Raptors, Dragons and Goblins

Chapter 5

Cursing sounds were heard in the tranquil atmosphere of the grassland. If you will look closely at the site where the cursing originated, you will notice a man in tattered robes trying his best to balance himself on top of a weird looking two meter tall bird. It has a mixture of black and green feathers with powerful legs and small swings at its sides. The bird's head looks fierce with beaks which looks like two serrated knives welded together to form a triangle. The bird was trying to dislodge the man on its back as it tried repeatedly to snap the man's hands with its beak.

Back in his home planet, he read and heard about a certain species of bird called Terroynx Raptor. It was now an extinct race but its descendants are plenty. The most common characteristics of its descendants is that its incapable of flight and with its beak which sharply resembles serrated knives. Its descendants was mostly used as a steed of powerful countries as it is incredibly fast and stealthy. Back in his home planet, his country only has one squad worth of Terronyx descendants for their special forces to use and ordinary soldiers and mages alike could only drool with envy at the mere sight of it so when he saw one in this grassland, he did the foolish thing to immediately try to ride one. Now he was suffering the consequences.

Noon came as one bird, one man lay side by side at the grassland's ground. Both were exhausted by the earlier ordeal.

'I thought it was a jackpot!' The man thought as he looked at the bird with determination. Every mage would want a glorious steed to showcase with their fellow mage to show off and he remembered the envy he felt when a fellow mage of his showed him a Thunderspark Wolf cub for sale. The Thunderspark Wolf is as rare as a descendant of Terroynx Raptor but the Raptor was swift and silent while the Wolf wasfast and flashy. Everywhere it went lightning and thunder will accompany it making it a steed scorned off by secretive special forces and combat mages.

'Just you wait, I'm not finished with you!' He thought as he lighted a fire then prepared the tuber he got yesterday and heated it for a meal. When he thought of the exhausted bird beside him, he heated a few more and he cracked a fruit open then placed it in front of the bird. As he was eating, he saw the bird eating the food he gave as he rested for a bit and started mounting the bird again.

It was night already when he manage to subdue the bird with his determination as he laid on the ground, exhausted as he fell asleep.

Dawn came as he saw the bird beside him sleeping. He made a the same meal yesterday as he placed the bird's portion in front of it. The bird soon woke up as it ate its portion of the food which is five times more than yesterday. The reason he gave more was he was riding it today thus he gave it more food to sustain it.

Traversing a grassland on foot will take forever but traversing it in a steed is will take a short while. The speed of the Terroynx Raptor's descendant, which he named Stubborn due to its stubborn attitude when he tried taming it, can only be described in one word: fast. He's travelling at about 120 km/h if he was not mistaken as they passed by other Torroynx and other grassland creatures.

Suddenly, they veered of course from the straight running of Stubborn earlier as other animals and creatures alike ran as if hell is on their heels. Rumbling sound is heard and soon tremors are felt on the ground as a premonition of danger made his back drenched in sweat. He directed the stubborn bird towards the opposite direction from where his instincts told him danger and an eruption sounded behind him as rocks and dirt alike were scattered. His eyes dilated and his shirt is full of sweat as soon as he looked behind him.

Dragons. They are creatures of power, might and terror from ancient times until now. A dragon not only have an innate powerful body but are also adept at using magic. The branch of purely offensive magic was taught to the humans by dragons of the past as dragons are a race which are also innately intelligent. What made him scared is that not all dragons are good but some of them were innately evil in the standards of humans and the dragon behind him is one of them. The dragon's skin is ragged and black filled with cracks where lava flowed from it. Only its upper body is seen as it basked in sunlight but its humongous mountain like size rendered him and other creatures as an ant. Horns filled its head as poisonous gas was exhaled from its nostrils. It has two pairs of eyes as it calmly looked on its surroundings. A Lavaskin Dragon, its name, and they are fond of hunting creatures that they found amusing.

"Not me, not me, please don't look at me" He whispered as he tried to make his presence less well known as this dragon is known to toy with intelligent lifeforms. And soon enough, it found its new target to toy on-which happened not to be him.

Far from the distance, a group of colorful birds are spreading their wings as they fled in terror but what are dragons? They are powerful beings capable of magic. A Lavaskin Dragon has no wings but soon enough, he felt the fire elements in his surroundings converge on the dragon as it took flight in chase of the birds.

A sigh of relief came upon him as he encouraged his steed to continue running in fear of the dragon changing its target. After travelling for a while, he heard sounds of explosion and the like as he discovered smoke in the distance. He urged the stubborn bird towards it as soon enough he saw the outlines of the city.

The city is built with the style of the ancients. Even its newest structures are built with designs hailing from the mages of old. What caused him not to be happy to encounter civilization is that the portion of its walls collapsed and on it lies the Lavaskin Dragon as it fought with the city's defenders. The defenders are about the height of humans, but much skinny and has a pale green skin with mostly bald head and wretched looking faces. Gnomes - A race known for their innate behaviour for being misers and wretched conmen and businessmen. The dragon was hit with a series of explosions as the gnomes threw items towards it. A portion of the city is burning but the dragon isn't unscathed either. It skin is filled with wounds which is bleeding with large amounts of lava and golden blood.

"Kill it! F*cking Kill it!" He heard in Ancient Gnomish Language as he saw cannons being aimed at the dragon and soon enough, fires spewed from the cannons as the dragon roared in pain as it suffered in the hands of gnomish explosives. A gnome's code of honor is non-existent, but the might of their explosives are known throughout the universe. The cannons were reloaded once again and fired as a bunch of dragon' horns were blasted from the dragon. The dragon then turned away, gathering the elements of fire as a mandala formed on top of it and a hail of fireball assaulted the gnomes.

"Duck!'

"Take cover!"

"Hide your golds!"

The gnomes yelled as they took cover to whatever cover they use as a shield. The cannoneers on the other hand, swiftly fired their cannons as the mandala vanished and the dragon was blown away if you will call a hundred meter lizard tossed about five meters as being blown away. The gnomes cheered as they casted their own fair share of magic, fired their firearms and cannons and tossed their bombs towards the dragon. Soon enough, a dragon's corpse is being dismantled as the gnomes started repairing their city walls.

He then walked towards the gnomes as he watched them settle their own things. Dear readers, you may notice that we didn't discussed the matter of the dead gnomes as gnomes are as tough to kill as a cockroach. With their behaviour of playing with explosives, they would've died a long time ago if they haven't been blessed with the constitution of a cockroach. As soon as he got near the city, a the guards responsible for the city gates looked at him with surprise.