"So his new name is Azenki right? ...That mean anything? I don't know much about dragon culture." Vemoura asked while sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cave. She watched as her master ran at breakneck speed on the large grassy plain below, his body kept low to the ground as he crawled faster than any beast she's ever seen, it felt unnatural.
"It doesn't mean anything, we don't have a language. Hard to make a culture, much less a language, when most of us live in solitude and opposition from one another, never have I seen a city of dragons. Besides, plenty of us can't even speak." Obranask answered, watching Azenki along with Vemoura.
"How did you learn?"
"I'm old. After a while of listening to mortals scream and beg, and doing a bit of mimicry when bored, it was rather easy to pick up common speak."
"I still remember my first sentence, I was begging mockingly to the so-called dragon hunter in front of me, who was doing the same, albiet far more genuinely." He gave a small chuckle at the memory.
A smirk grew on her face, "Its one way to learn I suppose... Our master is remarkably fast on his feet."
"Indeed, even for a Drake, he's easily the faster than anything that runs, and more agile."
"Is that what he is?"
He nodded, "Dragons know for their surprising dexterity on the ground, though he surpasses even the best of them."
They just watched him run back and forth, getting the hang of his own feet.
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"Well, it's one way to make your name. Though I don't think I like how this Pact is going to make you look." Vemoura said, eating a small portion of the boar that had been caught earlier by Azenki.
"Agreed, a Greater Dragon stooping to freeing elven slaves hardly sends a message." Obranask added.
Delath rolled her eyes, "Sure it will! Pissing off a bunch of rich slavers is a great way to get a large bounty. All of Anduvia will be in a frenzy."
"And don't forget, I intend to free any and all slaves I can find. By the time we are done, we'll have our own army of angry slaves." Azenki said as he was eating the rest of the roasted boar.
Ashiielwyn cleared her throat loudly, "I will remind you, Azenki, that while my mother finds violence acceptable, she would prefer that you find another way of doing it, as she stated in her Pact."
The thin dragon rolled his eyes, "I remember what she said perfectly fine. But I don't imagine that she, nor your kin would be pleased if I gave even a single copper to those slavers, even if it meant freedom."
"What are you even getting out of this again? I mean besides her." Vemoura gestured to the demigoddess.
Ashiielwyn casually pulled out a beautifully intricate, golden ring with green gemstones embedded in the front, "The Ring of Bonds. Should he put it on, we will gain some of his draconic traits."
Vemoura raised an eyebrow, "Wait, why are you holding it then? Shouldn't he be wearing it?"
"Not everyone's outfits are equipped for wings like yours. Besides, I need a few companions that can actually blend in." Azenki tapped his claws on the floor, a tick that still carried over from his human life.
Vemoura shrugged, accepting that answer well enough.
"Sooooo... When are we actually going to go do things?" Delath asked, a bored look on her face as she worked on a wood carving.
"Tomorrow. I think I've gotten a good handle on my new body, good enough to go to the shore. We're near the Divide correct?"
"Yep."
The thin dragon nodded.
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Delath enjoyed the wind in her hair. Or rather she would have if she wasn't several hundred feet in the air, flying above a forest. Her hands were practically glued to the ridges on Azenki's neck, desperate to hold onto anything on his frustratingly smooth body.
"You doing well?" He asked over the roaring winds, the smugness in his voice hard to hear within it.
"YEP. Doing just... FinaaaAAAA-!" A involuntary scream rang out from her at the sudden dive he went into.
He quickly spreader his wings back out, going back into a glide.
"You... Are. A. Dick." Delath said in a shaky, yet very cold voice.
Azenki chuckled, "You're rather vulgar for an elf."
"So I've heard..." She trailed off, her attention suddenly on the massive bridge in the distance.
Both could see their destination, the gigantic, worn down bridge that once connected the two halves of the continent.
As they slowly flew over it, they could see the slowly rotting ballistas on the tops of the towers at the ends of the bridge. The bridge itself was just as split in half as the continent, the middle of it having collapsed after peace talks fell through. Even while flying, it took several minutes to cross the river.
Azenki looked down on the ruin, bitter memories coming to mind. The moment ended as soon as it began when Delath screamed, "Look out!"
A small Boulder soared past his head as he snapped out of it. Looking down, he could see the catapults set up on the other side of the Divide, a small force of Anduivian soldiers and their encampment.
"Must be here to keep anyone out. Hold on tight!" Azenki dove once more before Delath could protest, leaving her to just following his order.
More boulders flew past as he rapidly approached the ground. Through the fog, he could see the four catapults they had, all spaced out along the large encampment.
He began to feel the sensation of bile rising in his throat, underneath his throat scales a faint, purple glow could be seen to the soldiers he was approaching.
A straight beam of purple light left his mouth and impacted with the first catapult, with a swift head turn, the light bisected the war machine, collapsing it into a heap.
With a swift turn he did the same to another, an unfortunate soldier being compressed into the ground as the beam passed over him.
Again and again he destroyed the war machines with little effort, most of his attention was actually going toward making that Delath wasn't hit with any of the arrows fired at them, the arrows themselves bouncing harmlessly off his scales.
"Delath, I'm gonna drop you off nearby, make sure anyone that runs away doesn't get far."
"R-Right," She said, fighting off the violent motion sickness from the bumpy ride.
He quickly dropped to the ground nearby, letting her stumble off of him before bursting forward, crawling around the trees, leaving deep gashes as his claws scraped and punctured their wood.
The few soldiers who were just about to enter the trees were met with Azenki's claws, they glided through their armor like scissors through paper.
With swift turns and swipes he made his way through the soldiers, using his tail and claws to bash or slice armored warriors.
The rush he felt was like no other, with every soldier he split open making him feel truely alive. Like a twisted dance, swiping out peoples legs out from under them with his tail, splitting armor and weapons with his claws, crunching down on poor bastards too close to his maw. None could land so much as a single blow on his thin frame, not that they could do anything against his scales if they did.
Eventually, he found he was swiping at air and biting down on nothing. Slowly, he came out of his brutal dance, and finally was able to survey his work.
Bodies littered the camp, severed arms, heads and bodies profusely bled as their severing was fresh and exceptionally clean. A good number lied motionless, their armor crushed. As he came out of his high, he could taste the blood on his tongue, blood that wasn't his. He could smell nothing but the powerful, metallic scent of it. He felt it steadily dripping off his body, soaking into the ground below.
He heard a single thing, a slow, yet obviously panicked breathing. Turning his head, he slowly looked toward the noise.
A young woman wearing white robes, holding a wooden staff with a golden pair of feathery wings adorning the top. Blood splatters covered her robes and long, brown hair.
"Y-yyyou're the 6th..."
For a moment, the both of them just stood there, watching the other, unmoving.
He barely reacted when she burst into a run, dropping her staff in the process.
Azenki flinched when the sound of a drawstrings twang rang out among the silence, a single arrow stricking the woman down as it pierced her neck.
"She was, uh, getting away." Delath stated awkwardly as she walked out of the trees toward him.
Azenki steadied himself, raising his head high and taking a long, deep inhale.
And then he threw up.
