ROARR!
A dragon roared in anger as it tried to bite the three-legged bird out of the air, but the bird was too fast for it, and the dragon landed on the ground and roared again in anger. Jason let out a small pulse of his mana, and the entire field immediately went quiet as all the dragons turned to him respectfully! The dragons had all gotten used to Jason’s presence since they knew he was the mate of their Priestess, so when Jason raised his hand towards the agitated dragon, it lowered its head obediently and allowed Jason to pet it.
"Calm down. Riyala’s really tired, and you’re going to wake her at this rate. What the hell’s going on?"
Jason frowned as he looked up at the bird, and the dragon he was petting huffed as it swiped its paw towards the bird with a grumble! Jason’s dragon subordinate immediately translated the dragon’s groan for Jason, and Jason hummed as he figured out the problem. The bird had appeared in their forest this morning, and the territorial dragons tried to get rid of it, but no matter what they did, the bird refused to leave, and it was making them angrier the longer it stayed. Jason narrowed his eyes as he took a closer look at the bird, and he raised a curious brow as he immediately recognized it! This was the same bird that brought Jason a message from the Eternal Wanderers after he killed the Sovereign!
’What the hell is that doing here? Is it for me?’
Jason watched the bird move around in the air a few more times, and once the bird saw that it was no longer in danger from the dragons, it slowly moved down and landed on Jason’s outstretched arm. The bird turned towards the dragon and tweeted angrily, and Jason laughed as the dragon released a huff of hot air that almost threw the bird to the ground! Jason helped the bird get steady again before the bird finally turned around. There was a scroll strapped to the bird’s back, and once Jason took the scroll, the bird tweeted angrily one last time before vanishing in a spray of light.
Jason rubbed the nose of the dragon beside him absentmindedly as he wondered who would send him a message through the Eternal Wanderers. From what Jason remembered about the Eternal Wanderers, they only reached out to people that they wanted to strike a deal with, so Jason expected this letter to be some sort of invitation.
Huff!
"Shh, go play somewhere else."
The dragon tried to push Jason playfully, but Jason just pushed it away and told it to keep quiet. Jason opened the letter, and he read it calmly.
....
Eternal Greetings, Lord Jason,
I am reaching out as a representative of an anonymous contractor who wishes to hold a meeting with you with regards to a possible deal. If you have any interest in learning about this deal, you can meet me at the top of the fifth Peak from the east in the Yellow Ash Mountains. I will eagerly await your presence.
Eternal Wanderer, J.
....
’A meeting for a deal? Why would someone need to hire an Eternal Wanderer just to have a meeting with me?’
Jason frowned as this thought crossed his mind, and he felt his curiosity rising as he wondered what this was all about. From what Jason remembered about the Eternal Wanderers, they always acted as middlemen for any situation, and they do not lie, so there was no way this was some sort of trap. Jason decided that he was far too curious about this, and he turned to the dragon that was still lying beside him.
"You wanna go for a ride?"
Grumble~!
HUFF~!
The dragon huffed in Jason’s face with a low grumble while turning away, and Jason rolled his eyes. The dragon’s job was to protect the females and children from enemies, so the dragon refused to go anywhere! Even after Jason gave it so many pats, it still refused to take him! What a traitor!
"No more pats for you."
Grumble~!
The dragon grumbled apologetically before it whipped its tail at Jason playfully, but Jason just pushed it away.
"Hey, babe. What’s going on?"
Jason turned around to see Riyala walking out from her cave with a blanket wrapped around her shoulder. Riyala was completely naked under the blanket, and Jason smiled as he walked over and kissed her gently. Riyala hummed into the kiss, and she let out a pleased sigh once they separated.
"Good morning, baby."
Riyala pressed her forehead into Jason’s chest as she said this, and Jason grinned.
"Good morning, babe. Did you sleep well?"
Riyala’s cheeks darkened when Jason asked this question, and she nodded shyly! Riyala hadn’t had a night of sleep this good in a very long time, and she knew it was all because Jason was here with her! Jason grinned, and he told Riyala about the invitation from the Eternal Wanderer.
"Someone wants to meet me at the Yellow Ash Mountains. I’ll just go see who it is and come right back."
Riyala blinked in surprise when she heard about the Eternal Wanderer. Riyala knew about them, and she also knew that it was very difficult to meet one! An Eternal Wanderer would only reach out if they felt that you had something of value to trade with or if you had enough money to buy the wares that they sell, and the only people that usually met the Eternal Wanderers were rulers or ultra-wealthy mages. Most people in the Primordial Expanse had never met the Eternal Wanderers in their entire life! So the fact that they had reached out to Jason twice already was very surprising!
But Riyala wasn’t worried at all about Jason because she knew that the Eternal Wanderers were pacifists who did not like to engage in any sort of war or battles at all! There has never been an incident of the Eternal Wanderers attacking someone or leading someone into a trap while carrying out their business, so Riyala knew she didn’t have to worry.
"Will you be back in time for breakfast? What do you want to eat?"
Riyala smiled at Jason as she asked this, and Jason hummed as his eyes trailed over Riyala’s body appreciatively. Riyala easily noticed what Jason was doing, and she shyly covered her body and gave him a playful glare!
"Don’t look at me like that, you pervert! I’m not on the menu!"
Jason grinned.
"You look like the perfect meal right now. Are you sure I can’t eat you instead?"
"Of course I’m sure!"
Riyala’s blush had gotten all the way down to her neck at this point, and Jason finally laughed as he decided to stop teasing her. Jason quickly pulled Riyala closer for one last kiss before black wings sprouted from his back and he floated into the sky.
"I’ve been dying to try salamander meat, so how about we do that for breakfast. I won’t take long."
Riyala nodded with a smile as she waved Jason goodbye, and Jason grinned before he took off towards the Yellow Ash Mountains.
....
The Yellow Ash Mountains were still as beautiful as Jason remembered them to be. Jason floated calmly over the mountains and watched the sun rising from behind them while casting a brilliant yellow light over the towns on the other side of the mountains! Even though it was still very early, Jason could already see multiple miners moving out of their homes and heading towards the mines inside the mountains to start the day’s work, and there was another batch of miners moving out of the mountains and heading home from their night shift! Riyala was the one who introduced the rotational mining shifts to the people of Radagan, and by doing things this way, she made sure that they could have people mining in the mountains all through the day and night!