Chapter 7
Areon mused to himself about the scene as he watched the wildcat roll across the dusty floor.
"Amplification is a lot tougher than it seems. I'm still not that good at the release yet. It needs to go kaboom after the impact, but I can't time it right. This elemental stone is tricky!"
He angrily hunched over and waved his right hand as the fire was still lingering on his knuckles.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
"What is it mister Puff Puff, I took care of the mountain lion didn't I?"
Then from the corner of Areon's eye, he saw that the lion had already gotten up and lunged at him again, ready to take a bite out of his head.
Though before anything else could ensue a beam of dark flames, much in the likeness of a laser, pierced the mountain lion's side and sent it flying off the edge of the escarpment.
Areon looked upwards in the direction to see where the attack had come from to see Krieus proudly staring down at him.
"You really shouldn't rely on mister Puff Puff to be your eyes and ears! Otherwise good job Areon! You've come a long way from counting pheasants! You almost had that one!"
Areon pouted instead of celebrating his progress.
"Yeah but I didn't have it. I keep messing up how to do the explosion at the end of the explosion fist. And I can't maintain the fire for long either. How can I get better at it?"
Krieus chuckled at his ongoing frustration before answering.
"You have to get better the same way you got sick. You're only a novice at this because you haven't that much experience in using the fire element yet. You have to do the technique a hundred times, maybe even a thousand times before you are truly proficient."
Areon looked at his fist which now had nothing but smoke that was wafting into the air covering his fingers.
"A hundred times, huh?"
There was another mountain lion that crept around the corner and peaked it's head out to find Areon. He energetically shouted to Krieus.
"Hey I see another mountain lion, can we try the explosion fist again?"
The mountain lion shuttered at the sound and retreated into hiding around the corner again.
"Uh, I think we killed enough of these animals today, Areon. Honestly, for the past while we've been slaughtering an awful lot of them. We should probably take a break for a while." Krieus shouted back to the boy.
"What? Stop? But I'm nowhere near good enough yet! Can't we just go to the forest or the river and see if there's a monster there or something?"
"We already did that last week and now there's no more monsters over those places either."
"Darn!"
Areon sat in a cross legged position with his chin resting on his palm, whilst his index finger tapped against his cheek. Krieus knew this pose well, this was when Areon was thinking of a way to solve a problem he badly wanted a solution to.
The dark dragon flew down to where Areon was and landed right in front of him.
"There's nothing wrong with taking a break every now and then, Areon. We took out most of the monsters that are near us for now. We might ruin the environment if we don't give them time to repopulate. Why not rest, for the remainder of the week at least?"
Then after a brief pause Areon replied.
"It's because I'm not tired, fundamentally, rest is supposed to be used if I am in need of a recharge isn't it? But that's not the case, it's just my surroundings… Is there anyway that we can move to a place that lets me still go all out, just for a little bit? I need to practice this at least a hundred times, right?"
Krieus was surprised by the child's answer.
"Seems he's put some thought into it. I'd hate to deny a request with such straightforward reasoning. Besides, I don't think the animals and monsters here will recharge in just a week. They're getting harder and harder to find because they are starting to truly fear us."
Krieus tapped the top of Areon's head with his tail.
"Well, there is a place I could take you to, but it's a lot more dangerous than where we are now. Are you sure you want to keep going?"
Areon's lit up with anticipation.
"Yes, absolutely! Wherever it is it can't be that bad!"
Krieus sighed before relenting to his request.
"Well, alright then. Go and pack your bags we're going on a trip for the next couple days."
"Huzzah!"
Areon and mister Puff Puff enthusiastically ran up the mountain ready for the next set of challenges.
Soon, the dark dragon soared through the air as Areon's eyes glimmered, admiring how close they all were towards the clouds. Mister Puff Puff had stuck his tongue out as it waved through the breeze like a hoisted flag.
"You'll need to hold on tight, Areon, we are almost there so I'm going to start descending now."
"That makes sense."
Areon firmly gripped the saddle that was made for him and mister Puff Puff by the orcs before leaving. Since traveling long distance without one may stand to be uncomfortable.
"Where we are going is an ancient dragon training ground, so be on your guard because I haven't been here in a while. There could be anything from be no monsters here, to more than you could ever imagine."
"Got it!"
Krieus gave a relieved sigh.
"It's good that we can finally have rides like this together now. Back then I was too worried to do this, because I thought that a single gust of wind would take you out and you'd be lost in the skies." Krieus mentioned.
"Haha yeah! Back then, the dagger you gave me probably made up half of my weight!"
Woof! Woof!
Mister Puff Puff seemed to be barking in agreement.
"Don't get too comfortable in this new spot though, we're only training here for a short while before heading back to the mountains again."
"Understood!"
Areon said with a cheerful smile whilst he looked down at the land beneath him which seemed to be nothing more than a blur from his perspective.
"If we were traveling on ground, pops, how long would it take for us to reach where we're going?"
"Hmmm…"
Krieus thought to himself roughly calculating the numbers in his head.
"About five weeks."
"Five weeks!"
"Yes, the flight of a dragon is much quicker."
"I never knew I was that lucky."
"Huh, what do you mean?"
"To be able to have a dragon dad that's able to give views like this and travel this fast, it beats being a regular human kid any day of the week."
"..."
"What? Am I wrong or something?"
"No, it's just… Areon do you ever wonder… Nevermind."
"Aw, come on! Now I really wanna hear it!"
"It's nothing's, we can just keep going."
"Can I hear it, please!"
"...Well, if you insist. Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be raised as a normal human boy, instead?"
"Not really, why? What's wrong with what happened with me? You found me in a cave while being on the run from the dragon empire, whoever they are, and then decided to save me in the middle of winter, right? I like that story."
Over the course of the years Areon had gotten Krieus to tell him the origins of his birth. And it quickly became one of his favorite stories to hear. His curiosity was peaked soon after realizing that all of the other children had two parents that looked like them, and Areon had one father who resembled nothing of what he looked like at all. Still, he enjoyed the story because it was a reminder of the self sacrifice that Krieus had done in order for him to live.
Though, even though Areon understood the gist of how he came to be, he couldn't help but feel like the dark dragon had left out some parts.
"Yes, I understand that you like it, but if you were raised a normal human you wouldn't have to deal with living in the wilderness with me and doing all of this rigorous training. It would be comfortable and safer, so much safer. You wouldn't have almost died against that Sea Snake. You would have two parents who look like you and friends who aren't literal monsters. Doesn't that sound like a good life to you…?"
"It sounds like an alright life, I guess. but if I'm being honest-"
Then before Areon could complete his sentence there was a shot of lightning that struck from afar interrupting the conversation. Seconds later the boom of thunder, reverberated throughout the skies.
Droplets of rain began to fall as more and more lightning strikes had descended, the two of them were in the midst of a storm.
Mister Puff Puff began to whimper in fear as the entire sky had become filled with dark clouds that were ready to strike the land.
"Damn it! What do we do now pops?"
"Don't loosen your grip, we're going to land a lot earlier than planned."
As Areon gripped onto the dark dragon and the wolf bit deeply into his clothes for security. Krieus took a dive that sent them on a course for landing as soon as possible to escape the grasp of the storm.
Though, unknown to them, from far away in a watch tower that resembles a tree, there was a group of strangley dressed people, wearing cloaks. They each had elongated and pointy ears and they all sat near a round table, watching through a large glass window, as the dragon was flying towards their land. They bickered about their upcoming predicament.
Out of the three men, a short fat one with his cloak covering his face was first to speak in a condescending manner.
"Was it really necessary for you to create a whole entire storm, master Lucious?"
Then another man, with a tall slender figure and silver white hair slicked back. Responded whilst his eyes never leaving the windows surface.
"You're a fool to doubt master Lucious' judgement. Are your eyes deceiving you? Is there not a dragon in the air? If anything, I'm surprised that's all it took. Could they by chance be protecting something...or someone perhaps?"
The short one viscously sneered before replying, initiating a scornful conversation.
"And you intend to do what with this dragon? Tame it? We don't have the resources for that!"
"Better master Lucious attempt that, then risk that savage beast getting in the way of our plans."
"By causing the storm we practically summoned the dragon here! What is your plan to take care of the dragon?"
Then the third man in the room, shrouded in darkness, lifted his hand before the two immediately halted their dispute and awaited his incoming words. He spoke his next statement with a grin.
"You ask valuable questions. But the reality of what I did is simple. A dragon has arrived. And that has presented quite the opportunity, it may be the solution to all of our current problems. So long as we can manage to kill it."
The short one asked a question in a solemn tone.
"Are you inferring that the legends are true?"
"Would you be against me if I was?"
The room went deafly silent. Though Lucious continued unabated.
"The fables would not have lasted as long as they did if there were not a shred of truth to them. This is why it's important we kill that dragon, we may not get this chance again."
Everyone in the room quietly nodded their heads in agreement.
"Then it's settled, we will find and kill the beast and bring peace to our land. Let's find out if these rumors are true."