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Chapter 21: The Calm before the Storm

"Huff, huff-&8221; Dorian wheezed as he continued loping forward, his long legs eating up the miles as he ran south He constantly panted, his eyes filled with exhaustion On the bright side, dragons apparently didn’t sweat, and gave off heat by panting, so at least he wasn’t covered in sweat

Occasionally he’d leap up into the air, using his wings to glide forward and cover a couple dozenfor hours

As a Master Class beast, Dorian’s body was incredibly robust In addition, his large size e amount of distance in a very short time

The Thousand Oak Forest was very large, and tee with life Most of the beasts in there, however, had avoided Dorian once they heard hi Thanks to that, he hadn’t encountered any other beasts, and h without trouble

Below the Thousand Oak Forest was a large savanna, long, rustling grasslands that stretched for miles, dotted occasionally with a few trees

This area was, according to William, inhabited by , he’d spotted a fehat looked like tribes of wandering noht They wore simple brown clothes, some with colorful details or additions They all see only five and a half feet tall

The more south he went, the more civilized the land became around him

He’d already been forced to deviate fro too close to what looked like a sh wooden wall He’d already crossed several earthen roads, and made sure to avoid them at all costs

He had yet to run into any patrols, but he was sure they existed so into these converted lands, though they were far enough from the forests that he had yet to see any beast above Earth Class In fact, of the few deer or other creatures he’d encountered, most of them had been Mortal Class

Directly at the center of Dorian’s sight, in the fading evening light, was his goal,him onward

In the distance, an enormous pillar of land rose into the sky, where it disappeared inside a massive, blue portal Even from the distance Dorian could es of this portal, the rippling spatial storms he had heard about

The pillar of land rose dozens ofinside the portal, obscured froht

He’s first spotted it more than an hour back The antuan landmark that was easy to track

He took another deep breath, feeling the exhaustion in his body aliant World Bridge, he was still very far away from it He would collapse froo

Mentally, he cursed at hi creature’s bloodline If his current forht, he’d e with ease

He shook his head There was no use worrying over what he couldn’t change

The widespread savanna had eventually been replaced by large treks of far harder and harder to avoid contact with other people

"How much time do I have…&8221; Heoff very faint waves that tre to that old Wizard Those waves were slowly dying down, and once they finished it would beFate

The old Wizard had put up so tracked, but that would only last a day or two

He needed to iven

Several rew s felt as if they were on fire, and each step as if weighed down by a thousand pounds

Finally, he ca heavily

He was crouched down, next to the edge of a very large far plot It seemed the entire area around here had been localized and used for far his best not to ruin any crops

As he laid down, resting, he considered switching foron for appearance In his Red Salaerous, but he’d be less noticeable He also ht be able to throw off his pursuers since they were looking for a son

‘Ausra, can I switch to a brand new forrowth isn’t complete yet?’ He asked a question he hadn’t considered He’d only switched into his Myyr Dragon bloodline after he’d already finished growing as a Red Salamander If he wanted to take on a new form, say one of those wolf bloodlines he’d absorbed, it would be before he finished growing his Myyr Dragon forroill be applied to whatever fory stored in his Soul Spell Matrix ree He had over a thousand points of energy stored in his Soul right now, and if he used all of it on a form he wouldn’t use, it would be quite a waste

He frowned Exhaustion da it hard to coru his breath

His Myyr Dragon forht now, and his fastest one He would just stay in it till he got closer to the World Bridge, and then switch to hide fro his body shake He looked down at his arms, and then shook his head

He was powerful, but he was not invincible He needed to rest and recover After running hundreds offro the nearby farreen grass, and lots of planted crops of what looked like golden wheat Occasionally he’d pass a s of trees, but most of the land here had been cleared away

This appeared to be a particularly large far, several miles off to the south where the owners e of this farhed, and then looked down to the dirt ground beneath him

"Fine&8221; He stabbed doith his claws, and quickly ripped out a large section of dirt,forrabbed ahold of a large chunk of the dirt as he cla it over his scales to hide himself

It was a poor job, and would probably fool no one, especially considering his head and neck were still above ground However, it would work for now, and he was just far enough under that his head wasn’t visible above the various stalks of wheat

He drew his scaly ar asleep al finally overwhelet a direct trace&8221; Larah’s voice was filled with frustration as she gestured angrily, glaring at the daed valley

They had directly flown into the valley between the shattered peaks, wasting no tie, Grandonized

William had watched in awe as the man known as Lord Hadrion destroyed it with a casual wave of his hand, not even a full spell

A deadly ray of black lightning had flung off his body, striking and incinerating the beast in an instant

He had gulped when he saw this, his body tingling He got the sense that the e in the dragon’s block on Fate?&8221; Lord Hadrion responded as he squatted down, looking at a collection of ash and half burnt sticks He picked up a piece, studying it closely

The Grandaining a white glow After a few seconds, she stopped, sighing

"No, there isn’t, apart froer, but I’ll only be able to get a general zone of where it is, around twenty or thirty miles wide The waves in Fate have died down tooher head She turned, then, to look at William, her eyes inquisitive

"Are you absolutely sure there is nothing you can reed with annoyance

Willia him,

"No, ma’am It’s like I said happened, Co she was a Grandic, he had become extremely nervous Despite that, he had stuck to his decision,

"I was hit by that Blood Magic attack and knocked unconscious I was barely able to get a healing spell off I don’t re after that, I barely survived as it is&8221; His voice was calerly

He wasn’t going to say anything about the dragon

He owed these people nothing What good would co them? It’s not like they would ask him to officially join a teaic Wizard, after all?

As for the inheritance he gained: That was his secret, and he had no intentions of letting anyone know about it until he was ready

That dragon had saved his life These people were part of the group that had abandoned hi favor with his faht

None of the Robel Family Wizards or warriors were even here with theroup, Lord Hadrion, hadn’t allowed it

William wasn’t sure what he would do in the future… But he was certain of one thing

He was done living at the beck and call of a family that didn’t want hi his own decisions

This si a load he hadn’t even knoas present on hisat her red hair in frustration

"It will take at least half a day, maybe more, before I’ll be able to point us in its direction&8221; She turned and looked at Lord Hadrion apologetically

The man looked up at her fro a deep breath and releasing it

"If I was an intelligent beast running away fro his chin

He stood up, and then slowly turned to the south, his eyes glea He paused and then turned to the northeast, a frown appearing on his face

"If it can block you fro Fate, even only temporarily, then it is a creature that is at least at the Lord Class and quite intelligent too With that infor one of the World Bridges, where that type of tracking is near i for it&8221; He broke down the situation, his gruff voice continuing,

"There are two World Bridges within two thousand e is on the other side of the world, nearly 12,000sharply

"It is either heading for the Bridge to Mesor, or the Bridge to Taprisha If it goes to Mesor, hunting it doill prove easy enough with the support the Black Lightning Departle world away If it goes to Taprisha, however…&8221; He frowned, shaking his head

Larah nodded, responding,

"Yes, my worries too The Aurelius Family won’t just sit by, especially after two of their oere killed This could getTelainst the Va with the Draconic Tribes and the refored

"It is what it is We’ll fly through the night and cut it off at the World Bridge, inforreen-scaled drake&8221; He nodded as he continued,

"Larah, send a e to one of your Fate Wizards in the Obsidia River Empire capital Have one of your Fate Wizards join a caravan towards the Black Lightning Headquarters, infor them in case it takes that route Even if they’re only Master Class, they should still be able to send a y that flowed around his body see more concentrated,

"We will know for sure which way it went once its protection from Fate wears off No one can block Fate forever, not even a Lord Class beast&8221; He muttered,