Flying over the dragon sea, Damien marvelled at the smooth wind running down his skin and the calm blue waters below him. These forces of nature which seemed so peaceful now could wipe out cities and sink continents when riled up. He laughed as the calm wind caressed his skin and the sea smell filled his nostrils.

Beside him, Keilan flew, smoothing the wind to make their passage a little faster. To be honest, Damien didn't want to move any faster, he wanted to smell the sea and feel this sort of calm wind some more, but business called.

The world of Ra was not only a place for spirit lords to rule over, but for the many beasts which resided in its body, living in different territories around the planet. An example of such a place was the Dragon Sea, an apt name for the dragons residing in its depths—Sea dragons.

They rarely attacked passing ships, only going for stronger opponents if sensed. Which was why Damien and Keilan had kept their aura wrapped and contained ever since they crossed into the sea.

They had departed from the castle of Cirin a few hours ago, having finished meeting and preparing his emissaries for the coming retaliation. It wasn't hard to predict what the empire's response would be. They'd try to preserve face by reaping a toll on their offenders with the intent to send warnings to the other kingdoms that they were still there and still in power.

Leaving the preparations to his emissaries, he and Keilan had skipped teleporting straight to their destination and instead decided to fly there. They were flying for two reasons. One was to not startle their hosts when they suddenly arrived, as it was considered rude to teleport directly into another's territory without direct permission. The second reason was something he hadn't decided yet.

Passing the edge of the territory where the Greensend continent met the dragon sea, Damien watched as he flew, the small sea creatures that swarm beneath the sea waters. He saw predators laid pursuit of prey as prey tried to escape. Corpses of predators lie dead as small tiny prey swarm them for meat. The cycle continues. He was enjoying the view and sensations as he flew. So he wasn't terribly surprised when a large maw burst out of the sea beneath them, trying to swallow them in one gulp.

He and Keilan sped up a bit, dodging the opened mouth and coming to a stop a short distance away. They turned and looked at the predator that had decided to make them prey.

Long sinuous body stretched more than a hundred feet, with blue-white scales shaped like teardrops adorning its body, making it glitter under the afternoon sunlight. Two pairs of feet with fingers tipped with long curved wickedly sharp claws jutted out of both its upper and lower body. Two white twisted horns two feet long rose out of its head, with the tip curving a little bit outwards. Its snout stretched out, with two small pointed ridges rising out on opposite ends. Slitted eyes as blue as the deepest ocean stared at them the same way a lion stared at prey—Food to play with.

The dragon observed them as they did the same to it. Eyes moving from Damien to Keilan.

"What's a whelp doing this far out of its nest?," Keilan said with intrigue.

The dragon raised its head, looking at them. Despite its serpentine features, it still managed to convey a sense of superiority. "You are in the presence of Prince Renothot, third son of Regonoth, King of dragon nest Ren, and I ask what you are doing, running away from my mouth." It's said, voice like cracking ice, showing long razor sharp teeth gleaming white.

"Great, a sentient dragon, and royalty at that too," Keilan commented dryly.

Damien had to admit, it wasn't a good thing encountering a sentient dragon. The dragon species were divided into two categories, the wild and the sentient.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Wild dragons didn't have any sense of intelligence, always attacking like how wild predators attacked prey, with no sense of planning or strategy. While the other types were ones with sentience comparable to humans. They built their own civilizations, dividing them into different nests, which were ruled by dragon kings.

Wild dragons were easier to defeat. Just show them that you weren't an easy prey—that you'd be very costly to take on, and they'll leave you alone. The ones with sentience were the harder ones to deal with, as even though you managed to defeat one, other dragons could still be rallied to their aid. They knew strategy almost as comparable to humans, and they would hunt anybody whom they looked to as having wronged them.

"Go back to your nest, young one, you're no match for us," he said warily.

It wasn't that he was scared of the little dragon—far from it. It was that he didn't want a group of vengeful sea dragons searching for him.

Dragons were innate creatures born at the ranks of lord realm with a very strong affinity from the get-go. They were slower in growing in power than the average cultivator, having taken years to get passed a single rank. An elder of this young one's tribe would probably be an early spirit lord while the king should be in the middle to peak stage of spirit lord. Damien didn't have a group like those chasing him.

Normally, he'd not have cared about fighting a group of early Spirit lords backed by a mid or peak Spirit lord, but a dragon was mostly twice as strong as an average cultivator in the same rank.

"You dare tell me what to do!" The dragon roared, releasing its aura and trying to intimidate them. Keilan laughed at the late lord realm aura trying to subjugate them.

Releasing his aura a little, he directed it towards the dragon. It felt like a dormant calamity that when roused, would decimate anything in its path. When the dragon felt it, it quickly retracted its aura, eyes widening in obvious fear. It flew back into the water, rushing fast into the deep until it was out of sight. They couldn't sense it with their perception because that would be alerting them to the nearest nest to their position.

"You think it's gonna stay away?" Keilan asked.

"Nope," he replied.

Sentient dragons were known the protect their pride. And Keilan had just sent it packing like a little prey. When it finally calmed down, it wouldn't like that at all, and its pride would demand recompense.

They continued their journey. Damien went back to admiring the sea and feeling the winds, while Keilan what his childlike wonder. They flew for more than an hour when they suddenly felt it.

An aura blasted out for miles, bringing with it the sense that they were meeting a superior creature, a creature they should debase themselves for. Damien crushed it as soon as it crept into his mind. A group of smaller auras also accompanied it—Monarch realms.

They came to a stop a mile away, facing a dragon more than five hundred feet long, its scales were the same as Renothot—tear-drop shaped. Except these were larger, a foot large. The dragon's horns were longer and curved inwards. In fact, everything about this dragon was far larger than Renothot. And the aura, it was unmistakeably that of a spirit lord.

"Oh great, another dragon," Keilan said, but this time there wasn't a dry tone to his voice, filled now with wariness.

One of the monarch realm dragons spoke. "You are in the presence of Prince Renogoth, first son of Regonoth, king of the dragon nest Ren," it looked at them with a gleam in its slitted eyes. "And brother to Prince Renothot," it gestured with its snout at the little dragon floating beside its sibling, managing to. Convey a sense of smugness when they looked at it.

"Why have you barred our passage? We have no quarrel with you," Damien said.

Finally, the large dragon spoke. "My brother has informed me that you were aggressive towards him when he tried to make peaceful contact with you," it said. If the brother's voice was like cracking glass, this one was like breaking ice.

"Did your brother forget to tell you that he tried to eat us first? We were on our peaceful journey when he came out of the water, mouth opened wide and trying to swallow us," Keilan said.

The dragon was quiet for some time. It glanced at its smaller sibling before speaking to them. "That does not excuse you from being rude. You are food and if Renothot here wants to feed on you, you should let him, it is your place to be food to our kind,"

"Excuse me," Keilan said, a dangerous tone creeping into his voice.

"You heard me right, don't let me repeat myself. You are to submit yourselves as lunch to my brother here," it said, increasing the intensity of its aura.

By now, Damien was certain that every creature for at least five hundred miles was already aware of them.