The Hunt begins

General Atrax sat behind his desk, forehead in against his palms, and elbows upon the desk before him, his eyes pouring over the documentation before him. He started at it with intent, reading about each of the Holy Cities found so far. The ice elementals Holy City was the easiest to figure out. The elemental they had caught had sung like a nightinggale, letting slip that how was never powerless with Stalingrad still standing. What a pathetic fool he had been. So easy to manipulate into spilling his guts, before having his own spilled in turn. The water elemental city was obvious of course, Atlantis. He just had not figured out where exactly that was. He was pretty sure the fire elemental city was hidden in Egypt somewhere. After all, the sun was the symbol of fire and also a major symbol of Egyptian mythology. He snorted in contempt. The air elemental was the easiest. It was in Greece, Athens to be exact. He had simply guess that one. Greek mythology, and they all transformed into a pegasus. That was a no brainer. He just had a clue to the earth city, but he had no real proof yet. He just could not for the life of him figure out where the cities for the light and dark elementals where. He sighed, flicking his eyes across from the sheet of information before him to the world map sitting beside it.

Sharp, strutting strides resounded down the corridor, heading towards him and he looked up as a young lieutenant marched in, snapping to a sharp salute before him. He half-heartily saluted back and waited for the young man to speak.

"General, sir! We have located him." Atrax sat staring at the young man like the boy was some lunatic strode into his office.

"Son, there are many "hims" we are looking for at the moment. Be more specific or I will have you busted down to private."

The young man's face blanched to a sickly looking white and he stammered. "Uh...sir...you know. Mengele, Dr. Mengele was located. Do you wish for him to be brought in?"

Atrax sat, rubbing his fingers slowly through his beard, contemplating. He nodded and jerked out a piece of paper from a notebook and began to scribble upon it a letter.

"Dr. Josef Mengele,
I respectably petition you for an audience to discuss a possible career development and job opportunity for you. Let us just say, during this job, you will be supplied with all the equipment you could possible need at no cost to yourself, and you will be allowed to work at your discretion. No questions about your methods, no inquires. In exchange, I wish something from you, something that your research can provide. I will not state exactly what it is in this letter, as it is of a very delicate topic. If you wish, let the private carrying this message know, and your travel arrangements will be provided for. No obligation necessary.
General Atrax Metaculius "

Atrax quickly sealed the letter in an envelope and scribbled Dr. Josef Mengele upon the front. He held the envelope out to the lieutenant and nodded.

"Have your fastest private take this to the good doctor on the double. I want it to the him with in three days time. Now go." He released the letter as the young man snagged it. The lieutenant hustled from the room, and down to the hall to make sure the letter got on it's way.

[Joseph Goebbels]

Josef stared at the envelope, hands steepled, chin resting on his hands. He was of a delicate build, his fingers long with slender wrists, his face expressionless. He sighed through the rather prominent gap in his front teeth, picking up the letter and slicing it open with a small letter opener. He slid the paper out and unfolded it, scanning the hand-written note. "He has terrible handwriting." he said flatly, setting the note down on his desk and sliding it away from him without looking at it further. Bala lifted his head and got up from his place on the rug at Mengele's side. Josef was in an abandoned home...a burned out wreckage that had been abandoned after the drug wars in Columbia had taken bad turns. He had all his equipment here, his things...the house was still serviceable in the servant's quarters and some of the kitchen...even the bathroom still worked. The incendiary device that the opposing drug lord had used to try and burn his adversary's house to the ground hadn't worked well in the wet climate.

Bala stared at the note. He knew his master needed money...they couldn't keep living off of what they could forage forever. Everyone else thought they were dead, and though Bala ached for the company of others he knew...Mengele had forbidden him to contact anyone outside the house. "We could at least go see what it's about." Bala ventured carefully. His master was of a cautious nature...methodical and cold.
"He said travel arrangements will be sent." Mengele said, again with his deadpan voice.
"It doesn't mean it's something bad, Josef." Bala protested.
"You know what will happen if we are caught." Mengele said coldly.
"And we can't sit here forever. We need money."
"No, we don't." Mengele looked Bala in the eyes. The young dragon sighed angrily and took the letter to another part of the house, sitting down and thinking a moment. He smelled the letter. It had come from a northern state...the postage on it had said Colorado. He could try and fly there...North America was far but it wasn't an arduous journey. He put the letter in his mouth and trundled outside, kicking off from the ground. He knew Mengele wouldn't be angry. Not truly...but he could feign it rather well.

______________________

Two days later Bala touched down in Colorado state, high in the mountains. He pricked his ear fans forward, looking at the letter again. Where to from here? He was exhausted, his wings were cramping and his lungs burned from the cold air. He shivered, tucking his legs under himself and settling his white body down on the dark shale to rest.

[Vladamir Aerion]

~~~~Draecion was down by the lake, he enjoyed spending time there, submerged for hours at a time, swimming, chasing fish. Vladamir was still near the edge of the woods, the Yumi bow in his left hand, along with two arrows. His right hand held the string at some tension, a arrow notched and at the ready. Skimming the shadows in the deeper portions of the woods, he slowly made his way back and forth, staying in the shadows from the trees. Draecion emerged from the lake, his massive form propelled by his tail as he broke this water. His wings unfolded, and beat his wings several times and raising from the lakes surface. Another thrust from his wings propelled him forward, as he made his way towards Vladamir.
~~~~Vladamir heard Draecion emerge from the lake, and turned around. He loosened the tension on the bows string, and placed the three arrows in the quiver on his back. Walking to the woods edge, he met Draecion as he landed, " Yes?" "Do you sense that, there is a dragon that came in last night." Vladamir looked at Draecion, " How do you know?" Draecion cocked his head to the side, " I can smell him, he's not far, somewhere in the mountains." Vladamir turned, and walked a few yards to his right, this is where they had made a fire the night before. Draecion fallowed quickly, as he stopped Vladamir was waiting for him. Placing the mounting equipment on Draecions back, he buckled it down, and attached the four pouches to it with rope. Kicking dirt in the fire, he turned and mounted Draecion.
~~~~Tracking the dragon by scent, Draecion quickly closed the gap in distance to the area they were in. Draecion landed on the outskirts of the woods, walking into the woods with Vladamir on his back. Vladamir decided to dismount Draecion, the Yumi bow in his left hand. They walked forwards as Draecion tried to pinpoint the location of the dragon he smelled, with the scent of humans, it was hard to pinpoint him. Draecion wasn't sure what to make of it, a dragon around humans. Was the dragon hunters who killed dragons for their hide, teeth, claws, scales, and organs. They moved forwards, Vladamir moving three arrows from the quiver with his right hand, placing two in his left, he strung the other arrow, notched it and put some tension on the string. "Be careful." Vladamir nodded to Draecion, smoke boiling from Draecions mouth and nostrils. If the other dragon was near, it would be able to smell the smoke from around 1 mile, the smoke being infused with scents glands inside the dragons bodies, which also emits fumes from glands, along the side of the face.

"SIR!!!! We have a problem!!" The techie came sliding in fast, skidding slightly on the tiled floors beneath her feet. Shuffling her feet to get a grip she shoot into Atrax's office and slammed a piece of paper down onto the table. "Not one, but TWO dragons where spotted on radar, sir! What should we do!" The girl was frantic. This was out of her league, and she had absolutely no idea what was going on or what she should do.

Atrax stood up and placed a hand upon her shoulder, patting softly. "First of, calm down techie. Take a deep breath. Now, try to relax. This is what is going to happen. I want three copters readied. Two Cobras, they will be more then a match for a dragon with their speed and maneuverability. Just in case they are not friendly. The third will be a transport copter. And I want two squads of men in it. One to be armed with tranqs and net guns. The other you load down with rockets and heat seekers. If it is a dragon, it will have a rider so the heat seekers will still work." The techie sprinted off down the hallway, to ready everything. Sighing, Atrax reached into a draw and withdrew his two Colt 1911's and slipped them into his holsters. He stood and stretched, his hand snagging his hatchet from the wall and threading it through his belt. He walked out of his office and down the hallway to the runway.

Once there, he climbed aboard the transport copter, taking a seat across amongst the soldiers already waiting, and called up to the pilot. "Lets go, airman!" The copter lifted off, flanked by the two small agile Cobra copters and all three headed off towards where the two dragons had been spotted. "No remember! One dragon is probably Dr. Mengele's. So don't shoot if you don't have to. If you absolutely have to, try to make sure to use the tranq guns just in case." He nodded at the soldiers around him, smiling. This is what they had been trained to do, and now....they where doing it!!!

[Joseph Goebbels]

Mengele drummed his fingers on his desk. Bala had been missing for two days now...he'd obviously gone to that person to tell them they were accepting the job. The dragon had no concept of personal safety. He sneered and stood up. Fine, he would take it if his dragon was being so insistent...but he had something to do first. He walked downstairs to the ruined basement and flicked on a switch, filling the room with pale light. He eyed the shivering form on a gurney. A recreation of his finest work, Drittehund...he walked over to the heavily sedated dog. They'd been stitched together, the head attatched to the other's spinal column in order to create a two headed dog. So far, the experiment seemed to be working and the other head was taking just fine to the foreign spinal cord. But if they were going to be moving operations...he walked over to the creature and put his hand on its side. Strong heartbeat.

Pity. He reached down to the dog's breathing tubes and yanked them both out. Since the high level of sedation meant that the dog needed the tubes to breathe artificially...it convulsed and went still, its body starving itself of oxygen. Respiratory failure. He put his finger to the inside of the dog's thigh where the pulse was strongest in canids, waiting until he felt the heartbeat weaken and die out.

Mengele eyed the other experiment in the room. A boy he'd been given by his mother to aid in removing a tumour above his eye. He walked over to the boy's bed and ripped out his IV. "Get up. Go home." he told him. He didn't particularly care he'd only removed a third of the mass. He needed this house clean if he was going to leave it.

__________________________

Bala lifted his head when he heard the helicopters. He lifted his ear fans, swallowing. Uh oh. He held the letter close to his breast scales, sitting up and looking at the copters. They must be here for him...would they be angry if they found out he didn't have Mengele with him? He could go back and get the man, but the journey would be tiring...his wings ached.

[Vladamir Aerion]

~~~~ Hearing the choppers Vladamir ran to the side of Draecion, his right hand sliding the arrows back to their quiver. As Draecion knelt, Vladamir launched himself to the back of Draecion. Unfolding his wings Dreacion lurched upwards, his clawed feet ripping trees to shreds as his form came above them. His massive wings rolled, as his form turned to face the copters in the air. The beatings of their blades, thudded in the distance as Draecion beat his wings several more times, raising his form into the clouds. As he Propelled himself forwards, he noticed the white dragon, a image flashed in the head of Vladamir making his head shoot to the white dragon. Certain things gave the young dragon away, he wasn't wild, which meant he had a rider. Vladamir nudged Draecion forwards, " Go, we don't know their attentions, and where is his rider?"
~~~~Draecion moved to a lower angel, allowing his form to sink to the same height as the white dragon. As the reached the dragon, Dreacion matched his pace, and Vladamir spoke. " Dragon, what is your name, and where is your rider?" Draecion's eyes were glued to the dragon, waiting for his response. Vladamir gazed at the choppers, his hands move to Draecions neck, stroking it gently he spoke. " You may need to summon the Meteor shower, and take these guys out. He don't look scared, but if you have to do it." Draecion glanced away from the dragon, and stared at the copters heading towards them now. Vladamir turned back to the other dragon, knowing that Draecion would protect him when the time came. After all, in the air Draecion was more then a match in speed, as well as agility then these, his slinder form gave him an advantage over other dragons larger then he is. His long fore arms, were made for combat allowing him to grapple while the rider was free to get in close, and deal the killing blow.

The large transport copter fly ahead of the smaller Cobras and settle down to the earth. Its rotors slowed, then finally came to a stop as the two squads of soldiers poured out from the vehicle, and flanked it. They keep a watchful eye upon the two dragons as General Atrax stepped from the vehicle and looked upon the two magnificent beasts before him. He smiled, and strode forward, leaving his soldiers behind and stopping before the two. He looked between them, frowning. Finally his gaze stopped upon the smaller dragon and his lips parted.

"You must be Dr. Mengele's dragon. Correct? I am sure of it. Simple deduction. That rider there is definitely not Dr. Mengele. So you have to be his dragon. Did you come here alone?" He looked the dragon over. It was small, and pockets of fat still clung to it. So either a very well feed dragon, which went against everything he knew of Dr. Mengele, or a still fairly young dragon.

"You must be tired good dragon. Do you wish to accompany use back to the base? From there, we can get directions from you and go pick up your rider. If you want." He held out his hand, wondering if the creature knew how to shake hands. "I promise, you and Dr. Mengele will not be harmed in any way, shape, or form while you are our guest. This is after all a business meeting. What kind of host would I be if I harmed the...errr....guests of honor?" He paused before saying guests, unsure of whether or not the dragon was considered that.

He slowly raised his eyes towards the other dragon and rider. "Good day to you as well, might dragon and rider! Might I have the honor of asking who's acquaintance I am having this marvelous day?" He smiled a charming smile, his teething flashing brilliantly white in the early morning sun. "It is not every day you get to meet to great riders and their steeds."

[Joseph Goebbels]

Bala was frightened. Other dragons scared the living daylights out of him, and something that huge just flying up to him really didn't help. He raised his wings in an attempt to make himself look bigger, backing up and away from the other dragon and rider. He listened to the man speak in english. Oh god, why hadn't he learned english?! He flicked his fans forward and tried hard to understand the garbled language, but nothing came of it. "I... don't understand." he told the rider in German, crumpling the letter nervously in his hands. What had he gotten himself into? He was about to try and hide himself when the helicopters overhead killed that plan. If he ran, would they shoot? He tucked his tail tightly in against himself.

The other human seemed a bit more...approachable. Crazy looking, quite obviously American as the other was. But he was cheery and not at all malevolent. More blabbling in English. He did hear the word Doktor, which was the same in both languages, and he definitely recognized the name of his master. "I uh...I got your telegram." he said weakly, knowing his German was probably coming across as the same sort of garbled muck he was hearing from them. He held out the note as an explaination and came close to Atrax, eyeing the larger dragon and rider. Mengele had taught him to be distrustful of other dragons, that they ate fat little dragons like him.

_________________

Mengele packed his bags. A few changes of clothes, his medical kit. He eyed Bala's things, wondering if the dragon would care if he brought them. They were stupid, silly things that Mengele cared nothing for...but they were things he knew the dragon prized. A stuffed animal the Fuhrer had given him as a gift, a few brightly coloured feathers from the birds of Columbia. A large fang from a jaguar the dragon had found while out foraging....brazil nuts, his favourite snack. Mengele rolled his eyes behind his lids and threw Balas things into a bag, setting it beside his own. He sat down at the desk. Now, all he had to do was wait. If Bala died, he would know. But the fat little thing was remarkably adroit at avoiding bad situations.

[Vladamir Aerion]

~~~It took Vladamir a minute but soon it registered in his head. This dragon wasn't from around here, but still his rider is not with him. Hearing the man on the ground speak though intrigued him. Vladamir nudged Draecion," Land." Draecion let the beats of his wings weaken as he began to decend. It took several minutes for Draecion to reach the ground and tuck his wings, Vladamir slid from the right shoulder of Draecion, the Yumi bow in his left hand. Vladamir made his way towards the man who spoke, disregards for the soldiers, as Draecion fallowed beside him.
~~~~ " My name is Vladamir Von Aerion, this is Draecion. My father has always told me a man is only as good as his word." Vladamir stood around twenty-four feet from the man, " I'm sure Draecion can communicate with this dragon, obviously he has a rider, and maybe he knows English. He's young, so he's gonna be jumpy, especially without his rider." Draecion flexed his wings by arching them upwards, and allowing them to slowly unfold above the heads of the soldiers protecting the man they had approached. Draecion yawned as well, which revealed his large canine teeth, some may take this as a snarl. Vladamir placed the bow in his right hand, and slung bent it, allowing the string of the bow to go limp, and unstrung it. Wrapping the string around the bow , he placed the bow behid him, tucking it behind the reverse bladed katanas sheath, and the quiver." So tell me about this business offer, we may be interested as well."

General Atrax watched as the dragon move closer towards himself and smiled. He reached out, patting the dragon on the shoulder gently and rubbed his scales. He had no quarrel with dragons. In fact, he kind of liked them. They were not supernatural. Just very rare creatures upon this earth, and they surely predated the human race. It was sad that so few of them remain. He turned his head to the other rider and dragon as they landed and moved slightly closer and spoke. He nodded in understanding.

"Well, Vladimir. It is good to meet you. But alas, I can not extend you the same business offer as Dr. Mengele. You see, I require the good doctor's own personal unique skills. The cause and reason is still strictly classified, so you will excuse me if I do not explain why."

He smiled and waved at his men to stand down, who had all jumped and raised their weapons when Draecion flexed his mighty wings. They slowly and hesitantly lowered their weapons, looking at each other uneasily.

"Please excuse my soldiers. They are still not exactly comfortable with the idea of dragons and other supernatural beings that up until four months ago they only though existed in legends and fairytales. But, to give you a small taste of what we are attempting to do so you may wish to consider joining us or not. We seek to set the world straight again. To balance it out, to right the wrongs. With that, I will say nothing else."

He paused a long moment, stroking his beard thoughtfully before turning and calling out to a private. "Johnson! Come here. Leave your weapons." Private Johnson slowly set his weapons upon the ground, and hesitatantly made his way towards them. About ten feet from the dragon, he stopped and seemed unable to move any closer. General Atrax's face went flat, and he strode to the boy, seizing him by the wrist and drug him the rest of the way as if he was nothing more then a big branch upon the ground.

"Private, I believe this dragon is speaking German. You are the only man in this group I know who speaks German. What did he say? I need to know, because he obviously knows Dr. Mengele." Atrax took the note from Bala's taloned paw. "Surely you where listening, Private!"

Private Johnson was as pale as a sheet now, visibly trembling and shaking. He licked his lips quickly several times in a row, before speaking in shaking voice. "The little...dragon sir....said...it got your telegram. I assume it means the note it just handed you, sir." General Atrax nodded slowly, glancing at the note he had written to Dr. Mengele not to long ago.

"Good. Now private, ask the dragon where Dr. Mengele is please and if he could give us directions. We can send a helicopter down to pick him up. Then offer him food and lodging at our base if he would like. No expense. It is common courtesy." Private Johnson turned to the dragon, opened his mouth then closed it. He did this several times, looking more like a fish caught on dry land then a human being before he finally managed to translate what the General had said into german for the little dragon.

[Josef Mengele]

The dragon was relieved that someone in the group could speak his language, albeit with an American accent. He chewed his cheek a moment when the soldat told him to tell this...general where Mengele was so they could have a helicopter pick him up. "I can't." he said. "Listen, if you bring a helicopter there he'll panic." Well, as close as Mengele could get to panicking. Which meant he would attack. Mengele, like Joseph Goebbels, was highly distrustful of Americans and wouldn't hesitate to attack a large armed force if it meant his own survival. "I have to come with you, and you have to hang back while I explain what happened. He...didn't send me here, I came of my own accord. He didn't want to accept your offer but we're running low on supplies and your offer spoke of paying us. He's too proud to outright accept this from an American." he explained to the soldier.

It was for the most part true. Mengele was used to men (usually other doctors) coming to him and begging him for knowledge. Sociopaths tended to be arrogant, and while Mengele's wasn't entirely unearned it prevented him from accepting what he saw as a lower form of job. However Bala wasn't sure how to explain Mengele's particulars. The man was who he was. He liked to work alone, without people bothering him, in as remote a place as he could garner. Pretty much the only person that had seen many of his experiments was Bala, and that was only because he couldn't leave the little dragon alone too much. Much as Mengele postured he was no soldier, and relied on Bala's physical form to prevent fights.

Bala ground his teeth. "Um, I can lead you there, but I'll have you wait across the river for us. If he's ready to go he's ready to go. If he isn't, then I'm sorry for wasting your time. It's on his decision, I can't make him do anything." he said to the soldier, looking to the general. He also didn't know about Mengele's...manners. Or lack thereof. "He also doesn't really have a...filter." he gesticulated vaguely.

[Vladamir Aerion]

~~~Vladamir thrummed his fingers on the scales of Draecion, along the base of his neck. It was easy to work the nerves of Vladamir, which then worked the nerves of Draecion. He did not wish to sound rude, but the fact was a young dragon is now in their presence now for the first time since Vladamir came in contact with Draecion. " I can understand that, none the less, I wish to meet this dragons rider for myself. Draecion and I, will fly along side the young dragon, this is none negotiable, it will happen regardless if you want it or not. Finding another rider, especially one with a young dragon, is something we have not done yet." Pausing for a minute, he removed his hand from Draecion, and began to speak again. " We wont appose on the mission.'
~~~Turning to Draecion he spoke again, " Do you know the language he is speaking?" Draecion turned looking to the dragon in the air," Yes, if you'd asked earlier we could of skipped alterations with this man." Vladamir turned from the general and looked to the dragon now." Stop being a smart ass, and lets go then." Draecion turned his tail slowly dragging across the ground in front of the soldiers, taking a few steps, Draecion unfolded his wings. Vladamir reached with his right hand, grabbing the harness around Draecions body, he swung his form into the mount on Draecion, and allowed the left hand holding the Yumi bow, to bring it to rest on his lap. Draecions wings stroked the air, as his legs bent, and uncoiled launching him into the air. Allowing his tail to swing upwards, as to miss the heads of any soldiers.
~~~Coming to a rest about two hundred feet in the air, they turned to the young dragon. Vladamir tapped the side of Draecions neck, " Ask him where his rider is, and what he is doing so far from him." Draecion faced the young dragon and spoke in his rustic voice. "We mean you no harm young one, I am Draecion, and this here is my rider, Vladamir. What is your name, where is your rider, and why are you this far away from him?" Draecions massive wings beat the air which kept them from sinking lower in the sky. He could use the hot air drafts and soar above them, but it would be like a hawk circling it's prey, and Draecion didn't want to startle the dragon before them.

Atrax listened to the translation quickly rattled off to him from the private. He nodded, and had the translator simply tell the dragon that was ok.

Atrax turned and climbed into his helicopter. He asked the pilot how much fuel they had. The pilot responded with that they had enough fuel to travel almost the whole day, but more then that and they would have to refuel. Atrax hopped back out of the copter and went back to the dragon. He turned to the translator and spoke quickly.

"Tell Bala that we will follow him, but if we are going past the border that we will need to stop and refuel the copters. Other then that, tell him to go ahead and lead on."

The german speaking man turned and relayed the instructions to Bala. Atrax nodded with satisfaction and turned to Vladimir.

"Feel free to tag along. I will have to speak t Dr. Mengele alone for a little bit, but after that you will be free to converse with us as you wish. Dr. Mengele will want to keep his work private I am sure. So feel free to come along. My units will not attack you as long as you don't bother them." He shrugged and turned back to his copter, jumping up into it and followed by his men. The rotors of the copter quickly gathered speed, finally lifting from the ground and raising into the air and hovering, waiting for the young dragon to lead them.

[Josef Mengele]

Bala listened to the other dragon rider babble on, then the dragon itself speak to him. He had no idea what the hell it was saying, speaking english. Even if it was speaking draconian, Bala had long forgotten most tenets of the language, being closer to Mengele who had abolished its use in his presence. He shook his head at the large dragon. "I don't understand." he repeated for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He didn't understand english any more than those two understood swahili. The white dragonling looked at the men all expectantly waiting for him to pull them close to Mengele. "We are going across the border, to South America." he informed the private. "So...um...let me know when you need to refuel. I probably will need to rest." he kicked his back legs and rose into the air, turning and heading south. He didn't know if his master would like this.

When they reached the mexican border, the dragonling desperately needed a rest. He set down in the sand and puffed, pulling his aching wings close to his body. He knew the machine could probably go longer with a little fuel, and the older dragon could definitely fly longer, but...he was exhausted. He'd done so much flying in the last few days. He waited for the helicopter to set down. It was the middle of the night, not the best time for flying. He knew Mengele would probably be waiting expectantly for him. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint his master.
But, he also wasn't sure if he'd recieve praise or a beating for bringing men so close to Mengele's work.

__________________________

Back in Brazil, the doctor glared foully into the darkness. So, it would take him longer than a few days then would it? He walked back down to the dead dog and sighed angrily at it. He could have done so much in the few days he had been given...instead he'd gotten apprehensive and pulled the plug on two experiments. He wrinkled his nose. The corpse was starting to smell in the Brazilian heat. He grabbed the animal's hindleg and yanked it unceremoniously off of the gurney, dragging it into the woods where it could stink without offending his sense of smell.

[Vladamir Aerion]

Draecion fallowed the young dragon closely, his massive form shadowing over Bala. Vladamir watched the young dragon soaring beneath them, and wondered what he was doing. He seemed sluggish in the air, which Draecion had told him it's because of his baby fat. When he began combative training the dragon would lose the fat at a accelerated level compared to humans, and become a lean beast in mere weeks. Draecion stayed high enough above the dragon known as Bala, so the wind from his wings would not disrupt his flight, and cause him to lose energy quicker. The copters drowned out all sounds around them, the loud engines, combined with the constant beating of the blades.

Draecion began to sink, and Vladamir looked around them, the copters still maintaining their course behind them. The dragon was getting tired, the baby fat weighing him down, and the sheer weakness of his wings. It wasn't hard to figure this dragon was poorly trained at being a dragon, and had never been tested. Draecion stayed in the air as the young dragon set down, the white scales on his body reflecting the moon light as he laid on the dull sand. Soaring above them, Vladamir and Draecion kept watch, they were near a border. This meant that there were going to be patrols, along ever major and sub major routes, this included the rivers, and streams.

Vladamir wasn't worried, the good General had brought enough men to hold off for atleast a couple days of straight combat. This would come in handy if they came into a quick skirmish of a small troop, or hunters. Dragons were very rare, their scales, organs, hides, teeth, and claws were highly prised on the markets. Some groups of hunters band together when they hear rumors of dragons in the skies, and a young dragon like Bala, wouldn't stand much of a threat to a large organized groups. His large white form in the skies in the sun, or night was a easy target to track.