novelraw Chapter 86
Chapter 86
After half an hour of flight, Aiden angled his head to look down.
Verdant grasslands and towering forests stretched below. They had finally left the heart of human territory, though they weren't entirely free of its influence. He could still spot the sparse signs of scattered houses, each separated by a great distance.
A road snaked through the landscape, its dirt surface bearing the fresh tracks of wagon wheels. It was well-traveled.
His gaze focused on the houses. They were simple structures, framed with rough-hewn timber and roofed with dried straw, likely sourced from the surrounding plains. There were no signs of permanent residents; they were probably rest stops for merchant caravans.
Merchant caravans?
A thought sparked in his mind, and his red, slitted pupils lit up. A logical progression formed with startling clarity: Merchant caravans meant robbery. Robbery meant gold coins. And gold coins meant a hoard of lovely, shiny things to sleep on. The thought of slumbering on a bed of glittering gold sent a pleasant shiver through him.
He shook his great head, trying to dislodge the notion. No, that's not right. Why am I suddenly so covetous? Back in the sub-plane, such thoughts never crossed my mind.
He watched the landscape flash by below. Was it because he finally felt safe here on the plane of Aethelgard? Or was it simply that he'd never had the opportunity to consider such luxuries before?
As they flew on, the grasslands thinned, giving way to an increasingly dense forest. The merchant outposts vanished from sight. Soon, a shallow river came into view.
Wading in the cool water was a large herd of deer. They had short tails, long legs, and coats of yellow-brown fur speckled with white. Some sported magnificent, branching antlers; others had none. It was an entire clan, driven to the river by the heat of the day. The fawns splashed playfully in the shallows while a few of the larger adults stood sentinel, their large, luminous eyes scanning the surroundings for danger.
Aiden halted mid-flight, hovering in the air as he stared down at the herd. The main plane is certainly rich with life.
Whoosh… whoosh…
With two beats of their wings, his companions pulled up beside him.
“What is it, Aiden? Why have we stopped?” It was Azure's voice. Aiden turned his head, meeting her calm, blue eyes.
“There's a herd below,” he said. “I think we should fill our stomachs before we continue on our way.”
Hearing this, Bianca immediately dipped her head and looked down. Meat. So much meat, moving in the shallows. A string of drool dripped from her maw. She spread her wings and plunged into a steep dive—
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Only to be jerked to a sudden stop. Her body was straight as an arrow, but she wasn't moving an inch. She craned her neck to look back. Her perfectly straight white tail was held fast in the grip of a powerful red claw.
Bianca's bright white eyes filled with confusion. Why is Aiden stopping me?
Aiden slowly reeled the impulsive fool back in.
“Aiden, why are you holding me back?” A ferocious glint returned to her eyes. To Bianca, there was nothing in this world, or any other, more important than a meal.
Aiden held back a sigh. This fool. If she charged in like that, she might catch a single deer, if she was lucky. More likely, she would catch nothing at all. One deer was hardly enough to sate the appetites of three dragons.
“We go down together,” he stated.
“Can we please hurry, aow?” Bianca whined, a truly pathetic and aggrieved look in her wide, pleading eyes. “I'm so hungry.”
It's… actually quite cute. Aiden shook the strange thought from his mind and quickly averted his gaze from the fool. He released her tail and looked at Azure.
The blue dragon nodded once.
Aiden nodded back.
He folded his wings and plummeted toward the earth. Azure did the same.
Bianca watched them dive, momentarily baffled. “Aow?” Her brain caught up a second later. “AOW! WAIT FOR ME, AOW!” She tucked her wings and dove after them.
Aiden heard her shouts but paid them no mind. The fool could serve as a mascot. She was useful enough in a straight fight, but against prey that could flee, she was a liability. It was a well-known fact, after all, that fools were not known for their agility.
His eyes locked onto his target: the does and fawns, clustered for protection in the center of the herd. Two crimson rings of magic materialized before his snout.
*****
Garruk was a gnoll, and a lame one at that. His bad leg meant he could never be a warrior. He had trained tirelessly, pushing his body to its limits, but at this year's trials, he had been rejected for the same reason as always.
“Garruk, I am not trying to be cruel,” the Chieftain had said, his heavy hand resting on Garruk's powerful shoulder. “You know the work of a warrior—hunting and standing watch. Both require speed. Your leg… it simply cannot perform these duties.”
The words had seared themselves into Garruk's mind. He was crushed, but he refused to give up. If he could not hunt or stand watch, then he would fight.
In head-to-head combat, Garruk possessed a talent that far surpassed any other gnoll in the clan. In the heat of battle, the movements of others seemed to slow in his eyes; he could see the trajectory of every blow, every lunge. It was a gift that allowed him to anticipate an opponent's attack and counter it before it even landed.
But tragically, he wasn't even allowed to participate in the combat trials. The lame leg disqualified him there, too.
So, he had been given a new job: shepherd of the clan's deer herd.
He led them to the shallows, a place free of predators where the herd could rest safely. His duty done for the moment, Garruk turned and walked toward a large, low-branched tree. He stared up at a thick branch just out of his reach. He bent his legs, then sprang into the air. His hands shot out and caught the branch, and he grunted as he used his powerful arms to pull his body up.
This was his own training. Even cast aside, he would never stop trying. He held a steadfast belief in his heart: one day, he would become a true warrior.
*****
They were less than fifty yards from the river.
Down in the shallows, a large stag suddenly lifted its head, its antlers catching the sun. It sensed a threat from above.
“Yeeep! Yeeep!” it cried, the sharp sound a piercing warning to the herd.
Aiden's red eyes were cold and impassive. You've noticed?
Too late.
His maw split open. “Burst.”
BOOM.
A hemisphere of silent, crimson energy erupted in the center of the herd. The does and fawns, who had just begun to react to the stag's warning, were instantly engulfed. The wave of searing heat and concussive force vaporized them where they stood, snuffing out their lives in an instant.