Book 3: Chapter 104 (1/2)

“How do we approach this, dear?” Vernon asked, ignoring the two squabbling atop his mate’s head.

Sera clicked her tongue and frowned. “What is it that those pesky adventurers did? They sent a scout first?” Her eyes rolled up to stare at Lindyss. “I think I found a job for you.”

Lindyss froze, a fairy struggling against her fingers. “What kind of job?”

“Figure out how strong it is,” Sera said.

“You mean, right now?” Lindyss asked. “What do you want me to do, fight it?”

Sera nodded. “That’d be ideal. We’ll watch.” After a brief moment of silence, Sera tilted her head. “Go on. What are you waiting for?”

Lindyss’ eye twitched. Purple wings sprouted out of her back, and she rose off of Sera’s head. “Come on,” she said, pulling Erin along even though the fairy queen was trying to fly away. “If I have to, you have to as well.”

“Can’t you feel the aura coming off that thing? I don’t like it!” Erin’s wings beat so fast that they weren’t visible, but she couldn’t get free of Lindyss’ hand. “How about you take this chance to flee?”

“And then what?” Lindyss asked with a snort. “Then I’ll see them again in a few hours. What else can I do?” She passed through the layer of clouds underneath her and stopped, hovering in the air above the giant’s head. “This thing is a lot bigger up close.”

“That’s how things tend to be,” Erin said. “I don’t think there’s anything that gets smaller the closer you are to it.”

Lindyss ignored the fairy and stuffed the queen into her hair. She sighed and spread her arms out to the side. A black rift appeared in front of her, and a series of bones fell towards the ground. The giant’s eyes snapped open, revealing round red orbs that had no pupil or iris. The giant tilted his head up and made eye contact with Lindyss, who was still maintaining the rift. Bone upon bone fell out of the black portal, but all the giant did was stare. When the bones on the ground wriggled and crept towards one another, the giant turned his gaze onto them. Like a baby, he stared at the forming bone dragon without a sound.

“I thought you said you needed a sacrifice for those,” Erin whispered. “And that giant thing is really creeping me out.”

Lindyss shrugged. “I’ve seen worse,” she said and closed the rift when the last bone fell out. It landed on the ground and attached itself to the end of the bone dragon’s tail. “And this thing doesn’t require any sacrifices because it’s really weak. It can’t cast any magic, it can’t fly, and it has almost no mass behind it. It’s probably as strong as an almost newborn dragon.”

Erin’s eyes widened. “And you can casually summon something like that?”