Chapter 2

The next morning, I departed. After giving my siblings a last parting hug and some tender caring words to my dear elder sister, I set out southward after deciding at the last minute to leave dad's axe-hammer behind in case it was needed. At this time of year, the forest and mountains south of town were filled with life. Birds sang in the trees, squirrels foraged here and there, deer nibbled at the new growth, and the wild boar wallowed in the mud created by the previous night's rain.

My journey was peaceful. Unlike the mountains to the northeast of town, the southern range wasn't populated by the megafauna prey that the lions liked so the great cats never strayed here though their smaller cousins did hunt the smaller more nervous game.

I followed the main road to the northern border with the Reptile Kingdom, mainly sticking to my inner thoughts but still keeping on alert for potential danger. Once, a catamount crossed my path, but my quick drop into a defense and my obvious weapon dissuaded the cat from causing trouble and it moved on. After that the journey was quiet. It wasn't long until I left the mountains behind me, maybe half a day's travel for the road was well worn and in the dry summer air, made for quick travel. Night had fallen by the time I had descended through the foothills and into the plains on the southern side of the mountains.

I camped in a hollow, out of the wind, just off the road. This was well protected by boulders and gave me some safety from the large herds of large herbivores that grazed the region and the wolves that prowled. I had lit a fire to ward off the cold of the night and spent a few hours writing in a journal that I had. The wind whistled across the plain and not a sound could be heard. The night was clear, the sky filled with stars and the watchful moon as my fire sent sparks dancing into the sky. I leaned up against one of the boulders, warmed by the fire and settled into a small meal left from the previous night. I then lit a torch and made my way down to the banks of the nearby stream and cautiously by torchlight, washed my dishes then headed back to camp. Upon returning to camp, I threw another log on the fire and settled down to sleep.

Even with the fire, it was cooler out on the plains at night than one would think and I had to rouse myself multiple times to tend to the fire, but nothing else happened that night. At dawn the next day I broke camp and continued southward.

I avoided the great Auroch that grazed the land, these giant cattle are notorious for their bad tempers and willingness to charge and I also kept a wary eye open for the Kelenken, the giant predatory "terror birds," that ran riot on these open grasslands. And of course, every outcrop could hide a Dire Wolf pack waiting to ambush a lone traveler. My armor rattled somewhat as I made my way, the odd and loud noise possibly confusing the local predators because they kept out of sight.

I continued to drop in elevation, descending from the windblown high prairies into the floodplains that marked the northernmost border with the Reptile Kingdom. At this point a river flowed and the road deviated from its southward course heading westward. I knew better than to attempt to cross where there wasn't a border town, for it was likely that the river was either swift or the territory of a large predator was on the other side. Sticking to the road, I followed it for a few more miles when I saw a stone bridge crossing the river.

I made my way towards it and was about halfway across when a Tyranno Mamono stepped in front of my path along with an armed man.

"Halt!" the Tyranno called. "Who are you and where are you from?!"

I halted a few feet from her, just out of grabbing distance. "Tiberius," I replied, giving her my informal, impersonal name that was used by those outside the close circle, "from Noricum to the north."

The armed man put a hand on the Tyranno's arm, "Relax, let me deal with this."

The Tyranno stood back and watched me warily as the man approached me.

"Greetings, Tiberius, Man of Noricum. I am Caradoc. It has been some time since we've seen someone from the Cenozoic Cordillera descend from your high passes. Particularly one with your name. I would hazard that that is your nomen and not your praenomen?"

I shifted somewhat but maintained my unhostile stance, "Aye. I'm somewhat surprised, Caradoc. Not many are familiar with that custom."

"True, true, but in my younger years we regularly had a man come from your high passes with the trade wagons delivering furs, salt and fatty meat by the name of Marcus Aquila. He hasn't come down in three years now and no one has had the time go make the trek up into the hills."

I relaxed, "Marcus Aquila was my father. Now I understand."

"So, Marcus was your father. How is the old chap?"

"Died in a rockfall three years ago," I replied.

Caradoc's expression turned solemn, "I'm sorry to hear that. Tell me, what are you doing down here? From what I recall, you Noricii don't descend from those passes often."

"Aye, we don't, the mountains generally give us all we need, but it's not the needs of my village that I'm here. More of a journey of self-discovery."

"I sense this is not the kind of conversation we should be having on a bridge where anyone can hear us. Come into the guardhouse and you can fill me in." Caradoc waved me on and the Tyranno stood to the side though kept a watchful eye on me.

Once inside and after being formally introduced to Susan, the Tyranno who first challenged me, who happened to be his wife; I gave them the basic rundown of recent events up in the mountains.

They didn't say much but wrote it down. Caradoc then pulled something from a drawer and stamped it.

"It's not often that I get to issue these, but it'll still be valid," He handed a small booklet to me, "It's kind of like a passport in other lands, but more hunting permit for travelers that way it keeps the Hunter's Guild off your back if you get caught having a clash with the native wildlife. Keep it on you. I'll send word off to Central Command to get some relief and assistance sent up to Noricum."

I thanked him and as it was getting late in the day, I stopped at the inn to rest for the night, taking time to stock up on medicines and traveling food. There were few travelers here, as not many folks made it up to the northern border and we of the mountains rarely traveled south this far before taking one of the other roads to the cities to the west.

After resting for the night and rising with the dawn, I left the village and headed into the Reptile Kingdom.

I continued traveling through the floodplain heading further and further away from the mountains that had been my home. I watched as small herds of dinosaurs wandered past me feeding on the lush vegetation. They paid me no mind.

I had been traveling in the Kingdom for two days when I suddenly found myself alone in the wilderness, with a very vague map, barely maintained road and staring down a Utahraptor.

The hissing carnivore circled me, displaying its talons and teeth while I unsheathed my war-sword from my back, preparing to swing. It was a face-off.

The raptor darted in trying to kill me quickly, but there was no cover so I could see it coming and I had fought giant lions before. As soon as it got in range I swiped at it, the tip cutting through the hide of its neck creating a nasty wound. The beast twirled around hissing and snarling as blood oozed from the wound. There was wariness in its eyes now; I had proven that I could defend myself and wasn't easy prey. But hunger was driving it to continue and it tried circling me to get behind my defenses. I pivoted with it not letting the raptor get behind me. The dinosaur rushed me again, jumping over me to flank but I could turn a lot faster than its normal prey and swiped at it again as it spun to attack, this time landing a much more solid blow and creating a devastating wound.

The Utahraptor collapsed in agony and lay there gasping in pain as I approached. I locked eyes with it and silently willed it to understand that I felt no ill-will and would put it out of the pain. The creature slowly blinked as I plunged my blade swiftly down into its body, ending its life.

I stayed in that position for a time as the local small dinosaurs and Mamono came out to watch what I did. After cleaning the blood off of my blade, I took out a small folding shovel and after hauling the carcass of the road, started pulling up rocks, which were numerous in the area. These I built up with earth around the body and laid the stones on top of creating a cairn sealing it off from the outside world. I then cleaned myself up the best I could and moved off down the road just in case if something bigger were to be attracted by the smell of blood, I wouldn't be close by when it arrived.

I made certain to put a good distance between myself and the place of the fight not wanting to get hunted down. Little did I know that I had attracted the attention and interest of something much, much more fearsome than the hypercarnivores that prowled the Reptile Kingdom.

I had put a good few miles of travel between myself and the combat zone, it having taken place in the morning and I being finished by midday, gave me plenty of time to put around ten miles between the two points when I settled down for the evening in a rock shelter, basically a shallow cave in the base of a cliff. This I fortified using Acacia branches and even thornier trees as well as creating defensive spikes with a small ax that I carried for that purpose. It was with these that I blocked off entrance to the cave with and lit a fire to heat the shelter. While the fire did its work, I gathered smooth stones and extra bedding to make myself comfortable. When I returned, I dung a small trench, and heated the stones until they were hot and buried them under six inches of dirt and waited while the moisture was driven off.

During this time, I ate a meagre meal that I cooked over the fire. Once my sleeping area was dry, I spread out the grass I had gathered as well as pine boughs that I cut from the few pines in the area and spread my sleeping roll out on top and laid down. The heat from the stones radiated upwards through the soil and bedding warming my underside and the fire kept my front warm and the heat bouncing of the cave created a bubble of warmth from the cool of the night here on the plains.

While I rested, I enjoyed the evening, quietly watching the sun begin to set. I started to doze off at this point, due to my exhaustion from the fight and wasn't as effectual as I normally would have been. Realizing this, I shook myself to a wakeful point and closed off any opening in the thorny boma that I had created and stoked the fire high. By this time, the rock shelter had warmed to a comfortable point and I settled down to rest, taking some allergy medication that Vivian had prepared for me due to my hay fever that I got from the pollen that was heavy in the air at this time of year. The stuff was potent and worked quickly, but made me really woozy so I laid down to sleep, my sword near at hand if needed.

I slept fitfully, only rousing twice to tend the fire and settling down again. The night was surprisingly quiet, the only sound was the wind whistling. The stars wheeled overhead and hunkered down in the shallow cave, attempting to sleep, praying that I wouldn't be found by predators, I felt like my ancient ancestors must have felt, long before they rose to dominance.

The night passed peacefully which was surprising, but I didn't complain. After making certain that my fire was indeed out, I continued onwards after a very meagre repast. The wind rustled the grasses and leaves in the trees as the climate grew steadily tropical. I soon found myself drinking more and more from my water jar and having to fill up and treat what I needed at every stream I crossed.

In time, I passed from more temperate regions to tropical plains and forests. The humidity was oppressive and I soon had to take off my helmet and limb armor and store them in my pack to keep cool for I dared not waste the cooling enchantments imbedded inside. I wiped sweat from my forehead and scanned the horizon as I rested for a bit. All I could see were pterosaurs flying about and herbivorous dinosaurs feeding on the lush vegetation.

Two days passed and nothing happened, though I didn't get complacent. This was the Reptile Kingdom after all so I kept my guard up. At midday on the fourth day after crossing the border I found something that worried me. The unmistakable tracks of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. These telltale tracks were crossing my path and while I couldn't see exactly how far they led, the alarm calls in the distance made me hurry my pace. By dusk on the fourth day, I had reached a town. The local Hunters were on high alert and I was ushered inside the gates with rapid pace. After finding an inn, and paying for a room, I went out to talk to the locals and the Hunters in town.

I didn't find out much at first, the locals and the Hunters more concerned about the potential threat from Tyrannosaurus than answering my questions, though a few were able to spare a moment, these being low ranked hunters assigned to gathering or locals who handled running the inn.

The folks here were on edge, wary of visitors partially and partially because of the Tyrannosaurus that were nearby. But a few Hunters were able to supply me with information. Particularly the head of this group.

"Going forwards from here on out, Utahraptors are the least of your worries. Tyrannosaurs, Giganotosaurus, Skullcrawlers and other beasts await you. And that's just the normal beasts. Wyverns, Elder Dragons, and their Monster Girl forms lie in wait. There's a damn good reason why we don't have well-traveled roads between Lordomes here. It's just too dangerous to patrol such vast regions, even as a Hunter or a Monster Rider and the Dragoons have better things to do over road patrols over vast distances between towns." Then the Hunter in question added with a satisfied smirk, "Though the wildlife does tend to keep the local bandit population to a minimal level."

The corner of my mouth twitched in amusement, "Aye, bandits are a pain. But I won't keep you." I took my leave and headed back to the inn to rest. I spent the evening caring for my gear and then writing in my journal, creating sketches of what I had seen thus far on my travels.

I sketched late into the night, then when I finally felt my hand becoming unsteady, I turned in. After a long journey thus far with no bed to speak of except my bedroll, I was glad to spend the night in an inn. I slept deeply, the exhaustion from the long journey knocking me out quickly.

I spent the next few days recuperating, keeping to myself and working on my sketches and my journal. I learned a few things however. The first was that there wasn't a map of the kingdom as the Reptile King could shift things around as he wished. The second was that one should attempt to make shelter in a cave with a barrier if possible or high up in a tree if not. The third and final thing was that I may already be watched by a Mamono even though I didn't know it.

This last concerned me, and after telling the unvarnished tale of my fight with the Utahraptor, made the local Hunter Commander worried.

"After that, you may already have a Mamono keeping an eye on you," She remarked. "There are several Mamono species in the kingdom that take such a thing into consideration, and a lot of them are powerful. Seregis, Glavs, Nergis, Xenos and even Kushalas note such a thing. I'd suggest you watch your back if you want to remain single." She fixed me with a look.

"Part of my journey is to prove myself a man," I began, "But the other part is to eventually find some young woman willing to marry me, Mamono or not and be willing to nurture and care for my younger siblings until they can stand on their own two feet."

The Hunter smiled, "So, the Trial of Manhood then. A custom that is unique to those who come from two places and a family and two places and a family only. Our kingdom, the Cenozoic Cordillera and the Aquila Family of Lescatie. I wish you luck in your trial. From here on out things get more primal." This last she stressed in warning which I heeded.

I returned to my lodgings and gathered my things, packing them away into my pack. I had decided to leave at first light the next day. The rest of the evening was spent tending to my armor and weapons, both melee and ranged to make absolutely certain that they were one hundred percent operational without any potential hang-ups or misfires waiting in the wings.

I left at dawn continuing southwards. There was a light breeze that chased away the humidity and the air was cool. I knew this wouldn't last in part as things got more tropical as I moved southward and as the sun rose higher. I entered a river valley where the grass was lush and was rustled by the wind. The trees were lush and smaller members of the sauropod family browsed though I avoided getting in their way. They weren't the brightest and even one misplaced foot could kill me. The river ran next to me, rushing over the stony bed and fish swam up and down, some of which reached monstrous sizes. On the other side, a Baryonyx fished for it's morning meal, teaching its' hatchlings how to do so. I kept moving, avoiding the river's edge not wanting to get ambushed by any water loving predators. I stayed on alert, not wanting to get ambushed, but nothing bothered me.

In time, I left the river valley and had to hike up the mountains that made up the southern side of the valley. It was now that I was grateful for living in the Cordillera all my life as getting anywhere at a distance there usually involved some sort of climbing the mountains and hills and clambering over rocks.

There was one point where a small pack of Dromaeosaurus tried to corner me, but a quick couple slashes of my blade made them think twice and they ran off. It was dusk when I reached the top of the rise and I found a small windbreak to shelter in for the night. Getting a fire started was difficult for a time, but then the wind shifted in dare I say it, a helpful manner, and soon I had flames crackling away. The fire kept me warm and I dozed off, only rousing to keep it going around midnight. It is hard to explain to those who haven't done much traveling the feeling that you get after a long day and being able to lay down on even a bedroll in front of a fire and rest. Before I dozed off, I watched the full moon rise and saw the shape of a dragon briefly get silhouetted though in my exhausted state, I couldn't identify what it was.

I rose with the dawn and ate what fresh food I had from my last stop and continued onwards. I don't know what drove me southward, but that was the direction I felt I had to take.

Two weeks passed like this and in that time all I had encountered were packs of Dromaeosaurs. Fourteen days of fending off raptors. By the end of that time, I had gotten rather familiar with most of the standard prehistoric raptors that thrived in the Reptile Kingdom and their most common attack patterns though I never took them lightly at all, for even the smallest misjudgment could lead to my death. And after every battle a pleasant breeze swirled around me as though pleased.

It was on the sixteenth day after leaving the border village that I encountered the biggest and most dangerous challenge thus far in my journey. A Tyrannosaurus rex.

I was passing through a series of rocky outcroppings when I encountered the beast. Luckily, I saw it before it noticed me. Shit, I thought, of all the things to encounter, it had to be this! I quickly scrambled to the top of one of the steepest outcrops and lay as flat as I could watching the beast. I then cursed my luck as I felt a stinging on my knee. I glanced down. I had cut myself in my mad scramble to the top of the rocks and was now bleeding slightly and the wind had just shifted so the Tyrannosaurus was downwind of me. I prayed the small group of Hunters I passed not five minutes before would hear whatever combat was about to happen, but I didn't count on it.

I froze as the beast sniffed the air. Whoosh, whoosh, Snort! Then it turned in my direction and roared. The sound was deafening and seemed to shake the rocks beneath me as it approached with thundering footsteps and it was the biggest damn bipedal beast that I had ever seen. I stood up and unsheathed my blade, blood trickling down my knee. The Tyrannosaurus caught sight of me and started to charge in my direction, slamming into the rocks. I maintained my balance and shifted myself as it tried again to knock me off. It roared and bellowed as it did, but the rocks held firm.

The great black saurian beast circled the rocks, searching for a weak point, but all it found was the slight blood trail that I had left in my mad scramble and a slight slope that would allow its tiny arms to rest on top of the rock I was standing on. Once it did, I got nervous as the maw of this thing was maybe three feet from me.

I could smell its breath and it was horrible, stinking of rotten flesh and blood making me retch. It roared and tried to lunged as I got covered in saliva. As it did, I slashed its nose with my sword, trying to cause as deep of a wound as I could, my blade biting deep into the flesh of the snout. The Tyrannosaurus reared back in pain and lunged again, making the rock shake and I could hear rocks get shaken loose. Of course, then the weather turned nasty as the wind picked up and the rain started to fall as a storm on par with the great cyclones that at times struck Noricum began.

I kept my distance and minded my footing, knowing that one single misplaced footstep could lead to ending up in the mouth of the Tyrannosaurus as lightning flashed and thunder roared. And I did not fancy being lunch one little bit. The rock steadily grew slicker and slicker as the rain came down and the trees thrashed in the heavy winds. The slope the Tyrannosaurus was on was wide so it tried a different angle to get at me as I pivoted to match its movement. The spot it tried allowed it to get a little closer but I stabbed it in the nose again. It didn't like that at all, roaring in frustration and rage. Again, it tried to lunged at me, but I dodged and slashed landing another deep blow on its face, nearly losing my footing and ending up closer than I would have liked to the jaws of the beast. Once again, it tried to get a better attack angle and managed to position itself at a point where it could very easily grab me if I didn't watch my footing and this was a situation I did not like one tiny bit. It was touch and go at this point a good few times as I was exhausted from two weeks straight of fighting raptors, but I finally managed to land a blow on its eye, blinding it as blood spurted out across the rocks and I got covered in Tyrannosaurus eye goop which was nasty. As the Tyrannosaurus thrashed in pain and rage, I angled my sword and stabbed for the jugular vein and landed a fatal blow. Instead of the jugular vein, I hit the carotid artery dead on and the trachea severing both. The Tyrannosaurus roared and the fell as I got covered in a spray of blood as the rain pelted down and lightning flashed in the dark clouds.

The ground shook as the beast fell, hitting the ground with a thud. Thunder continued to rumble as the winds died down as I descended cautiously to make certain that it was indeed dead. I approached the head of the thing and angling the point of my sword so it would run straight into the brain, thrusted downwards, the blade sinking deep into the skull. It was then that the Hunter party arrived, reaching me just in the nick of time as I blacked out as the Tyrannosaurus' mate showed up. I don't remember what happened afterwards.

The next thing I knew was waking up in a bed, cleaned and dressed in night clothes in a small basic medical ward. There was a nurse nearby, a strawberry-blonde woman with bright turquoise eyes and fair skin dressed in a white medical shirt and skirt who started at me waking up and then rushed out of the room.

It wasn't long until the healer entered the room with whom I assumed was the senior most Hunter, a dark-skinned man with a steady gaze and massive greatsword on his back. He waited while the healer checked over me, prodding me with different instruments and writing notes down on his notepad. Once the healer signaled, he was done the Hunter spoke.

"Well, you certainly gave us a fright young man. Two Tyrannosaurus killed by yourself, one of them in a complete survival frenzy! My Hunters said that they've never seen such graceful and certain combat before, especially from someone who was in a survival frenzy. I dare say you got lucky indeed to bring down old Scarface. What happened?"

I told him about my journey, after introducing myself and getting his name, Jonah Price, in return. After I was finished, Jonah leaned back and hummed, "Well, that would explain it. Fourteen days of none stop raptor fights and then a Tyrannosaurus on top of that could make anyone snap into a blood rage. As for that storm, you got someone watching you, Tiberius. Someone who is extremely interested in you, especially now. You've definitely proven yourself in combat, and the kindness you showed that Utahraptor in burying it, I suggest you prepare yourself. The signs point to you being watched by an Elder Dragon."

"You mean like a Velkhan?" I asked of him.

He started, "How the heck did you hear of that Mamono?! They're not really well known."

"My sister got monsterized into one," I answered, "It's one of the few that I have heard of, Mamono wise. I've of course heard of the unmonsterized Elder Dragons, I come from north of the border after all so tales do travel, but I'm not familiar with the Mamono side of things."

"That explains that then," he replied, "But no, not a Velkhan. Judging from the odd winds you mentioned and the storm that struck out of nowhere, I'd say you're being evaluated by a Kushala."

I paused for a moment, "As in Kushala Daora?" I asked, "That kind of Kushala? They're well known in the mountains where I'm from for their control over the winds and weather as well as their defensive nature. I didn't think I'd attract the attention or even rouse the interest of one of those."

"Not a Kushala Daora," Jonah said, "You don't want the attention of one of those. I mean the Mamono counterpart, they share the same name, but we simply call them Kushalas to differentiate between the two, but the behavior is similar."

"So, what does that mean for me?" I asked, "Do I need to travel with a squad of Hunters from now on or what?"

Jonah shook his head, "No, nothing that extreme. All you need to do is just demonstrate your prowess in combat and the kindness that you've displayed and in time, the Kushala may approach you to challenge you to a fight. From the few I've talked to, you aren't expected to win, just hold your own and demonstrate your abilities. I can't say when you'll be approached or how long she'll keep testing you before you are challenged, but be on your guard just the same. But right now, for the time being, don't worry about that, just get some rest. You need it. Once you've recovered, we'll hook you up with a caravan heading towards the Capital. That should give you plenty of time to see the kingdom and prove yourself. Get some rest lad."

Jonah turned and left, closing the door behind him. The Healer came back in and gave me medicine that tasted extremely bitter, saying, "This will help you sleep. That is what you really need right now. You need to rest." My vision started to fade as I tried to fight the urge to sleep, but I couldn't hold it off and then collapsed into blissful, dreamless slumber.

I rested for a few days, as my body was fairly weakened after the long days of travel, constant fighting and meagre food. I found myself in a large town, much of it centered around the Hunter's outpost here in the lush rainforest north of the Capital. The town itself was actually carved into a massive cliff that soared high above the dinosaur infested jungles below it. The streets were long tunnels that were etched and mined into the stone, though there were some on the clifftops and edges that allowed travel. It was larger than most towns in the region, simply because not only was it a Hunter outpost, but it was a main garrison for both the Tyrant's division and the Dragoons, these both being the military arm of the Reptile Kingdom. And it was very well supplied. I was able to restock on food quite easily and the weaponsmith was quite happy to take a look at my blade.

She whistled, "I've heard of the skill of you Noricii before, what with the Damascus metal you lot preserve, but this is a work of art that surpasses even my kind, and we Ankys are equals, if not superiors to the Cyclopes. Ladder pattern, silver inlay, made out of high carbon steel and nickel, if I'm correct, a length of sixty-eight inches, and with blue zircons embedded in it. This is a work of art, and one that has been maintained extremely meticulously."

I grunted, "Such a gift from mine own father, of course I would maintain it to such a level."

The smith nodded, "That I can see. However, after such a length of time fighting the native wildlife here in the Kingdom, some extra TLC from a smith wouldn't be a bad idea. I'll see to it that she is returned to you in a much better condition and free of charge, since it's not often I get to take care of such an art piece."

The smith told me to return in an hour and I left, returning to my quarters for that time. Then I returned and retrieved my weapon. Two weeks later I headed to the cliff top. As I was making my way along the cliff roads, I nearly ran into Jonah who was escorting a young noble looking girl.

"Pardon me," I murmured as I passed them heading to the clifftop. I wanted to get the lay of the land so to speak before setting out in the morning. The stairs to reach the top of the cliff were steep and it was only thanks to being raised in the mountains that I wasn't winded once I reached the top.

The top of the cliff afforded me an excellent view of the land to the direct north of the Reptile Capital, in fact, I could make out the massive spires of the Reptile King's Castle and I was still about thirty miles off. I cautiously made my way around the clifftop as due to its elevation the surface was slick and riddled with deep, but narrow crevices that the streams that fed the forest below thundered through before merging into several towering cascades that roared into the mist filled jungles where I could occasionally hear the thunderous roars of the saurian beasts that prowled the twilight gardens below. At certain points, I pulled back from the edges following the paths the locals took to avoid the nesting places of the pterosaurs that made their roosts here.

Pteranodon, Tapejarid, Rhamphorhynchids, Quetzalcoatlus, and even Tropeognathus made the cliffs their homes, though the dominant pterosaurs were the Pteranodon. And even these were often pushed off by the true masters of the skies of the Reptile Kingdom, the Wyvern and Dragon Mamono and their monster cousins. The Mamono that made their roosts here were mostly married or peaceful singles, it was the only reason they were allowed to stay this close to the village and even then, things could get sketchy as territorial disputes arose between the Wyverns that had to be gently, but sternly settled by one of the few Dragons that nested here. The Pterosaur Mamono generally stayed out of the way of these heavyweights, though when their personal entrances into the cliff-town were encroached upon they put up a valiant display of force to force the intruder to move on, though in the hours I spent at this precarious, but stunning location, most times it was settled peacefully or even with pleasant greetings and invitations for tea or chats.

The Mamono children, or I should say Hatchlings didn't fret about this. They gamboled and played with each other regardless of species though they were carefully watched by the subadults to quickly be ushered away from where the unmonsterized pterosaurs nested. I dodged several groups of playing children while I was up here during my weeks of rest, and struck up friendships with several adults, both married and single Mamono, though they refrained from making advances upon me having heard the likely warning about the potential Elder Dragon.

It was the Pterosaur Mamono that gave me the best guidance on how to navigate the Kingdom by air or by foot. Be irritated with everything. The Rampho in question summed it up easily, "If you act irritated by every environment equally, the King can't decide on how to mess around with you, for as I'm sure you are already aware, he can shift the kingdom at will. Therefore, by acting either irritated or pleased by all the environs equally, he can't get a read on what pisses you off and can't shift the land to amuse himself. Of course, if you are able to charter an airship or catch a ride on a Sky Galley or Ryu transport, that limits what the King can do even more as flyers can see the shifts as they happen and adjust accordingly for the one thing that the King cannot mess with are the air currents because the Elder Dragons would get pissed off."

"He's the King," I shot back, "why would Elder Dragons bother him?"

"It's not because they overpower him, no, he's the ultimate power here. It's because he doesn't like hearing them complain." The Rampho paused as a Wyvern named Alice picked up, "Well, to be specific, the best way to stop his majesty from doing something, is to complain or bring it up with his wives. In the end, they are more attuned to the trade aspects and travel than he is being ultimately younger and more connected with the world than he is so can force him into behaving for a short time or at the very least, not causing trouble with air travel as the entire kingdom relies upon it is some form or fashion."

After this conversation, it was time for the children to go to their daily lessons so the adults had to politely excuse themselves while I admired the view. It was very similar to Mount Roraima from my birth world, at least in vistas.

Just as I started to relax and enjoy the view, the wind started to pick up. At this kind of elevation, such a thing wasn't uncommon, but this was an unnatural pickup in the winds. I roused myself and watched warily, waiting for a surprise storm to arrive as the residents of the clifftop, both Mamono and otherwise, started seeking shelter in the rock shelters and tunnels below. Unsheathing my sword, I held the steel blade steady against a rock to brace myself.

What showed up was in some minds worse than a storm. A shape darted down and over me from the clouds and then back in front of me and held its position. The swirling winds dissipated briefly as the Elder Dragon Kushala Daora hovered in front of me.

I raised my war-sword in a defensive stance and began to circle the Kushala Daora, preparing for a fight, but mentally taking note of possible escape routes if things got bad. The Elder Dragon narrowed its eyes at me as several Hunters rushed onto the scene. As the Hunters prepared themselves to fight, the Elder Dragon growled in annoyance and with a blast of wind, blew the Hunters, and only the Hunters back.

I heard one of them cuss, "Fuck, kid is on his own, I guess. This is a duel!"