《Flames of a Dragon》


 Prologue: Rise of the dragonslayer

    Fire, that was all he could see all around him for his world was burning, his hometown, the only place he knew, was burned by a dragon, monsters of old long thought extinct.


    He ran across scorching streets using his ability as a Sensor, a person capable of enhancing its own body through the use of mana, to avoid falling buildings and people and monsters seemingly subservient to the the draconic being from what he managed to see through glances, these cultist were breaking into yet intact buildings, looting for anything that seemed to have anything of physical value, coins, gems and other objects made from precious metals.


    For what Purpose? Why does a being of seemingly great strength need such things? competition? attract a mate? Are there even more of them and from where did it appear? Questions ran across his head, not making sense, he fled towards the bastion at the center of the town, the only place yet spared from the devastation.


    Once inside the protective walls and battlements armed with ballistas that kept the draconic forces at bay, he crumpled to the floor in despair, he was not the only one as many more took refuge in the safety behind the walls, many like himself having lost their loved ones in the sudden attack, their homes and all they have worked for, resentment quickly took hold of everyone present as it tends to do after a tragedy of such scale, rage overcoming their fears.


    Many of those present vowed revenge for themselves and their lost ones as the news of this event would soon spread across the continent like wildfire, once dawn arrived those who hid or otherwise managed to run from town found the devastation around them, many worked alongside the townguard to search for survivors as they crossed the many scenes of carnage that littered the streets, burnt bodies with limbs melted into the body, claw, tooth and stab marks were found on several of the corpses, a gruesome sight that many would never forget, the resolve for revenge grew, including in the man that ran away that night, Arnold Crow.


    Since that day, he along with many men and women across the Kingdom of Haltained would call for the monster to be slain until King Larinor The second announced that the blood of the dragon would be spilled, with a call to arms to avenge the decimation of Greinford, a bounty was set for those who could find it¡¯s lair.


    Many went out to search but even then there was no results for weeks, but the time was not wasted as an army was raised amongst the territories of the kingdom, including survivors of the tragedy, such as Arnold, he rose through the ranks thanks to his capability to use mana, even if only for himself as people with such powers were rare, alongside the construction for light towers across the border was started, these monoliths of stone would light up if a threat to the kingdom was ever spotted, and clear signal of where it was seen from would arrive to a nearby fort, were garrison forces could be quickly dispatched against the threat or if it proved far above what a quick reaction force was capable, prepare the defenders to allow time for the evacuation of nearby settlements, this would come to be known as ¡°The Grand Beacon¡±.


    Eventually, after over a month of dedicated search parties moving across the realms the lair was found, it was in an abandoned mineshaft, with the old buildings repurposed as houses and workshops by the thralls of the dragon, many weren¡¯t even human, mostly kobolds, usually found in nomadic tribes that plagued the countryside, these savage lizardmen were usually a head taller than the average man, with sharps claws, teeth and a brute strength that surpassed the common man, most of the time they did not pose a huge threat due to their recklessness and terrible eyesight that made any use of range weaponry night impossible for them.


    However, this was a rare case where hundreds of them were all in a single place no larger than the capital''s forum, but they weren''t alone as the report indicated the presence of a large cult worshiping the being that have brought devastation to their own kind, yet they did not seem to mind as they praised the monster, launching their own raids against villages and hamlets to pay their tribute.


    The main obstacle between them and the Army of Halftained was that this mineshaft was on the Iron Ridge that belonged to the Dominion of Irindur, call to let the army pass were ignored for unknown reasons, many suspected that the Irinduran Council were more pawns of the dragon and patience grew thin, eventually, the border was crossed and a route was secured by force towards the hideout of the beast and it''s corrupted followers.


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    It took months to clear a road across the overgrowth that could be safely traveled but at last the army, comprised of thousands of men and women, with a dozen ballistas mounted in carts to shred through the dragon¡¯s wings, marched towards the location of the lair, the march lasting for three days before coming near the reported location, the fourth one left to prepare the troops for the offensive, formations where drawn and weapons sharpened.


    The fifth day was when the battle began, trumpets announcing the arrival of the army that was quickly being organized to face their enemies, the defenders were prepared, trusting in what they perceived as their deity to win them the day, crossbows and bows fired on each side as the zealous servants of the dragon charged forwards against the Halftained lines with both sides clashing in melee, Halfained troops using their numbers to single enemies out and skewer them with spears, shortswords and maces, the cultists launched themselves with daggers, spears and claws for those who had them.


    A loud roar dwarfed the sound of steel meeting steel, from the opening of the mineshaft a large winged reptile exited the crevice, it was large, over a dozen meters long, with a wingspan at least triple that, and at least half a dozen meters tall with its neck fully extended upwards, the monster took to the skies with a great flap of its wings, the ballistas that were quickly lowered to the ground the moment the fight commenced let loose as they aimed for the dragon wings.


    For its large size the dragon proved to be surprisingly fast, dodging incoming projectiles with a grace that did not belong to a thing that size, those that hit the main body caused superficial damage at best due to the tough scales that were further strengthened with the magic inherent of a monster, it opened its jaws and a stream of fiery death incinerated entire formations, many of the siege engines were lost along with their crews, however a lucky shot from one of the surviving ballistas was enough destabilize it¡¯s flight as it came crashing down to the ground near the frontline.


    The servants zealotry increased with the proximity of their master even in it''s wounded state and the battle intensified, soldiers surrounded the dragon in an attempt to pierce it''s hide and end it, while momentarily incapable of flight, it was not defenseless, with sharp talons it cut through armor like a hot knife through butter, it¡¯s flames burning many of it¡¯s attackers, those who didn¡¯t perish from the blast wailing in pain as their armor started fusing with their own skin before death took mercy on them.


    Bolts kept peppering the monster until a man rushed towards the dragon at a speed surpassing those of his comrades, strengthening his own legs with magic and forcing his way through a sea of people, friendly and hostile alike, pushing the latter out the way with the shaft of a spear before being in the direct sight of the dragon itself, he slid forward narrowly avoiding the dragon¡¯s breath and claws, with a practiced ease he cut the mana connection to his leg and poured it all in to his arms and chest, with a mighty thrust he impaled the monster in the chest and pushed with all the strength he still had in his body to force the the spearhead deeper in to the body before reaching straight to the heart.


    The movements of the dragon became sluggish as the flow of blood stopped, with a last pitiful growl the being fell to it''s side, lifeless and with the death of their master, the most sensible of the cultist fled in a rout, the day was won for the forces of Halftained who after scouring the battlefield of remaining enemies they were free to plunder the camp for their hard fought victory where it was revealed the treasures that were kept inside the mineshaft, a large hoard of money from bronze to gold, with almost as many items made from those same materials, from rings and necklaces to a silver sword and more.


    Along with that, the ridge wasn¡¯t fully tapped in as a large expansion no doubt dug by the dragon''s underlings revealed a large amount of metals, with these findings the occupation of the ridge was ordered and to defend it from any Irinduran attempt to reclaim the area, tensions rose between both sides, however no war was declared with no side willing to fight one another.


    A treaty was signed indicating the occupation of the ridge by Halftained as payment, Arnold Crow was declared a hero and knighted by no other than the Larinor the second himself, along his own order to him to command as reward for his efforts and thus the legend of the Dragonslayer was born, but our story is not about him, for it starts in a dark cavern in the Greyfold mountain range to the south.

 Chapter 1: The mountain

    4 Years after the devastation of Greinford


    I was surrounded by darkness, an all encompassing tangible wall of darkness, soon enough, I realized it wasn¡¯t a wall, but an eggshell, My eggshell, I pushed with all the strength my body had, and cracks started to appear, from those some faint light from outside poured in, I kept pushing until it eventually broke and I was free, and in that moment, many new sensations rushed at me, but no stronger than hunger.


    I scanned my surroundings, it was rocky, a cave, the light from earlier reflected across the stone walls from somewhere else, 3 other eggs around me, Siblings,they were starting crack as well, looking back at what remained of the egg, wondering if it was edible, I approached it and taking a tentative bite at the shell I realized that yes, it was.


    After eating, I gave myself a look, my scales were a dark red with 4 limbs that ended in sharp claws, my hind legs ended in sharp talons with a digit on the back, my forelimbs had 5 digits to the front, with claws that I quickly learned could retract and extend, my back was lined with stubs that appeared to be growing spines that reached all the way to the back of my tail, a heavy thing, and to it all I had two large wings, that I knew where gonna be of use soon enough.


    After I finished, I looked at my siblings to see that they have already broken through and were on the process of going through the same as I did, with a last glance to them, another sensation hit me like a wave, exhaustion, my movements felt sluggish as I dropped to the floor, eyes feeling heavy, closing them, I quickly fell asleep.


    I woke up to a wet thump, snapping my eyes open there was a giant mass of scales in front of us, Something in me told me what it was, Mother, and in between us was a dead animal, a large quadruped, a boar, the hunger from before resurfaced and I rushed along my siblings to get as much as possible, jaws opened wide as we started tearing through the exterior hide, everything around just became white noise as we chewed through to get as much meat as possible.


    Mother looked at us, observing us, while consuming flesh and bone alike, some form of primal connection appeared between each one of us, names, and mine was Valreid, in those moments some form of connection opened between me and the name, something that I could use to impose my will in those lesser than us.


    Once only few bones remained and I felt that I ate twice my weight, the connection to mother opened once more, ¡®FOLLOW¡¯, and like that she started walking towards a tunnel that from what I could tell, led to some other room in the cave, we had to run after her due to our short limbs, quickly learning to use my wings to stabilize myself as I ran, soon after we reached the other room, it was filled with piles of precious metals, mostly in the form of coins.


    The piles were centered in the middle of the room, Mother laid down on it, and we followed, the shiny pieces of metal felt comforting and soothing on my scales, and from them I saw my reflection, my head ended in 4 horns at the back of my head, my eyes being black as night with a white sclera.


    At the other end of this room, laid outside, with sunlight pouring in from the hole that led into the cave, from here I could see silhouettes of people moving or structures, it must be mother¡¯s servants and what refuges they had set up.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    There was a knock at the door and soon someone entered ¡°My liege¡± A messenger came in and kneeled, he must have ran all the way from his mount to here as he kneeled on the floor gasping for air.


    ¡°Rise and state your message¡± Arnold Crow said, After becoming a knight and founding the Order of the Crimson Spear he became the governor of his rebuilding hometown after the previous one quit out of guilt, while it has risen once more thanks to it being a commercial hub that linked the 3 neighboring nations together, the scars of the massacre that occurred here could still be found, with the melted foundation of buildings still being removed to give place to new ones.


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    Taking a deep breath the messenger stated ¡°Reports from the southern coasts of the Kingdom of Boulren show signs of dragon activity, with multiple villages sacked by people in with a dragon head tattooed on different parts of their bodies, guardsmen of the port city of Larcren claim they spotted dragons off the coast, with missing fishing and merchant vessels¡± He paused and took a deep breath ¡°The Boulren crown is willing to pay up to a five thousand gold ferdands for the head of the reptile¡± The messenger finished relaying the information and looked at the knight-governor expectantly.


    ¡°Very well, tell them I accept the bounty, you are free to go¡± he said, getting up from his desk giving a final glance at the order he had written for the construction of an external wall around the town.


    ¡°Yes my liege¡± He gave a simple bow and left, more calmly than he entered.


    After the messenger was off he went to the headquarters of the order, grabbing his armor, it was adorned with the scales of the dragon he had impaled 4 years prior, most of them were however given to the academy in the capital along with the bones to study them, the magical properties of dragon scales allowed them to be incredibly hard and tough while being surprisingly light.


    The headquarters of the order was 7 kilometers out east, it was still in construction but around the area tents and a palisade around it were set up to function properly, once he arrived the guards on duty opened the gates for him, he went directly for the command tent at the center of camp.


    Inside was Major Clandery, she was reviewing some information when she noticed him arrive, ¡°Anything important, Sir?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need you to assemble the troops, there¡¯s another dragon, not much information is known except that the thing was there for at least a month before they finally decided to get our help¡± He announced, without waiting for her reply he sat down in one of the desks, and pulled out one map of the Boulren kingdom, he circled an area with a quill.


    ¡°This¡± he pointed to the area he circled ¡°Is our search area, the Greyfold mountain range offer a great protection to outlaw groups and all kinds of beasts, establishing a thorough search of the area is needed¡± He explained


    The order earned a reputation as monster exterminators, doing several cleansings around settlements, however while there were dragon reports most of them were misidentification of wyverns, unlike dragons wyverns acted more similar to some predatory birds, they lacked the sapience, cunning or brutality that the former were known for.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get the couriers to start amassing the troops¡± she spoke up and exited the tent.


    Alone, he started to think, memories of that fateful day resurfacing, ¡®No¡¯, he though, he wouldn¡¯t let such thing happen again, with increasing resolve he put himself to think on how to best use his limited forces against a monster like this, unlike the previous one, this one shouldn¡¯t be any larger, and if his assumption was correct, it shouldn''t have such a large following as the previous one to the point thousands of soldiers were needed, they should be able to take it down with his knights and if need arose he could get levies from the nearby towns if they wanted that thing dead before it caused further damage to their nation.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    While laying on the hoard I must have gotten asleep, I must have slept for days as I felt my body be larger than before, I was not hungry, peckish, sure, but I could do without eating for a while, my scales felt stronger than before, my body must have went through a growth surge while I slept.


    I laid there observing the entrance, silhouettes of people entering the cave, they were carrying bags that seemed to be filled with more treasure, they approached and poured the bags at the edge of the pile, coins and more objects of value fell out, such a beautiful golden grail encrusted with gems.


    From this distance I noticed their features, 2 humans, one a kobold, the one in the middle was a man his skin was tanned with the signs of labor and fieldwork, with a tattoo in his arm in the form of a dragon¡¯s head, indicating his servitude towards mother, not us, for each one of us was a different master, we have yet to get to this point, but the time will come.


    The one to the right of him was a woman who had dark hair and medium skin, the tattoo was on the neck.


    The last one, the kobold, he was quite a hulking beast, he seemed to be 2 meters tall with dark green scales and yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness, his mark was in the back of his wrist of the left hand, unlike humans who could draw the tattoos on their skin, kobolds had to scar their scales.


    After there was nothing else on the sacks, they all left at once, with the addition of the new treasure the previous feeling of calm grew even more, I could feel how most of this soothing aura came from the grail, even if I slept short of a week, the feeling of calm the new addition gave was enough for me to fall back in to a slumber.

 Chapter 2: Whos the hunter?

    When I woke up hunger settled once more after the growth spur finished as my body used the energy to aid in my growth, I looked around and noticed that my siblings weren¡¯t there, it was to be expected, they most likely went out to explore and improve themselves, dragons being naturally solitary with the exception of those who serve them, the only exception being of course parenting, but even then it doesn¡¯t last for long, as we search to be self sufficient as soon as possible.


    With this at the front of my head, I went out to search for my own meal, servants being of course out of the menu, as that would certainly anger mother, I went out quickly, with no one taking heed on me, outside there dozens of tents and improvised shacks, people going around their day, some preparing food, others sharpening weapons or stitching and making armor out of the leather of animals they hunted, others went out to raid while others set up watch around the encampment.


    Surrounding the extensive mountain range that continues kilometers north was a forest, I headed towards the edge of it, observing for a moment, of course nothing would be close the lair of a monster and it¡¯s henchmen, picking a random direction I started walking, not yet trusting in my wings to carry me.


    The forest was calm, not as much as the hoard room, but it still was, with the sound of rustling leaves, and from here I could listen to the sound of running water, a creek perhaps, now with a direction to go to, I moved slowly, checking on my footing to not alert any possible pray.


    Reaching the creek I started looking around, going along with it and smelling for any creature around, I quickly picked up a smell coming from the left of the path I was taking, I climbed one of the nearest tree and observed from where it was coming, soon enough, a deer appeared, it was roughly my size and looked around for danger, but not up, I waited until it was directly under the branch I was standing on and just a couple minutes later, it went through.


    Throwing myself on to it I used my talons to latch myself on it¡¯s back, the deer fell to ground due to my weight, it thrashed around trying to throw me off, I bit into its neck, twisting, trying to break it, I clawed the sides, blood pouring out, it slowed down and it allowed me enough of a room to finally twist its neck and with a satisfying crack the neck broke killing it.


    Without waiting any more, I tore into it, quickly getting as much meat in to myself without thinking much, hours had passed with the sun past midday, but I was done with it, I decided to continue onwards and explore the surrounding area, the forest was large with occasional clearings, nothing much of note apart from the creek that continue onward, probably onto a river not so far away.


    Without much of interest around, I turned back to the lair for now, thinking of going north the mountain range and perhaps giving my wings a try, however those thoughts were interrupted once the smell of smoke hit my nostrils, I climbed one of the tallest trees around me to get a better look on wherever the smoke came from, once on top of the tree I noticed it was coming from the north-east, it was clear smoke, not spreading coming from a single source, a campfire.


    Curiosity took hold of me as I descended from the tree and slowly approached the area, when I was close enough I started to hear voices, humans, I cautiously approached the area, wondering if it perhaps was a group of servants who were waiting for something, perhaps trading animal hides for tools? I was curious, but not a fool, once the voices became more clear I once more climbed one of the nearby trees to see what they were.


    On top of the branches I could see them, they were definitely not servants, they were around a campfire. They had chain shirts on them, with helmets and breastplates on a nearby pile, no draconic sigil anywhere on them, I was still a good couple dozen meters away from them, yet I could hear them clearly.


    ¡°Do you think we are close?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Certainly, we should arrive at our objective tomorrow morning¡± replied someone, most likely their leader.


    ¡°I mean, if it¡¯s where the dragon is hiding¡±


    ¡°If it is then we must run like hell back to our mounts and hope for the best, else we end up as fried meat¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t really sound reassuring¡±


    ¡°Can you shut up, I am trying to nap here, if  ye¡¯ fucks give me nightwatch atleast let me sleep in the afternoon¡± replied another


    ¡°You drew the short stick Tyber¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll shove it up your arse if yo-¡±


    I stopped listening in at that point, I was not suicidal to attempt and fight them, they outnumbered me and I was not sure if I was strong enough to pierce metal with my claws, deciding it was the best option to head back and tell mother about this, I lowered myself to the ground and ran off into the direction of the lair.


    I arrived half-exhausted to the lair, my frantic movements towards the entrance of the cave did cause some attention amongst the servants, but this was important and I did not cared at all about them, arriving to the cave I saw that mother still laid there, she opened her eyes from he slumber, probably noticing my not so calm arrival, I also noticed that my siblings has also arrived.


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    I reached out inside of me and try to connect to her, it worked and soon I started conveying what was happening ¡°HUMANS, BAD, ATTACK¡± I sent along with using parts of my memories so she could see what I had, she turned her head to the side and observed me, contemplating what she had seen.


    ¡°REST, MUST, LEAVE¡± she sent to me along with images of resting in the gold and leaving as soon as I woke up, she glanced at the others, probably sending them the same message.


    The message was clear, those will not be the only ones, a much larger force would come, and she wasn¡¯t sure she could win, dragons were proud, but not to the point of being stupid, they would hold their ground but why endanger their offspring and successors when throwing them out earlier than expected would improve their chances of escaping.


    Without questioning as to why not do it now where there was more breathing room, I simply collapsed exhausted on the hoard, the coins and artifacts bringing me comfort and soon my eyes felt heavy and I slept.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    With a roar Lady Havra announced a command ¡°ENEMY, SEARCH, DESTROY¡± I rushed out to my team¡¯s tent leaving what remained of my stew on one of the tables of what passed as the camp¡¯s communal area, reaching in to it I grabbed my leather vest that passed for armor, my trusty crossbow and a shortsword.


    Inside the rest were ready having heard the call, Lucia had her one handed mace and bundle of throwing daggers also wearing a leather vest, Kelrek, a kobold, he had a spear and of course claw but instead of using armor due to his scales he conformed to using some simple dark robes.


    And lastly we had a new guy, apparently some lost thief who ran away into the woods. He called himself Baror. He had a rather simple dagger, but it was enough.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± I said without hesitation, orders from a dragon can not be ignored, they can be adjusted to how someone sees fit, yes, but the consequences of ignoring them are much greater, with a splitting headache if close enough, and ofcourse, seen as a traitor.


    There were situations similar to this before, often dealt with before Lady Havra herself had to command it, however it seemed that some scouting party from what looked like an army had reached close to the camp, probably why one of the wyrmlings came running.


    The camp was on high alert, more search parties like ours preparing to patrol around the forest to spot any danger, none would return until dawn unless they have found the intruders-to-be and killed them, even then, the rest would keep going on as we had no way to communicate, it will be like this for upcoming weeks in preparation for an upcoming attack, some of the designated workmen have probably shifted to making barricades.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan, Jeff was it?¡± Asked Baror


    ¡°Yes and the plan is simple, we walk forward until Kelrek smells something¡± I pointed towards Kelrek with my head


    ¡°And then what?¡±


    ¡°Then we make an actual plan¡±


    With that said, we went in to the forest, the sun was going down, giving us an advantage, we had to kill them right now before they get an exact position, this will give us at least a week of preparation time if we take in mind that they are the scouts of a larger force, we would be outnumbered and outmatched, but with a dragon by our side¡­ the odds were even.


    We continued onwards for hours, until with the final rays of sunlight Kelrek growled something, we stopped and looked at him, waiting for him to get on front and lead the way, we continued walking for ten minutes until I finally caught on to the smell of burning wood, we continued on approaching quietly watching our steps as our eyes adapted to the dark.


    We finally reached the source, a campfire and near it, the scouts we saw in the mental images, five of them, we crouched down.


    ¡°Alright¡± I whispered ¡°We will wait until they go to sleep, then I shoot whoever is on guard duty. If there are two, Lucia, you take care of it, the rest is just a matter of approaching them and stabbing them, simple right? don¡¯t screw it up and we can get our asses back to camp and sleep soundly tonight.


    They all nodded to avoid making as much noise as possible, and so we waited what felt like hours, most likely was little under one as only one person was left awake, we moved near the bushes, I stood up as quietly as I could, however just as I was about to shoot, he noticed me.


    ¡°Who¡¯s th-¡± was all he managed to shout before he fell to the floor,crossbow bolt going through his neck, but that was enough to alert the rest, they quickly jumped up, going for their armor pieces, Lucia throwed her knives nailing one in the head, that left three more.


    I placed my crossbow in my back once more and pulled out the shortsword, we charged forward while they rushed to get their helmets and breastplates on, they noticed that they wouldn¡¯t be able to equip them on time so they settled on with meeting us head on with whatever they had on them, meaning their shortsword that were nearby.


    Kelrek rushed onward trying to impale one of them with his spear, the scout deflecting it with her sword before the spearhead could reach her, Kelrek dropped it and using his claws he slashed across the neck before she could get back on her guard, blood poured out and the scout fell to the floor dying.


    Lucia used her mace to attempt to disarm the man before her, he backed away before each impact, leaving space for Baror to rush behind and backstab the map, the surprise leaving him open for Lucia to crack his skull with a hit of her mace on his head.


    I clashed against the last man, trying to get an opening to stab him, he trying to do the exact same, it would have been a stalemate if he wasn¡¯t outnumbered four to one, and soon, it was over, we looted the corpses and bag, finding nothing of interest except coins, cards and some dry rations, we also took their armor, nothing shall go to waste, after all there is rarely a merchant crazy enough to make deal with us.


    With that done, we headed back to camp.

 Chapter 3: Fly away

    Days have passed as I wake up once more, the only thoughts going through my mind is where to go, the only real way is north as the ocean is to the south and the already claimed forest to the east, to go west I would have to fly over the mountain, with nothing to go but instinct I was not certain I could go that high.


    Before I left this lair one final time, I gave a last glance back to the hoard and told myself that I would do better, leaving the cave and looking at the camp, makeshift barricades had been erected and tension and anxiety fo the battle to be was high, nobody really knew where the main body was, just that the disappearance of the scouts will definitely attract the attention of the rest.


    Once outside I gave some cautious flaps of my wings, barely enough to generate lift. After some practice I was confident that they could carry me without face planting myself to the ground. I ran ahead and with all the force my wings allowed me to use I started to gain height.


    The ground below me got further away and soon I was heading north passing between the mountain and forest. The feeling of flight was refreshing, the cool air flowing around me, I lowered myself closer to the trees canopies to not be spotted and simply enjoyed the journey not knowing where I might end, but perhaps there will be a good place to settle further north.


    Flying was faster and convenient, but it seemed that it also used more energy, by the time I could see the end of the mountain range kilometers away hunger stirred my stomach, looking at the forest with hunger in my eyes I let my senses guide me to any possible prey and soon I caught something, swooping down below the canopies I snatched whatever it was with my claws, it was light enough that I could carry it, a hare.


    I managed to safely land in a sturdy branch without plummeting to the ground below and in a single bite I swallowed the hare whole, it would have to do for now, I used this moment to let myself rest, the end of the mountain range was a few dozen kilometers away, I needed to think what to do when I reached that point.


    Deciding it was a question for later I simply let myself enjoy the respite and prepare for the rest of the journey by taking a nap, when I woke up feeling refreshed with the sun well past midday, I was ready to leave until I heard something, footsteps.


    I listened in closely, the footsteps were steady and synchronized, several of them, I stood still waiting for them to get closer, they were nearing my location, they were passing nearby so I had to glide to another tree, easier said than done as I hastily used my claws to anchor myself to the trunk.


    The scratching of the bark and sudden rustle of leaves didn¡¯t go unnoticed.


    ¡°Did anyone else hear that?¡± Asked one of them


    ¡°Probably a fat racoon or something of the like¡±


    ¡°What if it¡¯s a goblin?¡± Another one spoke.


    ¡°Goblins don¡¯t climb trees, you should know that¡± Replied the one from before, probably their leader, managing to perch on one of the branches I managed to take a look at then, they did not seem like soldiers, carrying leather armor and shortswords, no insignia, no symbol.


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    ¡°Sun¡¯s almost down, I hope you are correct about their hideout location, I want to return home tomorrow¡±


    ¡°When have I failed in guiding us to our paycheck?¡±


    ¡°Just saying, people talking about an expedition in the mountain to kill a dragon¡±


    ¡°I say it¡¯s sensationalism¡± The last person of the group spoke.


    ¡°You do think if there was a dragon more people would talk about it instead of just rumors, most likely a drunk merchant spotting a wyvern or drake and causing all this ruckus along some bandits¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah whatever you say, don¡¯t get us killed so we can get the rest of the coin that the guild promised us, how did goblins get this far east anyways?¡±


    ¡°What do I know? probably some issues along the frontier with the untamed lands¡±


    Some sort of sellswords apparently, something of the conversation intrigued me, the untamed lands to the west, it seemed like an ideal place to settle without the threat of an organized force, and the fact that these four were confident on taking an entire hideout of these goblins by themselves spoke that they weren¡¯t the strongest of creatures, at least in low numbers.


    The fact that they managed to slip through means that it¡¯s poorly defended, with this information in mind I waited for them to leave before taking off once more to the end of the mountains and into the west.


    With night approaching I decided to search for a place to rest until morning, the forest having ended and being replaced by an open plain, there were several sources of light that I took in as population centers that I should avoid for now, eventually I found what appeared to be a lake, however upon looking closer I realized it was an abandoned mine, circling around the upper area I decided this was as good a place as any to rest.


    The morning light woke me up, looking around the deserted area just confirmed that this whole thing was abandoned, I took off to continue my journey west, this would hopefully be the last day of travel so I can actually search for a place to establish my lair.


    Going high into the air would make the journey from here simpler as there was no way to conceal myself in this area, I also made it simpler to search for a meal, as I could use my eyesight from up here to dive into any animal I see to eat.


    And so I did, diving with talons forward to a calf, impaling it and using my wings overtime to get away from the mother before getting stomped on, after a minute or so I let myself glide down to eat, it was much more filling than the hare and this should do until I arrived.


    As much as one enjoyed flight, the travel was dull with the exception of spotting human settlements every now and as the sun finally settle I could finally see something interesting in the distance, like a scar across the land, there was scaffolding and stone as a wall was under construction, it made sense that monster could slip through temporarily if the soldiers meant to defend the border were protecting the construction sites.


    This would have caused issues if I wasn¡¯t flying, passing over the wall unnoticed thanks to the dark night sky, on the other side, there were no immediate difference, but going on for a while I noticed more settlements, but these ones weren¡¯t the beacon that were all others I had seen, but consisted of half buried ruins of a civilization long gone.


    On the relative safety of the untamed lands, it was these ruins that I decided to call my own. Being relatively close to civilization means that treasure will be easier to acquire, but for now I quickly dug out an area inside one of the largest structures in the middle of the town, I would have to clear the entire building to maximize the space.


    But this would have to do for now, flying for almost 2 whole days had exhausted my body, so the first thing to do was get as much sleep as possible.

 Chapter 4: What came before

    I did not know for how long I slept, but the exhaustion was gone, first thing to do was to explore my surrounding area, when I exited the building I noticed the sun was already high above, the ruins of what I could tell used to be a town sprawled around me, it was rather large, and must had been abandoned for decades at the very least.


    Nature has long ago started to reclaim this area, animals wandering around and running when they spotted me without any sign of intelligent life, launching myself upwards there was much the same, surrounding the ruins was an encroaching forest, already in the process of covering the surrounding farmland.


    From here I could also see the vague silhouettes in the distance of the wall, choosing to go in the opposite direction until I found something of interest and eat something along the way.


    After a while, of gliding further in to the forest I¡¯ve finally found something interesting, a village, an active one, looking closely it was clear that it was not a human village, but a monster one, kobolds, if what the memories given to me with my name are correct, they should not oppose me.


    Landing in the middle of the village on an open space trying to gather as much attention as possible, I may be small for now but that shouldn¡¯t be a problem, kobolds were servants of the draconic after all.


    They approached cautiously with curiosity, is probable that these lands haven¡¯t seen a true dragon in a long time, I let out a roar, it might not have been as mighty as I have thought it would be, but it was one nonetheless, it conveyed a simple message ¡°OBEY¡±, in that instant something twitched inside of them, something telling them that they should do as I command.


    I now had the attention of every single one of them, good, whoever was their leader before doesn¡¯t matter, with another roar I gave plastered instructions in to their minds, to go to the ruins, and start digging, who knows what can be in those ruins, forgotten treasures that were forgotten and buried under dirt, that was what I was hoping at least.


    With that taken care off I went back to the ruins to properly mark it as mine, once I arrive I started placing my mark on the place running my claws against the stone surface of the ruins before the kobolds arrive, it would take some time but they will get here eventually, perhaps today, once the exterior buildings of the town were marked I went back to the building I claimed as my lair, and with instinctual knowledge I let out a spew of flames on the area surrounding it, scorching it until a circle was made around it.


    As night came the kobolds of the village finally arrived, they noticed the claw marks and knew this must be the place, no other dragon was spotted around this area after all, soon enough they would dig their own refuge in any of these ruins, apart from my lair of course.


    I spent the rest of the day to dig out more dirt and debris trying to clear out as much of the building as possible, conscripting at least half the kobolds to aid me, eventually after a couple of hours the floor was halfway cleared, I decided it was good enough for now and lay down to rest the night.


    As the new day dawned the kobolds had already settled in, progress was being made in digging out the ruins, and already providing some small results, even if it was just a bag with a few dozen silver and bronze coins, it was still the beginning of my hoard, while this amount was negligible it would add up as more was eventually found.


    The ruins were large and it¡¯s impossible that there aren''t more coins buried here, clearing more dirt out of my lair I finally reached something that I was looking for, stairs to the other floors, one leading to the second floor and another going downwards.


    Deciding to go up first I went up the stairs, this was barely wide enough for me to fit in, I wouldn''t be capable of fitting here once I grew and the upper floors would be useless except for perhaps future minions, maybe those who earn the right to be my honor guard of sorts, I saved these thoughts for later as I continued to the second floor.


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    Upstairs the floor was separated into multiple rooms, they were messy with junk thrown out into the floor, it seemed that whoever people lived here left as quickly as possible leaving behind many possessions.


    The upper floors were already starting to look promising, not bothering to look more in to it as I won¡¯t be going up there anytime, I went back down and went to the other set of stairs, I could eventually move my hoard downstairs for more protection but the stairs would need to be dug out and a ramp placed if this was going to be my permanent territory.


    The basement looked like a storage room, anything that was here has rotted away with little to nothing being left. I went back up disappointed and quickly ordered some of the kobolds to search the upper floors.


    With nothing else to do except wait for the entire thing to be cleared I set out to practice my firebreath, sure I used it to mark my lair but I would need to know how effective it is in combat and against live prey.


    Heading into the deeper parts of the forest further in from where I found the village I started scanning the ground for any large animal to test my flames upon, eventually I found a bear wandering around, no doubt searching for prey as well.


    I perched myself atop a tree branch so I could observe it, the bear was larger than me, I couldn¡¯t be reckless and just dive for it, perfect practice.


    I glided from tree to tree until I was on top of it at witch point I spewed a torrent of flames on top of it, the bear roared in pain as the flames stuck on it, it ran away in panic before starting to roll on itself attempting to extinguish itself, I chased after it and continued to throw fire at it, the flames grew in intensity and the sizzling of flesh could be heard and soon after the bear was dead.


    It took a while before the fire extinguished itself and once it did I descended to dig in, setting your foes aflame proved to be a good strategy as it doesn¡¯t matter much if they have tough hide or armor as they would be cooked inside anyways, it also added the benefit of panic, however I felt as whatever gland in my throat allowed me to make this fire was almost empty bringing a sore sensation on to it.


    A mild annoyance compared to what it could do, finishing up here I went back to the ruins, slight progress has been made in the surrounding area, I landed just outside my lair and entered, the hoard growing ever so slightly, patiently overseeing the process, eventually one of my servants descended from the upper floors, carrying a decorated metal box, some sort personal vault left here, apparently no key in sight, probably lost to time or carried away without what it opened.


    It was set down before me they seemingly not being able to pull it open, inspecting the edges trying to spot the hinges, spotting them shortly after, being as careful as possible I positioned myself closely and attempted to melt the side where the lock was and with a continued burn I weakened the metal holding the hinges together, ripping the door to the side, some of the slag flying away.


    Inside, seemingly glowing in the darkness, a single gold bar, next to it a decorated silver dagger with something inscribed in the handle, their presence emanating a soothing feeling of comfort, I almost didn¡¯t notice the bags inside, similar to the ones seen before.


    Unlike the previous ones these did not contain different types of coins, but just a single one, sadly no golden coins, perhaps the only thing taken, maybe there used to be more? quickly shoving that though out of my head I swiped the vault sideways with my claws, the contents spilling out.


    I was pleased with everything that happened in this short amount of time, briefly wondering what was happening on the other side of the continent and what were my siblings doing, perhaps they have dispersed west as well, but I doubted it, if anything they were competition.


    As much as this was, it wasn¡¯t enough, it never was enough, but this would have to suffice, this guaranteed me to get stronger, I just knew it, but I could already fight the wild beast with no thought of their own, and force those beneath me to obey, yet those humans, most seemed to not be affected and judging by the rags that were the ones at mother¡¯s camp it was somewhat clear that only those desperate enough would kneel before one such as I.


    It was odd if I thought about it, something that would have to be looked at later, my current priority was to get this place properly set up, there were treasures beneath rubble and soil that needed to be discovered, and more servants to acquire and something inside me told me I had just a few months before cold arrived, plenty of time to set things properly.


    But more manpower was in need however if things were to be made in time after all.

 Chapter 5: Crumble down

    The clashing of steel reverberated through the camp as the day of battle had finally arrived, the few barricades that were set up days prior weren¡¯t enough to hold the formation knights and militias that rallied to slay the being that was deemed a monster, on the other side of zealous defenders held them back to protect that same being that they deemed a deity.


    After the disappearance of the scouts it pinpointed the location of the Dragon¡¯s lair in the mountains, the expedition waited for 3 days after they should had reported in before confirming them as captured or dead and moving in the area, they rallied militias from nearby towns crying out that this was a crusade against an abomination that went against The Ancient.


    With roughly 700 men in total they marched onwards to what they called the lair of evil and they would only stop once the heretics and the beast that lies in there were dead, while many came in religious fervor, just as many had come for coin, after all, the first dragon¡¯s lair was found with many great riches, why would this one be different?


    Though they outnumbered the cultists with over twice the manpower only the knight order at its center could do any damage to the dragon, using the levies to distract its minions the bulk of the knights awaited the appearance of the monster they had come to slay.


    Shortly after the initial clash a deep roar reverberated from the cave and reaching the battle, the dragon took into the sky its vast wingspan casting a shadow over the camp, with their master on their side the fervor of the defenders rose tenfold, archers and crossbowmen of the assaulting forces quickly unleashed arrows and bolts in to the flying beast in an attempt to ground it.


    In response it throwed a torrent of flames to their lines, dozens fell as the flames melted those in direct contact while does in near proximity burned, burden animals panicked forcing handlers to cut them loose while they hurriedly turned the wheeled ballista to the dragon and fired a bolt with protruding sharp fins from the shaft meant to do as much damage to the wing as possible, the lucky shot went through the membrane of the wings the gaping hole enough to destabilize it.


    It managed to regain little control before hitting the ground and managing to crash among its enemies, it roared in outrage and started rampaging along the formation of militiamen, those who tried to approach were swiftly halved by the claws of the monster or outright crushed my any of it¡¯s limbs, however distancing oneself was not an option as the deathly fire was thrown at anything that moved in front of the monster.


    The cultist rushed in to protect their wounded idol, the fighting intensified as they impaled, stabbed and cut their way through the line of startled townsmen, sergeants screamed order but their cries were drowned by the screams of those burning by the flames.


    At the same time the knights of the crimson spear rushed in, two dozen cavalrymen charged rapidly to the flanks of the zealots who in their rush to aid their master had abandoned their fortifications and ignored their own self preservation, in the middle of this on foot Arnold Crow himself covered in his armor of dragon scales lead the charge against the monster.


    The sight of the dragonslayer himself joining the fight with his knights returned the courage of the assembled militia who fought with renewed fervor and forced the charging cultists in to stalemate, in turn the draconic defenders were forced to thin themselves out along the flanks to not be surrounded by their foe.


    The force of knights surrounded the dragon allowing the rest of the regular force to focus on the more manageable cultists, observing the armored figures closing in the dragon spun with its tail forcing them to back off, those who did not were thrown like a ragdoll the force sending the unlucky towards their own comrades their armor doing nothing against the blunt force.


    The dragon throwed a torrent of flames in an attempt to force a path out of the encircling knights however before it could rush out several knights came rushing in from the sides with incredible speed, jamming spears on the creature side severely inhibiting its movements, it roared in pain and and anger, burning one of them before it could reach a safe distance.


    And from the front charged the dragonslayer, the dragon throwed flame to him in an attempt to scorch him, he covered his eyes and let the scales absorb the heat, he went for one of the several spears embedded within the dragon choosing a side randomly due to his lack of vision, once the flames stopped he let his arm go from his eyes just in time to roll under the claws of the monster barely avoiding being crushed.


    He pulled one of the spears out to arm himself who had run weaponless expecting any to melt at the touch of dragon fire, the monster gave another roar as the spearhead was pulled out along with blood that quickly coagulated, the dragon swept the ground with its tail Arnold not having enough time to get out of the way braced himself and clung to the tail placing the spear on the opposite side to avoid being thrown away like some of his men had.


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    Arnold eventually had to let go, tumbling down to the earth to avoid being crushed as the tail impacted the ground dust from the impact covering the battlefield, he picked himself up throwing the broken shaft that remained from the spear to the ground, he made out the silhouette of the dragon and rushed once more, this time however the monster was ready and swiped it¡¯s claws, it¡¯s eyes having a better sight.


    He was thrown to the ground, he looked up and saw the dragon approaching, hate filling it¡¯s eyes, but as it took a single step ¡°FIRE¡± he shouted with the remaining breath in his lung and almost as soon as he said so a ballista bolt impacted in the neck of the dragon, doing a relatively superficial wound to it, however it did its purpose on startling it and soon after the surrounding knights charged onwards, the first to rush in where those who jammed spears in the first place, this time the hacked at the dragon¡¯s limbs with halberds, first cutting the tail with coordinated precision and strength no normal human should possess.


    Once the tail was cut the rest of the knights joined in overwhelming the monster, even though the scales eventually gave way as the flesh was cut and more blood drawn, he took a deep breath and saw someone stretching a hand to him ¡°You¡¯re fine, Sir?¡± He accepted the hand and got on his feet.


    ¡°Sore as a merman on land but sure, let¡¯s go with fine¡± he said in between breaths, he walked towards the broken remains of the dragon, it kept a gaze of indescribable hatred as nearby knights kept stabbing it, ¡°Let¡¯s finish this off then¡±, he took one of the spears still imbedded in the side, he walked calmly towards the head, positioned the spear, and with a thrusting motion and a crunch of scale and bone imbedded it deep within, extinguishing it¡¯s life once and for all.


    He looked up towards his men ¡°Aid the militiamen to finish off the cult¡± and with that they rushed off towards the routing cultists who had almost broken through the militiamen in a panicked zeal to save their idol, however, with its demise all but the most loyal believers fled in panic towards the forest, they would be hunted down, enslaved, interrogated or outright executed in public.


    He took off his helmet with the victory now secured and allowed himself to take in fresh air, his helmet was almost fully enclosed the only visible hole being that of the visor, however there were tiny gaps between the scales around where his mouth would be, allowing some air to enter to avoid asphyxiation, it made it even more uncomfortable to wear than a normal helmet, however in comparison it offered much better protection as it was proven.


    ¡°This went much better than last time¡± Clandery said behind him, cleaning her halberd with a rag.


    ¡°Last time was an unprepared mess¡± he told her ¡°I¡¯ll need a casualty report and get someone to sever the thing head off¡± he placed his helmet back on and went off to chase the stragglers.


    Eventually after their victory they went to Lacreen, where they paraded the corpse of the dragon until they reached the central square, where it was displayed for hours while the head was being given to their crown and the payment given, the head and subsequently the spear embedded in it would be forever stay as testament of Boulren¡¯s wealth in the walls of their court.


    The scales of the rest of its body were used to coat 5 more sets of armor, the rest sent back to the academy once more to replenish their supply, while tough, the many experiments they went through slowly went through them.


    However the question of where they came from remains unanswered.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Jeff swore under gritted teeth, as he was placed to the side of a trunk in the middle of the night, his right leg covered by bloodied bandages, as far as he knew he and Kelrek were the only survivors, this was obviously highly improbable but it didn¡¯t matter.


    What he called home and who he could even call friends for months was just gone, along with one of the only thing that gave him any sort of self-fulfillment after years of nothing but a life of banditry and theft, that was the only thing he was good at, he fled from his home village unwilling to be a peasant as all his ancestors were, chasing invisible riches, there were many times he regretted those choices, but never more than now with one of his legs being practically useless.


    He didn¡¯t know what to do know, sleep wouldn¡¯t come to him as his leg burned with pain, while Kelrek wasn¡¯t much better for wear with the exception that his blood coagulated faster and his pain receptors basically shut themselves off the moment they were hit, perks of being a giant lizard he guessed.


    They had avoided patrols for the whole day and they had been lucky in the sense of not being captured, as is the testament of his injuries, if they weren¡¯t infected he might consider it a miracle.


    They sat down and waited hoping they were outside patrol routes, he contemplated trying to talk but quickly dismissed the idea, not much one can talk about with someone missing the ability to do so in the first place, eventually the pain became more manageable to be able to get some sleep, he didn¡¯t knew if he was even going to survive the night, even if he did, what was he going to do?


    Eventually however he let his exhausted body get some rest.

 Chapter 6: Exploration

    As a new day dawned I immediately went out to take off and go further into the forest to search for any more servants. The kobolds were working nicely, but they were just a couple dozen, not enough for anything I wanted to do after looting the ruins.


    Thus the necessity for exploration, I will take this and most likely the following days getting to know the area that would be my territory, only to explore it however, as I want to avoid the previous mistakes made by those before me, mother included.


    Immediately claiming it without actually having the minions to properly patrol it wasn¡¯t the wisest thing, while there weren¡¯t humans here who is to say there wasn¡¯t anything else? It would also be helpful in the food situation.


    While with this low number of servants wouldn¡¯t pose trouble on food that most likely wouldn¡¯t be the case in the future, sending minions to patrol and hunt would be rather efficient if sent in proper numbers and while I could technically watch over my territory myself it wouldn¡¯t be the best use of my time.


    I doubted that there would be multiple settlements close to one another, even more considering the nomadic nature of kobolds, but perhaps lacking the the threat that humans posed to them and the many ruins past their frontier had allowed them to advance somewhat without a risk of being wiped out.


    It was a curious development, not unexpected considering that they had no problem settling near a dragon¡¯s lair, but curious nonetheless, by now I had already passed their old village and decided to turn right and look for anything new.


    I traveled for what seemed like hours, snatching and eating whatever small creature I found on the way, there wasn¡¯t much to see apart from spreading wilderness and occasional breaks in between the trees, sometimes finding a couple more ruins, not anywhere as large as my current one.


    Now that I had time to think about it with less pressing matters on hand, why are there so many ruins here? Considering how other species took over the area it¡¯s clear that something happened that forced them to abandon the west, but I currently don''t have anything in mind of what could have caused that.


    Clearing my head of thoughts that would lead nowhere I focused more on the ground, looking at the repetitive landscape for what I hope is the only time I needed to do this, but as hours passed I did finally manage to spot another group of kobolds, while it was a severely smaller group than last it would mean that  at least all of this wasn''t for nothing.


    I descended in front of the group, startling them clearly not expecting one such as me to have appeared so suddenly, I roared at them for compliance as I did with the last group, they didn¡¯t give any trouble and kneeled, it was when I noticed they were carrying improvised backpacks made of sticks and various plants.


    Meaning that they were hauling things and not a nomadic group like I originally though it to be, but possibly scavengers or gatherers, perhaps they were doing better than I gave them credit for, but it just meant that they would make better servants than I previously accounted for, perhaps the previous group also had them but I most likely didn¡¯t bothered to check.


    But that didn¡¯t matter now, all that did matter was if they could show me where the rest of them were ¡°MORE, WHERE?¡± the kobold in front of me stood up and nodded, giving me a sign to follow him, with nothing more to do I trailed behind them, after roughly forty minutes of travel by foot we arrived at what was a relatively small town of kobolds, the area was clear of trees while in the center there were primitive buildings, not sturdy at all but good enough for their purpose.


    I grumbled inwardly knowing that a few minutes more of flying I could have spotted this large inhabited clearing, but what was done was done, announcing my presence with a roar I demanded their immediate subordination.


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    They stared at me, some in awe but others in what seemed like shock, something odd was happening since it appears they didn¡¯t heed my command, they most definitely heard it but it¡¯s almost as if it didn¡¯t even happen, but why wouldn¡¯t it, maybe something was interfering, but then what could it be?


    I moved onwards with the scavengers behind me, those at least followed me as they should, meaning that there was definitely something messing around with my authority, why else wouldn¡¯t it work?


    Just when I started thinking of answers to this problem a kobold started approaching, it was different from the rest, wearing hides and even using coins as jewelry, did it believe itself royalty or it didn¡¯t know its place as a servant?


    I stared as it kept approaching, the surrounding kobolds watching as bystanders, it warbled something incomprehensible and some of them ran away just to come back with weapons, the audacity of this bastard to challenge one such as me, it then warbled some more, directed to the scavengers behind me, it seemed they exchanged some words and it most definitely seemed to annoy it, so I could at least trust in them.


    It then warbled some more, seemingly directed at me, any meaning those words have didn¡¯t matter and wouldn¡¯t matter, not like I could understand it¡¯s primitive gibberish in the first place, but I was still feeling generous enough to offer them the opportunity to serve me, ¡°SERVE, LIVE, RESIST, PERISH¡± maybe all I had to do was be clearer in my message.


    Some of the kobolds started getting fidgety, but they still didn¡¯t move from their position. Did they really think that the decorated iguana was their leader? What was so hard to acknowledge the truth? they look hesitant to even move, they understand that they shouldn¡¯t be doing it, yet do.


    However that forsaken kobold didn¡¯t even seem to get the message, instead it raised it hand to what seemed like a way to get the attention of the others, I simply could not stand for this and just as I was about to throw a torrent of fire to this fool I felt a sharp pain on my side, I quickly looked down to see the tip of a stone spear in my front shoulder, my scales stopping it before it got deep to cause any damage while also breaking the shoddy shaft of it.


    The assailant stood there looking at the broken stick in its claws, not wasting any time I pounced at it¡¯s neck, while I wasn¡¯t as tall as them, barely coming up at the waist, I was still a dragon and with a hard crunch I twisted it¡¯s neck, the scavengers on my back took up arms and rushed to my flanks looking onwards fully deciding their side.


    This set things in motion as the armed kobolds rushed in and clashed with their previous comrades, while they were outnumbered it gave me time to take to the skies. I was going to burn this damned primitive settlement to the ground, maybe then it will push some sense into their minds.


    After every building was set on fire I looked to the ground below, it was chaotic to say the least, dozens started to run as the flames encroached on to the forest embracing anything remotely flammable, I went back to the battle that was ongoing to see that they had stopped fighting and looked at the fiery destruction I have caused, it seemed that my message finally caught on.


    I focused on the kobold with the jewelry if it could even be called that. The damn fool stared at the destruction it¡¯s own defiance caused, I dived straight to its back, pushing it into the ground and used my claws to pierce its neck delivering a swift death.


    I roared in victory and gave for a last time a message demanding their allegiance to me now that their leader was dead, I gave a command to the new servants to begin their journey to their new home, the ruins that belonged to me, considering the distance and number of them it will take days to reach my lair but they will get there eventually, that¡¯s what matters in the end as far as I am concerned.


    Having already spent most of the day exploring I chose to turn back and return home, the stone spearhead still in my front-left shoulder would need to be removed, while it wasn¡¯t a large issue it was annoying to have it there as the wound started to itch.


    However thinking about the previous events had made me realize something, those that don¡¯t think themselves lesser than a dragon can¡¯t be turned into minions, not immediately at least as the previous demonstration showed, I had no idea why that was, but now that I knew things started to make a bit more sense, the more a society is structured the harder it is to change it, meaning that while they have proper hierarchy they won¡¯t see a reason to join me.


    It was just speculation from my part but it made sense in my opinion, with an answer to one of my question I flew the rest of the way to my lair enjoying the flowing of the wind, eventually arriving and immediately going to my hoard, getting one of my servants to remove the spearhead, it wasn¡¯t much a problem, just uncomfortable.


    Laying down on top of the hoard, feeling its comforting embrace, I decided to sleep the rest of the day off even if the sun wasn¡¯t setting in a few hours, I still had long days to come.

 Chapter 7: Here be goblins

    Weeks passed as I charted a sixty kilometer radius around my lair, it was a manageable distance and wasn''t hard to keep track on whatever was happening inside said radius, with the current number of minions at my disposal thanks to the new arrivals, there was no problem with keeping some constant patrols while having the rest do other activities such as finalizing the excavations and starting expanding the entrance to the basement where I would eventually move my hoard at.


    It was while relaxing on top of my hoard when I remembered that group of humans hunting goblins, reminding me about them, I honestly didn¡¯t have much information about them, other that they were generally the weakest of the sapient races on average and thus generally not sought for or worried about, however it was not their physical prowess I wanted, I had kobolds for that, but their nimble hands, it would be hard to get better servants from here after all and I was lacking on options in terms of more¡­. thoughtful approach to problems rather than brute forcing them away.


    However, where would I find goblins here? with the amount of kobolds in this area it was clear that any chance for goblins to move here was practically zero, however if they went through the frontier to the human realms then there should be a source of them relatively close by, probably a few days worth of travel by air if taking in to consideration those in the mountains probably traveled for weeks, perhaps exiles of some kind forced out for a reason or other.


    Didn¡¯t matter in reality but an interesting though nonetheless, flying a few hundred kilometers parallel to the frontier should give me enough distance to see any notable movement of them without losing track of my own location in the unlikely scenario of anything going wrong, the further away from the human lands the more likely I was to see more development in their part if the kobolds were of any sign.


    Knowing I shouldn¡¯t delay this endeavor for much longer I got some of the first kobolds that joined me willingly to keep track of events on the camp and ensure work was being done, with the increase of manpower and the way I acquired it meant that trusting them blindly was a fast way to undo my accomplishments, once I get goblins however, I could probably get them to make weapons for some of my minions with their superior craftsmanship compared to kobolds, it wouldn¡¯t be much in reality due to the materials at hand, just spears that don¡¯t break immediately after use and perhaps even shields, even though they would probably need external help to put it on and off, perhaps they would need to fully rely on their scales for the time being after all.


    After that was done I took off heading north, some instinct telling me it would be colder meaning that kobolds would most likely be scarcer there due to their reptilian nature, at least that was the theory assuming they wanted to avoid the cold at all cost, however they wouldn¡¯t be sapient if they couldn¡¯t ignore their instincts, this though made me realize that unless I found unorganized tribes and villages whos chiefs fully relied on trust and charisma to keep it¡¯s followers then I should expect some resistance and unlike kobolds who had absolutely no talent for any type of range combat goblins did, meaning I couldn¡¯t just go in blindly without risking getting hit by spears and perhaps arrows, I doubted they would pierce my scales due to their lacking physique but that could not be said the same about my wing membranes.


    Holes in the wings could completely ground me for weeks and perhaps months depending on the damage done, while I could attempt to fly higher to let the projectiles fall back down it would not be of any use as my flames wouldn¡¯t be strong enough and would just dissipate and just give a very warm sensation to whoever had dared attack me.


    Focusing on flight once more I turned to look the repeating scenery below, it was better than staring into nothingness, eventually I managed to glance through the trees canopies at a rather large figure roaming the woods below, it was definitely a quadruped but I couldn¡¯t discern any more details, my curiosity about this thing and the boredom of long flights got the better of me as I descended to glide near it to get a better look, after all what risk could it poses to me if it couldn¡¯t even reach me?


    It appeared to be canine, similar enough to a wolf but besides being triple the size it had a brown fur similar to that of mud, suddenly it stopped and glanced around, then looked upward, did it see my shadow or heard the beating of my wings? it was definitely clever, more so than I expected, but what was it capable of? I got an answer to that very quickly as stones seemingly flew towards it and changed forms like a liquid becoming flat and being layered on top of it¡¯s skin like some sort of armor, it stayed in place unmoving, the weight of the stones probably hindering it¡¯s movements to a point that it was better to just not move at all and continued to look at me, possibly waiting for me to strike, something I was not inclined to do.


    With my curiosity satisfied I went to gain more altitude before it learns to throw the stones and to continue my search, the encounter was insightful to say the least, it was not hard to guess that thing possessed magic and the ability to manipulate it outside its body, something exceedingly rare if my memory about such animals were right, they could also be incredibly dangerous even for me, this led to me thinking of what would a human mage be like? replacing ferocity and instinct with discipline and training would make them even more of a terrible force to reckon with.


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    I should plan carefully for when I venture the frontier in search of valuables and more servants, perhaps I could even get them to come to me, lure them outside their yet to be wall without needing to worry about their armies chasing me down, but how I could do this is yet to cross my mind, but those are thoughts for later, for now I needed to focus on getting those goblins to serve me.


    With the setting sun I continued on, not much of interest happens as the thick vegetation gave way to a drop into a large valley with even more ruins on it, old cities and towns, with how often they appear they got increasingly boring to look at as well but it was a good break from the stale greens that the constant vegetation gave, eventually the exhaustion of flying a whole day catched up to me my body saying it was time to land and get some rest, not giving much thought as to where thinking that no animal would dare get close to me else they want a quick death and if anything did try to do something my scales would offer adequate protection.


    Getting to the ground I laid down on the soft grass and sleep came swiftly, eventually a new day dawned marked by annoying sunlight waking me up and signifying the start of the search once more, after this was done I would most likely spend an entire week resting on my hoard, I am not even sure if that is even an exaggeration.


    Going to the skies with renewed energy I resigned myself given task and after more hours of monotonous flying I finally spotted something of interest, smoke coming from ruins, suddenly they become of interest again, choosing to descend and glide close to the ground to avoid being spotted or heard was the best option if I wanted to have the element of surprise for this, no need to alarm them of my presence yet.


    Trying a different approach other than burning everything would be the best idea as having them join willingly would make my next plans a lot easier, hopefully I won¡¯t have to turn it all in to ashes but as long as they know their place in the hierarchy then it should go smoothly, all I need to do is wait for an opportunity¡­ or create one myself, this was an option I hadn¡¯t gone over yet, using the magical beast would take too much time and effort, not counting how dangerous that thing can be and while it would be for the best to come up with something only involving myself I couldn¡¯t remove the possibility of using it.


    For anything to be done I would first need to know what I would be dealing with and at a safe distance away from their repurposed settlement I awaited for nightfall, content with observing whatever they were doing for now as the thought that this would take longer than I expected hit me, rejecting myself once more to be separated from my hoard for a longer period than than wanted I continued observing the town and its surrounding, moving from place to place to get a better picture in my head of what the extent of their roots looked like, buildings that went years without maintenance were hastily reinforced with logs, rocks and fiber, some building that presumably collapsed were completely cleared and built over with huts, occasionally I spotting them moving around doing what I presume were last minute things.


    It was clear they settled here years ago, for how long I didn¡¯t know but it wouldn¡¯t make a difference as it would all be abandoned in the end, now for how I could actually get them to move out of their little settlement and to become more of my minion, an idea popped into my head, one used and tested, call out for some of them, just a roar and it was guaranteed to get the attention of them, let them search in hopes that their fears were just that, then reveal myself to a small group, let my might overtake their brain, draconic tales of old will flood through their minds, demand their worship for I am their lord, but as much as I wanted to do so, doing it would take time, weeks to months or even years to completely replace their old ways, time I would rather spend doing something other than converting mere goblins.


    After all, this was just another step towards my never ending goals, but firstly I needed to secure my place in the region, thus goblins are required to start setting up a proper workshop not only for the capability to make weapons that can actually withstand a fight but also tools, sapients aren¡¯t really known for how well equipped they are biologically speaking, sure kobolds may be brutal and efficient killers but there¡¯s a reason they still prefer to make spears even if they aren¡¯t as durable as their claws.


    I continued to observe their settlement until daybreak committing its location and size to memory and I took to the skies before it got too bright going back south to think over what I would be going to do and what it will take, definitely using that magic beast, I will need to get rid of it sooner or later and the sooner that it is no longer a threat the better, as well as the bonus that the mana that flows through its veins will undoubtedly be a boost to my growth once I consume it.


    Going back into the forest I attempted to go over my steps, a hard thing to do considering I flew most of the time, only really walking in my lair and surrounding area, thankfully the sleepless night wasn¡¯t that bad, considering I didn¡¯t spent that much energy flying, I could continue my way back thinking on how to bait the beast while feeling the sunlight and cool morning air on my scales, overall a relaxed pace considering the past few weeks, now with a clear mind I wondered where my brother and sisters went and what would they do, they were competition of course, there was just so many riches and influence one could claim but one¡¯s kin must alway be respected, perhaps I would encounter them again or attempt to find them and keep track of them as it could be of great use for future opportunities, and if mother wasn¡¯t dead she would most likely be soon, abandoning a hoard would be as painful as being at the gates of death itself, and there was little way there was a way to move it all in short periods of time even with hundreds of servants it would be impossible to move that quantity of treasure any meaningful distance before being caught.


    This distracted me from worrying much about what I was about to try and do, magic is a powerful force to be reckoned with, rare and powerful, I wouldn¡¯t face it head on, just attempt to push in to running into the valley and cause as much mayhem in it¡¯s panicked state, if I manage to get it to panic in the first place of course, perhaps a nap would be good before trying something like this.

 Chapter 8: Bait of fire

    How to bait a magical beast in to its death was something I had no idea on how to do, but I would have to learn on the fly, quite literally, nothing of the memories passed down says anything about bait probably because it wasn¡¯t something deemed as important to remember at a generational level, apparently some taboo towards livestock of sorts with an apparent loophole being if your servants did all the work and giving food as offering, no idea why this was like it was but I would need to deal with it one way or another and getting the dang beast to bully the goblins for a while was my best shot at getting them on my side.


    There are too many things to take into account to plan around this and the behavior of a being capable to wielding mana was too unpredictable as magic itself tends to be, the dangers of magic are well registered in genetic memory due to the threat it poses, your skill or power doesn¡¯t matter when your flames can be undone and can¡¯t get close enough to use your claws or weight on them due to extremely fast gusts of winds and sometimes even throwing rocks at some ridiculous speeds, one either had to be cunning and take it by surprise or overpower whatever was thrown at you, in both cases it was best to not hold back once you finally strike.


    Of course everything depended on the knowledge of the user but the fact remained that fighting one head on would be extremely dangerous, but I wasn¡¯t planning on doing a one on one fight at least not yet, all I need to do is to wear it down and get it to flee towards the direction of their village and perhaps that would be all the opportunity I need for them to join me willingly, even with all the intelligence granted to it by magic it was still an animal and as such if placed in a panicked state it would attempt to attack anything in its path, including the goblins and their homes, what I needed to do was show up in the right time for most if not all of the buildings to be completely unrepairable but not too late for the all to be crippled and or killed as it would make all the trouble I went through be completely useless.


    Now what was left to do was finding the damned thing again, by now I should be close to the area I first spotted it, all that remained was to search the area surrounding it as I would have to stumble unto it eventually or vice versa, either way I must not underestimate it unless I want some injury that might cripple me for the forthcoming months or even worse, being cautious wasn¡¯t a choice but a necessity.


    However after hours of flying in circles there was finally something of notice, bones and a cracked tree but of most interest, dried blood, it was here recently and seemingly ate whatever the bones were off, well, most likely whatever remained of the animal considering that whatever is threw pierced through its body and hit the tree, descending to search for any marks as to where it left to I noticed that the stone that the magical beast struck its prey with was still dodged deep within the trunk after going through an entire body and it¡¯s hide on both sides, a most terrifying power.


    Sniffing at the ground for any clue as to where it might have gone I noticed the smell of blood as it led south of here, focusing more on the ground noticing the traces left by paws in the soil, now all that was left to do was follow the path, for this I chose walking as it would be safer, for both approaching as it would be more silent without the beating of my wings and my shadow won¡¯t be spotted as easily, whatever of the both it was that caught it¡¯s attention a few days ago but the second reason was simply to not risk getting my wings pierced, I very much needed them and losing them for possibly months wasn¡¯t a risk worth taking.


    Of course, I was sacrificing my advantage of coming from above, including the superior visibility that comes from my vision not being disturbed by shrubbery and trees but well, burning them all out would just get its attention¡­ ah, of course how did I not think of this earlier?


    I did not need to bait it at all, I just need to cut it off from one side with fire and force it to go wherever I want it to, now the only problem left would be to make sure it reaches the village and doesn¡¯t try to avoid it, actually, does it really need to reach the village fully? those goblins will stumble upon it eventually and that should be enough for a fight to start, a magical beast was something more than a nuisance but a power to be harvested as well, how does one harvest its power beyond eating it was beyond me but goblins and humans knew secrets of magic that eluded me, both of them with radically different approaches to harnessing its power.


    However that power was often times temporary due to the diluted the magic was once it was in a state that could be safely consumed for those that lacked the nature to digest it in full, as an energy as dense as magic could cause great pain and even death on those that try to harness it without the adequate body, and this is one of the things that made humans more unique than other creatures, the ability of some of their species to use this power, no passed memory knows as to how some humans can use magic instead I got the memories of her minions explaining all of that to her, but it was what it was, there was no point of understanding something that couldn¡¯t be changed, a few may try but it was more of a waste of time that could be used better for the gain of power.


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    But at last, I had to focus once more as the smell grew in intensity, dropping my posture to get closer to the ground keeping my wings folded to my sides as to not be as visible I slowly made my way closer to the smell, slowly pushing my head between some bushes trying to see what was beyond, a few meters away, laid down leaning against a tree seemingly sleeping was the exceptionally big wolf, the same canine I spotted while flying, this was my perfect chance, slowly retiring myself from the bushes as to not make any sound I carefully moved around until I was sure the valley was roughly in front of me, soon enough it will be the only place safe from flame.


    Letting loose my flames on to the plants making sure to get as many of them burning as to not let the fire extinguish itself out so soon, the cracking of flames and heat has surely awaken it by now and just as I thought that a yelp came out from the location of the wolf, perhaps stunned at the sudden fire that wasn¡¯t there when it came to sleep after it¡¯s meal, I hurriedly crossed the growing wall of fire, my providing sufficient protection against the otherwise scorching heat and immediately let out another torrent of fire, a sudden wall of rock elevated from the ground blocking the fire before it could reach it, moving my head to the sides as to put to the torch the surrounding forestry and elevating the heat, my plan wasn¡¯t to attack it directly after all, but to keep it occupied while I push it out.


    The temperature seemingly to high for it to bear it brought a gust of wind, however that wouldn¡¯t put the fire out, just spread it to the opposite direction, making it¡¯s only available escape route where I wanted it to go, so far it was going as I wanted but I did not know for how long I could keep throwing fire at it, my fire gland as it was commonly referred to while being more developed than before it wasn¡¯t infinite and couldn¡¯t keep up in a prolonged fight, I needed it to run, to believe it was outmatched and the faster the better.


    Charging in with a roar with hope that my confidence was enough to make it believe it couldn¡¯t win, perhaps it was even true if I actually wanted to kill it right here but as for now I still needed it alive, breathing fire to cover my charge as to force it to use it¡¯s magic on the fire instead of me and unfolding my wings to allow me to pounce on it from a further distance, as if realizing my apparent intent it backed off, I punished it by throwing another torrent of fire.


    Finally it seemed that it noticed that it was outmatched, mainly due to the surprise ambush I reckon, all that¡¯s needed to do now, it¡¯s keep it on the path, flapping my wings to take to the skies and follow it, setting fire the the surrounding area as needed, the resulting smoke will probably be enough to hinder its aim if it even though about launching rocks at me rather than running before the fire caught up to it.


    Keeping up with this overgrown wolf was easier than I previously though, all I needed to do was to set fire to a nearby area before it could even start to think about switch paths while trying to be conservative about my breath, while in a constant fight the strain would empty to a degree that it would cause an inflammation that would make it rather painful to use it for a while, this was from actual experience and it wasn¡¯t hard to say that this was rather unpleasant, however with eventual uses like this I learned it gave time for my gland rest and keep up throughout the day, of course this was tested in shorter burst but the fire will expand naturally in this environment with so much fuel to consume, there won¡¯t be way back to run to soon enough.


    From behind, plumes of smoke had already risen and started to darken the sky, hiding my figure, it would most likely be seen for kilometers around but for how many I had no clue, perhaps the humans might take notice, but if they did would they even bother to send someone to search what the cause was? but the goblins in other hand, they would care and definitely noticed, perhaps they will think it was the magical beast that did it with a rather volatile spell of sorts and be more aggressive towards it but I couldn¡¯t guarantee that, however they will definitely know the cause after I show up, how would react to me would depend on how I can play my part in the fight to come, appearing as their savior as the wolf tries to seemingly defend itself from more aggressors was the ideal.


    Otherwise a deal to force them in to servitude one way or another was the next thing in line, eventually the forest came to an end and the wolf seemed to search for another entry that wouldn¡¯t be on fire as soon as it tried to go through but to no avail as I scorched the treeline forcing it to go further out, but I cut chase as this task was done, all that needed to do was wait, flying back into the cover of the thick smoke keep my eyes on the magical creature to see it¡¯s decisions, first it seemed to calm down due to my apparent lack of interest on continuing chasing it, but not relax completely, as goblins quickly approached, probably first to inspect the cause of the fire and see if it would reach their settlement before the large wolf appeared with parts of it fur burn and seemingly in panic, thankfully it seemed that I wasn¡¯t noticed yet.


    Now what I did all of this for, the goblins quickly paused in their step observing the oversized wolf as it snatched stone from the earth with magic forming a shield facing the goblins, but instead of the fight I was expecting, the goblins started do move their palms back and forth as in attempting to appease it, now of course with the shield blocking its view it didn¡¯t exactly see what was going on, however as the expected attacks never came it lowered the shield enough to see through perhaps I shouldn¡¯t had underestimate it¡¯s intelligence instead of focusing that much in to the magic part.


    But it was done, the mayhem that I wanted from this hasn¡¯t yet begun but if it didn¡¯t start soon enough, I will force it to happen.