Chereads / The Archaic Dragon Mage / Chapter 303 - 6

Chapter 303 - 6

It was kind of a funny way of thinking. I was perfectly fine with them thinking those sort of thing even though I didn't actually think of the warehouse as my space. It kept them away just enough to allow me to act freely within the warehouse. I didn't actually dislike most of the people that lived within this particular guild settlement. I felt a phantom wing twitch as I thought about what Vernon might be planning.

I knew that it had something to do with some sort of beast. That had me practically salivating at all the cores I might manage to get in the near future. I wanted to go out, and check it out myself, but the base had been locked down for the time being. I wasn't even allowed to go out for hunting. The guild leader had volunteered to foot the bill for any meat I might need in the meantime, but I could easily sneak out if I became hungry enough to need something to eat.

Savannah's emotions told me she wanted to talk to me about something. My discomfort was slowly growing to the point that I didn't really want to stay in my human form anymore. I hated this itch I got whenever I took my human form recently. Staying in my true form almost constantly had made me quite sensitive to this feeling. I hadn't realized how much of a tolerance I'd gotten through all those hours pretending to be human.

That tolerance was nearly gone now. Kind of sucky to a certain degree. I couldn't just slip into my human form, and play human as easily as I did before. I was slowly leaning toward switching forms. Going back to my original form was feeling more, and more right the longer I stayed in my human form.

"What's bothering you?" I glanced over to Savannah with a disinterested expression.

"I just don't like this whole thing," Savannah gestured around herself, "Why are we waiting for this Vernon idiot to do whatever he wants? Why are we waiting for him to enact this whole plan?"

"He's the vice guild leader for a reason," I was a little irritated that she was asking about this again, "They trust each other. The only way I was going to get it through his thick head that Vernon is actually trying to kill him is by letting him see it himself." My head snapped the direction of the door, "This conversation is over. We have guests headed our way."

I rushed over to the open space in the warehouse to switch forms. Switching forms nearly instantaneously once I was clear of my friends. I wasn't over the map I'd been carving into the floor at the moment. I was tucked more into the corner this time around. I curled up quickly.

Pretending to be asleep. I switched to infrared, and watched as the small group entered the warehouse. One was Vernon for sure. Another was the guild leader himself. Calen looked over my direction a little warily.

He seemed suspicious of me. I detected it before. That suspicion of me had been around for a long time. I kept on pretending to be asleep. My wings twitched as I tried to appear asleep.

"Can we help you?" Savannah payed a little more attention to them.

She was feigning disinterest like I had done just a little bit ago.

"I've heard about how powerful your dragon is from the various allies you've been taking out on hunts," Calen began to speak, pulling out a tablet, "I'd like for your group to come with us to take care of a problem before it kills the planet."

"Kills the planet?" Savannah frowned at the offered tablet, "What do you mean?"

"Take a look," he stepped closer to offer her the tablet, "You'll understand once you see the video."

Savannah took the tablet hesitantly. Watching the video that was on the device quietly. A feeling of dread slowly filling her.

"How recent is this video?" Savannah glanced up from the tablet.

"That one was taken this morning," Calen answered casually, "There's another video from when we discovered the nest. It's grown considerably in just a few days."

"It's still small, but it doesn't look very good," Savannah handed the tablet back, "Your guild doesn't have enough funding or gear to take down a nest this size. I doubt our group alone is enough to do much damage to the nest. You'll need to call in help from another group or to evacuate."

"The plan isn't to go after the queen," Calen smirked nervously, "We're going to test the margins of the colony, and record it's current size. Bring back some cores for examination to see if we can trade them for a bigger guild to come clean out the problem."

"Doesn't sound like a good plan," She leaned back casually, "Bringing another guild in risks them taking over doesn't it?"

"I know about the debt schemes," The frown that had been on his face this whole time seemed to deepen a little more, "Losing control of my guild is a small price to pay for the safety of my people."

"Noble of you," Savannah's emotions betrayed her casual nonchalant demeanor.

She didn't like this, and Calen's connection to his people was making her feel sympathetic. She felt for the guy, and knew he was likely to lose everything he had if he went through with his plan. She didn't disagree with him though. I felt my wings twitch at that emotional turmoil. Savannah was well educated when it came to these sort of things.

Her slow speed of magical learning, and growth had pushed her to work harder in other areas to keep her father happy. I didn't understand why she pushed herself so hard for a man that wasn't willing to listen to a single word she said. My lip curled up slowly at the thought of him. I wanted to kick his ass for the way he treated his daughter. I wasn't inclined to kill him though because of the strong attachment she had to him regardless of the way he treated her.