The Fiery Crown Cycle: A Dragon's Rebirth

Chapter 135

Aiden halted in front of Azure.

"What do you plan to do with them?" he asked, gesturing to the huddled group of goblins.

Azure looked up at him. The red dragon seemed to be growing taller by the day. She measured his bulk against her own; the size difference was becoming significant.

"They are useful," she replied.

"Slaves?"

"No. Test subjects."

Good grief. His little sister wasn't failing her reputation as a scholar. Moving straight to live experimentation? Aiden’s gaze drifted to the shivering goblins.

What kind of experiments? Drug testing?

Seeing the curiosity in his eyes, Azure elaborated.

"Somatic Grafting."

Her voice was the sweet, innocent tone of a child, delivering words of utter coldness.

Aiden’s pupils constricted. That spell.

Excellent. She truly was a chromatic dragon. He glanced at the white wyrmling sniffing a bug nearby. Infinitely more capable than that idiot.

He grinned, his eyes meeting hers.

"Isn't this sample size a bit small?"

"These were the only ones willing to submit. The rest chose to flee."

By "flee," she meant the charred corpses scattered across the clearing.

"No, you misunderstand me," Aiden said smoothly. "I mean..."

He turned his head toward the path leading away from the mine. On the grass, distinct ruts from heavy cart wheels cut through the greenery.

Azure followed his gaze. Seeing the tracks, realization dawned instantly.

He was targeting the entire tribe.

A goblin tribe could number in the thousands, potentially tens of thousands. Combined with their engineering skills, they were a formidable threat.

She looked back at him.

"Are you confident?"

Aiden looked down at her, arrogance practically radiating from his scales.

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This wretched sister underestimates me.

It's just a bunch of goblins. A well-placed Burst spell on their gunpowder stores will solve most of the problem.

"Of course."

Seeing his grin, Azure nodded. So far, he hadn't taken risks he couldn't handle. If he was certain, he had a plan.

Both dragons turned their heads simultaneously to look at the white wyrmling, who was currently lying on her stomach, chewing on a tuft of grass.

Her supernatural sense of smell would make tracking them trivial.

Chomp.

Bianca swallowed a beetle along with the grass.

Ew. No flavor. I'm so hungry.

She paused. Why had it gone quiet?

She slowly lifted her head. One red dragon and one blue dragon were staring intently at her.

She blinked her shimmering white eyes and tilted her head to the right.

Why are they looking at me? are they hungry too?

"Are you guys hungry too? Rawr?" she asked innocently. "Shall we go hunting? Rawr?"

This idiot. It's always about food.

"No hunting yet," Aiden said.

"Rawr..."

Her mood plummeted instantly. Her head dropped back onto the grass. The bug was gross, but at least it was food.

Seeing her go limp like a rag doll, Aiden’s eye twitched.

His tail blurred.

Whack!

Dirt exploded next to her head.

Bianca shot up, eyes wide with confusion. What now? Why does Aiden look like he wants to beat me again?

"Rawr?"

Aiden raised a claw, pointing down the path. Bianca followed his gesture.

"Rawr?"

"Get up and track them," Aiden ordered. "Find their settlement."

"Okay."

Not wanting another beating, she scrambled up.

As she trotted off to sniff the trail, Aiden turned back to Azure.

"And how will you dispose of them?"

Azure’s eyes went cold. She turned her long neck toward the terrified goblins and opened her mouth.

Crackle!

Lightning arced from her throat.

"Gah!"

The goblins screamed once before collapsing, smoke rising from their charred bodies. Some twitched posthumously as the residual charge dissipated. The smell of ozone and burnt flesh filled the air.

She closed her mouth and looked back at Aiden.

Aiden nodded approvingly. He grinned. Very chromatic.

He reached out a red claw to pat her head.

Just before he made contact, Azure took a step back. His claw swiped through empty air.

Did... did she just dodge me?

The air grew awkward.

Aiden slowly lowered his claw to the ground as if that was his intention all along. If I pretend nothing happened, then nothing happened.

He turned and marched after the white dragon.

Azure watched him go, her eyes narrowing slightly, then silently followed.

In the front, the white wyrmling sniffed the ground, leading the way.

The foolish sister is definitely cuter.

The trio moved in a line: white, red, blue.

They followed the wheel tracks for hours until the ruts vanished on harder ground. But with Bianca, the trail was never lost.

After more than two hours, the scenery changed.

The forest ended, revealing a large opening leading underground.

At the entrance stood a dozen Elite Goblins, clad in iron armor. They were armed with muskets and greatswords, the craftsmanship evidently superior.

As Bianca marched obliviously forward, Aiden reached out, grabbed her tail, and dragged her into the bushes.

Azure didn't need telling; she dove into the fifteen-foot-tall shrubbery with them.

Rustle.

A red head poked out of the leaves.

A blue head appeared to his left.

A white head popped up on his right.

Aiden stared at the cave entrance.

Trouble. The tribe was subterranean.

His plan to blow up their artillery from the air was void. The entrance was heavily fortified, likely trapped.

Charging in would be costly. He needed a new approach.

Guess we do this the old-fashioned way.

Smoke them out.