Mother and Son Reunited

"Damn it, could that be...?"

Sol's heart sank. Once he got a clear look at the red figure, he leaped off the rock without a word and sprinted toward the dense forest at the foot of the mountain, never looking back.

A piercing roar suddenly erupted behind him, and its sheer force made the scales all over his body stand on end.

"My dear child, why are you running from your mother?"

A rush of wind howled behind his head. A massive red figure plunged from the sky, snapping a swath of branches before landing squarely in Sol's path.

It was a red dragon over fifty feet long, with a body as stout as an iron tower and fearsome, razor-sharp claws and fangs. Her eyes, like burning coals, were fixed on Sol-she was the birth mother of his current body.

Sol slowly came to a stop. Facing Chilier, he felt no joy at their reunion. The scales above his eyes quivered slightly as an inexplicable sense of foreboding crept over him.

He studied her without betraying his thoughts. When his gaze fell on the Half-Orc in her powerful claw, his heart sank to rock bottom.

True dragons had always possessed astonishing memories. They could remember the exact position of every gold coin in their hoard.

He recognized this Half-Orc. It was one of the group that had attacked him before.

Thoughts raced through Sol's mind. He forced a smile and spoke.

"So it's my great mother. It's been a long time. How have you been lately?

You left and never came back. I thought you didn't want us anymore."

Chilier looked Sol up and down, a trace of amazement appearing in her eyes.

If she remembered correctly, this son of hers had hatched less than two years ago, yet he had already grown so large. As expected of a descendant who had inherited her excellent bloodline. She truly was born to become the queen of red dragons.

After hearing Sol's words, Chilier burst into loud laughter. Thick smoke laced with sparks billowed from her nostrils and the corners of her mouth, filling the air with the pungent smell of sulfur.

"What nonsense are you spouting? How could I abandon my own children?

I merely went out hunting. I never expected you all to have vanished when I returned. I've been looking for you for so long.

Now that I've found you, come with me! You're still just a wyrmling. How could you do without your mother's protection?"

Even with his ass, Sol could smell the lies in those words. But the question was, did he have any room to refuse?

The situation was beyond his control. When dealing with a red dragon, refusal could end only one way.

He could only force down his anger and nod.

Those Half-Orcs were sent by that blue dragon called Storm Fang, and now this Half-Orc has fallen into my dear mother's claws... This damned old thing, is she planning to sell me?

Or has she joined those blue cowards and decided to follow their example, using her own offspring as free slaves?

Damn that old thing, she's a disgrace to red dragons!

Sol raged inwardly, but his face remained impassive. He had even begun to scheme against Xisitana and Kalpu.

If he was going to die, they would die together. He had been caught, so how could they get away scot-free? Even if he went to hell, he would keep his two main sources of essence firmly tied to his side.

"Dear Mother, Xisitana and Kalpu are with me too. They'll be back before long. Should we bring them along?"

A glint flickered in Chilier's crimson eyes. The fighting on the wilderness was growing fiercer, and the various tribes had begun to band together.

She had already paid the price for fighting alone, nearly falling into a centaur trap and being surrounded and attacked by an army.

So once her injuries healed, her first thought was to join the strongest dragon faction currently in the wilderness-the blue dragon family of Blackrock Fort.

She also thought that once she reached adulthood and became strong enough, she might be able to turn the tables and take the entire group of blue dragons and all their followers for herself.

As for Kalundak, who was determined to conquer the entire wilderness, a young red dragon was a valuable addition to his forces and could help him expand his territory further.

He had already entered his mature adult stage, and his Challenge Rating was as high as nineteen. Far stronger than an ordinary blue dragon of his age, he naturally had no need to worry that a red dragon still in her young stage would threaten him, so he accepted Chilier without hesitation.

Only after Chilier joined Blackrock Fort did she discover that things were far from as simple as she had imagined.

Kalundak's subordinates included not only blue dragons, but also Green Dragons, Black Dragons, and white dragons.

Every one of those true dragons was ambitious and had the same plan as her. They also had large numbers of followers, while she was alone, making her the weakest of the lot.

How could a proud red dragon tolerate that?

But gaining capable followers was easier said than done. First, she needed territory of her own. Second, powerful followers had better options and could simply pledge their loyalty directly to the blue dragon leader.

The weaker ones were of little use, and she lacked the patience to raise them from scratch.

Then one day, she saw the chromatic dragon wyrmlings adopted by the blue dragon clan and suddenly remembered the three offspring she had abandoned.

A red dragon needed only about thirty years to reach the juvenile stage, at which point its Challenge Rating could reach ten.

With a true dragon's powerful physique, natural breath weapon, and magic resistance, that Challenge Rating could rise by another level or two. They would be an absolute mainstay in any faction.

So Chilier hurried back to her former lair and searched along the way. By chance, she found a Half-Orc fleeing in terror, which eventually brought her to Sol.

Even if Sol had said nothing, Chilier would have searched for the other two wyrmlings. A dragon mother always had a peculiar sense of the eggs she had laid and the wyrmlings that had hatched from them.

Since the two little ones would return on their own, she naturally couldn't be bothered to move. She abruptly tightened the foreclaw holding the Half-Orc, crushing it into a bloody pulp with a crisp crack.

As the light of dawn was about to spill over the mountaintop, two red figures finally emerged from the tall grass at the foot of the mountain.

Chilier immediately glanced at Sol, her parted jaws revealing rows of sinister fangs. The threat was unmistakable.

Then she spread her wings and flew with a rush of wind toward Xisitana and Kalpu in the distance.

The two wyrmlings reacted to seeing their birth mother exactly as Sol had.

They immediately turned around and ran, scrambling frantically on all fours.

But if even Sol couldn't escape, how could Xisitana and Kalpu? Before long, they obediently flew back on their own.

Chilier glanced at her eldest daughter and second son, then at her eldest son. The difference in their body lengths, nearly twofold, was particularly striking.

Damn it! My noble bloodline only showed itself in the eldest.

The other two are both trash. That lowly old thing must have tainted their bloodline!