Blood Treasure

© Kristin Aune

Leo entered a dreary looking town, one that looked like it had been abandoned for centuries. He walked down an alleyway, but stopped dead in his tracks at the gruesome sight that lay before him. He cringed as he saw a dragon-like beast chomping on a bloodied head; the torn up body was not too far behind. The creature was a huge reptilian-beast. It had blue scales, large horns, and a small tail. It was smaller than his height, but he was still threatened by it. He pulled out his sword; the beast smelled the aggression coming from Leo and attacked him, baring his fangs at him. It didn't even get close before Leo pierced it into the stomach. With the monster killed, he was able to continue onward, cleaning the blood of his sword in the process.

Leo headed towards a bar that was nearby, trying to ignore the image of the creature in his mind that he saw earlier. He liked to go to bars, especially if they had rumors that he needed for his job. He was a mercenary; he killed monsters of any sort for a living. He started when he was 24; his fiancé was killed by something supernatural. He went out to hunt it and came back home, successful, but unsatisfied. It wasn't enough to quench his anger of the supernatural, so he decided to hunt them down for a living.

As he entered the door, a large dog by the counter barked at him. He wasn't surprised that the town would have an alarm after what he saw earlier. A bald man was standing behind the counter.

“I've never seen you before, you new in town?” The bartender asked Leo in a gruff voice, staring up at him, his eyes were fierce looking, like he was ready for action at any second. Leo was much taller than the short bartender, but the bartender was much older than him, perhaps around his 50's. Leo was 32, but he appeared to be around his late 20's. He had long brown hair in a long ponytail with matching red eyes, and he was muscular built after hunting for so many years.

“You could say that.” Leo replied not intimidated by the grouchy old man. “I was wondering what you could tell me about the monsters and the people in town.”

“So you've met one of those blood-thirsty cannibals. They've been here for a while now. A demon has summoned them, the town has a treasure buried somewhere and he sent the cannibals to look for it, he has the treasure map so it won't take it long to find it. What happens afterwards, I don't know.”

“Why the cannibals? Why not just ask the townspeople to help?”

“Nobody would work for a demon, they were afraid they would get cursed or something. Besides, the cannibals are much more effective, they'll easily be able to dig up the treasure once the demon has found it. As for what happened to the citizens, most ran off, but there were some that were too stubborn to leave so they just locked themselves in their homes. Every once in awhile they'll come out thinking that its safe and that's where things go wrong. The creatures sense them, drag them off and eat them. I know, I've seen it happen more than once.”

“Looks like I came to the right place.” Leo said out loud. “I'll find that demon for you.”

“And the Dragors?” The bartender asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Yes, and them. I may only have a sword, but it has never failed me.”

“I hope so, I truly hope so. We need you more than ever.”

He knew it wouldn't be easy finding the demon, so he decided to look for the Dragors. Perhaps they would lead him to the treasure and in return, the demon. After wondering for hours, unable to find them, he accidentally walked straight into their cemetery. There were no Dragors there, but something just as bad. Whatever this demon was, it was powerful, enough to raise the dead and control them. Leo pulled out his sword, ready to attack them. He didn't feel guilty killing them since they were already dead. They all came at him, he tried getting out of the way but 3 of the dead were able to attack him, biting him in the arm and leg. He screamed in pain and tried to shake them off, he sliced at them as much as he could. He knew that he needed to get out of the graveyard as fast as possible or they would just keep re-spawning over and over. After clearing a path he managed to get back to the center of town. He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath, he wondered what other surprises awaited him. He knew he was getting close though, why else would he have gotten attacked in a graveyard?

He realized something odd about the houses as he walked past them. The doors and windows were open, not closed and locked. Leo checked each house just to make sure he didn't miss any occupied houses. The bartender had clearly said that they had locked themselves in. Leo suddenly got a tingle down his spine and eyed the town, looking for what made him so nervous. He felt a presence go through him and coughed. His eyes widened when he saw ghosts pop up out of nowhere wandering around the town. They were probably there just to scare him off. Or it was the previous victims of the attacks by the Dragors. Then something hit him, the Dragor's had not attacked the bartender when he had his door wide open! Why didn't he realize before? The demon had been in front of him all along! It was the bartender! Leo raced back to the bar, hoping that he was still there. It was empty except for the dog that was whining. He smiled as he saw the dog, knowing that he could use this to his advantage.

He managed to get the dog to help him out even though it was difficult. The dog had growled at him, and bit him on the hand before he could even untie the rope. The dog obeyed much easier after it had been given meat that had been in a drawer underneath the counter. The bartender was found behind an old abandoned mansion, it looked like it had been standing there for centuries. The bartender smiled as Leo approached him.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to figure out. But I don't need you anymore. I have found the treasure! I should have known it was here. Now I can finally get the medallion and become more powerful than ever!”

“More powerful? I don't think so.” He said and pulled out his sword and ran straight towards the bartender. He shook his head and summoned a few Dragor's to attack him, while the others started digging at a marked patch of grass on the ground. The bartender laughed while this was happening. Leo defended himself but got attacked brutally until he was tossed to the ground bleeding. Not knowing what else to do he threw he sword, he feared it would miss but it bounced off one of the Dragor's scale and pierced the demon close to the heart. The demon faded away, the Dragor, and the ghosts disappeared.

The battle was over; all that remained was the treasure, buried there. Should he dig it up or wait for someone who needed it more to dig it up? Leo decided that it would be a good idea for him to reveal the treasure, he was too anxious to wait anyways. The town certainly needed the treasure after what had just happened. He gave the dog another treat that he stole from the bar and the chest was soon out of the ground. He opened it, expecting it to be something great like what the bartender thought it would be. Instead, it was just a measly crystal necklace. “Well.” Leo said. “All that for just a piece of jewelry. But I bet I'll get a lot of money off of this though!” He grinned widely.