It only took a few minutes for the herd to arrive at their location. All of them looked furious. The leader of the pack marched up to me leaving behind flames intense enough to start spreading.
"Dragon I request your help." The tone suggested it was not a request.
"If it is within my power I will aid you, but know I am still young." Something was wrong. From his previous interactions with this stallion you expected some difference, but now he got a strong sense of danger.
"Any two leg will do. Our powerful frame will not allow us to go where we need too." With Nona's confirmation the stallion seemed to calm down.
"What exactly is it you need me to do." Nona was truly puzzled.
"We need you to enter the snake's cave and return them to Gaia for nourishment."
"Return to Gaia for nourishment?"
"You really know nothing. All things come from Gaia under our feet and all things return to nourish Gaia."
"Oh you mean kill them." Aquiline chimed in.
Understanding dawned on Nona at hearing those words. Thinking on how the snakes ate fire it made sense for the stallion to dislike them, but it seemed more than that. While his mind mulled this over his eyes scanned the rest of the herd. It was than that he noticed a disproportionate amount of elements compared to last time.
"They attacked your herd and killed those blessed by fire didn't they?" Nona felt a pang in his heart as he thought about the foal that was playfully lighting fires and making a mare put them out.
"Yes. They took my colt and almost made the blessing of fire nearly gone. This cannot be allowed to continue." The stallion was nearly in tears.
Nona thought back to the village when the TANKS showed up, and how he left the villagers to fend for themselves. Merle had asked him than if he was a hero or not. Here it was again the same problem. The difference was that this herd of blessed horses had done nothing against him. He knew he was no hero but could he really turn his back on someone who needed help?
These thoughts caused Nona to hesitate which the stallion interpreted as consent. "Follow me and I will show you the entrance to their den."
As Nona followed the stallion he began to think. His most powerful and reliable element was fire but these things ate fire. Top that off with a confined space and barely acceptable fighting skills, makes his chances of survival close to zero. But what I'd he could draw them out? This would be better since he would have help.
As he was thinking this they arrived at an unnaturally round hole that was exactly the size of a two legged being. "This is where they were chase too." The fire stallion gruff out.
"What if I just drop the cave?" Nona asks think of a way to avoid dieing.
The stallion neighs, "Do you still know nothing of these snakes? They may have other ways out or be able to create them. Them must be killed."
Nona instantly regrets the suggestion and wonders how stupid he is in they eyes of the stallion. "Than I have an idea to draw them out to increase my odds of survival, but you will need to step back."
The stallion says nothing as it walks some distance away. "OK time to see if my reading paid off or if I am as dumb as the stallion thinks I am." Nona whispers to himself.
Closing his eyes he brings up the image for magic and calls out for the fire. Unlike the other elements it roars to his aid. He can feel the heat surging through his body to the point it starts to cause discomfort. Not wanting to risk injust from the heat he opens his eye and mentally pushes the fire out of his hand toward the mouth of the cave.
As expected the fire obeys leaping out of his body in a stream, but a frown appears on Nona's face. It wasn't hot enough. He needs it to be enticing and felt by the snakes who were who knows how far down that tunnel. Only knowing basics of the basics of magic was beginning to be a problem. The only thing that came to mind to increase the heat was to gather all the fire magic that had flooded his body and force it out of his hand at the same time.
Turning his attention to the flow of magic in his body he began forcing it into his arm. There was resistance and first that almost made him rethink his idea. All at once his other limbs began to cool with the exception of his arm that began to feel as if it had caught on fire. Forcing himself to ignore this pain and instead focused on pushing that heat out of his hand. The stream of flames leaving his hand seemed to start going further and traveling faster.
Much to his delight the very air around the stream of fire seemed to get hazy from the heat. The rocks began to turn red and Nona felt satisfied with what he was doing.
He kept this up for several minutes but nothing changed. Nona still had no way of knowing how deep the tunnel was. His mind also finally grasped the fact he had no idea how far these snakes could detect heat. He was about to give up on this fruitless endeavor when he heard the hissing.
Cutting of the flam magic flooding his body and forcing the last drops of it out of his hand, he got hit with a wave of exhaustion. Yet again he mentally slapped himself for not thinking of how tired e would be for keeping up a spell for so long.
The hissing became louder as well as closer. It again dawned on Nona about his mistake of the number of snakes he would attract. He cursed himself for his stupidity. He did not have great power like the heroes from his scrolls. He could not be so careless. With it being to late to change things, he hoped he had enough time to think of a solution.