Rondel was eighty-three years old now.
He moved through the thick bushes of the Zertra-forest, a forest he knew worse than his own, he was just here as a visitor, one of the only people, the only one of two people on the world at the transcribe-rank, and the more powerful one, the magician, of those two.
Goddamn, he could easily gain the title of grand mage had he asked for it, but he just never saw the reason in it anymore, this was definitely the disillusionment that the military spoke of when they first tried to recruit him from the hunters, over forty years ago.
There was a root he almost tripped over, running really low, some people following him far, far behind, probably thinking about why he was still working at such an age...
To tell the truth, he had become a bit addicted to hunting beasts, monsters, creatures, had he wanted to then he could have gone home and rested in the end of his days, that accursed cat, now seventy-nine years old, still alive, though now also showing signs of dying, may it rest in peace.
They actually said that he had pulled some strings to let it live this long, but no, he hadn't, it was just build different, that was the only real thing he was able to say as it quite literally doubled the world record of how long cats could live, it boggled the mind of scientists and mages alike and he had been offered billions of talars for the secrets he had been feeding the cat, though he had just told them what he fed the cat for free, not really caring, and honestly not really needing any money, already being a billionaire after all.
He laughed as he thought back to a day the cat had almost been catnapped to make a cure and find out how to live eternally, something he had already figured out some time ago.
Actually, there were multiple ways of prolonging live, there was vampirism, there was becoming a lich, there was continuously transforming your body to be younger, there was a few alchemical elixirs that he had helped Julia research once, the two still being married, since over fifty years now, still happy and laughing together, as they had always done.
He smiled with rigid lips as he thought back on her, happy as always, when he thought of the sunshine in his life, the one who had helped him deal with his sister, and two decades ago, is parent's death, and the one who would probably help him deal with the cat's death, it that blasted beast didn't outlive him as well...
But alas, it didn't turn out as he had hoped.
Something had hit him in the stomach as he stumbled backwards, a whole mountain lifting itself up and revealing something he had hoped to never see again, a creature, or at least a subspecies of a dragon, the most dangerous and powerful beings in the world, beings said to even strike fear into the hearts of some lower gods, beings that are counted as invincible feats of ancient heroes, true dragons.
It was huge, as big as a mountain, multiple actually, two unbelievably wide wings, covered in some holes ,but mostly fine, green and lush, filled with moss and critters that were now falling, sometimes even gliding through the air, some birds screeching in terror as the creature, a total of a few hundred feet tall, at least five, heaved it's endlessly long neck up, looked at them with yellowish sharp teeth, each as big as multiple people stacked atop, and with weirdly burning eyes, almost a bit orange if he was honest, different from the normal golden colour that the species had always shown, roared.
Rondel felt his legs give up as the roar threw back entire trees, destroyed the people following him from a few hundred feet away, rupturing their ears at the very least, and looked at him, realizing what he had done.
When he had been young, about forty-eight, an alchemist had turned the wyvern's heart into power for him, and he had accepted, gaining great resistance against fire, illusions, and many other things, the blood of the dragon flowing in his, the soul becoming more powerful, his very intent sharper, the greatest fruit from his live, an elixir that only four existed off, his contribution, and as it seemed, the source of the dragon's anger.
Now the retribution for a life of hunting had arrived, that, Rondel was certain of.
The gigantic creature with four legs, two of which seemed more akin to arms, heaved up one of the legs, and stomped, seemingly intent on playing with him, after all, according to legends, dragons belonged, at the very least, the the rank of titans, the rank above even a scribe, but below that of the kurakkan's, the formless rank, though some say that they are actually exactly there, at the formless rank.
Once he had believed himself able to fight even against these creatures, but as he soon found out, his chest pierced by a huge piece of wood, his breath halted by the sad sound sin his mind that repeatedly asked for escape though he knew it was impossible, though he wanted to be with his wife, having had two children as well, Lari Keris and Liua Keris, all of which he both wanted to be here and desperately wanted to keep away from the beast right now, he knew it was over, he knew there was no way for him to truly survive this, he knew that in the end, he would not be able to escape, not be able to get his revenge.
Perhaps, just perhaps, his children would one day be able to, but that was merely a desperate wish he didn't really mean, and with that, as abrupt as it had begun, the sad part about death, aside from it ripping someone from us, however early, however late, Rondel died, never truly having given up, always having fought, the dragon having at least been scratched despite being known for their defence, something it had been impressed by, but quickly deciding to rest again in fear there were more like him.
Had he not been surprised, then perhaps he would've succeeded, or perhaps not, he was dead now, and it wasn't anyone's fault but his.