Chapter 26 – Lift Off

Early release, this week and if I keep this up there might be an extra one before the end of the week. As always I want to thank rouge for his lovely proofreading support, he makes the chapters flow so much better.

 

so without further ado – Chapter 26 – Lift Off

———————-Fafnir——————-

“So, the curse will dissipate in a few weeks, if I do what you say, right?” the demon asked while picking up his unconscious son.

“Yes, but if you defy me your son will turn to dust.” I lied through my scales, while fighting off sleep from my now full stomach.

“You’re sure that the curse will dissipate and he will be alright?” He said looking at his pale son.

“Yes. He will look better after a day but if you tell anyone before the two weeks end he will be destroyed like the plants around us.” I replied in my most menacing tone of voice I could muster.

“Fine, I will not tell anyone you are in the area, though I cannot say that I won’t after my son’s curse fades.” he said, “The capital is to the west and a bit towards the south. It takes about a day on a draxx, to get there.”    

“I just want to warn you our capital is designed to fight off creatures like you.” the demon venomously replied.

“You couldn’t even identify me, so what makes you think that they will be able to defend against me?” I snapped.

“I am just a hunter, the generals of the demon lord live in the capital. They are the strongest among us, more importantly they are worlds above me.” he arrogantly replied

“And just like you the hunters will become the hunted.” I declared as the two walked off into the forest.

I waited about 15 minutes to finish stretching and then jumped back into the sky. I oriented myself towards the capital and glided away. After about an hour I could see the beginnings of a massive city in the evening twilight. I decided to land and rest until the cover of night, before sneaking peeks at my supposed enemy capital. Hours passed as I watched the two moons chase each other across the night sky. When the moons had reached their zenith I stood up and launched myself into the night sky. I flew over the mostly sleeping city, I watched people bustle about at this late hour with my draconic eyes, when I smelled something delicious floating on the wind. It was the sweet smell of mana. I descend a bit to try and identify who was giving off such a delicious smell. I scanned the area for what seemed like days when I caught another whiff from a large ornate building near the center of the city. I tossed caution to the wind as I descended upon the unsuspecting city.

I tried to land but the roof of the building collapsed under me. I could smell the sweet aroma of mana permeating the building. Driven by mad desire I crashed through the building walls, I could hear a loud ringing in the distance mixed with panicked voices. As I crashed through another wall, I discovered the source of the sweet aroma; it was a small child with blood red eyes and small horns sticking from his temples, the child looked no older than two. It burst into tears at the sight of my draconic vestige.

“Well crap!” I cursed, as I realized what I had just done. I could hear the clanking of people dressed in metal armor approaching. Making a quick decision I picked up the screaming child by its shirt and lifted it out of its crib.         

“It’s in the lord chambers, quickly!” a voice commanded.

“Oh, crap!” I swore through my teeth; the child screaming as it dangled from my mouth. I quickly made my way out of the building, knocking through another wall.

“A beast has our lord!” a demon shouted.

I knock down the last wall standing between me and the open sky; I jumped through the makeshift exit and quickly ascend into the night sky. I could feel arrows patter against my scales as I moved. After a few seconds of flying I heard a ripping sound, followed by a louder scream that seemed to be moving away from me. “Dang, I dropped it,” I thought to myself as I quickly dived down. I quickly matched the kid’s speed as I grabbed the little demon lord with my front claws, and pulled out of my dive.

I flew for a few hours heading back toward home. The child eventually quieted down, and is now just squirming around in my fore claw.  I descended near the same lake I stopped earlier, the sun starting to crest on the horizon. I gingerly landed on three of my claws, being careful not to crush the child under my claw. I set it down and start to look at the little demon lord. The little thing managed to sit up and just stared at me, I watched as its lower lip began to quiver. Thinking quickly, I cast my shrinking spell and shrank down to eye level. The little demon lord started to laugh.

“Huh, I was supposed to kill you?” I muttered, while looking the child in the eye.  The wide eyed child reached out his hand trying to grab one of my glowing horns. I started to pull back but decided to allow it to touch me, which was a mistake. With unnatural strength the little demon lord yanked me off my claws and shoved my horn right into its mouth. I flicked my head breaking its grasp on me and growled, causing the child to once again burst into tears. In a fit of rage I released a spell and the entire area fell into absolute silence, not even the chirps of crickets could be heard. Confusion covered the face of the small child, as he tried to cry but no sound came out. After a minute I canceled the magic and all the sounds around us returned.

I canceled the translation spell and using my deep rumbling voice I say, “Behave.”

His lower lip began to quiver once more but stopped when I growled.

“Good little demon,” I praised the little thing, giving it a wide smile. “Now you are probably hungry, but what can I feed you?” I said to the little demon. I released my shrinking spell and returned to my large draconic form. I squatted on my hind legs and placed the little demon in my little leather pouch that was tied around my neck, despite its loud protest. Remembering where I was, I launched myself into the sky and scanned the area for the village where I expected the two demons to live. As I flew around I caught the scent of the demon I encountered earlier. I spotted the demon as he was entering a house at the edge of the clearing. I descended and blew up dust and dirt as landed right by his front door.

Activating the brooch on my head I sang, “Little demon, little demon, let me come in.” I heard screaming coming from inside the house.

“Ah, come on, don’t be like that.” I chided, “I need your help with something, and if you comply I will even remove the curse on your boy.”

After a few seconds the door creaked open revealing the demon I met in the forest. “Wh-what d-d-do you w-w-want?” he stuttered terror plain on his face.

I sneezed as the strong smell of freshly soiled clothes filled my nose.

“I need you to feed this young demon I have.” I said while I took the child from my pouch.

“Awahh, what a cute child you have there…” he said before terror covered his face again, “Wait, if I may ask, O mighty dragon, where did you get this lovely demoness?”

 

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as always me and rouge are mostly human so let us know if we missed anything. also let me know what you think in the comments below