Chapter 6: Chapter 4 I Believe I Can Fly… wait shit!

I wish I could say I flew through the sky like the majestic dragon I am. I wish I could say it was even a somewhat graceful glide but in truth, it was more of a barely controlled fall. I tumbled off the cliff and flared my wings out as wide as they would go. I did manage to catch the wind but I had no control over where I was going and didn't even know how to flap my wings. I had no frame of reference to even begin to understand my wings and I fell like the majestic dumbass I am barely catching my fall and managing one crooked flap. Then I crashed into the ground and realized that in a fight between my chest and the ground my chest kinda won. I tore a line through the ground as I crashed hard into the dirt. 

I simply sat therefore a moment as I paused for the first time to think about what I tried to do. Then I stopped and turned back around to try it again anyway. I shook the dirt off to find my wooden body largely unharmed. I felt a way similar to a light bruise in many places on my body, particularly my chest that hit the ground, but there was no visible damage. So I turned back to the hill that I was maybe 30 feet from and started to walk back.

All the way I put my complete focus on my wings as I tried to feel them out. I had muscles I never noticed before and many I just didn't know how to use. So as I walked I was paying the barest amount of attention possible to walking and instead focus on flexing each muscle I could to see what felt comfortable and what pulled and hurt. I didn't encounter anything on the way back to the hill. There was just the sound of strange birds calling in the trees. 

I reached the hill as I Stiffly managed to flap my wings a little as I walked. I was glad for the wide-area this forest seem to encourage. The trees grew to massive proportions and their thick oak-like canopy only began 50 feet up, coving most of the sunlight and leaving only smaller plants that can survive with the little light, some that lived feeding on the mana around them to make up for the deficiency.  The trees made the forest like a natural grand hall where a throne would sit. 

When I reached the hill I flared my wings and started to flap them the best I could as I ran towards the edge. The hill was only about 15 feet so I didn't even reach high enough to rise to the canopy above and flew underneath it. I did better this time managing a sloppy glide instead of a controlled tumble. I Could feel myself cut through the air and feel every individual feather-like leaves that made up my wings as the wind caressed them. It was a truly liberating feeling for a solid minute but then the ground started to come at me much too quickly. I flapped my wings as hard as I could to slow down and managed to crash into the ground somewhat less forcefully. As I crashed there was the sound of impact as well as a startled yelp as I felt my tail hit something furry.  I landed on my feet this time but still ended up on my chest in the end as I fell over with my momentum. 

I tried to get to my feet as quickly as I could as I scanned my surroundings for the creature I had hit. I turned to look at my tail only to see a pitch-black wolf pinned by the rough end of my tail. The wolf's fur was all black and even on its nose and any exposed flesh was not a speck of light. The only light was two dim grey lights coming from seemingly stone coins connected to the wolf's face where the eyes should be. The coins were made of a dark grey stone and on its surface were runic carvings on three spinning dials. the two top and bottom dials were slowly spinning clockwise and glowed with the dimmest light while the middle dial turned counterclockwise at a rapid pace and glowed brightly. There was the illusion of an eye in how the brightest circle looked like the whites of the eyes and the light got darker as it approached where the pupil would be where no light reached appearing pitch black. 

Then as the wolf opened its mouth and released a howl I saw another speck of light. The wolf's teeth were grey stone, like its eyes and they too glowed with runic carving. The teeth were horrifying appearing similar to drills with three rotating heads. they followed the opposite pattern as the eyes with the top blade-like head and the bottom spinning counterclockwise quickly and the middle spinning clockwise slowly. The runes only glowed dimly on all the teeth and yet the mouth was filled with light. This light was because the wolf had no tongue and instead there was a vortex of amethyst light swirling angrily where its throat was. Then the sound of the howl hit me like a truck with its impossibly high pitch that sent pain to my head. 

I recoiled in pain from the wolf's howl and the wolf managed to get its back leg out from under my tail. Then the howl cut out but as I turned to see the wolf it was also gone. I wasn't even angry just glad the howling stopped when suddenly I noticed the wolf appear next to me out the corner of my eye and it leaped straight at my throat. I panicked not knowing what to do and just decide to bash the wolf with my head at the last second.  As my head came into contact with what I believe counts as a wolf's shoulder It turned to snarl viciously and swiped out at my cheek as I flung it away. It got a decent cut on my snout above my nose but I felt no pain, just the knowledge I had been damaged.  The wolf flew away from my body and slammed into one of the massive trees upholding the roof of leaves above us. 

I didn't hesitate to think any further and used the one skill I knew to call upon and released a roar filled with my desire to burn away the life before me. A wave of emerald green flames rushed at the wolf's downed body and I just manage to notice a flicker of darkness before the flames were over where it rested. I suddenly felt a sense of unease that only grew worse when the flame stuck to the area around only to reveal no wolf. I had a sudden realization and began to try and turn around when I felt a horrific pain in my back and left thigh. With this wound, there was not just the knowledge that a chunk of my body had been mercilessly ripped away but I felt a sharp pain in my mind as I suddenly felt much more tired. 

I released another breath of emerald flames at the dark wolf but notice that same flicker of darkness before the flames reach. I quickly spin around not stopping my breath and releasing emerald flames in a swath around me. Although as I turn I notice The wolf appears only to sink back into a shadow as soon as it saw the flame.  I cursed internally seeing that but didn't stop releasing emerald flames as I spun. I took another deep breath after the first ran out and instantly leaped as high as I could straight up and covered the ground beneath me in flames. As the flames cover and consumed my shadow on the ground the wolf suddenly appeared and yelped. It was quickly consumed by flames as desperately searched around it. It made a despite leap to escape the flames only to meat the tail I swung at it as I fell, flapping my wings hard as I could to slow descent. 

I watched the wolf collapse back into the flames as it let out a resentful screech. It tried to rise again but its legs gave out underneath it and it collapsed back down. I could feel its stone eyes glaring at me resentfully as it seemed to collapse and give up. it raised its head and gave one last piercingly loud howl that had me clutching my head in pain.  The howl started loud enough to echo throughout the forest but progressively grew quieter as after a minute the wolf rested its body on the ground and died. As the emerald flames died there stood a statue of the wolf in its final moments, resting upon the ground still with its head up high. 

[combat victory]

[experience is obtained]

[obtained 500 exp]

[LV UP! 05 -> 06]

[obtained 5 status points]