The night wind swept through the treetops, branches and leaves rubbing together with a rustling sound, while the shadows of the trees stretched into long, narrow shapes across the ground.
Moonlight sliced apart by the branches fell across Garos's scales, forming scattered patches of light.
His hard body pushed through the shrubs, his claws swept aside the vines, and he followed the scent of blood in the air. After searching the area for several minutes, he stopped.
He looked closely.
A short section of severed Serpent Dragon tail lay quietly on the ground. Green Dragon Blood seeped from the broken surface, corroding all the gravel and snapped branches around it. Centered on the tail, it had formed a pool of green liquid that bubbled away as it continued to eat into its surroundings.
"Poison hidden in its blood... why doesn't it poison itself to death?"
Garos pinched the severed tail and lifted it, then spread his dragon wings and shot into the sky, turning back toward Conifer Valley.
This time, he had set out to investigate his "neighbors."
Garos had originally intended to investigate more intelligent clans or the territories of powerful beasts and monsters in one trip.
But after discovering a Cliff Serpent Dragon in the Gray-Mane Werewolf Tribe and fighting it, his dragon wing had been poisoned. He no longer felt like continuing his investigation, so he simply returned to Conifer Valley first.
Not long after.
Garos flew above Conifer Valley, folded his wings, and landed at the Training Ground he often used—a clearing in the valley.
On the west side of the clearing, Vera the Fairy Dragon lay swaying on a treetop, sleeping soundly.
Garos's arrival did not wake her. She first twitched her nose, then seemed to suddenly have a nightmare. Her limbs and tail flailed