The longer Ethan looked into the eyes of these massive land dragons the more he could see the pain these creatures were enduring every single second. Their eyes were filled with hate, resentment and even fear but the pain he saw in them reminded him of his own face that had looked back at him in the mirror when he had lost his sister to cancer.
His mind started to wander but before he could fall into a spiral of deep thoughts the sound of boots on compacted dirt made him snap out of it. Ethan almost forgot the fact that around two thousand people were coming back towards him after hunting the last goblins they could sensibly catch. Guardsmen and his newly transformed blood brothers and sister were walking past the dragons, the guardsmen were instantly shivering when they came too close to Ethan while the winter elves sighed relieved from the cold that enveloped them. A young woman that was maybe sixteen or seventeen years old actually stopped and closed her eyes, just swaying back and forth with the pulse of Ethan’s cold he usually radiated only to be dragged away by a man that must have been her father.
Liam, Harris and Hawthorne approached Ethan with big smiles on their faces. Liam grabbed Ethan’s arm and pulled him into a side hug for a moment while looking up to the tall elf. “We actually did it man, we fucking beat these green fucks!” Ethan smiled and snapped his fingers. A chain slowly pulled itself towards him at which end the goblin shaman was wrapped up tightly. “We did and I even got us a small price, I don’t know if there is a way to actually communicate with monsters but..” he gave those spikes driven into the dragons a glance. “...they wouldn’t be capable of such a thing, so whoever did that was a proper enchanter and ritualist. Someone I would love a little chat with. But we have other problems first, right?”
Harris stepped forward, his eyes wandering over the dragons and the beat up goblin shaman before he gently stroked his blood soaked mustache and nodded. “Yes we have some problems but it’s actually a lot better than you think. First off we only lost around fifty people, which sounds like a lot but if we consider the scale of the battle and the fact that many untrained fighters were part of it, the outcome is still favorable as the other scenario would involve the death of almost anybody present in this town.”
Ethan nodded, he would have liked to come out of this without casualties but that’s not how life in the system worked at all. He looked at Hawthorne and the man gave him a respectful nod. He seemed to be the oldest of the three, standing taller than Ethan and a lot broader. This man looked like he was made for war and violence. Without a word he excused himself shortly after, barking orders at the guardsmen who were gawking at the dragons. “Not really a talker huh?” Ethan asked Liam but the captain just smiled. “No, but you feel a lot safer when fighting next to him, he’s reliable and fierce. But let’s not talk about Hawthorne as there are much more important things to do.”
The elf looked back towards the dragons, locking eyes with them. “You’re right Liam, I will deal with this and then talk to my people…sounds weird to say that..huh.” He chuckled. “Please get everybody ready because while I must continue on my own journey you all need to go on a small one too, back to my home…if you still want to join my side in this conflict.”
The guardsmen looked at each other and nodded. “We do and we gladly help you out, getting the people ready should actually be quite simple because they don’t really have that much so it should be done in an hour or two. We leave you to do, whatever it is you want to do here.” The two men walked away back towards the town, leaving Ethan in the company of these three behemoths.
****
Ethan jumped down from the back of the biggest land dragon, his fall slowed by his ice magic as he touched down on the ground again. He had spent the last hour studying the enchantments and ritualistic symbols on the spikes and while they were embedded deep in their flesh it didn’t seem like they were held there by any kind of magic. So now the painful part would come for these beasts.
With six big soldiers he could have a chance at this and so he dissolved their weapons and shields and used arctic reinforcement to keep them topped up. Then came the hard part. First more chains were added to one of the big dragons until his soldiers let go of it completely. Three of them were holding down the biggest of the dragons while the other half grabbed one spike each. At his command they began to pull with all their might. That only earned him painful cries that echoed over the entire area, the spikes were covered in barbs further down it seems at least that what Ethan imagined, he of all people knew how barbs acted as he used them extensively.
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The soldiers stopped on his silent command and Ethan jumped back up onto the dragon, using his head and neck to reach the back of it. “Well this needs to come out one way or another.” He ordered all three guards to grab the same spike and in perfect sync pulled on it. Ethan could see the flesh getting pulled up with it, hear it ripping and tearing as the barbs covering the end damaged the tissue. He turned his staff around and pressed the blue gem straight into the exposed flesh of the dragon and forced his magic into the wound. He didn’t know if it would work but these dragons were covered in white scales for a reason.
The spike stopped moving as it was frozen in place and Ethan had the soldiers twist the spike so it would rip itself loose. Ethan was still forcing more magic into the wound and when his soldiers finally managed to twist and pull the spike out of the flesh an explosion of frozen air rushed from the open wound, before Ethan could take a proper look a massive spike grew from it and turned the same color as the other spikes on the dragon’s back.
Sadly this was only the first of many but at least the biggest of it was out and while painful they could actually do it.
****
Dropping on his butt he let himself fall completely on his back, Ethan was breathing heavily as he looked at the sky and used the moment to gather himself. It had taken a long time but they managed to remove the spikes from all three dragons, every time they got rid of one a new spike made from ice would grow in its place. Painful cries filled the air for all that time but now they were done and the dragons all laid exhausted on the ground, the smallest of them actually asleep as it seems.
Ethan had his soldiers gather the spikes and froze them into a block, they couldn’t really take them to the mountain but leaving them like this wasn’t feasible either. So he conjured shovels and had his soldiers dig a deep hole where the block was dropped into and covered again.
When he had recovered a bit he sat up and laid his staff over his lap and finally tried using [Identify] on the large dragon.
[Ice Drake - Level ??]
[Ice Drake - Level ??]
[Juvenile Ice Drake - Level ??]
“Well that was a waste of anticipation. Nothing you can do about it at least you three are free from that influence. The question is what we should do with your three now?” Ethan of course didn’t expect an answer but when he felt the familiar sensation of a mind reaching out to him he carefully accepted it. Instead of words a flood of pictures filled his mind, showing a cave not far away from here covered completely in ice with more ice drakes living there. Then how goblins came into their cave accompanied by what Ethan knew to be ogres, the attack seemed to be timed as they came right after the drakes filled their bellies ready for a long nap. Spikes got driven into the defending drakes until they managed to catch a handful of them including these three in front of him.
“So you were captured…but that timing, that execution and the spikes itself. That’s not how goblins act at all. Someone is pulling the strings.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, it feels like he was in the beginning of a side quest. “Well fuck it I can’t just leave this, I also need to satisfy my own curiosity. I’m gonna find your pack members if you want.” The drake sent him a warm feeling that seemed to be a yes followed by an icy cold that made him sigh in relief. He mirrored the drake, actually showing him the world of the Elysarions that Jeriel let him experience. One simple word came back after they sat like this for a while. Friend…?
Ethan smiled and nodded. If you want to be, sure. Friend! The drake hummed deeply and seemed to be drifting off into a deep sleep. Before he was gone he sent him a string of images, of Liam he wanted them to follow, of the mountain home and the dwarves. Your new home friend. After waiting a moment longer Ethan jumped back to his feet and turned to the town.
Now to talk to his winter elves and sent them off to their new home.
