Aria rode her horse out of the city and towards the mountain range behind the city. She followed the trail made by other adventurers until the incline grew. Once the mountain trail started to become too windy and steep she pulled her horse off the trail and began cutting her way through the brush. Aria made several stops as she traveled further away to reorient herself to go in the direction of the first drake’s cave.

She decided to hunt the fire drake first. Not only was it closer to the trails, but it was reportedly smaller than the ice drake as well. Aria continued away from the trail for almost an hour before coming to a stop. The tree had thinned higher up on the mountains and the path had become rocky. Aria jumped off the horse and tied it up to one of the nearby trees. After she unhooked her stave from her pack she followed the path towards the cave.

She walked with purpose as she stepped across the uneven terrain. She kept her eyes out for signs of the cave or the drake. Old stones around her looked molten and crystalized from the drake’s breath. She felt some of the heated stones and they felt like glass to the touch.

After about ten minutes of walking, she saw the cave in the distance. It was above her and up the path. More rocks were molten and glass-like as she approached the cave. Aria held her stave out and waited. She cast [Detect Life Aura] and felt the drake in the cave. It had smelled her and the horse and was alerted to her presence. It was now making its way towards the entrance of the cave to meet her.

The drake stuck its head out of the cave and looked down on Aria when she was fifty feet away. Smoke came out of its nostrils, and it bared its fangs. The reddish-brown lizard was 20 feet long and had many similarities to the dragon she fought in the dwarf kingdom. This one however had no wings. This limited its ability to move through the air and its access to the best of dragon magic. The drake stepped out of the cave completely and snarled at her for a few seconds before attacking.

A spout of flame burst from its mouth and shot towards Aria. She activated her [Mage Armor] and [Mage Shield] as she rolled out of the way of the fire. The rocks around her started glowing red from the heat as its attack followed her. The drake jumped down from its high position by the cave and went in closer.

It stopped its flame attack after seeing that it wasn’t working very well. The drake took to swiping at Aria with its claws. Its long claws glowed red with heat and were enhanced by its magic. As it swiped cracks began to form on Aria’s barrier and she was pushed back. Aria stepped back and the loose rocks slid beneath her feet. The drake let out heat from its body increasing the temperature around them.

Aria reinforced her shield with an influx of mana before trying to attack its mind. Aria sent a few probes to start with, but she was met with a barrier. She was too distracted by the fight to look further at the moment and the drake’s mind had become solely interested in getting her gone or in its stomach. As Aria sent another probe she became distracted by the fight beyond. Her shield cracked at which point the drake smacked her with its tail. She was sent rolling on the ground causing her to become scraped and bruised due to the sharp rocks. The worst of the damage was mitigated by her [Mage Armor].

The drake sent another bout of flame at her, and she stumbled up and held her shield up. Sweat was pouring from her head as the heat of the area grew less bearable. The drake rose above her raising its back and bearing its teeth in a show of dominance. Aria activated another mental attack it was brushed off once again by the ready drake. She moved around the larger boulders scattered around the area as the drake chased her down and tried to strike at her again. Aria cast [Mana Bolt]s behind her as she avoided the attacks. The attacks only caused the drake to pause before continuing without doing much true damage. Its scales absorbed much of the damage and mage and spread it to other parts of its body.

Aria felt the [Mana Shield] shatter again. She turned around and spun her stave outward. The end of the stave hit its scales and broke pieces of them off. She attacked again hitting its jaw. It released its fire breath on her, but she rolled out of the way and activated a fresh [Mana Shield].

She resumed running around it and casting [Mana Bolt]s at the drake. As Aria shot the [Mana Bolt]s one struck its eye. The drake roared in pain and shot fire into the air. Blood rolled down its face. Aria took this opportunity to attack its mind once more. The drake was unprepared and distracted as Aria slammed her mental attacks into its defenses. The walls around its mind crumbled and Aria had access to its mind. Aria prepared her [Dominate Minds] spell and released it into the drake.

The drakes aggressive moves slowed as Aria sent thoughts of peace. Next, she began removing a few other pieces of its mind that might allow the drake to break the spell. The drake dropped to the ground stopped moving at the behest of Aria. It stayed there and watched her as she returned to her horse.

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Aria began untying the horse and then cast the same spells on it. The horse as a non-magical animal fell to her spell quickly. With her focus on the drake more than the horse she led it away from its cave and had it begin trotting behind the horse. Aria’s focus on the horse consisted only of pacifying it. To the horse's mind, it was not being followed by a giant drake that could kill it in one strike but another horse just like any other it had seen. If it had thoughts that the loud stomping of the drake wasn’t natural they were quickly snuffed out by Aria.

With the first drake in tow, Aria began mapping out the next destination. It was quite taxing to keep up the mind spells and it was getting darker by the minute. She avoided the trails due to the drake she now had in tow. If she were to run into adventures in the night it would just cause problems.

Aria rode on her horse for an hour and the sun had long set already. She kept her grip firm over the two creatures. She cast [Mana Light] to illuminate her way through the mountains. The drake also glowed orange with its flames around its head at her command. The night air was cold in the mountains and Aria wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as they continued their travels.

The path to the ice drake took longer than she expected. She was not helped by the darkness as the irregular path she took. No mana beasts tried to attack them while they searched. The drake’s aura sends a clear message to anything else in the area to back off.

Suddenly a cold breeze hit Aria. The drake behind her stirred and she could feel her hold on the beast weaken slightly. She raised her guard and cast [Detect Life Aura]. She felt the drake behind her. She rolled off the horse as it jumped to her from the side. It bit into the horse killing it instantly.

Aria raised her defenses and unleashed the fire drake. The fire drake's hatred for other drakes unlike itself became hyper-focused. Aria began backing away and cast enhancement spells on the fire drake. She had no interest in trying to fight the ice drake while wrestling the mind of the fire drake. Aria would fight smarter and use her two targets against each other. Aria moved further back behind trees and observed.

The ice drake tore out a piece of meat from the horse and swallowed it whole. It growled at the fire drake for intruding on its territory and the fire drake responded in kind. Frost began to surround the ice drake and the cold winds increased in intensity. At the same time, the fire drake let out heat causing the air to stir around them both.

The fire drake shot out a jet of flames from its mouth and charged. Its speed increased as it tackled the ice drake. The ice drake created a watery shell around itself as the two of them collided. Steam ascended between them as they fought. Claws of ice and fire struck each other causing sparks.

The fight continued closer to the ground as they wrestled and attacked each other. Every limb became a weapon as claws and tails hit. As they rolled around boulders broke into pieces and the extreme temperature differences cause them stress.

The fire drake’s claws tore into the ice drakes scales and flesh as it fought. Every attack was augmented mostly by the fire with some assistance from Aria. The fight moved away from their original spot, so Aria moved closer. She carefully made her way to the dead horse and began removing her stuff. She collected her items that had been left on the horse while keeping a watchful eye on the two drakes.

The ice drake’s attacks slowed the fire drake as the fight went on. Its initial volley of attacks had slowed as it had to deal with the cold regularly. It was forced to melt ice off itself and counteract the cold. At the same time, the ice drake had to do the same thing to a lesser degree. The cold night assisted it passively as it fought.

The two drakes continued to take pieces from one another. The fire drake fought to be on top as it struggled. Its front claws held the other drake down. The ice drake struggled and sent ice into the fire drake’s chest. The fire drake responded with a downpour of flames. The left its mouth and hit the ice drakes face as it shook. The ice dragon squirmed and cried out in pain. A few seconds later it stopped.

Aria watched as the fire drake stepped off the ice drake. Her hold on the drake had stopped

Less than halfway into the fight. It continued to fight the ice drake in its rage. The memory of Aria controlling it had already faded. Aria stepped out from the trees she had been hiding in and cast [Dominate Minds] once more on the fire drake. The flaws in its mind revealed itself and the unsuspecting drake fell to her control once more. She walked to it, and it dropped down to meet her. She climbed on top of its back and to its head. She took her stave and stabbed it down into its head. The magic controlling the drake broke and the drake shook and cried out, but the damage was done. A few seconds later it stopped and slumped over dead.

Aria slid off its body and she took out the carving tools she had retrieved from the horse. Aria began cutting up the drakes searching for their cores. Sadly, she could not much of the valuable meat. She wrapped up and stored what she could carry in her bag before moving on. The two cores were twenty pounds heavy and a bit larger than her fists. The cores gave off red and blue light respectively and produced a small amount of warmth and cold. She separated them within her bag and wrapped them up.

She was unsure of whether others would come to investigate the fight this late at night. The two drakes had made a lot of noise and had shaken up their corner of the mountain. Aria hurried to leave the scene because taking the cores had taken longer than she had hoped for. With the items collected and her stuff on her back, she made her way down the mountain as quickly as she dared.