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As the fire went out, leaving behind the smoldering flesh of the once feared dragon Max sank to his knees. The man was exhausted, completely drained and behind him his ever loyal pawns were celebrating, drowning the tall man with loud obnoxious chatter. Max tuned them out, instead focusing on the now glassy eyes of his once fierce nemesis. His sword was lodged stuck in one of them, but he didn't feel like retrieving it immediately. It wouldn't be going anywhere anyway. All he wanted was to curl up and sleep for forever, preferably in his own bed back in Cassardis.
Max knew that he was supposed to be happy but it all felt so hollow. Was this really it? He was caught up in his thoughts and deaf to the world until the sickening stench of burnt flesh got to him. Gross.
On shaky feet he rose, careful not to stumble too much. His pawns quickly rushed to his side offering him support but Max refused, he could stand on his own two feet. Once stable enough he signed for them to scout the area while he would poke around here some more.
After they all disappeared in a different direction the Arisen couldn't help but stare out in front of him shinking back into the shell of his mind. They wouldn't be able to go far and the man took comfort in that but he needed some time to breath and to clear his head. Slowly he made his way over to the dragon, reaching out his hand as to touch it before letting it limply fall to the side.
There was nothing more to get here.
He took his time giving the dragon one last once-over before grabbing his sword and swiftly pulled it free from the creature's eye socket. It made a sickening sound as it went and Max shuddered unwillingly, still feeling uneasy. So many at fallen to his blade and yet the man had never gotten used to it. He wasn't a warrior despite what many had thought. It was funny how easy it was to fool the people - himself included - into thinking that he actually was by wearing clunky armor and swinging a sword.
There was something gnarling in his stomach, something foul and nasty. A feeling that if he could translate it into words would tell him that he didn't deserve this, the victory, the glory and Max knew it was right. He really wasn't a warrior, no, he was but a bumbling fool dressed up in armor bullshitting his way through fights. If it weren't for his group Max wouldn't even have gotten this far, yet he knew that when they returned none of his pawns would receive any praise. Such was the way it was.
He cleaned his sword with a swift motion before securing it at his side. Max patted it once, twice before nodding.
The Arisen went to grab the whistle tied around his neck with a simple cord - a gift from Nara - but felt himself halted as nearing footsteps made themself audible. He spun around with his hand hovering over the hilt of his weapon before the person stopped in front of him. He really didn't know what she was doing here and where she came from but there she was, the duchess. Aelinore. Edmun's wife.
"Arisen, my hero, our hero! You saved us all!" The tiny woman proclaimed, too loud, looking up at him with shining eyes and the man shrunk back. Her smile was too bright, her eyes too kind and her face too pretty. Max was covered in blood and pieces of flesh and he was positive he reeked of death. Yet the duchess looked at him as if all else was unimportant.
The Arisen unconsciously shifted away from her and looked down at his feet. Max didn't like this, he was bigger than her - looming - and yet he felt so small, so unworthy of her attention. The duchess' eyes were on him so he wanted to put his visor back down to shield himself from her gaze but that would be rude.
Small hands took his gloved ones and his gaze shot up. In a reflex Max went to pull his gore covered hands back but the woman giggled and kept them close in a grip stronger than her lithe frame would suggest. Unprepared, the sudden touch burned his skin through the gloves and he almost wanted to yank them loose. Instead, she pulled him closer and lower and Max obeyed, sinking to his knees. He still towered over her in bulky armor but it was clear who really was in command here.
The duchess' sweet perfume assaulted his sensed and the Arisen had to fight back the urge to gag, with his stomach doing flips at how close she was to him. He started shuffling backwards on his knees but she only came closer until he felt the smile on her lips on his.
His stomach burst into flames and suddenly he couldn't breathe, trembling and twitching against her soft touch. A wave of unknown feelings came washing over him and Max wanted to curl into himself and disappear yet at the same time he also wanted to feel more of it. Limbs frozen and mind numb it took the Arisen a moment to realise there was heat from his stomach dripping south and his eyes shot open in alarm.
"Master, are you alright?" Breathing hard, Max shot up from his sleeping spot. Utterly bewildered he searched around for something until his eyes fell on Nara and he stilled. His main pawn was hovering over him in concern, the other two pawns flanking her side and Max sighed and hid his face in his hands.
"Had a bad dream, master?"
The big man huffed and shook his head before flopping back down, staring at the still dark morning sky as his pawns flocked him in concern, talking among themselves about strange human behavior. Max closed his eyes, thoughts drifting back to what had happened, still not sure if it had all been a dream or a nightmare.