"It's a wyvern!"
"Heading straight for us!"
Ryan's urgent shouts cut through the air like a warning bell!
Thane had no clue what a wyvern was, but just looking at the thing told him it meant serious business. He immediately barked out orders:
"Women and kids—get to the cellar now!"
"Everyone else, gear up for a fight!"
"Move it, move it, move it!"
Seeing that massive beast in the sky, nobody was taking any chances. Women dropped their cooking pots mid-stir and bolted for the cellar, kids in tow!
The soldiers were already on their feet, weapons ready, eyes locked on the sky—though you could see them gulping hard and backing up step by step.
Can't blame them—everybody's scared of the unknown.
Thane felt that same fear creeping up his spine, but as the lord, he couldn't afford to cut and run or lose his cool.
"Ryan, you know what we're dealing with here?"
"I sure do! My grandpa ran into one of these suckers when he was young! This thing's basically a dragon's little brother—smaller and no magic tricks, but everything else is pure dragon!"
Ryan rattled off the details: "It's been squatting in the mountain mine for about two weeks now. I spotted it when I went to grab some ore..."
"Then you're calling the shots!"
Before Ryan could finish, Thane cut him off: "Everyone follows your lead!"
Ryan was the only guy here who knew wyverns inside and out, plus he was their best hunter—no-brainer choice to handle this mess.
Leave it to the pros—Thane was ready to put his money on Ryan.
Ryan didn't waste time being modest. He grabbed the bow and quiver Pamin handed him and got down to business: "I need you and the big guy to keep that thing busy."
"You got it!"
"Count me in!"
Pamin and Eliric jumped on board without missing a beat.
"Rest of you soldiers, don't get up close and personal with this thing. Hit it from the sides to mess with its head. If it locks onto you, haul ass into the nearest house—don't let it get its claws on you!"
"Those wings and scales are tough as nails—regular weapons won't even scratch it. The only soft spot is that white belly underneath, or you'd have to get inside its mouth!"
"Whatever you do, don't let it grab you—those claws and teeth are loaded with poison!"
"Same goes for those spikes on its tail!"
Ryan rapid-fired the wyvern's weak points, then spun around to his crew: "Dolan, Mark—get those grappling hooks ready. Everyone else, let's dance with this thing!"
"You got it!"
The hunters split up and got to work.
Ryan locked eyes with Thane one last time: "Lord, you can't be bait—better get inside where it's safe!"
"Fair enough."
Since becoming the fourth son, Thane had earned the right to learn the family's Natural Wind breathing technique, but after just a month of training, he was barely a knight squire.
Besides, a lord's job wasn't charging into battle like some hotshot. Thane didn't think twice—he ducked into the nearest wooden house.
The wyvern swooped over the village in a heartbeat, its massive 33-foot wingspan blocking out the moon and throwing a nightmare shadow across the ground.
By now everyone had scattered into the houses, leaving just Pamin and Eliric standing in the village square like sitting ducks.
"This thing really does look like something straight out of a fairy tale!"
Eliric whistled low, his knuckles white from gripping his battle axe so tight.
The wyvern's dark blue scales caught the moonlight like polished metal, its massive lizard head a dead ringer for a dragon—minus the horns.
True to form, it had no front legs—just those two powerful hind feet.
Eliric raised his battle axe toward the sky and hollered: "Hey, ugly! Over here!"
But the wyvern seemed to be playing hard to get, still circling overhead like it was window shopping.
"Are you kidding me? It's giving us the cold shoulder?"
Eliric grumbled, then grabbed a spear from nearby, took aim at the flying beast, and launched it with everything he had!
Clang!
The sound of metal hitting metal rang out sharp and clear. The spear bounced off the wyvern like a rubber ball and dropped straight down.
But mission accomplished—the wyvern finally noticed them and dove straight at Eliric like a missile!
"Oh, crap!"
Eliric swore and dove out of the way!
The wyvern stuck to him like glue. He zigzagged through the village, using every barrel and cart as cover, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
That's when Pamin saw his opening and rushed in, slashing at the wyvern's wing with everything he had!
Clang!
Another sharp metallic ring—the wyvern's wing barely showed a scratch!
Even though he'd expected it, Pamin still felt his jaw drop!
Even the wings were armored like a tank!
Pamin was winding up for round two when the wyvern's tail came whipping toward him like a baseball bat!
Bang!
The shelter exploded into splinters and dust. Pamin rolled away just in time to avoid getting buried alive.
Right then, the guards started flinging knives and spears from every direction. They didn't hurt the wyvern, but they sure ticked it off.
The wyvern had that same hot-headed, arrogant streak that runs in the dragon family. Those attacks might not have drawn blood, but they were straight-up insulting.
It spread its wings, ready to take flight again, when two grappling hooks came flying from opposite sides, wrapping around its hind legs like lassos!
"Bullseye!"
Eliric wiped the mud from his mouth and charged at the wyvern with his axe, but got blinded by all the dust its wing beats were kicking up!
Meanwhile, the wyvern—tough as nails—started rising anyway, using pure wing power to drag the hunters on the other end of those ropes along for the ride!
"Little help here!"
Pamin yelled, and several soldiers rushed out to grab the ropes, all pulling together to drag the wyvern back down to earth!
A bunch of arrows came whistling through the air, aimed right at the wyvern's soft belly!
But at the last second, the wyvern folded its wings like a shield, blocking every single arrow!
The sudden move threw it off balance, and it came crashing down!
Bang!
A massive crash sent dust flying everywhere—the rope team all went down like dominoes!
At the same time, those razor-sharp wings sliced through the left grappling rope, and the newly freed wyvern immediately zeroed in on the fallen soldiers on the right!
"Scatter! Now!"
Pamin shouted the warning, but how could regular soldiers move like him?
When they saw that terrifying face getting bigger and bigger, those soldiers were scared stiff!
Their legs turned to jelly, and they flailed around on the ground like fish out of water!
"Save me!"
"Help!"
"I don't want to die!"
The soldiers cried out in pure terror, some even calling for their moms!
Ryan and his hunters kept firing from a distance, but their usually deadly arrows seemed about as effective as toothpicks, just bouncing off those iron-hard scales and hitting the dirt with pathetic little thuds!
"We're toast!"
"I'll never taste Mom's pancakes again..."
Just when the soldiers had given up hope, a figure burst out of a nearby house!
He was swinging the mother of all swords, coming down like the wrath of God aimed right at the wyvern's neck!
Slash!
The ear-splitting sound of metal being sliced clean through exploded through the air. The wyvern's head went flying!
The dragon head traced a perfect bloody arc through the moonlight while the body crashed down like a fallen tree!
Bang!
Another earth-shaking crash sent dust clouds billowing everywhere!
When the dust cleared, a very familiar figure stood there for everyone to see!
"Baron?!"
Eliric's jaw-dropping shout echoed through the dead-silent village!
For a moment, everyone just stared bug-eyed, holding their breath in complete disbelief at their lord!
"Well, that scared the hell out of me."
Thane leaned on his sword, patted his chest, and let out a long, shaky breath.
Right then, a message flashed before his eyes:
[First time hunting a territorial monster from the dragon family. Trait unlocked: Lesser Dragon Slayer]