P.O.V. Themis:

“Haha look at my precious baby! Isn’t it adorable how he dismantled that golem!?” Terra is still ecstatically watching Terrus defeat the bosses.

“Ye-es Terra, very…. Adorable” It’s rather uncomfortable to watch a dragon dismantle an ancient creature, one that none other of his level could have even hoped to stand against, with ease, and have it called adorable. “Well now he only has one left!”

“Just what I expected of my baby!” Terra exclaims and her dress turns into a long shirt with the words ‘ GO TERRUS!’ emblazoned on it.

I on the other hand awkwardly look around the realm of the Gods. Any god could pass by now, and while Terra might not care about what others think of her, the Younger Gods still had a strict social hierarchy. Being seen with her like this would be… embarrassing really.

And, lo and behold, right as Terrus begins his battle with the Ent, a god walks in. Thankfully, it is another elder god, Pyrus. He is a tall blazing man, thick and strong. His features are seemingly chiseled out of stone, but as he moves he leaves behind wild wisps of fire in his wake. On his back he carries his divine weapon, a massive two-handed battle axe.

Terra doesn’t even spare him a glance. Instead she continues hopping up and down to “cheer on her boy”, while screaming encouragement. None of which he could hear of course. Sigh, Elder gods are so strange sometimes…

Pyrus coughs loudly, and what that doesn’t draw her attention, he yells out,” Terra, Could I talk to you about something?”

“Yeah what’s up?” terra distractedly asks while miming Terrus’s attacks.

“I’d like to adopt one of your boys,, his soul really resonates with my element.” Pyrus replies.

“Alright, if you have his permission, I’d gladly let you be the secondary. Who is he anyway?” Terra turns to pyrus, her clothing changing back to a dress as she takes the conversation more seriously.

“He’s a dragon known as Terrus. Strangely enough, I could only see him when he purged the Arthan forest of that corrupted child of mine….?” He trails of giving a questioning look to Terra. One she merely returned with a shrug.

“All right, you’re one of the better gods of Fire. I’ll let you be the baby daddy!” turning to me she asks,” That’s still what you young Gods say right?”

“Um, well it's closer than last time. You’re only 1,500 years outdated now. And in the wrong dimension, but better!” I try to sound positive as she looks slightly disheartened by my reply.

Shaking it off, she turned to Pyrus and said,” Well come on! He’s fighting a chaotic ent! Come watch!”

As we turn back to the fight, we are greeted by a monstrosity. Tentacles, roots and chaos spew everywhere as the monster closes in on Terrus.

“Oh no my baby! I have to protect him! Hey that’s my son you’re trying to hurt there!” All three of us shout out and shower blessings on Terrus.

Receiving them, he explodes with power rising up and activating his avatar form. He really doesn’t know just what that can do does he? Hmm, I’ll have to tell him someday. Shooting forth a beam of energies, he destroys the creature in one blast.

“HAHAHA, THAT'S MY BOY! “ Pyrus exclaims as he pounds me on the back. A light blow, it merely sent me flying two miles away instead of disintegrating me directly.

When I arrive back at the two Elders i find them quarreling.

“NO! HE GETS THAT FROM ME! After all,”Pyrus concluded smugly,” everyone knows that fire is stronger than Earth!”

Terra’s eyes blaze with rage as a mountain range rises into existence, only to be crumbled and formed into projectiles. Which are immediately thrown towards Pyrus. Unfortunately, as with all huge weapons of mass Distraction, they were going to cause collateral damage, namely: me.

“Oh not again…” I grumble to myself as I desperately dodge the mountains.

P.O.V. Terrus

Unaware of the conflicts in the realm of the Gods, I spread my new wings and roar majestically at the heavens. Hearing an answering screech I look around until, to my surprise, I spot Sol. He Evolved too? With a wingspan almost equaling mine, Sol has grown massively. His feathers are long and come to sharpened blades. Immediately after discovering these features, I also learn of a new one. He can talk telepathically now.

What do you think boss? Doing pretty well for myself aren’t I?

As he’s gotten more intelligent, I’ve been unable to see his levels, so this evolution is rather reassuring. I won’t have to carry, a tiny, useless…

Hey! I was not useless! At least I can fly! He says ending with a smirk.

Sure, Sure. Watch me learn how to fly way faster than you… What race are you anyways?

I’m a (Champion) Light Roc. I have the Order affinity and am level 105.

Ah right what level am I anyways?

Terrus: (Champion) Magma dragon Level 125

Str: 1,375 (+15) Agility: 1,000 (+10)

Constitution: 1,450 (+14) Resistance: 1,450 (+14)

Dexterity: 500 (+8) Intelligence: 1350 (+ 14)

Blazing Heart (Passive Trait) : Your body is a furnace and your heart is the bellows! Immune to all poisons, paralysis, and fear effects. Instead, when exposed to these your body temporarily grows in strength.

Well, that is NICE! I don’t have to worry about poisons or corruption anymore? Ha! Wait what’s this.

Congratulations you have killed the strongest monster in the Inner Forest and purified the Forest Heart. Your dragon blood rages with your foe’s power! (Due to evolution, you can not gain stats. Instead you will receive a skill.) You have received the skill, Final Blaze! As you reach the end of your strength, your armor shatters and your inner self emerges as a being of pure magma and destruction with the ruin affinity! This ability will only trigger after your receive lethal damage. After the ability ends, you will fall unconscious. Can only be used once every two months.

Hmm, I must have a luck and fortune stat of over 9 thousand! This will keep me alive if I ever come up against something like the ent again. Smirking I tell Sol about my new abilities. Alight with jealousy, he hops off the ground a flies around my head to prove his superiority. Alright then, since I can’t test either of these two, that challenge is accepted!.

P.O.V. Sol

“You know, for a dragon, you really suck at flying.” I point out to Terrus as two days after the battle with the Ent, He is still closer to gliding with style than actual flight. He’s fine with throwing himself of a mountain, but once he stops holding his wings still and begins to flap, that’s when it all crashes and burns. Literally.

Luckily, he seems to be making some progress. He managed to rise up a few feet into the air on his own power, something he is very proud of. Not wanting to spoil his moment, I stick to the ground continuing to offer wise advice.

“See Terrus? You can fly! Now let’s try flying to that ledge again okay?” I ask reasonably.

Nodding his head, he bounds off and … falls horribly off the mountain. Sigh… and here I thought he was… wait… It can’t be… Oh my Gods he did it! He’s flying! But, I suppose that means it’s time then...

P.O.V. Terrus:

HAHAHA I told that snobby bird I could fly! I’m rapidly swerving around the mountain, heading outwards to explore my world from above. Up until now, I had merely flapped my wings furiously and thought deeply about every movement I made. I hadn’t realized that flight was, for lack of a better word, Instinct. I felt it within me as I fell each time yet I could never quite grasp it. Until now that is. As I fly over the forest, I feel free. The world stretched out before me is unchanged, as beautiful and vast as the day I first saw it from the mountain’s top. Not too far above me, the clouds float onwards, driven by invisible, powerful winds that I could feel even from this height.

On the ground, I was brutal and strong, but In the air, my body elongated to become very slim. My wings billowed outward, seemingly far larger than when they were folded up while my legs lifted up lying flat on my armored underside. Overall, I still looked freaking majestic, just in a different way.

Circling back, I land jubilantly near Sol. “See Sol! I told you I could fly!”

“Yeah… That’s great.” Sol replies half-heartedly. Hmm, I wonder what’s bugging the bird-brain now? We can finally go exploring and he acts like this?

“Aren’t you happy, With your great and marvelous teaching, I learned how to fly!” I try to not let too much sarcasm ooze into that encouragement, but I’m not entirely sure how well it succeeded.

“No, it’s not that.” He seems really conflicted. My smile deflates as I notice how serious he is. He looks off towards the sun and then sighs, turning back to me.

“Terrus, I have to go. I would ask you to release me from my bond” he says simply and formally.

That was unexpected. Why would he leave? Did I mistreat him or ignore him? I mean for crying out loud, we’ve only just been able to talk.

“Why?” I ask, without a hint of emotion. It seems that dragons are good at that: a flat expressionless sound.

“Like you, I was adopted by the gods. My patron is calling me to the roost of my people and well… I’m afraid you’re not invited on the Sacred Mountain.” He has the good grace to look embarrassed at least. It angers me slightly. We’ve been together for nearly all of our lives and this sudden jittery goodbye is how he wants to end it? We’ve been through thick and thin, well the thin was mostly on my part, but still. I thought we were closer than this. Then a thought struck me, he said his god had asked for him…

Yes, Lumen, Sol’s god is at odds with both Terra and Pyrus. I’m sorry Terrus but…

Ahh, so that’s how it is. Looking at Sol, it seems that he has come to the same realization. Smiling sadly, I release his bond. Wrapping his wings around my neck, he thanks me, for everything and then leaps into the air, seamlessly riding the currents upward. Almost as an afterthought he turns back and screeches.

Let us hope that when we next meet, we will both have grand stories and a peace to tell them in.

Roaring back, I reply.

Live well Sol. And know that you were my first friend

Turning back to the mountain, I hollow out a cave with my earth manipulation. Collapsing the outside and raising it to volcanic temperatures, I lie down to sleep. Only then do I let a single tear fall, but I don’t know... maybe it was just a shadow in the flames.

Waking up before dawn, I fly to the mountain’s peak. Sitting there, I watch the sun rise. Another beauty that I had so far ignored. Unlike the sunset, it feels warm and gentle. A soft caress not a dying murmur. Sighing softly, I close my eyes. The bird had been arrogant, he’d been annoying sometimes, but he’d been here.

We’re still here Son. And Me too!

Grinning slightly, I realize they are right. As gods they are literally always with me. I suppose if we lose friends, then all we can do is hold on tight while we can. Heh, that was really deep. Opening my eyes, I grin at the sun and think out.

Sol, when we see each other again, I better not have to rescue you! I want a real fight at the very least!

Knowing I would see him again, I rise into the air and fly towards the desert. Feeling slightly peckish, I swoop down and devour a full giant forest boar. It’s so convenient to hunt by dropping down on your prey from the skies! Drinking some water from the nearby, now clean, river, I decide I’m ready to fly the one day flight to the mountains. That’s a decision I come to regret over the next two weeks.

The desert was misleadingly huge. Nearly 30 meters tall, I still couldn’t see over the dunes’ crests. Fortunately, the heat didn’t really effect me too much, instead it was the sand that made the trip hellish. It crept in between my scales, and scraped against my wings causing them to slowly become raw as I flew for a day at a time. It seemed that my manipulation of earth wasn’t real worth much against the relentless onslaught of sand.

Fortunately, there weren’t any beasts that dared attack me. Or rather, there weren’t any beasts that considered me big enough for a snack. I’m not quite sure which one of the two it was as some of the dunes seemed to shift when I passed by them. At night however, it was beautiful. The stars shone unimpeded and occasionally some of them would even fall burning from the sky. Unfortunately, it was cold. Freakishly cold. With my fire I was able to keep warm, but it was getting tiring to not eat or drink and still consume energy.

Eventually, on the fourth day, I saw something beautiful. Something amazing. Something wet. AN OASIS! Diving downward, I land next to water and begin to guzzle it down. Funnily enough, my jaws make the water boil around them causing a cloud of steam to burst up.

With my thirst sated, I observe my surroundings. What I hadn’t noticed from the sky was that the oasis was actually the center of a primitive village. There were clumps of white mud bubble things that hominids like to live in. Surrounding a bonfire, many painted hominids were staring at me. They all looked similar to the second group I had met, with pointy ears and lithe builds. These ones however had far darker skin and longer teeth. A few even stretched out of their mouths. Analysing them, I saw that they all had the chaos affinity and were no stronger than level 30.

Looking more closely, I see a second group. There are ten people in that group and they from three distinct races of hominids. Two of them I had seen, but the other one was new. They were short and had very long bushy fur sticking from the bottom of their face. Only two of them were of this species, but I took a liking to them. They had the Creation affinity like me and, unlike all the others, did not cower away from me.

Those are Dwarves Terrus. You probably like them cause they’re also sons of earth and fire.

Hmm, that would make sense. Also I suppose that since we’re technically related, I can’t exactly leave them here now can I?

The desert elves, as I later learned they were called, did taste a bit stringy. But, I was too hungry to really care about small details like that. After washing them off with another drink of water, I tear apart the bindings surrounding the hominids. The humans and forest elves took off: running and screaming away from me. Snorting, I look at the two remaining beings. Discussing between themselves, they occasionally throw a glance in my direction.

Slightly bored, I lie down and yawn. Even after I had eaten all those elves my level only rose by one. Hmph, they didn’t even taste very pleasant. Anyways, as the conversation in front of me seems to grow more intense, I wonder what the two are discussing.

P.O.V. Eitri:

“Come on Brokk! This is our chance! If we convince this dragon to come along on a great trip…” I practically yell at my older brother. He’s always been so practical and such a traditionalist. Luckily for us I’m usually able to convince him to try out new things and it always turns out well! Maybe except for this time where we almost got eaten, and a few times ago when we almost drowned...

“Eitri please. That is a story. If we ask the dragon, he’d probably just eat us as well! Think how his pride could be insulted!” Brokk replies.

“Well we have to say something! I mean, we haven’t even introduced ourselves!” I yell back and we both freeze. We had been so engrossed in our argument we had ignored the dragon. Turning slightly, we notice that, much to our relief, it is not angry. Instead it seems very curious.

Stepping forward, I introduce us both.” Oh mighty Dragon! My brother and I are humbled to be rescued by your greatness. Anything that is ours is yours for the taking!” It had been drilled into us from the first time we entered trader’s school that if we ever met a dragon, we had to lower ourselves as much as we could and maybe, just maybe, we could survive.

The dragon chuckles: a booming sound that almost knocks us over. Then it replies,” You hominids are amusing. Stand little ones and tell me what you would offer me.”

Alright! This is my chance! Standing, I carefully plan out my words and reply,” Mighty Dragon, we are dwarves of the Rockhammer trading company. Every year, our company plans out a voyage across the grand plains on the other side of those mountains. On this trip, we bring a large cart of gold and firestones. I was hoping to offer to you a job guarding the gold and supplying fire to our mobile forges.”

The dragon looks surprised, but after thinking for a while it replies,” I have heard what would benefit your clan little one, but not what would benefit me...”

After making sure not to interrupt it, I reply to the dragon’s statement,” Why great one, of course you would be paid in gold and metals! Your food would be provided except when you wish to hunt, and you would cross the plains. You also said that you find us unworthy hominids amusing. Well, this journey would take upwards of a year round -trip. Since we would not need your aid on the way back, you could allow us to entertain you for half a year. But a pittance of your great life, but still far more than many of your brethren ever spend amongst us.” Hoping desperately I had not overstepped and gotten us killed, I look up at the dragon for an answer.

After mulling over the decision, the dragon replies,” very well little one, but I have one condition.”

Ecstatic I ask,” Yes oh mighty one? What would that be?”

“ Cut it out with all this formal nonsense. It just seems pointless to me. Call me Terrus instead.” the dragon answers, shattering nearly all of my preconceptions about their race.

“Oh thank goodness, I was running out of compliments for your magnificence.” I reply causing my brother to flinch with fear.

“Hahaha, I think the two of us will get along well….?” the dragon replies asking for my name.

“Call me Eitri, your scaliness.” I answer him with a grin. Wait until father sees this…. He'll shit bricks!

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Here you go my faithful readers! Chapter 6!