Master Of None

Barry had been making his way from dragon village to dragon village. It was the duty handed down to him as one of the top guild members. Just because he was the vice guild master did not mean he could sneak out of this. It meant that he had to go wherever he needed to go.

Did that mean he was happy to be trudging through a cave? No. he hated it. ”Why are there dragons underground anyways!? The mud? First everywhere? Don’t dragons like to be clean?” his exclamation just echoed through the tunnels he had been directed to by Ignus.

When he had left the lava lands, he had received some guidance but not much. Just enough to find his way to the current village of the earth dragons. Where he would find the royal dragon Terron.

The cave itself had been carved many years ago. Even with his untrained eyes, Barry could see that the claw marks used to create the walls were old and dried out. This was not freshly cut stone. But it was cut stone.

There was a strength in the walls that Barry could feel. A being that was able to cut through earth and stone alike was not one he wanted to fight head on. It was asking for trouble. However, Barry was not there to fight them. But the rogue dragons. They were the enemy he had been asked to deal with.

Whether it was luck, or just how his life was going, Barry heard a rumbling ahead of him. ”Of course I have trouble to deal with. Let’s add on to the tally.” The smell coming from the cave ahead was one he had learned.

The rogue dragons were not at all hygienic. They hated many living things and killed indiscriminately. They did not group up nor did they care about one another. They would actually fight for dominance and territory.

These battles left festering wounds, half eaten prey in their fangs, and whatever else they crawled through to create their nests. Therefore, when the scent of rot caught in his nose he knew an enemy was approaching.

Earth dragons tended to have larger flat heads to more easily cut through the ground. The head that showed itself was the same, but the fangs were a dirty yellow aligned with broken spikes on its back. The rogue dragon that Barry was facing down was older and had been through a rough battle recently.

”Come on over here you worm!” Barry couldn’t help but taunt the rogue dragon already rushing at him. It would make this battle easier to have a foolish angry opponent without any thoughts of defense.

There was a simple roar of challenge that echoed through the cave when Barry swung his ax at the head of the rogue earth dragon. But what surprised him was the purer roar that came from behind the earth dragon. There was also the sound of many moving footsteps.

Barry didn’t have time to wait though, he was in battle. His ax slashed out at the front legs of the rogue dragon trying to bite him. The bite may have missed, but the rogue dragon had moved too close.

The single slash of Barry’s ax landed on the weekend part of one of the rogue dragon’s legs. It tore through and completely severed one while cutting partially in to the other. It caused a pained screech from the rogue dragon as an earth spear came from the back.

”Tear it to pieces! I want its head now!” The roar of order caused brown scaled dragonkin warriors to throw more earth spears. Barry was able to retreat to a safe distance as the earth spears penetrated the broken scales of the rogue dragon.

This sent the rogue dragon in to a flailing panic. It had not been harmed in such a way before and wanted to slash at every attack. It gave Barry the perfect opening to jump in and slash at an existing wound on the rogue dragon’s neck. ”And you can rest now!” Barry put the rogue dragon out of its misery with one powerful slash.

The head of the rogue dragon landed next to him while Barry looked over at the dragonkin warriors who were still ready to fight. ”My name is Barry. I was sent to help out with this small rogue dragon issue. Your lord, Terron, should know I am coming.”

”I have no need for a weakling human’s help. Return where you came from or become my enemy!” The growled order came from the same voice that had ordered the dragonkin to fight.

”So you are Lord Terron. Do you always let your warriors fight for you? If you fight with them you could claim ten more of these little lizards as your prey.” Barry felt a little annoyed being sent away. Even Ignus had allowed for him to prove himself first.

”Ignorance! You could not beat a single warrior of mine let alone all that are here. I was merciful for a moment but that was not as I should be. That human blinded me temporarily. My warriors, remove this insect!” Terron ordered his dragonkin to deal with Barry immediately. It was clearly the dragon pride driving this.

”Walker made a name for himself and this is how you repay humans? You really have a stubborn side. But that’s fine. When I beat every single dragonkin here I will come over and say hello.” Barry stretched a little before the first thrown earth spike reached him.

The shattering of stone as he swatted it aside with his ax was the signal for the other dragonkin to attack. Facing the hardened earth spears would have been tough for anyone alone. Yet, for Barry, it was an easy thing. He had battled multiple opponents many times. It could be said that this was his forte.

The first dragonkin warrior that had approached was effortlessly thrown in to the nearby wall. It even cracked the wall slightly before the dragonkin warrior fell to the side unconscious. ”So easily dealt with when you think your opponent is weak.” Barry started to lecture the warriors in underestimating opponents.

Stubbornly, the dragonkin warriors still attacked and were tossed aside over and over. Barry was easily breaking their earth spears while also knocking them down. His battle awareness growing the more they fought. His smile also matched his energy. ”Keep it coming!”

The shout of challenge from Barry came and went. It had been met by silence since he had tossed aside every single dragonkin warrior that had come at him. ”Fine then. I will deliver this to your lord.”

Grabbing the head of the rogue dragon, Barry walked toward the sound of heavy breathing. He knew it was Terron around the bend in the tunnel waiting. ”Here is the head of the rogue dragon I finished off for you. Those warriors of yours need new training. They just kept stubbornly attacking. No defense or weight to hold them down.”

”Human!” Terron felt the rage building. However, he had never seen someone come and defeat his warriors with such ease.

”Well? What do you want to do? Sit there and wait to fight it out with more of your warriors? Or can we get on with the job I was sent to do? I need to hunt down more of these rogue dragons before I can leave to find that light dragon’s territory. Although, I was told that’s the worst of the bunch when it comes to rogue dragons.”

Terron was a royal dragon, however, he did not get along with Rise. light and earth were different. The light rarely penetrated the caves that Terron made his home. Therefore, he had been at odds with Rise many times.

”I will allow you to hunt alongside my warriors. However, you do not have my full approval to galavant through my territory. I will also not protect you.” Terron tried to set harsh rules but was clearly ignored by Barry.

”Sure thing. But I think we have less time than I wanted.” Barry had just received the notification from Clara to change direction. To change goals.

”Ah, you two have met. I am glad. I was just coming to get Terron and found you as well. It was an impressive fight. I doubt my dragonkin would do much better.” Mordant had melted from the shadows to show himself. ”We are going to help the other races with the demons. It should set you up for some good rewards. They have a place you can break through to the next understanding of earth elemental mana.”

Terron had grown to trust Mordant before. The shadows were part of the caves. They were one and the same. ”And you expect me to easily go along with this for no cost other than some tower?”

”No, I will help you slay the five rogue dragons ahead. I also want you to watch this human slay a rogue dragon alone. He did it for Ignus.” Mordant smiled a little. He had taken his dragonkin form to better communicate within the caves. This allowed Terron to remain the larger dragon accepting the deal offered to him in his own territory.

”Fine.”

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