Fade to Black

Fatalis brought its head back instantly, unleashing a torrent of flames that splashed into the arena, forcing the Hunter to flank right, its gaze followed it, the tail thrashing round to swipe at her feet. Nana moved quickly and carefully, leaping over the limb and craving her blade through the thigh of the dragon, only for the said leg to toss her aside and into the line of the dragon's maw.

She rolled, a large fire blast tearing apart the ground as she inverted her blade, red energy gathering around the edge before she brought the blade up horizontally then down in a vicious slant through Fatalis' approaching forelimb, spinning under its raised stomach for a slant, followed by a thrust through the abdomen, her blade splitting the skin while a hail of ballista fire snapped across the weakened scales.

Fatalis hissed, the neck snapped around to bite down on the blade, spitting fire in Nana's face before his tail swiped her across the castle and into one of the battlements, dislodging several bricks as his throat sent forth another flaming burst to intercept. Staggering to her feet the Knight leapt in and shoved her aside, the two narrowly evading the molten smear on the wall while Nana gave a nod and ran around the looming black dragon, spilling the contents of her health potion through the slits in her helmet.

Slithering to cut her off, Fatalis brought its right arm forward, throwing large rocks in her direction while it felt his chest boil with unfathomable heat. Her blade made quick work of the projectiles, her momentum almost unstoppable. That's when her eye twigged on to Fatalis' sudden retreat, herself quick to slide and pull herself down to the floor.

A bellowing roar laced itself in a furnace of flames, the torrent spanning far across the ruined kingdom, demolishing a distant tower with a massive eruption of flames, the lingering embers caked his teeth while he brought his head down toward Nana. Her legs worked on autopilot as she brought her longsword high to slice Fatalis' gum, diverting his neck into the wall beside her.

She picked herself up and ran under the massive frame, the claws swiping as she swiveled under their powerful thrash. The threshing of the left-wing tossing her out and into the waiting tail. Airborne, Nana spun herself vertically, carving across the spines and shattering a few scales upon passing the spined tail. Fatalis didn't relent, drawing his form low to spew a long line of scorching flames to sweep the arena, forcing the Hunter to dive behind a column, the top half severed under the roaring flames.

Peeking around the column she gasped and rolled as a massive charge of fire was sent across the arena, decimating the remains of the column and alleviating her of any cover. Drawing her slinger she snagged the claw into the raised battlement in time for the snap of two jaws behind her, the tail suddenly appearing before her. She disconnected the cable but it was too late, the spined tail flicked itself across her face, shattering the helmet as a warm sensation stained her face.

Tumbling down near where her friend watched with unwavered eyes, himself countering one of Fatalis' talons with his buckler, though the strain was massive compared to any other creature he had face before. Nana wobbled to her knees, hands pressed firmly to the ground as blood dripped to the bleak, lifeless rock. She felt her left eye sting from the crimson substance, her dandelion bangs clung to her forehead and bloodied face. Just an inch ahead of her was her trusty blade, it too tainted with red, a mixture of hers and Fatalis' blood.

Why she was here swam through her mind, it wasn't about the glory, that she knew for certain. To understand the wrongs of her ancestors? No... it was partially but something else stirred in her head, keeping her hazy eyes focused, assured that she was in fact still conscious even as a shadow slithered into sight, a low growl emanating behind crooked teeth while a silver man darted around the limbs, carving through scale and flesh.

The Guild long before arriving in this time period entrusted this to her, a secret written off from history, the fear and dread of just merely knowing Fatalis' name and the chaos It has and could very well rain upon humanity were terrifying, but now that horror faced her today, torn from fairy tales, and his destruction hadn't been quenched. Artorias, the King, all those villagers, every single person, and Wyverian that in their own way pushed her to hold a blade with confidence, if she dies then what's to say Fatalis won't leave the world beyond this kingdom in ruin someday? Their memories lost forever.

Gritting her teeth, Nana pulled herself from the dirt, clenching her fist around her blade to turn and face down the searing flames that gathered between the jaws of destiny. Sliding the surface of the blade across her palm she widened her stance, enveloping the sword in a cherry red glow, emerald eyes locked to the black dragon. Then, a nod.

From the battlement behind her, the wind tugged sharply as the spring locks groaned and snapped, releasing the serrated drill, the Dragonator, from its maw, spearing Fatalis across the side of his stomach, diverting the fire blast into the sky for a flaming display, embers scattered as the dragon crumbled to the ground with a wail, blood and flesh clung to the Dragonator as it retracted with some resistance. Then a sudden barrage of cannon fire slammed into Fatalis' stumbling frame, chipping its spines while forcibly slamming the right-wing into the earth.

"Go, Nana!" The strong voice of her companion gave her a fixed grin, unleashing the built-up energy from her longsword, thrusting toward the crown of Fatalis with haste. One teaching continued to pound away in her skull, pushing her with every beat in her chest, 'Never underestimate your opponent'.

The tip of the longsword tore into the scales, slicing along the horns as she twisted and hoisted her form higher than Fatalis, the orange eyes glowering up at her own gaze as she brought the skies down atop his head, a wave of crack split the horns and the pavement cracked. Her retaliation hadn't ceased, drawing her blade to the left hip she swung in an inverted 'V', fueling her weapon's strange attribute for accumulating strength, the red glint radiating with every slant and cross of blade to scale, but it was all too optimistic.

Fatalis' eyes snapped wide, head snapped round to batter into Nana while regaining his footing, using the left to sweep at her feet, forcing her back while he himself did the same, drawing a powerful nova to his maw, producing a blast that shattered stone and kept her from advancing as Fatalis gave chase, wings sweeping the dust. His teeth clamped the air above her ponytail as her blade skated down his throat, her legs sprung around, carving a long crescent through the left foreleg's talons, breaking several.

Sheaving her sword the Hunter sprinted for one of the ballistas while Fatalis recovered from the assault, charging after her, spitting large, fiery blasts to keep her on her toes. Hopping up the steps, Artorias patted the now armed artillery mere moments of Fatalis stretching proudly to sneer down at the silver man. From the left, Nana grinned, the muzzle of a second cannon-armed toward the position Fatalis was lured to, with a slap of the chamber and ignition of the gunpowder several cannons slammed and fragmented across Fatalis' left-wing and side, slicing and dislodging several scales, its demon-like head thrashing narrowly above the armored man's head while he spun the ballista around to the reeling beast.

Locking the slide and pinning the sights on the dragon he let loose the blinder, the large arrowhead splitting into multiple hooks that flew up and over the legend, the wires locking the wings down, effectively grounding Fatalis who thrashed in the binding, snapping and tearing away at the walls to free itself but the spines had effectively worsened the binding.

Nana withdrew a glimmering scale, driving it swiftly across her blade only once, seeing it glint in the scarlet light before drawing her body over the wall, driving the blade through the wing, then swinging herself around to slice the legs with a multitude of slashes, her friend dashing around the dragon as he tore into Fatalis' hide alongside her, even as the wings snapped the bindings, Nana pushed off the tip of her sword, evading the spiral of flames that swept the arena, her sword coming down across the thick neck, blood finally splitting between the scales, causing discomfort for the unstable dragon.

Bringing her longsword high, she let her gauntlet's claw snag to its shoulder, swinging her above a fountain of flames spewed from its jaws. Decoupling the claw, she threw herself above its shoulder blades. With a sheen of crimson, her sword came down on the wings with a single, verticle stroke across both mid-thresh, Artorias copying her motion with his sword. Thick leather tore, ultimately bringing the massive beast down with them, herself rolling into a landing, hopping back from the snap of a maw while Fatalis regained its footing, eyeing the Hunter steadily.

Drawing her sword again to her hip, red took over for her powerful slash, Fatalis' eyes leered, getting down on all fours, scraping his claws across the burnt rock, licking his teeth. Both soon broke for the other, her blade came across like the horizon's edge, while his claw swiped all the same, both attacks connecting, both turning to face the other, a slash across Fatalis leg and a gash across her right bicep.

Roaring, Fatalis let loose another sweeping corkscrew of flames, ripping up the foundations of many weaker structures, he missed but refused to stop breathing out hellfire as he swept it back just as quickly, almost catching Nana as she dived, rubble turned to molten rock and ash in seconds while Fatalis let the flames die in the sky above, his claw coming down almost immediately, catching the girl off guard.

She winced, the talons hooked to the cobblestone, pinning her under intense pressure that would put any webbing to shame, if not for her armor she may not last much longer. Fatalis leaned forward, sniffing her form while applying more pressure to her body, hearing her struggle and whimper under his foot. With unshakable rage in his gaze, he readied to cremate her form to add to the wounds across his scales, another to be forever a part of his black visage.

This was it, she couldn't move the force applied to her, and she heard the legends, something inside her told her that what came next was to be the truth, too bad she'd never speak of it. Refusing to look away from her death all she could do was brace and pray their suicidal plan paid off, and that whoever was still alive had escaped in time.

*Shiing*

Something kept Fatalis from finishing building up his fire, his head and Nana's turned to the source of the weapon that threw Fatalis' head back in agony, a long, silver split running across the dragon's left eye. The silver-clad Artorias hopped back to intercept, blood dripping down his left arm while he lunged, sinking his sword between Fatalis' talons while the monster thrashed its head in agony. "I got you, an eye for an eye, no?" She didn't need to see his face to know he wore that stupid smirk, but her own quickly faded, her hand trying desperately to push him away in time.

Fatalis snarled, swiping his tail around to crack against Artorias, his body crashing into a nearby wall, a faint stain of blood staining the tail that snaked back around. Nana's face was frozen, unable to see a single twitch from her closest companion, that frozen visage immediately boiled over, anger feeding into her eyes while snatching her sword, Fatalis having loosened his grip due to the man's quick effort to blind the beast.

Her blade came up without warning, eyes blazing green with her sword carving between skin and flesh, gouging through the left horn, splinters of the keratin, and bone fragments scattered, the force applied threw Fatalis back with a pained roar, shaking its now uneven head. Fury rose and Fatalis took flight, evading the rageful swing of the Hunter who snapped her eyes to the looming threat she felt a rumble in her bones.

She'd not allow it, before Fatalis got to the optimal height the reflection of his left eye came into view. It would be the last his eye would see, blood spewed from the eye socket, a diagonal swipe of her sword having gouged the optical organ out completely, leaving behind a bloodied scar and a boot print as Nana doubled over the massive frame of Fatalis, slamming down onto the courtyard again, losing her sword in the process.

"Nice... hit," She jumped, seeing the limping but otherwise living knight standing by, his sword shakily clasped into his scabbard. "I think I need a few days rest after this." His hoarse cough worried her, at this rate, neither would last much longer against the black dragon. Turning, the pair braced with what little they had, he held his bucker forward, and she withdrew a large carving knife, it wouldn't so much as dent a scale but it should do 'till she reclaims her blade.

Fatalis actually stepped back, tail brushing both attackers aside as the wings let out a massive thresh of hot wind, an almost unearthly orange glow emanating in its chest like a welling heat inside a furnace, cracks splitting the skin and scale. The great dragon bellowed a roar, taking flight from their arm's reach. Strangely enough, Fatalis began to sweep the air, shaking its head. "Is it... retreating?" Sadly, Nana never shared that optimism given what they've done to it.

High above the battlement foundations, the dragon snapped back, flames dripping from between its teeth as those orange cracks slithered up its throat, the core almost turning crimson. That's when Nana's sharp eyes realized what was coming. Her friend shared her expression. "No, guess not," His head snapped to a nearby, crooked barrier of metal, held up by supports. "RUN!"

Fatalis brought its head down, spewing a thunderous tsunami of fire that swept the castle grounds as the pair sprinted for all their worth for cover just meters from their reach. The flames plumed, consuming them with unbearable heat, all Nana could hear or feel was her own heart pounding against her chest, the world smothered in orange and gold. Even her feet were burning within her armor, the ground pure white under the waves of heat that smothered the earth and blanketed the sky, the barrier was only a few feet away, they could make it!

High above, the flames cut briefly, Fatalis' whole body instantly expelling a final inferno that radiated like the sun, so much so the sound rang in Artorias' ears, so he made a choice as their protection was far too out of reach, atleast for him. A small smile split underneath his helm, "Sorry... my friend." His hands came forward with force, slamming into her lower back as she yelped, shoved face-first under the metal barrier while the nova of flames completely overtook the land, all except for her as she flung her head up and back to the wall of flames, almost jumping foolishly through if not for the heat blast that tossed her back.

Bracing the light with her arm, she trembled in fright as the metal wall above her groaned and bent under the massive torrent of flames, the edges curled and dripping with molten slag. It was an attack unlike any she had laid eyes on, a power so untamed, so unrivaled that the once gloomy world was cast not just in crimson but a fierce orange that burned across every wall and tower, Fatalis' roar carried far across the wasteland set ablaze in a single tsunami, battlements, and brick stripped-down, flattening before his might and flame.

Most if not all of the castle and its structure were set ablaze, walls and distant earthquakes told of many old structures failing, either the flames or the force of air pressure blowing them away, turning the once majestic fortress to a desolate and hellish landscape fitting for the black dragon's reign. Crashing down from the sky, the earth split once more, Fatalis gathered his fire, chest cracked with golden-orange like a living furnace while his eye-locked to the Hunter who slowly rose to her feet.

Whatever her eyes landed on, not a trace of a silver sheen of armor caught her view, just... fire and brimstone. Hollow, that was all she felt now, a part of her life stolen from her by the black beast that snarled at her living form. That idiot had been glued to her since she stumbled upon this kingdom, what a strange but wonderful world, she knew the Guild would think she drank too much if she said she became a hero among their ancestors, even the mere fact they called her Hunter arts 'Magic' brought a small chuff through her throat.

Her right arm hung limply by her side having landed on it badly, leaving her with not much else left as a weapon. She stumbled toward the middle of the battlefield, Fatalis building more fire than he's produced in centuries all for the sake of erasing the Hunter from existence, even a burnt outline would be reduced to nothing for his now blood-smeared face.

Jaw trembling, the flames rose through his throat as Nana stumbled forward, her foot tapping against the blackened Knight's lost sword, she couldn't believe it, how could it still brace those flames? She summed it up to his persistence, this world loved to throw the term around, but it did bring a pained smile across her lips as she bent down to pick it up in her good hand.

Giving it a quick spin she craned to face down death itself, the heat already drying her tears. Fatalis hadn't won yet, even if it was foolish to fight fate itself. Yet, had no one before her, before this world, tried to test the universe's limitations where would humanity be? Shuffling into a weak stance, her weapon was drawn behind her, blood dripping down the hilt to the blade.

Charging the beast, Nana dove to her left, slicing down its throat as the jaws barely missed her, the tail swept round, forcing her to leap, bracing the pain in her side as the tail brushed a small wave of flames. Turning quickly, Fatalis brought its head around, flames spurted forth as a powerful blast, again, forcing her to retreat as the area she once occupied was blown away in a fiery inferno, the sheer force knocking the wind out of her dazed form. Fatalis suddenly swept through the flames, maw wide for its prey that could barely register the counterattack.

*Boosh!*

A small arrowhead of ice struck Fatalis' face, forcing the dragon to lower its mouth and snarl at the discomfort as it followed the evaporated contrail to its source. There, standing atop the battlement to the far left was another human wrapped in blue robes, their hood concealed their features but two blue eyes stared back, several arrows nocked against the river. "We have not given our best yet, monster!" The older man declared, exciting a challenging roar that split the cobblestone between them both.

Not wasting a second, Fatalis disregarded the girl and sunk its front legs and wing-talons into the earth, spewing a wide-spread wave of flames at the robed man, yet another human wearing the royal armor of the kingdom slammed a black shield before himself and the elder bowman to tackle the fiery wave that died slowly, returning the world to dark red.

Fatalis hissed, and the thick shield melted away as the man tossed his shield aside, yet the bowman was nowhere to be found among the wisps of vapor. Suddenly, a 'pop' was heard to Fatalis' right, drawing the black dragon's gaze to a large hail of ice arrows that struck its jaw, stumbling the dragon as the tail whipped, shattering the wall while the same bowman ducked under the appendage, more arrows pulled from his robes.

Furious, Fatalis lunged at the archer and swordsman, firing a spiral of flames that knocked the swordsman down as it tried to evade, seeing only the sharp talons that came crashing down, putting a horrifying end to the attack. What was a brief lapse of grief was shattered by a powerful strobe of lightning slamming into Fatalis' bloodied eye socket, causing Fatalis to reel in pain, claw narrowly missing the ice archer in favor of merely spitting three large torrents of flame at the third attacker.

The third one moved swiftly from the flames, a sword drawn in their gold gauntlet as another purplish-blue webbing of bolts materialized from the tip of the blade, disorientating Fatalis into a frenzied charge. While he missed the sheer mass of Fatalis threw the roguish knight back on his haunches, the tail slicing through his breastplate.

Concentration returned to Nana, spotting the rugged rogue and archer battling Fatalis as it turned, struck by both a current of lightning and a hail of ice, the two elements blinding the one-eyed dragon as it threshed its wings, blowing the two back while its tail collided with the rogue, his sword unable to withstand the power behind the tail with massive arcs of crackling gold and purple stretching between him and the overpowering appendage.

"Grah!" In a blinding flash of light, his weapon shattered into fragments, the tail battering him into a nearby wall in an instant, rubble, and brick burying the rogue dead or alive.

"Foul beast!" The elder archer snarled, disappearing in a plume of smoke before another ball of molten slag could roast him alive. Grasping Artorias' sword, Nana sprinted toward Fatalis' backend, the beast following the visible archer while more arrowheads of ice struck from the sky, battering and shattering off the unmoveable black dragon that followed the man's eyes critically, flames licked between its forked tongue.

The archer ran toward the right, only for a wing to crash into the wall, cutting off his escape, then another to his left, pinning the exhausted elder between the jaws of fate that soon scorched the earth, his shaken hands able to discharge one last arrow before orange and yellow consumed his eyes in a second without a hint of remorse. Nana ground her teeth at the sight, the wings dusting off the charred earth carelessly to face her. The small motes of red light twinkled across her sword, giving the edge a finer scarlet tint as she swung in horizontal slants through its right foreleg, leaving small contrails of dragon energy to disperse in the wounds, earning a grunt from the dragon that forced her back with another thresh of the wings.

Both Dragon and Hunter sized the other up, neither giving in as a low snarl bellowed from within Fatalis' throat, then came the sudden downpour of arrows from afar, shocking Nana while she ran back, evading the tail that tore up the earth. It was unclear where the arrows originated from, but a pained smile crossed her split lips, whoever was foolish to stay she silently thanked, throwing off the monster's aim for a mere moment. Drawing high, she tore the edge of Artorias' sword through Fatalis' cheekbone, twirling to deliver a downward thrust through the snout before rounding back to chip a fang.

Then the world caught up to the Hunter, a sudden, painful sensation tearing from her stomach as she found Fatails' head swinging back in retaliation, bashing across her abdomen, the horn hugging her stomach as she was thrown across the ground, blood coughed from between her teeth while a warm sensation trickled from her stomach, blood staining her armor and the ashen cobblestone below. Everything either spun or was ringing when she braced the large gash through her armor, spitting up more crimson liquid that tinted her gloves, hunched over against the heavy vibrations that thundered toward her.

In seconds that small bite back had been run dry, those arrows were a mild inconvenience for Fatalis, she knew no weapon left in the kingdom had the same kind of strength as her own weaponry or Artorias', combined with the Dragonator needing more time to reset her options were completely numbered. Even her slinger was reduced to bent sheets of metal and sprung wire. This only made a sad smile form again, it was funny really, to think this was even considered a 'Monster', no, not Fatalis, this... visage of rage wasn't comparable to anything but itself.

While the heat tickled her paled and numb cheeks, Nana took one final stand, eyes heavy and blurred, managing to focus the single, piercing gaze emanating from the black abomination before her, eyeing herself in the smudged reflection across the sword. "...I'm coming home... buddy."

The last thing the Hunter could see was the bright horizon behind Fatalis, the roar of thunder as her feet broke across the concrete, sprinting with all she had left toward the flaming jaws that would become the last image stained in her mind. With a blood-soaked weapon and a remaining spark in her eyes, Nana tore across the gap between her and the massive dragon, his wings hooked to the ground, and his mouth snapped wide with a purplish-blue flame swirling within.

In the shadow of fate's calamity, a legend was forged, another ended, and one who with their last ounce of strength witness both with captivated eyes that soon faded to black.

End


And it all fades to black. I hope this was an okay rendition of the Black Dragon, incorporating a few tweaks from his revamp, and do note I wrote this 'Before' I fought him in Iceborne so his crazy new moves aren't here except his supernova attack. As you can see, not everyone was willing to give up hope, even at the end.

I hope you enjoyed this small story, I appreciate the support as always, seeya next time Hunters.