novelraw Chapter 101
Chapter 101
The sounds of mana manipulation had ceased. The lair was still.
Azure's head, which had been resting on the floor, slowly lifted. Her heavy eyelids, lined with their protective nictitating membranes, opened just a crack.
She peeked.
The red wyrmling, nearly twice her size, was pressed against the white wyrmling. Both their heads were stretched out, their heavy eyelids sealed tight. He is asleep.
The blue dragon pushed herself to her feet. Her gaze fell upon the slumbering white wyrmling, and her expression softened with a flicker of pity. You poor, simple fool.
She looked away, her eyes finding the gnoll sitting in a corner to her right. She began to walk toward him.
Seeing his master approach, Garruk quickly scrambled to his feet. His left leg buckled for a fraction of a second, a slight, almost unnoticeable limp. But it was not unnoticed by Azure.
Her slitted, blue eyes narrowed. A lame leg?
She stopped before him, her head held high as she looked down at the prostrate gnoll.
“Raise your head.”
“As you command, Great Master,” he replied, his voice muffled against the floor. Garruk slowly lifted his head, keeping his green eyes fixed on the ground before her claws.
“What is your name?”
“My name is Garruk, Great Master. I am your servant.”
“Garruk,” she said, her tone level and unhurried. “Tell me where your people are.”
Her shadow fell over him, a vast, draconic silhouette that blotted out the light of the cave entrance.
“Master, Garruk is a fugitive from his clan,” he said, his head bowing even lower. “After I fled, I ran ever westward, without stopping.”
Azure said nothing, her placid blue eyes studying the gnoll. He did not seem to be lying. Beastmen tribes rarely put their own to death, unless the crime was exceptionally grave. This gnoll must have committed a serious transgression. But his past was irrelevant now. He had only one identity: her servant.
“I am going out on patrol,” she stated. “If I find a gnoll clan(tribe) anywhere in this territory, you had best have your prayers ready.”
At his master's words, a tremor of fear went through Garruk's heart. As a fugitive, he had no idea if other tribes lived nearby. The gnoll tribes were scattered across the continent of Aethelgard, with clans dotting forests and plains. It was entirely possible that another tribe had settled in these woods. It was a matter of chance. As the blue dragon's form receded toward the entrance, Garruk began to pray.
Merciful Crowns, Garruk has suffered enough. Please, show me some small pity.
…
Azure's wings beat a steady rhythm, carrying her high above the forest. She lowered her head, her sharp eyes scanning the canopy below. The woods were vibrant with life. A Mossling pounced on a plump wild rabbit, its long beak piercing the gray creature's neck. The rabbit's powerful hind legs kicked a few times, then went still.
Such scenes of predation were everywhere, but they held no interest for Azure. She was scouting for threats, not observing the trivial dramas of lesser beings. Like Aiden, she found this territory appealing. It would be a fine place to spend her vulnerable years of growth.
Hm?
Her wings froze mid-beat, her body hovering in the sky. Her gaze locked onto a clearing below.
It was a small plain, encircled by ancient trees. In its center, a magical beast with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle was feeding. It had a pair of enormous black wings folded against its back.
Its prey was a massive, serpentine creature, its head already torn to shreds. The snake's black-scaled body was immense, many times longer than its predator.
A griffin.
A torrent of instinctual knowledge, the ancient Heritage of her bloodline, flooded her mind.
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Name: Griffin
Type: Magical beast
Growth Potential: ★★★★★★★★
Element: Fire
Core Traits:
· Dragon Slayer: A sworn enemy of dragonkind, possessing a fanatical, racial hatred for high-tier dragons.
· Relentless Hunter: Will forsake all other prey to hunt young dragons (wyrmlings and hatchlings) with unwavering focus—until death ends the chase.
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Abilities:
· Flame Command: Possesses mastery over various forms of fire magic.
· Fire Breath: Can unleash a breath attack of searing flames.
Weaknesses:
· Water
· Ice
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Azure's eyes narrowed, assessing the creature below. Its great wings promised speed that could rival an adult dragon's. Its powerful lion's claws could crush prey with ease. Its sharp eagle's beak, she knew, was more than capable of piercing the scales of a wyrmling. And the tail, she now saw, was not that of a lion, but a venomous serpent, ready to inject a lethal poison into its victims.
The griffin's feast came to an abrupt halt. It lifted its head, its ruby-red eyes fixing on the distant shape in the sky. Excitement flared within them.
A five-star adult. Azure's assessment was instantaneous and grim.
Without a shred of hesitation, she banked hard, wings beating into a blur as she rocketed away. The blue wyrmling streaked through the air, a cerulean blur against the clouds.
Whoosh.
A roar of displaced air, a pressure wave from behind, told her everything she needed to know. The griffin was in pursuit.
She pushed herself, beating her wings faster, faster, but it was no use. This was her limit. The pressure at her back grew stronger, closer. Its speed is greater than mine.
Her head tilted up toward the thick cloud cover above. It was her only chance. With a powerful flex of her wings, she angled sharply upwards, rocketing into the white expanse.
She vanished into the clouds. The griffin followed, plunging into the mist without pause. It burst through the top of the cloud layer and hovered, its ten-yard wingspan holding it motionless in the sky. Its eagle head swiveled, ruby eyes scanning the sea of white.
There was no movement.
The griffin realized its error. With a single, furious beat of its great black wings, it sent a shockwave of wind down into the clouds, tearing them asunder. The vapor parted, revealing the landscape below.
There. A blue shape, plummeting toward the forest. It had been tricked.
“RAAAWR!”
An enraged, ear-splitting roar echoed from above the clouds. Azure didn't look back. She beat her wings with desperate speed, her body angled in a steep dive toward the glittering ribbon of the river below. Griffins despise water. The river is my only hope.
Just as her blue form was about to plunge into the water, a crimson beam of energy, as thick as an arm, lanced down from the sky.
Splash!
Azure's body smashed into the river. The clear water instantly blossomed with red.
High above, a complex, five-layered ring of power slowly dissipated before the griffin's beak, crumbling into motes of orange light. The wyrmling had been hit.
A fiery glint gleamed in the griffin's ruby eyes. Perhaps today it would dine on the flesh of a blue dragon. Its great black wings caught the air, and it dove toward the river below.
*****
Heavy eyelids slowly lifted, and a pink nictitating membrane retracted. Aiden pushed himself up on his foreclaws, arching his back in a long, satisfying stretch.
Haaah…
A lazy yawn escaped his maw. He scanned the lair. Hmm, one dragon is missing. Where did Azure go now?
He glanced to his right. Bianca was still dead to the world, a dopey grin on her face, her tongue lolling out.
Hooo…
A soft snore confirmed she was alive. I may have hit her a bit too hard, he thought. I'll be gentler next time.
His gaze drifted to the cave entrance. The gnoll was hanging from the roasting rack again, straining as he did another pull-up. Such a disciplined gnoll. A rare specimen indeed.
Aiden rose and walked toward him. “You, gnoll. Where is your master?”
Hearing the voice, Garruk dropped from the rack, landing softly. He turned, knelt, and bowed his head. “Great Red Dragon, the Master left this morning.”
Out again, is she? Aiden mused. “Very well. Carry on.”
He waved a dismissive claw and turned his attention to the Ridgebolt carcass. He was hungry. What to roast today? His gaze fell upon the few remaining Flamepepper berries, then to the bird's massive wings and powerful legs. An idea took shape. Roasted wings and drumsticks it is.
He planted his left claw firmly on the carcass and, with his right, inserted a talon into the wing joint. A single, smooth cut, and a wing was detached. He repeated the process, and soon the other wing and both legs were neatly severed.
His eyes flickered back to the gnoll, diligently continuing his exercises. A faint, intrusive memory from his past life surfaced—an image of another relentlessly diligent person.
He shook the memory from his head. He reached out, tore a large, feathered chunk of meat from the bird's rump, and tossed it.
“You, gnoll.”
Garruk stopped his training and turned just in time for the mass of meat and feathers to slam into his face. The force of the impact sent him stumbling backward, sliding two yards across the stone floor before coming to a stop.
“That is for you,” the cold voice stated.
Garruk pushed himself up, staring at the huge piece of meat now lying on his chest. “Thank you, Great Red Dragon!”
Aiden ignored the thanks. He picked up one of the skewers from the previous day. It was slightly charred, but still usable. He impaled one of the wings on the skewer, then placed it on the rack. He reached for another skewer. He picked up a leg and another skewer. This one, he noticed, was missing its top half, gnawed clean through. Bianca. He sighed. I'll make her carve new ones later.
He tossed the broken skewer over his shoulder.
Whoosh.
Garruk, who had just buried his face in his meal, heard the sound of something whistling through the air. He looked up to see a giant wooden stake tumbling end over end, straight at him. He instinctively threw himself flat. The skewer grazed his nose, and the scent of old barbecue filled his nostrils.
Clatter.
It struck the cave wall and bounced out of the entrance. Garruk sat up and, without a second thought, dragged his portion of meat to the far edge of the lair. That near-miss was pure luck. He had no desire to be knocked off the mountain by the red dragon's carelessly discarded trash.
Aiden scored the meat, stuffed the gashes with Flamepepper berries, and piled fresh kindling beneath the skewers. A gout of dragonfire, and the feast was underway. The flames, over two yards high, instantly incinerated the feathers. He scraped off the charred residue and settled in to manage the heat.
Sizzle…
As the fat began to render, a delicious aroma filled the cave. Aiden's large nostrils flared. Hmm. It doesn't smell as good as yesterday. It must be missing that other ingredient.
He glanced outside. The setting sun painted the landscape in hues of orange, its fiery orb half-sunk below the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. Still, where did Azure get to? She's been gone a long time. It seems she'll miss today's meal.
He turned his gaze back to the roasting meat.
Hm?
A faint orange light was pulsing from the back of his right claw. An orange thread of mana extended from the sigil.
The ephemeral species was contacting him.
The vertical slits of his crimson eyes widened into horizontal bars. A wide, predatory grin split his maw. She's faster than I expected. What a pleasant surprise.
He wove several threads of his own mana into the air, one of them wrapping around the orange thread from the sigil.
“Mister Aiden,” a cheerful voice chimed through the connection. “Your items have all been converted to gold coins as you requested. The total comes to twenty-four thousand, eight hundred and eighty-two gold coins. Is this price satisfactory?”