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Chapter 2278: 2278. Price To Pay

"I know what she has been telling you. She is also the one that stole away wind mana from you while you rested. You did not lose enough to cause you harm, just enough that you were able to be awakened by your little one." Mordant had seen quite a bit.

His eyes were not prying in the sense that he invaded privacy. He had just done exactly as he had been asked of by Ventus before she left. Keep his eyes on any trouble that might appear. Make sure that the slumbering dragon were safe. Ensure that the hatchlings had good care.

He had done all of this along with the help of a few others. Even Ignus had made a point to fly through the wind dragon territory to show that a royal dragon was not far. For some of the elder wind dragons, that was a very positive event. A few others felt violated by it. Hence why Mordant remained hidden in the shadows.

"Your little one. What are your true thoughts about her? Erica has been trained by Walker and Midnight, two heroes. But not just them. The others have met her. Eaten with her. And praised her. She has used magic well ahead of any other hatchling. She also grasps her dual affinities." Mordant understood very well this was a genius level for any hatchling.

"I wanted to be proud but-"

"She is a very unique little hatchling. She is going to be able to use healing winds and also winds that help herbs grow. Currently, no other dragon is doing such things. I do not wish to hear the words fed to you by a weaker elder while you were tired and unsteady in your mana flow. I wish to know what you believe before I decide if I will punish you."

This was where Willow\'s breath caught in her throat. She had been convinced to rival Ventus because they were all wind dragons. Her and Aella should be strong enough to handle Ventus. But against a darkness dragon? No, a royal dark dominator dragon... She could not handle such an opponent right now.

Normally, dragons passed down the royal dragon title to those that are born to them or to those strong enough to handle it. Battles for the position were not unfamiliar, especially in the earth and fire dragon villages.

However, the wind dragons rarely fought outright like this. It was an oddity that was pushed forward by Aella. Partially since she wished for the power but also because she believed that Ventus had taken on too much risk to be accepted by others.

"I only want the best for my little one. I don\'t want her to become something that is bowing her head to others. I want her to be proud and strong." Willow shouted to be louder than Mordant. Her scales shivering slightly to show that she was struggling to hold the dragonkin form she was in. She was still not entirely used to it just yet.

"Then you will meet those that your little one met. You will train with them. You will eat with them. You will experience what she did. Then you will decide whether or not there are issues. But while you slumbered for a short time, your child accomplished many things. You can understand the height of those things after experiencing them."

While he would not force her, Mordant could see the purity within Willow\'s mana. She was not one to scheme or trick. Just one that felt a little too much. Being controlled with another\'s words was something she should have been able to go against. However, Ventus was gone, her child had been used against her, and she had been weakened from slumber which she was woken from too early. It was all a lot to handle at once. Any dragon would struggle.

Mordant took her with him, clearly, she didn\'t seem hostile and he did not have any reason to go against the wind dragons and their love for their children. They were larger in number because of that care and always had seriously stronger children. Even to the point that some could call it cruel in a way.

Regardless, Mordant knew that Ventus was busy and would return in due time from the outskirts of Genesis.

"Show me what you believe is strength." Ventu remained within her dragonkin form as she watched Aella erupt in wind mana to take her elder wind dragon form. There were sharper scales proving that she had advanced significantly toward the goal of becoming more.

If she had the time, Ventus could tell that Aella could become a wind dominator dragon. This strength was similar to hers when she had begun meeting the party. When she had forged a bond with Genesis. When she had gone to battle and eventually found the lost history of the wind dragons.

They were different though. Ventus could sense it much more clearly now. The small bits of impure wind mana that whipped around and inside of Aella\'s body. Even with her larger dragon form, it wasn\'t enough to shake Ventus\'s expression.

That was a hit to Aella\'s pride. As a dragon who believed herself better to lead the wind dragons and eventually more than that, she should stroke fear. She should inspire awe. She should be respected above all else. Yet, Ventus was silent and unmoving.

"You have grown a bit." Ventus spoke without a single bit of wind mana fluctuating around her. Aella didn\'t notice that the wind mana had absolutely no reaction around Ventus at all. It should have been moving wildly but instead, it was still. Perfectly so.

"You are older than I am. However, I was stronger and raised for this position. To be a royal that is. You, were too weak. You were not growing as well as I was. You were too emotional. You, are still too foolish to be a royal wind dragon responsible for the others." The wind finally reacted.

This wind, was not calm whatsoever. It felt dangerous. Dense. Powerful.

"I have done a great deal for my children. You are correct. I even risked my very life to be at the whim of another within their territory to learn of our history and of the wind that we rely on for life itself. And you say I am the weak one? That I do not care?"

Her wind dominator dragon form came to full heat well above that of Aella\'s. Her scales had a slight glisten of pure condensed wind mana flowing over and even in to them. The pressure of that wind mana was many times more intense than what Aella could even muster.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You believe that I lacked wind mana. No. I was sealed, but my body was bathed within pure wind mana. While I could not control it, a fellow wind dominator dragon many times older than myself gave me guidance. I can condense wind mana in the world and mimic that form of impeccable control. Impeccable strength."

"You harmed the bond between a newly hatched child and their mother. Shook the foundation of her growth. Did you expect me too blind to notice that you stole away her stored wind mana as she slumbered? You could have killed one of your own!"

"And now, you were prepared to kill me and became the royal wind dragon in my place. There is no exile for a royal wind dragon. They perish in their position. They retire and become a keeper of memories before they perish. Or they attempt to venture deeper within mana to disappear or ascend."

"Do you know that you have made your own choice to perish here?"

All the wind mana that Aella believed she had control of was stolen from her. The entirety of her being was weak. Weaker than she had ever been. Whether it was after fighting others or when she was nothing but a hatchling looking up at the previous royal wind dragon for the first time. Nothing could compare to the weakness she had right this moment. Looking down on the elder dragon who dared step on her toes, Ventus growled slightly causing the wind mana pressure to grow even greater than it had just a moment ago. "It is a new age. I will not kill you here. I will make you live. You will never feel the touch of wind. I will remove your strength. You will be ostracized by wind itself. You will not fly again. You will not attempt to look down on myself or another dragon again."

What Ventus had learned about wind and who she was as a dominator dragon had become valuable. Right now, she used that knowledge in a way that she would call cruel under any circumstance.

But for someone who desired her fall? No, this was mercy. She could easily take Aella\'s life for such actions. Instead, she would live up to the future she desired within Genesis. A kind future

for even an enemy.

....

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