I was in the middle of editing this weeks chapter when I noticed that I completly forgot to publish the one from last week.

I'm so sorry! :3

"Are you absolutely certain that it's true?"

"I am my lord. I heard him say it himself with my own ears."

The invincible lord looked down at the scout who was kneeling in front of him.

"Have you however seen that machine the mechanic was supposedly working on then?"

The scout shook his head. "Sorry my lord, but it's impossible to get near enough to see it." he replied respectfully. "Despite his workshop being a public building where everyone can supposedly access, he's very secretive when it comes to prototype technology. The backrooms where the project is stored are better fortified than this castle. He used thick granite bricks for both walls and roof and the only way in is a door out of solid steel with not one, but three locks of a type I have never seen before. I have no idea how to pick them. I doubt even a dragon could get in there."

"Guess this is just further proof of how capable this mechanic is then. Keep an eye on him and try to find out more about that project." the lord replied thinking. "Don't fail me."

"Yes Mylord." The scouts bowed a final time before leaving the room.

—000—

Sparrow was gliding through the afternoon winds carrying a dead cow in her talons. The Mountain Dragon, or SkyWing as her species was known in their language, slowly flapped her wings keeping an eye on the ground looking for someone.

"Where is he?" she wondered, looking around. "He never misses out on me coming home from hunting..."

Suddenly an orange dragon came stumbling out of the forest, who she immediately recognized as her little brother Stratus. He was walking strangely, clutching his red chest.

She suddenly realized something when she landed in front of her. Her brother's under scales weren't red!

"Goodness, what happened to you?" she asked in worry, hurrying over towards him while watching his blood-covered chest in horror. "No, tell me later. We first need to treat those wounds…"

She took her brother under her wing, gently leading him towards the small hut they were living in.

Once inside she started cleaning the wound, wondering who could have attacked him. As she slowly washed the blood away however she noticed something rather strange. The cuts on his chest were rather unusual and she couldn't think of any weapon or animal that could have caused them.

"What did this to you?" she finally asked, while applying a bandage over her brother's injuries.

"A scavenger…" he finally replied after a moment of silence.

She looked at him surprised. While scavengers were known for being a nuisance, they never were an actual threat. She honestly couldn't believe that one of these furless apes could have been able to hurt her little brother with one of their strange metal sticks of theirs. Unless…

"How many attacked you?"

"One."

"Only one? How did it manage to do that? Where you ambushed?"

"No." he mumbled shaking his head. "It used some kind of strange weapon. It made some weird buzzing noises."

"A new weapon that can hurt dragons? These little pests are getting smarter…"

"I don't think it was a normal scavenger either." Stratus mumbled. "He smelled somewhat funny…"

"What do you mean with funny?"

"Well, his sent while it resembled a scavenger didn't match. Also, it seemed to be mixed with something else, as he smelled like he was both a living being and an object, some kind of strange mix between scavenger and… I'm not sure… metal?"

Sparrow simply nodded, thinking. "Well, that's indeed strange, but also somewhat convenient."

"Why convenient?"

"Well if his sent stands out it shouldn't be difficult to find it. I will go after that scavenger."

"What!" her brother clutched onto her hind leg. "But what if he's dangerous? He could kill you!"

"Well if he's indeed dangerous then it's better if I stop him before he hurts another dragonet like you." he replied gently removing her little brother's arms that were wrapped around her leg. "Just go and eat something alright? I'll be back to join you once I'm done with this. It's just a scavenger, after all, I will be fine."

[Later]

Sparrow landed on the clearing her brother had described looking around. A bit of blood in the grass confirmed that she was indeed at the right place. She sniffed the air until she found what she was looking for the scent of scavenger still freshly present.

The sent caused her to sneeze, and to her surprise, this scavenger indeed smelled just as strange as her brother had described it.

"Whatever, it's just a weirder than average scavenger. Let's get this over with." she thought following the sent to the edge of the clearing. There she came across two more sents, this time a normal smelling scavenger which had probably joined the one attacking her brother and something different. Probably some kind of desert animal although she couldn't say which one.

She continued following the sent for quite a while until she reached the edge of the forest where she slowed down, inspecting her surrounding. She had arrived on a field grassland spreading out where the forest ended. A bit further away she could see weed which was surprisingly symmetrical to be wild. Maybe someone had planted it? She shook her head. Nonsense, why would anyone plant something as useless as weed? They weren't edible and didn't even look pretty.

Furthermore, she found some hills that gave the area some height and a few trees here and there, nothing further interesting.

On one of the hills however she found what she was looking for. Not too far away from her were the two scavengers she had been following this entire time, walking across the green landscape without a care in the world.

She smiled as she sneaked up on them getting a better look.

The one on the right didn't look any special except for a strange miniature armor it was wearing and some kind of bag strapped to its back. It had black fur on the top of its head and light brown skin. Its body had a rather strong looking build for a scavenger, muscles visible beneath the cloth scavengers always covered themselves in for some reason.

The other however stood out from every other scavenger she had seen so far. While he didn't seem as strong as his companion he was covered almost completely in armor except for his head. His skin was lighter than his companion with brown fur instead of black. A thin metal box was on his back although she couldn't say if it was part of his armor or if it was simply carrying.

Finally, both scavengers seemed male and around the same size. A quick sniff of the air confirmed that they were indeed the ones she was looking for the strange, but now familiar scent coming from the metalish one. She managed to catch a glimpse of the strange weapon it had been using to attack her brother before they disappeared behind the hill.

She smiled. "I got you now…"