1 The Dragon Stone

Amid the chorus of the trees that sing notes of brightest green, was a pebbled mountain path. The glistening red blood stains painted the previously greyish pebbled path red. On the narrow path, one could see two youngsters and a tiger walking. These two youngsters were no one but Knight and Arrora and the tiger was Grey.

After calibrating the Teleporter Array to find where Reghys went, Nicolas was able to figure out the place. Unfortunately, the teleporter array couldn't handle teleporting more than three people this far. They were currently on a deserted island of the Star Empire.

"Look, scorched marks" while following the blood trails, Grey saw the surface of the nearby boulders scorched and almost melted.

"Dragon fire" Knight knew there were only two fires that could melt a stone boulder, his and Don's hellfire and a Dragon's fire. Of course, the hellfire would have completely melted the boulder-like its butter.

Knight hastened his steps after noticing the scorch marks on the mountain walls and because they had to rely on Grey's sense of smell to track down Reghys, they couldn't fly but to walk. Eventually, the narrow path expanded as they saw mountains rose as great rocky declarations of hope to a sky that ever-heard.

The mountains were covered with a mix of lush green and colorful trees and yet, the three of them were not in the mood to immerse themselves in the beauty.

"What is it, Knight?" Arrora saw Knight's gaze fixed on the tallest mountain in the distance.

"There's someone up there" Grey and Arrora also looked up atop the mountain but they were unable to see anyone. Since the blood trail disappeared, they had to trust Knight and follow him to the mountain to see who's up there.

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If a commoner came to the mountain top at this moment, he/she would have a heart attack because, on the mountain top, there were full-grown Dragons. Not one, not two but six Dragons and all of them were circling a woman who was tied to a pole.

It was Reghys who was tied to the pole and the Dragon who was approaching her with an evil grin was her husband.

The Dragon before had restless pearly eyes sitting wickedly within the creature's hard, scaled skull, which gave the creature a vicious-looking appearance.

Several crystal growths sat atop its head, just above its large, warped ears. A row of small horns ran down the sides of each of its jawlines.

Its nose was small and had two wide, curved nostrils and there were crystal growths on its chin. Two huge teeth poke out from the side of its mouth and give a slight hint at the terror hiding inside.

A long neck ran down from its head and into a narrow body. The top was covered in stone-like scales and a row of fan-like growths ran down its spine. Its bottom was covered in warped scales and colored much darker than the rest of its body. Six huge limbs carry its body and allow the dragon to stand towering and illustrious. Terrifying wings grow starting from its shoulders and end all the way down at its pelvis. The wings were rounded, the skin of the wings seems to glow as if made from the fire itself and curved talons grow from each ending like giant scythes.

Its long tail ends in a curled tip and is covered in the same stone-like scales as its body.

"Look at you" The Dragon spoke with a raucous voice and its eyes were full of disgust when it looked Reghys.

"You've become a slave to those filthy dwarves and humans" The white puff of hot smoke that came out of the Dragon's nostrils brushed past Reghys's face but she didn't even flinch as she kept looking at the Dragon directly into its eyes.

"You've become a slave to your own lust for power and hatred towards all the life forms, Grodrir" Although Grodrir was at Peak Heavenly level and had a five Mid Heavenly level lackeys with him, she didn't fear him at all.

"Hahahahaha" Grodir, the Black Dragon laughed out loud evily and slowly licked Reghys's face.

"Slave? Humph, I'm going to be the master of every single life form in this world, my darling. I've found the Dragon stone!" when Godrir spoke the last word, Reghys's expression changed drastically and one could tell that she was terrified.

"You...you're joking...Dragon stone is a...myth" Reghys's voice broke because she could tell Godrir was not joking around. Ever since she met Godrir, he was obsessed with the Dragon Stone, a sacred and ancient power hidden from the world by their ancestors, or at least some Dragons like Godrir believed. Reghys heard stories about the Dragon stone from her father when she was little. According to him, the Dragon stone contained the souls of every dragon that died and the Dragon stone bearer could use the Dragon stone to summon the souls to form an army of powerful Dragons.

Some Dragons also believed the Dragon stone is a gateway to a realm that's full of Dragons ruled by the first Dragon, Undricryg, The Eternal One. They believed that Undricryg was banished from this world and yearning to return to this world through the Dragon stone. Dragons like Godrir wanted to serve Undricryg and conquer this world.

"For a knowledge-seeking Dragon, you're pretty stupid. The Dragon stone is real, very real" Godrir's eyes glistened, and let out an ugly devilish grin.

Reghys stood in silence for a moment and then, she frowned,

"Wait a minute, if you've found the Dragon stone, why are you here instead of conquering this world or open up a portal to the Dragon realm" her words and tone were filled with ridicule.

"Let me guess, you want my help as usual" Reghys saw an intense killing intent in his eyes but as she guessed, he gritted his teeth and tried to control his anger.

"Don't be too arrogant Reghys, I can still kill you and your child and find another Knowledge seeking Dragon"

"Grrrrrrr!" Reghys roared when she heard him threaten her child as Grodrir grinned, "you're not helping me, you're helping your child"

Reghys felt a wave of burning anger inside her but after rationally thinking about the situation she's in, she decided to play along with Grodrir and buy some time until the backup arrives.

"What do you want, Grodrir?"

"Simple, I need you to perform a ritual of Depriortia to locate the Dragon Stone" As he said, he coughed out a shining blue crystal.

Reghys's eyes went wide when she saw the crystal and felt the power radiating from it. "A piece of Dragon stone"