"Sisters now that mother is making us find our own food why don't we venture out together so that we might be able to catch a much larger beast?" I asked my sisters when they joined me at the entrance of the cave. The sun just starting to peak out from behind the mountains.
"I think that is a great idea brother, we all need more experience hunting as a group." Apollonia responded.
Corentine also replied "I would like to use Grandfathers teachings so that I can keep practicing so would also like to join." I was momentarily shocked that Corentine actually responded for once rather than just agreeing with Apollonia.
After my initial surprise I nodded my head then leapt from the entrance of the cavern, having been flying for about a month I was at home in the sky or on the ground. My landing could still be rough sometime but at least I didn't just smash full force into the ground like my first landing.
Now that I was flying I looked back to find my sisters, over the past few weeks all three of us had grown quite substantially. I now had a wing span of thirteen yards or about forty feet, my body was now fourteen feet in length, I hadn't grew taller all that much only a few inches.
Apollonia had shown more growth than Corentine, she now boasted a wingspan of thirty feet or ten yards, in length she was just under ten feet, and she stood at six feet in height. Corentine on the other had not grown in length all that much but her wing span was almost equal to mine despite her still only being seven feet in length and four in height.
Not only was she talented in mana manipulation but I could see that in the future she would be the best flyer out of the three of us.
'I wonder if our marks are influencing our physical traits? That would explain why her body seems to be suited for the sky.'
As we continued out journey through the sky I turned to fly over the mountains to head to the sprawling forests that covered the other side, thinking that there would be more prey there for us to hunt.
Mother had never expressly told us that we could not venture past the mountain ranges to find prey, but that was also where I assumed that she caught all of the beasts that she had been feeding to us.
Flying between two mountains on our way to the forest below I could make out the forms of small animals running away from us as we approached, obviously dragons where not an uncommon sight and the wildlife made sure to say away.
The few clouds that occupied parts of the sky made the view even more incredible as we flew.
Once we finally made it to the forest we descended closer as to get a better view, once we got closer I could see that the trees where massive even just one dwarfed us in size both in height and in width.
Flying just above the trees I decided that with the thick canopy that the trees provided it would be almost impossible to find any prey, so I motioned for my sisters to follow me as I dove into the trees. Though the trees where huge they left plenty of space for our relatively small frames to fly between. The sunlight pierced through the canopy with streaks of gold and feel the mana concentration in the air.
Looking down as we flew, at first we saw nothing but then up ahead I caught a glimpse of something rather large moving on the ground, seeming not to notice us.
I quickly motioned for my sisters to land on one of the many branches above the creature along with me. All three of us landed as quietly as we could on the branch as thick a our bodies.
"I want to see how our physical strengths measure up to a wild beast, with the three of us we should be able to take it down. Unless things get out of hand don't use and mana or dragon breath, we can hunt more to practice those." I said while looking at my sisters who had determined looks in their eyes. They both nodded and I continued "Lets catch it by surprise, since I am the largest I will get its attention and attack its front, while you two go for its back legs to immobilize it."
My sisters nodded in agreement, then we jumped from our perch. While they went to the right to go behind the beast, I went to the left to cut it off as it walked through the forest unaware of our presence.
Upon getting closer I could now see that the creature resemble a large brown bear. It was about twice my size, truly a massive beast. Prefect for our first group hunt.
Once I got above it I dove straight down aiming for its neck, with my claws and razor sharp teeth ready. The bear didn't recognize my presence until I was mere feet away, much to late to react as I was at full speed ready to bury my claws into its neck.
I collided with the bear at an astonishing speed leaving it reeling in shock. Digging my claws into its thick hide and clamping my jaws down onto the side of its neck, it couldn't turn its head to bite me so as I tore at its neck and chest it brought its huge right paw up and smashed it into my side.
A feeling like lightning spread through my left side as I was thrown from the bears body and into a adjacent tree. Upon getting my bearings I got back on my feet ignoring the pain from my side and yelled "SISTERS NOW!".
As soon as the words left my mouth I saw them both rush out of the bushes that where behind the bear and using their claws attacked the bears ankles to sever the tendons.
Now fully alert the bear went to turn so that it could defend itself, but I would not let it injure my sisters. So I charged again, making sure to let out a deep roar as I did to attract it attention. Surprised by my sudden burst of energy it turned back toward me as I jumped aiming my claws for its eye.
I managed to successfully dig my left claws into its right eye but the bear grabbed a hold of my right forelimb. I heard a crunching noise as my forelimb broke under the beasts immense bite force. Using the opening my sisters successfully managed to cut both of the bears back legs to ribbons before flanking around and attacking the bears neck and spine.
As I was still in the bears grasp I reached my head around and buried my fangs into its throat, ripping out its wind pipe.
With a final struggle it trashed and let go of my forelimb to try and remove my sisters and I from its neck. Swallowing the chunk of flesh I jumped backwards as my sisters continued their assault. Seeing that my arm was bent at an unnatural angle I made the decision that I would be of no more help in this fight.
the bears blood ran down its body in swaths, Apollonia had managed to sever and artery. Seeing this yelled "Make distance we have already won this fight!". Hearing this both of my sisters disengaged and ran to my side as the bear stared at us with eyes full of blood lust as it slumped to the ground unable to breath through its destroyed wind pipe.
Not knowing if the battle was entirely over my sisters and I stayed ready for any sudden assaults. After a while I saw that the creature was no longer drawing breath. Letting the tension rush out of my body I slumped to the ground.
"That could have gone better, we need more practice." I said out loud.