Book 14: Chapter 43


    Inard thought he was a goner. Anybody would consider themselves done for if they saw the huge creature before them. The ancient and majestic creature should only exist on worn out leather parchments and in exaggerated stories of poets until then. Arge creature of legends had appeared before him. It transformed from a boulder!


    The volume of sand inhibited the elves keen senses. The sand and dust covered their vision, while the winds inhibited their vignt ears. As a result, they didnt realise what was next to them wasnt a boulder until they were right next to it!


    The dragon raised her long neck and roared as if she was venting the fact that she was buried in the sand. She stared at the elves below with her golden eyes. She leapt off the boulder with her blue ws. The elves thought the sky was raining boulders. The sand on the ground reacted as if it was fleeing for dear life. The ground quaked and strong gales blew toward them, almost blowing Inard off his horse.


    Your Highness, go on ahead!! We shall stay behind to back you up! cried a guard.


    Though they were suddenly attacked and startled, the elite imperial guards immediatelyposed themselves. They didnt know how to defeat the dragon, so they chose to sacrifice their lives for their Kings safety. Inard recovered from his fear that had him quaking in his boots. He desperately kicked his horse to try and turn around to flee.


    Its an impossible endeavour. Its impossible for me to defeat this monster. Dragon ying warriors only exist in stories, after all! Who could look this creature in the eye in reality?!! Forget fighting it with a sword, youd still be a warrior even if you passed out from shock due it! I should let my sister deal with this monstrosity. Theyre both monsters anyway. Im just an ordinary elf. I was too foolish and overestimated myself. I must run now for my family and my nation! Inard told himself.


    However, Inard didnt move. He didnt change his mind, no. His steed was already on its knees quaking due to fear. Panicked, he jumped off his horse to run. As soon as his feet reached the ground, he heard a crunching sound.


    White bones underneath the yellow sand were exposed. There were bones littered all over as if they were grains of sand. Horrified, Inard shrieked. He thought he encountered the dragon by coincidence. He never thought he was the one who walked right into its den! He realised, The littered bones here belong to fools just like me!


    The dragon wasnt interested in the group of elves. It was agonising to bear with, but she couldnt be satisfied with just some random. Otherwise, she wouldve made do with a rock. Her eyes were locked onto the elf who dismounted and tried to flee. The elf she targeted possessed superior mana to his guards.


    Shepletely disregarded the long swords in the elves hands. Would a human care about how a strong an ant is? In saying that, she would be annoyed if they were standing around, so she mmed her ws in between the group. They shrieked as they fled. The massive attack left them wobbling. Some of the horses were so frightened that they foamed at the mouth and passed out. She was actually reluctant to kill her prey via crushing them, since she couldnt arouse her appetite when they were such cowards.


    She didnt n to eat the things in front of her. Therge lizards in the desert were more delicious than them. Their flesh was fresh, and she could drink the water they collected in their bellies. The elves and horses were too small for her, so small that they couldnt even whet her appetite.


    A few elves used their swords to knock on her w on the ground. She couldnt help butugh at them. She couldnt even feel their attacks. Their long swords were incapable of harming her scales. They couldnt even scratch her. Annoyed, she swept them flying. As for where they flew off to that was none of her business.


    She retracted her w. She looked at the fleeing elf with a mocking gaze. Everything they did before to her was futile. From her standpoint, it was akin to watching panic-stricken ants randomly running about in front of her. They were doomed to never leave the desert the moment they entered.


    She finally got what she wanted; hence, she was ted. She knew the elf definitely couldnt escape, but the fact he was trying so hard was hrious to her. She was in a good mood, so she decided to watch him run for a second. She quickly decided, Actually, forget it.


    The young girls mood was always changing. Inard would know that feeling very well. He was confident he could win the heart of female elves and leave them so besotted with him that they couldnt bear to part with him. The source of his confidence came from the fact that he could understand how the mind of young girls worked. This time, unfortunately, he had no way of understanding the thoughts of the young girl before him. This girl wasnt different to the other girls in any aspect. She, too, didnt want to let him leave her, except she was menacing.


    Inard sensed the despair of death when she mmed her huge ws down. He couldnt escape. All he could do was watch her huge we down with his eyes wide. It was said that ones life experiences will sh before their eyes when theyre face to face with death. Inard, however, only saw one persons silhouette in his mind


    The silhouette belonged to the woman Inard loved most. Despite not being able to see her again, he could still remember everything that happened in the forest. He could never forget the scent of the ring he made from a strand of grass and their shy smiles


    Inard shut his eyes as the huge w swung down. He felt the shadow looming overheard and heard the wild whistling wind that brought a collection of sand grains along, but he didnt feel any pain sensations. He just felt pressure on both sides and breaths on both sides that were the same as powerful gusts of winds. The pressure suffocated him.


    Inard desperately opened his eyes, wanting to see what precisely happened, only to cry out when he did. He discovered he wasnt crushed but was held in between two fingers. He was then elevated into the air. The winds on both sides that he heard were the winds around him. He was suffocating, for he couldnt breathe!


    Where are you taking me?!! As he yelled, Inard smacked the dragons w, but it wasnt remotely enough to hurt her when not even des could pierce her scales.


    The dragon ignored his cries and continued flying off in a certain direction. Inards yelling only made it more of a struggle for him to breathe. Hopeless, he shut his eyes. There was no saving him, so why not see where he was going? That was how the star-crossed love of an elf and dragon began.


    Inard never returned to the elvennds thereafter. He only left Vyvyan with the Elven Kings ring. Vyvyan, subsequently, inherited the throne as a descendant of the Gdriel Tribe and she, frankly, wasnt too sad about her husbands demise, because she cared more about her child in her arms than a dead man. Henceforth, the area northwest of the elvennds was out of bounds to all.


    Vyvyan never saw Inards corpse. In fact, nobody went to confirm his death. Vyvyan didnt care, so neither did anybody else. Thus, the incident was never mentioned. As for whether or not Vyvyan knew where Inard was, she never mentioned it. Therefore, nobody knew about that, either.


    The dragon slowly opened her huge eyes and stared intently in the same direction as back then. The dragon thought, Its been many years. Over ten years I believe? My sense of time is a bit all over the ce. After all, I dont need to concern myself with it in this desert swarmed with sand. Thest time I bothered with the time was when a group of elves brashly barged into my territory. I have them to thank, since I didnt have to lie here waiting for someone after I caught him. Now, though, I need somebody toe help me by satisfying me.


    When she squinted, she noticed a person and a horse; wait, no. It didnt seem to be a horse, but a deer.


    The dragon could detect mana from the deer; she couldnt detect any mana from its rider, though. She could also sense he was severely ill. She questioned. Could he be an elf on the verge of death,ing here to seek a swift death?


    The dragon lowered her head back down feeling slightly frustrated. She wasnt even willing to lift her head and look in their direction again. A soon-to-be-dead elf was meaningless to her. She only needed one, so having another one there was meaningless to her. She nned to pretend to be a boulder and ignore the elf.


    Nothing good came out of killing an elf. She wasnt a battle monger, and she didnt need to feast on elves, either. The most important thing about living in the desert was to do as little as possible of that which wasnt necessary. Wasting energy and water would be no different to the elf seeking death.


    Hmm? The dragon opened her eyes and peered in their direction again.


    Dragons were simr to sharks in that they swiftly react to the scent of blood. She detected a very faint scent of blood, but she smelt the scent of a powerful mana. Her body began to instinctively wriggle around. The sick elf drank something, as she could detect mana flowing through him again She narrowed her golden eyes. She was amazed, but also puzzled. The surge of emotions had her trembling. She instinctively rubbed her body against the boulder below her. She virtually shattered the boulder she loved lying on most.


    Dragons could sense mana. Ones mana characteristics are highly gic. Fundamentally speaking, mana could have inheritance issues just as human blood might. The difference was mana was hard to detect, since it couldnt be seen or touched. With that said, the mana flowing through this elf was identical to the mana of a particr elf she was familiar with


    The dragon spread her sky-shrouding wings. She stood up as if she couldnt wait. She swept up a violent wind as she took flight