Arad scratched his head, “I don’t know. I can just understand them,”
[Spoken languages aren’t a part of the void dragon nature. Intelligent creatures might fight the void dragon tongue hard, but monsters understand it]
^What do you mean?^
[Try to speak to Aella without talking. Just stare at her face. Also tell her to clear her mind, and not think about anything,]
“Aella, can we test something?” Arad looked at Aella with a smile, “Don’t think of anything,”
“Yes,” Aella nodded and closed her eyes,
“Can you hear anything?” Arad looked at her.
“Nothing,” Aella opened her eyes, “I don’t know what to look for,”
[It’s not a sound, more of dripping thoughts. The more primal a creature is, the better it will understand it,]
ARad scratched his head, “Don’t mind, I can’t seem to get a hang over it, but I should be able to talk with monsters.”
Jack looked at Arad, “Is it something that our thoughts can interfere with?”
[Jack is right. A rational mind will ignore the void dragon voice. Or should I should say, mental voice.]
“You’re right,” Arad nodded.
Jack sighed, “Then it’s no hope for us. You’re probably better with monsters,” He looked at the cobra and the wolves, “Are they tamed?”
“I won’t say tamed. The wolves would leave back to their lair. The cobra asked if she could go with us,” Arad approached the cobra and patted its side, “There isn’t a quick way to take her with us,”
“She could just follow us to the elves,” Isdis stared at Arad with a smile, “I want to see their faces when we come in with such a monster,”
Aella sighed, “They might snipe her from afar. All we can hope is for them to be reasonable and be willing to talk,”
Arad scratched his head, “I don’t think they will fire with us standing beside her.”
“They will,” Aella looked at Arad, “The relations between the elves and humans have been in the mud for several decades now,”
“She’s right,” Isdis stared at Jack, “You can give back my stuff, and I will talk to them,”
“No,” Aella stared at Isdis, “I will do the talking,”
Arad sighed, “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. Lydia needs treatment so let’s go,” He touched the carriage, “Everyone, touch my back.”
Aella stared at Arad, “You can’t teleport us all to the city, can you?”
“I should be able to as long as you’re lighter than me,” He smiled.
One of the elve’s woman hostages stared at him, wondering how could they weigh less than him.
Aella smiled, approaching Arad. “Come on, let’s go back,” She touched his back, as did everyone.
ZON! In the blink of an eye, the whole carriage disappeared with a puff.
CRACK! The elf hostages fell to the ground, their heads spinning from the sudden change, “What did happen?” One of them gasped, looking to the side to see the carriage shattered into small pieces.
“GAHHHHHHHH!” Arad growled, scratching his head as he rolled on the ground, “I miscalculated. We teleported directly into a tree,” He stared at the broken carriage.
Jack barely stood, carrying Lydia, “You almost killed us,” He looked at Arad.
“Sorry, the carriage’s left wheel reformed inside a tree.” Arad looked at the disintegrated wheel. “We’re lucky it wasn’t one of us,”
“You should be careful about teleporting with large objects in the forest,” Eris growled, “Didn’t that monster Scarlett teach you anything?”
“Scarlett?” Arad looked at her, tilting his head, “You mean Ginger?” .𝘯𝘵
“Who else I would be talking about? She’s a true magic monster, and you have her blood,” Eris glared at Arad, “She must have taught you a trick or two,”
“She didn’t,” Arad replied, “I got infected by lycanthropy, and she used her vampirism to prolong my transformation,”
Eris stared at Arad, dumbfounded for a second, “How? Are you telling me you got infected with lycanthropy? Do you know how crazy is that?”
“But I was infected. What do you mean?” Arad stared at her, and Eris looked at the elves.
“We talk somewhere else, alone or with her and him, I don’t care,” She stared at Aella and Jack, “As long as you trust them,”
Eris looked at Arad, walking to his side. ^Is this dragon joking? His kinds are immune to most curses. There is no way in the nine hells that a dragon got infected by lycanthropy of vampirism.^
^Could it be sorcery? Some of his ancestors were vampires or werewolves. No dragon cannot get infected.^
At that moment, Alcott’s image sparked in her head. ^Don’t tell me, was it him?^
“Arad, is Alcott, your father?” Eris asked, staring at Arad in the eyes.
Everyone froze for a second, and Jack started noticing the similarities between Arad and Alcott. It was the eyes, the stance, the tone, and the expressions.
“No, I never met my parents,” Arad replied, “But you can say I know mother more than father. I never met, let alone got to know him,”
Eris scratched her head. ^Bloodline rarely shows itself in the next generation. It can’t be, and Alcott is a human, not a dragon. How strong could he be to leave a sorcerer bloodline?^
Aella stared at Eris, “You think Arad inherited a susceptibility from Alcott if he was his father?”
“That was just a theory,” Eris sighed, “Now that I’m looking at it, he can’t be Alcott’s son,”
“You’re right,” Jack looked at them, “Alcott’s last wife ran away while pregnant, but there is no way Arad is that child. She was a human, after all,”
HISSSS! The cobra hissed, coiling around Arad with her tongue springing out.
“Rest here,” Arad smiled, patting the cobra’s head, “We would come pick you up tomorrow, so avoid people and lay low,”
The cobra hissed one last time and slithered back to the forest. Arad looked at everyone with a smile, “We can talk later. Let’s focus on getting them back home first.”
^I also want to see Aella’s homeland. Elves live for a long time, after all,^