novelraw Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Both Aiden and Azure were staring down below. Is there something interesting down there? The sand worm corpses, the two Aridells hanging on the cliff… What's so fascinating about them? Bianca lifted her white head. The red and blue dragons remained fixated on the sand, their focus intense. Have they both gone silly?
Rustle!
Just then, two figures burst from the sand. One black, one pink. Judging by their size, one was high-tier and the other intermediate-tier.
A high-tier and an intermediate-tier? Aiden was, admittedly, a little interested in the high-tier one. He hesitated for a few seconds. No. It's better to let them get some practice. Especially Bianca.
He was playing the long game. As the number of carcasses grew, their scent would surely create a worm tide, just as the blood of the two-star Skyrazor had drawn in predators. These worms were nothing compared to the Skyrazor, but enough of them would have the same effect. He could afford to be patient.
His mind made up, he gave the order. “Bianca, Azure. This time, you two go. Take down those two worms.”
Azure pushed herself up on her blue claws and, without a moment's hesitation, leaped from the cliff. She tucked her wings, her eyes locked on the high-tier black sand worm.
Azure was gone, but the other dragon remained stubbornly still beside him. Aiden turned his head, his gaze settling on the motionless white figure. Their eyes met.
The white dragon's claws instantly pushed her body up. Aiden just loves ordering me around, Bianca complained internally. With a powerful push from her hind legs, she dove from the cliff.
She glanced at the blue figure already plummeting toward the larger worm. Azure is going for the high-tier one. Bianca's white pupils immediately locked onto the pink sand worm. Besides, Aiden will probably just take the magic crystal in the end anyway.
With that thought, she angled her dive toward the weakest target.A blue shadow streaked through the air.
SQUELCH!
Azure closed her heavy, scaled eyelids and nictitating membranes, letting the gushing black slime splatter across her face. After the initial spray, she opened her eyes again. Her claw, already plunged deep into the worm's head, twisted sharply. She ripped out the magic crystal, seized the still-struggling body in her other claw, and with a beat of her wings, shot back into the sky.
Aiden had been watching the whole time. Azure's combat style was, as always, brutally efficient. And on the other side…
He turned his head. Bianca was closing in on her target. A savage light flashed in her white eyes. Die, you damned vile breed!
She dove to pounce.
Slip!
The moment her claws made contact with the worm's slimy body, they slid right off. Her pounce became an uncontrolled crash, her body losing all balance as she slammed into the worm, both of them tumbling onto the sand.
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Aiden could only shake his head in exasperation. That fool.
“Ptooey! Ptooey!” Bianca opened her maw, spitting out a mouthful of sand. Something was writhing beneath her. She looked down. This damned vile breed dared to make me lose face!
Her jaws snapped open and she bit down hard.
SQUIRT!
Red slime gushed out. Bianca's eyes dilated in horror. She immediately released her grip.
“Ptooey! Ptooey! So smelly! This damned thing!”
Her two white foreclaws stabbed downwards and began to tear and rend with wild abandon. Pink slime flew everywhere. In moments, half of her white scales were dyed a garish pink. She didn't stop until the pink sand worm ceased all movement.
Its head had been torn to shreds. An egg-sized magic crystal lay amongst the fragments, half-exposed. Looking at the gory mess, a look of satisfaction crossed her face. Hmph! That's what you get for offending the white dragon Bianca.
She scooped up the magic crystal and, with a beat of her wings, launched herself into the sky. A shower of pink slime rained down from her body, trailing behind her in long, gooey strands.
From the mouth of the lair, Aiden and Azure watched this visual assault approach. A look of shared, abject horror crossed both their faces.
Aiden's red claws shuffled to the right, nudging Azure. Startled from her shock, she instinctively pressed herself further to the right. In that moment, they both wanted nothing more than to be as far away as possible from that… thing.
Whoosh.
Bianca landed with a thud. “Aow! I'm back!”
“Stop! Just stand right there!” Aiden commanded.
“Aow?” Bianca, her head now looking rather pink, tilted it in confusion. “Why?”
“There is no why!” The flames in Aiden's red pupils flared violently. “Just stay over there!”
Bianca's pink head shrunk back. “Aow…” she whimpered, and flopped down where she stood. Fine, I'll stay here. What's the big deal? Her voice sounded aggrieved.
Even so, Aiden had no intention of letting her come any closer.
The white dragon opened her claw. “Here, this is the magic crystal.” Her voice was small and hurt. She tossed it. After throwing it, she turned, presenting her backside to the two dragons who had upset her. She grabbed a nearby Aridfell corpse and opened her maw. CHOMP! Bianca began to eat. Perhaps only food could soothe her wounded heart.
Aiden caught the crystal as it flew toward him. Just as he did, a blue claw extended and opened before him. In it was a round, tennis-ball-sized magic crystal. He lowered his own claw. Cleaning one was the same as cleaning two. The crystal from Azure's claw dropped into his.
Following the now-established procedure, Aiden opened his maw and breathed a gout of red fire. The slime on the crystals instantly vaporized.
Azure's blue maw was already wide open, waiting to be fed.
Aiden tossed her crystal, and it sailed perfectly into her waiting mouth. She closed it, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. He then turned his head, his gaze falling upon the source of his headache.
Bianca had her back to them, her white tail swaying from side to side. Staring at it, Aiden noted that her tail was the only part of her that was still entirely white.
Crunch, crunch…
The sound of chewing drifted over. She was eating. Aiden licked his own maw unconsciously. He was getting a bit hungry himself. The foul, slimy taste immediately filled his mouth. Ptooey! He spat, and the taste finally faded.
“Bianca.”
“What is it? Aow!” Her voice was full of impatience. She turned to face them. Her head, once a mix of pink and white, now had a third color: the red of fresh blood.
Aiden tossed the crystal in his claw toward her. Seeing it fly through the air, her eyes lit up. She tilted her head back and, without a hint of hesitation, caught it in her mouth and swallowed.
“In this hunt, whatever crystals you hunt belong to you,” Aiden repeated the words he had said to Azure. He didn't wait for Bianca's reaction, turning his head to continue watching the sands below.
His long, sinuous red tail lifted, striking like a phantom. It pierced a common Aridfell corpse and dragged it back before him. He dropped the body and let his tail rest. He glanced at the dragon beside him.
“Want some?” he asked.
Azure answered by opening her maw and taking a large bite out of the carcass.