177 [Bonus chapter] Night Shade
“How about Merlin?” Aella stared at Arad.
“I would have to think about it.” Arad closed his eyes. Merlin taught him gravity magic, and Lyla helped him build the house. Which of them he should trust with the scales?
“Merlin? The archmage?” Mira looked at Arad with a puzzled face. “She knows about you?”
“Yeah. Alcott and Ginger do as well.” Arad smiled.
Mira scratched her head. “Who is the person Mom wanted to hire to make the armor? I need to know that, but otherwise, Merlin seems like a solid choice.”
“I need decent armor for Aella and Jack. You were with us and saw how a mission can go wrong.” Arad sighed.
“Yeah, we almost died,” Mira remembered Lydia blasting everything. “I hope Lydia can recover.”
“She will.” Aella smiled.
“Arad, some people are approaching from the east.” A sudden voice scared Aella and Mira. It came from the window. When they looked, a large sunflower had grown a mouth.
Arad looked at the flower. “Ah, Loci. You can do that now?”
“This is the best I can muster now. I exhausted myself when I got you out of the ground. I would have shifted the forest to lose them if I could.”
“Wait, this is the fairy?” Mira gasped.
“As I said before. She wasn’t a fairy. She’s the land we live in. This whole forest, mountain range, and city are built on her back.” Arad explained.
“She’s the spirit of Alina’s provinces.” Aella smiled.
“I don’t like that name,” Loci growled. “Each dragon must have a territory to rule. My back is Arad’s territory so It’s Arad’s land.”
“Are you sure?” Arad looked at Loci.
“It’s my back and I’m free with what to do with it,” Loci replied, shaking the sunflower stem as if she were wiggling.
[She’s the same as the wolves and the apes. As a dragon, your territory now expands from the eastern mountains. To the city, and to the western mountains behind the forest. Other dragons won’t tread on your land, and even if they did. They won’t dare stay long if a genius loci are claiming the land belonged to another dragon.]
“Of course. I’m not bothering dragons that are passing by. Wyrmlings searching for food or temporary shelter, and even the injured ones.” Loci seemed to smile. “Right now there are four wyrmlings on your lands. One red is passing by. Two green are injured and resting. and one black that came to look for a territory but I told him to leave and he’s heading out now.”
“No adult dragons?”
“They should be able to sense you from afar and stay away. They will only land on your land if they wanted to speak to you. I don’t have control over the ones that fly in the sky.”
Arad stood. “I will go deal with the bandits. The fog can be annoying, but it won’t stop a motivated group.”
Arad left the house and the two girls stared at each other. “Say, Loci. Does it hurt to build on you?”
“No. I know when someone is digging, but my skin is too deep.” Loci smiled.
“But I hate mines. Those things can hurt a lot. I try not to move, but I sometimes shiver and end up causing a collapse.”
***
Thud! Arad rushed across the forest. Running between the trees as he headed toward the people Loci talked about.
Arad stopped and stood behind a tree, glaring with a single eye. The people Loci talked about looked strange. Eight armed muscular men. Four of them carry a human-sized box with a small door.
Thud! They stopped moving. “Who’s there?” One of the men shouted.
Thud! Arad walked from behind the trees. “You have some good senses. Care to explain why are you here?”
The man looked at the box as if listening before he replied. “We aren’t here for trouble. We are searching for a monster in the area, did you see anything strange?”
“I saw a lot of strange wolves, monsters, and more. Care to detail what this monster is like?” Arad walked forward.
“Don’t get closer.” The man lifted his hand. “The monster we’re searching for is a black dragon. We suggest that you leave immediately. We’ve been feeling that it’s watching us for a while.”
“A black dragon?” Arad scratched his head. “I remember seeing a large black thing fly over the mountains. Is that what you’re looking for?”
^They might have seen me fly over the mountains. I better send them to the other side just in case.^
“I see, thanks for your help.” The man nodded with a slight bow. He then looked at the box and nodded. “We’re going there.”
Arad turned to leave.
Thud! The man leaped forward swinging a dagger at Arad’s back. CLANG! The dagger shattered upon touching his skin.
“What?” He gasped and the other men put the box down.
Arad slowly turned his head back. “Care to explain why did you attack me? I didn’t lift my hands first, did I?”．
Thud! The man walked back, stumbling on the bushes. “How could a human survive a stab? You didn’t even get injured.” He growled.
“I’m an adventurer and my skin is hard enough.” Arad opened his arms, “Those muscles should be enough proof.” He pointed at the man’s dagger. “Such a tiny weapon can’t match the fangs of a beast.”
Two of the men stared at the box, and they glared at Arad. They slowly stood like wolves and rushed to surround Arad. “Sorry man. But this is your unlucky day.” They pulled words.
“You’ve been looking at that box a lot.” Arad smiled. “Are you getting orders from someone inside?” He looked at the box, “I smell blood from there.”
“Yeah, we’re getting orders from there. But that doesn’t matter to a corpse, does it?” One of the men smiled, swinging his sword at Arad.
CLANG! Arad caught the sword with his hand. “I see, I see,” He smiled, his eyes blood red. He could see two faint dots on the man’s neck.
Arad looked at the box, “Get out, or do you fear the sun?”