The morning came without the dragon attacking again. “Arad, did you stay up all night?” Aella approached him.
Arad stood, “That doesn’t matter. I’m going to the forest alone. Make sure not to follow me,” He turned around and walked away.
“Is he okay? The fall didn’t hurt his head, right?” Jack walked out of his tent.
Aella stared at Jack, “He means to flow him from afar,”
Jack smiled, “He wants to bait the dragon? Let’s go,” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small bottle, “Take this. I don’t know how effective it will be against a dragon, but let’s try it.”
Aella looked at the bottle, “This looks like poison.”
“It is. I trust you can try hitting the eyes or something soft?” Jack smiled.
“We can’t use it. Poison might damage the internal organs. Remember, we need the heart.” Aella said, handing the bottle to Jack.
Jack pushed the bottle to her again. “It’s a paralyzing poison with a temporary effect. It shouldn’t leave any long-lasting damage.”
Aella took the bottle and sighed, “You better be right.” She started pouring poison on her arrow. “Okay. Let’s go after Arad.”
Jack smiled, “So the plan is for Arad to bait the dragon out. The dragon attacked Arad and might lift him. Arad drops the dragon so you can poison him. Then we beat him to death.”
“Exactly,” Aella smiled, turning to chase after Arad.
***
Arad reached the forest edge and touched one of the trees. “I hope we don’t cause a wildfire.”
[Don’t worry. The dragon was already causing them. What’s the harm of having another one if it will be the last?] Mom replied.
^You say that one wildfire today will prevent more from happening.^
[Exactly,] Mom smiled, [Just don’t lose focus.]
Arad walked between the trees, looking around with his [Void eyes]. Magic is everywhere, on the trees, the ground, and on animals. Each step Arad took made him feel more uncomfortable, the dragon’s aura covered the whole place, and this was his territory.
CRACK! As Arad walked in, a goblin appeared. ^Sending minions?^
[Your shock might have scared him. Or at least he doesn’t want to get another one.]
Goblins emerged from the bushes. It is an ambush.
^I can’t use fire against a red dragon. He welcomes lightning.^ Arad smiled.
The void between the air’s molecules shrunk, causing it to vibrate. All that friction ripped the electrons from the atoms and generated a static shock. CRACKLE! Lightning crackled around Arad, flashing from his back to his chest.
“Come at me,” Arad opened his eyes with a smile, and the goblins lept at him.
The first goblin swung a stone shard at Arad’s face, but the moment Arad grabbed him, the lightning roasted him alive. “No touching,” Arad waved his hand at the goblins with a smile.
The goblins hesitated to approach Arad, seeing how dangerous he was.
Arad lifted his palm. CRACKLE! CLAP! CLA-CLAP! Lightning rumbled between his fingers as he formed a fist, “If you won’t come. That I will start first.” [Lightning Fist]
Thud! He leaped forward, kicking one of the goblins in the face, “Sorry, I meant kick,” The goblins were short, so using punches were hard.
BAM! CRACKLE! As the kick connected, a lightning bolt zapped the goblin’s body and left it smoking. The other goblins charged in. BAM! BAM! Arad kicked the goblin behind and before him, rushing forward as their corpses fell to the ground.
“You came from this way, right?” He looked back with a smile. Using his void eyes, he could see the magic in the air. Arad followed the densest magic he could see. Just like the smell, the stronger it gets, the closer you are to the source.
[With how the dragon acted, it might panic and Attack, be careful.] Mom warned Arad as he climbed a tree. ^Look dire wolves are ahead, he’s sending everyone to stop me, but he can’t.^ Arad smiled, leaping from one branch to another with lightning crackling from his shoulders.
“You coward Lizard! Show you ugly face!” Arad shouted into the sky in draconic, trying to taunt the dragon into appearing.
[Above you!] Mom shouted, and Arad snapped, swinging his head up to see the dragon rushing at him with an open jaw. ^He’s about to bite. No, that’s a breath.^ Arad immediately lept away.
SPARK! A tiny spark flashed inside the dragon’s mouth, exploding into crimson flames.
As Arad dodged his breath, the dragon landed with a loud thud, leaping at Arad like a mad bison. BAM!
Arad lifted his arm, blocking the dragon’s ram, but his body got sent flying. ^He didn’t bite?^ Arad gasped inside.
[He hesitated. He wanted to bite but changed it to a ram to have minimal contact time with you.]
^So he’s scared to touch me for a long time?^ Arad smiled as his body rolled and stood immediately.
ROAR! The dragon growled, lunging with a claw swing.
Arad weaved to the side, but the dragon sent a second strike. ^He’s fast.^ The dragon made a three-swings combo, which Arad managed to dodge.
“Take this!” Seeing the dragon finish his combo, Arad swung an upper punch at the dragon’s jaw. CRACKLE! CLAP! Arad barely managed to graze the dragon’s chin as he stood on his hind legs, dodging the fist.
^Aw! Shit!^ Arad saw the dragon open his jaw again. KABOOM! Another fire breath blasted forward. Arad dodged to the side, having his back catch on fire, but that was nothing that a single roll on the dirt couldn’t fix. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢
When Arad stood from his roll, the dragon was already above him, swinging two claws down.
In a panic, Arad lifted his palms and caught the dragon’s claws, wrestling the hippo-sized monster as it pushed down.
“GWARAA!” Arad growled, lightning crackling in his fists.
The dragon growled, with his claws engulfed in flames. Arad’s palm skin started burning.
Arad’s lightning zapped the dragon, and the dragon’s flame burned Arad. The two remained there for only a few seconds before the dragon opened his jaw and attempted to bite Arad’s head.
Arad swung his head to the side, dodging the bite. CLAMP! CLAMP! The dragon started biting over and over. After he got over his hesitation, he got even more aggressive.
Arad opened his mouth. CRACKLE! CLAP! He unleashed a lightning breath. It was weak but enough to force the dragon to move away from him.
The dragon opened his jaw. KABOOM! He replied with a fire breath. The flames burned Arad’s upper torso, but he luckily survived. [You used the void.]
^The dragon didn’t notice, so it’s okay,^ Arad replied to Mom, ^I know that I need it as a trump card to finish him off,^
“ZOHO! KI BO KADA NON. KI ZOHO!” The dragon growled in draconic, saying, “Purple, you aren’t a blue sorcerer. You’re a purple one.”
[Good! He is like that salamander,] Mom sighed in relief. The dragon seems to have made the same mistake. Assuming that Arad was a purple dragon sorcerer when he survived flames while using lightning.
“You’re willing to talk?” Arad sighed in draconic.
“No, a purple bastard killed father, took mother, and forced me to flee here. I will keep hunting and killing until I get strong enough to eat him, and what a nice start to have a purple sorcerer for dinner.” The dragon growled, flame gushing from his nose.
“Wait? What?” Arad gasped as the dragon rushed at him. He lept to the side and dodged the charge. [Lightning bolt] [Lightning Bolt] Zapping the dragon twice before taking a deep breath [Lightning breath]
The dragon managed to dodge the breath by flapping his wings and taking to the sky.
“Come back here!” Arad shouted.
“You’re friends are coming, and I’m not stupid to fight the three of you simultaneously.” He flapped his wings.
Arad stepped forward and was about to use [Void walk] to latch on the dragon when a dire wolf lept from the bushes and bite his leg. “You!” Arad growled, unleashing a lightning shock at the monster.
PEW! An arrow flew from the bushes and hit the wolf’s neck. The dragon had already flown out of reach.
“What took you so long?” Arad asked, but quickly noticed how rugged Aella and Jack looked, “The wolves?”
Aella looked down, “Sorry, they blocked our way, and we couldn’t get here in time,”
Arad sat on the ground, “Damn it,”
pǎпdǎ Й?νê1,сòМ Jack looked at him, “To me. It seemed the dragon knew from the start that we were after you. He sent the wolves to stall us and left when we were about to arrive.”
“I hate to admit it, but he played us,” Arad sighed as Aella sat on the ground beside him. “Did you hit him with lightning?” She asked.
“Plenty, but he didn’t fall,” Arad replied, “It seemed to hurt him, but not enough to prevent him from flying away,”
“That means we need to think of something else…” CRACK! As Aella was talking, a stone fell from the sky, crushing her ankle. GRWAAAAAAAAAA!
Arad glared at the sky, and the dragon was there carrying boulders.