--------///----Eclina's POV----\\\--------

~ Today's the day! Today's the day! I get to hunt again! i slept alot and i feel perfect! Mr.Garris said i was going to hunt wrymlings today but what are wrymlings? I know they're some kind of dragon but i don't really know much about them. I don't know where they even are. Should i ask Mr.Garris? But i'm going to find out by going there so would it be worth asking? ~

(Garris) " Are you okay Eclina? "

I wasn't expecting Mr.Garris to say something but it wasn't that shocking. I opened my eyes and looked over to Mr.Garris, who was smaller so he could walk through the forest easier, just looking down at me with a confused look on his face. Right now we were just walking towards the mountains that were further in. Mr.Garris was leading me to where i was supposed to hunt but i didn't know much other then that.

(Eclina) " Yes. Why wouldn't i be? "

(Garris) " Well you were just tilting your head side to side without saying a word. It would be odd if i didn't ask you about it. "

~ Was i? Since when did i start doing that? ~

(Eclina) " I was thinking about Wrymlings. What are they? Won't the parents get mad? "

(Garris) " Well aside from the obvious fact. Wrymlings are essentially a blanket term. Wrymlings are draconic offspring that fail to control their bloodline and synchronize with their elements. They essentially become monsters yet retain the perogitive of not to damage the forest. "

Mr.Garris went into more detail about what Wrymlings were but throughout his explination i was wondering about what he meant. I didn't want to interrupt him this time so i waited until he was done explaining. I learned some new things about wrymlings though, if anything with draconic blood failed to keep it controlled then they would fail synchronizing with their elements. If they lived long enough then they would be able to get another chance to get their bloodline under control, if not they would just mature into berserk variants.

Wyrmlings typically just had whatever aspects of their birth species, sturdy scales, and they were usually pretty strong. But despite the word, "Wrymlings" were still the name of juevinile wryms. Which was confusing. Why use the same word for two completly unrelated things? Especially when the first one makes the other look bad. Mr.Garris rambled about a few other things that i was just going to put at the back of my mind but when he ended i took that initiative. 

(Eclina) " Umm. What's it mean that they failed to control their bloodline? "

(Garris) " Excellent question. To explain it the best i can... Picture how you connected to your elements. You told me you saw them as balls of their respective element. Now instead of that, picture a mirror image of yourself but one reliant of pure instinct, hunger, power. Now picture having to fight that mirror self. If you win then you gain control of your bloodline and delements. If you lose then you become a wyrmling. "

(Eclina) " But why? None of us have to go through that. Why do dragons have to go through that? "

Mr.Garris just shook his head.

(Garris) " I don't have the asnwer to that question. The answer would most likely lie with Bahamut. "

(Eclina) " Aww. "

(Garris) " If you get the chance you may be able to ask Fafnir. However i doubt he would go out of his way to ask. If your lucky he may already have the answer. "

After Mr.Garris told me that i just started to think on it.

~ Even though he told me i was going to hunt wrymlings i still don't know much. There was no reason not to ask him but is there anything else i want to ask?.. Ummm... No? I can always ask him stuff later. ~ 

(Eclina) " What kind of wrymlings am i going to fight? "

(Garris) " I've found three that you should be capable of fighting. Two drakes and a wyvern. The drakes are still young yet they are vicious. It will be up to you to figure out how to defeat them. However the wyvern will test how you will deal with an opponent that will be out of your reach. They are both capable of dragon fire however it is not to a degree that you cannot defend against. "

(Eclina) " How do you even know where they are? "

(Garris) " I've marked them. I left some of my light around them and unless they die it will remain on them. Currently the wyvern is nesting and the two drakes are hunting. Despite the differences they are all in close proximity. I'm assuming the drakes are from the same batch as they were together when i marked them, and they are too young to mate. "

That sounded... Scary? I didn't mind fighting siblings but i was worried about something that could happen because they were siblings.

(Eclina) " What if they team up on me? Am i going to be ok? "

Mr.Garris just snorted when i said that.He shook his head and just kept walking.

(Garris) " You'll be fine. If i sense the other drake coming towards you i will block it. We need to test your combat prowess while in a controlled fight. I'm not sure what to do in regards to your training and development without knowing how strong you can be. I need to know your limits first. These fights will help me gauge your abilities while also helping you gain first hand experience. I'll be adjusting your training according to how well you do in these fights. They will also ease your aggitation at not hunting since we began your training. "

(Eclina) " I'm not aggitated! "

I couldn't help but shout that when Mr.Garris said i was aggitated. He wasn't wrong but he didn't have to say it... Now Mr.Garris was just laughing at me as we walked. I just stayed quiet for the rest of the walk so i didn't make it any worse.

After a while we made it to the foot of the mountain, which seemed to be a clearing but it was clear of any trees and seemed to be barren. The terrain felt hard and cold which was way too different from the soft and cool grass. When i looked around it looked like i could climb up the side of the mountain and reach a... Plateau? I think that's what it was called? The side didn't seem that hard to climb and Mr.Garris didn't say anything against it so i started climbing. I had to be careful of my positioning since if i wasn't i would probably end up falling and having to start over again.

It didn't take long and i didn't mess up that much so i made it up to the plateau easily. When i did i looked down and saw i was atleast nine meters up and despite how easy it was to climb up i realized i probably wouldn't have been able to climb this if i was still a wolf. But that thought made me feel weird. I obviously knew i changed but i haven't done something that i might not have been able to do if i was just a wolf with mutiple tails. I couldn't help but look at my paws and just keep thinking. Eventually i was brought out of it by Mr.Garris.

Mr.Garris had just gone full size and stepped over the cliff face to get up. It was weird seeing him suddenly grow and walk over something that i had to climb up, seemingly without any effort.

(Eclina) " Cheater. "

I couldn't help but whispering under my breath at how unfair that was. He even shrunk back to a smaller size again which made me a little more annoyed at him. But i wouldn't admit that. Mr.Garris looked in a few directions and seemed to be thinking about something.

(Garris) " Follow me. One of the drakes seems to be preoccupied so there should be no chance of you getting interrupted. This one will be the stronger of the two so you'll be in for a challenge. "

Mr.Garris was still looking in the direction of the drake so he probably didn't notice my tails wagging. At first they were weird to wag. If they all wagged in a different direction then they would hit each other. I've had to work on that so they would all wag the right way instead of just smacking together. When they swayed the right way they looked really pretty.

(Eclina) " Oooou! How far is it?! "

Mr.Garris just shook his head with a smile and started running in the direction he was looking. He wasn't running that fast so it was easy to follow him. We ran for a bit and despite Mr.Garris not running that fast, i WAS. I was using my air to help me keep up but it wasn't that draining. Eventually we came across a slope that led into a small clearing with some grazing Steel Buffalo. When we ran up to them they all tensed up but Mr.Garris said something to them and they just went back to doing their own thing. They still looked tense but they didn't look like they were going to try anything against us. 

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Steel buffalo were weird. Instead of the usual "Eat grass and other fauna" buffalo, these guys just ate minerals and metals by dragging them up through the ground and munching on them. They all seemed to have this silver sheen as if they were metal come to life. Their "Fur" and bodies looked so hard that i felt my teeth hurt just by looking at them.

Suddenly i heard a roar off in the distance which scared me since it was so sudden and ear piercing. The buffalo didn't seem to be bothered at the roar and just kept looking at us while they ate. I didn't get why they were so nonchalant towards to drake's roar so i looked over to Mr.Garris for an explination.

(Garris) " They aren't worried because the drake couldn't hurt them even if it tried. As you've no douubt already observed, their hides are tougher then what a drakes claws can pierce, they are resistant to blunt force, and the drake's fire cannot hurt them as it's still too immature. They are also in a herd, safety in numbers as they say. "

(Eclina) " Ehh? That's it? Can they even hurt the drake? "

Mr.Garris looked at the buffalo and seemed to be evaluating them individually. Suddenly his eyes locked onto 1 of them. It looked to be the one he said something too earlier on. 

(Garris) " If it's her then yes. Despite only having one element she would be the strongest of her herd. However there's no reason to have her involved since this is your training hunt. "

(Eclina) " Ok! Am i going to be on my own now? "

(Garris) " I'll be observing you from up above but unless you are in mortal danger i will not interfere. "

Suddenly Mr.Garris gave me a stern and serious look as his tone started to reflect that look.

(Garris) " This may be a test but you are by no means to treat it as a game. You will be in danger Eclina, you must treat this seriously and put in as much effort as you can. Do not underestimate your opponents. "

When Mr.Garris said that i couldn't help but remember what mama said after my first hunt. She said something essentialy identical to what Mr.Garris just said. It gave me chills and made my fur stand on end. I just started shaking my head and made sure to turn the air on my tail off and replace it with darkness and earth. We learned that i can use 2 of my elements at the same time If i had them on my tails. I looked Mr.Garris in the eyes and said what i believed.

(Eclina) " I'll give it my all! "

Mr.Garris stared for a few seconds before he smiled at me.

(Garris) " Then show me how strong you are Eclina. "

I smilled back and ran towards the source of the roar. I ran for atleast 5 minutes before i found myself at an area with a watering hole and some minor fauna growing through the stone. I'd think this was just another watering hole if it weren't for the bodies of various herbivores and the occasional carnivore that littered the area around it. The stone was bloody and so was the water, just to a minor degree. I saw charred deer, snakes, a type of bull, a lynx, there were so many carcasses that were either burned, smashed or torn to ribbons, littering near the water hole. When i got there i decided to turn off my darkness tail and use my air tail for some quick movement if i need it.

I tried to get a hold of the drake's scent but when i did it pointed me in the direction of the hole. I thought about just going up to the hole and seeing for myself but then when i started thinking about it i realized that wouldn't be very safe. I thought about how i could check if it was in there and i had a thought.

~ Why don't i just use one of the bodies as bait? I could toss one in and if it comes out then i'll already have the advantage in distance... But what do i throw in? The snake wouldn't be much to worry about, the bull is too big, i could try the deer? Maybe? Let's try it. "

I walked over to the charred deer corpse and grabbed it by it's leg. The taste was weird but i didn't mind it. First i dragged it away for a bit and got ready to throw it but then the water started to ripple. Then a clawed arm came up from the watering hole, followed up by another and then the head popped out. The drake had dark green scales, golden eyes with black reptilian irisis, thick arms that looked to be all muscle and had a small spike at the end of them.

We made eye contact and the drake immediatley got angry. The thing rushed out of the water and charged at me. I didn't have many other options so i threw the deer at it and sent a blade of air after it. Despite my accuracy it was a little scary throwing something at a 5 foot mass of muscle that was charging towards me .

The deer itself didn't do much to deter the drake but when the air blade cut through the deer it's blood and guts blinded the drake. And since i wasn't carrying the deer anymore i was able to move freely. I tried to run to the side and send a bolt of earth and air towards its side but it slamned the ground and sent a small shockwave that made me trip. When i fell i ended up rolling behind the bull carcass and got some of its blood on me. I started using my air to get the blood off of me. When i was done i peeked around the carcas and looked to see what the drake was doing.

The drake seemed to be trying to get the blood off of its eyes and seemed to be failing. But then it started slamming its tail against the stone and started to move back. At first i couldn't tell why but then after another few steps i saw it was getting closer to the watering hole. If it got to the watering hole then it would be able to clean its eyes and i'd be back at the beginning. I knew i couldn't let that happen so i got away from the carcass and charged towards the drake.

However this time when the drake slammed his flat club like tail against the stone he suddenly flicked his head towards me and opened his maw. At first i was shocked it knew where i was coming from but then it's throat and mouth started glowing red. I knew what was coming so i dodged to the right but when i did the drake had slammed his tail down again and it turned its maw and breathed flames towards me. I tried to swap from having my air tail active, to my fire because i knew i wasn't manuevering that. But i couldn't do it fast enough so i made a shelter of earth and encassed myself in it and hold out until my fire tail was ready.

When the fire hit i could hear and feel my earth shelter burn and crumble away but i had to endure it for a few more seconds until my fire was ready. My shelter started to give out and i could feel my fur start to singe and i felt my body burning as the flames started to pierce my shelter. Then my fire tail activated. As soon as i felt it i used my fire to absorb or atleast redirect flames from the drake. As soon as i started i could feel the fire lessen until it stopped and gathered around my tail where it began to be absorbed. The drake still had its eyes closed but it wasn't letting it's guard down. 

It slammed it's tail down again but i learned and jumped before it hit the ground. Thanks to that, the drake didn't seem to know where i was as it kept flicking its head around. It still had it's throat warming up for another stream of flames but i knew to avoid that unless i wanted to be in for a world of pain. I was trying to wrack my brain on ways to get the advantage but i didn't have many ideas on how to do that. I didn't want to keep jumping either but that was when the thought hit me.

~ Can't i use the corpses to my advantage? If it's finding me from just slamming its tail then why don't i just hop onto a corpse and get closer? ~

I thought more and more but as it stood that was the only plan i could come up with. But then i realized a flaw in my plan... The bull carcass seemed to be way farther then it was before. The force of the flames hitting my shelter must've pushed me back since i knew it was in the same spot. And to make things worse, the drake kept moving back towards the watering hole! The bull was atleast 6 feet away and i didn't have much leeway to do it... I atleast had to try it. I started to swap my earth tail off and started to focus on my air tail to use the speed boost from it to make this easier. 

When me and my tail were ready i coated myself in air and jumped towards the bull. While i was in the air i forgot something... Even if the drake was blinded it still had its nose and ears. When i made it towards the bull it was already looking in my direction but when i landed on it there was a squelch sound as my paws put pressure against the bulls body. At that point the drake was readying another blast of flames which made me panic and try to jump to the nearest corpse. The closest one was a deer so i tried to jump and this time i hastily put air around my paws so i would hopefully land softly and not end up repeating that mistake.

The drakes tail slammed down and fired at the bull carcass, burning it to a crisp. I managed to land onto the deer without alerting the drake but now the only corpses big enough for me to successfully land on were a lynx and another deer. But unfortunately the deer was further away then i was hoping so my only real option was the lynx. But even the lynx wasn't guarenteed to be safe since it was torn apart leaving hardly any firm footing. I had no clue what i was going to do to get over to the drake before it made it to the watering hole... But then i thought about something papa would do when we played tag.

I've never tried it before but now i would have to try it. I used my air tail to full affect and focused on my paws. I didn't have many chances so i had to get this right the first time. The drake was inching closer to the watering hole and i could see the tip of it's tail was about to reach it. I had to do it. With my air focused onto my paws i jumped up and concentrated my air beneath me and hoped it worked. Before i started falling i made my air create small platforms for me to stand on and it worked. I had to use the moment without wasting time so i started changing my fire tail for my darkness to maximize my damage, and when it was ready i jumped again.

I was in the air above the lynx's carcass and i was still floating! Papa would do this to cheat but now i was using it to cheat against a drake! I jumped again and kept doing it as the drake had kept slamming it's tail against the stone and it seemed to be getting more and more aggitated that it couldn't find me. Soon i was right above the drake and i started to charge my darkness and air to try to get a kill. As soon as i was ready, i dropped onto the drake and unleashed a cascade of air and darkness slashes towards the drakes neck. But suddenly the drake looked up and tried to move it's neck.

Because of that simple move, a majority of my darkness missed its mark and crashed into the stone. But i still managed to cut into the side of its neck with my air. The cut wasn't that deep but that didn't matter. I had him. Since i was coming from above i was able to mount the back of the drake. It noticed me immediatley and tried to thrash me off but i coated my claws in darkness and plunged them into its back. Thanks to that, i was able to have a foothold on the drakes back and i was able to course my darkness throughout its whole body.

However, it wasn't spreading fast enough. The drake kept thrasing around and tried to smush me against the stone, but before that happened i jumped up and used my air walk thing that i used earlier, to get above it. The drake noticed i wasn't on it anymore and tried to make a dash towards the water but before it did i proppeled myself with air and coated my claws in darkness as i flew towards the opening on its neck. I extended my claws and slashed towards its neck at full force. The drake seemed to stutter and freeze right in the perfect spot since my claws landed right where i was aiming.

My claws cut deeper into its neck and spread my darkness through its head as it suddenly collapsed and started twitching. It was a little disturbing to see something like that twitch the way it did but at the end of the day i had won! I kept looking at the drake just to make sure it didn't start moving again, and after a minute or 2 it stopped twitching. It was really dead.

(Eclina) " I really did it... And all on my own too! I DID IT! "

I couldn't keep myself from bouncing around the body of the drake as i took in my victory. If the other drake was going to be like this then it was going to be easy! What's the worst that could happen?