21

The camp came alive with the first rays of daylight. I needed a few more levels. That much I knew for sure. Strength was a requirement for the future I wanted. A lot of it.

I smirked at the thought. I would be the strongest creature on earth before long. That much I knew for certain. Just needed to grind a whole lot of levels in the mean time. The men from the camp started discussing things among themselves.

Constantly giving me glances as I ignored them for the most part. I glanced to the right when I spotted something moving. It wasn't very big. A scavenger of some sort. It picked at the remains of one of the snake creatures.

One of the ones I didn't eat. I watched the scavenger intently while trying to catch snippets of the humans conversation. The little scavenger was an odd creature. Kind of like an itty bitty kangaroo, but with a beak, and little claws on its hands. More of them started emerging as time went by.

Scratching, and tearing the meat with their little claws before picking out little bits for it to eat. Interesting. I refocused on the humans since they seemed to have come to a decision. They wanted to head back to the settlement. I stretched slowly, and flared my wings.

Time for me to leave. I leapt into the sky. Leaving behind the confused humans. I headed even further out. Effectively parting ways.

My wing beats were near silent at this height. It felt as if I could fly like this forever, but all things come to an end eventually. I spotted something interesting on the ground, and circled lower to get a better look. The creature on the ground reminded me of a crocodile crossed with some sort of bull. There were four of them there.

Three that were much smaller than the first one I spotted. Perhaps they were the females. The completely ignored me as I came closer. The male was the size of an elephant, and they were all heavily armored. I came down, and landed on the big creatures back. My talons barely left a scratch on the back of the huge creature as it continued ignoring me to graze on the long grass around it.

There weren't many creatures I could claw at without causing a great deal of harm. I raked my claws along the creatures armored back, and left shallow cuts in the armor. I could claw at this thing all day, and I still wouldn't kill it. It probably had a soft spot somewhere, but I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to get to it. If I pissed this big guy off, and he was stronger than I expected then I'd be the one that got hurt.

I leapt off it's back, and started flying back to the settlement. I wanted to swing by the group, and maybe add a few crystals to the collection they were holding for me. My wings were fully extended. Sending that feeling of power down through my body. Dragons were the rulers of the skies.

The more I flew the more I knew that fact. It was suicide to face us on the ground, and it was even worse to face us in the skies. I wondered how long it would take for me to reach the amount of strength I needed. Was it possible for me to pass the amount of strength I needed? Would I live that long?

I passed lower over the group of adventurers on the way back. Dropping off the crystals I collected alone the way. It took less then an hour after that for me to make it back to the settlement. I flared my wings, and landed just clear of the warehouse. Startling everyone nearby.

I shook slowly as I pulled in my wings tight to my back. Slipping into the warehouse a second later without giving those who'd gathered there a glance. Hitting the button that closed the door with a casual flick of my tail as I passed to close the doors behind me. Laying down toward the back where I could spread out completely without risking some idiot being too close just by opening the doors. I noticed when Ethan came in.

Rushing toward me like I'd been gone forever even though I'd only been gone a little over a day. I let him attempt to hug my large chest, and smiled at him.

"Relax," I snorted, "I wasn't gone that long. Just a little exploring."

"Why though?" Ethan frowned at me.

"I know the area around the base pretty well now," I snorted, "I have a good Idea of where the nearby beast territories end as well. This base has created its own large territory, but without scents to mark it the other weaker beast keep trying to move in."

"Are you going to do something about it?" Savannah asked from the doorway.

She also seemed glad to see me. Jax hadn't come out yet. I debated on forcing him to come say hi, but didn't see much point in it. He already had a few reasons to dislike me so forcing him to do anything he didn't like wouldn't be good. Although it didn't seem like he was against me in any way.

He largely got along with me, and seemed to like the power my ability granted him. I snapped my jaws shut when the outside door opened. My eyes landing on the man that entered. I recognized him as the guy that I didn't like before. He'd come it when I didn't want him to.

It was easier to keep my aggression curbed with my bonded here. Savannah walked up to me. Leaving Jax in the doorway alone. Jax was more cautious then the others were.

"What do you want?" Ethan snapped at the man.

He was reacting to my own well suppressed hostility.