“So.” I said as we flew at a decent pace. We weren’t in any rush, but we were going to make decent time. “You had some conversations with my family?”
“Indeed.” Elendria answered, smiling at me. “But I am also under orders not to inform you of what we discussed.”
“Pleaaaaase?” I asked.
“Absolutely not!” She immediately replied. “And don’t try that again, your daughter is much better at it than you.” Pausing for a few moments, she smiled and said, “I kinda liked getting called Auntie Elendria.”
“I see.” I nodded, looking around. The landscape was rather drab, a lot of it rocky scrubland. It was no desert landscape, as there were quite a few areas of greenery, but a lot of that seemed to be limited to ravines and valleys that were hidden from casual sight. “Well, I know better than to try and get around what Danielle says.”
A nice silence descended as we flew, though I noticed eventually that Elendria kept getting distracted by something to her left. “You ok?” I asked.
“Huh?” her head snapped in my direction. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”
“Don’t try and bullshit a bullshitter.” I chuckled. “What’s so interesting off that direction?”
“That big mountain there.” She said, pointing to one in the middle of the range. It seemed taller than the others, though none of them were particularly small. No, it was just hard to tell because the one she pointed to seemed to be enveloped by fog.
“What’s so interesting about a foggy mountain?” I asked.
“Not the mountain, but something in or on the mountain.” She answered. “I can feel something there, something somewhat evil. Not as bad as the undead city, but in a similar vein. Like there’s something there that I could take care of, though it isn’t bad enough to fully warrant my intervention.”
I slowed and hovered in the air, letting her catch up and hover beside me, still concentrating on the mountain. “If you think it’s necessary, go ahead and take care of it.”
“But your dragon?”
“Bah.” I waved off her concern. “You weren’t going to interfere with that fight anyway, and this will keep you from being tempted. Go take care of it, and whoever finishes first can go meet the other one. Though I have a feeling my transformation will take a few days, so you’ll likely have to come back and wait.”
“Very well.” She said, leaning in for a kiss. After a quick peck, she took my face in her hands and pressed her forehead to mine. “You will come back hale and whole, because I am not about to explain to your family how you got maimed, do you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” I chuckled. Though thinking on it, I didn’t really blame her. With her threat delivered, she gave me a peck on the end of my nose then took off toward the distant mountain. I might have enhanced my sight just a bit to watch her cheeks jiggle with each flap of her wings, but I’m only human. At least, for now.
Wrestling my libido back under control, I took off toward the obvious volcano. It was a picturesque cinder cone, towering above the plains. Hovering over the main vent, I was surprised to see a lava pool in the middle. While I knew that the volcano was active, I had figured the top would have sealed over and started building pressure. Maybe something was keeping it open on purpose? Well, I needed to get the dragon out of the lava somehow, and if it was keeping this open it would make a nice little announcement. Channeling magic into a tight sphere between my hands, I formed a weak barrier around the ice magic core.
“Knock, knock.” I muttered as I dropped the sphere into the lava, smiling as it sunk slowly. It got about 20 feet down before the barrier shattered, and all hell broke loose. Unrestrained, the ice magic flash froze the lava around it. The sudden temperature drop coupled with the instant freeing of the dissolved gasses resulted in a massive explosion, no doubt aided by the liquid rock below. Ejecta from the size of a pencil to small SUVs were thrown clear, along with plenty that had been reduced to simple ash.
While I could easily deflect the majority of the rocks with no issues, the white hot bar of plasma that lanced out from the volcano would have been another story! Lurching to the side, I kept my eye focused on the crater where it had come from.
“WHO DARES TO ATTACK ME?” Thundered from the volcano. The pressure wave from his words was enough to clear the air above the lava, and I was entranced as he emerged. Streams of orange lava contrasted with his blackened scales as his head emerged from the lava. Mouth shaped like a crocodile with two lower fangs that pulled his upper lip back into a permanent sneer. Golden eyes the size of me glared at me in rage set in a face with traces of blues and reds cutting through his scales. Two massive clawed feet emerged to heave his bulk out, each limb bulging with muscles. Massive leathery wings swung open, flicking the tips back and forth to dislodge any lava that dared to cling to them. He was hornless, but there was a line of spikes that ran from the base of his skull down his tail, with a thin film of tissue between them like what you would see on a fish. His tail ended in a bladelike fin, like someone had taken the tail of a thresher shark and sized it up to fit a dragon.
Immediately locating me despite the distance, his eyes, narrowed. “Since when did humans grow wings?” As I thought about whether or not to answer him, I noticed him moving one claw on his right hand. Feeling uneasy, I tucked my wings in and dropped close to 50 feet just in the nick of time. Thunder crashed as I was replaced with a bolt of lightning.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“Rude.” I muttered, launching several lances of ice in response. He simply chuckled as they shattered impotently on his scales, then launched himself into the air.
“To think a weak human would dare attack me. If you vermin have overrun the demon continent, then I guess I don’t need to hold to the old agreement.” He rumbled, sending his own volley of ice spikes at me. I sent a barrage of fireballs in his direction, but mine were vastly oversized and had very little mana density. “You send fire at me?” He roared in contempt, slashing through a fireball that neared his face.
“Just a distraction.” I chuckled from just behind his arm, having used the fireballs as cover to get in close. “Time to die.” I said, having been charging up the same attack that had taken down the oversized turtle guardian. I wasn’t about to waste time talking with this creature, and I wasn’t about to underestimate it. At least, that was my plan. Who was it who said plans never survive first contact?
My world erupted into pure white and thunder. Rapidly blinking away the glare, I was just in time to see the dragon’s claws coming to eviscerate me. I used a burst of air magic in conjunction with my wings to boost me just barely out of danger, smiling as the beast flew past. That smile dropped as I saw arcs of electricity moving along the spines on his back, and I barely managed to coat my head and chest in a mana barrier when his tail whipped into me and blasted me with electricity.
“Gaaah!” I cried out in agony as my muscles were paralyzed. Rocketing off into the distance, the air pressure from my speed was preventing me from stretching my wings, and I could do nothing as I slammed into the ground and left a half mile long furrow in the landscape. I groaned as I felt a gentle breeze blow away the dust from my landing.
“Still alive little mortal?” The beast asked, hovering in the air.
“Oh, so now you wanna talk?” I grumbled, picking myself up and dusting myself off. I had cracked a few ribs on my right side, and at this point I needed to recover after underestimating the dragon. “And what’s the deal with all the magic? I thought you guys were limited to one element?”
“Why not?” He shrugged. “It’s not like any of you will ever be strong enough to actually challenge me, and you did manage to survive a blow. I suppose I could see exactly why you are coming out here. As to the magic, did you really think a magical being with an unlimited lifespan would settle for just learning one element? Your species must be getting dumber through the generations.”
“Fairly simple really. I need your heart so I can become a demigod, go over to your original world and kill Apophis.”
“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” his laughter boomed across the plains. “A speck like you, taking on Apophis? You can’t even give me a challenge, fool!”
“Better a fool with goals than a COWARD!” I roared back, watching as his eyes narrowed in on me.
“Be very wary of your words, mortal.” He said in a threatening voice. “Right now I will be content simply killing you. If you continue, I will rain fire upon these lands until they are nothing but ash and dust!”
Wincing as my shapeshifting managed to click my final rib back into place, I took to the skies once more. “And why should you not be called coward? Did you not flee your homeworld?”
“Apophis is stronger than you know, fool! His hunger, unending! His touch corrupts! I did everything I could to save my family!”
“BULLSHIT!” I thundered back. “You’re immortal, you get stronger just by living! Why haven’t you gotten stronger in this world and gone back to retake your own? Instead you’ll just laze about, waiting for Apophis to follow you to this world then what? You’ll move on to yet another world and serve it up to him on a platter as well?”
“You know nothing of the sacrifices we had to make to come here! How our elders-“
“AND I DON’T CARE!” I used a bit of magic to amplify my voice. “You came here, leaving a path for Apophis to follow! You’ve done nothing as the demons fight tooth and nail to save their world from constant invasion! You and your entire race are cowards that aren’t worthy of the gifts bestowed upon you!” With that, I sent a bolt of my own lightning into the side of the creature, only to watch in horror as it scattered across his scales, moving through blue channels to several glowing crystals.
“Oooh, tingles.” He chuckled. “Oh, don’t give me that look! It took me ages to swim through the mantle of this planet and consume enough of this marvelous metal that absorbs magic! Then I had to integrate it into my scales and figure out how to absorb the magic it collects safely into my body.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Elendria’s POV
I was feeling a bit unsettled as I neared the mountain range, especially the central peak that had what I now realized was a massive blizzard circling the top. It wasn’t nervousness, though I did feel a bit worried for Sean. Who knew what tricks dragons had learned over the millennia? No, it was just a growing sense of foreboding about what awaited me at the top of the mountain. Dropping a bit of altitude, I decided to circle the mountains for a bit.
Crossing the middle of the range shocked me. Behind me was dry land that barely saw enough rain to have plant life. Ahead of me was a jungle teeming with life. How was it that just crossing a few mountains could lead to such a difference in life?
Putting that issue aside, I started circling around towards the central peak. Furrowing my brow, I headed towards a strange clearing midway up the mountain. It was well below the blizzard, and I saw a bit of movement in the center. Getting closer, I noticed several demons piling animal carcasses to the side of a demon tied to a pole.
“What is the meaning of this?” I asked, letting my powers flare around me as I descended into the clearing. The demon on the pole looked at me in terror while the others had a momentary horrified look.
“Whoever you are, get lost!” One of the workers shouted, flapping his hands in a shooing motion.
Not about to deal with that amount of disrespect, but still not wanting to actually hurt these people, I froze all the carcasses at his feet. “I’ll ask you one more time.” I said, stepping forward and keeping an eye on all the workers, who had frozen in fear at my display.
“It’s the o- o- offering!” The worker I had singled out stuttered as a stain formed on his leg.
“Offering?”
“Offering! Every 5 years we give the great Metel a sacrifice to go along with the offerings of the hunt! In return she uses her blizzard to keep the rains on our side of the mountains, allowing our jungles to thrive!”
“And what does she use these sacrifices for?” I asked, glaring at the man.
“Whatever I wish!” Boomed a voice behind me. Swirling in place, I looked up to see a dragon’s head raising up above the trees. Smooth blue scales with white edging covered her, and they looked incredibly smooth. She had an elongated, narrow face with two black horns shooting straight back from the back of her skull. Flowing silver hair framed her face, and I could see a pair of fairly short clawed arms on her body, one that for some reason didn’t swell like a dragon’s should past the shoulders. “And my wish is that they become permanent sculptures for my gallery!”