5 days later in Twin Rivers ...
Owen walked down the main road of the town towards the inn that was his pride and joy.
He was a young man in his early thirties with red brown hair.
His father settled down a few years ago with his family after he finished his service as a royal guardsmen.
Leaving the busy city of his birth for the quiet life in the fringes.
As a teenager, Owen hated his father's decision to trap him in this backwater village, but he had yet to come of age and was unable to do anything at the time.
Owen never had much skill with weapons despite his father's tutelage nor did he care to learn the lucrative hunter's trade like many of his fellow youths.
Instead, he ran the village inn. Offering modest lodgings and a hot meal to the many hunter expeditions that made their way though town.
He also managed a small store selling basic supplies for hunter expeditions.
Items like tents, rope and preserved rations, which he sold to the hunters at a significant markup.
The village was formed many years ago by Victor, a retired, former hunter.
In his late 60's his hair had long since turned gray with age, though his body was still strong.
He made his living training the next generation of hunters as well as hiring himself out as a guide.
He formed the village several years ago to better serve his fellow hunters and most everyone in town ran a service catering for the hunters.
"Another year, maybe 2. Then I will have made enough money to buy a modest house in one of the bigger cities. " Thought Owen.
He ran the inn with a lovely lady he hired a few years ago to help him serve the patrons once business started picking up.
They eventually fell in love and married last spring . Owen wanted to start a family with her, but didn't want to raise a child in the fringes.
Monsters wandering into town were common and because the hunter's guild had no chapter house set up in town, they couldn't rely on the guild to defend them if attacked.
He didn't want to inflict the same hard childhood his father had forced on him on his own child.
As he placed a hand on the door of his inn, a shadow passed overhead, blotting out the sun.
"I hope it doesn't rain again!!" Thought Owen.
He looked at the sky above and was suprised to find it completely clear.
A loud roar shook the village a moment later.
Owen looked up in panic and his heart sank when he saw a large azure blue dragon diving towards the village center.
"Those incompetent fools doomed this whole village!!" Thought Owen with dread.
A few days ago, a large hunter wagon train traveled through the village filled with dead dragons. Owen watched them pass, along with everyone else in the village on their way to one of the bigger cities to sell off their trophies.
Clearly the hunters missed one and it's intending to take the blood it's owed out of the people in the village.
A single look at it's eyes, showed that this dragon was beyond reason and would not stop until every man, woman and child in the village as dead.
Owen rushed to the inn"s main doors and pushed his way inside.
"ANNABELLE!!!"
"OWEN!! OVER HERE!!" called a voice from behind the counter.
He rushed to the source and found her hiding behind the bar.
A hard impact outside caused all the furniture and glassware inside the building to shake.
"What's going on?!! Are we under attack!!" Annabelle asked.
"No time to explain! We need to get to the cellar!"
Owen dug behind the bar and found an old bow with a handful of arrows.
It was dusty from infrequent usage, but the wood was still strong.
He tested the string a few times to see if it would hold, before grabbing Annabelle's hand and leading her to the door.
Slowly opening the door, he peaked outside through the gap.
The dragon was still in the center of the village. Engaging with Victor, who had managed to gather together a few of the younger men and was bellowing out instructions for them.
Arrows fired from the men bounced harmlessly from the dragon's scaly hide.
The dragon pulled it's head back and a low rumble came from it's chest.
Victor flinched.
"It's getting ready to breathe fire!! Brace yourselves!!" Called Victor.
Everyone raised whatever improvised shields they managed to scrape together and braced themselves for the attack.
Contrary to what they were expecting, it wasn't fire that left it's mouth but a stream of lightning.
It struck the formation dead in the center and passed through the shields like they weren't even there.
Several people immediately lost their lives by electrocution, only for the lightning to pass on to the next person that was standing too close to a companion.
Dismay swept through the gathered men.
"How's it doing that!! What is this thing!!"
Victor himself was speechless. In his many years as a hunter, he'd never encountered a lightning breathing dragon before.
"It must be using magic!! Brace yourselves!! There's no telling what else this fiend can do!!""
Realizing that there would be no better opportunity than now. Owen led his wife around the side of the building, until they reached the doors that led into the Inn's cellar.
He unlocked the doors, then once they entered, he blocked off the door with a large wooden plank.
They sat together in silence as they heard the roars of the dragon, as well as the dying screams of the people they grew up with.
After an hour, everything fell silent.
Owen carefully opened the door and saw no trace of the dragon.
Dead villagers were scattered all around.
He led his wife down the deserted street towards the exit.
"We're going to make it!!" Thought Owen.
A growl sounded above him.
His heart sank as he looked up and saw the same dragon standing on the roof of one of the houses.
He half unfurled his wings, then with a single jump, closed the distance between itself and exit.
Trapping Owen and Annabelle in the village.
Owen raised his bow to defend himself, but the dragon's lip raised as he gave a toothy grin and mads a deep coughing noise from the back of his throat.
Owen took one look at the condition of his bow and realized that fighting would only result in both his and his wife's death, so he decided to switch tactics.
He placed both hands by his side in a non threatening manner, before slowly lowering himself to the ground.
"Owen!! What are you doing?!!" Asked Annabelle.
"Follow my lead and don't act in any threatening manner!" He replied.
The dragon eyed him suspiciously as he placed the bow down on the ground beside him.
"We surrender, dragon! I lay down my weapon and beg your mercy.
Do with me as you see fit, but my wife is innocent in this. Please spare her and allow her to leave!"
"Owen!! What are you doing!!" Yelled his wife.
Owen ignored her and pressed on.
"Please show my family mercy, dragon!"
He realized he'd chosen the wrong words when he saw the look of anger that crossed the dragon's face.
Before he could do anything to stop him, the dragon moved in a blur and grabbed the man in front of him by the throat with one of it's claws.
It slowly raised the man up to it's face.
"Mercy? MERCY!! WHERE WAS YOUR PEOPLE'S MERCY FOR MY OWN FAMILY?!!!" Storm bellowed.
The dragon instinctively tightened his grip in anger and his claws dug into the man's throat and chest.
Storm continued to rant and rage for another 10 minutes before he realized that the man in his grip was long dead.
He dropped the man by his feet, then looked down at the final survivor from Twin Rivers.
She was curled up on the ground weeping, clearly she had resigned herself to death and was just waiting for Storm to deliver it.
"Go!" Said Storm.
The woman looked up in shock.
"Leave this place! NEVER return! If I see you here again, I will kill you! Take this message from me back to your people! This region belongs to me now! And any humans who dares to trespass here, will find nothing but death waiting for them!"
He raised his wings and was just about to take off, when the woman called out.
"Wait! I'm no fighter! And there are monsters and animals out there in the wilds. How am I supposed to return to my people alive?!
Storm eyed the bow on the ground.
"You humans consider yourselves 'predators', don't you? So 'survive'."
He then jumped into the air and flew off back to the mountains, leaving the woman to fend for herself.