Chapter Three

I woke up from my dragon sleep, feeling a bit different. I stretched, realizing that I had grown bigger—now about 2.5 meters long with a wingspan of 3.5 meters. Looking around, I saw my siblings stirring. They were all about average size for our age, still waking up as I was.

A commanding voice broke the morning air: “Now that you have entered your wyrmling phase, the clan will teach you to hunt. Come here, Ceruleon.”

I watched as a juvenile dragon stepped forward. He looked average in most ways, except for a scar that marked his chest.

“From this day forward, Ceruleon will teach you all how to hunt,” our mother continued. “You will catch your own meals.”

With that, she left us in Ceruleon’s care. He surveyed us with a serious gaze before speaking. “Follow me. I want to see what you can do with just your ancestral memories and magic.”

We followed him out of the cave, and for the first time, I saw the world beyond. Juvenile and adolescent dragons lounged nearby, some still stained with blood from successful hunts. A few wyrmlings played, mock-fighting under the watchful eyes of an adult dragon, who stood as a sentinel over the clan. My ancestral memories whispered to me that these dragons often hunted ships for gold, raiding passing trade ships and pirates alike.

We continued walking until we reached the edge of a forest near the beach. Ceruleon stopped and turned to face us. “I’ve placed tracking magic on each of you. These woods are relatively safe but beware of fire bears. Now, go. Start your hunt. I’ll be watching.”

He settled onto his haunches, watching as we processed his words. Without hesitation, my sister bolted into the woods. I turned to my two brothers. “We should all hunt separately to develop our own skills.”

They agreed, and we each went our own way.

Minutes later, I spotted a horned rabbit hiding beneath a bush. I considered my options: should I swoop in from the sky or burrow into the ground and wait for it? I decided to go airborne, combining flight and magic for a swift attack. Beating my wings, I lifted off and spotted the rabbit below. I swooped in, but it heard me just in time and dashed away. Frustrated, I fired my breath attack in anger, missing entirely. A mere rabbit had evaded me, a blue dragon! The humiliation stung, but I calmed myself and thought things through. I should have softened the ground with earth magic to trip it up before lunging.

With the rabbit’s scent still in my nostrils, I followed its trail and found three more grazing nearby. This time, I used earth magic to weaken the soil beneath them. As I took to the air again, they heard me, but one lost its footing and slipped. I dove, grabbed it in my claws, and unleashed a burst of lightning, killing it instantly and cooking it to perfection. Satisfied, I devoured the rabbit and continued my hunt.

After catching a few more horned rabbits, I stumbled upon a herd of scaled deer. I buried myself in the dirt, using the ground as cover. After a few tense minutes, a deer wandered near. I lunged, snapping my jaws around its neck, noticing the scales on its horns only as I dragged it down. I fried it with my breath, eating my fill.

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While searching for more prey, I encountered a massive hog—three meters long, two meters tall, with four tusks radiating magical energy. A magic boar. I decided to dive-bomb it from above, but as I descended, it fired a fire spell at my chest, the impact was painful. I retaliated with my breath attack, but the boar was stronger than I expected. It thrashed and slammed me into a tree, but I clung on, sinking my claws deeper into its hide. Another blast of lightning from my breath attack finally brought it down.

I decided to avoid more boars for the time being and continued exploring the forest. As I wandered, I caught the scent of a dire bear—a dangerous creature about five meters long and radiating magic. I decided not to engage and walked away, passing by dire wolves shortly after. Both were beasts I wasn’t ready to face alone.

A few minutes later, I came across my youngest brother, Vaelrath, chewing on a rabbit. “Oh, hey, Azuron! What are you doing here?” he called out.

“Just wandering. I saw a dire bear earlier. Want to hunt it together?” I asked.

He sprang to his feet, excited. “Yes! Everything else here is boring—just horned rabbits and scaled deer.”

Together, we returned to where I had seen the fire bear. “Here’s the plan,” I explained. “You distract it with a bit of lightning, and I’ll pounce on it. Once it’s focused on me, rush in and go for its throat. Got it?”

Vaelrath nodded eagerly. He shot a tier-one lightning spell at the bear, drawing its attention. As it growled and faced him, I snuck up from behind and leaped, unleashing a breath attack on its back. The bear roared in fury, turning to face me as my brother charged in. He dug his claws into its shoulders, but the bear responded with a tier-three fireball, knocking Vaelrath off and badly injuring him.

The bear turned back to me, but before it could strike, I fired my breath directly into its open mouth. It howled in pain, nearly defeated. Just as it was about to lunge, Vaelrath sprang up, biting down on its throat and releasing a breath attack. The bear’s body spasmed, and it collapsed, dead.

We both suffered minor injuries, but they would heal quickly. Dragon regeneration was incredible. As we finished eating, the sky darkened, and we headed back to find our siblings—Zalyndre and Zarothan—waiting with Ceruleon.

Zarothan asked, “What did you guys hunt?”

“Just a few horned rabbits and scaled deer,” Vaelrath replied, shrugging.

Zalyndre laughed. “That’s it? I took down a magic boar.”

“I hunted one too,” I added, “and Vaelrath and I killed a dire bear.”

Zalyndre looked shocked and turned to Ceruleon. “Is that true?”

Ceruleon nodded. “It’s true. These two teamed up and took it down. You’re all becoming fine hunters. Let’s feast.”

And so we hunted well into the night, learning new techniques from Ceruleon over the weeks and testing our skills. Eventually, he led us to a rocky cliffside by the ocean pretty far away from the main den .

“Tomorrow, we will hunt terror crabs,” he said, pointing to the massive boulders near the water. “They hide between the rocks during the day, waiting to ambush. The ones you as hatchlings ate were stronger. These will be much easier than fully grown terror crabs who are out in the ocean .”

He gave us a final word of advice before flying off, and I turned to my siblings. “We should work together. You three try to flip the crab, and I’ll finish it off when it’s vulnerable.”

My brothers agreed, but Zalyndre scoffed. “No, I’ll take one down myself and prove I’m the greatest blue dragon!”

Before I could stop her, she took off. The rest of us searched the cliffs, eventually hearing Zalyndre’s roar. We rushed over and saw her battling a terror crab, bloodied and losing. We roared in unison, diving in. Zarothan and Vaelrath tore at its legs while I struck from the front with a tier-two lighting bolt. The crab screeched as we flipped it over, and we swiftly finished it off.

Ceruleon landed beside us, lifting Zalyndre’s limp form. “I’ll take her back to the cave. You three bring your kill.”

When we returned, Zalyndre had already healed, thanks to our natural regeneration. She approached me, looking ashamed. “I… I’m sorry for not listening, Azuron. I’ll follow you as the strongest, for now—until I become the strongest!” she shouted.

I smiled. “Apology accepted.”

We feasted on our catch, our bellies full as we curled up with eachother. Sleep came easily, and we rested, preparing for the challenges that lay ahead.