I slid off the dragon's back and my dark boots sank deep into the yellow mud. I walked a few steps in search of stable ground and turned around.
Standing on a small stone in a sea of yellow clay, I surveyed the landing spot.
The dragon, the size of a fighter jet, was calmly standing there. Its legs had sunk to the maximum possible depth of fifty deres.
A dere is a measuring unit based on the old dere blade. A blade with a width of about one finger. It was used to pry apart chainmail and sometimes even full plate armor before armorsmiths got way better at their craft. In recent times armor is so well-crafted nothing can slash or pry it apart. You either need an enormous amount of blunt force or if you're fighting in the light category then you should be using an estoc to stab through a weak spot.
The dragon's wings more closely resembled those of a dragonfly than those of a bat. They were extremely long and nicely folded. The dragon usually uses them to glide. Highly intensive flight maneuvers can tire out the dragon extremely quickly. This is not a big problem for wild dragons as they are bloodthirsty carnivorous predators. They can eat up to a ton of foodstuff a day and then sleep for multiple days in a row. They don't hunt in groups because then the slower dragons would catch nothing and that might breed resentment within the family. Wild dragons are extraordinarily intelligent and untameable unless you're there for them when they climb out of their egg. If dragons want to suddenly accelerate or climb to a higher altitude then they shoot out a jet-like streams from their underside. Such a stream is composed out of the air that the dragon breathes in at the top, using gill-like organs, and their own internal fluids.
The red dragon for example flies solely with the help of these underside volcanoes. That's because it has the size of a strategic bomber. Its spit is the equivalent of napalm and sometimes it's used as a mobile ballistics platform.
The Akkadian dynasty managed to conquer most of the continent via air supremacy. That's one of the major reasons weapons technology has stagnated to this extent. Foot soldiers were always delegated to the role of a cleanup crew to the extent that most infantry doesn't even use spears but instead uses a variation of the cutlass and a mace. Standard Akkadian infantry is usually composed of military slaves with small round wooden shields, light leather armor, wielding a single iron sword. Because they have been reduced to raider squads discipline is squad specific and different nobles run completely different military strategies. Even within the same family one person might choose to run ten person falchion squads and the other groups of four spearmen with one archer as a coordinator.
The brown scales shone in the rising sun, prompting me to shield my eyes from the reflection.
"Hey, old man, are you going to get off or what?"
"Quite the rascal, bringing me here to the middle of nowhere."
The old man hopped off the enormous scaly creature and got all in my face.
"Didn't I tell you to call me by my name? It's Liam. L-I-A-M."
Obviously, he wasn't really spelling it, as his name is really just the character for persistence with added flair but he did try to accentuate it.
"Yeah, I get it, old man. Listen, we're here to mine a bunch of sulfur."
I had Liam Of Akkad, my new employee, fly us here on his dragon so that we can dig up a huge amount of sulfur that I'll need to make gunpowder. His dragon is one of the impure breeds, collectively designated as brown dragons. They are neither black, red, crystal or turquoise. They are the failures of the selective breeding process that the Akkadian royalty uses to create these weapons of mass destruction. Most of them can easily fly or even produce flammable spit but they are nowhere close to the might of the "purer" breeds. They are used as platforms for middle-level nobility or for communications officers. When outside of the military they are used as a convenient type of transport. They are fast by bird standards but very slow by 21st century plane standards. And they also need breaks and sleep and are very limited in carrying capacity. Regardless, every member of the dynasty, adopted or natural born, gets one when he is crowned as a sage.
"Sul- what?"
I pointed to the yellow crystals scattered everywhere.
"This yellow thing."
"I sure hope there is some other reaso-"
"Of course there is. We came here to hunt down a wild dragon!"
Liam looked at me as if I was mentally challenged. But then all of a sudden he smiled.
"Sure, let's do it. I assume you already have a plan."
"Yes, on the other side of this hot spring there is a small semi-abandoned dragon nest. The nest is relatively big but it houses only one dragon. A blue dragon!"
The old man looked at me with bulging eyes: "Dragon doctors have been trying to breed a lightning dragon since Tesla's time! There is now way you managed to find a wild breed!
He was practically screaming and spitting at my face now.
"Calm down. The nest might be empty. I simply heard some rumors from the farmers living nearby. Rumors of a lightning dragon attacking their livestock. It might be a made up story for the purpose of tax relief but I wanted to get a head start just in case."
This is partly true but I am a bit early.
In the original story James enters into a blood feud with the Nightheart family after accidentally killing Aaron's younger brother in an unsanctioned duel. Aaron, belonging to the Spirit Communion faction, goes after Evelyn because James, who is a part of the clergy at the time, catches the blue dragon in front of Aaron. All of this happens approximately a month or two from now when this nest is discovered. Then James fights against Aaron's lackeys multiple times, defeating them all but in the end cannot defeat Aaron because of his inferior magic baubles so he challenges him to a swordfight to the death in the arena. Aaron gladly accepts as he is not afraid of James' sword skills. However, James uses his light element to continuously heal himself and then wins despite sustaining five times as many wounds throughout the duel. In the end Aaron pleads for his life and James almost listens to the voices, telling him to kill Aaron but in the end remembers Aaron's brother, that he accidentally killed, and backs off: ending the cycle of violence. Evelyn is freed and reunites with James mistakenly thinking he fought to save her life.
This is a short summary of the first book. However, none of this is going to happen because I sent Evelyn to the countryside and had a talk with James which resulted in him joining the Department Of Mana Research like he does at the end of the first book. I effectively managed to skip an entire volume with a single duel and a few words which means I have a lot of time to prepare for the future. The problem is that I don't know the future. I haven't read past the first volume and there were close to nine volumes written at the time of my death. It suffices to say that I know almost nothing about the grand secrets of this world.
I only know about the vague location of this nest, the exact location of Tesla's final thesis and that bronze prices will crash in the near future. The thesis is unacquirable without some serious plot armor so that leaves me with bronze trading and the blue dragon. That's where my knowledge ends.
Right now I was moving heavy stones, under the scorching sun. From one pile to another.
Sweat was dripping down my forehead, blinding me. My hands hurt terribly but I kept moving stones one by one. Just a bit more…
Dragons build their nests by digging into the mountain in an upward, diagonal manner. This way their holes don't get flooded during rainy seasons and they can fight intruders by spitting on them or by sending a boulder down the tunnel-effectively plugging the hole.
And that's exactly what I am doing right now. I am filling every hole in this goddamn hill so that I can funnel the blue dragon to a kill spot.
"Aight, I am done, old man. You can light the fire now!"
That's right. I am smoking it out of its hole.
Dragons need a lot of oxygen so they often create extra tunnels just for breathing. It took me a few hours but I managed to plug them all up. Well, Liam also helped with his telekinesis. Now I just have to wait in ambush until the blue dragon jumps into this neatly prepared trap.
I waited and waited. Lying in the mud with a drawn crossbow and Liam above the hole.
When I was once again double checking the whole setup I finally heard it! Many large stones rolled down out of the hole and what followed them were thunderous footsteps.
I was hunting a very young dragon, barely reaching the size of a small cow. This should be easy enough. I wouldn't dare get close to a wild adult dragon.
The footsteps got closer and closer with every second. I held my breath in anticipation…
All of a sudden I saw a set of dragon teeth biting at empty air, expecting an enemy right then and there.
Liam triggered the weighted net and I stood up from behind my hiding spot. The net easily caught the beast and I shot at the dragon's underside. Wild dragons instinctively try to propel themselves into the air when hurt. It's their natural instinct that comes from thousands of battles their predecessors had survived. So even though my bolt hadn't seriously hurt the dragon it still played a vital role. The dragon roared in pain and tried to jump up but became even more caught up in the net.
My new crossbow had a composite bowstring and metal limbs so the broadhead bolt had nicely impaled the dragon's side, scattering a few sprinkles of dark dragon blood. No matter how much the dragon resisted it was too feeble and small to break out of this contraption.
I now took the time to observe what I had caught. I grabbed the spear and inched closer.
A vibrant yellow dragon, glowing like the first light of dawn. Its scales are a brilliant, sunlit yellow, shimmering like with hints of pale yellow and orange. Its underside is of a distinct light blue coloration, composed out of hundreds of sky blue dots. The dragon's body was lithe and agile, with long, slender legs that end in sharp curved claws perfect for gripping rock and grabbing prey. Its yellowy teeth are made for tearing, its wings are not yet fully grown, but they're long and strong, with a thin, translucent membrane.
As I got closer to the still struggling dragon I noticed something weird.
Wasn't the dragon in the novel fully blue. Deep blue as well. Not sky blue. Well, I don't remember that well and maybe "deep blue" translates to this color in real life.
Suddenly I heard a low growl from behind that made me jump in fear. I turned around as fast as I could and looked deep into the amber eyes of the second dragon.
The second dragon!
I had no idea there was a second one standing a spear's throw away from me?!
And why is he standing in a stalking position!