Travel The Distance

Chapter 5

We flew for 5 hours before I signalled for Kyoka and Fumikage to go out ahead and look for a suitable area to land and set up. By this point, the asshole tied to my back had woken up and given up on his struggle to escape. It seemed as if he had accepted the fact that he wasn't going to escape any time soon. I knew that once we got on the ground, he'd make a break for it, but I didn't care. He could try to run but we both knew that he wouldn't get very far. I was pulled from my musings when I heard the musical voice of Kyoka's dragon in my head. "There is a suitable clearing up ahead. There aren't  any humans around, however, it seems to be by a hunting route which will no doubt be taken up in the early hours of tomorrow morning." Kyoka's dragon practically sang to me. Kyoka's dragon had always had a very smooth and musical voice. It was relaxing to listen to. "Who's hunting route is it? Can you tell by any sort of markings?" my dragon's voice rasped. My dragon's voice was very low and husky. "By the looks of it, it might be the royal trail. It stinks like the man on your back, except there is a slightly different scent mingled in with it. I assume King Enji and Prince Touya use the hunting trail." Kyoka hummed. I deliberated for a second before directing Kyoka to lead us to the potential space. I was already forming a plan and being in the vicinity of a place frequented by the King would be beneficial. "Lead us there."  I said with a bat of my tail. Kyoka nodded and spun around in the air to lead us to this clearing. 

When we arrived, I took it in and nodded. It was the perfect place for what I was planning. We were right by a tall mountain peppered with holes. The closest hole to the ground being a inky black cave.  I transformed back and gestured for the others to do the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Princey boy looking slightly smug as if he knew something that we didn't. "I wouldn't look too smug Princey boy. I'm well aware that your father and elder brother frequent a hunting trail not too far away. Don't you worry your pretty little ass, everything will go according to plan." I snarled at him. The prince jumped slightly upon hearing my voice, he spun around to look at me and looked at me with wide eyes. Obviously surprised that I 1. Knew what he was thinking about and 2. Spoke to him. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my sword and put it under his chin, lifting his face slightly so I could look into his eyes daringly. "Might want to hang onto your crown for as long as you can. You won't have it for much longer." I threatened him. In reality, it was an empty threat. I wanted nothing more than to take over the Endeavour Kingdom, but no matter how powerful we were, I couldn't do that with only 7 people. I had a plan which may take years to complete, but I was going to see it come to fruition before my time on the earth was over. I watched as the prince's eyes widened slightly. I didn't take my eyes off of his, lest I lose the staring match I had initiated, and shouted over to Kaminari and Sero. "Dunce Face. Soy Sauce. Go to the stream 10 minutes west of here and get fresh water. Ears. Racoon Eyes. Set up the fire and tents. Shitty Hair and Bird Face are on cooking duty. I will be in that cave setting up my plan." I shouted. Everyone shouted their confirmation that they understood their instructions before they set to work. By this point the prince and I were still battling it out to see who would look away first, it was getting boring so I set off an explosion which made him jump in surprise. I nodded, satisfied, before grabbing the back of the man's shirt and lifting him up effortlessly to throw him over my shoulder. With the prince secured, I started my march towards the huge cave set into the mountain's surface.

*Shoto's POV* 

I didn't know what the barbarian carrying me was planning but I knew that I didn't like the cryptic warning he'd given me about no longer having my crown. Was it possible he planned to overthrow my father? Whilst it was plausible, I didn't think that was possible with 7 people. Even if those 7 people could transform into dragons. I had been told since my youth that all Dragon men had been killed out long before I was born. I was told they wreaked havoc on villages and killed senselessly. I was told that the one in the castle's dungeons was the only one still alive. So how is it possible that there are 6 dragon shifters all here. Not to mention the fact that they all look roughly the same age as me. It baffled me. Was it possible that they were deceiving me? Using transformation magic to confuse me. What if they worked with the rebellion group, The League of Villains? These questions whirled through my head at rapid speeds. So fast that I couldn't stop to contemplate one for long before another popped up. I was snapped from my musings when I was roughly thrown to the floor like a bag of flour in the royal bakery. "Get your head out of your ass, Halfy, and settle in for a long uncomfortable night." the barbaric man before me smirked.