Sky Devils

Chapter One - The Hero of Old

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. No, in fact, as far as I can remember, there were NEVER dragons in the Valley. For nearly two hundred years, according to the generations before us, dragons have left our settlements alone, after being driven out of our valley by a fearless hero we all call Sir Marcus. In the years before Sir Marcus, dragons roamed free and far, and made the lives of us humans a very literal living Hell.

They were large, scaly, breathed fire, and had claws and teeth capable of easily ripping through even the stoutest stone buildings. Some could scale mountains with ease, others could soar the skies upon massive wings, and some could even slither the depths of the deepest rivers and lakes. Nothing in our world was more deadly and more terrifying than the likes of dragons, and most men wouldn't dare lift a finger against such a mighty and ferocious beast.

It was never actually recorded as to what lead Sir Marcus into battle with his first dragon, though, most people know it to have happened when he was only sixteen years old. There are many stories as to why, some people believe it was to defend his father's livestock, others believe he had a secret vendetta against the accursed monsters, and there are even those who are certain his goal was to collect enough dragon's blood to turn himself immortal with some form of higher witchcraft. Any one with half a brain knows though, that he was probably simply scared and backed into a corner, with no choice but to defend himself against the creature.

So that's exactly what he did, wielding only a pitchfork and a cast iron kettle lid, Sir Marcus, well he was merely Marcus at this point, went to battle with what most think was an adolescent sand drake, a type of land based dragon capable of burrowing quickly underground. He emerged victorious against his foe, and from there decided to label himself the "Dragon Slayer", and vowed to defend his village and it's people from any other dragon attacks that may occur.

Over the pursuing years, he successfully defeated Vine Wyrms, a type of dragon that can control plant life, River Serpents, a fast swimming constrictor dragon, Ember Eaters, a strange dragon that not only breathed fire but also ate it, and Winged Drakes, some of the most volatile flying dragons known to man. After defeating countless dragon's on his own, he started to build up a sort of militia style army, hand training men to fight dragons nearly as well as he did himself. The army was nearly one hundred and fifty men strong, and built almost the same as any other army you would find at the time. He had archers, sword masters, stealth warriors, brutes, and even cavalry. After even more victories, and saving more and more villages across the valley, it came time that the King of the Valley called for an audience with the hero and his men,

The King knighted Marcus only twenty one days before his thirtieth birthday, and only fifteen days before his final bout with the dragons. A giant feast was held in honor of Sir Marcus and his band of dragon slayers, and a holiday was even named after them all. At the end of the festivities, the King called upon Marcus once more, this time he alone, and in the secrecy of his throne room, asked Sir Marcus to take his army, along with the dragon slayers, and bring a war unto the dragon's who have been threatening his kingdom for the last few years.

According to the King's reconnaissance team, the dragon's built their own little army, consisting of almost one hundred different types of scaled monsters. The army of monsters was led by the dragon people referred to as the Sky Devil, the biggest, meanest, and most violent dragon of them all. No one dared confront the beast by itself, let alone, after he started getting lesser dragons to bend to his will. It was surely a fool's battle, and would most definitely be a one sided war, that is, if it weren't for Sir Marcus and his courageous army of dragon killers.

Marcus didn't even hesitate to accept the King's offer, vowing to destroy the Sky Devil personally. He took his men, and the King's royal army, nearly one thousand men large, and marched to Sinister Point, the deepest and deadliest part of the valley kingdom. There, he fought off all sorts of savage creatures from deadly Toxin Dragons to massive Boulder Drakes. All sorts of dragons stepped to the combine strength of the dragon slayers and the King's men, and they all fell. Somehow retaining minimal casualties and vanquishing over eighty dragons over the course of two weeks, eventually the human rebellion reached the den of the Sky Devil.

That's when things turned bad. No, not bad, that's when the battle turned into a slaughter. Sir Marcus stood at the entrance way to the den, and let out a valiant battle cry, calling upon his enemy, ready to face whatever approached his warriors. The few survivors of the encounter said you could hear Marcus' scream echo through the cave for many minutes until a response was heard. That response was the roar of a vicious monster, the sounds of the demon of Sinister Point, a screech from a super massive black creature capable of destroying a whole city, the battle cry of the one and only Sky Devil. Moments later, the real fight began.

Within a matter of seconds, the Sky Devil emerged from underground, not through the entryway, but literally through the ground. The massive monster ripped earth and flesh as he shattered through the black slate stone that covered the area surrounding his dwelling. With a flap of his wings he sent boulders flying through the King's army, and with a single breath he cooked nearly all the remaining warriors who weren't either fleeing or stealthily hiding in the debris. All seemed pointless to everyone there, except for Sir Marcus and whatever dragon slayers still survived.

As the Sky Devil faced off with the hero of man, the two looked deeply into each other's eyes, and with a quick flick of the wrist, Sir Marcus shot a three arrow flurry at the beast. Two arrows struck the devil in the neck but didn't penetrate his rugged scales, and the last one managed to stick in the monster's left eye. The Sky Devil let out a vicious roar, and arched his neck back toward the sky, filling his lungs and chest with a fire so intense, you could see the flames through his midnight shaded scales. With a swift exhale and a bellowing growl, flames hot enough to melt the rock all around the battleground hit everything in their path, everything including Sir Marcus.

The hero of man was dead on contact, instantly swallowed by the immense heat. The Sky Devil soared into the air and began flying around in a victory dance, roaring loud and proud for the whole kingdom to hear. Then, suddenly during his celebration, the giant black dragon ceased his dance, and fell limp from his high altitude. He crashed violently onto the rocks below, motionless and lifeless, as dead as the many men surrounding his body. It turns out that Sir Marcus knew he would be unable to slay such a monstrous foe, so he had three unbreakable arrows made up the night before they left for war, and he personally coated the arrowheads with an extremely potent poison made from the venom of dragon's he slayed in the past.

The venom never would have worked had that one arrow not stuck in the Sky Devil's eye, but thankfully for the lives of everyone in the valley kingdom, and for the legacy of Sir Marcus, that's exactly what happened. No one would have believed it, if two wounded but wise dragon slayers wouldn't have taken cover near the battlefield and witnessed its interesting climax and ending. The two survivors returned to the King some days later, with what remained of Sir Marcus' helmet, and a scale plucked from the Sky Devil's tail.

The kingdom mourned the lost of their valiant heroes, and celebrated the two brave souls to make it back from the war. Sir Marcus had a statue erected in the center of the castle town in his honor. The Sky Devil's body was collected and harvested for it's indestructible scales, which were used to make arrow and spear heads capable of penetrating any dragon's hide. Because of Sir Marcus and all the men who fought that war, dragon's were no longer an issue in the valley, and the ones who called it home either fled in fear of man, or were hunted down and destroyed. Peace had finally reached a valley once ravaged by literal monsters.

That is until now, in my time, some two hundred years later. Turns out the Sky Devil had a son. Dragon eggs are rare, and usually take a couple hundred years to hatch. No one knows where the dragon was birthed or when it actually hatched, but everyone knew when it appeared in the valley, and that it was here for revenge.

That's where I come in. See, I'm the great, great, great, great, well you get the point, granddaughter of Sir Marcus. I've lived pampered and revered for something I never did, and never could do. Now that the son of the Sky Devil is here though, of course, it falls upon my shoulders to defeat the monster once more. Only thing is, there is no way I could do it without the army and the secret weapon my ancestor had.

People look to me for protection, yet I have no way to give it to them. Part of me wants to live up to my family legacy, part of me wants to flee in terror and go into hiding. All I know though, is if I don't try, life in the valley will surely end. I never imagined how drastic my life could change in just a matter of moments...

Sir Marcus, my ancestor... grant me strength.