Flamefist

He hit the dirt, grunting as he landed on his disfigured arm then flipped to his back.

"Tsk tsk. You disappoint me, Flamefist."

Will didn't reply, propping himself up on his elbows. Even his ass hurt.

"Who should I kill first?" the cold voice taunted. Will focused his spinning mind and located exactly where the voice was coming from. A collection of brambles and bushes.

"Your wife? Your daughter?"

With a grunt of effort, he flung a fire grenade at the brush. His specialty, he made them himself. The dry branches and leaves immediately lit on fire, the late afternoon summer breeze sighing as it fueled the flames.

But a dark silhouette emerged from the fire, highlighted by the brilliant orange flame. Just like the stories of angels and demons... And he doubted this thing was an angel. It appeared unharmed by the flames, slowly making its way over to him. They both knew he was defeated.

"You see," the voice continued, like nothing ever happened. "The stories about me ARE true. I killed an angel and absorbed its powers. You're just a fraud. A nobody."

Will howled in fury, tossing his scimitar in a spinning spiral of death. The figure sidestepped, and the blade simply whizzed past him.

"You're not worth killing. I think I'll kill your daughter and make your wife watch. Then I'll kill her too. And you'll be truly alone."

"Motherfucker!" Will Paragon screamed, throwing himself at the creature, a flurry of punches and kicks.

The last thing he saw was a flash of blinding white as it grinned widely, then darkness as it lunged at him. He never saw his family again, but his hometown of Drenchwood told stories of the fire that burned down the Paragon house for generations.

:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷:÷

Hello hello, it's me again!

Miss me?

Yeah, me neither. But I'm back anyway. With a brand new novel! I'm still not 100% sure, but so far the title is going to be "Bounty Hard." It's the first thing that popped into my mind and unless something better presents itself, I'll be keeping it.

*Q/A*

"Flame Fist? Isn't that a character from Mortal Kombat X?"

I am a fighting game player, but Will has nothing to do with Liu Kang. Oh, and MK11 was announced the day I wrote this. Hype.

"What's the genre this time? You gave us two terrible stories before, and one short shitty one. They were science fiction (Cyberpunk), horror, and Steampunk. What's up this time?"

Fantasy. If that wasn't clear enough. Who would even ask a question like that? Although the question whether or not Dragons actually exist in this world is yet to remain.

"Can you actually give us something catchy and worth reading this time?"

I certainly hope so. Now stop harassing me and read on.

Thanks for your time. Your presence here means a lot to me, even if you don't vote/comment. But... Just do it anyway. It really helps me out to promote this story, and mostly helps me secrete enough dopamine to keep me going from day to day. Just kidding. Votes aren't the purpose of my writing, but they do help me out by confirming that people actually enjoy what I'm writing.

P.S.

I'll be reviewing each chapter before posting for grammatical/spelling errors, but I don't have a professional editor. I'm sorry for any mistakes you may encounter.

CC. Atrib. NonCommercial.

You're free to use any material from Bounty Hard as long as it's non-commercial (no monetary income) and as long as you quote the source. Thank you for your understanding.

Map was created using fantasynamesgenerator.com. And, well, a bit of photoshop. Yes, I made it. Took me some time.

!!!!!THIS STORY CONTAINS MATURE THEMES LIKE HEAVY CURSING, MILD GORE, AND SEXUAL SCENES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!