novelraw Chapter 63
Chapter 63
“Okay, moving it is!” Bianca seized two Aridells in her white foreclaws.
After her last advancement, both she and Azure had grown to fifteen yards in length. Carrying a low-tier Aridfell in each claw was a trivial matter. She spread her wings.
Whoosh.
With a small gust of wind that kicked up the sand, her claws left the ground.
Azure, however, turned to Aiden. “Aiden,” she began, her voice low, “are you planning to use these corpses as bait?” Her blue eyes, which often seemed placid and emotionless, were deep and piercing.
Aiden nodded. “I am. For the sand-dwellers, these Aridfell carcasses are the finest lure imaginable.”
“And what if you attract a high-star magical beast?”
Aiden's red claw stabbed through the Manticore's lion-like head. With another wet squelch, he drove his other claw through the skull of the Aridfell leader.
He answered with his back to her. “Do you have a better way?”
Azure's gaze shifted from his red-scaled back to the mountain peak. She didn't. While the exact date of the life sacrifice was unknown, it was undoubtedly near. Hunting with bait was risky, but it was indeed the fastest way to increase their power.
Aiden hefted the two impaled heads. His great red wings unfurled.
Whoosh!
His claws left the sand as he launched himself toward the sky.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind rose beside him. One red and one blue, they flew nearly side-by-side.
The temporary lair was just ahead. Bianca was already descending. Her white claws were the first to touch down.
AOWWW..!
A miserable shriek, laced with outrage, echoed across the landscape.
Hot feet! Hot feet! Bianca's thick hind legs began to dance frantically from side to side. She dropped the two Aridells she was carrying and scrambled out of the cave, her white wings beating in a panic.
Tsssss!
The two carcasses, lying on the superheated rock floor, began to sizzle. Grease rendered from their skin, and the aroma of roasting meat wafted from the cave entrance.
Watching the dancing figure, Aiden paused for a moment. Perhaps the temperature of the new lair was a tad high for a white dragon.
Whoosh!
Bianca flew right up to Aiden's face. “Aiden, the new lair is so hot! Aow!”
As she complained, he felt Azure's gaze on him as well. Aiden thought for a moment. “Then try breathing your frost on it, or use Ice Burst.”
Bianca's crystalline white pupils blinked. What Aiden said seems to make a lot of sense. That should work.
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“Alright then, I'll try!”
She turned her head to face the cave. Blue mana materialized before her snout as two rings of power began to condense.
“Ice Burst!” she commanded in her girlish treble.
Four lances of ice materialized and shot like a white blur into the lair.
Psssssh!
A hissing sound of rapid evaporation came from within the cave, followed by a plume of white steam.
“Ice Burst!”
“Ice Burst!”
…
“Ice Burst!”
After casting the spell four consecutive times, a wave of dizziness washed over her. Ooh… my head is spinning. Why is the mountain swaying?
Bianca's body began to wobble in the air. The next second, her heavy eyelids and pink nictitating membranes slammed shut. She plummeted head-first toward the ground.
Aiden reacted instantly, his tail whipping out to coil around her waist. The heavy white dragon pulled his tail taut, and his own body dipped for a moment before he stabilized. He looked down at the dragon dangling from his tail. Her claws, tail, head, and wings all hung limp, pointing straight down. She was completely unconscious. That fool must have exhausted every last drop of her mana.
He glanced at the cave. The two Aridell carcasses Bianca had dropped were now swollen and bloated. They were clearly well-cooked. He couldn't just toss the dragon dangling from his tail in there. If the temperature hasn't dropped, I'd be serving up roasted white dragon. I'd better let Azure check.
Aiden turned to the blue dragon beside him. She was already looking at him. Their eyes met.
“Azure, go see if the lair has cooled down.”
Azure nodded. “Mm.”
She flapped her wings, approaching the cave entrance and hovering. No wave of heat washed over her. The temperature was normal. But inside…
She flicked her right claw, sending the Aridfell she carried sailing into the cave. It hit the far rock wall and tumbled to the floor. There was no smoke, no sizzling sound. The temperature must have dropped.
Azure flew into the cave, her claws touching down gingerly. Not hot at all. She looked back at Aiden.
Seeing her land without issue, Aiden knew it was safe. He flew directly into the lair, releasing his grip. Both the heads he carried and Bianca's unconscious form dropped to the floor. He uncoiled his tail from around her.
He looked at the white dragon sprawled on the ground. Her limbs were splayed out like a wind-dried lizard, her large, scarlet tongue lolling out onto the rock. She has no dignity whatsoever. It looks like I'll have to do her work for her.
He walked to the cave entrance and looked back. “Let's go. We'll bring up the rest.”
Azure didn't reply, but she padded forward to join him.
Aiden gazed down at the sand below. Six Aridfell corpses remained in a neat pile. He spread his wings, leaping from the lair and diving toward the ground. His claws touched down, and he slid to a stop. He opened his maw and seized a carcass.
Rustle, rustle…
A soft sound came from the sand. It was faint, but he heard it. His red pupils narrowed, his head snapping toward the sound. In front of the pile of corpses, a patch of sand began to sink.
Squelch!
A sand-dwelling magical beast, its body pitch-black, burst from the ground, its maw wide open as it lunged for him. An unbearable stench washed over him. Its gaping mouth was filled with irregularly arranged yellow fangs, and strings of yellow pus stretched between them.
A truly disgusting species.
Aiden's maw opened, dropping the Aridfell he was holding. He shot his right claw forward, seizing the creature's open mouth. It snapped shut, trying to bite his claw off, but its fangs found no purchase on his scales.
He slammed his left claw down, pinning the creature's body to the sand. He then drove his right claw deep into the base of its mouthpart.
SQUIRT!
Yellow pus gushed out. With both claws, he gave a mighty heave and tore. The creature's mouth section ripped away from its body. Holding the disgusting appendage, Aiden knew this was its head, and the magic crystal would be inside.
The headless black torso writhed frantically on the sand. Aiden lifted a hind leg and kicked the thrashing body, sending it flying. He looked down at the thing in his claw. This counts as a head, I suppose. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes. The thing was nauseating, but it held a magic crystal. It was a high-tier sand worm.
He drove his claws into it. More yellow slime spurted out.
Plink.
When he withdrew his claws, he brought with them a yellow magic crystal, the size of a chicken's egg. He opened his maw and exhaled a gout of dragonfire, bathing his claw in the flames. The yellow pus was instantly vaporized.
He inspected the crystal. High-temperature sterilization.
He opened his mouth and tossed the crystal in. A thing this small required no chewing; he swallowed it whole. As the crystal slid down his throat, he froze.
Did the red bar in my left eye just move?
It was only a tiny, almost imperceptible sliver, but he was almost certain. It had moved.