Two small armies stood opposite from each other on a relatively flat part of a mountain. A chilly wind blew through the ranks and crept into the small chinks in their armor. Light snow covered the ground ready to turn red at any time.

  Tensions were high with the two captains glaring at each other across what would be their battlefield once orders were received. Their men and women were unwavering.

  Suddenly a gust of wind tore through the empty space between them and kicked up the fresh layer of snow. Both armies looked towards the source.

  Hanging in the sky was a wyvern nearly blinding them with how reflective its scales were. A little higher was a red dragon looking down on them.

  Heat came off its body and steam rose into the morning sky making it look as if it was a living fire.

  Both captains looked at each other and then back to the beasts. Their armies immediately turned and held their spears up ready to put up whatever fight they possibly could. Then, the dragon spoke.

  “She is not among them, but they are close. We must keep searching.”

  Powerful flaps of their wings had them at the edge of vision within a minute. The armies watched in disbelief before taking up their vigil against each other once more.

  ***

  Three and a half weeks into their journey and the party was making the most of it. Each one of them was putting in the focus and prioritizing their growth.

  It had been nearly a week since their last fight which was against stone elementals that attacked right before nightfall.

  With their flawless teamwork, they were able to dispatch the group of nearly 70 elementals relatively quickly while also working on some new combo techniques between them.

  Since then, it had been quiet. Almost too quiet. That left them with time to talk.

  “I looked on the nexus early this morning and got another recording quartz from Laiko. It sounds like Minily is driving him to madness.”

  “I bet, Vorin. She can certainly talk. When it was just her and I on the floating forest trying to find you guys, she basically told me her life story.”

  They all laughed. It wasn’t malicious in any way towards Minily. In fact, each one of them was looking forward to seeing her again. Still, she knew how to keep a topic going until you never wanted to talk about that topic again.

  “Besides that, it sounds like they are doing well. Apparently, they finally made it out of that forest and found a friendly city. That’s why it took a while to list another recording quartz. They are getting settled in and starting to figure things out.”

  “That’s good. I know they hated that forest.” Zuls remarked.

  “From what they have described so far, this new world they are on sounds hostile. I’m glad they found a safe haven.” Shell added.

  A round of nods went around the group as they jogged along their path.

  “We should really purchase some astrology tomes to figure out how far away those two are.”

  “That’s a good idea, Synexus. It would be beneficial knowledge to know how much Laiko will have to level up his skills to get home.” Gene chimed in while flying along with the running party.

  “I’ll look for some toni…what the…” Vorin came to an abrupt stop in front of the group. Thanks to everyone’s improved reflexes they were able to stop and follow their leader’s gaze in less than a second.

  “Wyvern.” Prith announced remembering his fight in his trial.

  They stood their ground as the powerful gusts of wind flowed over them. Kumo created a bubble after the first couple passed.

  Synexus could see their mana moving within each of them preparing to launch out skills in a blitz offensive when a raspy, intense voice rang out in the sky above them.

  “That is her.”

  The wyvern flew in a circle and shrieked before flying in front of Zuls.

  She stared back into its ice blue eyes. It was at least double the size of sovereign. Reflective silver scales covered the beast except where its long talon-like claws appeared.

  Platinum Wyvern

  Name: Asu-Rin’ashen

  Race: Red Dragon

  Class: Pyro Warrior LV 83

  Synexus quickly focused on the new arrivals and was taken back by the level the dragon was showing.

  “Captain, the wyvern is a platinum wyvern. The red dragon is named Asu-Rin’ashen and is a level 83 Pyro Warrior.”

  The party turned and looked at him with their jaws dropped.

  “Seriously?!” Zuls yelled.

  A guttural laugh with a little smoke filled the air.

  “Rest assured, I will not be fighting. I’m only here to uphold the rules of battle.”

  “What rules would those be?” Vorin asked.

  “This is a challenge issued by the Elder Dragon himself. Our platinum wyvern here is one of the most vicious that we keep domesticated. He would like your Bond Forger to fight her. Only your Bond Forger may participate in combat along with her bonded of course.”

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  “What is the purpose of this?” Zuls yelled to the sky.

  “My liege wants to know how strong you are and how well your bonds are forged. You’ve come into possession of a powerful being and we understand that your intention is to bond with it. We need to ensure that you are strong enough.”

  She looked down to her waist at the beast dimension bag that held the Hydragon egg.

  “I accept your challenge as long as you promise me that my friends will not be harmed.”

  “You have my word as a dragon.”

  With a quick flick of his wings, he landed next to Kumo to watch the battle.

  Being much closer to the dragon, they saw how massive it was. Standing at nearly twenty feet tall with a ten-foot tale, two thick arms and legs ending in claws sharp enough to tear through reality itself. Beautiful thick red scales covered him, and his eyes glowed a burning orange. He folded his wings back as best he could and ignored all the eyes upon him.

  Tension built as Zuls summoned her bonded. They stood in a row and stared into the wyvern’s vicious eyes.

  “Begin.” The red dragon’s voice slightly shook the ground.

  Instantly both sides flashed out with attacks trying to put the other on the backfoot.

  Gliya, and Sovereign flew straight up to get into a striking position from above. Whimper and Ghost started circling behind to prepare for the perfect moment. Snowfall went straight in for an attack with her ice claws. Siz shot a jet of flames from the left flank while Zuls shot one from the right flank. Fort put defensive buffs up. Element shifted an earthen ramp beneath the wyvern for Claw to jump off of to get a strike from below. Blight hung back preparing a toxic cloud.

  The wyvern flicked its tail forward in a flash that smacked Snowfall back towards the ground. Then it covered itself with its wings and let the fire flow over its scales like nothing was happening. Jaws snapped out and caught Claw diminishing the shield that Fort put on her in one blow.

  It was too distracted with the array of attacks and didn’t notice when Sovereign dived down. It was wyvern versus wyvern as they tumbled through the air. Both left gashes in the others more tender spots before they separated.

  Rage filled the platinum wyvern, and it went in to take another piece of flesh before Sovereign could fully recover. Fortunately, the whispering wyvern wasn’t alone, and it became tangled in ethereal tentacles. Whimper appeared right beside Ghost and tried to bite into the beast’s neck only to be repelled without even leaving a scratch.

  Due to the tentacles trapping the movement of its wings, the wyvern fell from the sky landing on its back on the ground.

  With its belly exposed a fierce sunbeam shot down from above and burnt the softer flesh. It thrashed around eventually shaking off Ghost. When it tried to fly back up into the air, earthen shackles shot up and wrapped around its feet.

  Confusion hit the wyvern at the resistance when ice claws raked against its side tearing off scales and leaving a trail of blood.

  A pain filled shriek left the wyvern and a wave of magic broke the shackles just in time for it to fly higher and dodge another attack from Snowfall.

  Siz shot another jet of flames only for it to be countered by the wyvern’s platinum breath. It dove to avoid the flames while it dragged its devastating breath along the mountain side hitting Element and Claw. Both bonded yelped and started to bleed from non-lethal wounds.

  Zuls looked back and saw her bonded in pain. She immediately cast illusions of them so they could hide and try to heal up. When she turned back towards the fight, she saw that Blight had got a perfect hit on the face of the wyvern with a potent toxic cloud. The beast was desperately trying to shake the poison out of its eyes.

  When it was frantically lashing out, Snowfall took another tail to the chest, Fort took a claw to his shell, and Whimper had gotten smacked away by the wyvern’s body while trying to sneak a bite to an existing wound on its stomach. Before the bat got hit too far away it unleashed a sound attack that rattled the beast even further. Two of its senses were impaired.

  That was a sign for Zuls and her remaining bonded to rush in and end the fight. Each one jumped for the attack, but another pulse of magic repelled them. Then a bigger pulse pushed them back farther when the wyvern roared a challenge.

  Zuls felt a burning sensation on her waist when the roar hit her. She looked down and realized it was the beast dimension bag that had the egg in it. The burn got even more intense, so she summoned the egg out with a thought.

  The scales on the egg were pulsating with mana. A multitude of colors were wildly shifting and everyone turned to look at it.

  They had let their guards down and for a brief second, Zuls thought it had cost her greatly. A thick wyvern breath hit the egg.

  She watched in horror waiting for it to be completely destroyed and her future bonded killed, but instead, the egg started absorbing the mana like it was devouring all the power.

  When the breath ended, there wasn’t even a mark on the egg. However, the colors had gotten even more sporadic, and it was pulsing with power.

  The wyvern roared again.

  A crack started to form at the top of the egg and started to fissure down the cascade of scales. Mana started leaking from the cracks and the power started to get pulled in before being let out again. It felt like a heartbeat pumping blood.

  With a final pulse, the egg shattered leaving a miniature Hydragon in its wake.

  Your Hydragon has automatically forged a bond with you!

  Change her name on her status screen.

  Level up Hydragon to unlock her full potential.

  All three heads let out what Zuls assumed was supposed to be a roar but instead came out as a squeaky growl.

  It immediately took the sky and rushed towards the wyvern. Zuls ran to stop it, but it was too late. Luckily, the wyvern was too fixated on the baby Hydragon rushing it that the beast didn’t notice the other attacks heading towards it.

  Ice fangs met its wings and nearly ripped one off while the whispering wyvern claws opened a deep cut along its abdomen. Blood poured as the beast agonized midair before falling to the ground due to its broken wing.

  The hydragon followed the wyvern down and bit into its throat with her three sets of tiny fangs leaving six small bleeding puncture wounds. Still, it was enough of a distraction for all the other bonded and Zuls to pounce on the wyvern in a fury of attacks.

  Zuls was expecting the red dragon to step in and stop the fight, so they wouldn’t kill the beast, but she realized it was already too late. Claw had finished the beast off by further opening her throat. Blood poured out of the beast and onto the mountain trail.

  “Congratulations, Zullany. Your bonds are strong, and your teamwork is exquisite. It seems you will be able to control this Hydragon. However, heed my warning. More dragons may come to challenge it for supremacy. Be prepared.”

  “I thought you would stop the battle when it was clear we would win. If I knew we would truly kill her, I would have much rather have forged a bond.”

  “No. A dragon’s challenge is always to the death. Do not feel bad for the wyvern. She knew it was for glory or death.”

  The red dragon stomped forward and lowered his gaze to look at the black three-headed dragon. She growled back at him and bared her fangs.

  “HA! She certainly has a lot of fight in her. You can’t take me on yet, little one. Maybe one day, however.”

  “Why do the dragons care?”

  “Ah, that is a long story. I’m afraid you’ll have to learn some history from your sphinx friend here.” He nodded towards Yu. “I heard your sisters are excited about your return.”

  “As am I.” Yu responded with a bow.

  “Well, I must return to inform my liege of the outcome.”

  “Wait! It was nice to meet you Asu-Rin’ashen.” Synexus declared and held out his hand for a handshake.

  The red dragon looked down at his hand and puffed smoke into his face.

  “You must be the child the elder’s discussed. The one raised by the Branch. You smell of plants. My liege is interested in meeting you. Maybe our paths will meet again when you’re more worthy.”

  He flapped his massive wings and left as quickly as he appeared.

  Everyone just stared at Synexus.

  “What?”

  “You just wanted to log dragon scales for your collection skill.”

  “I did.” He said with a slight hint of disappointment.

  A round of laughter rolled down the mountain.