1 Night of the Massacre

Blood.

The sharp, metallic scent of the precious force of life hit Blaze Estereon's nose like a brick wall, growing thicker and weighing heavier in the air as she pushed her descent down the mountain that towered over her homeland.

She was sore all over, muscles aching and drenched with sweat from a long day on the peak of the mountain, armed only with the two thin but deadly javelins that were strapped across her back. She wanted to slow down, stop, take a rest to relieve her tired limbs… but her gut, her heart, even her head, said no. Don't stop.

Keep going.

Down and down Blaze ran, her chest beating three times quicker than each step she could take. The wind blew her matted hair in way of her fiery eyes, and she spared no moment to stop and fix it as her home was the only thing on her mind.

The Ember Tribe of the Lunargard Faction was home to her Estereon Family for as long as she knew, the tribe's and faction's insignia embedded on each side of her golden armor chest plate. It was the place in which she trained all her life to become one of the most skilled Dragon-slayers in her tribe. And today, right now, she had never the stronger urge to go-

"Home...?"

The words barely formed on her lips as her body betrayed her the moment she reached the cliff, which indicated the halfway mark down the mountain. There, the green grass gave way to tough stone beneath her feet, the trees gave way to the open sky…

…to the open sky, painted in a gory red against the brilliant rays of the setting sun on the horizon.

Blaze felt her heart stop cold, her eyes locking with the strangely unnatural mist that sunk close to land. Surely, that wasn't…?

Slowly, her gaze traveled down the ragged skyline until they reached the clusters of buildings and huts that formed the Ember Tribe at the foot of the great mountain.

From the edge of the cliff where she would usually smile down at her lively tribe, she stared down with widening eyes, her head pounding loudly as she could feel the heat rising to her face. She expected to see lights lining the edges of the roofs, to hear the children's cries of joy as they wrestled together in the far distance. Instead, she took in the eerie silence across the land, barely processing the dark and murky aura that blanketed her home in a smog.

Blaze fell into a panic.

W- was this a dream? Above was the red sky, below was a horrid pit of darkness. Why couldn't she hear anything? What of the smell of cooking dinner? What of the evening lanterns? Where are the people? Children? …what happened to her once-animated home?

Blood.

Again, the stench hit in another strong wave, sending alarms wild inside her mind.

This wasn't a dream…this was real.

A sudden burst of fury led Blaze to impulsively leap over the edge of the cliff and fall from a monstrous height. It hurt all over, but the burning rage that enveloped her whole entity allowed her to pay no heed to pain, focusing only to take the fastest possible way home.

And that was straight.

~

"I'm going to butcher that dragon..."

Blaze trembled as her strength left her body, dropping on her knees as if she was struck by lightning before the crushed huts and lifeless bodies in the Ember Tribe territory. Red coated the grounds beneath her knees, the color smearing across her clothes.

Her waist-length scarlet hair was left disheveled from the stress and shock of seeing the bloody aftermath of the Frost Dragon's attack, the massacre of her tribesmen. 

According to the few survivors, massive sharp icicles rained relentlessly on Ember Tribe's territory for ten long minutes, killing her fellow tribesmen indiscriminately before the other tribes in Lunargard Faction could come to assist them.

"I will find that Frost Dragon no matter what happens, and I will surely give it the worse death possible."

Clouded by her deep hatred, she gripped her glowing dragon-slaying javelins tighter as her pent-up emotions broke loose.

"UWAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

The bright expression she normally wore changed into that of a maniac, a sickly smile from ear to ear expressing her heart-wrenching anguish.

Just a few hours ago, she was having a fling with Winter Ashkin, an official in Lunargard Council as well as her older brother's best friend, after her rigorous dragon-slaying training in the mountain.

Unbeknownst to her, while she was having a casual sexual relationship with her brother's best friend, their tribesmen were obscurely waiting for their deaths.

Upon this guilty realization, her scarlet eyes darkened and tears began to well in her eyes. And before she could even realize it, they streamed down her face like waterfalls.

It was unforgivable!

Amidst her chaotic thoughts, a sudden question crossed her mind.

'Winter Ashkin, where are you?'

The messy, unkempt dragon-slayer shook her head and glanced side to side, searching for a sign of Winter Ashkin.

She couldn't explain why, but at this downturned moment, her heart yearned for this man instead of her older brother, Blake.

She was an independent woman and a proud dragon-slayer of their tribe…. She had never felt this weak and vulnerable in her life before…

Many people in their faction considered her insane for her exceptional skills despite being a woman, for; bringing new light on the people's standards, faction's cultures, and all's perspectives of them.

Yet, she yearned and needed for one's comfort at this very moment.

And that 'one' was Winter Ashkin.

Who wouldn't? She was surrounded by the awful scene of tragedy that happened to her beloved home. One that happened, yes, right after her rigorous lovemaking... No, rigorous dragon-slaying training.

Their relationship was strange and complicated since they were in their teens.

As his older brother's best friend, Winter was protective of her in their dragon-slaying academy when Blake wasn't around to be. However, the former's ice-cold personality prevented her to have a close relationship with him. They were only compatible in bed, in the wilderness, in the mountain, side of a river, and other many places they spent their intimate relationship together.

What was it called, a sex friend?

Winter Ashkin came exactly after she finished her training earlier like what he used to do. He f*cked her round after round in the wilderness as if each time was their last before the former left her without saying a word just as usual.

That was the most annoying thing about him! He would come and touch her as if she was his toy. But what's more annoying was she couldn't resist him. His hair-tingling touches, his drowning stares, his ice-cold personality that accentuated his daddy vibes were simply irresistible.

Being dominated by the one and only Winter Ashkin became Blaze's means of catharsis since she became a dragon-slayer.

Who would have thought that one of the most skilled dragon-slayer in their batch was so sheepish to Winter?

If their strange relationship became known in public, no one would easily believe it. They considered her too barbaric to believe such rumors anyway. It was the reason she had the confidence to have sex with Winter in public settings. On top of it, it was a woman's dream to get dominated by a striking hunky daddy in public without getting caught.

"Blaze, I'm sorry to ask you this, but do you know where is Winter?"

It was only at this time when Blaze woke from her daze. She shook her head in disappointment when realized what was she thinking before someone who arrived from the assisting tribes asked her a question. It already became her habit to fantasize about Winter whenever things were going sideways.

"I... I thought he's with the other officials?" she answered gloomily.

"Of course, you wouldn't know. He's not close with anyone aside from your older brother. That's why I couldn't believe he murdered him amidst the Frost Dragon's attack."

…What?

Her eyes shot open and she abruptly stood up upon hearing the statement. The man beside elbowed the one who spoke, but it was too late. She already heard it.

"Where? Where is Blake? Where is my older brother?" she asked, barely able to mask the newfound tremor in her voice.

The guy swallowed a plentiful of dry saliva as Blaze's raging eyes landed on him. The former attempted to move his stiffened body, pointing at a lifeless body not far away from where they were standing.

Without another word, Blaze bolted towards the body, only to have the gory scene of her brother's pierced corpse displayed before her horror-filled eyes. Those stabs were familiar. Those stabs that penetrated Blake's armor were none other than that of a dragon-slaying weapon.

"UWAAAAAAAA!!!!! WHY????!!!! WHO DID THIS TO ME?"

Blaze released a deafening, painful roar as her world fell apart for the second time tonight. She thought at least Winter and Blake were safe since they were almost always in the Faction's Council Hall to carry out their entrusted duties. But now they were telling her that her older brother perished in the hands of a human? In the hands of his best friend, nonetheless?

Despicable!

"I'm sorry, Blaze. We couldn't make it in time for your tribesmen. And your brother... he was last seen with Winter Ashkin. We have no choice but to label him as the main suspect for now. I know it's absurd. We are hoping for him to clear his name, but he has been reported missing," the leader of a different tribe briefly explained.

'Huh?! But Winter was with me just a few moments ago?'…

…was what Blaze wanted to say, but couldn't.