Call to Adventure: Chapter 8 (Patreon)

One Giant Mountain

While the unsettling discovery of the camp rattled my spirit, it still wasn’t enough to deter me from going in further. If an Ice Troll or a fully grown White Dragon couldn’t kill me, what danger could a human pose? I think I could handle well enough. There was adventure to be had and the ruins weren’t going to explore themselves!

Moving on from the site, I continued my trek up the canal. As I headed in deeper, the canopy overhead started to thin out and finally revealed the ruins in all its glory. “Wow,” I whispered as I stared out into the frozen city that my ancestors had destroyed.

As impressive it was to see the dwarven architecture and planning in full view and how awe inspiring the towering blocks of darkened ice that froze entire city blocks were, it would pale in comparison to the towering structure that dominated the city center. Standing proudly amidst the ruins was a large singular pyramid that stretched up into the sky

To call it gigantic was an understatement as it easily dominated the city with it’s wide base and reaching up high to she sky with it’s stepped shape. How I had missed such a massive structure was  beyond me up until I saw it’s shape compared to the mountains that ringed the valley. Against the mountains, it was easy to mistake it as just part of the range themselves.

“Well, that’s one way to have a mountain,” I whispered in awe as I stared at the massive, monolithic structure. Whether it was a mountain carved down to shape or made from the ground up, it was still an impressive structure. Why it was built was beyond me

“Why make a pyramid here when you have mountains everywhere?” I wondered, before letting out a snort, “Makes you wonder how small the dick of the king who had this commissioned.”

Whatever was the reason, I was going to find out once I climbed its peak. All thoughts of that however would come to a screeching halt as I heard a bone chilling roar echo out in the valley. The sharp, piercing sky shook the very ground as I cowered before her. She was here, Mother was here.

Scrambling for cover, I hid under the snow with my eyes locked up to the sky. Tucking myself in the fluffy snow, I watched and waited, daring not to make an single movement or noise. The silence that had descended that valley was almost deafening as all that could be heard was the beating of wings and his heart hammering inside my chest.

“Please don’t see me, please don’t smell me,” I whispered as a gigantic shadow passed over me. I braced for the biting cold, for the bitter claws and cruel jaws to come crashing down and rend me but it seems that this would not be that day as she passed over me.

I watched in bated breath as she circled around the massive pyramid, crying out into the very heavens in anger. Even with my fragmented knowledge and half remembered instincts, I knew why she let her voice be heard. It was a guttural roar of challenge, proclaiming to all that this was her territory and daring anyone to take it from her.

Fear soon gave way to anger as I heard her cries. How dare she, how dare she take what was mine? I was about to roar back in anger before I my mouth made an audible snap. Gritting my teeth and clenching my clawed fist tightly, I shook there, stewing in impotent rage before I let out a breath. As much as I was human, I was still very much a dragon.

“One day,” He whispered, making a silent promise to her as he slipped out of his cover and slunk back into the forest, “But not today. Once I get big enough, I swear I’ll beat you and make you regret ever trying to kill me!” I hissed out as I ran, shame burning inside my draconic heart.

No matter how I framed it in my mind, I was fleeing with my tail tucked between my legs. I failed as a dragon but I had yet to fail as a man. Retreat was often the better part of valor after all. It was ok for me to lose now for I can grow, I can adapt.

I still had many years to grow so let her be the queen of this ruins, let her have the valley as her territory. While she basked in her self assured dominance, I was going to grow bigger, stronger and more cunning than she was ever was.

Taking one last look at my progenitor as she landed atop the building, I hissed out to her, “Just you wait till I get back!” For now, he had some training to do.

-x-x-x-

“But… how the heck am I going to get stronger faster?” I said to myself as I found myself hanging upside down from a tree. I wasn’t tossed up to the trees by Ramsey or anything like that, I was simply… hanging out. Turns out, my tail was rather prehensile and it could pretty much use it as a fifth limb or rather seventh if I count my wings as limbs.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a very useful to have but these were tiny little tricks. I needed something more concrete, something more viable to get stronger. “Magic perhaps?” I mused out as I beat my wings, pushing me up before I landed nimbly atop the thick branch I used as my perch.

“No, too dangerous… or is it?” I wondered as I made my way down the tree. Making myself comfortable, I braced myself for a headache before the memories came rushing back,

Cold lances of ice lashed out of my claws, freezing the accursed hunters.

An invisible hand crushed the tiny creatures.

A ball of fire came barreling down on the hunters, taking them by surprise-!

“Ok, magic is a thing,” I shook my head as I staggered around before I slumped down on the ground, “But it felt like my breath… so maybe it comes with age?” That made me groan out, “Damn it, this is going to take ages!”

As powerful as Dragons were, it takes time for them to get to that power. “No wonder there’s only a few of them around in fiction,” I said out loud. All this musing would prove to much as my stomach soon rumbled, demanded sustenance.

“Fuck it, I’ll deal with this later,” I shrugged as I got up and started walking. It was hard to moving around in this part of the forest but I made due. It was more overgrown, older, and with it came more life.

Stalking in the undergrowth, my movement startled the residents and deers came bounding out fo their cover and making a run for it. I looked at them longingly, wishing for the day that I get to have a taste of venison. I was getting real sick of rabbit meat. It was so lean, so meaty, there’s was barely any fat to give it more flavor. Unfortunately, it was either that or birds… and rabbits were way easier to hunt.

As I pressed my snout against the ground to smell for my prey, I heard a howl echo in the distance. Perking up, I heard more of them. “There’s a hunt on going,” I whispered with a tiny bit of excitement. It wasn’t me that was the target, that was I sure off. The howls didn’t surround me, rather it was off in the distance, towards the direction of the river.

Whatever they were hunting, one thing was for sure; there was going to be meat on the table. Without a moment of hesitation, I took off, bounding towards the howls. It maybe be a bit fool hardy but I wanted to take the risk. I need meat and even the scraps of a hunt would be enough.

Bones contained marrows and I was sure my teeth can chew through it, I could practically taste it from the memories flowing in my veins. “Maybe I scare them off,” I whispered excitedly as a plan formed in my head. I was a dragon, I had my breath, I can fight them at a distance.

My lithe form helped me picked up speed while my wings carried me up to the sky. Keeping low to the canopy, I glided, still wary about Mother picking up my scent. As the sound of barks, snarls and howl filled the air, I felt excitement fill me. I had just come in time but as I saw who the wolves were hunting, I felt dread fill me instead.

A lone ram stood there surrounded by wolves, his form bloody and beaten. They were hunting Ramsey, they were hunting my rival… only I can hunt my rival! With a roar, I swopped down and decided that today was the day I killed some Wolves.

A/N:

Currently trying to squeeze out a chapter of the winner of this month but its coming out dry. Need something to occupy my mind while I think.