Will of a Prince

Chapter 202: I’m Not Ready to be a Parent!

Jacob heavily panted as he threw the dragon’s deceased head on the ground in anger. He looked at his arms and reached for his back. Having wings was never something Jacob expected to experience one day, but it was a very welcoming benefit. Maria was standing on the dragon’s limp body looking down at it with disgust. She spit down on it and wiped her mouth before looking at Jacob and smiling.

"For a second, I thought I died and you were my angel who saved me."

Jacob smiled back and laughed lightly.

"I should say the same about you. Where did that strength come from? Are you okay? Where’s the gash this beast left on you?"

Maria ran her hands over herself trying to find any wounds.

"I don’t really know. It was odd. When I was defeated by the dragon, something deep inside me refused to give in. My blood flooded with immeasurable power and the only thoughts in my head were of victory. Do you think that’s part of something they were hiding from us?"

Jacob nodded and studied the dragon’s corpse more.

"I do. I may not know the specifics, but it looks like you have a trump card for when you get defeated. That will come in handy for plenty of battles in the future, I’m sure of it."

Maria nodded and jumped down to get closer to Jacob. They both stared at the monstrous corpse.

"What should we do with it?"

Jacob rubbed his chin.

"I have an idea, but there’s a few risks involved."

"What are they?"

"Well, I should definitely have a release power by now. I was going to try and abuse my new power to keep these modifications permanent. Another thing I wanted to do was make both of us new armor. Lucy’s craft is good, but not nearly as strong as dragon hide."

"You know how to make armor?"

Jacob rubbed his head.

"Nope! But we are wearing the blueprints, are we not?"

Maria’s eyes shone with brilliance.

"That’s a great idea! But I think we should hurry."

"What’s the rush?"

"We’re not going to be the only ones wanting to take things from a dead dragon. Especially one as large as this one."

Jacob looked around suspiciously.

"You’re right. Let’s hurry up. I wonder if..."

Jacob stuck out his nail to see if it was as strong as he hoped. To his luck, his nails were as sharp as the claws of a dragon. It tore through the armor and flesh with ease. A wry smile spread across his face.

"I’ll get us these dragon scales in no time at all. Try and scavenge the meat while I handle this."

Maria nodded and walked towards the dragon’s belly.

She used the sharpest point of her spear and plunged it deep into its abdomen before slicing a wide cut down the belly. Guts and organs spilled out on to the ground. The smell made her want to vomit, but she held back as to not ruin possible food that could be scavenged from it.

She managed to gather enough meet to last them a few days. She used some loose skin to make a make-shift bag for her to carry everything in. It was a gross alternative, but the only option they had. As she was getting ready to walk to the other side, she noticed a strange pulsing sensation coming from deep in the dragon. It looked as if something was trying to dig itself out of the corpse.

"Jacob?!"

"Yeah?!"

"Can you come here a second? I think something is wrong with the body!"

Jacob crawled over the dragon and slid himself next to Maria. They both watched the strange pulsating flesh quietly.

"What the hell?"

"I’ll ready my spear."

Both of them slowly approached the movement cautiously. Jacob eventually held up a hand, silently telling Maria to not take another step forward.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Jacob was hearing a muffled screech coming from the exact place they were walking towards.

Suddenly, a tiny claw ripped through a wall of flesh and a baby dragon came rolling out of the body. It was the same white color, but the scales appeared to be glowing as if they were enchanted somehow. Its eyes were the same dark purple its tail was smaller than Jacob’s forearm.

Jacob reeled back in fear seeing the creature and jumped in Maria’s arms. Maria dropped him immediately and walked towards the small squealing baby. Her face immediately started frowning and her eyes filled with small tears. She picked up the baby dragon who tried scratching at her as she got closer. However, when Maria picked them up, it seemed to calm itself immensely. It slowly started purring in her arms and closed its eyes.

Maria looked at Jacob with the brightest eyes she could muster.

"Oh no. No no no. No way. Not going to happen."

Maria didn’t say a word. She continued frowning while staring at Jacob desperately. She began to sniffle as if she was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Maria, this a dragon we’re talking about. A DRAGON!! Its mom just almost killed us for simply existing! And we have to worry about feeding it, taming it, there’s no way we can take it with us!"

Maria stood firm. Even the baby dragon looked to be pouting at Jacob, as if Maria had already trained it how to do that. It’s eyes were telling Jacob, "How could you kill my own mom and leave me to die?"

Jacob rubbed his face and sighed heavily.

"Maria. Let’s at least discuss this."

One final time, Maria stood her ground. Ultimately, Jacob gave in.

"Ugh. Fine. He can stay with us for now."

"She."

Jacob looked at her confused, then realized what she meant. He rubbed his face again and slapped himself a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Unfortunately, he was wide awake.

"She can stay with us for now."

Maria looked more hopeful.

"Do you really mean it?"

The baby dragon perked its small round head up and squealed.

"To be honest, not really. But I’ll feel too bad leaving it here, so it has to come with us. How are going to protect this thing anyway?"

Just as Jacob asked this, the small white dragon walked over to its dead parent and started eating its meat. Watching the sight made Jacob want to vomit. He grabbed the small thing and pulled it away. He put himself face to face with it and pointed a finger at its snout.

"No. Bad cannibalism. Bad."

The baby dragon sniffed his finger and tried to bite it. Luckily, Jacob was ready for it and pulled it away. He gave the dragon light taps on its small head and pointed his finger again.

"No bite. Stop it."

The dragon nipped at him again. Jacob threw the baby at Maria, who caught it as it tried to flap its tiny wings in the air. Maria held her face to the baby just like Jacob and she lifted her finger.

"No bite. Okay?"

For some reason, the dragon understood Maria perfectly and made itself comfortable in her arms. Jacob watched on in jealously.

"What?! You have to be kidding me! I said the same exact thing!"

"Maybe she just likes me more."

"I can’t believe I agreed to this."

Suddenly, the ground beneath them started to rumble. Both Maria and Jacob steadied themselves until the tremors stopped.

"I don’t like the sound of that."

Jacob looked far across the plains for the sign of the rumbling. Out in the distance, there was a massive horde of monsters that had a head that looked like a lion, but a body that was more like a spider. Hundreds of them were storming towards the dead dragon, no doubt wanting to partake in a late-evening feast.

"Shit. The armor is practically done. Keep me updated on how close they get."

The baby dragon started squirming in Maria’s arms as if sensing the approaching danger. Maria patted its little head and held it tighter.

"It’s okay. I’ll keep you safe."

Jacob got to work on the armor as fast as he could. His claws mended the scales together with brute force. It only took a few moments before both their armor sets were complete. The design itself was extremely simple, but there was no denying its durability and protection it provided them.

He threw Maria her armor set which she quickly replaced while Jacob was occupied gathering as many extra scales as he could for another project he had in mind.

"Jacob! They are almost here!"

Maria waked back around the corner donning her new armor. It was a perfect fit. The white scales reflected the sunlight and looked like it vibrated with power as she walked. In fact, she almost looked much more fitting to be the parent of a baby dragon. All she was missing was the wings... which Jacob more than made up for currently.

"I don’t know if I can carry you both! It’s my first time having wings!"

"Just try your best! We’ll figure it out if we’re too heavy!"

Using all the energy he could muster, Jacob soared into the sky holding on to Maria.

The only thing Jacob didn’t take into account with the new armor was how heavy it was to wear. It all put much more strain on his wings than his other armor did. With the added weight of Maria, the baby, and the other things they were carrying, his wings were working overtime trying to keep them above the monsters. He could only hover a few feet above where the monster’s heads were.

In no time at all, the hoard of monsters had begun roaring under them.