Mason soared through the cloudy, murky air, reveling in the fact that he wasn't growing calluses on his feet anymore. Next to him flew Baudron, his wings spread out and a look of rapture on his dragon face. The dark grey sand of the wasteland shot passed them while the temperature continued to increase steadily, as it had for days now.

The white desert was nothing more than a small glistening line behind them, and Mason found he missed the illuminated place. A few days after entering this wasteland, clouds had started appearing in the distance, and since they reached them, they had stayed put.

"Mason, I need to rest again!" Baudron's deep voice was followed by the heavy-set dragon's ungately descent.

He is getting stronger quickly. One or two more days… Mason thought with a final look at the massive mountain range ahead of them. Pillars, plumes, and trickles of smog rose from some of them constantly, adding to the thick cloud cover overhead.

Banking sharply, Mason circled down after Baudron. His stomach growled loudly, something it had been doing more and more since leaving the desert.

The dry earth cracked under his feet as he slammed into the ground, pelting grit everywhere. Some struck Baudron, but the other was already curling up on the ground, a content smile on his face.

"If I had known how great this place was, I would have come here long ago!" As he mumbled and closed his eyes, Baudron's eyes seemed to follow something in the air.

"Is there more mana in the air again?" Mason asked as he lay down, examining searching for the small floating specks. There were only a few that he could see, golden and glowing and almost appearing out of place. Nothing compared to the immense quantity he had seen in the desert.

I wonder if I am a desert dragon or something… Mason thought before he remembered the red mana he had seen in the volcanic crater after waking up.

Baudron didn't answer, and instead, soft snoring spread across the area they were.

With a tired groan, Mason got up and looked around. "Sure, I'll take this guard! How nice of you to ask!" He didn't get a response, but he didn't expect one. After Baudron fell asleep, he seemed almost comatose, and besides, the big lug needed rest. The growing of his wings tired him out immensely.

Stretching a bit, Mason sat down and stared at the mountains in the region. He was pretty sure they were close to the Hounds eye, an odd name that, for a volcanic-heavy region. The possibility of a real demon or monstrous entity that ran around with the sole goal of making people's lives miserable still seemed too biblical to him. It reminded him of his mom, always whining that the devil would get him dead for walking off.

A small movement from one of the plumes caught his attention. A small dot flew through it, creating a long stretched out stripe-like those plains left behind.

Focusing, Mason tried to see what it was when another group of dots rushed through the same plume, creating more stripes.

Four, five… what is going on? Mason watched as the other dots caught up with the first one, which seemed larger. A screech, no more than a whisper, caused his muscles to tighten. The small dots circled the first, and he could almost see them swooping in. After a moment, one of the small dots plummeted down, and a second later, a second followed it.

Mason almost expected the others to drop, but then another screech came, and the big dot fell while the smaller ones rushed after it like vultures. They dropped behind one of the far off mountains and out of sight.

Was that a dragon? he wondered as he felt a slight fear set in. He had no idea what to expect from the area they were heading to, but it didn't seem like it was going to be some idyllic dragon country, with giant lizards frolicking happily in the clouds.

He stayed on the lookout for hours, and when Baudron woke up, he could barely keep his eyes open.

Baudron stretched his long brown body, and his wings unfurled with a loud crack as he yawned.

"Did you sleep well?"

Exasperated, Mason shook his head. "No, someone has to keep watch, remember?"

Baudron sniffed. "You worry too much. What could possibly go wrong in this beautifull place?"

"Beautiful my ass! Something was chased across that mountain ridge." Mason pointed a claw in the direction they were heading, and Baudron stood on his hind legs, his neck outstretched as he tried to catch a glimpse of something.

"Well, there's nothing there now!" he finally said before looking around. His stomach rumbled like a diesel-engine, and Mason's seemed interested to compete.

Rubbing his clenching stomach, both dragon's stared at each other.

"So, hunting?"

Mason shook his head. "We won't find anything. We haven't found anything since leaving the desert!"

"Well, let's try! Who knows, we might have more luck this time. Let's go!" Baudron roared as he jumped in the air, his wings thunderously flapping as he gained altitude.

Mason sighed. Since leaving the desert, he felt a lot less energetic, and every action cost him so much effort. He was pretty sure it was due to the lack of the golden mana.

"God, I would kill for a hamburger…" he groaned, imagining one the size of a dish bowl as he jumped after the other.

A few hours later, Mason and Baudron were gliding towards the mountains, a more hilly landscape streaking by below them.

Trying to ignore the gnawing sensation in his stomach, Mason turned his full attention to the mountains. They would arrive at an enormous precipice in a few hours, a sheer rock wall with barely an incline at the bottom. It bordered the cracked hillside, towering over it like an enormous barrier.

The mountains' bases started straight at the top edge of the barrier as if some giant knife had sliced across the landscape, cutting away the slope of the mountains. A chaotic labyrinth of winding passages, canyons, and steep overhangs stretched far into the distance; yellow and dark gray plumes of smoke rising from between cracks, while small and large volcanoes rumbled and burped out whole cloud covers of ash.

Mason and Baudron landed on a hill that was tall compared to the others but was dwarfed by the wall a few hundred meters ahead of it.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Baudron asked, staring at the grey rock with distaste.

Mason just stared at the rockface, his long neck curved so he could stare all the way to the top edge. Even from this distance, he could see the red energy that drifted from between the cracks and down the slopes of a nearby volcano. It almost looked like glimmering lava. It wasn't the same as the golden energy in the desert, but the prospect of getting a boost of energy, especially now he was so tired and hungry, made him feel like a druggy that was looking at a fix.

Besides, he tried to convince himself, if there was a population of dragons hiding inside, they might have knowledge about the world. He needed information, a map or directions, anything to find out where the Antraci had come from and had gone to. That was the only way to find his way back to Jake! He was going to retrace the Antraci's path.

"I don't know if it's a good idea, but going back to an entire country filled with Kobold's intent on enslaving or killing us seems like a worse idea." He saw some spots of dark red bushes, leaves like tridents with sharp tips, and all of a sudden, his mouth watered. Plants meant wildlife, which in turn meant food!

Turning to Baudron, he swallowed and forced a grin on his face. "Besides, there might be food up there!"

As soon as he said it, Baudrons eyes widened as he licked his lips. "You're right! Let's go hunt!"

They jumped in the air and flew up along the steep rocky cliff. In passing, Mason saw a few familiar-looking patches of yellow grass. When he arrived on this continent, he had seen many of them, and they were the prime food source of the tasty, purple one-horned goats.

His anticipation enhanced his already enormous appetite, and he flapped harder, quickly outpacing Baudron. It still took them almost ten minutes to fly up the deceptively tall cliff, and when they arrived at the top, Mason realized one thing. Where they were now, they were not the biggest nor the baddest. Everything he saw made him feel small and insignificant, from the towering mountains and the enormous boulders lying around.

In front of them, and obscuring their view of what was beside it, was a chasm that split an entire mountain in two. The tips far above them disappeared into the clouds of ash that covered the sky.

As they carefully flew forward, the world darkened. The light turned brownish red, and it cast dark and looming shadows everywhere. A far-off rumbling came from somewhere ahead of them. Lonely purple bushes and enormous patches of dark red bushes dotted the jagged and crumbling sides of the cavern. One-horned, purple-skinned goats moved between them, constantly looking up and around after every bite.

Dinner!