My wingspan had surpassed sixty feet. Not by much but it was still very impressive. They were trained not to flee, and they held their ground well. I had to give them a mental nod of approval for that.
"You're not capable of harming me," I snorted, "Leave while I'm still willing to allow it."
It startled me a bit to find that I was truthfully willing to kill these people if they didn't listen. My bloodlust was fully unleashed. It turned my aura red, and intermingled with my murderous intent. The full force of my aura could only be unleashed with divine energy to fuel it. The thing about an aura was the fact that it didn't actually use any divine energy.
It was basically a carpet of energy meant to suppress my enemies. When I did choose to use divine energy it would weaken my aura. Divine energy was the ultimate form of mana. To be capable of using it was the peak of magical ability. You had to have at least five different affinities to even have a chance of creating divine energy.
It wasn't something any mage could just pick up. You needed to have some real talent, and ability with mana to even try. I tapped my talons on the half frozen earth. My wings halfway extended in a way that made me seem even more threatening. The soldiers grouped up, and backed off toward the wall.
They needed one more push. I flared my wings, and snarled at them. Jumping upward, and beating those massive wings down just once. Buffering them with enough air to knock half a dozen of them down. A light roar was all it took for me to finish off whatever confidence they had left.
They turned tail, and ran like I'd told them to do in the first place. Someone on the wall started launching attacks at me from where I hovered near the wall. Another pump of my wings brought me above the attacks. Those attacks slammed into the trees behind me. Knocking them down, and angering me.
The beam of lightning that left my mouth scorched a hole clean through the wall in a crooked line. The metal groaned as it struggled to hold. I beat my wings again. I flew upward. The power of my wings was immense.
Propelling something as large as myself through the air with an ease that made me want to smile. I kept on beating my massive wings. Flying through the air. I roared skyward for no particular reason at all. Joy resonating through my being in the few seconds it took for me to cross from the border to the camp we'd made at the center.
A little bit of gravity manipulation, and some gentle wing work allowed me to land gently, and more importantly silently. Ethan was still out cold. He been out cold for over a day now. The camp was busy with movement. People, and magical creatures mixed together.
Seemingly getting along just fine. Aurora was curled up, and resting near the edge of the camp. She'd spent a lot of time with the water great the last few days. She was trying to form a proper bond with the woman. I didn't really blame her.
She seemed like a good woman. Just a little too calm to get along with me. My tail flicked casually as I walked toward the tent where Ethan was being kept. Switching forms quickly so I could enter the tent without destroying it. I tapped the crystal on my chest, and forehead. Hiding them within my flesh, and appearing completely human once again.
It would be impossible to tell me from an ordinary person. I kept my aura completely suppressed. I couldn't help feeling that some of my aura was leaking out. I needed to get a better feel for my new abilities now that I'd matured. That required time.
I stepped into the tent, and found the creepy boy with white hair, and red eyes. He'd been here watching him since he'd gone down. My muscles tensed all at once. If I thought that I was good at hiding my presence than this guy was on another level. I didn't even know he was here until I laid my eyes on him.
"You're creeping me out," I resisted the urge to curl my lip up, and snarl at him.
"You really don't like me," He looked up at me with a lazy smirk.
There was a glint in those red eyes of his. It wasn't hostility or amusement. It was just there.
"Your kin is stable," he dropped the smirk.
His expression turning more unreadable.
"He won't wake for another few days," he kept on talking as if I hadn't gone silent, "I can keep him filled with nutrition, and in relatively good shape. Soul damage takes time to heal, but you know that already. You're in just as much pain as he is."
"How would you know that?" I glared down on him.
"Dragons never did like it when others knew of their weak points," his face remained unreadable, "But if you must know. I can see it as clearly as you can see the emotions of the people around you. It comes from my ability to heal. I'm on another level as you humans like to say nowadays."
"And how would a monster like you gain such power?" I moved to the other side of Ethan's cot, and sat down, "The only vibe or feeling I get from you is like a guillotine hanging over my neck. I feel as if one wrong step could get my head lopped off."
"Your feeling isn't entirely wrong," his eyes sharpened as a pleased smirk made its way onto his face, "I am one of the few creatures that can survive a clash with a mature dragon monarch. A newborn dragon king like you wouldn't last long against me in a serious fight, and even if you did manage to put me down it wouldn't kill me. A few days or maybe years, and I'd be able to regenerate. I'd be dormant but alive."