Black Sun - Origins of Mavaros

Chapter 2 : Black Blood

The cold seemed more bitter that night. Mav had both the heat shakers and had pulled a few of the cloths from the bed over himself to trap the heat. It was a good solution and he kept himself relatively warm, but the cold sensations weren't from the air, it was from his worries. Lykos had not yet returned and it was deep into the night now.
Mav shuddered, unable to sleep, wanting to do so in the arms of his brother, as he did every night. Tears rolled down his cheeks silently, and he hugged the warm stone containers.

Lykos looked at the men with wide eyes. They needed "help," they said.
There in front of him was an injured dragon, laying in a cave with an opening to the top. There were spears and black blood oozing from its sides and in between the plating of its body. The men had it chained down and its eye covered with a knotted cloth. The eye was the most dangerous part of a dragon. It is how it can make such deadly attacks and anything within its sight will be detected and eliminated.
"All you gotta do, little Lykos, is remove his eye. He's tied down real good, but he won't seem to die. Just take this blade, stick it in the side, and lever it out."
Lykos was handed a silver dagger, he held it in both his hands and looked to the dragon. The cloth was lifted without warning.
Lykos' body trembled as the beast started thrashing, looking straight at him, its eye glowing red.
Lykos took a step back but was shoved by the man. The others watched him.
He started inching towards it. Though he spoke as he did so.
"W-Why does it have to be me..?", he stuttered as he now held the dagger unsteadily.
"Because you've been owing us for all that smuggling you do in town, you might as well make yourself useful", the man replied with a chuckle.
Suddenly one of the chains snapped. It was just one of the minor chains of many to keep the beast down, but it set Lykos off.
He dropped the blade and bolted out the entrance. The abrupt movement made the dragon writhe more and shriek. The men all fell back from the raucous cries it let out.
Lykos ran up the cliff wall they had taken to get to the cave, and climbed onto a open wide shoulder of the mountain that had a path through a fractured wall that leads to the settlement.
He almost reached it before the back of his collar was yanked back.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?! You just fucked up this whole operation!"
Lykos was then struck on the back by the man's foot and knocked to the ground. He gasped out as the air was knocked out of him as well. He looked up and behind himself to the man, with fearful eyes.
"You useless brat, no wonder your parents died to dragons, you're all just little fucking cowards that run off like roaches when you see a shadow", the man spat before pressing his boot onto Lykos' head and pressing his head to the ground.
"Boss we should go, it could break free at any moment-", a worker said behind them, panting from catching up to them.
Lykos kept his eyes closed and felt the pressure from the booth increase.
"It's this little bastard's fault, I wonder what we should do to make him pay...", the man sighed and chuckled, seeming to come up with an idea.
The man kneeled down to whisper to Lykos, putting his weight onto the press of his shoe on Lykos' face. He felt like his jaw would break.
"You're going to regret your little fuck up, you shit eater."
Finally, the man took his boot off his face and he and his men retreated through the wall and back to the town. Lykos panted and rubbed his cheek before sitting up weakly and holding his head. He couldn't stand, his legs had given out from the shock from all of the things that had happened.
Lykos crawled into the split in the wall and laid himself into a pocket of the narrow corridor. He closed his eyes again and shuddered. The air felt bitter.

Mav finally was able to put himself to sleep, though barely. He mumbled in his sleep and was on edge. His eyes then shot open, hearing a sound at the entrance of the cave.
"Lykos-", he called out hoarsely, pulling the cloths off himself, though it wasn't Lykos' slim build that silhouetted the entrance. A man, with a broad build, was holding up the cloth, and very obviously, holding a blade in his hand.
Mav just stared, his expression blank.
"Hold this cloth open, its too damn dark in this shit hole", the man then said behind him. Another man walked over and held the cloth up, and the man with the blade started walking in. He waved the blade casually.
"You're the little worm Lykos has tried to protect all this time, huh? I'm surprised that you're not dead yet. You're the tiniest thing I have seen in a while", the man cackled. He then grabbed Mav by the neck and pulled him up. It took him no effort.
Mav didn't resist, he only made pained weak sounds from being choked, his feet inches from the ground.
"How obedient, if you were a bunny faced to a wolf, you wouldn't even flee, would you? How pitiful", the man jeered before dropping him and kneeling over.
"You see though, your dear brother owes me an eye, and since he has to learn a real good lesson- You're going to have to suffer for his cowardice", the man held the blade over Mavs head. He stared up at it, unmoving and breathing shallowly. 

He felt the tears fall from his lashes again. Mav would be upset, if he cried too much it would be a waste of water. He had to be strong. He had to.

Lykos finally had gotten the strength to move, and he was making his way to the cave. Poor Mav had been alone the whole night. He ached all over, but soon it would be okay. Everything would be fine once he could hug Mav and sleep it all away.
He looked to the entrance of the cave, sighing in relief. He lifted the cloth, and his pupils contracted. 
He stared at a bloody mess, Mav lying motionless in the midst of it, breathing heavily. He had his bloodied little hands covering his face. 
Lykos ran over, screaming Mav's name.
Mav could feel his brother's pull and warmth, as he was held in his brother's arms. He couldn't hear though, it all felt numb. He opened one eye, still covering the other. He saw Lykos' distressed face before he broke into sobs. 
Mav reached his hand up weakly, trying to wipe Lykos' tears away, only getting blood on his face. He trembled, trying to speak, but couldn't form words. His hearing faded in, hearing Lykos' repeatedly cry out.
"I'm sorry".