Rough hands drag you along the pavement. You've long since stopped resisting, the blood you can feel pouring from your nose and the pain in your knee the result of the last time you tried to run. You can hear traffic through the hood they shoved your head into, but it must be too distant to make a difference. All you can do now is hope you live through the encounter. If only you hadn't looked in that briefcase-

You're shoved to the ground, and you can hear the shuffle of more footsteps. The hood is yanked from your head, finally allowing you to see where you are: near the city center, neon lights from nearby skyscrapers lighting up the silhouettes of the figures in front of you. Two of them look like the usual toughs, all muscle and shaved heads, another, cleaner man near the middle, and directly in front of you a worse scenario than you could have ever dreamed.

Your head slowly rises, eyes widening in horror as you take in the sight of the boss, a midnight blue dragon with curved horns and eyes like pools of fresh blood. He glares down at you like something he might have a minion scrape off of his shoe. The very air around him feels colder, despite this being a warm summer night. Another dragon in a suit pulls out the briefcase you had and opens it. Gold light shines from it, and the blue dragon nods. The other dragon snaps the case closed and steps away. Your jaw works, trying to find words to possibly placate him, just to tell him you were curious, and never meant-

"Let me guess," he says, voice smooth but full of malice. "You're going to tell me that this was all some misunderstanding. You didn't mean to steal from me, you had no idea the case was so valuable, and your greed got the better of you. You were always loyal, and blah blah blah." He flicks his cigarette into your face before you can respond. "I might have let you off easy if you had just given the case up when I first asked you. Then, you decided to run and hide, try to jump the border. Did you really think there was anywhere in the world I wouldn't find you?"

You open your mouth to answer, but he cuts you off. "Well, I have my property back, so that just leaves what to do with you. Orochi might be able to make use of your blood, and she does love to toy with her victims, but perhaps leaving you mangled and broken to tell the tale of what happens when people try to cross me might be better. Hm..." He thinks for a moment, his gaze finally turning from you. "You know, you're not worth my further consideration." He motions to his minions. "Kill him, dispose of the body the usual way."

He turns and walks away, followed by the clean man and the dragon with the briefcase. The toughs close in, and pain follows. Your final thoughts are only regret for ever crossing Ahriman, the Shadow Lord.

~~~~~~~~~~

Character is mine, art is by