The silver slopes of the jaded peaks streaked upwards, piercing into the lonesome and empty sky. Their vast shadows stretched over the range, obscuring the early sun as it peeked over the horizon.
A particular mountain, not any different from the others in this cluster of pointy rocks, had been infiltrated by a group of humans planning to do the impossible.
Aphena and the team sat in the middle of the hollow cave. She paced around, waiting for Dishon, who had been out on scouting duties throughout the night, to get back and deliver a report.
Unlike the others who were all serious and pumped up, Kody was none of that.
He stood a distance away from everyone and played with the short sword Dagon had given him. Throughout his years, he hardly ever had a good weapon, just some scraps he had forged—they scarcely ever did a good job.
He couldn't wait to test this out. Okay, he could definitely wait before having to fight any strange abomination again, but that was besides the point. At the very least, he could be more useful in their fights now.
Just then, a shadow appeared at the cave's entrance and limped slowly to them.
The wooden flame-torch in the cave did a bad job at illuminating the newcomer. But it soon revealed himself to be Dishon, with an unexpected injury on his chest.
The others gathered around him and began attending to his wounds.
Not wanting to be left behind Kody moved a bit closer.
"You saw everything?" Aphena asked, after his condition had been stabilized.
"Pretty much," Dishon replied with a groan. "Although there wasn't much to see in the first place."
"Now that you're here I'm sure we can start."
"Yeah, yeah, you can go on." Dishon shifted uncomfortably, putting himself in a seated position on the floor with his back against the cold wall.
Aphena nodded and continued, "As you all may already know, this range was occupied by the Wyvern and mountain wolves. The Wyvern is gone but the wolves aren't."
No one said a word, they just listened.
"We recently went toe-to-toe with a few of them and I'm sure all of you have more than a few questions."
"Yeah, those were clearly not wolves," Rufus said with a pondering look.
Using a stick, Aphena drew a few illustrations on the cave's sandy floor.
"During the blood dragon's awakening, which happened not too far from here, not all monsters were as lucky as the Wyvern and got away in time.
"According to Dishon's report all the monsters within this range." She drew a circle covering a part of the illustrated mountain range and forest.
"Have somehow been affected by the blood dragon's aura.
"This has not only made them stronger, but it also granted them a minute connection to the dragon." She paused, giving everyone a moment to digest the information.
"What exactly does 'connection' mean?" Dagon asked, a bit on edge.
"It means that even if we successfully get past the horde of mutated monsters gathered around the Wyvern's nest, we would also have to worry about a big dragon coming to say hi," she replied, rubbing her temples as she paced about.
There was a sickening silence and even Kody could tell things had taken a shitty turn.
"If it comes, we just kill it then," Dagon said. He seemed to have regained confidence for some reason.
Aphena laughed, a hearty laugh that took some of her stress away.
"The only way you could even get its attention is if you hit it with 10,000 years, anything less would do absolutely no damage. And I don't think you've lived for ten thousand years yet."
Dagon immediately went quiet, his ego shattered.
"But won't it be absurd?" Rufus asked.
"What?"
"Won't it be absurd for the Dragon—if it's actually as powerful as you say—to bother itself with something like a few humans stealing eggs.
"I personally think that if the Dragon caught wind of our operation it wouldn't even care."
Aphena placed her hand on her chin, caught in deep thought. What he had said indeed made sense: it would be out of character for a mythical Dragon to care about something like that.
Still, it wouldn't be the first time the dragon did something out of character.
They couldn't back out though, not right now. Besides, she had something no other person had; her eyes glanced at Kody, who didn't seem so interested in all this.
Yes, they could definitely win. At least she hoped so.
"You're right, although there is a chance of it happening, it's highly unlikely. Maybe it would be best not to dwell on things like that for now." She let out a sigh. "Our major problem right now is how to get past the horde. We had previously planned to face the mountain wolves either way, but with them being mutated a few things might change."
She turned to Dishon, signalling for him to pass on the information he had gathered.
Rein had finished attending to his wounds and he was no longer bleeding. He sat up and cleared his throat.
"Apart from the increase in physical abilities—which is hardly our biggest worry—there are three other changes that differentiate these mutated wolves from normal mountain wolves."
He paused, looking around as everyone was focused on him. He cleared his throat once more and continued.
"Similar to regular mountain wolves, these mutated ones can be characterized by four levels. The ground wolves, which we had an encounter with, are the most common and were the least affected by the mutation. Apart from the increase in physical stats, they got nothing.
"Higher than that is where the major changes occur. From the second level upwards, they can fly and unlike before, they aren't affected by the low oxygen at the top of the mountain—"
"Wait a minute," Rufus interrupted. "If what you're saying is true…"
"Yes, they were able to get to the mountain top and have now surrounded the Wyvern's nest. Although they still haven't broken the barrier around it, I doubt we have much time," Dishon explained.
"Shit," Thorin muttered under his breath and clenched his fists.
"Meaning we can no longer lose them by just running to the top?" Dagon asked.
"That is correct." Dishon nodded. "The second change, I believe, is much worse than mere flight. We experienced it yesterday. If a level two or higher is present, it can create some sort of hive mind, connecting and controlling any lower-ranked wolves individually, as long as they're within range."
The silence was deafening and although Kody didn't understand some of what was being said, he knew enough to be unsettled. Gripping the hilt of his short sword tighter he waited for Dishon, who was catching his breath, to continue.
"Blood detection, that's the third and worst ability they gained. Only the level fours and threes can use this. It is also because of this ability that I realized they had a connection to the blood dragon."
"So? Explain!" Gilmore said, frustrated by how Dishon seemed to be pausing at key moments, perhaps for a cinematic effect.
"Do you guys remember the glass tower that every city in Elonia has?" Dishon asked.
Rufus was the one who replied, "Yeah, the one that blinks and blows a siren whenever a monster enters the city. What does that have to do with us, though?"
"Yes, that one. Did you know that the structure was based on the Blood Dragon's ability, Blood Detection? The fact that these wolves can use the ability means that the dragon willingly taught them to use it. This clearly means they have a connection."
"Okay, we get it, the dragon seems to like the wolves. How exactly is the ability itself dangerous?" Dagon asked with a worn-out expression.
"Because of the ability, sneaking in and out is no longer an option. The level three's blood detection has a range of a few kilometers. We'll be noticed before we get close enough."
Everyone went silent. All the shortcuts seemed to have been removed, leaving them with no other option than to fight.
Then Thorin, perhaps out of curiosity, asked, "What of the level Four's, how much range does their blood detection have?"
Dishon's expression turned solemn. "Well," he started. "There is only one confirmed wolf of that level in the entire mountain range."
Then he looked at them dead in the eye.
"I fear we might already be in its range."