectively cutting off the Corrupted on the other side of the blue wall of flames. He could still see the officer on the other side, who seemed to have expected Athanasios to press the attack. Yet, it had allowed a wonderful opportunity for another kind of warfare.

"A bitter-sweet victory, if victory there is, wouldn't you say?" the dragon spoke, small flames escaping his mouth as he did. He was less a man now and more a dragon, his skin pierced by scales, his face the only part of his body still mostly human. "Do you expect a hero's reward for this town's salvation?" he asked as his men retreated to the boats. He would soon do the same.

"Or do you already expect them to curse you and yours for being too late... or for crimes you did not commit?" he asked as the Islanders' boats left port, the men rowing away with their loot and the captives that hadn't been freed by the corrupted.

Athanasios had by then taken his true form, the giant blue-black dragon extending his great wings, his shadow covering all. "Run, or don't, but thank me, for I am giving your men the same funeral pyre as mine." he said before taking flight, and begin to burn the entire town under blue fire.

At the turn of the tide, Saturn didn't have much of a chance to react. Suddenly, the floor before him was deadly, a place even a corrupted can't survive. That didn't hurt in the least though, no, the real strike was in the words the dragon had sent at him. The cut him deep. They would probably be thought of as part of the raiders, coming in at the last second to loot what was left. The people who fleed the city would have seen them going in. It was all too familiar, the snide looks, the hated words. Was there no escape? When the beast began to transform and he was alone, Saturn, in a fit of feral rage, ran forward and leaped over the flames, sprinting at full force, screaming his echoed scream of rage. But he was too late, the beast jumped into the blackened ash sky and started to fly. Saturn ran underneath him until the flames landed in front of him, nearly drenching him in their death. He stopped then and yelled in a voice that even those on the ships could hear.

"Where ever you go, no matter how far, I will find you. I'll find you and use your skin for armor as your brothers were made, I'll make your teeth a necklace like my mother wore! I'll make you fear the name of General Saturn Dopt!" His men took up a chant behind him as the dragon flew away.

The Corrupteds then did as they were forced to. They fled the burning city as if they were fugitives. Anyone watching from a safe distance would swear they were the ones to set the flame. The only ones to know their kindness were sinking to the sea bottom. The cursed army lived to it's name that night.