8

Savannah's face darkened slightly, but she said nothing.

"Are you sure you want me to do the interviews?" She looked at me with concern.

"I just don't want him to do the interviews," I shrugged, "Are you worried about your outfit? Savannah has some nice clothes if you want to borrow them."

Savannah's irritation came through the bond.

{Are you sure this is a good idea?} Savannah asked.

{It's better to talk to them then it is to ignore them} I shrugged when she looked my way, {Try to make me look good ok?}

She just raised her eyebrows at me.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," I headed toward the door, "Be good while I'm gone."

Savannah responded with a sarcastic eye roll. Ethan wanted to go with. I waved him off before he could ask.

{You don't like what it looks like when I'm eating,} I punched in the door code, {Don't pretend you're fine with it just so you can come. Do an interview. Be nice. Make us look good.}

{Sounds like a waste of time to me,} Ethan's mind flashed to his own childhood interview experiences.

{You don't have to do an interview if you don't want to,} I stepped outside without showing any outward signs of our communication, {No matter what the humans are going to bash us pretty badly to begin with. Very few people will take us seriously at our word so it won't hurt for you to remain silent for the time being.}

I could tell Ethan nodded thoughtfully. He really didn't like interviews. I walked toward the gates without hesitation. Calen would probably come complain at me later when cocky douche got done yelling at him about how terrible we'd been to him. I didn't care.

My whole body reacted to him as if he were a repulsive walking shit stain. His clothes, demeaner, and the way he looked at the girl when I opted to have her interview me instead of him. All of it pointed to him being some rich spoiled asshole who just did this interview thing for the attention it got him. The fear in the girl's eyes told me she had been beaten into submission. I didn't know what her ability was, but I didn't think it really mattered.

I jumped, and caught the drone she had following me. Looking into the camera lens with a frown.

"You do not want to follow me when I'm hunting," I narrowed my eyes at the camera a little before tossing it back into the air, and continuing as if nothing had happened.

I was a messy eater. I could hold back enough not to seem like a savage predator when my bonded were around, with the exception of when I was starving, but the rest of the time I didn't hold back. Me eating was an R rated experience. The guy at the gate almost tried to stop me from leaving alone until he really looked at me. I had a really distinctive look.

It was near impossible to mistake me for someone else. I switched to my true form as soon as I was clear of the walls. I was preparing to launch myself into the air when I spotted movement. My wings were still fully extended as if I were about to jump into the air. The lizardmen emerged from the grass calmly like they usually did.

The front two bowed to me respectfully. I bobbed my head in response, and let the tense muscles on my wings relax a bit. Regala had killed the priestess using my body so hearing them out whenever they appeared just felt right.

*"What have you come here for?" I gave them my full focus.

The lizardman in front held up a small skin covered bundle, *"This is one of the prizes of the priestess. We cannot touch it without becoming ill. I wondered if you would be strong enough to take them."

I took the bundle from him. Unraveling it slowly until the bright blue core fell into my hands. I felt a connection to the fledgling core immediately. This was the core of a young dragon no older then Aurora was now. My rage flared, but I kept a lid on it.

The owner of this core had died a long time ago. There was no point in getting mad at the lizards for this.

*"I'll take all of them," I absorbed the little core easily.

The memories I saw from it indicated a short sickly life. This wasn't a poisoned world for nothing. He'd still managed to live for some time considering. This made me feel better about sending Aurora away. Even if Aurora wouldn't see it that way.

My eyes refocused on the lizardmen in front of me. They all looked more then a little concerned.

*"These cores are of my kind," I explained, "I'll take them back to where they belong."

The lizards nodded uncertainly. It was obvious that they didn't really believe me. I didn't care. If there were a lot of these cores here I might be able to complete another quest while I was here.

*"I was headed out to hunt when you interrupted me," I nodded to them again, "I'll be on my way then."

They didn't try to stop me. My wings acted on their own after that. I was actually pretty hungry so I didn't think they'd be able to delay me for much longer. The span of my wings would be easily visible for a large distance. I didn't care.

If I could be seen then I just needed to fly higher. I'd be much less likely to be seen at a higher height. I was hunting. Going too high would prevent me from hunting effectively. I saw several of those large crocodile cow hybrid looking beasts.

The lizardmen were riding them. Sitting cross legged on the beasts backs as they worked the reins. The beasts were quite something. I hadn't been able to so much as put a scratch on the large beasts the last time we met. They were much tougher then they appeared at a glance.