From a series I'm working on called Dragon Bane. Just something I felt like writing about the character. I don't know if I'll actually use this in Dragon Bane once it's posted or not.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rage watched in horror as Isa was ripped away from her.

"Rage!" Isa cried out as they pulled him away. He struggled against the men but there were too many. He was blindfolded and tied between two trees, his arms and legs spread wide.

"Isa..." Rage said under her breath, watching from the bushes a few yards away. She knew there was nothing she could do. If she tried to save him she'd be killed too. He didn't want that. He'd told her many times that if he should be discovered, that she was to run as far away as she could and never look back.

"Monster!" one of the men who'd captured Isa screamed at him. The man raised his bow and aimed for Isa's chest. "Do you have any last words?" he growled, as the other surrounding men all raised their bows to aim at their prisoner.

"Rage..." Isa choked. "I love you Rage..."

Rage choked back a sob, tears running down her face. She clutched the picture book he'd given her tightly to her chest and watched closely, unable to blink or breathe.

"You're incapable of love," the leader sneered, releasing his arrow. Isa yelled as the arrow pieced his chest, many more arrows quickly following.

When they were sure Isa was dead, they cut off his long hair, stuffing it away into a bag one of the men held. They cut out his heart, placing it in a silver box. They also removed his eyes and sharp canine teeth, putting them in a jar. They cut him down and left him on the ground. They headed back towards their village, talking about how rich they'd be after selling the heart, hair, eyes, and teeth.

"Isa!" Rage cried, running out from the bushes and to his limp body. She brushed his now short hair away from his face, kissing his forehead and caressing his cheek.

"Isa... It's all my fault... I'm so sorry. I should've never asked to go to the village..." She gently eased his eyelids down over the empty sockets, hoping to at least make him look more peaceful.

Slowly and carefully, she removed the arrows from his body, then removed his clothes. She needed them, and he'd always given them to her when she was cold. In his death, she knew he'd want her to take them.

She took the pendant from around his neck. His most valuable item that remained. She thanked the gods that it'd been hidden under his clothing and that the villagers hadn't seen it.

By nightfall, Rage had managed to dig a grave for Isa, struggling to move his body to it. After all, he was much larger than she was. When she'd gotten him to the edge of the hole, she tenderly kissed his cold lips.

"I love you too, Isa. I'm sorry I never told you before..." she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. She buried him, then found a large rock to place over the grave as a marker. Using an arrow, she scratched the words, "Here lies a dragon. He was a better man than all men."

She kissed the rock, then pulled on Isa's clothing. Gathering up her things that remained in the bush she'd hidden in, she headed farther into the woods in search of the woman that had allowed them to stay with her several months before.

"I will avenge you, Isa. They will regret the day they took Isa from Rage!"