As the sun set, the sound of an intense fight could be heard. The trees trembled, swaying without wind. They seem to curl into themselves, too afraid to see what was causing the commotion. Attempting to hide themselves in their abundance of luscious branches and leaves.
BANG!!!
BANG!!!
On a very large and thick branch of a wicker tree lay a satiated Astraea. She had just crossed over the veil from gorging on a bounty of hellion deer. It was very satisfying. Now, she had a little show to watch. How fantastic!
The noise grew louder and closer; the rumbling became more apparent as 9 figures could be seen fighting on a densely populated plateau. How strange, usually this area is deserted because of the many poisonous trees and plants but here are these unsuspecting people.
7 against 3, 7 vampire hunters encircled a three-party team. However, even with a larger number of people they seemed not able to completely defeat their opponents. Two female humans stood back-to-back. One held a long spear while the other held a dagger; they were accompanied by a male elf who wore a ragged green shirt and plants. If it wasn't for his pale-yellow skin, he would have blended in with the trees.
The elf waved his hand using his elemental magic to enlarge the roots of the tree, tripping two of the 7 men combatants, knocking them unconscious. With the leverage of the tree roots, the female human with frizzy dark hair jumped up with a spear in hand slanting it down, piercing it through the stomach of one vampire while simultaneously kicking another to the ground.
The other female human who also had short dark hair clapped her hands enthusiastically before grabbing a vampire by the wrist pulling him towards herself and then slicing his neck open, severing his head off with quick and easy movements.
As it stands at the moment, it was now a three-on-three fight. The remaining vampires were grimed faced as they cursed under their breath. The 7-vampire team had taken a bounty to escort two fragile humans and a sick elf to the capital to be tried and then sold into slavery for a crime. What crime it was no one deemed it necessary to tell them. Nor did anyone caution them about their captures. What kind of bull was this?
These humans clearly weren't fragile and he elf… tsk… what part of him looked sick in the least.
It was all lies. Complete and utter misdirection.
"Who the hell picked this bounty?" one of the vampires grumbled in frustration.
"No one picked it. The higher ups thrusted it upon us because no one deemed the bounty worthwhile. IT clearly wasn't exciting enough for them." Another said as he prepared himself. His eyes darted between the three figures in front of them.
"Lucky bastard." the human with the short hair smiled mischievously. Her eyes twinkled with mirth as she crossed her arms over her small chest.
"What's lucky?" a sweet and dominating voice echoed above them. This sound startled all six. How did they not know someone was already here and not only that but….
The group of six looked up in surprise to see the most beautiful creature they had ever seen lounging on a thick branch. The branch was flowered with edible fruit that was both sweet and spicy. It was an odd combination for a fruit, but it was just perfect for a dragon with a sweet tooth.
Astraea stretched out, her cheek leaning against her palm as her luscious lips took a bite out of the fruit. She smiled like a cheshire cat, a satisfaction in her eyes. Before anyone could say a word, she winked playfully before her entire body disappeared from sight.
"That … I can't sense her. Where did she go?" The elf puzzled out loud. He looked around wary before resolutely turning towards the vampires.
Behind the vampires was a small little imp with yellow hair and bright orange eyes. It hadn't been there before but now it popped out of the ground like a daisy in bloom. It had a creepy smile on its face as it stared fixedly at the 6 combatants. It looked eager to join the fight.
Astraea watched with a mischievous grin with a slight wiggle of her finger the small imp twisted and contorted as it split itself 6 ways.
"What kind of creature is this?" A female vampire was very distraught as her eyes darted from the unidentified creature and the slaves on the run. "Can we call it a truce for now?"
"That…." The female humans looked at each other and then at the elf. The tree of them talking with their eyes. "It's doable."
"I kind of want to fight this thing." the short hair female murmured. "It's not rational at all."
That is indeed that case. What the 6 combatants didn't know was that this single creature was known as the chaotic imp. It was a special creature that could only be created by Chaos dragons. With a lineage of a chaos dragon, of course she could create however many that she wanted.
Its specific nature was to enhance your feral spirit and make you want to fight whoever it was around you. It was great for moral support during wars with enemy nations. Soldiers would fight until their dying breath; only then would they feel the exhaustion in their bones.
Poor things: the vampires and slaves didn't know that they had just met their match. And crown princess Astraea just found a few new toys. She watched as the 6 combatants stood in a jagged line as they confronted the 6 little imps.
"Khehehe" The 6 little imps echoed as they moved swiftly through the fighters.
One by one the fighters fell to their knees; their weapons grasped tightly in their hands. Two of the vampires were knocked against a tree, splitting them in half. Had they been humans or of weaker body they would have been knocked unconscious.