Chapter 282: Aerys

"I want this one." Victor commented while dodging another bite and using Lilith to open a cut along the side of her jaw.

"You talk like you’re choosing an animal at a fair." Rowena replied while watching Victor quickly move away before the Wyvern could hit him with her paw.

"She’s tough, fast for her size and doesn’t give up." Victor explained while the blood dripping from the sword was absorbed by Lilith. "If I’m going to cross continents on top of something, I’d rather it be like this."

Fafnir nodded.

"For a Wyvern, she’s excellent." Fafnir admitted while observing the creature’s scales and body structure. "There’s probably some unusual bloodline mixed into her."

Before Victor could ask anything else, several roars began to emerge from between the mountains.

He looked around.

First one shadow appeared.

Then another.

Before long, dozens of Wyverns began approaching the area. Some were small compared to that female; others were similar in size to the two she had killed in the cave.

They did not attack Victor.

All of them noticed the leader’s blood.

The first creature dove toward her back.

Another came right after.

Three Wyverns bit into one of her injured wings while others tried to strike her neck and legs.

The enormous female roared and managed to smash one of them against the ground, but she was too tired to face so many opponents at once.

"These guys really are opportunists." Victor commented while landing on a rock and watching the creatures trying to tear pieces off her.

"That’s how it works." Rowena replied while observing the group’s behavior. "She was at the top. Now she’s injured, so everyone wants to climb the hierarchy."

Victor watched for a few seconds.

He did not like it.

He could accept the Wyvern trying to kill him while they were fighting. That was her nature. But watching dozens of creatures that had never dared challenge her before appear only after she was injured was something else.

"Too bad I’ve already chosen my mount." Victor commented while Lilith disappeared from his hand.

Fafnir noticed the movement immediately.

"You’re going to use Gram on them?" Fafnir asked while watching Victor raise one hand.

"Only on the small ones." Victor replied as the enormous red-and-black sword appeared in his hand.

The change was immediate.

All the Wyverns felt it.

Even the ones attacking stopped for an instant.

Gram carried something those creatures recognized instinctively. It did not matter how distant they were from true Dragons; there was draconic blood in them, and that blood knew exactly what that sword had been created for.

Some tried to flee.

Victor held Gram with both hands.

"Showing up when someone is already almost defeated is pretty ugly." Victor said while beginning to concentrate draconic energy into the blade. "If you wanted her territory, you should’ve tried before."

He swung the sword.

A single slash crossed the air.

A reddish line traveled through the valley.

The Wyverns stopped.

For a fraction of a second, nothing happened.

Then their bodies began to separate.

The closest creatures were cut in half. Some lost their wings and plummeted before even realizing what had happened. Others had their necks or torsos sliced through by the attack.

The corpses began falling between the mountains.

Victor lowered Gram.

The silence that followed was almost strange after so long hearing roars and explosions.

The enormous Wyvern remained still.

She was not looking at the bodies.

Her eyes were fixed on Gram.

Victor immediately noticed the change.

Fear.

It was not the fear prey felt before a larger predator.

It was something instinctive.

The creature knew that sword could kill her.

Victor stored Gram back in the ring.

Then landed in front of her.

His body was completely regenerated. Not a single cut remained, despite her having bitten him in half, smashed him into mountains and bitten him several times during the fight.

The Wyvern remained motionless.

Victor put his hands back into his pockets.

"Why waste time fighting prey that small?" Victor asked while indicating the corpses scattered across the valley with a movement of his head. "Let’s go look for more interesting things."

The creature watched Victor for a long time.

He did not advance.

He did not try to attack her again.

He also did not bring Gram back.

He simply waited.

The Wyvern looked at her own injuries and then at the bodies around her.

She understood strength better than any speech.

Victor had survived everything she could do. Even when she managed to tear him in half, he simply came back. During the fight, he had injured her body more and more without showing any real sign of exhaustion and, when the other Wyverns appeared, he showed that he could have ended the confrontation whenever he wanted.

If that sword had been used against her, she would probably already be dead.

The creature let out a low sound.

Her pride was still there.

Victor could tell.

But pride did not change the result.

One of her front legs bent.

Then the other.

The enormous head lowered until it almost touched the ground.

Fafnir smiled when she noticed the posture.

"She accepted you." Fafnir explained while watching the Wyvern remain bowed. "It’s not just fear. She recognized that she lost and decided to follow someone stronger."

Victor walked toward her without showing any fear.

When he reached her head, he placed his hand on the snout covered in dark scales.

The Wyvern let out a low sound, but did not try to bite him.

"That’s much better." Victor commented while slowly stroking the side of her snout. "You’re prettier when you’re not trying to tear half my body off."

"She did tear half your body off." Rowena reminded him while approaching and looking at the enormous teeth still stained with his blood.

"Details." Victor replied while continuing to run his hand over the scales.

He circled the creature’s head and then jumped.

Victor landed on her back near the base of the neck, where the bony plates formed a relatively comfortable space to stand.

The Wyvern slowly raised her body.

Victor looked at the mountains around them while adjusting his hood again to protect himself from the sun. The position gave him an excellent view of the road ahead and, considering the creature’s size, he doubted he would have any problem crossing long distances quickly.

"You need a name." Victor commented while resting one hand on a large scale near her neck.

The Wyvern turned her head slightly.

Victor thought for a few seconds.

"Aerys." Victor decided while testing the name in his mind and liking how it sounded. "From now on, your name is Aerys."

The creature let out a small roar.

She did not seem to reject it.

"Great. Then let’s go, Aerys." Victor said while pointing in the direction indicated on Serafall’s map. "I want to reach the Eastern Realm before my mother decides I got lost and comes looking for me."

Aerys opened her wings.

The simple movement lifted an enormous amount of dust and stones around them.

She beat her wings once and her entire body left the ground.

On the second beat, she was already above most of the rock formations.

Victor remained standing on her back, using energy to keep his feet firm while the wind violently pulled at his cloak. Rowena and Fafnir appeared near him in their spiritual forms, accompanying the ascent without any difficulty.

Aerys accelerated as she left the mountains behind.

"You left home without knowing the way, without a mount and probably would’ve started running in the wrong direction if Serafall hadn’t given you a map." Rowena commented while watching Victor open the paper to check the direction once again. "A few hours later, you already have a Wyvern like this."

Victor closed the map after confirming they were heading east.

"That’s called adaptation." Victor replied while putting the paper away inside his cloak.

"That’s called luck." Fafnir corrected while placing one hand on her hip and looking at Aerys’s enormous wings. "You found a rare Wyvern in the first cave you decided to investigate."

"I had to convince her." Victor replied while looking at the cuts scattered across Aerys’s body, several of them made by Lilith only minutes earlier. "It wasn’t exactly free."

"She cut you in half before you managed to convince her." Rowena commented while beginning to laugh.

Victor thought for a moment.

"That’s part of the negotiation." Victor replied while Aerys increased her speed even more.

Fafnir started laughing along with Rowena.

The journey to the Eastern Realm would still be long, even by air, but Victor no longer seemed worried about it. Aerys moved at a speed far superior to any horse, Gram was with him and the journey itself would now serve as training for controlling the draconic energy he had been absorbing since leaving home.

Besides, after weeks dealing with the attack on the Vampire Realm, the coma, Anette and the entire situation involving the engagement, spending some time simply traveling was beginning to feel like a pleasant change.

Victor placed one hand on one of the plates along Aerys’s neck while she crossed the wind currents forming between the peaks and climbed even higher.

"This trip is starting well." Victor commented while watching the mountain range grow more and more distant behind them.

Aerys answered with a powerful roar and continued flying east, carrying Victor, Rowena and Fafnir toward the Eastern Realm.