Chapter 31 - Angry, Paranoid Creatures

Kazuya and Orihime held on for dear life as they moved at great speed on the long witch's broom ridden by Genta. They were at least thirty feet above the ground, and just the wind blowing against their faces felt frightening.

"Having fun, guys?" Genta asked from the front, while the duo right behind her refused to say anything as they both clutched tightly to the one in front of them: Orihime clutching onto Genta and, yes, Kazuya clutching onto Orihime. They were trying their best not to fall from it, and it almost seemed like they were scared of heights. 

Genta looked back for a moment and noticed this, but chose not to talk about it, at least for now. They remained this way for the three hours they spent on the witch's broom until they finally arrived at the wild forests. 

When they got into the territory, Genta called out to them, "Alright guys, we are here." "I will be parking the witch broom now."

Kazuya and Orihime felt the sudden blowing wind dying down as Genta looked for a good spot to park the magical vehicle, while Orihime looked at Kazuya with an arched brow. Then Kazuya looked down and noticed he was still clutching onto Orihime. Upon noticing this, he took his hands off her as he had just touched something disgusting, while Orihime shook her head as the witch broom came down to the ground, landing them safely.

They looked around at the strange environment, slightly terrified by what they were seeing. It wasn't that they had never been in a forest before, but the problem was the number of wild creatures they were seeing all at once.

Kazuya placed a hand on a tree for support while he bent down to tighten his boots, only to feel the tree move from his touch. That was when he looked to see that the huge, protruding part of the tree he was holding on to wasn't a twig but a large snake. 

Once he noticed this, he swiftly put off his hand and reached down to his little sword on his side, ready to draw it out should the snake threaten to strike. The problem, though, was that he hadn't seen the head of the snake anywhere, so he spent the next few seconds looking around in paranoia. 

Genta noticed this and went to get back his attention, saying, "Look, Kazuya, that snake doesn't have time to strike a person like you. If it wanted to attack you, you would have been strangled by now." Let's get going. "We don't have time for the snake either," she said to him as she pointed forward. "Look, that is the cave I and the others hunted from last year during the mating season." I am sure that there are a bunch of silver dragons in there that are incubating their eggs right now as we speak. Let's go."

Genta was right, as he noticed the snake had stopped moving the moment he let go of it. He spent the next few seconds appreciating how the snake was able to camouflage itself very well into the color of the tree—so well that he thought it was a twig.

The trio went through the forests, admiring the several creatures that were around them and trying to process their strange features all at once. But their attention came to the slightly loud buzzing noises coming from ahead of them. 

When they got to the side of the cave, close to the entrance, Genta looked back at them and said in a whispering voice, "Now guys, the dragons are right inside." If you are still wondering what these strange buzzing sounds are, they are the snores of the dragons, showing that they are currently asleep. "Now that they are asleep, I want the both of you to take a good look at them quietly and allow the image to sink in because the next time you look inside, you'll be stealing an egg from one of them."

Kazuya and Orihime nodded before going forward from the side to the entrance of the cave to take a look. And once they did, Kazuya and Orihime nearly froze where they were, taking in the fearsome nature of those beasts. 

There were three dragons present, and they were all in deep sleep, snoring in deep tones. In their current sleeping position, they were at least fifteen feet tall, and by a safe estimate, they would be up to twenty feet tall the moment they got up. 

They were each coated in silver scales, with protruding red horns coming out of special joints and from the sides of their heads in a backwards manner. Their nests were made out of large, slender tree branches built circularly, and the eggs were within them while the dragons gently sat above them. 

Orihime could see something glowing from within the nest and rightfully assumed that it was one of the eggs, but it wasn't covered properly by the dragon incubating it. Then Genta pushed them back, bringing them back to the side of the cave to discuss their next move. 

"Okay, here is how it is going to play out," Genta began to instruct. "We are going to steal an egg from the dragon upfront, the one that wasn't well covered by its mother dragon."

Orihime nodded in approval, glad that the both of them were on the same page about which egg to steal, as that would be perhaps the easiest one to swipe. 

"Here is how it goes: Since I am the only one experienced enough to ride the witch broom, I will be the one to play bait while the both of you get the egg from the nest," she said to them, and they both nodded in agreement. Kazuya hated having the young girl do this but realized that, given the circumstances, this was the best choice for all of them. 

"What about the other dragons?" asked Kazuya. "Wouldn't we risk waking them up from sleep as well?"

"Yes, we do," Genta replied. "In fact, we will be waking all three of them from sleep." But like I told you, while they are very paranoid creatures, they are also very social with each other and wouldn't go breathing fire and attacking when they see humans close by, as they wouldn't want to damage the eggs of their fellow mothers. So we would have to use that social trait to our advantage.

"So, in other words, the moment we grab one of the eggs, none of the other dragons will do anything to attack us at the risk of harming it, right?" asked Orihime. 

"Precisely, the only problem we would have would be the mother dragon we steal from." But before she notices you, I will come right where you are to fetch you, and when I do, make sure to hop in the witch broom so we leave together. "Simple, right?" Genta asked with a slight smile. 

"To be honest, you have a very twisted definition of the word "simple." It sounds risky and reckless," Orihime replied, "but it sounds executable." "What do you think, big man?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Kazuya replied, "it only matters what she thinks." "She has the experience and skills for this to work, and I trust her judgment."

Kazuya's words reddened Genta's cheeks, as she wasn't used to receiving kind words from people like him. 

"Alright brat, you lead the way," Kazuya said to her, and she went forward with her witch broom and wand, not having the strength to argue with him. She got on the broom and rode straight inside without hesitation, making Kazuya and Orihime doubt if this was a good idea. 

Kazuya followed almost immediately afterwards, making sure there was a sizeable distance between them. Genta flew on the broom and came close to where the dragon was, pointing her wand at it and yelling out a spell that brought forth a large fireball that headed straight at the dragon's face. 

The moment the large ball of flames collided with the Silver Dragon's face, it let out a roar so deafening that Kazuya and Orihime couldn't help holding their ears tightly as they felt their eardrums were about to burst. 

Just as Genta had predicted, the loud noise and disturbance alerted the two other dragons, but they didn't leave their positions but gave an intimidating glance with their glowing scarlet eyes, warning the humans to stay away from them at all costs. They also arched their necks backward and broadened their wings to give a more threatening glance, but being the paranoid creatures they were, they could not leave their nests to help the other one. 

The force of the fireball was so great that it caused the beast to stumble backwards, exposing the eggs underneath her into plain sight, glowing brilliantly from within the nest. The silver dragon focused its eyes on Genta, getting ready to open up its mouth and breathe fire at her. 

"Oh, no, you don't," Genta said as she cast the same spell again, right above the dragon, sending another large ball of flames into the dragon's mouth before it could breathe fire at her. The collision of heat within the dragon's mouth caused severe burns in its throat, as evidenced by the sudden glow from within its neck, causing it to roar out in pain. 

While this happened, Kazuya and Orihime had already gotten into the nest and taken out one of the eggs. Kazuya called out to Genta, who came flying down to where they were. 

And in one fell swoop, they both hopped into the broom and took off with full speed, leaving the frustrated dragon within the cave, roaring out so loudly that all the birds in the surrounding forest flew away upon hearing it.