"Well, either attack me or leave."

He made sure to keep the end of his spear pointed to his left. His right was covered by a tree and his nest was to his back. Despite the animals having feathers they didn't appear to be able to fly nor did they look like they could climb given how thin their claws looked.

They assumed he was some chick that fell from its nest, but now it was standing upright and making weird sounds. It was even holding a stick, but that didn't matter. It's claws looked dull and it's teeth were small. The only concerning thing was that they couldn't make out the exact shape of it.

Frustrated and hungry, and also wanting the nest it made, one of the raptors charged the dragon from the right. It's killing claw was raised as it fanned its arms out to bring down on its prey. Only, it ended up losing a few teeth when it swung the blunt end of its stick into its face.

The others were surprised and merely yelled at it as their packmate shook his head and retreated. Licking the bloody holes in its gums it became a lot more cautious about what its next move was. With a strong shove it pushed one of the remaining two away and to the side.

"Let me guess, you're going to get me to try and fall for a feint?" The dragon watched them hop back and forth at him, and just as predicted, one did try that but it was the second that stepped to attack that wound up losing an eye.

He'd seen the attack coming, figuratively and literally. Using a little magic to peer ahead a few seconds was enough of an advantage to make the animals he was fighting look like amateur adventurers. They may work as a group, but they just didn't have the capacity to work as a team.

Giving a sharp twist he pulled his spear out as the raptor squalled and scratched at its face. Now he ran forward, keeping his weapon pointed at the other two so he could circle around the injured one. Once behind it he lowered his weapon, aiming the tip up, then rammed it into soft flesh behind the ribs.

It gave another pained wail, struggled, then broke down and collapsed. Its weight did snap the spear lodged in it, forcing the dragon back as the other two seemed to realize the stick wasn't in his hand anymore.

"Come on, just get a little closer." He had his arms spread as he walked back, putting himself against a tree. "That's right you stupid animals. Get angry, lose your reasoning."

The one he had struck first came at him again now that the object of its pain was gone, its remaining packmate behind it. It didn't bother jumping but just ran with its mouth open. That proved to be a mistake as its would-be prey surprised it again by ramming its head into its mouth. Its head got rocked back as it found out why armies used dragon skulls as siege weapons.

Unlike the thing he had just broke more teeth off of he wasn't disoriented. Grabbing the thing by its neck he made his claws into a shovel shape and drove them forward. While they looked dull, they were really only too dull to scratch steel. The stone dragon's made their nests in was fine for the hatchling to practice carving their own rooms in so flesh and blood offered no resistance. That left the third one that was coming up behind him.

Instead of another headbutt he spat out a length of fire. It almost appeared like a trade as flames traveled from one mouth to the other, but the burning meat and sputtering screech of pain ruined the scene. What was left of the brief fight was a skewered raptor, another with fewer teeth than it began with and a hole in its chest, and another trying to breath using the charcoal briquettes that were its lungs.

"Not my best work." He shrugged. Going over to the one with the spear still in its side he burned the feathers and skin away, peeling it back as the fat bubbled. Locking his lips he held back his appetite and dragged a claw along its belly.

A steaming pile of innards came out alongside the blood that had been trapped inside. He sifted through the organs, naming them off, moving them around as he tried to imagine what they looked like in place. The spear had punched a hole in what he assumed was the heart. Given that there was a hole in it, it could have been anything. Licking his fingers he nodded to himself, confirming his earlier thought they were warm-blooded. Although, given that he was covered in it, tasting it wasn't exactly necessary.

Moving on he cracked open the skull. Thankfully he had only gotten its eye and spared the brain. It was as disappointing as he assumed it would be. Small, wrinkly, but it cooked well.

"If only I had a pot. Some bone broth would be nice, or a nice stew." He sighed as he moved over to the other bodies. "I guess I can just mine for some iron. Maybe copper or gold. No, gold is meant to be treasured, not used." With crazy thoughts brushed aside he stripped the other bodies and confirmed the tough ball of muscle earlier was, in fact, a heart.

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There wasn't much on them, but he got plenty of feathers so that was a plus. He wasn't going to try and make arrows or a bow. Most of the things around could have twenty arrows put in their hides and still run away. They would be put to better use to write with. An odd thought, given the lack of traditional writing materials, but he wasn't planning on starting a journal.

The second one he killed had its bones cleaned while the rain still fell. Any spares from the other two were laid out in a pile based on length. He did take the skulls back into his nest and collected some water in one.

Settled back in the relative safety of his nest, his belly full, and the rest of the meat laid out on branches. The thought of that Tyrant Lizard stalking by and wrecking the place crossed his mind, but he would just make it eat a mouthful of spears if it did. And if that didn't work, then a forest fire was always a sure fire way to escape. If it worked against the humans, it would work against some big, dumb animal.

"I wonder how its heart tastes?" He thought to himself as he imagined his smaller body lounging in its skull, its heart carved up like a steak beside him. It could be a bath, maybe a cup when he grows up a bit. "Those teeth would make a nice crown. A perfect fit for an actual king."

Satisfied with what he accomplished he decided to forgo sleep and start working. It had been some time since he fooled with necromancy, but it wasn't too dissimilar from making a golem, despite what any of the 'civilized' races said. A slave is a slave, whether it's made of clay or your parents. They were just too stubborn to admit using the bodies of your enemies or slaves, slaves of your enemies, citizens, really anyone weaker was more efficient and less costly than digging up tons of dirt. They certainly didn't question if their golem clay was mined by slaves in abhorrent conditions.

Runes were etched into the bones, false eyes around the eyesockets, and lines representing strings connected along the joints between each piece. There was plenty of dust around him when he was done but the work, as usual, was without error. Only such craftsmanship could have been made possible by a dragon. Sure, the humans whined and moaned about necromancy but if the amount of crusades they have were telling than they seemed to be more obsessed with it than the actual necromancers.

He had exhausted what mana he had that day. Shrugging, he checked to make sure his bird was still alive before settling down. The bone dust helped dry the ground even more and the drying kindling was suitable for a pillow. Still, when he can make a tanning rack, blankets will be a priority. It just felt wrong to sleep without a protective covering, even if he normally had scales harder than steel.

So, despite the cramped conditions he put himself in, he was already feeling better in the morning. As much as he wanted to drain the life force from the bird, he had more options now. Namely the undead minion that could gather resources for him. But before that, there was a more pressing matter.

Checking the surroundings outside first and confirming he was alone, he ventured out to the growing clearing his ferns were picked from. Taking shelter behind some leaves he relieved himself and, hoping they weren't some kind of ivy, cleaned himself. With the first order of business done he glanced at the meat he left out. Some pieces had been picked at but most of them were still there. With breakfast assured he started pulling out the bones from the night before.

They were placed in their proper order in as much of a fetal position he could manage. Moving to the skull he put a hand on it, feeding it mana directly into the runes. A small hole formed under his palm with a sharp crack and a splinter of bone cutting him to draw blood. The runes and writing turned from blue to red as the bones began shaking. With all he needed to personally do over he stepped back and let the body have the room it needed.

Claws left furrows in the ground as the skeleton tested its connections. Then came the shakiness as it stood for the first time after dying. Blue light, its owner's mana, formed two glowing orbs in the empty eyescockets that disappeared as it imitated blinking.

"I wasn't sure if this would work." He was genuinely surprised to see it work on something that had never felt mana before. "Those holy soldiers are going to have a heart attack when they find out their 'Great Enemy' has no part in it. You there! Gather a bundle of dry wood." It felt good to be commanding something again, even if it was literally brainless.

Aa it marched off with its vague orders, its master went to eat more of its spoils. The meat was tough, but with some tenderizing it was bearable. His only legitimate complaint was the lack of spices. He was even without salt.

His new subordinate would come by, sticks and twigs in hand, drop them off and go back out. Now that he had an extra set of hands that would not need sleep or food, he could start getting a bit more ambitious. Build a hut, dig a pit trap, build a bridge or a raft.

That last one seemed unnecessary. The river had to narrow somewhere. Going downstream was out of the question. All that swampland was hiding something if past experiences told him anything. He would have to keep going upstream.

"That's enough." He ordered the skeleton. "Stand by for now."

Obediently, it stopped and stood in place. Its owner studied it a bit before retreating the his hut. The bird in its cage fluttered against its prison.

"How fortunate. I believe I have just enough mana to drain you."

Reaching inside the cage the bird's struggles grew more frantic. It had to resort to pecking at his hand, but by then its feathers were turning grey. The process was more thorough this time so it turned to dust before it left his hand.

"Not too long now. Just one more and I should be ready." Looking over to his minion it was tempting to just take the mana back, but it would be reduced and he would have wasted a perfectly good soldier. "Come with me. We're going to explore the river some more."