The Dark Dragon's Vessel.

The shiny steel blinded you. Most swords are made beautiful, even outside of battle to be adored. But this one was different, it looked horrendous, this sword was made for only one thing, war.

The steel rubbing against the leather of the scabbard made a sound that echoed through the town.

"Is your name, Max Rose?" The dragon said while unhinged by the sword, which was clearly intended to kill him.

The grin on Max's face disappeared and instead stood a big frown. It was clear he didn't like that name, but why?

'You guys really know how to piss me off.' He rushed toward the dragon his blade cutting the air like butter, it was as if they were doing it out of fear.

The dragon sighed and looked his eyes in annoyance at having to battle for no reason.

"I don't understand you humans, and how you fight with no possibility of winning."

But as he opened them again, he saw his reflection in the shiny blade that was close to his face, he seemed surprised. Seeing its low speed though, he seemed disappointed, he took a deep breath and slowly moved out of the way. 

Well, at least that was his plan, as electricity went up the sword like a thunderstorm, the sound it made reaching the top was frightful, one a kid dreads every time it thunders outside.

True fear was shown on the dragon's face, as the blade approached his face. But it only made Max laugh, the thought that this may have been the first time the creature felt this way, was amusing. The first time its life was truly at stake.

In a moment of pure desperation, the dragon drew out all of his power to survive, the outcome?

He breathed heavily, looking at his hand bloodied from catching the sword, he could swear he had lost one of his fingers.

"Damn you!" Max flinched a bit at his enemy's scream full of despair and hatred. The air became harder to inhale like they were at high altitudes and there wasn't enough oxygen in the air, this was the power of a humanoid dragon's wrath.

A raging fire enveloped his body, from limb to limb, from chest to back, there wasn't a spot left out, it was like a sick armor every child once dreamed of. Its dark shade represents his wish to kill Max in the worst way possible.

When Max tried to cut the armor, his sword melted, creating a mess on the barely standing wooden floor, now looking worse than before. The once frightening sword, was now nonexistent, like it was just a hallucination or a nightmare.

Seeing the lonely hilt in his palm, electricity ran up his legs in a flash. 'This is bad!' But as he turned his body to escape, he was grabbed by his shirt and, he looked at the dragon, his red eyes were burning, steam escaped his mouth every time he exhaled. 'It's pretty hot today isn't it?' He scoffed, looks like he didn't like the joke. He dragged Max against the wall by the collars, leaving a red trail of blood, it looked straight out of a horror film, and a gruesome one. The air, now had a metallic taste to it, not from the melted blade, but from the large trail.

After reaching the end of the wall, he pulled Max in the air, and with each of his muscles at full power, he slammed Max into the floor. Max spit out blood and the horrifying sound of a bone-shattering echoed through the Inn.

The dragon looked a little calmer, looks like his wrath was done, for now.

Max tried getting up, but he felt his legs refuse to obey him like a defiant slave refusing with all its might to obey its owner, still thinking their someone or something. His muscles were destroyed and his bones were trembling, hardly holding themself together. He dragged himself towards the wall and reached to check his mouth. 

Looking at his hand again, it was covered in blood, and pieces of flesh. 'Damn, you messed up my face, and the room, I hope you know you're paying for the damage. He laughed.

The dragon looked at him with curiosity. "You're an interesting human, do you not feel pain? Or perhaps you like pain, I'm more than happy to help you if that's the case, I'll make sure you won't consider pain a pleasure ever again."

Max flinched, causing his bones to rub between each other, causing an impaling pain. 'Still better than actually being impaled, never again.'

"You still haven't answered my question, tell me, are you, Max Rose."

Max chuckled, but even that caused a bit of pain, and blood flowed between his teeth.

'Fine, I am the one you are looking for, but my name isn't Rose anymore, so please don't associate me with it again. I hate it with every ounce of my soul.'

"I see, good thing I didn't kill you then, it would have ended badly for both of us. Well, my mission is done." He turned around, leaving the bleeding Max surprised. 'Not going for the finish, why? Don't tell me.' A menacing grip corrupted his worn-down face.

'Don't tell me someone with such pride and ego as yourself is scared of him, man you're weak, even I am not scared of him!'

The dragon breath slowly, trying to calm himself down. "Calm down, he's an annoying brat, but killing him would be the last thing you do." 

"Don't get on my nerves kid, of course, I'm scared of him, he could kill the majority of the dragon species on his own if he wanted to."

The dragon turned to Max and kneeled to his level.

"I've always wondered how you survived with him hunting you down. You're hiding your powers from me, are you?"

'How did you know I was here?'

The dragon laughed. "Oh but telling you that would make me a snitch."

Max closed his eyes looked down, and smiled. 'But you don't care about that do you?'

"You quite the bright one, you're on point. It was a human, so you could call them a traitor, the name of the traitor was-"

Every second, it became harder for Max to think, his ears starting to ring louder and louder until his body finally failed to keep itself awake, and accepted its fate. 

...

Waking up, Max found himself submerged in a dark viscous liquid, which stuck to your body like a slime. Looking at it, you felt like it was alive, climbing up your body trying to devour your essence. The sky was covered in black clouds, causing a dark mood, and blue thunderstruck the ground, leaving spots empty of the black liquid before it again got devoured by it. This was his soul, and drive.

In front of him stood a girl. Her hair, stark white yet streaked with strands of shadowy black, framed a face partially hidden by the unruly locks. Her eyes—deep, inky black—radiated a quiet, terrifying power.

'Azel, long time no see.'