7

Ethan could only see the shadow of the waves below us, and the lights of the town on the island in the distance. He was living in the exhilaration of being so far off the ground. Neither one of us really cared that it was cold. We were having far too much fun to invest care in the guy that was probably arguing with Goliath about now. I was practically invisible now that all my scales were black.

The tips of my horns weren't obvious enough to draw attention to me. I skimmed low over the far side of the island. Landing in the water, and allowing myself to float in the water. I allowed my tail to transform into the fish version that I'd used underwater. My tail alone was strong enough to propel me through the water while I was floating like this.

I twitch of my tail was enough to move me wherever I wanted to go. I used my water affinity to pick up a large amount of water with fish trapped inside. Ethan picked out the ones that were edible for humans. Then he gutted them on my extended wing so that they would be ready for cooking when we got back. I ate everything else that I caught.

Ethan pointed out a few that were poisonous, and I ate it all anyway. I liked the poisonous ones. They were tangy compared to the others. My resistance to poison was so high that the toxin in the fish wasn't enough to do anything to me at all. I could eat as much as I wanted without even feeling any effects.

My Venomous skill got stronger with each one I munched. If it kept up then I was almost guaranteed to turn my skill into an affinity. If I turned my skill into an affinity then I should be able to create the various poisons I had now out of thin air. Instead of having the limited supply I had now. I could produce antivenoms based on poisons I had now so it should be possible for me to do the same with ones I analyzed.

I returned to the cave after taking the leftover guts from Ethan's work. Making sure to burn off the blood residue on my wing before returning so I wouldn't reek of fish blood, and guts. I walked into the main cavern calmly. Aurora was sleeping on the floor close to the fire on a skin that the wolves had made up for her. She didn't spend much time awake at the moment, but she would eventually.

I only needed four hours of sleep now that I had reached the adolescent stage of my development. It had only taken me nine months for me to reach this stage, and now my requirements for reaching the next stage were so high that I was pretty sure I'd be at this one for a while. I had only just now gotten close to leveling up for the first time since I evolved last. My wings extended slowly in the cavern. The cavern wasn't big enough for me to extend them fully, but it was comfortably big enough for me to extend them about halfway without having a problem.

I touched the false wall I'd created to hide the eggs behind. I didn't want to hatch another for now. It was too risky without me having a secure foothold on earth. It was already enough that I wasn't alone anymore. Now I just needed to prove my worth to the people of earth. Aurora would be safe here with the wolves for some time.

"You're thinking about leaving again aren't you?" the small squeaky feminine voice was foreign to me, but I recognized it right away.

"Aurora," I dropped my head down next to her, "I didn't wake you did I?"

"No," she smiled at me tiredly, "I woke on my own."

"Have you been practicing?" I laid my head down on the ground next to her shielding her from the heat of the fire, "Because this doesn't sound like the first time you've spoken."

"It's not," She yawned as she brought her little head up, "I didn't want to get the words wrong."

"I thought it was suspicious that you weren't speaking," I rubbed my big nose against hers.

"I don't know all the words yet," Aurora smiled at me as she yawned again, "That one that came here earlier. Can I have him?"

"What do you mean by have?" I tensed slightly.

"I want him to by mine like the others are yours," she smiled at me.

"You want to bond with him," I snorted, "I'm not the one to ask."

"Who do I ask?" she cocked her head at me.

"Ask Goliath," I smirked at her, "He's the one that would be stuck with you forever if he decided to say yes."

"Is it bad to bond?" she asked me.

"No," I kept my eye on the tired little hatchling, "But you can't take it back if you're wrong or don't like him as much as you think. You'll lose the chance to bond with another." I blinked slowly as I let it sink in, "Be sure before you bind yourself with him because once you're bonded to him you will want to protect him as much as you can."

I brought my wings down slowly so that they rested gently on my back. It wouldn't take her long to fall asleep again. I wasn't against her bonding with Goliath. In fact I was all for it. He was strong enough to protect her until she was strong enough to defend herself to a certain degree.

Sure he couldn't fight back elves or other races like them. One on one he could hold them back long enough for her to escape or if they were a weaker member of the race he stood a chance at defeating them on his own. I went to my inner world that night, and went to work. Taking full advantage of the isolated space to advance my elemental control, and affinities. If I did well enough at it then I would be able to show elves a thing or two about why dragons were such a feared race to begin with.