Days have passed as I wake up once more, the only thoughts going through my mind is where to go, the only real way is north as the ocean is to the south and the already claimed forest to the east, to go west I would have to fly over the mountain, with nothing to go but instinct I was not certain I could go that high.

Before I left this lair one final time, I gave a last glance back to the hoard and told myself that I would do better, leaving the cave and looking at the camp, makeshift barricades had been erected and tension and anxiety fo the battle to be was high, nobody really knew where the main body was, just that the disappearance of the scouts will definitely attract the attention of the rest.

Once outside I gave some cautious flaps of my wings, barely enough to generate lift. After some practice I was confident that they could carry me without face planting myself to the ground. I ran ahead and with all the force my wings allowed me to use I started to gain height.

The ground below me got further away and soon I was heading north passing between the mountain and forest. The feeling of flight was refreshing, the cool air flowing around me, I lowered myself closer to the trees canopies to not be spotted and simply enjoyed the journey not knowing where I might end, but perhaps there will be a good place to settle further north.

Flying was faster and convenient, but it seemed that it also used more energy, by the time I could see the end of the mountain range kilometers away hunger stirred my stomach, looking at the forest with hunger in my eyes I let my senses guide me to any possible prey and soon I caught something, swooping down below the canopies I snatched whatever it was with my claws, it was light enough that I could carry it, a hare.

I managed to safely land in a sturdy branch without plummeting to the ground below and in a single bite I swallowed the hare whole, it would have to do for now, I used this moment to let myself rest, the end of the mountain range was a few dozen kilometers away, I needed to think what to do when I reached that point.

Deciding it was a question for later I simply let myself enjoy the respite and prepare for the rest of the journey by taking a nap, when I woke up feeling refreshed with the sun well past midday, I was ready to leave until I heard something, footsteps.

I listened in closely, the footsteps were steady and synchronized, several of them, I stood still waiting for them to get closer, they were nearing my location, they were passing nearby so I had to glide to another tree, easier said than done as I hastily used my claws to anchor myself to the trunk.

The scratching of the bark and sudden rustle of leaves didn’t go unnoticed.

“Did anyone else hear that?” Asked one of them

“Probably a fat racoon or something of the like”

“What if it’s a goblin?” Another one spoke.

“Goblins don’t climb trees, you should know that” Replied the one from before, probably their leader, managing to perch on one of the branches I managed to take a look at then, they did not seem like soldiers, carrying leather armor and shortswords, no insignia, no symbol.

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“Sun’s almost down, I hope you are correct about their hideout location, I want to return home tomorrow”

“When have I failed in guiding us to our paycheck?”

“Just saying, people talking about an expedition in the mountain to kill a dragon”

“I say it’s sensationalism” The last person of the group spoke.

“You do think if there was a dragon more people would talk about it instead of just rumors, most likely a drunk merchant spotting a wyvern or drake and causing all this ruckus along some bandits”

“Yeah yeah whatever you say, don’t get us killed so we can get the rest of the coin that the guild promised us, how did goblins get this far east anyways?”

“What do I know? probably some issues along the frontier with the untamed lands”

Some sort of sellswords apparently, something of the conversation intrigued me, the untamed lands to the west, it seemed like an ideal place to settle without the threat of an organized force, and the fact that these four were confident on taking an entire hideout of these goblins by themselves spoke that they weren’t the strongest of creatures, at least in low numbers.

The fact that they managed to slip through means that it’s poorly defended, with this information in mind I waited for them to leave before taking off once more to the end of the mountains and into the west.

With night approaching I decided to search for a place to rest until morning, the forest having ended and being replaced by an open plain, there were several sources of light that I took in as population centers that I should avoid for now, eventually I found what appeared to be a lake, however upon looking closer I realized it was an abandoned mine, circling around the upper area I decided this was as good a place as any to rest.

The morning light woke me up, looking around the deserted area just confirmed that this whole thing was abandoned, I took off to continue my journey west, this would hopefully be the last day of travel so I can actually search for a place to establish my lair.

Going high into the air would make the journey from here simpler as there was no way to conceal myself in this area, I also made it simpler to search for a meal, as I could use my eyesight from up here to dive into any animal I see to eat.

And so I did, diving with talons forward to a calf, impaling it and using my wings overtime to get away from the mother before getting stomped on, after a minute or so I let myself glide down to eat, it was much more filling than the hare and this should do until I arrived.

As much as one enjoyed flight, the travel was dull with the exception of spotting human settlements every now and as the sun finally settle I could finally see something interesting in the distance, like a scar across the land, there was scaffolding and stone as a wall was under construction, it made sense that monster could slip through temporarily if the soldiers meant to defend the border were protecting the construction sites.

This would have caused issues if I wasn’t flying, passing over the wall unnoticed thanks to the dark night sky, on the other side, there were no immediate difference, but going on for a while I noticed more settlements, but these ones weren’t the beacon that were all others I had seen, but consisted of half buried ruins of a civilization long gone.

On the relative safety of the untamed lands, it was these ruins that I decided to call my own. Being relatively close to civilization means that treasure will be easier to acquire, but for now I quickly dug out an area inside one of the largest structures in the middle of the town, I would have to clear the entire building to maximize the space.

But this would have to do for now, flying for almost 2 whole days had exhausted my body, so the first thing to do was get as much sleep as possible.