Like an arrow , as soon as Angorod was 500 meters above his prey , he dropped down letting gravity weigh him down. Just 100 meters above the ground he unfurled his wings and violently rode the pressing current.
Angorod felt like his extra set of muscles , along with the bones , could be dislocated or even worse ripped out at the pain , but surprisingly it held. With a bone shattering sound he crashed on one of the scorpions backs.
A eerie screeching sound later it stopped moving. The humanoids on its backs instantly were killed but Angorod targeted one of the 3 were no captives were held. Lucky for him that they kept the prisoneres on the smallest one of the three scorpions all tightly wrapped together.
Due to the confusion a few seconds past , in that time Angorod regained feelings in his legs and arms , and he immediatly took off beating his wings furiously.
He hadn't expected the first crash to be so violent on hisself and this disrupted his plans greatly. Supposedly he should have taken the first out like this and at least bite of the stinger part of another.
Now they would be careful from attacks that came from all directions , but especially the sky. Even though his original plan had failed to kill 2 he had learned something very valuable as he crashed into the ones back.
Their scales were comparibly tough as his on the back , but the tail and pincers scales seemed to be a lot thinner. But the real ' jewel ' about these gigantious Scorpions lay deeper. Not unlike his dragon scales they had softer ones at the belly this would prove very useful to Angorod.
..............................
The slavers made slower progress then they had wanted , as they were now conscious they were being hunted. Much to Angorods luck they hadn't linked a dragon together with the captives they wanted to sell as slaves.
They feared the hatchling Dragon , as it had already killed the strongest one of the 3 beasts they used as transportation and for defensive measures. But they also knew a dragon that size probably couldn't possibly have enough power to pierce the Scorpions chitin like scales.
Dragon hunting was dangerous for humans , and even a army of 100 humans couldn't defeat the smallest of dragons. Their skin was to hard , their talons to sharp and their weight could easily crush 3 humans with every step.
Now Mages fighting a dragon was a different thing. With enough magicks they could easily ' drown ' a dragon or make it sink into a bottomless pit so warriors could attack it. Even when a Dragon was immobile at his feet he was still a feared foe.
After all they could use their sharp wings to fight against scores of enemys as well. But what was truly fearsome were the scales. Even 1000 repeated strikes to a single scale couldn't even scratch the scale.
One had to be sneaky and have a strategy to fight against a dragon. Just starting to smash it was no option. The most natural way of hunting dragons was building 5 man teams. 3 brawly men with the enough strength to lift an ox and 2 very quick warriors that knew how to use a spear.
The brawly ones lifted the scales , or even ripped them out of the dragons flesh with the lever principle , while the spear wielders struck its flesh. But even then this only worked against smaller dragons.
Bigger dragons had more scales , incredibly so , but the true fearsome way of retaliation was their inborn magic. Curving balls of flame they had just spit out , or wind that lifted hundreds of soldiers or the worst kind of dragon magic.
They formed whip like weapons with their breath attacks that could destroy thousands of human troops with every swing. All depended on how large a dragon was.
So humanoids , even magicians , never hunted Dragons alone. They always had mighty beasts with them that had the ability to challenge the dragons , or at least distract them from the humans until they got a killing blow in.
Humans regularily hunted dragons , with scorpion just like these , as every dragon had a lair and the species of beasts were notriously famous for their need of shiny things. Treasure caves filled to the brim with gold thats what Humans were after.
30 minutes have passed after the first attack and they still had over half of the way to go until they reached the fortified city.
...........
Slowly they came closer and closer. Angorod FELT they were decreasing the distance , but he couldn't see the 15 meter long scorpions. Even though it was a hot day like any other in the desert , that was flat besides the few dunes it had.
He still couldn't see them , neither did he need to. His eyes were closed and darkness was all around him. Nonetheless it was hot , unbearably so , and of he could have sweated underneath all those scales he couldn't.
Angorod needed to endure this until the proper time. The sand around him shook incredibly and he knew it was still to early. Another step , more sand landed on his head. Then another but Angorod remained motionless.
With every step the beasts took more and more sand landed on top of his head but just as the next step was made Angorods tail jerked up. With a powerful thrust upwards , he broke through the sand , closed the distance to the Scorpions belly and pierced inside of it.
Using his tail like a hook his front claws flashed and he broke through the bit of sand that covered him. The beast was crying out its last breath , but Angorod wasn't satisfied. He clawed his way inside of the beast and broke through the top layer of scales.
1 second did it take him to realize this was the neither the one with the captives on so he clicked his tongue. The other Scorpion had pushed of its confusion at its mates death cry and violently thrust its stinger towards Angorod.
It was like a lightning flash , so Angorod just relaxed all his muscles and fell onto the scorpions back. Just in time as the tail flashed above his now laying face. But taking it back would take longer and the stinger was not above him.
He loosend his incredibly long tail , while he dug his claws deep into the gaps between the scales , and used it like a rope to twirl around the scorpions tail 3 times. As it retracted it's own tail Angorod was hanging from it.
Angorod was surprised it didn't have the ability to lift its tail up with him attached , but then he reminded himself how much he had to weigh. But now another problem arose. With the tail in the air , Angorod had the advantage and could rip it off , but now that it couldn't lift it he was being dragged along the sandy surface.
Not that a little more sand would have mattered underneath his scales , but the problems were the pincers that now came closer. He used his tail to propell himself from the beneath the tail to the top of the tail.
While doing so he had the perfect idea. He uncurled 1/3 of his extremly long tail and began to move his tail along the beasts tail joints. After all he had spikes attached to his tail and just in 20 seconds , during the time he evaded 3 more attempts from the pincers , the beast screamed out.
He had used his special small horns as a saw with his constricted tail and attacked the weak part , the joint between the single ligaments of a scorpions special tail. But this still didn't mean it would die. Not in the next hour at least , even with all the blue liquid gushing out.
But nobody every said he had to kill all of them. He counted 6 people that were bound together by a rope. He also noticed that every 10 seconds 10 arrows hit somewhere on his body but if he hadn't seen it himself he wouldn't have noticed.
Angorod uncurled his wings just in time to fly over a pincer that wanted to cut him in half. While in flight he grabbed the rope that held the 6 captives together and took of. Even the extra ~480~ kgs was to much for Angorod so he couldn't take flight properly.
At least he manged to hover 5 meteres above the ground while his tail held the roped people that were screaming incredibly loud. Even 5 minutes after the had escaped the slavers a few of them were still shouting and crying.
" Oi shut up , im here to save you! " Angorod shouted back as he couldn't take it anymore.
......................
It took over an hour to get back to the monastary and immediatly Angorod put the troop of bound people down. With one of his razor sharp talons he sliced open the rope , but neither a ' thanks ' or any form of gratitude came.
* tring*
Quest has been completed
Immediatly Angorod used his long tail and began to scratch himself. He also lifted his left back leg and scratched his calfs. The sand was itching him so bad Angorod broke of a few of his own scales in the process.
Even while scratching himself for 10 minutes it didn't get better. With wind magicks he could have blown the sand grains out , but he wasn't talented in magicks. He even went as far as to balance himself out and rubbed his belly against the onyx walls.
A green mist covered him , as he couldn't take it anymore. Even in humanoid form it itched like hell in ... well all openings. The itch made him so furious that he forgot that his humanoid form was to be kept a secret but on top of that he was also naked.
" You got water in there? " Angorod asked while he scratched hisself everywhere.
One of the 6 females he had saved nodded , but still they hadn't uttered a word about him or the sitaution. Angorod casually pushed them out of the way as he walked through the open gate.
He found a well , with a bucket and rope attached to pull up the fresh water. But Angorod had other plans. As he tensed his leg muscles he jumped into the dark opening of the well and completly disappeard into the darkness.
The residents of this monastary moved closer to the well but even after 10 minutes Angorod hadn't come back out. No noise , besides a few splashes of water , were audiable from the dark depths but the youngest , the most curious one , stepped up to the stony edges of the well.
She simply bent over the edge and peered down trying to make anything out in the shadows beyond the opening. Even after 1 minute of peering she couldn't make anything out but as she was about to step back , a bronze skinned shadow jumped out of the well.
The simple roof that was placed overtop the well broke apart as Angorod jumped through taking the mechanism for retrieving water with him. As he was hovering in mid-air due to the enormos jumping power he looked around.
But soon gravity took its tool and the inertia declined from his jump. A green mist expanded from his skin as he transformed back into dragon form. But then another mist appeared and he switched back to humanoid form.
After switching back and forth 10 times , he finally appeared as a bronze skinned man , with slightly pointed ears and the most vivid violet eyes. Angorod had also remembered to summon the brown robe , to not upset the female coven that eyed him critically.
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" Hey im Angorod , as you can most likely tell im an Idra. " Angorod stated while he scratched his cheeks.
The oldest looking of the females stepped up to him but as soon as she wanted to say a word Angorod waved her off.
" I am an Idra , you have seen it. No need to hide behind that skin. " Angorod said eyeing the old female human in-front of him.
The others gasped and one even chocked at Angorods words , but in his eyes this was a reasonable request.
" What do you think we are , Idra? " The old female said.
Angorod shook his head while he sighed but soon he concentrated to summon the green mist once again. As his short dragon snout appeared he moved into a close proximity of the bronze robed figure in-front of him.
He breathed in slowly and not even one smell escaped his fine tuned senses. Now Angorod began to circle the old ' human ' with measured steps. The other 5 immediatly thought of a predator closing in on its prey , but both Angorod and the old female knew it wasn't.
Measuring , was the correct term. With his nose Angorod took in everyhting about her , about her REAL self. While he circled he felt a slight tinge over his skin , not the scales but the skin beneath. Angorod knew she was magically ' feeling ' him.
" I have read my peoples chronicles and i have wondered for quite some time , why haven't you stayed with the rest of us? " Angorod said after he had stopped the circling and sat down on his hind legs.
The old female also sat down , with her legs overcrossed at her ankles . For conversation sake Angorod also transformed back out of consideration.
" Why should we have , we are not like you. " The old female said.
" You come closer to what the Idra represent , then many of the beings i have met there. " Angorod countered.
The old female giggled way to high to be an actual old lady. It sounded more then a girl at the start of her 20's. Her plain brown eyes suddendly flashed up as they turned to a carmesind red. The color of blood.
" We are still born from dark beings. Some may say Dragons are evil but they are just prideful and territorial. We on the other hand kill for fun and joy not to feed , most of the time at least. " Her skin turned a deathly white that remebered Angorod of a blood drained corpse.
Her hair had turned a crow like black and her skin immediatly seemed to become younger. Her features sharpend and her canines extended slightly. Not to much to seem paranormal just slightly longer.
She was incredibly beautiful and she seemed about 19 years with extravagant curves full red lips that reflected the darkening suns rays. Her hair was thick and silky while her long and slender neck was inviting topped with petite pointy ears.
Even though Angorod was a enjoyer of a little bit more meat to the bones he involunteraily gulped at the delicate curves and other wordly beauty that drew in every male being. But that was what they were made for. They had no need for a succubus's aura their beauty was enough to drive a priest into insanity , while gladly breaking his vow to never have sex.
" You are holding up better then the average male. " The beauty in-front of him giggled slightly.
" After all i am a prideful Dragon. " Angorod said with a lazy smile on his face.
Both of them knew this was a utter lie and Angorod would probably have very hard time to decline their pleas of laying down with any of them. After all each and every one of them had the same kind of beauty. There were slight differences in their eyes and facial features but they were all TOO beautiful.
Beautiful and dangerous.
" ~ Soooo ~ a prideful Dragon ... would stop my advances to clear my covens debt and smother my pride in turn? "
Even though Angorod almost ran over to here , at the purring sound of her ~soooo~ his lust instantly plummeted at the mention of a debt. He even went so far as to start laughing loud.
The blood red eyes became slits and her fingernails extended , ready to pounce on him. But much to Angorods dismay not the good kind. She wanted to rip his throat out. Even when he was in human form he could die like any other being.
Their nails couldn't harm his scale armor but her magicks were lethal for anything in this world. They could kill him without batting a eye , but humans and other ' neutral ' races were a taboo for them.
This was also the case for their captors. Humans , doesn't matter if they were bad or good were taboo for them. Not because of some curse or binding , no , because their ancestors have sworn this and all decendants of them had done the same oath.
They couldn't harm the humans , be it physical or magical. It wasn't as unbreakable as a curse or as constricting as a binding but it was something even more powerful. Loyalty to their elders that took their verbal oath of this one rule their kind had.
" You are not in my debt. Neither of you are. " Angorod clearly stated while looking at each one of them in turn.
Her eyebrow shot up and she seemed to critizes him. Tried to see beyond the violet eyes trying to discover if he spoke the truth or was just playing with their lifes until he had enough of him.
" Why did you help us then? " The leader of them asked.
Angorod concentrated on his thought process and carefully selected the words he needed to speak.
" Dhampnir coven , i wish to learn you magicks. " Angorod said while placing his knees on the ground and placing his bare hands on the ground.
A murmur went through their small ranks as one whisper to the other. Angorod even went as far as placing his forehead against the sand to make himself as small as possible. The dhampnir elder walked towards him and placed her foot on his head while using all of her weight to push him even deeper into the sand.
" Do you understand what you are saying? " She asked with anger in her voice.
As his mouth was pressed into the sand he nodded under the immense pressure she put on his head.
" Do you understand that this could very well be your end? " She asked once again.
He nodded again.
" This will hurt , incredibly so. " She said.
He nodded again.
" Your soul could die. "
Nod.
" We could die. "
Nod.
" All of us. "
Nod.
" This has never worked on a male. "
Nod.
" What would you say if i told you it has never worked on a male before , because on those it did , became female? "
Angorods body tensed up and even 5 minutes later he was still rigid. But even though his muscles were stiff he nodded slowly. He was happy for his enhanced body of a humanoid dragon or he would have suffocated a long time ago.
" Are you insane? What kind of Idra are you? " The elder asked.
As she asked this she grabbed the back of his neck , while her sharp fingernails drew deep wounds he lifted him from the ground to look in his eyes.
" I wasn't born a Idra neither a dragon or whatever i am supposed to be. " Angorod said with a drained voice.
" You are an outsider? Why are you so small? "
This comment bit into Angorods heart , that should have been protected by multiple layers of ice , ever since his childhood.
" Don't know. " He pressed out through clenched teeth.
" Would you really want a life , neither male but female or neither both , to protect the last city of the Idra? " Her blood red eyes were still hard and began to emit a hatred for Angorod.
" I couldn't care less about the Idra , i want to ... protect 1 Family. My family. " Angorod said with a drained voice.
Now her eyes became a tad softer and she patted his shoulders. She even went as far as giving him a hug , that transmitted heat. Warmness that engulfed Angorod and almost brought him to tears but he reeled that emotion back in.
" You won't be bound by our oath. But you will be bound to us. Protector and guardian. A plaything if you want to think of it. We can only kill monster , be it dragons or pegasi. But you unbound with our power can protect us from the ' normal ' people. " She initiated the holy right of ' blessing '.
She had accepted his plea. The ritual was already in progress.
" How strong do you wish to be , immortal? "
This was also part of the process a simple question but also a very cruel one.
" It is not about my strength , it is about power and i want all of it! ALL of it. " He replied what he had read in the chronics.
All 6 of them jumped back a few steps and begin to hiss and snarl at him. But the elder soon came back to him. As she approached Angorod he instantly knew that she would grant his wish.
Not because he pleaded for it , or because he had saved them. Oh no for the Dhampnirs it was a very easy explanation. First he was male. Second he was a dragon and they loved powerful beings. But the third and most important , nobody could harm them anymore.
Never , they had been on a decline ever since they left the Idra , for reasons Angorod had no idea about. They declined because they couldn't run far enough to escape the humans and other mortal races.
He knew what they were and a deal with the devil couldn't have been more taxing. But he had 5 people he wanted to protect in this world as fast as possible. Angorod saw himself pouring gasoline into a sizzling flame , after he had bathed in tar.
All 6 of them appraoched him carefully without making any sounds , finally revealing what they truly were. Nocturnal hunters. Beings that originated from a combination of demons and vampirs. After mixing in the mortal races they became dhampnirs.
Dark magic and blood magic. Giving them immortal life and a never ending hunger. A hunger they couldn't satisfie. What they hunted now , to sustain their life , was a mystery to Angorod as they couldn't prey on mortals anymore.
They came closer and closer Angorod saw , but he could neither hear nor sense them. Even with his enhanced hearing or smell. Cruel nocturnal hunters , that were stronger then devils and vampirs. Restless huntresses. Only female. There were NEVER males.
All 6 were so close to him it would have been hard to push a piece of paper in between. Every single one of their eyes glowed a dark red. Just like cat eyes that reflected silver their eyes reflected the red color of blood even in pitch black darkness.
" You shall have it all. " The elder said.
Now all of them closed the distance and began biting his flesh. Sucking his blood out. With every new gulp they took their eyes glowed brighter and brighter due to his magical nature it strengthend them.
He surpressed every faint moan of pain or shout of horror , while they almost gouged him out in their frenzy , until he fainted.
.................