Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 279: Big Bad Wolf

The howl the sounded out from the giant wolf was deafening in its intensity, it carried notes of anger, sorrow, and challenge. It was clearly a declaration of intent, of the beasts intent to kill Violet and Luna, something that neither girl was willing to accept.

As they studied the beast they quickly came to a couple of conclusions, a conclusion that both worried and excited the girls.

That conclusion was that the beast before them was not a simple Lord, no the beast at the head of this beast tide was in fact a Sovereign. Or at the very least at the very precipice of becoming a sovereign.

The reason they came to this conclusion was simple, around the beast their was a domain, or at least something which resembled a domain. Whilst Luna possessed a pseudo domain with her Arctic manifestation, that was merely a shortcut, not the actual thing.

What surrounded the Wolf however, was a step above that. The grass and soil around the beast did not seem to be simply covered with a layer of steel, no, everything around it seemed to have entirely become steel, yet remained alive and functioning in a paradoxical display that both confused and amazed.

So this beast was either at the very peak of Lordship, just a step away from becoming a true Sovereign, or it had only just finished evolving into a sovereign. Violet was not sure which option she would actually prefer, but she knew that either option would result in a truly challenging fight to come.

Just as the two of them were thinking this through both girls suddenly felt an all too familiar form of magic reach out and connect to them. The wolf had formed a mental bridge connecting the three of them in a telepathic connection.

"I smell the wilds on you, both of you. Why do you fight on the side of these usurpers?"

The voice that came through was female, it was surprisingly gentle in its tone yet still held a distinct flavour of aggression which spiked when it mentioned the usurpers, that being humans from the context.

The two took a moment to process that, Violet reaching out with her own senses and also picking up the distinctive scent of the wilds on this wolf as well, not as strong as Violet or Luna yet still present. More along the lines of how Rhyana was begining to feel like.

After a moment Violet replied for the two of them.

"We do not fight for the humans. We simply happened to be passing through when your pack launched its attack and defended ourselves. Why did you attack?"

The wolf took a moment to reply too, a low growl reaching them as it thought.

"You say you do not fight for the humans yet you aided them in this cleanse. Why?"

This time it was Luna who replied. "Because we were here. Because we didn’t want life to be lost. Because the villages here seemed innocent of any crimes that the humans as a whole have committed."

Before the wolf could reply Violet spoke up. "We both dislike the human kingdom. They slaughtered my family and enslaved my race. I have no love for the kingdom, but these people, they hold no responsibility for the actions of the ones who rule this land."

The wolf focused in on Violet at her words, sniffing the air in curiosity. As she did that Violet allowed her draconic aura to gently push out towards the wolf. She seemed to flinch back when she sensed it, apparently she recognised the feeling as she seemed to shiver slightly before replying.

"You- you are the dragon. The last wild dragon." Her words came through with a mix of excitement and trepidation, as if the wolf itself was unable to truly understand how she felt about the statement.

"I am, I am Violet. The last wild dragon and I have entered these lands to free what remains of my kin from the bonds of those that once hunted us."

"You aim to slay those that rule this land? Those that usurp the neutral order?"

The two companions exchange me a glance before nodding back in the wolves direction.

"We do. We know we are not yet strong enough to truly challenge them. But we will continue to grow, we will continue to get stronger until we can kill those responsible."

The giant wolf stayed silent for a prolonged moment. Then it let loose a quick yip that echoed out. In response the smaller wolves still surrounding the village turned around and retreated back into the night, leaving behind a confused population of adventures and villages watching as they retreated.

"I must think. Come find me to the north of here in a day. I would like to talk more. It-it has been some time since I have spoken to anyone but my kin."

Again Violet and Luna shared a look, Luna’s held concern whilst Violet seemed positively delighted at the prospect of seeking out this wolf and talking with it some more. With a sigh upon seeing Violet’s expression Luna somewhat reluctantly nodded causing Violet to jump slightly in excitement.

"We will! Oh and what is your name?"

The wolf huffed at that as she slowly turned away. "You may call me Steelclaw."

And with her final words spoken the giant wolf simply, disappeared, she did not teleport, no her figure simply blended into the surroundings despite her size making such a feet seem impossible. Yet skills were a thing and that wolf clearly had a very high leveled stealth skill to be able to so effectively vanish like that.

The two companions stayed still for several long moments as they watched both the spot that the giant wolf had been, along with the swiftly retreating figures of the various low leveled wolves as they fled from the village that they had just attacked.

Eventually though the two of them turned around and made their way back towards the village with unhurried steps.

Upon reaching the village the defenders looked at the girls with a mix of awe, fear and elation. Clearly witnessing their battle against the tier 4 wolves had left quite the impression on the people.

Some called out their thanks, others simply cheered in relief that they had survived the night. Still hardly a soul present had escaped without injury, some were severely wounded whilst others only held light wounds.

Seeing the makeshift medical spot where people were being tended too by one of the adventures who was currently looking quite pale as she poured her healing onto a particularly nasty wound an elderly man had running down his side. With a quick word to Violet Luna took a step and appeared nearby the injured ready to lend her aid.

As that happened Atlas, William and an elderly woman approached Violet, upon nearing her they all bowed their heads in obvious gratitude. The elderly woman spoke up first.

"I thank ye for saving my village. Don’t think we woulda survived this night if you and your friend hadn’t been here to save us from them beasties. So thank ye for ye aid." She spoke with an odd accent, half slurring her words with a slight lilt that was strangely pleasing on the ears.

"Yes we both want to thank you too. We would not have been able to manage even a single of those Lords. Yet you all took out so many. It was inspiring to witness." Spoke William with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Atlas spoke up next, a hint of hesitation in his tone as he glanced at the hill upon which the final wolf had stood. "If I may, w-what happened at the end with that final giant wolf? The three of you seemed to stare at one another for quite some time before the wolves simply retreated, what happened?"

"Hu? Oh she spoke to us, we had a quick chat and then she decided to leave with the promise that me and Luna will go chat to her in a day or so."

"Oh right I see... wait, what? You spoke? To a beast? Beasts cannt speak!" Atlas blurted out in incredulity and confusion.

Yet his words were met with a cold stare from Violet as her presence leaked out slightly, any other words he may have spoken were instantly cut short as sweat ran down his back and he looked into her cold eyes.

"Beasts can be just as intelligent as humanoids. Not all of them true, but when you get to the higher levels nearly every beast is just as if not more intelligent than a human."

Her words came out clipped and quite a bit harsher than she may have intended, yet the look of genuine surprise and shock on the three people’s faces slightly eased up her turning mood.

She took a deep breath, reigning in her presence and spoke in a much calmer tone. "Do you know nothing of beasts?"

"We know that they attack people without reason. Thats why we need to fight against them." Replied William with some caution in his tone.

Violet looked at the man with genuine confusion, she muttered under her breath. "How do they know nothing?" Then shook her head and spoke louder. "Well looks like I need to give the two of you a lesson in beasts if you want to have any chance of surviving fighting against anything above tier 3."

And that was how Violet ended up holding an impromptu lesson on the nature of beasts to a crowd of fascinated townsfolk and adventures.