It was rare to catch a certain man with snowy white hair off guard. It was rare to catch him cursing under his breath as if surprise caught the better of him. However it wasn’t rare to find him with his blade half submerged in the thick scales of an Undead Dragon Demon.
Blood poured from the wound the Dragon was currently suffering from with the gleaming blade Rebellion jetting out in a gap between its shoulder blades. The Dragon was one of the ugliest things Dante Sparda had seen in his lifetime. That was saying something. The Demon Hunter had seen just about everything, but this….this was hardly tolerable. The dragon contorted its body unnaturally in attempts to throw Dante off. Dante held on by the hilt of his blade with blue eyes skimming the dank surroundings.
They were in the Catacombs beneath France, possibly miles beneath the thick sheets of tar and pavement of the city of Paris. Dark didn’t even begin to describe how impossible it was to see in these depths. The Dragon rocked again, throwing its weight against a pillar of skeletons. The bones crunched and shattered turning instantly into powder around the fighting ring. This jerk of movement threw Dante off balance. With his blade in tow the young man hurled himself off the back of the monster, skidding to a stop some yards off.
At his feet, caked in mud that was created with black blood of the Dragon, was a small, faint stream of light. It was a golden light but it was fading. Dante knelt down while the Dragon regained its composure somewhere in the gloom before him.
“Kid, you okay?” Spoke Dante as he snatched the diamond shaped object from the ground. It was roughly the size of a fist and once brushed clean of dirt, shimmered with a light as bright as a small star. Dante held it out allowing a pillar of light to rain down on a motionless figure laying face down on the ground. “Hey, get up!” Dante growled just as the Dragon made its next snaking motion. It crooked to the side, its long neck twisting back before lunging forward at the Demon Hunter. Dante didn’t move. A metallic flash sparked in the darkness then an echo that bounced off the bone structure around them. The Dragon recoiled immediately. It scratched at its face with its long, gnarled claws at the injury it sustained to its right eye. Ink like blood made ribbons down the dragons snout.
Dante, still crouched low with the light in his right hand, cocked his head to his left. Ivory. The handgun, was gleaming in the light with a pillar of smoke raising from its barrel. “Don’t mess with me, you overgrown snake.” Hissed Dante.
The humped figure of a body stirred then as Dante glowered at the dragon. Icy blue hues flickered back just as the shape of a young man began to form from the dirt. “Take it easy. You took a hit to the head.”
“I’m fine.” The boy raised himself further, first on his palms then managed to stagger to his knees, eventually his feet. In the light Dante held, it was clear the boy had been dressed for battle. Elegant leather armor decorated his body in an ebony color. A single katana sheath was on his hip while several smaller blades rested in a circle around his hips.
The boys eyes flickered to the Dragon. It had gouged out the remaining pieces of its own eye. Now it was crouching again, low as if thinking of the best position to strike from. “It’s still not defeated?” The boy asked with some amusement to his voice.
Dante chuckled. “It’s called the Undead for a reason, Kid.”
“My name isn’t Kid.” Now there was a tint of annoyance. “It’s Isamu.” He sashayed himself to the front of the battle with a hand gripping his katana, ready to draw. “If you don’t mind, I wouldn’t mind getting this finished.” The blade came from the sheath with the sound of metal scales against a stone surface. It gleamed but only faintly. “Azriel.” Holding the katana between his fingers the blade suddenly exploded with a light unlike any other. It was an unearthly gleam that starburst into the darkness. For miles down the rows of skeletons everything was touched by the light of Azriel. The Dragon winced back at the burst of light behind its eyes.
“Should’ve brought sunglasses.” Mused Dante with a smirk.
+ + +
Returning from the catacombs was hardly an easy task. The catacombs twisted and snaked like a labyrinth underground. It was strictly by chance that Isamu and Dante even located an exit. The exit was created by the Undead Dragon some weeks before. The claw marks still evident in the solid ground. Isamu paused to examine the scratches along the walls.
“You fight those things often?” Inquired Dante on a whim. The city life of Paris didn’t quite fascinate him just yet. Glancing at the face of his cellphone he sighed. It was only eleven. In Europe it seemed everything started passed midnight. Dante whirled around to face Isamu when he didn’t reply immediately. “Kid?”
“Isamu.” He retorted in a snap. “Yes I fight those sort of creatures a lot. It’s in my job description.” Isamu hardly seemed to be in the mood for a Q & A session.
“Hey, same here. We could be partners if you play your cards right, Isamu!”
“I don’t work with half Demon creatures like you.” There was acid to his words. Isamu’s brown eyes met Dante’s as if challenging the man to a battle. Dante didn’t buy into it though. Instead he turned away and laughed, leaving Isamu even more heated.
“I get it, Nephilim.” Dante laughed again but without humor. “You’re a ShadowHunter. Should have guessed with that freaky Flashlight sword of yours. I don’t always have the chance to run into your kind, that or they avoid me.”
“Like the plague.” Added Isamu with an arched brow. “However, I am thankful that you were there when I needed aid. My family is usually there to back me up but they have matters of their own to deal with.”
“Nephilim matters?”
Isamu sighed. He didn’t want to discuss the topic with a creature like Dante, but he didn’t much care either. “Sort of. Distress calls from all over have been pouring in the MoonCrest estate. We’re the only family of Shadowhunters in the nearby area so it’s best that we look into things before innocents are hurt. But tonight… I don’t know. It feels like we were split up for a reason.” Isamu paused briefly. He thought about Luna on her own and Ike probably making the matter worse. If he encountered a Undead Dragon Demon here…then what could they have encountered? “I’m worried about them.”
