'The days are getting lighter, summer is already upon us, the morale of the people is rising. I've spent this past winter fighting but my scars are healing well. My sword is quite blunt after so many battles, but every one of them was necessary. Though I have no more use for it now, the continental war is finally over, and I can finally rest. Only peaceful days are ahead for our people and I will finally be able to walk among them, away from all the bloodshed and fighting. Peace is our only prize, it's all we want, and it's all I ever wanted, peace to raise our families in prosperity...A hero I may be, but I am no longer needed.' — ???

*********

The monster was dead, yet I did not let my guard down. I had no idea if this type of abomination lived in a pack or if one of its friends was nearby. My eyes scanned the forest below, the energy swirling in my heart ready to pounce at any second should anything pop out.

Luckily my worries were unwarranted, after a few circles in the air, the area below seemed safe and so I flapped my wings as I brought myself down to inspect the remains of the monster.

After a not so graceful landing. I carefully approached the abomination admiring my work. Dragon breath was indeed too strong, the upper body was completely blown away, not a single piece remained.

'I may have overdid it.' I inwardly grumbled. My mind wandered back to the spell father had used to extract the heart from our previous prey.

'I wonder if i'll be able to do that someday.'

Throwing a final glance at the dead monster, I shook my head in disappointment before I turned to take my leave. The sun was past its zenith but it seems I still had a few hours of sunlight to explore before it gets too dark.

'Now for my take-off.' The edges of my mouth curled upwards in excitement. I still had a problem with taking off due to the size of my body, hence once I was on the ground it was hard to get back into the air without some sort of high place to jump from.

The attack I used earlier, however, inspired me to try something. I closed my eyes and reached out to the mana in my surroundings, moments later a similar water column appeared from under my paws as It gently lifted me into the air.

My grin widened as I rose from the ground, 'Mana sure is useful.' I nodded in satisfaction before I spread my wings and jumped.

The water pillar gave me the height boost I needed to take off, and it did not take long before I was soaring through the air once again. 'Perhaps I should go back soon, I don't want to get stranded in here when it's dark.'

With that thought in mind, I turned around as I made my way back towards the general direction of the giant cliff where my mother was at. The weather was perfect causing me to unconsciously close my eyes for a second as I enjoyed the breeze that came with a sense of balance while moving at a steady pace.

As I opened my eyes, a beautiful scene greeted me. I could see the various strands of mana dancing around with a rainbow swirl, as if bright inks were dropped into a current with precision.

Each strand had a different color, yet the one that shone the brightness was the water mana with its blue color, it brushed against my scales as if it was silk on a hot day, cool and smooth. Countless other mana strands were present, yet only the blue one had my attention.

I did not feel as much affinity towards any of the others as I felt for the water mana. 'I guess that settles it huh?' A sudden familiar roar grabbed my attention as I turned my gaze to the left.

'Golden boy?' The roar was full of rage unlike any I had felt from him before. With a frown, I tilted my wings to the left as I changed trajectories.

It did not take me long before I reached a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The first thing I noticed was a large number of grey humanoid monsters surrounding Golden boy.

I squinted my eyes as I spotted another small figure hiding behind his back, Green. Her left hind leg was bleeding. Her eyes darted nervously between Golden boy and the large number of monsters surrounding them.

My younger brother had already taken care of quite a large number of the monster as countless shredded bodies filled with holes, some missing limbs others maimed beyond recognition were sprawled in the ground around him.

His two large horns were caked in blood as It dripped onto his face giving him a savage look. His eyes glared at the remaining monsters with a pride befitting a dragon as if daring them to make a move, none of his previous silly demeanor was to be found as he stood with his head raised high.

I could see various small cuts on his golden scales yet no serious injuries. I then turned my attention to scan the monsters that caused my younger siblings so much trouble.

They looked relatively humanoid, the strange part about them was their faces and arms. In the middle of their faces was a single eye that stared back seemingly devoid of any type of emotion, the arms were abnormally long with what looked like sharp claws and their entire bodies were completely grey.

'Well, what sort of big brother would I be if I just sit back and let you bully my little siblings.' My jaw opened as I let out a roar that caused the sky to shake.

All eyes turned towards me as I nose-dived from the air swiftly launching a dragon breath on the unsuspecting monster crowd causing a few dozen casualties. As I was about to flap my wings to rise back to the sky, a sudden rock broke through the air as it made its way towards me forcing me to land in front of Golden boy.

My back faced him as I growled menacingly at the group of grey monsters while baring my teeth. Golden boy's eyes seemed to shine as stepped forward to stand by my side, Green sheepishly followed as she hid under my wing.

'This should be fun.'