The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 70

***

I awoke to a strange sight indeed.

"Ah," I mumbled, rubbing my temple.

I clambered onto my rear and sat up slowly, looking around. The cavern was dark, despite the high sunrise outside.

How long was I out?

A groan escaped my lips when I stood and made my way outside. The air was just as humid and hot as ever. I shielded my eyes for a few moments to allow them to adjust to the bright sun. It must've been somewhere around noon. When I could finally see, I found a large portion of Loht's body gone. Rather, it was more apt to say it appeared to have been eaten.

My eyes widened and my brows furrowed at the revelation. I immediately searched the area for any signs of wildlife but found nothing large enough to devour as much of the corpse as was missing. My own food supply from her body didn't reach more than ten percent at most. After searching around fruitlessly, I made my way back into the cavern, lighting my way when I noticed it. The egg.

It was broken with large pieces scattered all around. Dried fluids were spread along the floor, but one thing as obvious. Large tracks leading from the egg to me, then around the cavern, and finally outside.

"There's a baby dragon on the loose," I said with disbelief.

I quickly rushed back outside and casted Wind Flight in combination with Air Boost and launched myself a few hundred feet in the air and examined the area around the lair in skepticism. Hargen's footprints made it look no bigger than a large buck, which was still large in itself. It was likely going to be difficult to track it down.

I grimaced at the thought.

Wish I came up with some sort of spying spell. Two years and not a single chance to train ... Probably could've just done what I did last night and not had to pause my journey, I complained.

No sooner had I mused those thoughts did I spot a narrow trail of scorched trees and foliage. I flew down to about a couple hundred feet and followed it for a while.

The trail twisted and made abrupt turns as though Hargen was constantly spewing fire and chasing something.

Wait a minute, I thought.

Using Air Boost, I jutted myself ahead with enough force that my hood folded off my head granting me the wonderful feeling of one-hundred-plus degree heat and humidity. While my robes fought most of it off, now my face felt the brunt of it – at high speeds no less.

The trail went on for another five minutes before I spotted a burst of flames rise up at the end of the scorched trail. I elevated to another hundred feet or so and observed below. A small winged, four-legged reddish orange creature galloped after some six-legged cat thing and pounced on it, all while fire spewed out of its mouth uncontrollably. I could hear the wail of the cat creature well from my vantage despite the constant wind at my ears.

I flew down, casting Liquid Barrier on myself and floated silently above the creature. It devoured the cat creature viciously, tearing out its throat, innards and dismembering it all while eating every bit. The flames that spilled from its mouth only seemed to make the creature hungrier as it cooked its prey at the same time. I whistled to gain its attention after a couple minutes. The creature paused and snapped its bloodied head toward the origin.

When our eyes locked, I expected it to launch at me and attack. Instead, its brows, or what I could only assume were brows seemed to furl inward in a strange expression. It unfolded its large wings and flapped them a couple times, rising it several feet off the ground each time. It was almost as if it was testing out its wings.

Probably not too far off the mark, I thought.

It flapped its wings a few more times before gaining a running start and launching itself in the air. The large dragon banked right and circled back around toward me. I readied myself, but it slowed down and came to a hover about forty feet from me.

"Uh ... hi?" I greeted with a raised eyebrow, still prepared for a fight.

The situation would've definitely been surreal had I been born in this world like a normal person. To me, though, it was another awkward exchange. Fire continued to spill from its mouth in an ebb. I motioned to myself before speaking.

"I'm Xavier, your guardian," I spoke, looking into its eyes for some sign.

"My mother's killer," it said plainly.

The voice sounded nothing like I expected. It was that of a child who was around ten or so years old, and when it spoke, it opened its mouth and the sound simply came out. There was no movement of the tongue or maw. It was rather unsettling.