“Are you okay?” Arad asked, staring at Aella.
Aella slowly tilted her head toward him, smiling. “I didn’t sleep that well last night.” She giggled, “I should sleep early today,”
Arad smiled, “Yeah, rest well,” He then looked at Jack. “Can we head back tomorrow?”
Jack looked at Arad and smiled, “Yeah, I feel exhausted too.”
Knock! Knock! Knock! “I brought you dinner,” A man’s voice came from behind the door.”
Arad stood and opened the door. The man faced him with two other men behind. Each of them carried a different try. “This one for you,” The man handed a tray to Arad.
They brought three trays. A big one with extra meat and soup for Arad since he needs to recover. The second plant contained only greens and was meant for Aella. The last one belonged to Jack.
“Thank you,” Arad said as he and Aella took the trays inside.
As they started eating, Arad wanted to explain what occurred. “I have two pieces of news, a good and a bad one,”
Both Aella and Jack stopped eating. They looked at him, “Start with the good news,” Said Jack.
Arad smiled, “I might evolve soon into a very young dragon,”
Jack and Aella smiled, “Is that true?” Aella jumped at Arad.
Jack stared at them, “A very young like the one who hunted. Will you be able to fly?”
Arad nodded, “Yeah, but I still have the bad news,”
“What is it?”
Arad looked at them, smiling. “My vampire blood is boiling after that big meal. We might need to hunt another dragon soon.” The more he indulged in his vampiric bloodline, the stronger it became and the more food he needed.
“That won’t be a problem,” Jack smiled, “We killed a dragon. What prevents us from killing another one,”
Knock! Knock! Knock! “Can I enter?” Kristina called from behind the door.
Aella stood, approaching the door and slowly opening it, “What do you need?” She said, glaring at Kristina.
“Can I talk with Arad?” Kristina asked, peeking behind Aella.
“No,” Aella replied, attempting to close the door.
Kristina extended her ankle inside, “Come on, just a few moments,”
“Let her in, Aella,” Arad said, looking at them with a passive face, “Let’s hear out,”
pαпdα Й?νê|,сòМ Aella looked at him, “As you wish,” She sighed, letting Kristina in.
Kristina approached Arad and sat in front of him, “First of all, sorry for trying to capture you at the start.”
“I don’t really mind now. What brought you here?” Arad could sense she had more to say.
Kristina stared at Arad, “Can you leave the dragon corpse with us? We wish to give it a proper burial. He was young, and we fear the wrath of its parents.”
Arad looked at her, “I can’t do that,” He shook his head, “We have to deliver the corpse to our client. And you don’t have to worry. That dragon’s parents are already dead,”
“You can’t possibly know that,” Kristina stared at him.
“Whether you believe me or not, that’s your problem.” Arad smiled, “I’m not handing the dragon corpse no matter what.”
Kristina nodded, “You don’t seem to fear the wrath of dragons. Very well, but we warned you,” She stood and left the room.
“What’s her problem? We killed the dragon. She can’t have it.” Jack sighed.
Arad looked back at him, “I can’t agree more. Let’s leave early in the morning,”
The three went to sleep, and the room was awfully quiet.
Later, Arad opened his eyes to find himself chained in a cage. He looked around, but he couldn’t find Aella and Jack.
“Jack! Aella!” He shouted but got no reply. ^Mom! Can you hear me?^ Even she wasn’t replying.
Arad glared at the chains cuffing his hands, “Fine,” He tried to break them with void magic, but it didn’t activate. He attempted several times, but his magic vanished.
“It’s useless,” A woman’s voice boomed. She opened the room’s metal door and walked in with a candle in hand. Her face was covered in a draconic mask, “Dragons lose all their power in there,” She said.
Arad stopped struggling for a moment. She knows he’s a dragon. ^Is she one of the mages?^ He wandered for a moment, but there was another thing he wanted to ask.
“Why are you covering your face?” Arad asked, “I can tell from the smell, Kristina.”
The woman giggled, removing her mask. It was Kristina. “This saves me trouble.”
Arad sighed, “What the hell is going on?”
Kristina smiled, “You don’t need to understand. All you need to know is that you killed our precious dragon, and we will have you replace him.”
“So you were working with the dragon?” Arad looked at her.
“Working?” She tilted her head, “No with such a young dragon, to the cult of the dragon, he was but a pawn,” She smiled.
“I see. What happened to Jack and Aella?” Arad glared at her.
“You don’t have to know,” Kristina said.
CLACK! Arad stood, pulling on his chains. The steel cried, and the chains cracked, “Fine, I will have to rip you apart,” Arad glared at her as his cage started to bend.
Kristina took a step back, “Keep him chained!” She shouted, and ten mages rushed into the room, pointing their staves at the cage.
The cage got stronger, and the bends that Arad caused got fixed, forcing him to sit again.
“You’re strong, aren’t you?” Kristina giggled with a sweaty face. “Just what are you made off of? Dragons shouldn’t be able to even speak inside that cage.”
Arad glared at her, his eyes glowing blood red, and the hair on his head stood. “Just wait till I get out of here,” Arad growled.
Kirstina left, leaving the ten mages there to make sure Arad won’t break the cage.
Arad calmed down, thinking. Brute force won’t get him out of this situation. How did they even capture him in the first place, and are Aella and Jack okay? What do those people want?
“Hey you,” Arad said, “The one with an ugly blue mask.” He called one of the mages watching him.
“What do you want?” The mage replied. ．
“What do you want from me?” Arad asked.
The mage looked at the other nine mages. “We want to find a magic that makes it easier for chromatic dragons to take a humanoid shape. You just happened to be one, an amazing test subject.”
Arad looked at him, “So you want to test on me as a chromatic dragon?”
“That’s right,” The mage replied.
^I see,^ Arad thought, ^Those idiots are dumb,^ He smiled inside, ^If they were mistaking me for a chromatic dragon, then they didn’t manage to know that I’m a void dragon. I suspect they have magic that can detect dragons.^ He looked up.
Arad closed his eyes for a moment and then glared at the mages, his eyes glowing with a blood-red color, “This cage can only keep dragons, right?” He smiled.
“What are you…” A mage stared at Arad’s face, but he suddenly fell to the ground. Thud!
The mages looked at their friend on the ground, “What did you do?!” they screamed, glaring at Arad.
Arad stared at them with a teasing smile, two fangs peeking from his mouth. [Blood magic: Faint spell]
Thud! Another mage fell, “Wait! He is a…” Thud! Another fell before they could finish speaking.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The mages fell one after the other, unable to resist Arad’s blood magic.
CRACK! Using his sheer strength, Arad managed to tear the chains off, but the shackles remained on his wrists and ankles. ^So the dragon suppressing magic is in the shackles,^ Arad thought as he still couldn’t speak with mom.
He looked around, “Kristina, she must have the key,” Arad mumbled as he looked around.
ZIII! One of the cultists opened the prison door, looking inside, “Hey, I heard some noise, is everything okay?” He asked, but suddenly spotted Arad on the ground, sucking the blood from one of the mages’ necks. Everyone else was shriveled husks.
The cultist pointed his staff at Arad. [Fire…]. But before he could cast, it only took Arad a glance. [Blood magic: Faint spell] Thud!
Arad was faster at casting magic than most people. Added the simplicity of the spell, and it becomes a fight-shutting ability. If Arad didn’t want to fight someone weaker than him, they are knocked out.
Arad stood and approached the cultist, sucking his blood dry.
^I can feel it,^ Arad smiled, ^I can only get stronger by sucking dragons blood. But human blood, as disgusting as its taste. It can heal and recover my mana,^ He walked out of the prison, ^Time to feast,^
Arad can’t ignore the possibility that the cult harmed Jack and Aella. And that mere thought is making his blood boil. If Jack and Aella were here, he would suggest they run away, but now, his teeth ached, and his eyes burned. Those cultists aren’t going to see the light of tomorrow.
“You!” two cultists rushed in. One pointed a wand at Arad while the other lifted a sword.
Arad slowly turned his head toward them, his eyes glowing red in the darkness. BAM! His body disappeared.
CLANG! SPLAT! Arad appeared again behind the two cultists, squatting as they fell, cut in half. Arad’s fingers have grown into claws, and his forearms are filled with hair. [Beastial Aspect] [Wild Instincts]
Arad wasn’t just a vampire.