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It was a very dark and cloudy day, it had been raining for weeks and it didn’t seem like it would end anytime soon. A single hooded figure could be seen walking through a dark and swamp infested forest. The figure kept walking and after some time ,the lone being found a cave. Without giving it a single thought it decided to rest in the dark and ominous cave.
Loud thunder could be heard in the distance as the figure took off its hood and sat down on a rounded rock after starting a small fire . Long dark brown locks fell onto the face of the strange figure. As the figure brushed away the hair, a male face and his attire could be seen in the warm light of the newly lit fire. The man had sharp teal eyes, a pointed nose , an uncut beard and a face that showed a lot of combat experience. His attire consisted of a dark brown cloak, a simple black set of worn leather armor with some added metal shoulder guards. As for his lowee body, he had black leather pants with an ornate longsword strapped to his waist. Below that were metal shinguards with a simple pair of brown travel boots.
“Damnit , how could I have lost that slippery bastard” said the strange man, obviously irritated. “Again, days worth of preparation gone, just fucking GREAT!” yelled the man as his irritation quickly became anger.
The man reached into his backpack that laid on the cold and rocky ground and pulled out what seemed to be a very large notebook. As the large book was opened , a drawing of the same man could be seen on the first page, along with a description written in very neat letters.
As the man started to read through the , his irritation started to rise slightly
Year 761 A. D. R
Axyl Crowe. Born in Y. 732. Is a vicious and cunning member of Reignend. It was a select group of killers, who excelled in ruining lives and disposing of unwanted people, especially powerful and influential people. Crowe is extremely dangerous and if spotted should be immediately reported to the nearest authorities. Threat class : B+
‘Vicious and cunning huh? Guess I’m just not cunning enough then, atleast he dropped this damn book when he took off, its surprising that he figured out the existence of Reignend, atleast now he won’t have any solid proof of our existence.’ Axyl though as he pulled out and unfolded piece of paper from inside of his backpack.
On the paper was a drawing of the man Axyl has been chasing for the last couple of months. ‘Eldrim Castern, an aspiring detective and a huge pain in the ass, its because of him sticking his nose in Reignend's buisiness that now I have to be away from her for weeks, and now he’s gone and I have to start from scratch’ though the man as his anger started to show itself again.
“Well seeing as I’m not that far away from Ravton , I might as well go there and rest up, would be nice see to how her and the baby are doin-“ a loud growl resonated throughout the gloomy cave. Axyl quickly grabbed his things and dodged forward and out of the cave as another growl could be heard behind him. As he turned around he could see a two glowing yellow eyes in the darkness of the cave.
As the beast stepped into the light of the fire , its appearance made Axyl widen his eyes. The beast was big, about 2 meters in height with four legs that had incredibly sharp crimson claws. Its body was covered in thick black fur with a long spiked tail. Its head was lean with a pair of dark fluffy ears, its face was long with a sharp sensitive nose and its ever glowing eyes.
‘What the hell is a Duskmaw doing here! And how the hell did it get here, it should only be on the elven continent, this is bad and I need a plan before this thing rips me to shreds.’ Axyl though as he tried to calm his growing curiousity.
‘I could try to stun it and make a break for it, but then in would most likely either chase me or go toward Ravton so that’s out, luring it out wouldn’t work either, guess I have no choice’ Axyl sighed as his right hand unsheathed his sword.
The Duskmaw finally stepped outside the cave baring its sharp teeth and eager to face his would be prey, Axel closed his eyes and concentrated his limited supply of mana into his sword.
The beast was almost upon him as Axyl opened his eyes and his sword burst forth in brilliant crimson flames. The Duskmaw took a step back and let out and irratated growl at the dark haired human. Without another thought , It leaped at its prey, but Axyl was prepared and sidestepped into the beast’s blindside and struck hard at its hinds legs. The Duskmaw let out an angry howl and kicked Axyl into a nearby tree, seemingly unfazed by the humans attemp to cripple it.
‘Damnit, the thing’s stronger than i thought’ Axyl thought as he tried to get his bearing. ’Ok, new plan, it should have an affinity with water, so it should be weak to lightning, but I don’t have the power to cast lightning, unless…’ He looked up to the dark clouds with a wicked grin.
The Duskmaw stalked towards its prey yet again, but before it could get any closer , Axyl broke into a sprint towards the hungry beast and made a leap for its back.
The Duskmaw roared , clearly not happy about its prey playing around. It tried to throw the human off but to no avail. Axyl started to focus his magic power into his body from which a very thin shield of mana became visible and stuck his sword high into the air.
The beast was infuriated by this humans antics. It was about to ram its back into a tree when a loud thunderous boom echoed through the air and a bright bolt of lightning struck the metal sword in Axyl's hand.
Axyl winced harsly as he felt his body going numb and his mana being drained at an alarming rate due to his shield redirecting the lightning current away from his body and into the body of the struggling beast
The Duskmaw roared in agony, as its body was filled with electricity. Axyl took the opening and swung with all the strenght that he had left and cleaved the beast’s head right off. It's blood smeared all over him, the ground and nearby trees.
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A few minutes of rest and Axyl was ready to move out, the Duskmaw was skinned and harvested for valuable parts. The rain seemed to have started letting up, with the first rays of sunlight breaking through the thick clouds. Now he just needed to get home in one piece, which might be easier said than done. Seeing as the roads around Ravton being heavily infested with bandit gangs. Axyl knew he could take care of a group of uncoordinated savages, as that’s what bandits were basically, but the real issue would be their boss.
Axyl knew the leader of this bandit gang, with him being in Reignend and all the shady buisiness they do, banditry is one of them. The leader – Dirv Jvomastelle, a man of almost inhuman strenght, he had long fiery red hair that was usually tied in a long braid, his other most distinguishable trait would be his insanely long beard, which was able to reach below his kneecaps, his beard was also braided. As for equipment , he usually wore reinforced leather and sometimes had some metal plating on. His weapons of choice would be twin war axes, but they weren’t regular war axes, the metal was infused with the blood of an extremely poisonous snake , the infusion made the twin axes an unbeleavable dangerous weapon.
Axyl Doubted he could take him on in a drawn out fight unless he took him by surprise of course, otherwise he could not counter the poison, even if he used his magic as a shield.
Axyl stopped pondering about it and decided to finally set out, the fire was extinguished during the battle with the beast, and when Axyl gathered the rest of his things he took one last look at the dead Duskmaw and turned toward Ravton and marched on. Not noticing that the what was left of the Duskmaw's corpse seemed to be evaporating. its essence being drawn to a shadow-like figure with a pair of glowing crimson eyes before it dissapeared into the wind.
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A day’s worth of travel and Ravton was finally in sight. It was a decent sized city by human standarts, it had high metal walls surrounding the city in a circular fashion. Dozens of 30 to 50 meter tall buildings could be seen over the walls, all of them made of metal and glass.
Axyl breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Almost there, just a few more hours and I’ll be home’ Axyl was grateful that the bandits took a day off and decided not to bother him. He couldn’t wait to see his family again, even if it’s for a short time. With that in mind he continued on towards Ravton, but this time doubling his pace.
The sun was already setting. Axyl spent the entire day traveling and was ready for some shut eye. The only thing stopping him was a door, the door to his apartment to be precise. Axel was nervous and rightfully so, with him leaving her to go chase after some wannabe detective.
‘Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts, what’s the worst that could happen?’ Axel’s face immediately lost it’s color as he thought of what she might do to him.
Nevertheless, Axel managed to relax and he knocked.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Nothing, he tried again.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Again, nothing. Axyl was getting impatient, he was about to knock again, but his senses flared up as he felt an immense amount of bloodlust… right behind him….
“Ahem”
Axyl recognized that voice, he slowly turned around. His face as pale as a ghost, his mind was terrified of what would inevitably happen, he could only stutter one thing
“ H-h-h-hey… uh- how have you been?” Axyl was completely terrified at this point, and her expression was only making it worse.
Behind him was a slender woman with the sweetest smile one could hope to see. Most would consider her undeniably beautiful, she had long hair as black as the nights sky and piercing amber eyes. Her body was lean and well toned, with ample breast and wide hips. But Axyl knew, he knew that under all that beauty and “innocence” was a woman who thoroughly enjoyed the suffering of others, especially when she was the one making them suffer. Calling her a sadist would be an understatement, but even with all of that, Axyl still loved her with all the love his blackened heart could give.
Her sweet smile gone, Axyl knew he was safe…for now atleast.
“So, did you take care of your little detective problem?” asked the woman, she turned to gaze at the twin moons in the sky.
“No, unfortunately he managed to escape… again..” Axyl replied, his voice carried dissapointment, embarassment and anger with his inability to catch that snake.
“Oh? Too bad I suppose, and here I was hoping for some good news, maybe even a new toy…” She looked down, a sad smile clearly visible to Axyl.
“Anyway, how are the kids?” asked Axyl, hoping to change the subject.
“They’re doing alright, both of them.” Was the reply he got.
‘Wait.. both?’ He took a second to check her stomach and a realization hit him.
“I missed it, didn’t I ? When?” Axyl asked, a somber look onchis face.
“Yep, 4 days ago actually” she replied with a stoic face.
“Nyx… I’m sorry.” Axyl said, looking straight into the eyes of his beloved wife.
“Its fine I guess, at least you’re here now.” Nyx said as she shook her head.
“Is it a boy or a girl, and did you give it a name?” Axyl replied , his face showed hope.
“It’s a boy , and no I didn’t name him, I was waiting for you.” Nyx replied, her mouth curving up to a slight smile.
“Can I see him? I think I have the perfect name.” Axyl declared, clearly excited.
“Yeah, we should probably get inside, its getting pretty cold and by the way.. the door wasn't locked.” Nyx replied with a giggle while Axyl just sighed.
As Axel opened the door to the room of his new son, the first thing he saw was an orange lamp, which shined the room with its calming rays. As he walked towards the crib, he could see a small white blanket inside, obviously covering his son.
As he took a good look at his newborn son, he could see a slight patch of midnight black hair, and bright amber eyes, he saw that his son at least inherited his slightly pointed nose. Axyl breathed a sigh of relief. Nyx walked into the room and as soon as the baby saw her, he started giggling with happiness.
“So, you said you had a name right? So what is it, you got me pretty curious.” Said Nyx, awaiting her husbands answer
“Raze” Axyl simply replied, looking at Nyx to gauge her reaction.
“Hmm, Raze. Raze Crowe, i like it. ” She smiled
Axyl was positively relieved, Her smile always made all his problems go way. He turned to Nyx and pulled her close, gently cupped her cheeks and the two shared a passionate kiss, as they bathed in a fraction of the twin moons light.
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Aprox. 173 meters away from the Crowe residence.
A hooded being with glowing crimson eyes watched with an amused smirk
“Raze Crowe huh? This should prove to be quite interesting.” a voice filled with amusement said . The beings pupils changed to a bizzare shape for a couple of seconds before the thing completely vanished into the wind. With absolutely no trace left.