10
"Savannah, Jax," I spoke up after a few minutes of silence, "I'm going to need you to start gathering mana, and give me as much as you can."
"Why don't you just gather mana yourself?" Jax responded with a snarky tone.
I didn't like the way it felt to talk around this new smaller set of jaws. I shrank down further until I was in my human form completely. My mana pants appeared on my lower body before it resembled a human lower half.
"You want me to show you what happens when I do?" I snarled as I locked my cold blue eye on him.
Jax didn't back off so I drew in a small amount of mana. Allowing it into my core before visibly wincing while our connection was wide open. Making all three of my bonded flinch with me.
"Why do you need mana?" Jax rubbed his aching head.
"What would happen if I reverted to my true form in such a small amount of space?" I snorted, " I wonder."
"Fine," Jax sat down, and started gathering mana.
Savannah sat down as well, and started gathering mana. They weren't terribly efficient at it though.
"What the hell are you?" Calen frowned, "I saw them flinch when you were in pain. What did you do to them?"
"A bond can only be formed when there's mutual trust between both of the involved parties," I smirked at the wall, "What did I do to them? I trusted them." I turned to face Calen as my muscles worked away at resetting my broken arms, and pulling themselves back into place, "I am theirs just as much as they are mine." I walked toward where he was sitting propped up against the wall, crouching so I was at his eye level, "As far as what I am goes." I paused with a smirk on my face, "You called it the first day we met. I'm a dragon. Just like in those fantasy books you used to read as a kid. One of only two in all of existence at the moment. Those fantasy books were based on true earth legends."
"That's impossible," the knife guy snapped angrily.
"Right because Earth doesn't have any Archaic species," I snapped my attention over to him, "Why do you think our planet has been slowly dying for the last million years? Without it's origin species feeding the planet it's been slowly dying. Dragon's are Earth's origin species. Without me your home planet will slowly wither, and die. Once that happens the elves move in, and take over."
"If that were true then we would have heard something about it," the knife guy insisted.
"From who?" I started chuckling to myself, "Everyone on Earth that would have been able to tell you about this died long before you or anyone in your known family was even born. The only reason I know is because of some type of blood memory."
"Why should I believe a fucking Archaic monster like you?" he frowned at me.
"Fully committed on being my enemy," I stood up, and would've looked him in the eye if it weren't for the goggles that made it so he could see me right now, "Fine. Tell me. What reason do I have to lie? or save your asses for that matter?" I scoffed to myself, "Vernon spent months planning to kill all of you in front of my face. I knew you wouldn't believe any of us if we told you about this plan he was working on." I smirked, "So I made my own plan. One that would ruin his."
"You knew Vernon was going to leave us to die, and you didn't say anything?" knife guy ripped off his night vision in his anger effectively blinding himself.
He was looking slightly off to my left so I lit a small fire above us so he could see me more clearly. It was the first time he would have been able to clearly see my wounds. Night vision was good for allowing you to see in the dark, but it's spectrum wasn't good for seeing bruises or bleeding. I was covered in open wounds, and bruises. Being in human form just made it easier for them to tell just how badly wounded I actually was.
He actually took a step back when he realized how much damage I'd taken. My arms were swollen both an angry red, and purple in places. The acid I'd taken to the left shoulder had dripped down my chest, and some had even splashed on my neck. Some of the muscle that was meant to be under my skin on my shoulder was clearly visible. I didn't know how my wings injuries had translated to my back when my wings merged with it, but the way my back was burning now told me it wasn't good.
"What's the matter?" I almost started laughing at the look on his face, "You thought that I wasn't risking anything with this plan of mine. If you don't have anything useful to contribute then sit down, and shut the fuck up."
He took a few more steps back, and sat down so he was leaning against the wall. The pained expression on my face was enough to shut down anymore discussion.
"Put your goggles back on so I can get rid of the light," I had to be careful when I was breathing because of the slight burn I'd caused them earlier with my stupid fire breath stunt.
Knife guy slid his goggles on, and I let the flame go out. I strode my way over to Savannah, and crouched down behind her.
"I'm going to show you how to do something that should help," I placed my hand on her back gently, "You tend to pick up these kind of things faster."
"Hey," Jax complained.
"Don't stop idiot," I shot down his complaint.
I closed my eyes, and focused on how it felt when I breathed in mana. Letting my blood absorb it with the air, and take it to my core. Minimal effort for the maximum return. I kept on letting her feel what it felt like when I used my Mana Breath skill. I hadn't used the skill in a while, but it wasn't the kind of thing you forgot.
I could feel it when her mana flow changed. Mana started coming into her body noticeably faster. Allowing me to take in even more myself.
"Seems like you're getting it," I sighed, "Can I help Jax figure it out now?"