As a Fey Wanderer, even though Richard could no longer cast spells in the face of the stagnating Weave, he could still call upon the spell-like abilities bestowed by his Archfey patron.
He slowly closed his eyes, using his awareness to perceive the surrounding area.
*Primal Awareness.*
This ability allowed him to sense aberrations, dragons, elementals, fiends, and undead within miles of him—a trump card that had allowed him to roam through enemy territory.
In his consciousness, an unimaginably colossal mass of energy was flying toward them at astonishing speed, streaking across the horizon like a meteor locked onto its target.
"How can it be so fast...?"
Richard parted his lips slightly, muttering in disbelief.
Common knowledge dictated that red dragons possessed the largest, most powerful bodies among the chromatic dragons, yet were also the clumsiest fliers of their kind.
Their agility in the air was far inferior to the skeletal black dragons or the leaner green dragons, yet this red dragon's speed surpassed everything he knew about dragonkind.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. If they did not do something immediately, that red dragon would swoop down from the heavens and reduce them to ashes.
Gritting his teeth at the thought, he grabbed Abir's hand.
"Abir, with me!"
*Land's Stride.*
Empowered by fey magic, a verdant glow radiated from both of them as they bolted through the forest. Like sprites of the wilderness, every branch and briar parted on its own to make way for them.
Yet in Richard's Primal Awareness, that energy signature continued to close in at a visible rate. He could even hear the whistling gale screaming in from the distant sky.
*At this rate, we'll definitely be caught!*
Heavy beads of sweat rolled down Richard's forehead. He knew this catastrophe was brought on by his own actions, and he refused to drag his companion down with him.
"There's only one way! Abir, bring the intelligence back to the Harpers. I'll draw the dragon away."
*Hide in Plain Sight.*
Miraculous fey power gathered in his hands once more. Drawing on fresh mud, soil, foliage, and other natural materials to fashion a camouflage, Richard disguised the elven assassin as a sapling in just a few breaths.
"You..."
Abir wanted nothing more than to refuse, but she knew the critical importance of their mission. She carried a map of the Kingdom of Cinders that had to be brought south.
Such were the Harpers. Their mission was to preserve balance across the world and thwart the plots of evil, willing even to lay down their lives for the cause.
Yet the enemy arrived far faster than they could have imagined.
The air shrieked with a piercing wail as a scorching gale tore through the woods.
Above, a colossal shadow engulfed Richard. The crushing aura left him trembling from head to toe, and the violent wind battered him off balance, yet the half-elf stubbornly raised his head.
"Gods above..."
Richard suddenly realized that this nascent evil far exceeded anything the Harpers had anticipated.
This was nothing less than the avatar of a natural disaster!
The red dragon before him was nearly twenty meters long, coated in golden-red scales across which ripples of molten lava seemed to flow. Incandescent embers swirled around his frame. With every beat of his wings, scorching gusts carrying the stench of sulfur slammed into the earth.
Thick billows of smoke spread steadily outward, blotting out the sky and turning the surrounding forest into an inferno.
Cassius looked down upon the half-elf below, a flicker of wrath gleaming within his golden slitted pupils.
"So it was you... who disturbed my rest?"
Mid-stride, Richard froze in terror as he realized the red dragon had said "you," plural—not singular.
"A laughable disguise."
Midair, the red dragon slowly beat his wings. As the volcanic ash and smoke drifted outward, the Kingdom Domain descended in an instant. Wielding what seemed like divine authority, he extinguished every trace of magical power in the vicinity.
The fey magic cloaking Richard was ruthlessly snuffed out.
The camouflage granted by the Archfey crumbled into ordinary mud and leaves, exposing the concealed elven woman right before the red dragon.
"Abir, run!" Richard shouted frantically.
Yet it was already too late.
A massive form swept low across the ground. Before the nimble elven assassin could even react, gigantic talons closed firmly around Abir's body.
Framed by the dragon's gargantuan claws, the elven woman's tall, slender figure looked utterly minuscule.
Abir writhed and struggled fiercely, stabbing with her dagger as she shouted sharply, "Vile dragon! Let me go!"
Yet before absolute might, all resistance was futile.
The dagger struck the dragon's rock-hard scales and was deflected without contest, leaving behind nothing more than a faint white mark.
Cassius landed with a thundering crash. Raising the claw holding the elf slightly closer to his snout, a menacing grin spread across his face.
"Did you know? My kin take great pleasure in the flesh of elven maidens—they even record such delicacies in our draconic inheritance."
"Now, I don't happen to share such barbaric tastes."
"Still, I can't help wondering..."
"Just what... does it taste like?"
Panic seized Abir, her body trembling slightly. She could feel the suffocating stench of sulfur washing over her—the breath of death itself.
Countless times she had imagined dying for justice, perhaps struck down by a volley of bandits' arrows or falling honorably on the battlefield. Never had she imagined ending up as a red dragon's meal, buried in a beast's belly!
"Richard, run..."
Memories of the past rushed through Abir's mind like phantoms. She couldn't help but turn her head toward the companion with whom she shared unspoken affections.
"Do not mourn for me."
Abir and Richard had braved countless perils together, each long aware of the other's feelings. Yet before they could ever confess their love, they were to be parted forever—and in such a horrific, dramatic manner.
How cruel fate was!
"No! Abir!" Richard roared in despair.
Stripped of his fey magic, he was completely powerless, forced to watch helplessly as his companion stood on the verge of disappearing into the dragon's maw.
Richard grabbed a stone from the ground and hurled it, but it was an utter joke. The red dragon ignored him entirely, continuing to raise the claw clutching the elf.
The stone clattered harmlessly against the dragon's scales before rolling across the earth.
"No, no..."
Richard sank to his knees, mumbling under his breath.
Despair brimmed in his eyes, tears falling onto the soil. He could no longer bear to watch the gruesome sight that was about to unfold.
The half-elf ranger had never felt so utterly powerless. Even when surrounded by evil Red Wizards or raiding a bandit lair, he had always believed he could fight his way out.
Yet this time, the fey power he took such pride in was gone, and his dearest companion was about to be snatched away forever.
Yet Richard suddenly noticed a massive shadow looming over him once more.
Did the beast mean to devour him as well?
So be it... he had already lost the will to live.
Reuniting in a red dragon's belly—was that not dark humor at its finest?
With hollow eyes, Richard looked up, only to be stunned by what he saw. The red dragon was holding the elf, who had already fainted from terror, and looking down upon him, a chilling glint in those golden slitted pupils.
"Do you want her to live?"
"Tell me everything about yourselves, and I might consider... postponing this lunch for a moment."
Chapter 229