Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

THE DARING INTRUDER

It was a long journey for Atlan and the Elites, but at the very least, it was a happy one. They had completed the mission without any casualties and received quite a fortune too. Atlan’s mind was set on only two things. His fiancée; Lilian and rest. Both of which lied at that end of the journey; Kerra town. After years of wandering about, Kerra town was where Atlan decided to settle. And yes, Lilian had a big part to play in that.

After Atlan fled the Ahovin empire, he wandered across different empires, kingdoms, and towns. He took the nomad approach to life. It was easier that way since a lot of people could die if he was discovered. During that time, he learned from different masters and warriors, inculcating each of their teachings in his fighting style. He even came across a few other Arvins on his way. One of them was Mason Ner; the master he learned most of what he knew and where he stayed the longest. It was also the first place he took refuge. At the time, his town was a fortress more popularly known as the Terra fortress. A certain guardian kept it hidden from the outside world, even to the mega dragons. It was there he met with his then-best friend; Kurai and his first love Neria. After they came of age, they left to start lives of their own, but in the meantime, together. A lot happened that saw Atlan separated from those two and he found his way to Kerra, where h also found Lilian. It took a lot to convince him to stay. Whatever happened with Neria took a huge toll on him, but he was glad he did. Lilian was a different light in his life.

There was an enormous welcome for the heroes of Kerra town; the Elites. Every time they came back from a mission, they got one of those, and every single time felt different. It was always a relief to come back to such a reception. On any side of Kerra, almost everyone wanted to kill them. Lilian as usual was the first to run at them. No matter many times they returned, even though she could bear witness to how strong they were, her mind was still never settled whenever they went on missions.

“I’m glad you’re back safely,” Lilian said softly as she ran into Atlan’s embrace. The Elites are ridden with cheeky smiles. The love birds are at it again. Lilian had long auburn-colored hair with grey eyes. For the daughter of a chief, she had quite an athletic build. Contrary to her father’s wishes, she would sneak off to train and ride horses when she was little. Her burning desire to be able to fight in battle only intensified when she met Atlan. She wanted to be able to fight alongside him. But he had never once allowed her to participate in any of their missions. And of course, it had to do with something that happened to Neria, but he never spoke of it. Lilian never pressed too much either, but she was definitely curious. More curious to know what type of woman her fiancé’s first love was.

“You worry too much, Lilian. It’s me we’re talking about here,” Atlan gloated. And he had a point. There were very few people in the world who could boast of a higher survival instinct than he. But that never stopped Lilian from worrying.

“And that’s why I worry. You can be really reckless sometimes. You’re not immortal you know,” Lilian replied, rather sternly this time. And let’s be honest, Atlan wasn’t the most careful guy. Not even close. He had this mindset that everything would work out somehow. And most times it did. Whenever it didn’t, his teammates were always around to clean up. Lilian knew all of this of course. Almost everyone knew this as well. that was what gave them that much security. Kerra as well. They had soldiers trained under the Elites and the funds that cities would only dream of. Atlan and the Elites were their major sponsors. They had little interest in the money itself. Most of what they made was for Kerra, dubbing them the heroes of Kerra.

Each of the Elites was someone that Atlan met on his nomadic path. Each of them was an accomplished warrior and a number of them lost to Atlan and decided to follow him. A key example was Harold; the archer. He was a Hakuri (special humans with special hunting prowess) that was fabled to be the strongest ever. But even he lost to Atlan, a Rani (special humans with superior combat skills). And there were others. The Elites used to be more than six. In fact, they became the Elites before they came to Kerra. But they came as six. Since then, they hadn’t lost anyone.

“Okay,” Atlan resigned as he noticed her sternness. Lilian could be scary whenever she scolded him. Atlan needed to rest than to hear any of that. Once she started, there was no end to it. It was ludicrous how one of the most powerful men in the world could still cower in fear whenever his woman got mad. 

“I’ll be more careful,” he said with his hands on her face. He was considerably taller than her with almost half a foot. So, teasing her about her height was something he rarely missed the chance to do. “I’ll try to stay safe?” he said in between giggles. It was a strange concept. How did she expect him to stay safe during such dangerous missions? 

Lilian wasn’t pleased. “You do this all the time,” she moaned. Why wouldn’t he take her seriously? She blamed the fact that she was weaker than him. But if that was the case, Atlan wouldn’t respect anyone around him. He was the strongest in all of Kerra.

“That’s because you have the cutest reactions,” Atlan teased. And was he correct. The face she made when she was angry was more than enough to want to her anger all the time, if she didn’t have an even more attractive smile. But what usually followed was even more scolding so Atlan refrained from saying any more.

The rest of the group went in to rest while Atlan and Lilian continued their talk on their way to meet her father; the chief of Kerra. They hadn’t walked too far when Atlan picked up a terrifying presence. It was fast. Probably faster than most of the members of the Elites. But it was definitely human. The rest of the Elites responded to this ominous presence. Who was the fool that charged into Kerra alone? Did he believe that they were absent or was he delusional enough to believe he could take on the Elites on his own? There was noise at the front of the gate. A confrontation. Atlan and the Elites raced to the gates to stop whoever it was before they laid a foot in Kerra.

Not surprisingly, he had deflected all the arrows that came his way and was still on a full charge towards the town. Harold loaded his bow to shoot down the intruder, but Atlan gestured for him to withdraw. “No, this one is mine,” Atlan said. He refused to unsheathe his sword. Whether he was looking down on the enemy or he truly believed it wouldn’t be needed was a mystery but he did so anyway. Lilian tried to stop him from doing something so foolish, but he was on his way before the words could escape her mouth. The enemy was an opponent that was deft with his sword. It was an unconventional sword. It was at least three times as wide as normal swords and maybe twice as long. Obviously, its hilt was just as unusually long as well. But for such a heavy sword, the enemy swung in so quickly that most people would have no time to evade it. But Atlan wasn’t most people. To the enemy’s surprise, he didn’t evade. Even behind his mask, the shock was there for all to see. Did someone just catch his blade with his bare hands!!!