“Lydia is right,” Aella stared at the dragon, her eyes glowing with emerald green light.

“This is it,” The purple dragon smiled, growling like a hungry monster, “I should drag you out now. Rare breeds are rare to find, as the name implies,”

Aella jumped from the wall, and the dragon looked at the ground, waiting for her to land.

After a second, she didn’t hit the ground.

“What?” The purple dragon lifted his head, seeing Aella run mid-air toward his head, pointing her bow at him, “You can run on air?” He growled, and she fired the arrows.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The dragon saw the green arrows rushing toward him, feeling the magic inside them. He knew they didn’t have enough power to harm him so he didn’t bother to dodge.

ROAR! The dragon opened his jaw, trying to blow Aella back to the wall.

Aella stared at her arrows with green eyes, Wind Arrow

The arrows shifted their direction. One headed for the dragon’s left eye, while the other two to his nostrils. PEW!

The arrows snuck inside the dragon’s nose and headed down his windpipe.

Aella clenshed her fist, Wind Blast

BOOM! BOOM! The two arrows exploded down the dragon’s trachea, stunning him for a second.

“You little elf!” The dragon coughed link an old man with lung problems, growing as he glared at Aella. “Come here,” He swung his claw, trying to catch her.

Aella stared at the claw approaching her. ^It’s slow. He wants to catch me alive.^

Thud! With a swift move. She bent forward, lunging over the dragon’s claw and running on his massive arm, pointing her bow at his head.

BAM! BAM! BAM! She fired three wind arrows, Wind arrows

^As long I can feel the wind around me, I sense the attacks the moment they start moving, giving me just enough time to dodge and react,^ Aella swung her fist down, sending the arrows at the dragon’s eyes.

Thud! Isdis’s knight captain opened the gate, charging with ten other knights. “The dragon is slow. Attack his legs and drop him to the ground.”

“You fools! Stop!” Lydia shouted, but they didn’t listen, charging right in.

CLAP! The dragon’s tail cracked like a whip, blasting forward with a shockwave as a dust storm filled the air.

“HANES!” Isdis shouted, looking down for her head knight. Her eyes opened wide, seeing the blood on the walls.

“Tch!” Lydia growled, “No even corpses remained,”

“HANES! Where are you!” Isdis screamed.

“Dead,” Lydia replied with a pained voice. She can’t even move. And even if she did, that dragon would flatten her in an instant. “The only reason that thing isn’t killing Aella is because he wants her alive and well,” Lydia added.

“No way,” Isdis gasped, looking at the blood in the walls and recognizing a shard of Hanes’s armor. “Don’t tell me,”

“Someone drag her away! We can’t have her breaking here,” Lydia shouted, and the guards dragged Isdis into the city. This dragon was no joke, and unless Arad make it back soon, their chances are as rare as white crows.

Aella pulled her bow, jumping from the dragon’s arm and running down his back, Wind blade

CLANG! The spell broke right upon contact with the dragon’s scales.

“You little girl, a feisty elf. How do I capture you without turning you into a corpse?” The dragon turned his head, unbothered by her attacks.

The situation was strange, but Aella could feel her position.

It was like a human trying to capture a small bug alive, and being careful not to crush it between his fingers.

^Each time I slip away from an attack. It’s because he isn’t putting any speed or power into it.^ She could know. ^I need to find a way to use this. How do I hurt him enough to force him to retreat?^

“I know, send weakling to capture weaklings,” The dragon growled with a smile, and Aella sensed several small objects moving through the air. She gasped, looking back to see a volley of rusted arrows.

“Goblins?” She gasped, seeing an army of goblins emerge from the forest, firing arrows at her.

Aella curled into a ball, lifting arms to protect her face Wind shield. She created a gust of air in front of her to deflect the arrows, but the spells won’t last long.

After just a second, the spell faded, and the arrows hit Aella’s arms. She survived the first wave, but her arms were almost unusable. She turned around, looking at the dragon as if he was the biggest threat.

Aella gasped, seeing a massive claw rush at her, catching her mid-air. “Here you go, running around like a scared bird.” The dragon smiled, glaring at her.

Aella screamed, the arrows digging deeper into her arms as the dragon clenched his claw around her body.

“Worry not. I will drag a healer out of the city later. I will make sure you’re in top shape before the ritual.” He growled, glaring closed at her.

“Wait, what’s that?” The dragon growled, seeing a glowing mark on her lower neck. Right above her chest. “A slave crest, who? When?” The dragon growled.

“No, the smell on you. Who was it? This isn’t chromatic,” He growled in anger and Aella smiled.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to involve him in this. But he’s going to be angry if I don’t,” She stared at the sky.

“ARAD!” She screamed her lungs out, her voice echoing across the forest.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! An ear-shattering roar filled the sky, shaking the forest as strange magic filled the air.

***

A minute earlier.

“One hundred sixty-nine, nice,” Arad smiled, swinging his sword at one of the goblins. “I didn’t let anyone escape. The others are going to be surprised. I hope they don’t mind,”

He took a deep breath, seeing more goblins emerge from deeper into the cave.

SIZZLE! Arad stopped, feeling something burn in his chest.

“ARAD!” He could hear a faint call from the distance. The wind carried Aella’s voice all the way to him. 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺

“Aella?” He turned around, seeing tiny specs of green light. “She’s in danger, don’t let us fall into the wrong hands,” A faint voice came from the specs of light,

CREEK! Veins bulged on Arad’s neck as his eyes glew a mixture of purple, red, and yellow light.