"We won't be lingering if there's a wyvern about!" the pilot called out to us as we left the small airship.

"That's fine, don't worry!" Seigunfrei calls back, although, he was having some trouble competing with the noise the airship was capable of. And while he tried to make himself heard, I slowly moved out onto the plateau this wyvern was supposedly operating near. Soon enough, the lone airship disappeared into the distance and Seigunfrei caught up with me.

"It's hiding nearby..." I comment as the wind starts to blow rather aggressively ahead of us.

"So how do you want to do this?" Seigunfrei asks after he leans in.

"Defeat it, prove we did so and get our pay." I answer before I found myself restrained. The injuries I had accrued against Seigunfrei had not exactly gone away. Some aid was given onboard the airship, but nothing they had could truly help us out. We were too strong in comparison to the average guardsman.

"Going to need a bit more of a plan than that..." Seigunfrei urges as we both back away slightly as a green-scaled beast begins to crawl out onto the plateau. As was normal with their kind, it presented itself in its mongrel draconic form. Lacking the front legs of a dragon, it pulled itself forward with a pair of single-digit talons at the tip of its wings.

In particular, this wyvern seemed to rely on those talons as well for attacking. They glowed brightly with magic and were of an almost sickle-like size, looking the part, too. The wyvern was cautious, however, it was two of us against one of it. That solitude probably meant it was a male.

"Got it, I'll try the diplomatic approach!" Seigunfrei sarcastically remarks in response to my silence before he is suddenly elevated onto a pair of leg-wrapped tornados.

"If you are still able to move, keep it focused on you!" I tell him as I slowly build up to a manageable speed. With grunts and groans I ignored the throbbing flesh about me and I prepared my magic. As the wyvern's mouth began to glow a pale green, bluish fire erupted from my right side as I approached it.

But, rather than focusing on the more mobile Seigunfrei, it came straight for me with a roar. And with a speed that worried me, given my current state, I got ready. I couldn't rely on my left side right now. So, I began to implant magic circles across it, I would force mobility out of it if I had to!

"HEY, MONGREL DRAGON!" Seigunfrei roared as he made a direct run on its tail. A stupid act to take, given the blade at the end of that lengthy appendage. But the attack on the wyvern's pride made that tail suddenly present itself to me. And I exploited it as it came whipping in my direction.

Taking the brunt of the force from the tail's midsection, I dug my claws into the scales until blood came out. From there, I ignited the magic circles on my left side and began to slugger about as I built up momentum. From rapid foot movements, I had moved onto great slams that cracked and fractured the stone beneath me. With careful, precise movements, I then began to steadily make my way towards the beast's tail-tip.

"Give me a target!" I call out to Seigunfrei before he suddenly leapt the gap between the edge of the plateau and a nearby mountain. Just before, he kicked a tornado free and blasted a small hole into the mountain. And from it, he held up his held-together legs in a single, greater tornado.

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"DON'T WORRY IF YOU MISS!" he laughs out towards me from across the gap. But, regardless of his comment, I had no intention of doing so. And the rest came just in time as the wyvern had gotten ahold of its surroundings. A maw agape with wind magic was nearly aimed at me. Instead, it blew out harmlessly into the surrounding sky as it shot across the valley.

Though, it would seem Seigunfrei was not up the task of actually killing the thing. As it just scraped along his spell rather than be impaled by it. Whilst the vortex did through it out onto the mountain below and rocky outcroppings stood in its way. It was still able to correct itself and get into the air.

"Great..." I remark as I was unable to fly. So, now, I found myself having to dodge and weave my way around wide blasts of magic wind. Whatever rock that breath touched just turned to dust! But I could use this.

So I dashed into the dust cloud and changed my vision. All that magic being unleashed, it made the wyvern's appearance stick out just right. And while I could not fly, I could create things. I had come a long way since I was a fearful failure at Tryhpeltzweig!

So I cocked my right-hand back and threw forth a construct. Only to catch Seigunfrei in a bout of bad luck. With a growl of frustration, I kept the move in motion and pulled him towards me. Though, I did not force a landing and dispelled it as soon as he came down, blowing the dust away because of it.

"Warning!?"

"Quiet!" I snap at the hypocrite as I begin to roll past the strafing attacks of the angered wyvern.

"We need a plan!" he called out to me as it became clear that he couldn't fly either.

"That spell, from the arena, when you took the magic I was letting out to bulk it up..." I began to explain before a volatile orb blasted me into the distance.

But, being quick on his feet, Seigunfrei avoided the attack and rallied besides me, "Trap it?"

"Then do what you couldn't do to me..." I spit out as I clutch my bleeding side. That spell caused most of the damage I was suffering from. So, against a weaker target like this mutt, it should tear it apart.

"I hope you have enough to feed it, then!"

"Make it!" I tell him, making it clear his concerns did not matter right now.

"Now!" he exclaims as a large vortex suddenly dominates the plateau. I couldn't tell if it was stronger than before, but seeing all these trees and other bits of debris being sucked into it. It gave a completely different impression of the spell. But this one lacked my power...

So I raised my right palm upwards and focused my external-magic flow there. With an insidious roar, something I could only do because of my osibindah biology. I let loose a gargantuan firestorm of magic that struggled to maintain its form in the devouring winds. But with so much going into that set of claws, I couldn't keep myself upright.

Seigunfrei, however, would not see me fall and he pulled me in close so I could focus on the magic. Very soon, a different kind of roar filled the air and I caught glimpses of the reptile being thrown about inside the torrential twister. Sealing my expenditure shut, I fell out of Seigunfrei's grasp as he tightened the noose. In but a moment, the wyvern grew louder and louder before it suddenly went quiet.

With a wet slap and the tumble of ground down rocks and shredded timber, the debris hit the land around us. Seigunfrei then began to chuckle as he collapsed in exhaustion while I forced myself back to my feet. Glancing off into the distance, I hoped the airship had at least lingered about, but it didn't seem like it.

"No..." I let out as I realise this might mean I would not make it back in time!

"H-Hey! Where are you going!?" Seigunfrei asked as I began growl and run. My body screamed for me to stop, but I couldn't. I had to get back to Thrurstradtur!

"What is the meaning of this..." I growled back at Seigunfrei when one of his spells curved around me.

"Slo... Slow down, Nin. Don't..." he told me as he panted from the ground.

"No." I firmly answered as I began to take in what I could whilst bounding through the mountains. I knew the way I had to go, I knew where I needed to be! I just needed to make it there in time! I had to!

For Larishazza's sake...