Everyone seemed to be up and ready to go later the next morning. They all met out at the port. When Arthur arrived, a few people were already there mostly workers though. There were more people around than when he had arrived. To one side he could see boxes loaded up next to the birds.

The giant birds came in several different shapes and sizes. They usually mimicked common regular birds. He spotted a few crows, ravens, sparrows, and more he couldn’t recognize. They were all between ten and fifteen feet long with even wider wingspans if the scaling stayed the same. When he looked over them he realized that none of them were combat birds but were all built for transporting. As people filtered out into the port he found Zoe and asked her more.

“If these are what we’re riding to the mountain then what are the boxes for?”

Zoe looked over the boxes, “They are for the dragon.”

“What?”

“Everyone is riding on top of the birds except you who will be carried by two birds using a series of rope and knot systems. The other birds won’t have anything to carry below them. It will be a waste of space. For them to carry nothing other than the weapons in one of the boxes. The empty boxes will give them something to carry there, and it will be a waste to use them otherwise. When you kill the dragon the dwarves will want it transported back here for display and to eat among other things. The birds can’t carry it all in one piece and a portal mage can’t create a portal large enough to squeeze something like a dragon through.”

“So, they will have another dinner party but even bigger when we get back?”

“Probably. But we won’t stay long if at all. I hope to get us back as soon as possible to the gnome capital. I have already made payments to have one of the portal mages hop us back over there once we are on land after the ship ride.”

“That will be a nice convenience. When can we get out of here? Do I have to line up with the cargo?”

Zoe laughed a bit. “No. I’ll bring you over so that the ropes can get started.”

Zoe led him over to one of the workers and they got started on prepping him for travel. The dwarves were quick and efficient. In only a few minutes the two dwarves working on him had tied up a rope harness for him that led to two separate ropes. The two rope ends would then be clipped into birds’ harnesses.

Arthur didn’t have to wait much longer to get into the air. It was just past sunrise, and the sun still glowed a bit from the morning air. The other cargo was loaded up and his team joined him on the birds including Zoe. They were given the signal to go and at the front Ronny, the dwarf rode and directed the other birds to fly to their destination.

It took them half a day to arrive at the camp. The others got off the birds for lunch while Arthur was untied by the workers of the camp. They had been waiting here for them and were all part of the tracker group for the King.

From what Arthur could hear during the trip most of the others didn’t like the ride over. They got up quite high in the air where the winds were strong and chilly. Kendra wrapped fire around here to warm herself up and others did similar things or forced the cold winds to go past them without touching them. Arthur enjoyed the wind despite the other's dislike for it. He was able to turn off his temperature senses and only feel it hitting his body. He couldn’t breathe in the fresh air like the others could up here, but this was the next best thing for him.

After the group ate their late lunch the trackers introduced themselves. Then about a quarter of the boxes were moved onto basic carts for horses to pull behind them. They would carry the supplies a ways back as not to disturb their tracking. The birds stayed behind and were taken care of by a handler that stayed behind. They would then fly up to their location once the dragon was slain. It was at this point that Arthur was instructed to use [Obfuscate] until they found the dragon and when the new supplies were passed out. Everyone was happy when that was announced.

Two of the crates were opened up and the items were passed out. Arthur picked up the magic glove and held it in his hands. The others also admired their new toys and so did the trackers. Arthur inspected his new glove for a little longer before sliding it onto his left hand. As he did so his magic automatically reached out to the glove, and it seemed to automatically open up and adjust to his larger hands. Once the glove was in place he felt he couldn’t move his fingers anymore just his wrist. With the glove came the magic orb that had come within. Arthur felt his magic connect with the orb as well and he could feel its power as an amplifier of his magic.

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As they started their hike up the mountain he played with it a little as they walked. He was a little disappointed that the glove didn’t fit his right hand because he could only cast light and dark magic through that hand. Still, he practiced a few spells. Nothing that would throw projectiles but some of his smaller stuff. As he walked he noticed that Kendra and Aria had the same idea and were also getting used to their new staves. Lucas was unable to carry his bow because of its size so two people worked together to carry it with them from further back.

The trackers led the way and they cut through several trails as they made a path that the horses could follow. This took the most time of their travels. Occasionally one of the trackers had to create a new path which required Kendra to burn a line of trees in the direction they wanted to go before one of the tracker's mages adjusted the terrain with his earth magic so that the horses could continue behind them.

It was a slow process of travel. They only made three miles of progress before they stopped, and a camp was erected. Much like with the paths a campsite was made the same way. Tents were pitched and a fire was started a food was passed out. During the evenings he and his fellow teammates were able to get to know Ronny better. He was fully trained in the greatsword and had fought in many tournaments before which helped him win the spot of dwarven representative for the dragon battle. They did not wish to be left out of participating and wanted a champion of their own that could hold the title of dragon killer for their people. Ronny also shared some of his experience fighting mana beasts in preparation for this task. Arthur found him an interesting character with a lot to say about himself and his accomplishments.

Their travels continued in much the same way over the next two days. They were able to travel a bit further the next two days with an average of fourteen miles. As they traveled the novelty of the staves had worn off to the twins. They still twirled them around if they had to wait for the path to be cleared but they no longer held them out instead opting for holstering them on their backs. For Lucas, he seemed to dislike the bow and begrudgingly accept that he would be the bow user in the back. The bow was also only for the purpose of killing the dragon which meant he couldn’t get a regular-sized new one until they got back. He was also a bit worried about being stuck in one place during the fight. It was Aria and Arthur’s to help him avoid that. Arthur would of course work to distract the dragon while Aria used illusion and mind magic to hide Lucas when needed.

For Arthur, he found the glove more intriguing the more he wore it. Like Kendra and Aria, he had stopped holding it out and casting spells, but he instead inspected it. Over the last two and a half days he spent much of his time that he wasn’t conversing with others trying to understand how the glove worked and the runes placed on it. Attached to each of the scales was a set of runes that each performed a certain function and built on top of nearby runes. Each time he completed his examination he cataloged the rune in his memory and cross-examined it with the one he had already figured out. This sped up the process significantly especially as he got further in and found more and more repeating sequences.

As he found how the glove worked he began to modify his own runes slightly around his hand to optimize the power of the glove further. It took some trial and error, but he soon had modified his hand’s runes to the point where he found them impossible to change without diminishing the effects that he had created. During this time when he optimized the power of the glove, he extended his aura into the glove. This was a power he had not told Zoe about yet. Back when he had to retrieve the piece of himself he realized he could do this temporarily to an object or thing. The aura energy wrapped around the glove, and he felt closer to it. The glove was becoming a temporary part of himself instead of just a tool. In the evening he extended his aura and self to his sword as well. When he practiced his sword movements that night they felt much more fluid, and the blade was like an extension to himself. That night Arthur felt great while he practiced. He had gone further back down the path to practice. The others were fast asleep and undisturbed.

By the fourth day, they had gotten into a rhythm of travel and were used to its stops and go’s. Arthur was walking when he heard a chill pass through him. He froze stopping the person behind him. He felt as though someone was looking right at him from right in front of him. Staring into his soul.

In the distance, he and the others heard movement and a few growls. The entire party was stopped now. The trackers turned around. The one leading at the front spoke.

“The dragon is here,” he turned to his fellow dwarves. “My team we head back. Good Luck.”

Zoe turned to face Arthur. She had been following the path behind him. “Good luck as well.” She turned around as well and followed the others.

Two dwarves hurried up to Lucas and dropped the bow for him. Lucas thanked them before they scurried off. He hefted it up and carried the large bow horizontally across his back. The five Dragon Killer arrows and a set of his regular arrow already hung in a quiver ready for him.

“We all ready to go?” asked Kendra who had assumed the lead position.

She looked over the four others. Aria, Arthur, Lucas, and Ronny nodded. They all took out their weapons except for Lucas and started marching to meet the dragon.