Corrupted By Angel Wings (In Progress)

Child Of Fire
Chapter 1

One down, two down and the third ones gone. I need more, I crave more. The ale slides down my throat easily, it's gone faster than I'd like. I spend most of my nights here, drunk to the point of no return. I engage in a few fights here and there, mostly with other patrons, travellers and sometimes unfortunately with the local guard. I'm surprised I haven't been executed considering all the trouble that I put this town through. It's already bad enough we are being plagued with demons and other mythical freaks. Damn creatures should just disappear. I let out a dishevelled sigh as I down yet another flagon of ale, banging it harshly against the table.


"Is everything alright ma'am? Would you like a refill" A waitress asks.
"Keep em' coming, I'll pay extra tonight. That'll be all" I grumble.
"Yes ma'am, right away!" She stammers.
"And it's not ma'am. I hate being referred to as that" I snarl.
"Yes sir!" She scurries off.


Useless. People are utterly useless nowadays, and can't ever do their jobs right. Guards are prejudiced pricks, Merchants are just thieves in disguise and lords are tyrannical pigs. The only equitable work in this world are bounty hunters, such as myself. We don't pretend to be something we're not. We're ruthless and cruel, merciless would be another good way to describe us. We have the great duty of slaying those foul beasts and disposing them from existence, permanently. But alas I have not gotten a contract in days, so I spend my time within the tavern walls drinking flagon after flagon of ale.

"Here you go sir, I was only permitted to bring a single pitcher. The taverner has cut you off for the night." The waitress begins "He said that you have already dranken more than your worth. I apologise sir but after this pitcher I must ask you to leave".


"Are you serious? A single useless pitcher, that's all I'm worth? Ha, tell this taverner that he can shove a stick up his rear" I snarl.
"B-but sir, please be within reason. He will be quite appalled with such a comment" She counters.
Useless. "Fine, bring that sorry excuse of a barkeep here. I'd like to have a few words with him" I finish.
"Yes sir, right away" She turns to leave.
"And leave the ale!" I growl.


She does so and turns to leave again, clearly trembling. She's lucky I'm having a good day otherwise, she would have been a puddle of mud on the floor. Just a bloody mush, much like how mashed potatoes look. I down the pitcher, there's a good chance I will need it to bash this guy's skull. A flatulent bubble erupts from my throat, earning a chuckle from the nearby drunks. Looneys and useless fools. Finally the sound of footsteps approaching caught my attention, they sound heavy-set so their owner must be either tall and muscular or plump. I turn my attention to them, tall and muscular. Great... They had long dark brown hair, eyes that dulled at the sight of me and a tense posture. This'll be fun.

"Hello sir, you wanted to speak with me, is that correct?" He speaks.

An assertive voice, this'll get nasty.

"Yes I did, why'd you cut me off?" I keep it short.
"You've dranken more than your worth, and I don't serve women usually. Where's your man? A lady shouldn't be alone." He smirks.
"A lady shouldn't be without her man, oh how typical"

I rise to my full height, 5 foot 11 inches. My hood coming down as I rise, my features now bathing in a warm glow. Raven black hair flowing straight down my back, matched with piercing cerulean eyes. Although he stood a good half a foot taller, my gaze alone was enough to startle him.

"Maybe this lady should stop defending this village from those creatures that come and invade so often. Come to think about it, it's been very quiet here lately, I wonder why?" I finished.

His face dawns a horrified expression when he registers my face to memory.

"Sir I meant no disrespect! Please drink all the ale you require free of charge and alone, no need for anyone else. I meant no disrespect." He grovels.
"Good, now keep the ale coming. I got lots to do tomorrow" I sigh, I was hoping for a fight.
"Yes sir, right away sir!" He stammers.

I sat back in my seat, that was more uneventful than I had hoped. Why do men have to be such cowards in the face of strong women? Do we intimidate them too much? Do we overload their feeble minds? It simply does not matter. Just another night in which I will consume ale and fall into a drunken slumber. However something in the air tells me a different story. A pungent smell of blood and rot, guts and decay. A demon, such foul creatures. They typically lurk at night but never draw so close to villages, so why has this one?

Rising from my seat, I throw back the last of my drink. It’s bitter, but so am I. Letting out a disgruntled sigh I head for the door, the scent getting stronger and stronger the closer I get. If I didn’t know any better I’d say this beast is right outside the door. As if the devil himself heard me, a mangled being of rotting flesh broke through the door. It’s starved and in a state of insanity, normally demons appear human with black markings and horns. Getting into a defensive stance, I retrieve my dragonbone blade from my back. The demon roars in frustration, drool running down its mouth and dripping to the floor. Rushing forward it swings with ferocious might, a trail of flesh slipping off its bones from the momentum. I counter and lash for its legs, if I can down it I can end this swiftly. It however had different plans, jumping back it rushes for me again taking me by surprise. It sinks its teeth into my arm and bites down with the force of a wild boar. In a pained rage I run my sword through its head and my own arm. It growls in protest but can’t pull away. I retrieve my dagger from my side and slam it into the heart of this beast, it slumps to the floor in a bloody heap. A sigh escapes my lips, I remove the sword from its head and my arm, wincing as it escapes my skin. A fiery pain erupts through my arm, it's strange, almost foreign to me. It’s probably just from implanting my sword through my arm. Wrapping the wound, cheers of drunken victory erupt around me but they’re quiet or at least seem quiet. The room spins and I feel my temperature rise to agonising heights, I stumble towards the bar and pay for a room. Making my way up the stairs my dizziness fades though is replaced with a pounding headache. I'm drunk, that must be it. I fumble with the lock and open the door, making it to the bed before the world fades to black.

Chapter 2

Glowing, piercing emerald eyes that seemed to have gazed longingly at a volcanic fissure. A sinister smile filled with razor sharp jagged edged teeth. Flowing white hair that glimmers like stars almost seeming like it’s made from stardust. A girl stands before me, she seems young, however from the look in her eyes I can tell she’s much older than she appears. The atmosphere is cool, a gentle breeze rustles through our hair. The sky is bright from the moon and stars, soft clouds floating peacefully by. It’s calm. I haven’t felt this way in a long time, not since the incident.
.

The girl speaks “It seems you have awoken young one, to fulfil your true purpose”.
The hell is she talking about?
“It appears you are confused. I have chosen you as my blessed child” She explains.
“Blessed child? What are you, some kind of god? You’re merely a dream” I retort.
“This is quite real, I am the Lady of Stars, Bringer of Transformation. It is my mission to bring about change to this godless world” she continues “You have been chosen as my next transformation”
“Lady your crazy, you’re just a dream, a fantasy. All you are here to do is muddle my thoughts and distract me from my goal” I grumble.
“What is your goal dear child?” She asks.
“To rid this world of all those disgusting beasts. To bring true peace to this world” I cackle.
“My dear foolish child..” She sighs.
“I am no child and you are not my mother. She is not of this world anymore” I growl.

She suddenly takes a look towards the sky, thundering claps scatter through the air. The sky turns a fiery red and the moon turn black. My heart beat can be heard pounding, almost in tune with the thunder. Over the mountain ridge nearby flies a creature of monumental size. Scarlet scales littered across its body, white webbing covers its wing span and two forest green eyes penetrate my very soul. My chest starts to burn like I’ve been stabbed with a tempered blade, my ears start to ring and my body begins to ache.


“It is time for you transformation dear child, it is time for you to live the life of the ones you hate dearly. You were born under the blood moon on the day of the great volcano’s eruption, you have fire running through your veins” She says.
The creature speaks upon landing “It is time for you to join our kind mortal”.


Damned dragons, damned demons, curse them all. I will end each one of them after I awake from this nightmare.

“This isn’t a nightmare dear, this is the beginning to your rebirth” The woman speaks.
“From ashes to ashes and flames to fire, Change and Rebirth are but a trial. From dusk till dawn you’ll be human but from dawn to dusk you are a child of fire” She continued.
“Shut up you crazy bitch, stop speaking gibberish and-”
Fire erupts from my skin, melting it off my bones. My bones snap and break, rearranging themselves before snapping into place once more. I can’t hear if they say anything else, all I hear are my screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I shoot up from my sleep and peer out the window. It’s still dark out and the moon is full. I swiftly look to my arms, sighing in relief when I see my own skin there. I get up from the sweat soaked bed and walk to the bathroom, which is just a bucket behind a door. I look in the mirror above the bucket and check for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing in my search I return to the window, watching the suns rays peek over the horizon. How long was I in the bathroom for? I sigh, shaking the thoughts from my head, it was a dream, I have no reason to be worried. Turning to the door I exit the room and make my way down the stairs, the tavern is quiet this time of morning aside from the drunken snores of lonely people.

The sun's rays just barely start to peek through the windows when suddenly it feels like my chest is aflame. Sweat radiates off me in waves and pain starts to swell through me. I recognize this feeling, it’s the same from my dream. The first bone snaps, then the next and the next and the next. In rapid succession everything within me is broken and reformed, the process makes my vision begin to blur and fade, eyes unfocused through the pain. Once the pain subsided I felt bigger and my throat felt like it was burning. Peering into a glass nearby I am brought face to face with black scales and cerulean eyes. I’m a monster, a disgusting mythical beast.

Rising to a stand, my back hits the ceiling. A scream pierces my ear to my right. Shooting my head to the side I see the waitress from last night, and behind her is the barkeep. Well shit. I move towards the door however just by luck, a guard walks in. He’s not alone like I’d hoped he’d been, not even a second later and two of my former colleagues enter, talking happily about their latest contract. We all make eye contact.

The air is pregnant with tension, none of us make a move. The sounds of our laboured breathing are the only to puncture the silence. The guard being the first one to make a move, slowly reaching and gripping the handle of his sword. His first mistake, never allow your enemy to know your next move. Just as he starts pulling out his sword, I swing my horned head at him. Ramming one of them straight through his chest and out the otherside. He gasps, blood erupting from his throat. My colleagues rush me while drawing their desired weapons. Oswald, the taller but plump male rushes to my left with his glaive. Tyran, the shorter but muscular male flanks my right, battle axe at the ready. Shaking the now deceased guard off my head, I get into a defensive stance. Bringing my spiked tail in front of me, the barbs seemed to be coated with some sort of substance, however that's not important right now, surviving is.

Tyran’s axe meets my scaled tail, spike greets axe, shattering the metal to pieces. He stumbles back in alarm, my eyes gleam with prideful enjoyment. However I allowed myself to get distracted, giving Oswald the opportunity to penetrate his glaive into my side, slicing deeply. Pain momentarily clouds my vision before being replaced with hot rage, my throat burning up as a roar erupts through my throat. I feel like lava erupts from my throat, leaving my mouth in hot blasts of concentrated fire. Melting the skin from Oswalds arm, I can’t hear his screams, however the agony on his face is enough to tell me he’s in dire pain. The fire dies down, taking in my surroundings swiftly I notice I’ve burned a hole through the wall. Unfortunately there's a whole guard squad waiting outside ogling at me, the dragon that appeared out of nowhere. I feel a prick to my right, knowing Tyran is the source I swing my tail up and thrust it back down on top of him, effectively turning him into a broken mush. Two down, an armed militia to go. Looking at the grieving, groaning Oswald, I notice his grey eyes glare at me with a hidden promise.

I turn to the door, rolling my eyes at the crippled man. I rush forward with immense speed, skewering random guards as I rush by. Swinging my tail around wildly, my mind frenzied. Guard after guard skewered, eaten or pulverised by my new form. I find a sense of enjoyment from watching the fear grow behind their irises. I primal urge to burn this place to the ground starts hammering in my brain, the carnal desire to feast upon their flesh overwhelms my sense of reason. The more blood spilt, the hungrier I become. My vision becomes hazy and the gurgled sounds of death dulling as I become engulfed in ecstasy.

Blood everywhere, children stripped from their mothers lay beneath my feet, lifeless. Villagers lay torn to pieces and guards decapitated or lay in a heap of bloodied mush. Blood drips from my mouth in heaps as the desire to kill slowly fades from my system. My tunnel vision clears as I am faced with the reality of what I have done. What have I done? I’ve slaughtered those who I sought to protect and dined on their flesh, engulfed in pure ecstasy as their souls left their body. I’m a monster, I’m not human anymore. It was now noon, the sun sitting high in the sky as the metallic smell of the town filled the air. I should go, I should leave. Ghouls will be scavenging around soon and a wounded dragon would be a delicious trophy meal for them. A dragon. A stupidly large, powerful, bloodthirsty creature. That’s all I am now and it’s all thanks to that crazy star lady. I’ll kill her. She ruined my life, turned me into a beast for her own sick satisfaction.

Gurgling growls and hollow groans fill the silence, ending my inner turmoil. I need to escape, leave this place and gather my strength to end the one who brought this upon me. Spreading out my wings I try to lift myself into the air, however it’s not as easy as dragons make it out to be. My muscles strain and pull as I flap furiously, only creating dust clouds as a result. A searing pain explodes from my side, effectively ending my panicked flapping. Peering to my right I notice a piece of metal sticking out the side of my ribcage, the metal sitting between my lower two ribs.

Shuffling feet and grotesque crunching is now within earshot. I look around my surroundings, hoping I can find some way to avoid the inevitable death that awaits if I stay here. Fortunately enough for me there's a forest near me at the edge of the village, and so far from what I can tell, no ghouls. I start my trek towards the forest, pain burning away at my side causing me to start limping. The burning buildings around me lick at my skin with intense heat, kissing my wound with explosive pain. A grumbled hiss bundles in my throat as I finally reach the shrubbed edge of the forest. The shaded foliage engulfs me in its grasp, swallowing me in the eternal green growth.