Fun Times

Looking upward Nero saw his grownup griffon flying around in circles and soon spearheading down to their location.

With heavy gusts flying up Luna landed proudly with her head held high on the ground and starred at Nero.

Then walking to him she nudged him happily which Nero returned with patting her.

"What is it you found, girl?", asked Nero her.

Luna scratched the ground with her front legged talons and spread her wings lightly.

"Alright." Nero stood up from his position and walked to Luna's side. Then with a trained movement he mounted the griffon and sat atop its back. "Then show me what is so urgent. Syllia, Wallace. You stay here with the troops. I will be back in no time."

"Yes, my lord.", answered the female elf Syllia. She became a splendid addition to the Cousland household and also a trusted adjutant of Nero. And as a friend, he valued her a lot since she was basically the first person close to his own age who he came to know.

After a quick screech was heard from Luna, she and Nero together dived back into the air and soon were gliding in the air.

Nero was laying lower on her back and holding firmly on the harness. All the while he scanned the surroundings. There was nothing better than flying a griffon. Nero learned that firsthand when Luna came to him once and threw him on her back to show him she was alright with him riding her.

The freedom one had was unlike flying a plane. Of course, the harsh wind in higher altitudes was another matter entirely.

It didn't take long and Luna screeched out again and made a sharp dive downwards.

"What are you.....!" Nero tried to understand why she suddenly dropped but soon he saw exactly what the reason was for that action. Massive claws just passed their previous location over their heads.

Frowning deeply Nero saw a huge lizard breaking through the clouds now and it let out a primal shout into the surroundings. Its slitted eyes seemed still to be focused on Luna and Nero.

"Whoa...So that is why you came rushing to us. Haha, a damn Frostback roams Highever?", said Nero with a wry smile while looking back to the dragon.

"Oi, you overgrown lizard! Come, let us dance a little!" Now smirking he looked back forward. "Luna, let's show this guy who exactly is the king of the sky. Alright, girl?"

With an extremely happy screech, Luna agreed and turned and started to fly back to the dragon.

It didn't take long and she was flying above the dragon. Making a 180 roll Nero was now able to poke the dragon with his unsheathed sword.

With a simple dive and a massive grin on Nero's face, they both poked the back of the dragon as a greeting.

Of course, this was not a happy greeting since Nero disliked dragons immensely. They were like natural disasters and often than not destroyed farmlands and other places related to their economy. When bad came to worse they even dared attack villages.

And truth be told, attacking a dragon was of course not such a smart idea also but he had no other choice. He already saw how it pinpointed his troops below and probably had ideas of attacking them.

Nero could already see Wallace screaming commands and the soldiers running around like ants into formation to engage this dragon.

But Nero was also not keen on wasting or endangering his troops. He was sure they would be ground to the ground by the size of this Frostback.

It may not yet be fully grown but it sure was still huge. If it were an adult dragon or and elder one he could have probably prayed to god.

With the constant stabs on its back, the Frostback roared angrily and stopped its descend to go fighting in the air. Or better to say, take that to-go snack that was an annoying pest poking its back with the flimsy little metal it wielded.

Seeing the dragon's reaction Luna made a quick triple barrel roll and started to make some distance.

The dragon was of course not just something you could scoff at and the fiery breath it launched behind the duo was proof of that. The liquid-like flame that came out of its mouth, sure enough, blasted a long way after them.

But what was even more terrifying was that when it fell down to the ground it also started small fires there. You could imagine a flame that strong being a sure way to die.

Good thing Nero and Luna were already good in air-combat and Nero also knew Luna was a very fast flyer. The larger the dragon the slower it was. The most annoying enemies in the air would be small Wyrmings.

Luna started ascending even to the clouds and the dragon followed suit. The air became thin for Nero but he was already used to these hights. The only problem that would ever become such a problem is him accidentally falling or something. Not that it ever happened or anything...

Looking back Nero could see how Luna started struggling to climb any more but the dragon behind them came closer and closer.

"3...2...NOW!", With Nero's words, Luna made an agile turn and now faced with her head down to the ground. Like a bullet they dropped and accelerated. Nero gritted his teeth since he was fighting against the massive increase in force.

Luna was half falcon or whatever other predatory bird that could do these dives naturally. And therefore she had it in her genes to withstand such force but Nero was only relying on his body that was still nowhere near her natural level.

Of course, every other human would have already lost consciousness by now. It was like he was flying a fighter jet at Mach speeds. He could even swear he heard a clear bang when their dive went on long enough.

Struggling to raise his blade he got it up just in time when they passed the dragon and sliced it beautifully on its underbelly.

The blade Nero held could also not hold all of the force and broke halfway the length of the dragon abdomen.

But it still made a one of a lifetime moment where the blood came spurting out and raining down like rain to the ground.

When the dragon realized what happened it cried out in pain and started to panic in the air. It even struggled to keep using its wings to stay up.

All that was also not currently Nero and Luna's problem and they slowly started to decelerate and fly again.

When their flight was stabilized Nero looked back and could only see a retreating dragon that left a blood rain wherever it went behind it.

He snorted proudly. "Hell, that actually worked out nicely. I would love to go after that lizard but I doubt it will be a wise decision. Nothing more fierce than an injured animal...Also, I can't feel my arm..."

His arm was only limply hanging from his side and he only held himself straight with the other hand around the harness.

"What do you say, Luna? Was that not worth the thrill?" Now he smirked again and looked at his griffon that screeched proudly in the air. It's chest was puffed out and the feathers bolstered outwards.

It was like a mane showing her royal happiness.

Nero just smiled at that. "Alright, let's go to our friends. They are probably still running around like some headless chicken. I should also invent some reliable ballistae soon to fight such beasties in the air."

Somehow Nero had some game of thrones vibes flashing through his head. "Hmm.." Not that they would be as effective of course.

The thing about this age was that massive defensive walls were already invented, courtesy of the dwarves, but everything else was underdeveloped.

So siege weaponry was also much more terrifying in this world. Just imagine a massive boulder flying your way that was ignited and enchanted by mages that would also explode on impact? Can't imagine it? Then you better hope never to stand against such weapons.