Spread your wings.

[Hiver]

Marcus frowned as he stared into the fire, his chin resting in his hand.

The rest of the group was also gathered around the fire. I was laying close by, watching.

The basic plan Venir and I came up with was pretty simple. I could be providing close air support during the assault of the fort ruins. Let's face it, what is a dragon but a biological A-10?

Flying, armored, lots of firepower.

"I don't like it." Marcus finally said and shook his head. "To much can go wrong. Even if Atreus here can be trusted to do his job, if he gets taken down, we would be out of luck. Too much of a risk."

"We can do it." Venir said, "You can trust him. I do."

I simply narrowed my eyes at the warrior. There was one thing to not be overly trusting, it was another one to be stupid.

He glanced at me and then turned back to Venir. "I fought in Northrend. I know everything I need to know about dragons. You trust him, that is up to you. But I am not betting my life on it."

What, me not eating you didn't clue you in that I was friendly?

Well, this was going great.

"What I don't get is how you managed to get a dragon offer to be your mount. Willingly." Sparklight said. "That's rare. Like 'only heard of it happen once before' rare."

"Let's just say that I owe my friend a lot." I said as I raised my head to look at the gnome.

He nodded and held his hands up, "Very well." and then turned to Venir, "I should be able to rig up a makeshift saddle. I'm not a leatherworker, but some padding and some straps should work until we get back to Honor Hold and you can get the real deal."

She gave him a smile. "Thanks Sparky." She said and turned back to Marcus. "So what do we do?"

Sheila, who was apparently a Warlock and not a mage, crossed her arms. "As I see it we have two options. Finish the job or return to the hold for a new one."

"We could also move on." Shieldforest injected, sipping on a cup of some kind of tea. I missed tea. "There might be other jobs in The Marsh or Terrokar Forest."

The warrior frowned in thought before he shook his head. "We return to the hold and abandon the quest. We give them the new information so they can hire a properly sized group and then we see if there is some other job available. If not, we move on."

Sparklight nodded and said, "Sounds like a plan." before he got up and turned to me, "I'll get started on the saddle thing." he said to Venir before he looked at me, pointing a small hand at me, "No eating the gnome."

"I would never eat a thinking being." I said with a snort. "Most dragons try to avoid it. Besides, gnomes taste horrible."



XXXXXXXXXX



I turned my head to glance back at Venir, "Ready?" I asked.

She adjusted her crossbow on her back before checking the leather straps over her hips to my armor. She was sitting on a padded section of my back just in front of my wings. "I think so."

"I'll be careful. I have not had a rider before." I said and looked around. The only remains of the campsite was the burned out firepit. Everything else was packed up.

Venir's bags went into my satchels, the tents were packed away in Sparklights gyrocopter. Seriously, I keep forgetting that these people do have technology that is quite advanced, it's just not very well spread out.

A gyrocopter is at the very least world war two level of technology. Wonder what powered it? Need to have some more conversations with Sparklight.

I watched the gnome kick the engine into motion and then climb into the pilot seat, giving Marcus a thumbs up over the roar of the engine.

The human nodded back and took to the skies on his gryphon. Sheila followed, sitting on her magic carpet as Sparklight hit the throttle and lifted off as well.

Shieldforest was already circling far above.

"Tiral okay?" I asked, glancing back at Venir again. Her moth had been very wary about getting on, but it was now clinging to my armor behind her.

She looked back at him and nodded. "Ready to go." she said and took hold of a leather strap attached to my armor in front of her.

Nodding, I stretched my wings, giving them a couple of test flaps before I took three running steps and jumped, beating my wings hard to take of.

Honestly, compared to my armor and packs, I could barely feel her weight. It didn't slow me down.

As I stabilized in the air I started to slowly circle higher with a steady beat of my wings as I glanced back at her. She was grinning happily and looking around.

She always did like flying. I was terrified taking the gryphon from Westfall to Stormwind. Venir enjoyed it.

Banking slightly, I turned around to follow the rest of the group towards the horizon.


Maybe the rest of the group will trust me when they get to know me.



AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section. I really should go watch movies more often. So much INSPIRATION!

 

[Hiver]

It was getting dark as we approached the lights of Honor Hold. A fortress set on top of a large cliff. It looked easy enough to defend. Good position.

Still, the guys in the fortress seemed like they were on the ball. Almost twenty minutes out from it we were intercepted by a flight of three gryphons that escorted us in after a shouted conversation with our esteemed leader.

Resting on the wing I followed Sparklights roaring mechanical contraption towards the large courtyard.

Pull up, two flaps, all four paws on the ground and landed.

I looked back to see Venir unstrap herself and slide off my back before stretching, her moth fluttering off to fly around on his own.

Thinking that she had the right idea I shifted my wings, streeetching as far as I could in every direction before relaxing again.

Flying for an entire day does take it a bit out of you. Think about jogging a entire day. It's something like that.

"Thank you." Venir said. "I'll go see where we can stay and if I can get you some food and water."

I nodded. "Thanks. Flight went okay on your end?"

She nodded and patted my neck. "Better than a gryphon. Smoother. Just need a real saddle...Thank you for doing this."

I snorted and gave her side a bump with my muzzle. "I'm not going to let you share a gryphon when there is a perfectly good dragon to ride." I said with a chuckle.

Venir grinned and gave my neck another pat before she walked towards the rest of the group that had gathered around Sparklights machine.

The soldiers kept a wary eye on me but nobody had been pulling their weapons so I laid down and curled up on my side, resting my head on my tailtip, floating a book from my satchel and lighting a magic light to get some reading in.

I really needed to get better at my offensive magic if I was to work with Venirs group, I had a feeling that I would need them. But I might not be able to practice with it in the middle of this place.

Hell, the soldiers looked nervous enough with me just laying here reading, yet alone flinging magic around.

Venir returned maybe an hour later with a pair of solders. One was carrying a barrel of water and the other a large bucket that smelled good.

"Sorry, they wont let you into the gryphon stable." she said and frowned, "They think you would frighten them."

"I think they are right." I chuckled and put the book away, rolling onto my paws, "Thank you." I added and gave the soldiers a nod as they put the food and water down.

They seemed quite nervous but gave nods back before quickly stepping back.

Well, I didn't expect more. Their reaction would likely be quite typical until I learned to take mortal form again.

I knew that when I chose this path. Didn't mean I liked it though.

As the soldiers left I turned to Venri, "You don't need to watch me eat. It is not pretty."

She rolled her eyes. "I have fed Gar before. That's Marcus' gryphon if you are wondering. I'm sure your table manners are not any worse than him."

Her choice.

Shrugging my wings I dug into the bucket of raw meat. "So what is the current plan?"

Venir shook her head. "Marcus is in negotiation with the Hold Commander. Apparently there is a caravan leaving for Shattrath City in a couple of days and they need more guards. They are negotiating about the price."

I nodded and drank some water. "I see."

"Want some help getting that armor off?" she asked as I finished my meal.

I shook my head and started to unstrap the helmet, lifting it off my head with my telekinesis, "No, it is better to leave it on. It is somewhat complex to put back on and it is not uncomfortable to wear. Taking the helmet off is plenty enough." I said as I laid down to rest my head on my front paws.

To my surprise she sat down as well, leaning her back against where my neck joined my shoulder and I was uncovered by the armor. She crossed her legs and arms, relaxing back against me.

"Venir?" I asked, turning my head enough to look at her.

"Not sleepy yet. We can talk for a while." She said with a smile and I snorted.

"Thank you."

She really was my best friend.

Venir rested her hand between my horns, "Just... thought you might be lonely out here."

"Honestly, not that bad." I said and shrugged my wings. "Besides, the night is clear, there is no rain. I could get some reading in later. Thank you, though, I appreciate it."

"I just wish you could at least get a roof over your head. If we are heading into the marsh, we should get a large tent for you in case it rains. I'll see if I can find one while we talk to the leatherworker about a saddle tomorrow."

Closing my eyes to relax, I let out a small breath. "So, what's happened since you left Stormwind?"




AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

I shifted a bit, getting used to the slight new weight on my back just behind my wings.

The leatherworker in the keep was pretty good. He took a normal gryphon saddle, modified it and than incorporated it into my armor without damaging it.

It was heavier than Sparklights makeshift thing, but it was still maybe only ten kilos.


The white gryphon, Gar, was eying me from across the road with suspicion but I ignored him, instead laying down to rest my head on my paws as I waited.


While technically my time might be better spent back at The Nexus, I would be damned if I abandoned Venir to face this place alone. The delay that this journey was causing in my magical education (and as such the time it took me to take human form or find my way back home) was a minor nuisance compared to my friends safety.


After glancing around to check that nobody was paying much attention, I got started with the 'homework' that Targos had assigned to me.

Since his current working theory was that my special magic was tied to the location that I was in and that said magic varied depending on what kind of landscape it was (Blue for close to large areas of water, Red for lots of rock and mountains, etc.), he had given me a long list of very simple spells to try in every new landscape that I was in.

I started at the top of the list with a small ball of light.


The feeling of the Blue mana flooded through me and a small ball of light lit up at the end of my snout.


Well, that ruined that theory pretty much at once I thought. Time to go back to the bloody drawing board, again, because if there was one thing that this place lacked, it was lots of water. Data is data though, might as well continue along the list.

Druidic healing spell, no dice.

Arcane light, works. Consistent to Blue.

Faith based light spell, no worky.

Fire spell causing a spark... work? What?


I blinked at the result and cast it again, checking to make sure that I hadn't messed up and used my internal magic. Nope, it was the Red magic and not my internal stuff. That had never happen before. Did this place generate two sorts of mana?


I looked around again. Well... maybe there was a massive pool of water underground, out of sight. The visible landscape did appear to match what would generate Red mana according to Targos's theory. A theory I was, until now, pretty sure was right.

Now I was not so sure.

Continuing along the list I tested everything from druidic plant growth spells to a bloody necromancy spell.

Only things that reacted to Red and Blue worked.


Okay... so Hellfire Peninsula was generating Red/Blue if the theory was correct. Not what I expected.

Still, a datapoint does not make a trend. I'll continued with the readings and see what more data shows in the future.


I was pulled from my thoughts as Venir walked into my line of sight, rounding me to pull at the straps of my armor to check that they were properly tightened, "You okay, Atreus?" she asked.

"Bit bored, otherwise just fine." I said and raised my head to look at her.

She smiled, "Same here. Marcus is talking to the caravan leader now, trying to get a departure time. He thought that it would be soon though."

"So what's the plan?"


"The plan is to keep the caravan covered." a different voice injected and I turned my head the other way to see the rest of the group approaching, the warrior in his armor leading the way, "Sparklight, Shieldforest, I want you two to fly the outer perimeter." he said as they reached us.



"Got it, boss!" Sparklight said with a grin, "I'm refueled and ready to go!"

What did his machine run on anyway? I had not seen any oil wells around. No infrastructure to support it either. A question for another time, maybe ask Venir or him later.


Marcus gave him a nod before turning to us, "Venir, I want you and Sheila patrolling above the caravan. I am staying on the ground and riding with the caravan."

I didn't miss the way he ignored me in that. Yeah, I don't like you either, Marcus.

Still, it seemed like he knew how to do his job. His plan seemed solid enough and it kept Sparklight's roaring engine away from the rest of our ears. And he put the people with ranged weapons in a position to use them for support.

Venir nodded, "Got it.".

As the group split up to check on their respective mounts, Sheila remained, a large purple carpet with glowing spheres at the corners was rolled up, leaning against her shoulder.

"Well, this will be exciting." she said with a sigh, "Three weeks circling above a bunch of wagons."

Venir grinned briefly, leaning her back against my shoulder, "Believe me, it's better than riding in them."


Sheila snorted in amusement, "Oh yeah, you used to be a trader." she said as she unrolled her carpet on the ground and sat down in the middle, causing it to rise half a meter off the ground, before looking backwards.

I followed her line of sight to see horse pulled wagons start to exit the keep.

The Warlock frowned, "We better get into the air then. I want to be away from Sparklight's contraption before he start's it up."

Venir laughed at that and climbed into her saddle, just in front of my wings and close to the base of my neck. "No argument there. Ready Atreus?" she then asked as she fastened the leather straps over her legs to help keep her in the saddle.

I nodded and stood back up, stretching my wings, and said "I am. And next time we camp, remind me to talk to the gnome and introduce him to the concept of mufflers." before I took three running steps and took to the air.

Well, the sun was rising. At least there should be some good thermals soon I mused as the day got under way.



AN// Emperor Tippy is the one that deserve large thanks for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

The Warlock was quite right.

Circling in the air above the caravan was just as boring as she thought it would be. But at least it was easy. This red sunbaked earth created the most amazing thermals, I barely had to beat my wings at all.

There was another good thing about this landscape.

We could see for miles in every direction with the only places for ambushes to hide being rock outcroppings. Those got special attention until we were sure they were clear. Meaning one of us went down, landed and checked them out while the second one provided close air support.

It gave me plenty of time to think though so that was good. I could also practice my magic, if only some things. A bit of illusion, a bit of fire.

The most annoying thing about this was that I couldn't read while flying.

But that I could do at night. One pro of Marcus disliking me and trusting me about as far as he could throw me that I was excluded from the night watch schedule. Gave me plenty of sleep and reading time.

Then again, it might simply be because I had been flying all day and needed the rest.

I'd bet my tail club that it was the first one though.

Lazily banking to the right I slowly circled the caravan again as the ten heavily loaded wagons kept crawling along the road.

We were not the only guards either.

Honor Hold sent soldiers as well that were riding with the caravan. Two per wagon, twenty in total.

To be honest, we were just the support group, they were the real guards.

We were the outriders, the scouts and the air support. They were the heavily armored hammer that would come crashing down on anybody stupid enough to try to hit the caravan.

As I flew along the caravan, I only wished that we had that kind of guards when we were the merchants. Then we wouldn't have had any problems with orcs or bandits.

We would likely still be on the road on those wagons and I would still be human.

Something pulled me from my thoughts, somewhere far in the distance there was a change in the landscape. The road lead into a pass far ahead, but it was not the shadows that caught my eye, it was strange shapes I could just about make out behind it.

"Venir, want to check it out?" I asked over the wind as I rested on my wings.

"Check what out?" she called back to me.

"Right in front. Strange shapes through the pass."

"I don't see anything. Let's have a look."

Huh. I didn't think my eyes were that much sharper. Then again, all I had to compare with was my old, bad vision.

I kind of thought this was what people saw without glasses.

Beating my wings I started to fly away from the caravan, leaving the Warlock on her carpet to circle the caravan.

Almost half a hour later I rested on my wings, slowly gliding lower. I did not like the sight of that pass. It was the best place for a ambush that I had seen so far. But as it was also so bloody obvious, I doubted that bandits would use it.

They knew we would be on our guard there.

"Zangarmarsh." Venir called out to me. "The next step of our journey."

That I liked even less.

If there was a deity that created this world, I'm pretty sure I knew what it was doing when it finished this area.

Following the pass far below I flew out above the marsh. It was full of mushrooms, half invisible in the dense blueish fog. Mushrooms the size of skyscrapers, hats the size of football fields if not larger.

I could not think of a better landscape for ambushes.

"Venir, we have a problem." I called back to her over the wind as I circled above the mushrooms and dense mist.

"Yeah! A big one!" she yelled back. She had spotted it as well.

From this altitude, we couldn't see the ground. If we couldn't see the ground, we couldn't see the caravan.

I started to circle lower, skimming just above the mist and mushrooms before moving down between a pair of extra large ones, diving beneath the wide tops.

It was horrible. The mist stank of decomposition and visibility was less than thirty meters. Mushrooms appeared out of fucking nowhere and I was forced to pull up hard as I almost clipped one.

Quickly I beat my wings, rising above the mist.

That was fucking horrible. No thermals, no visibility, a ton of obstacles.

"This won't work. I can't fly in this!" I called back to her as I worked my way back to high altitude again, banking around towards the pass behind us.

This was bad.

Something told me that the next week would be just horrible.



AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

I was not wrong.

The road through the swamp was covered in wood in the worst places but it was bad. The ground was watersick, there were bugs everywhere and the area stank.

Sloshing through the water alongside the wagon I sighed, trying to keep a eye out as Tiral fluttered back and forth.

Well, at least somebody was happy.

That somebody was not me. The only one that was less happy than me was Sparklight. His flying machine didn't have a drive along the ground mode and is being dragged behind the rear most wagon on it's wheels.

At least it stopped roaring its damn engine noise.

Venir swatted another mosquito with a sigh of annoyance. Then there were the bugs. They didn't bother me too badly, apparently my scales were not worth the effort.

The rest of the caravan was not as lucky.

The worst thing though was not the bugs, the mist, the water. Not even the constant feeling of being in the perfect place for a ambush.

No, the worst thing was the difficulty of getting some sleep as all those things worked together to make it as hard as bloody possible. I couldn't even sleep on one of the wagons like the mortals.

Even flying up to sleep on one of the tallest mushrooms didn't help much, but at least it got me out of the worst mist and moisture.

...Bloody sleep deprivation. Now I'm thinking of them as mortals.

I sighed and followed the wagon onto the next wooden section, shaking the worst of the water from my paws.

If I got out of this without some kind of infection it would be a bloody miracle.

"I know." Venir said and patted my wing joint. "Just two more days, then we will be out of the swamp. At least if the map is to be believed. I'll be so glad when we get out of this heat."

"I hate this." I growled as I continued along the road. "I have half a mind to fly ahead. Wait for the caravan to reach us."

She sighed. "That's not the job. If we do... and believe me, I want to... we will never get paid."

I growled softly at that and just kept walking.

Later that day as the caravan made camp on what passed for a dry spot in this place, I laid down with a small sigh, shaking moisture from my wings as Venir climbed down from the saddle. "One more night after this." she said, putting her hand on my neck. "I'll go get your dinner, okay?"

I didn't particularly feel like eating but I nodded anyway. If I didn't eat, I really would get sick.

The things I do for my friend.

As she left I started to go through my little list of spells. I still had my task to collect data and quite frankly I had been putting it of until now. This swamp sucked. Hard.

Blue worked.

Fire did not work so no Red.

Green worked. Targos was right. The feeling of the green mana was wild. Primal. It felt amazing.

Faith based light spell didn't work.

I scooped a fist sized bug closer and let out a small blast of cold breath at it, killing it before I tried the next spell on the list.

Black light swirled and the dead bug dissolved into nothing.. The mana had a feeling of... inevitability. Uncompromising power. Of Death.

I stared at the spot for a long moment and swallowed.

Holy crap. Or rather, Unholy crap.

Necromancy. Now that was fucking freaky. I quickly looked around. Nobody saw it.

After what I heard about The Lich King and the Scourge. If anyone here found out I could do that, dragon or not, I would be killed in my sleep.

If there was something that was even more hated than demons, it was necromancers. Swamps created necromantic magic.

Oh.

Fuck.

Forget the Scourge, they were defeated even if they were still drifting around in Northrend. No... if this information got out to The Forsaken, the ex-scourge that was part of The Horde...

I quickly brushed the dead bug away as Venir returned, carrying a pair of large buckets. "You okay?" She asked with a frown.

"I am fine. I'll just be glad when we get out of this damn swamp." I said as I took a long, slow breath.

Nobody saw it. Nobody knew. Let's keep it like that. I knew Targos wanted to cover his bases, but Necromancy was nasty as hell. Why did I even have that damn spell!?

Eat and then sleep. We would soon be out of here. Like I didn't dislike this place enough before now.


AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

The next day, around mid day, I was sloshing along the road like any other moment during the rest of the week.

Boring, soaking wet and buzzing with annoying bugs. The worst was actually the oppressing, thick mist. It pressed in from all all directions and smelled of decay and rotting wood like it had since we entered the swamp.

If there was one good thing with this entire dragon thing there was that there were no clothes for the stink to stick to.

A bath or two and I would be fine.

Lack of clothes also helped with the wet heat. I might have had to walk in the swamp water while she could stay relatively dry on my back, but at least I wasn't stuck in hot armor.

A a slight movement in the mist drew my attention to the right and I stopped, turning my head to look.

"What is it?" Venir asked and frowned.

"...Not sure. Just thought I saw movement." I said after a moment. "Most likely just a bug."

I started moving again just in time for an arrow to fly through the air where Venir was a second earlier.

"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" Venir yelled and jumped off the saddle. "Atreus, into the air!" she commanded as she ducked down by the closest wagon for cover as she pulled her crossbow and the guards scrambled for their weapons.

Into the air!?

In this mush? From a stand still!?

There could not be a worse field of battle. I tried anyway, beating my wings to catch the air but before I was more than a meter up, they were upon us.

But instead of orcs like I expected, it was... different. Yes, there were orcs, but there was also humans and gnomes.

Throwing myself to the side to avoid a blast of fire from a gnome I let myself to fall back onto the watersick ground.

Yeah, trying to take to the air now would be suicide. Not happening. Simply too damn slow.

Marcus let out a roar and charged the closest orc, slamming his shield into him, knocking the orcs axe to the side before slamming his sword into his chest and kicking him back.

Venir popped up and put a bolt into the gnome that tried to fry me as I ducked behind the trunk of a massive mushroom.

Without being able to take to the air I was just a large target! I never wished I was able to pull of an ice barrier more than at that moment.

One of the soldiers let out a yell of warning and pointed. I turned my head to look just in time for Marcus to spin around and raise his shield as a large shadow appeared from the mists.

A dragon. A dragon my size. A dragon with a rider.

The human dragonrider's mace slammed into Marcus shield, driving him back and knocking the shield to the side.

Before a follow up blow could come through he dove to the side, just managing to roll away from a claw swipe from the dragon.

My opponent then. Arse he might be, but I couldn't just leave him to be killed.

I rushed out from behind the mushroom and crossed the distance quickly before pouncing, even as the enemy dragon spun around in my direction.

His mount might have noticed, but the rider did not. Not in time.

I shoulder tackled the purple dragon to the side and his rider went flying into the mud on the other side. Jaws snapped through the air and I was barely able to jump back with a beat of my wings to avoid the counter attack.

Snarling softly we started to slowly circle each other in the muddy water next to the road, the swamp splashing around us.

He looked... different...than what I had seen before. He lacked horns, instead having a single spike up from the middle of his head. His wings were smoother, almost see-through and the tail ended in a pair of fins instead of the normal club of bone.

The coloration went from deep purple to a almost light neon blue.

Growling at him I kept circling slowly. We were the same size. What would determine this fight would be skill or backup.

Venir couldn't help me, she was too far away and had her own problems.

Marcus kept his rider busy.

It would be a fair fight. No backup on either side.

I hate fair fights.

He moved first, pouncing towards me, jaws snapping out towards my throat.

I responded, lowing my front end, ducking beneath his snapping jaws and stepping forward and to the side to slam the knuckels of my right wing into his snout.


Thank you, Rengosa!


The dragon pulled away with a snarl of pain and surprise and I continued my movement, half extending my right wing to block his sight as I dug my claws into the mud, turning it into a three hundred and sixty degree spin.

Suddenly I pulled my wing back only to brain him with my club tail and as I finished the turn I channeled my magic, letting out a blast of my ice breath.

The mist instantly turned completely opaque as it condensated and froze.

Fair fight.


Fuck fair fights.


Letting out another blast of frost right down at the ground beneath me, I formed another cloud around myself before I slowly and quietly backed away, weaving my blur spell around myself as I moved a bit to the side.

Come on. I am right here. Come get me. Give me a clear shot.

I slowly lowered myself to the ground to be as hard to spot as possible, tensing as I got ready.

I didn't need to wait for long. Five seconds later he came bursting through the mist and let out a blast of breath of his own through the almost completely sight blocking mist. It was some kind of purple energy spray that looked distinctly unhealthy to be hit by.

Sadly for him, he didn't even aim anywhere close to me.


I pounced.


Slamming into his side hard I knocked him over onto the half frozen water as my jaw clamped down on his throat.

His claws dug into my scales and flesh but I didn't let go. Instead I took leverage against him and pulled, giving my head a twist and my teeth cut through flesh.

The dragon jerked twice and then collapsed beneath me and I growled down at him before letting go of the remains of his throat as the swamp turned red.

Sounds of fighting brought my attention from my dead opponent and I lifted my head to look into the mist.





AN// Many thanks to The Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

Using the white mist as coverage I took the opportunity to spread my wings and take to the air.

Even outside the dense cold mist, things was almost as bad. Visibility was horrible, but a dragon on the ground was a dragon in range of swords and axes.

A dragon on the ground was also significantly easier to hit.

Keeping a eye on the fighting I flew away and up before banking around when I felt like I had enough energy in the bank for now.


Sweeping around across the caravan I snatched a human spellcaster that was weaving some kind of dark energy from the ground, throwing him into the swamp as I saw a large cat appear from nowhere, pouncing on a gnome from behind.

Beating my wings I climbed again, trying to get some energy back before I banked around for another pass, my eyes seeking for a gathering large enough to use my breath on.

I didn't find any.

Actually, I couldn't find any enemies that were still moving.


I circled once more to make sure before I returned to where I started.


Flapping my wings twice I went in for landing, splashing down in the dirty water next to the road and folded my wings.

I looked around. Marcus was in sight, so was Sheila. She was clutching a wound on her lower left arm and Shieldforest was approaching her.

Sparklight was nowhere in sight.

There was as many soldiers as bandits laying on the ground, their fellow armored guards already moving to help those that could be helped.


I let out a sigh of relief as she exited from behind a wagon further down the caravan, the moth fluttering around behind her. Oh thank the light. And everything else.


That... came from nowhere. Then again, most ambushes did.


"Venir. Are you hurt?" I asked as she got closer.

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine." before she frowned, "But you are not!"

I blinked and then follow her line of sight. Huh, turn out he did manage to claw at my chest. I was dripping blood.

Now when I noticed it, I could feel it.

Bloody hell that hurt!

I sighed andsat down, "I'll be fine."

Venir grimaced, "I'll get Sherin. Keep it out of the water." she said quickly, passing by Marcus on the way.

He got a quick hug on her way past and they shared a few quick words before she continued towards where the druid was helping the warlock.


I had to consciously suppress a growl at that. I had no right to decide who she liked. Especially not now.

...Even when I was human, she was not interested in me. Like this it was impossible. Just as close to impossible as it was for me to have those kind of interest in Rengosa..

I knew that. I wasn't even sure I liked her like that anymore.

Things were different between us. Still...

But the fact that she liked that asshole kind of grated.


On top of all, he walked over to me as he sheathed his sword as she moved on in search of the druid.

"Thanks for the save." he said and gave my shoulder a slap with his armored gauntlet, "You didn't need to do that. Perhaps I was wrong about dragons."


I looked down at him and tilted my head slightly to the side. Wonder if he would still be thinking that if he knew exactly how close he was to becoming a head shorter.


"Move back." Shieldforest said to the warrior as he reached us before he frowned, "Those are deep, I need to clean the wounds before I start healing you." He said and dug into his satchel.


The sting of a potion soaked cloth at the claw wounds brought my attention from the almost to be ex-warrior and I snarled, almost pulling back but I restrained myself.

"I'm being as gentle as I can." The druid said, "Try to stay still."


The caravan master, a old human with a short white beard approached us quickly. His name was Johnson... something.

"Richards. We need to talk. Now." He ordered, and for half a second I was unsure on who he was addressing before Marcus the warrior nodded and joined him.

Huh. I didn't know his last name until now. He didn't use it.

"...took it...knew what... missing...fault...inside..." I just about managed to make out as I tried my best to listen in without being obvious.

I didn't make out much. But what I heard was worrying.



AN// Many thanks to Old Soul for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to ignore the druid working on the wounds on my upper chest as I turned my head to look at Venir.

She was also frowning at the caravan master and the warrior.

"I'm not sure. But I'm going to find out." She said and headed over in their direction.

I flinched, growling in pain down at the druid who seemed more annoyed than intimidated.

"I am almost done. I can heal them without cleaning them but it would leave some nasty scars. Be still."

Trying my best to ignore him, I looked around the ruined caravan and something struck me as strange.

The dead bandits were wearing uniforms.

Well, maybe not uniforms, more like gang colors. All of them were wearing yellow and black, no matter if it was armor or robes.

This together with what I heard earlier lead in the direction of bad news.

These people were organized and they were after a specific item we had been carrying. They knew the route we would take, the exact moment to strike.

After a week in the swamp we had all been tired, sleep deprived and generally miserable. The perfect ambush spot and time.

It was something like I would have planned.

Even worse, they were willing to die to get whatever it was we were carrying, and do not tell me it was metals and cloth like we had been told.

For one thing those were still here.

We had been guarding something hidden, something carried in secret. Which meant... really valuable or really dangerous.

...We are not going to get paid, are we?

Wait... am I getting paid in any case?

"There." Shieldforest said and stood up before casing some kind of green spell that whirled around me, "The potion stopped the bleeding and the spell should have you regenerated in a couple of hours. Keep it from getting dirty until then."

"I will. Thank you." I said, giving him a nod before I frowned and looked around as a thought struck me, "Has anyone seen the gnome?"

"I'm here." Sparklight said as he faded into view a couple of meters away as my head snapped in his direction.

Fucking. Rogues.

He sheathed his daggers and leaned his back against the wheel of the wagon, "I saw them pull back, so I followed to see where they went. They had a camp a couple of hundred meters out at a dry spot. They had gryphons so I couldn't follow them any further. They left towards the North."

"Were they carrying something?" Marcus asked as he returned with Venir. She looked distinctly unhappy.

Sparklight nodded. "Small black chest, a couple of feet long."

Marcus sighed and nodded. "Damn. That's it."

"What is 'it'?" I asked. "I do not appreciate having things hidden from me."

He sighed and said: "Need to know. I don't know what is in it either, just that it needs to be taken to Shattrath."

"Why not fly it?" Shieldforest asked and crossed his arms. "It would only take a day to fly it there."

The warrior shook his head. "Security. Secrecy over speed."

"So what do we do now?" Sparklight asked and crossed his arms. "Do we still get paid?"

"Unless we get it back, then no." Marcus said in annoyance.

"Meaning we wasted several weeks." Venir almost snarled. "If we knew what our job actually was, we might have been able to actually protect it!"

Oh boy. She was pissed. Never known her to be that angry before.

He raised his hands. "I know, I know. Orders... it was a condition for getting the job in the first place. Only Johnson and I in the entire caravan knew that there even was a box."

Venir didn't look any happier after that. "So what do we do now?"

Marcus shrugged. "We have been offered the job to get it back. Double pay if we manage it."

"As I see it." Sheila said as she spoke up for the first time. "We have two options. Take the job or not. Find different work."

Shieldforest frowned. "We have already spent two weeks on this. We might as well finish it and get paid."

"Sunken cost fallacy." I said, turning to look at him. "This is a entirely new job, a dangerous one. It needs to be taken on it's own merit." I said and turned to Marcus."And I want a cut of the pay if we take the job."

He grimaced but nodded. "I suppose that is fair."




AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

The sheer joy of being able to spread my wings again was impossible to describe. To be able to soar and not be sloshing through the soaking wet swamp far below. To not breath a soup like mist or be soaking wet for once - heavenly.

Even the roar of Sparklights gyrocopter following along behind the group didn't disrupt my enjoyment.

There wasn't much to see. The swamp below was mostly hidden by the thick, blushish mist, just broken at times by the hats of giant mushrooms sticking out of it or just about visible though it.


In the end, after much discussion it was decided to take the mission. Barely.

Sparklight was against it as was Venir.

I didn't really care one way or the other as long as I got to leave that bloody swamp.


In my opinion though we had a snowball's chance in hell of tracking it down. My scrying would be useless in helping with that, I didn't have any parts of it to use and to scry after objects was hell of a lot harder than people.

Even more so because we were low in supplies and couldn't fly north after them directly, instead having to continue west towards Terrokar Forest and Shattarath City to resupply.

Not that I needed it, I could just have hunted something down to eat, but the rest wanted actual food.

They could have lived of the land as well, but it would slow us down more than getting more supplies would.


"See anything Atreus?" Venir called out to me, "I think I have something at the horizon!".

"The mist is ending and I'm seeing trees and light among the brances. I think the trees are glowing." I answered as I rested on my wings, "End of the Swamp."

"How long to the city?"

I did some quick mental math against how fast it took to get across Hellfire and the distances involved compared to what it looked on the map.

"Not today. We need to set up camp on the way." I called back to her and beat my wings for some more altitude.


Speaking of food though... I needed to hunt today. Getting hungry and the little supplies we were carrying with us did not contain much raw meat. There was enough for Gar, but not enough for us to share and still be full so he can get it.

I'll find something else to eat.



It didn't take long until I was soaring in across the treetops of the forest, having been slowly gliding lower and lower as we approached the forest, following Gar and his rider down as the sun started to set.


A small clearing came up and they banked, circling around to come in for landing so I followed, banking slowly round before swooping down for a soft landing in the clearing, the rest of the group coming in for landing around us as well as I laid down, stretching my wings while Venir climbed out of the saddle and onto the ground with a groan.

She sighed and leaned against my side, resting her head against me, "I can't wait until we get to Shattarath. I miss beds."

I raised a eyeridge at that and snorted in amusement.


That was a pro of being a dragon. Even just grass was plenty soft enough to sleep comfortably, "I'm sure there is a free room in one of the inns." I said before I turned my head to look at her, "Better unpack now, I need to return to the air."


She opened her eyes and glanced at me, "Hmm?"

"Need to go hunting. I will return before sunset."

Venir nodded and dug her pack out of my satchel, "Be careful."

I spread my wings and nodded back before I took to the air again.


XXXXXXXXXX



A couple of hours later I returned, circling above the camp once before dropping down to land across the clearing from the gryphon and the other mounts.

Gar was getting used to me being around, but he was still nervous about it so I did my best to minimize the stress of the gryphon.

Its nervosity was completely understandable. I was a predator bigger than itself.

Speaking of which, I ended up eating some kind of crocodile looking thing with three eyes and six legs.

Tasted kind of spicy.

The tents were up and the rest of the group was gathered around the fire in the middle of the small clearing.


When I landed I got a small wave from Venir before she turned back to her meal.


I waved back the best I could with my left wing before folding them up and laying down in the soft grass.

I could sleep somewhere dry today.

As Venir would say 'Thank the Light'.


Raising my head again I removed the helmet, suddenly thankful that telekinesis was one of the things I could do with a minimum fuss, even if it got exponentially harder the further away it was. My effective range was like half a meter for something complex. Reading a book I could do at a meters distance.

But it did make it possible to do things like remove my helmet on my own. Sadly, actually writing with it was beyond the scope of my control so far.


Curling up a bit I peeked into my satchel and dug a book out. It was too early for sleep, I still had reading and practice to do. Opening the book I floated it in front of my snout while calling a illusionary light ball into existence above my head.

I only got a couple of minutes into reading magical theory before somebody came to bother me.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice asked and I glanced up to see the blonde warlock, Sheila, standing a couple of meters away.

Did I mind? A bit, yes, but not enough to risk insulting another member of the group.

"Not at all."



AN// Many thanks to steamrick for betaing this section.

 

[Hiver]

The Warlock knelt down on the grass about a meter away and I looked at her for a second before returning to my book.

"What are you studying?" She asked after a moment.

"Magical theory and equations."

"Magic ratios and molding?" Sheila asked.

I nodded.

"I am curious, can I ask a question?" she asked a moment later.

I closed my book. I was apparently not getting any reading done today, "Yes." I said as I turned my head to look at her, resting it against the grass.

She frowned and brushed her long hair out of her face. "I seen you practice your magic every day, but it's always simple spells. Cantrips, even. I always thought the members of the Blue Dragonflight were all powerful mages."

Sigh.

That was just the question to ask, wasn't it.

"Apparently, I am the exception that proves the rule. I am not a natural at it, I have to practice constantly for what skills I have."

She nodded slowly and said: "I see. I turned to Fel magics to increase my own very meager magical abilities. But unless you respect it, keep it under constant control it will devour you, corrupt you."

"I have the power, just not the skill to use it." I said with a sigh. "Fel magic is not something I want to touch."

That seemed like a very horrible idea to me.

Sheila nodded. "It take a lot of willpower. But there is a certain satisfaction in fighting fire with fire. But you do need the skill to use it."

Which I didn't have. All the power in the world won't help if you are just bad at using it. In magical potential I was the same as any other blue dragon. I had the same amount of mana and regeneration of it.

I just sucked at using it.

"Even so." she continued. "I focused on demonology rather than fire or shadow magic. It seemed much more mana efficient."

Huh?

I raised my head at at that to watch her, "You summon demons?"

"And use them to fight their own kind. There are no deals made, I bind them to my will." Sheila stated, "The only thing they get from me is a bit of mana when summoned."

I tilted my head at that. "All I have seen is you throwing fire around."

The Warlock shrugged. "Most of the time there are people seeing us fight or I don't have time to prepare. It is... less ideal than I would like. But in this case you are wrong. Xerina, reveal." She said and a couple of meters away a being faded into existence.

She was definitely a she. Wings, horns, hoofed feet. Was she wearing a corset and carrying a fucking whip!?

The demon faded from view again and I turned to look at Sheila again who shrugged. "Succubi are the only demons useful in a fight that can still go invisible."

Mhmm.

Sure.

"If you say so." I said and laid my head back down. "Please, a bit of warning if you summon something else or I might kill it, thinking it's a enemy."

Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean an invisible demon isn't about to eat your face is apparently not just a saying here.

She nodded. "Of course. That's why I am telling you now. If we assault an enemy stronghold I will require a stronger minion. Something more suited for direct combat."

I nodded, "Make sense." and then I sighed, putting my head back down on my paws. "And now you know not to expect any kind of magical support from me."

Sheila frowned slightly. "Can you show me your most advanced spell? Perhaps I can help."

I mentally shrugged and half closed my eyes in concentration, molding, folding, shaping magic and light into a illusionary purple butterfly the size of her head which fluttered over to land on her hand. "Illusions is my best branch and this is the most advanced I can do right now. It's not complete either, the wings don't make any sound."

Sheila nodded and ran her hand through the illusion. "And I know why. You need to put more magic into the structure. You just use enough to form the image of the creation. For the wings to make sounds, you need to make them actually move air."

I blinked at that. "I need to make it real!?"

She grinned and shook her head. "I used to be a mage before I became a warlock. I don't use it any more, but I can do Mirror Images... this is a training stage for that, right?" She asked.

I nodded again so she continued.

"You don't make them real, but you need to give them enough of a structure to have some effect on the world around them. Make sounds, even cast spells when you do... or at least look like they do. A illusionary frostbolt might not do more than feel like being smacked, but it does make it much more difficult to know which is the real thing."

Frowning in thought, I looked at the butterfly on her shoulder. Real illusions? That sounded more like some kind of magical constructs.

"Is this the same way you can summon water elementals?" I asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "No, that involves summoning and binding one to your will or convincing one to work for you. I prefer demons though, they have more punch, even if I still could command water elementals. Now, give it a try. I think you need to put about twenty percent more mana into it."

"Just make it about twenty percent cooler. Got it."

Moving mana around and controlling it was just the biggest thing I have problems with. But just putting more power into it should be something I could handle.

Maybe.



AN// All the thanks to Grey Rook for betaing.