Elder Blood Witcher 549 Draggen Up A Mountain.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though almost everyone had a prior arrangement, from doing drills with the Chaos Servants, Constructing, taking care of the mentally unstable Prospects, or scouting the perimeter of the settlement to make sure no monsters slipped past their expeditions.

Thus the only people partic.i.p.ating were Quelaag and Priscilla. It didn't really bother Reima as he enjoyed spending time with them, even if he hadn't had the chance due to how busy he'd been, and now that Ciri was taking a step back from whatever their relationship was he felt more comfortable in general.

The trio met where the stone road of the settlement ended, the mountain path becoming dirt and rocks for the rest of the journey.

Reima "You guys ready to go?"

Quelaag nods, "Yes, this'll be the first time I'm going to see a true dragon up close. Plus it's been a long time since we both spent some time together." she says with a smile.

Priscilla smiles at the two, Carimir sitting in between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with a lazy expression on its face. "I wonder if it's my uncle? Do either of you know if my father had relatives?" she asks with an excited expression.

Reima shrugs, "Not that I'm aware of, to be honest, I'm unsure if dragons procreate like a normal species anyway..."

Priscilla gives him a confused look, "Then how did my mother give birth to me?"

Reima snorts, "Maybe she laid an egg?"

This has the trio laughing as they begin to make their way up the path, it was a windy morning which made it much more perilous than it usually would be, though everyone present could easily take over a large city in this world.

Quelaag and Reima spoke the most, talking about what they'd been doing while they were separated as Priscilla listens to them. The half-breed occasionally chipping in, though she quickly got bored and started having fun by shapeshifting to different sizes and jumping to different parts of the mountain path

After an hour or two of walking they reach the top of the mountain, only now needing to follow the ridge towards where the Everlasting Dragon is resting. However as they walk Quelaag stops abruptly, holding her chest with a confused expression on her face.

Reima walks up and asks "Are you alright?" with a concerned expression, never having seen her act like this before.

Quelaag stays there momentarily, holding her hand out and creating a small red fire on her palm. She shakes her head and look at him, "It's strange... This area, I mean. It feels as though my flame is stronger, more easily controlled."

...

Reima looks at her hand, watching what seems like many miniature Chaos Whips being manifest and performing delicate actions. "Hmm, I think I know what might be causing this..."

Quelaag looks at him, "Really? Show me." she asks with interest.

Reima nods and begins to walk slightly off of the ridge, down an incline which begins climbing again, eventually they reach a stone that glows a dim red, the Igni sign carved into it.

Quelaag "Yes, this is it. I can feel it."

Reima "This is a "Place of Power", one that Geralt used to take me to train as it happens." he says with his arms crossed.

Quelaag "This is incredible... Really, I've never seen anything like it." she mutters, scuttling around it to see if there is anything else to it.

Priscilla "I don't feel anything." she says, slightly sad that she's not involved in whatever they're experiencing.

Reima "Probably because It's an Igni, or fire, Place of Power. Unfortunately the stone is just a conduit and isn't able to be moved, if you try you'll probably disrupt the flow and destroy it."

Quelaag nods thoughtfully, "Indeed. Unfortunate."

Reima "Right, let's go meet that old guy."

The others nod and they backtrack to the ridge and make their way over to the slumbering dragon, Priscilla happily skips over and starts patting on its foot to gain its attention but the Dragon doesn't move.

Reima "Yo, old man! Move your a.s.s!" he shouts at the dragon who's sleeping upright.

The ground begins to rumble as the dragon starts moving, as it does fragments of stone fall from its body and clink against the rocky ground below. "Shouting will not increase your size young wrym." it states in a tired voice.

Priscilla "I didn't shout!" she complains.

The dragon leans it's head down and looks at the trio, "I did not mean you pale one."

...

Reima crosses his arms in annoyance, people bringing up the size of his Animagus transformation for some reason irritates him more than most things, "Size isn't everything."

The ancient dragon blinks slowly at him a couple of times before replying, "For a Dragon it is."

Quelaag "Reima what are you talking about? Last I checked you weren't a dragon... Does this involve that peculiar Dragon cult I'd heard about?"

...

Reima shrugs, "Kinda? But not really, in another world I learned how to transform into a dragon."

Priscilla looks at him with shining eyes, "Really? Can I learn it?"

Reima rubs his chin, "Er, I don't know... Maybe? Though if you ever want to try it you need to speak to me first, transforming can be incredibly dangerous without supervision."

Quelaag looks at him with interest, "Does the transformation have to only be for Dragons?"

Reima shakes his head, "No, you could probably become anything... I left a copy of the book in the restricted section of the library."

Priscilla nods and look at the ancient dragon, "Do you know me?"

The ancient dragon's eyes flick to her, it's rumbling voice following soon after, "Indeed, you are the sp.a.w.n of the traitor that led to the downfall of our kind."