Oli was running now, trying to escape before Trada would inevitably fall. He retraced his steps exactly, quickly passing the flaming crater from before. He ran for a couple of minutes before someone caught him by surprise.
"Oli!" Rathe's voice broke the tension from the distance, "We finally—"
"What are you doing with that!?" Vloz interrupted.
Oli reached them but kept running. When Vloz began to run beside him, Oli said, "It's a dragon egg and there's another dragon after it so we have to hurry and escape."
"HUH!?" Rathe almost fell off Vloz's back when he heard the news. "Oli, you mean that giant beast from before is after that?"
"Yup! So less talking and more running!"
"Vloz! Take Oli away!" Rathe bellowed as he rolled off the leopard's back. "Don't you dare think about me at a time like this. Besides, that dragon wouldn't even bother with me while he's looking for that egg. I'll catch up later, now go!"
"But Uncle—"
Vloz immediately pulled Oli onto his back, activated his aura, and took off at high speed. Oli tried to lift his head to look back but couldn't due to Vloz's speed. He clung to the leopard with all his might, as the egg was braced between his chest and Vloz's back.
* * * * *
"Out of my way Trada. I must slaughter that little pest. Who knows? If I'm lucky I'll get to massacre his whole troop to pay for his sins."
"Never! You won't get that boy or my child!" she ignored the many wounds that kept growing on her body and paid no mind to the blood being lost.
Her breathing was weak and inconsistent, but her eyes were resolute and sure of her purpose. Without fail she blocked Brak's every attempt to escape, even if she had to use her body.
"Did you take a liking to that boy, Trada? He's a weakling destined to die in my clutches, he'll never escape me. But you've lasted a few minutes and that's already more than I thought you'd be capable of. For that, let me share something special," Brak's aura pooled around his wings and formed a serrated sword along the outer edge, "Try to stop this one!"
With a flash of golden energy, Brak launched himself straight into Trada, letting a rain of blood and black scales fall to the ground. She coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood before regaining her composure and staring back at him in silence.
"Not bad Trada, but how many of those can you take?"
Without warning he attacked again, letting his serrated aura and scales slice her defenses to pieces.
She tried to use her aura as a shield but was too weak to form any real defense. After three seconds Brak stopped right behind Trada as she lost consciousness and fell to the ground below.
"That's what I thought. Normally I'd finish you off, but I'm in a hurry so I'll just come back for that divine core after finishing that brat," Brak roared as he took off after the young ape and left Trada behind. "Now, where did you go?"
Brak extended his aura out in search of Oli and was surprised to not only find him but a few divine beasts. One was alive but too weak to do anything so Brak disregarded him. The second was running away at high speed with Oli on his back.
However, the real shock was the third divine beast sprinting towards the second one. Seeing that the third divine beast was just a step away from the king realm, Brak left without wasting more time in hopes to get Oli before the beasts could regroup. It only took a few seconds for the king level dragon to catch Vloz and Oli in his sights.
"There you are, you brat!" Brak yelled before spewing a few fireballs to stop Vloz.
In an attempt to confuse the menacing dragon, Vloz divided into six and scattered his many copies.
But Brak was very intelligent and cunning, he gave his wings one strong flap and sent countless minuscule blades of razor-sharp essence across the landscape, destroying everything within a few hundred krin.
Vloz braced himself around Oli to protect the boy and the egg. He was able to keep Oli safe, but it rendered him unable to fight.
"Hey, that was smart thinking," Brak descended upon his prey, "Covering the egg like that kept it in perfect condition for me. For that, you get to live another day leopard. But you aren't so lucky brat."
Oli meant to speak up but Brak had already begun his execution. Those massive wings slapped Vloz to the side and swung back around to finish off his target, aiming to take Oli's head. But Brak missed.
"You, what are you to him?" Brak turned around and faced Dioro, who was about a dozen krin away with Oli in one arm and the egg in the other. "Be careful with your answer, otherwise you may join the brat in hell."
"No one touches my son, not even a mid-king like yourself," Dioro showed no fear.
"Oh? You've got some backbone. I can break that," Brak didn't care if Dioro wanted to fight it out since the gorilla was still only a perennial. "Leave the brat and egg to the side. If they run away, I kill them. But if you can defeat me, I'll let you all keep your lives."
"Oli, do as he said," Dioro spoke to Oli but didn't bother looking at him.
"But Dad, I—"
"Just wait there," Dioro didn't repeat himself and dropped both Oli and the egg. "Let's take this to the sky, I don't want any residual energy harming them."
"So serious for someone about to die. You're as foolish as your son, taking on more than you can chew. I'd like to see how you handle me when you've yet to become a king yourself," Brak spoke proudly but ascended to the skies all the same.
"Then let me show you first hand," Dioro's energy exploded outward, stunning everyone who could feel it.