The crystalline color of the creature’s spiked tail was a great commodity even among most common dragons, and this one was a rarity above common. The uncommon red dragon opened its groggy eyes as it tried to process its surroundings. It couldn't see past the brown fabric of the bag though, similarly it couldn't understand why it's claws, nor its teeth couldn't cut through this fabric. Apparently the dragon had fallen asleep during its prolonged state of meditation. A vibrancy of sporadic energy funneled through the dragon.

Meditation Level 3 Unlocked

Through the tied knot of the bag came a fairly large hand. On the hand was the gauntlet of a knight, as its big fingertips wrapped around the dragon’s frame. The dragon struggled, its teeth sunk into the gauntlet, only to be denied any sort of reaction except the unpleasant sensation of metal against teeth. “Mehyuan….” The dragon said, trying to articulate once more but failing splendidly.

Its eyes were met with beautiful colors of green and blue with a hint of white. The puffy clouds and layered trees in the background were a sight to see. The knights were all resting against trees and eating. Some were napping while they had the time.

Sir Orion took his helmet off, he had strange,white and stubbly hair. His clear resonate eyes were beautiful and almost crystal-like. A long black-haired man came into view with the red dragon in hand. Robin handed Sir Orion the dragon, “Sir, the dragon is healthy. Your daily examination?” Orion took the dragon in his hand, rolling it around as it struggled to pry itself free from his super grip.

“This is a fine dragon. Its tail is seriously sharp, and its scales are as hard as metal. I’ve never actually had my hands on a dragon of this tier. What a fine specimen. Hopefully Duke Rebech will be pleased with our gift to him.” Orion said, handing the dragon back to Robin. He looked into Robin’s dark eyes. “Let the dragon have some air and give it time to use the bathroom. The last thing we want to do is present the dragon to the duke with it being covered in its own waste.”

Orion turned around and addressed other knights, assessing the situation and deliberately raising the general morale. He was a great leader in these aspects and often talked to his men deeply about their problems. “I figure it will take us another day to reach Trigua sir.” Thabbock said. Thabbock was the fattest built of the knights, he wasn’t necessarily strong but he was smart in the ways of the land. Thabbok had been born of a mountain tribe and had plenty of game animals to eat in his younger years. The man was a noble in the mountains, but only a commoner here in the Duke’s territory. Heritage wasn’t universal after all.

Thabbok’s glossy brown eyes blinked as he awaited a response from his commander. He wasn’t sure if Orion was ignoring him or if he just hadn’t heard him. “Did you hear me sir?” Thabbok repeated himself, hoping he’d receive some form of acknowledgment for his precise calculation. Orion turned to Thabbok.

“I’m sorry, I don’t talk to thieves.” He said with a nonchalant face before turning back around to rummage through a box. The sarcastic hint in his voice alluded to an earlier problem between the knights. Someone before the trip had stolen all of the rations and ate them for himself. Orion found enough evidence to conclude that Thabbok was the traitor, and he strictly despised him for this. “As soon as we get back to the keep, I’m taking you off of my squad.”

Thabbok fell to his knees, crying in guilt and shame. His obsessive habit of eating had left him in dire straights. Being apart of Orion’s squad was an honor not many knights in the duchy got the opportunity to brag about. After all, Orion was the up and coming hero of the land. One of the many potential legends to enter the books and tales of time. “Shut your ass up. We serve the duke, and that is my dream. To serve a man till death.” Orion slapped Thabbok so hard he crashed to the ground. Everybody turned their heads to see the commotion, but simply disregarded it. They didn’t want to be apart of Orion’s beatings.

“Come on damnit! Use the bathroom already.” Robin shook the dragon intensely. For some reason at this odd time, the dragon began seeing hallucinations of many varieties. The image of the cave in which it had originated from and the flock of brothers and sisters it once was acquainted with. It realized it had purpose. The dragon had finally matured enough to have a brain beyond that of a rock. Its mother was somewhere out there, and his brothers and sisters possibly needed him more than ever right now. Consequently, the dragon’s spontaneous memory relapse resulted in the sporadic muscle movement of its tail into Robin’s armor and into his arm.

“Shit! You fucking vermin!” Robin sent an iron fist at the dragon’s body, detaching it from his arm as it flopped to the ground. The dragon was still in its trance of memory realization. He had originally planned on taking his family of dragons back together but had gotten lost in his path somewhere along the way. Although he was hesitant to shift the blame to his gorging habits…

+LEVEL UP +1 TO ALL STATS

For fully utilizing your INT, you have gained 5 WIS!

The dragon narrowly avoided the strike of Robin’s boot. Adrenaline still pumped through both parties as they participated in a minor exchange. Most of the dragon’s attacks were instinctive with its tail and claws. It knew better than to bite at the substance the man was wearing, doing so would simply serve as a modest discomfort. The dragon flapped its wings into the air and sliced its claw at Robin’s cheek. He maimed his face with the indention of the three claws that had dug into his skin. “Ahhhh!” Robin stumbled backwards onto his back.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

A bunch of knights took initiative to protect the injured Robin. “Grab the dragon, somebody quick!” Orion was the last to arrive as he bolted into action.

“Don’t just stand there! Before he flies away!” Orion screamed as he lunged for the dragon. Luckily for the dragon, no one knew it couldn’t fly. Although the mentioning of the word “fly” surely made the dragon blush a little out of embarrassment. The dragon felt morbidly offended from that last comment that it barely managed to process, it also began fidgeting around, trying to surmise a plan to get out of this crutch.

Darting through the legs of an unsuspecting knight, the dragon found a shimmer of refuge as he throttled his legs against the ground. The knights kept carving the dragon’s path to a new one, causing the dragon to zig zag, and allowing it to cause confusion in the camp. “GRYYyyaAhh!” It screamed, a mixture of frustration and other emotions consumed the dragon.

+1 AGI

The dragon obtained an agility boost, although it had no time to delight in its recent growth. The dragon felt more nimble on his feet, grabbing a firm grasp against the dirt as he ran away from the encampment and into the woods. He was gone, and there was no way the knights would be able to catch him on foot at this point.

“Szzziyaaht!” The dragon heaved for air, collapsing behind a tree and closing its eyes. “Broweteyr…” His eyes fluttered open, as his memories of his siblings returned to him. The blue dragon was especially prominent in the mind of the red dragon. Where was he, and how could he call upon his siblings? Were they in danger? Could he even find them? So many questions ran through the dragons mind, as he matured at an exponential rate.

A rustling bush caught the attention of the dragon, his breathing faltered to a halt. An orange head popped through the bush, munching on some grass. “Ratarooo!” The orange-wooled herbivore growled. It was a strange variant of sheep, with orange wool and black skin. Why did it go rataroo? The world may never know. It stared at the dragon with uncaring eyes, more specifically a strong disinterest.

Not that it offended the dragon, but he wanted to be recognized as a predator by all creatures. This one was no different. The sheep continued to munch on grass as the dragon’s stomach made a loud groan to be filled. The dragon’s onslaught never ended. He was about to take a delicious bite out of this sheep when it spat in his face.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing kid?” The dragon’s heart nearly fainted as the sheep clearly articulated human language as if it were nothing whatsoever. It had no way of describing how dumbfounded it was right now, the sheep had defied all logic. Although the dragon itself didn’t understand it was an abnormality itself.

“Tuyahlik?!” It said, trying to express itself to the sheep, but failing to make any comprehensive question. The sheep looked over the dragon as it tried to gain answers. It was clearly a class above the dragon or anything else in this forest. The poor little dragon just sat back on its ass, not understanding what the sheep was doing.

The knights were hustling into the forest after the dragon, spotting the duo instantly. How could anyone miss a pink sheep and a baby dragon together after all? “Looks like you’ve brought trouble kid. I’ll help you out this one time.” The sheep brought its hoof to the air, a magic circle sprouted out of nothing like a blue ancient language. A solar yellow beam emerged from the magic circle and punctured through the heart of one of the knights.

“W-What the fuck?!” The other knight screamed, before recklessly charging at the sheep with his sword. He was a silver-knight, but anyone would lose their composure after seeing this display. The sword clashed against the sheep’s hoof, but the orange sheep opened his mouth and released a hellfire from the pit of his stomach. It burnt the top of the knight to a crisp, as the blade smacked against the ground.

“Let’s go kid, we gotta’ get out of here. Otherwise we’ll be hunt down by an obnoxious number of that duke’s knights.” The sheep stated. The dragon couldn’t comprehend that much, but the sheep didn’t hesitate in picking up the dragon with its teeth. It galloped away, finding refuge deeper in the forest and away from any human activity for a good five miles.

“Look kid, find somewhere else to go because I don’t wanna babysit you.” The sheep said, pushing the dragon away. The red dragon was conflicted in its heart, not knowing what to do with this sheep, nor what it wanted. It was pushing it away, but it had also killed those knights with strange powers he found amazing!

“Nyahhhh!” It said, clawing the sheep’s leg as it tried to guide him somewhere else. The orange goat sighed, removing his hoof from the dragon’s body. He looked the dragon up and down before articulating with his sheep tongue.

“Fine, I don’t feel like killing you. Although I’m sure you don’t understand a word I’m saying.” He rolled his eyes and then brought his hoof to himself. “I’m an orange sheep as you know. You can call me Sal though. That’s my name. What’s your name little fella?” He put his hoof down.

“Oreep!” The dragon bounced up and down, like a happy baby that it was. Regardless, it couldn’t process its true dilemma to the sheep.

“No. My name is Sal, not Oreep.” He said with a groan, the depression was in his eyes. This dragon was fucking stupid wasn’t he? How could such a dragon exist? The sheep thought long and hard about how ancient dragons were the elder gods of this world, while this one brought shame to the name.

“Oreep! Oreep!” The dragon began breathing fire, catching the vegetation with a flame as it showed off its abilities. Did the dragon want the sheep to teach its high-level flame geyser? Impossible. The sheep was already beginning to hate its life once more. How many animals had come to him ignorantly seeking power?

The dragon bounced around, trying to convey its urgent message to the sheep, but failed with great stride. He just couldn’t convey a serious message to the sheep without a good tongue and comprehension of the language. “Szhit!” The dragon said, feeling incompetent.

The sheep and the dragon stood there, trying to understand one another for a while.

Name: Attributes: Skills: Race: Dragon (Uncommon) STR: 16 Stealth: 1 Level: 7 AGI: 18 Hunger Resistance: 2 Age: 6 Days DEX: 14 Meditation: 3 Gender: Male END: 15 Flying: 4 HP: 310 INT: 26 Fire-Breathing: 2 MP: 305

WIS: 23