The Wrath Of The Dragon Duke

I watched, from the tiny window of my closest, as my father, Anthony Bishop, stared down the barrel of gun, a look of pure defiance on his face.

On the floor was my uncle Marcus, a man that was almost closer to me than my parents.

He was killed earlier.

I saw the man with the dragon tattoo smile wickedly, as he asked him "Any last words"

"Run Lloyd, Run" were the last words my father spoke, as I burst out of the closet, running towards him.

"NO!, DAD!" we're the last thing I said before the man pulled the trigger, and instantly, I was awoken from my nightmare.

I placed a weary hand on my head as I panted heavily, my body drenched in sweat.

I've had this recurring nightmare for the last 15 years, ever since I witnessed my family's massacre.

Likewise, I always wondered what would have happened if I had tried to save my father that day, would it have made any difference?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing.

"Yes" I answered.

"We found her Boss" said a voice on the other side.

"Are you sure it's her, Ivan" I asked, an empty question, as I knew my right-hand man wouldn't dare make such a mistake.

"Indeed Boss, Lisa Francis, 25 years old, she was the girl who brought you back from the dead, 15 years ago, I have transferred a file to your mail"

I sighed as I began to read the file Ivan had sent me.

It would seem that Lisa's life hadn't gone well since she rescued me.

She had managed to become a lawyer, but her law firm was doing so badly, that she was now on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Her impending bankruptcy has caused her to be several millions in debt, and because of this debt her parents have arranged for her to marry her off as they see her as an embarrassment to the family"

I could see in the report, the most troubling news of all.

Lisa suffered from cancer, lung cancer, probably as a result of the fumes she had inhaled when she entered our burning house to revive me.

A fate a special man had saved me from.

I clenched my fists in anger at this news, as I knew that I was running out of time.

"What about my three childhood friends, Jacob, Walker, and Morty?" asked Lloyd.

"Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any tangible information on them" replied Ivan.

Lloyd sighed, he had made up my mind, "get the preparations in order Ivan, we're going to the city of Doom"

****

Lloyd's POV:

As I stepped my foot out if the Hilburg train station, I inhaled and exhaled heavily, taking in the Hilburg air for the first time in 15 years.

But I wasn't back in the city of my birth for sightseeing, I was here on a mission.

My family had been killed 15 years ago, by unknown gunmen, led by a man with a dragon tattoo on his hand.

They burned down our house in an attempt to hide the evidence, but I managed to escape.

I remembered her clearly, Lisa Francis, she revived me after was knocked unconscious due to inhaling smoke from the fire.

She helped lead me out of the city of Hilburg, which led me to Budville, and since then, my life has never been the same again.

My phone rung in my pocket, at first I thought it was Ivan, but when I saw the name "Patron Weissman" I let out a deep breath before answering the call.

"Where are you Llyod, we were supposed to meet with the Sun King this morning" asked Jacob, I could tell he was trying to control his tone.

Eric Weissman was my patron, the man who found men when I came to Budville and taught me everything I know today.

He was also the man who saved me when I developed cancer.

He was the former Dragon duke, the greatest of the sun Kings 6 enforcer dukes, a man who was rich, inventive, and skilled beyond measure, all things that he transferred to me as his protégé.

5 years ago, I inherited his position as dragon Duke, and I have since served the Sun King more than any duke before me, including Jacob.

I have conquered entire nations in his name, subdued populations, and brought untold riches and wealth to the kingdom.

The Sun king found me so impressive that he now wished for me to take the position of Moon dragon, second only to the king himself.

I was supposed to be at the capital this morning, receiving this title, but it was one I could not receive while I was still haunted by nightmares of my family's massacre.

"I can't do that my patron, not until I have confronted my past" I told Eric, and I could hear him sigh over the phone.

"Are you sure about this Lloyd?, the position of Moon dragon might not still be here when you come back" he reminded me.

"I am aware of this, Patron, but I am ready to face the consequences, tell the Sun King to transfer the position if he's unable to wait" I replied.

Jacob chuckled loudly, as he knew that not even he, when he was the dragon Duke, would have ever spoken to the sun king in that way.

"I knew this day would come, and I also knew that when it did, there would be nothing I could do to stop you" he said.

"All I ask is that you mask your true identity, we can't have the Dragon Duke of the Nation, interfering in local politics" he advised.

"Of course Patron, my identity will be fully concealed" I assured Eric.

My goals were simple, was going to reconnect with my friends, and Lisa, the girl who saved me, so I could reward her for her deeds.

I was going to find the people responsible for the death of my family, and I was going to make them pay.

But perhaps most importantly, I was going to bring this city that had taken everything from me, to its heels.

As I ended my call with Eric, I finally received a call from Ivan.

"Have you found her location?" I asked.

"Yes I have Duke, but you must act quickly, her family has organized an engagement ceremony for her" replied Ivan.

"SHE'S GETTING MARRIED?" I asked, my voice filled with caution.

"Not yet sir, but her parents hopes that she finds a suitor today, one that can pay off all the debt that they have accumulated because if her" replied Ivan.

"Very well then, send me the coordinates to her family house, and I'll be there immediately" I demand.

Soon, Ivan would send me the location of Lisa's family home, and we agreed to meet each other there.

****

Lloyd would take the first taxi he saw to the Francis family house.

The journey through the taxi was very eye-opening for Lloyd, as he got to see just how decrepit the inner city of Hilburg was.

The wealth inequality within the city was clear as day, as homeless people and drug addicts littered the streets, surrounded by wealthy skyscrapers.

The area around the train station was filthy because most of the city's poor could only afford to do their quick, long-distance travels via rail, rather than air.

However, as the taxi driver left the train station and headed towards Lisa's family's house, the streets slowly became cleaner, smelled less bad, and were overall much more pleasant to look at

However, this wasn't even the thing that brought Lloyd the most amount of concern.

Throughout his journey in the back seat of the taxi, Lloyd would notice a few strange occurrences.

For one, he would often catch the taxi driver making quick glances at him through the back mirror, and would always avert his eyes once he noticed that he had been noticed.

The taxi driver was not a very talkative one, and wore a hat that hung low across his face, so Lloyd didn't really see him clearly.

But one thing Lloyd could tell for sure, was that this man was a relatively young man, around his age, maybe a few years older, but was not in the best of physical states... much like the rest of the city.

Eventually, the taxi would come to a stop at a secluded alley way, and the driver would immediately exit the vehicle after this, before Lloyd even had the chance to ask him what the hell was going on.

Lloyd, while being slightly confused at what was going on, was now incredibly suspicious of this entire situation, so he decided to come out of the vehicle to confront the taxi driver directly.

However, just as he was about to set foot out of the vehicle, he would be greeted by a gun, pointed directly to his face.

"Get out of the car... slowly", said the voice of the man holding the gun.

Flashbacks of my father with a gun to his head pierced Lloyd's brain.

"Make any sudden movements, and it'll be your last" the voice commanded.

After closing his eyes for a brief second, Lloyd smiled to himself as he would officially step out of the taxi.

He was officially in the city of Doom.

Lloyd raised his arms up as he slowly walked out of the car.

It didn't take him very long to understand what had just happened here, he had been set-up.

It seemed that all that time that the driver had been staring at him while he was in the car, he was accessing him to see if he was wealthy, and thus, a notable victim.

There were four assailants in front of him, two of them had a gun in their hand, with one pointing the gun directly at his face.

While the other two didn't have guns, they did have knives on them.

Lloyd would spot the driver lounging casually on one of the buildings in the alleyway.

His head was slightly bowed down, and he showed a relative lack of interest in the robbery that was currently ensuing.

It was as if he just wanted the robbery to be over with, so he could leave the area immediately.

Lloyd sighed at the current situation he currently found himself in.

Not even an hour since he returned to Hilburg, and he was already suffering the consequences of the city's crime rate.

"Give me everything you've got on you... and that means your watch, your wallet, your phone, and your luggage" ordered the man who had his gun pointed at Lloyd.

"Alright" agreed Lloyd, as he slowly reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone.

After he did this, he made sure to turn the phone slowly over to the armed man, but just as the man grabbed the device, Lloyd would quickly duck underneath his arm and rush at the man.

The man tried firing his gun at Lloyd, but Lloyd was far too quick, causing the man to miss all his shots until he was right in front of the man, and then gave him a powerful uppercut that sent him flying, knocking him out immediately.

Once the other two assailants saw what had happened, they quickly rushed at Lloyd with their blades, while the third assailant, who also had a gun, readied his weapon to shoot at Lloyd.

Lloyd would easily dodge the inaccurate swings the men would throw at him, which then led to him punching one of them in the stomach, causing him to throw up and crumple to the floor.

Lloyd would then kick him in the head, knocking him out immediately.

Seeing that Lloyd was dominating them, the other assailant with the gun would panic, causing him to start firing his gun at Lloyd.

He would only end up hitting the final assailant with the blade, killing him in the process.

Now it was just Lloyd and his final assailant.

The man couldn't believe what had just happened, he thought this rich man would be easy pickings for him and his boys, but everything had fallen apart.

His hands were violently shaking as he held the gun, so much so that he almost dropped his weapon.

When he finally decided to fire, Lloyd would dodge all the shots and quickly rush at him, grabbing his hand and breaking it, causing him to drop his weapon.

"AAAAARGH" yelled the man, as his body quivered in pain, causing him to fall to his knees in front of Lloyd.

Looking up at Lloyd while holding his broken arm, he asked... his voice filled with fear, "Who... who the hell are you?"

"A man you really shouldn't have fucked with" Lloyd calmly replied, as he grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt, before punching him in the face so hard, his jaw was shattered, and he was knocked out immediately.

"Now... as for you" said Lloyd, turning in the direction of the taxi driver.

However, the man was not there.

Lloyd turned around to see the driver inside the taxi, desperately trying to start the vehicle so he could escape from Lloyd.

Seeing that the driver was about to escape, Lloyd rushed to the driver's door of the taxi, and attempted to open the vehicle.

However, the driver had been smart enough to lock the car, even in his state of hurry.

Seeing that the taxi had finally started, Lloyd knew that if he didn't do something quick, the driver would escape, so he punched through the glass of the taxi, and dragged the driver out of the vehicle.

"Please... please don't kill me... I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" pleaded the driver, as she shook violently on the floor, attempting to shield himself from a future attack by Lloyd.

Lloyd sighed before rolling his eyes at the man's pathetic state, "Relax alright, I am not really in the mood to kill anyone today, so don't worry, you're fine" said Lloyd, reassuring the driver.

"However, you are going to do something very important for me" added Lloyd.

"Wha... what is it?" asked the driver, skeptical of Lloyd's intentions.

"You're going to take me to the Francis family residence like you were supposed to!" yelled Lloyd.

"YES... YES, I will, please don't hurt me" said the driver, now even more frightened than before, dude to Lloyd's yelling.

Seeing that he had adequately scared the taxi driver, he would return to the alley to pick up his phone, before returning to the taxi.

His phone was quite important to him, so he couldn't afford to lose it.

The taxi driver would cautiously drive Lloyd to the Francis family home, just as he had initially paid for.

To show his appreciation for the trip, Lloyd would tip the man a whole 500 dollars, which the driver would frantically accept before speeding away from Lloyd.

Lloyd could only laugh at the entire situation, as he couldn't help but wonder the lasting impact this day would have on that driver.

There was no way in hell he would ever forget what transpired that day.

In the corner, Lloyd could see Ivan waiting for him in his limousine, they made eye contact, and a single nod was enough to share their thoughts.

However, just before Lloyd was about to head into the building, he noticed something on the floor

Picking it up and examining it, he realized that what he was looking at was the wallet of the driver that had dropped him here.

"He probably dropped it when he frantically accepted my tip" reasoned Lloyd, as he put it inside his coat, not thinking much of it, as he stepped into the house.

The Francis family were a middle-class family, definitely not poor, but not close to being rich.

Their compound was modest, probably built with decades of family contribution.

There were a few modest looking cars parked in and around the compound, it was obvious the ceremony had already started.

But the scene was not buzzing the way Lloyd thought that it would, probably because the family, ashamed of their debt crisis, didn't want to attract too much attention.

****

Lisa sat close to her mother, in silence with her head bowed down.

She wore a pretty awful wig to hide her hairless hair, as the cancer that afflicted her had reached late stages.

She wore a veil over her face to hide her pathetic state, but also to hide the tears that were streaming down her face.

Eleanor Francis, Lisa's mother, looked at her daughter with pure disgust.

"Please mom, don't look at me like that, the guests are staring" pleaded Lisa, with tears in our eyes.

"Shut up, you worthless failure" replied Eleanor, her voice filled with rage.

"You have been a burden for this family every step of the way, getting married to some bastard is more than you deserve" she added.

She had initially hoped for her daughter to marry a wealthy man and bring incredible fortune to the family.

But instead, Lisa had chosen to become a lawyer, to tackle the insane corruption within the city.

But of course due to the insane corruption of the justice department, Lisa kept loosing cases, and now her law firm had gone bankrupt.

As Lisa quietly sobbed at her mother's abuse, Eleanor got even angrier.

"Silence Lisa, you have no right to cry" said Eleanor.

"We warned you that trying to go against the Hilburg justice system would result in failure, you chose not to listen to us"

"Now look at you, riddled with cancer, and drowning this family in debt... if I could spit on you, I would" concluded Eleanor, as she heartlessly turned from her crying daughter.

Lisa, internalizing this abuse, felt that her mother was completely right.

She truly believed her current cancer and predicament was her fault, and she was wrong to ever trying to fight against the city's corruption.

John Francis, Lisa's grandfather and the patriarch of the family, had the same thought as his daughter-in-law.

He saw Lisa as nothing more than a failure and a burden, one that would soon be taken by cancer, so they might as well marry her off to someone who was willing to elevate some of their debt.

As he looked around the array of middle to upper middle-class men who were here to marry his granddaughter, and bit his lips in disgust.

The family truly had high hopes for Lisa, yet here she was, about to be married off to one of this unremarkable men, for whatever short time she had left.

John sighed, as he raised his aged hand to point at Lisa's future husband.

"Simon Harland, you will be my daughter's next husband"

Simon Harland stepped in front of the line of young men with a smile on his face.

Attempting to analyze him, everyone had their eyes on him.

Who was this unfortunate and unremarkable man who had chosen to be stuck with Lisa Francis.

Mia remained in the corner of the hall room, glancing at the man who had just won her hand in marriage.

Lisa was one of these people who attempted to analyze Simon.

He was a very conventionally handsome man... a lot younger than she expected, Tall, dark hair, and in a perfect black suit.

Lisa was frankly glad it was him and not an unattractive older man.

But she still felt uncomfortable, I mean, did she really deserve a man as handsome as Simon in her current state?

"Don't be rude Mia, go meet the man you'll spend your remaining... however long you have left, with" beckoned, Eleanor, scoffing.

At this point, the other suitors had left the hall room, and Timothy looked on as Mia slowly rolled her wheelchair towards him.

Lisa let out plenty of heavy coughs, caused by the cancer in her lungs.

Simon looked on as Lisa coughed her way towards him, as at this point, the other suitors had left the hall.

Lisa tried her best not to think of her current situation, she didn't have long anyway, her cancer was terminal, so perhaps it was okay that she had basically been sold off for her family's benefit.

At least her new husband would relive the family of some debt.

"Well well well" said a man coming from behind the hall room, slowly clapping.

"Now this is a very sad sight to see, I can see now why your father didn't even bother to attend" said a voice coming from behind Lisa.

This was Roy, Lisa's older cousin, who seemed to gloat in his cousin's misfortune.

Lisa didn't respond, just bowed her head in shame, which caused Lloyd's anger to rise.

"So you are the unfortunate man that finally swept my cousin off her feet?" asked Roy, his voice filled with mockery and hubris.

"Treat my little cousin well, okay, as you can see, she probably doesn't have long for this world, so treat her like a queen, okay" He added laughing lightly.

Simon aggressively brushes past Roy's should, nearly knocking him down, to comfort Lisa, who had started crying.

"It's alright Mia" whispered Simon into her ears,

his voice was strong, yet soothing, and smooth.

He continued as he slowly lifted her chin to meet his bright, blue eyes, "I can see you've been through a lot, I can see you're in a lot of pain"

"But I promise you Lisa, all that ends today. I'll protect you and be sure to take every bit of pain you have away.... I promise".

Lisa was completely smitten by the good-looking man in front of her, but as much as she wanted to believe him, she knew it was an empty promise.

Despite this, she felt she could trust him, there was an air of familiarity and comfort around him, something she hadn't experienced in years.

Eleanor, seeing Simon's affection towards her daughter, scoffed.

Simon was certainly dreamy, she thought, tall dark and handsome, too bad he was a pauper.

At least the family won't have to deal with the embarrassment of Lisa any more, and Simon would be able to reimburse some of her debt, at least the amount a pauper like him could afford.

Simon went behind Mia and effortlessly swept her off her feet, which shocked Lisa slightly

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Timothy replied with a smile as they stepped outside the Francis compound, "Somewhere nice for you to spend the night"

Simon they would reach Simon's black limousine, and the driver would open the backseat.

Simon would then effortlessly place Lisa on the wheelchair before entering the car as well.

"Where too sir?" asked the driver

"Take us to Mirland, Ivan, Lisa here needs a good place to spend the night" replied Simon, as he glanced at Mia who sat beside him.

The name Simon Harland was one he had used before for many covert operations.

It was a name no one in this city should know,

That he was actually Dean Bradson, the boy whose life she had saved 15 years ago.

The boy whose life had cost her... her legs.

Dean would brush such negative thoughts out of his mind, he was going to make sure he also removed any doubt in Mia's mind that she made the right decision to save his life on that fateful day.

.......

Mirland was by far the largest and luxurious estate in all of Hilburg, in fact, it was one of the most luxurious estates in the entire country.

It covered some fifty thousand square feet of land and had every amenity you could think of, from a massive swimming pool to a mini golf course, squash court, and even a casino.

It was were the wealthiest people of the country congregated, and this would be Lisa's home for the foreseeable future.

He hadn't planned to meet Lisa the very day he returned to Hilburg, much less bring her back to the estate with him.

But after everything that had happened that day, he was now even more glad that he had acquired a private suite.

His suite was custom made for him, with jade marble finished, and customized ivory furniture, it cost over a 100 million dollars.

He didn't want him or Lisa to be disturbed.

Lloyd carried Lisa effortlessly from the limousine to her room, some two floors high, Lisa had been through a lot already, so he didn't want her to Labour.

Lisa was shocked that he was so strong, and blushed heavily all the way through.

In the end, Lloyd placed Lisa on the bed, before affectionately kissing her good night.

Lisa was embarrassed throughout this whole ordeal, as Lloyd was so caring, she almost felt like a child.

Yet here Lloyd was, he had treated her with nothing but care and respect.

She had expected that he would drop the charade once they got into his limousine, but so far, Lloyd had remained caring and respectful towards her

"I'm sorry" said Lisa in a very saddened voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Lloyd.

"I am a failure, nothing but a burden, and you haven't even been with me for a day and I have been nothing more to you"

"What a ridiculous statement Lisa, you're not a failure, you're just a woman who has been through a lot, you're a woman in pain, and I will be here for you" was Lloyd's reply.

"Why..." Lisa asked, with a stammering voice, as Llyod turned to leave the room.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

Lloyd smiled, a genuinely loving smile that a man as hardened as him rarely got to show, "beacuse you deserve it" he replied.

Tears of joy streamed down Lisa's eyes.

Ever since she learnt she had cancer, her family had abandoned her, seeing her as nothing but a failure, about to die.

She had long since accepted this fate, and beloved no man would ever love her, she was prepared to spend the rest of her days with a man who hated her, but here Lloyd was, showing her that she was not abandoned.

She looked around the room in pure amazement, it was so beautiful, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Seeing Lisa's tears caused Lloyd to immediately rush to her side "No Lisa, dry your tears, don't cry any more" said Lloyd, lifting her chin to look into her tearful eyes.

"I promise you your life isn't going end anytime soon, we'll beat this together" Lloyd added.

Lisa was confused, the doctor said her disease was terminal, yet here Lloyd was saying he could save her.

She wanted to ask questions, but his words were so confident that she allowed herself to be lost in hope.

He had been so good to her, better than anyone else she'd known, so she felt she could trust him.

"I have to go now, but I'll see you again tomorrow" were Lloyd's final words Mia, as he left the room.

Once out of Lisa's room, both Ivan and Lloyd head to the parlour to relax for a bit, as it had certainly been a long day.

Pouring a bottle of scotch for both of them, Ivan would sit opposite his boss, as both men elegantly sipped their drink.

"I suppose today didn't go as planned, eh boss" said Ivan with a slight chuckle.

"could have been worse" responded Lloyd. "Im glad I got to meet her when I did though, before it was too late"

"So when are the two of you going to make things official" asked Ivan, smiling lightly.

Lloyd smiled as well, he knew Ivan was being sarcastic, but still decided to talk about it.

"I'm not sure that there will even be a ceremony, prehaps if Lisa wants it, but I'll see to it that our marriage is registered as soon as possible"

"And her... Condition, sir?" asked Ivan.

Lloyd sighed, he knew that this was the real question Ivan wanted to ask, hence his joke earlier.

"im going to have to deal with it as soon as possible, seeing Lisa continue to suffer for her decision to save me is unacceptable" replied Lloyd, grating his teeth.

Ivan smiled, his Boss, as the dragon duke was also the master of medicine, there was very little in terms of illnesses he couldn't remedy.

But could he cure cancer?

The determined look on Lloyds face made Ivan realize that his boss would at least try.

Suddenly, Ivan's face lit up, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar object

"Oh, I just remembered, you dropped this when you first carried Lisa from the car"

Taking the object from Ivan, Lloyd begins to explore it, and sees that it's the wallet that was dropped by the taxi driver who brought him to the Francis family house.

This time, Lloyd decided to open it to see if it had an ID, which he could use to return it from the address, but he was not prepared for what he saw.

The wallet did indeed contain an ID, but the face on the ID was not one of a stranger, it was one that Lloyd knew so well.

It was Jacob Stillman.

One of his childhood friends had tried to kill him.