Aly's mother reacted so fast, displaying the woad huntress' impressive speed and reactionary skills, that Alys and the male woad was caught entirely off-guard.

As her body plummeted towards the ground, her mother's mass and momentum only increasing the speed, Aly's face as a mask of confusion as she looked up at the space she had previously occupied.

Her pupils constricted as she watched a black shadow streak through the air, its tip reflecting a small amount of moonlight making it seem as if it were a blade.

The shadow's width seemed to grow as it passed, and not even a breath after its tip had left her vision, a sickening crunch followed by a wheezy gasp erupted from near her feet causing Alys' to shudder violently.

The woad male, having been trained for close to a dozen years to act as the huntress' shield, immediately reacted the moment Alys' mother moved towards the pair.

He had charged in an attempt to cover the duo yet, the moment they fell, something had slammed into his chest.

Blueblood dripped from the corners of his mouth as he slowly looked down, the woad's eyes finally finding the culprit.

A black, spear-like object jutting from his chest.

Instinctually, the woad warrior knew he had only moments to live. He could no longer draw breath, and his muscles screamed in agony before, at least to him, slowly turning numb, a cold chill descending on his body.

Regret momentarily flashed past his eyes as he looked up and watched Alys and her mother scrabble away. He might have walked into the opponents attack, but they were still alive.

While not as impressive as his brothers, he was sure he had earnt a place at his ancestor's table.

Using the last vestiges of his strength, the male raised his arms and gripped the object sticking from his chest, his mind already subconsciously placing where he had seen it before and knowing that if he restrained it, he could buy the others some time.

He opened his mouth, wanting to tell his pack members to run but at that moment, Kai dropped from the tree.

Kai' body had significantly shrunk since their last encounter.

With the falling dragon's momentum, his tail was pulled free, bringing the crippled woad with it.

The woad slammed onto the floor, his eyes almost instantly dimming now that the dam that had been slowing his demise had retreated and his life essence and blood flooded out.

The females had retreated to a nearby tree yet, they had not fled.

The two older women were well experienced with the hunt and believed that nothing had breached the perimeter they had set up.

If that was true, it meant that the creature that was stalking them was already here and lying in wait or there was more than one.

The fact that Kai's scars on his scales, especially above his right eye were prominent, meant that they quickly dismissed the latter.

"It's been toying with us," hissed the bow-wielding woad, her already pale complexion turning grim.

Kai frowned in annoyance, having missed the perfect opportunity to eliminate two of his opponents.

He had delayed his attack due to being able to understand their conversation in the titanic language and his curiosity getting the better of him. Yet when the young female woad had moved the dryad's crystal away from her vitals, Kai finally had decided to strike as he felt the risk to the dryad was minimal, and another chance might occur.

Frustration gnawed at Kai's insides. He really wanted to know where his plan had failed.

He had successfully reduced his body size by absorbing his excess mass into his monster core, a skill commonly used when beasts and monsters transformed into their humanoid shape, and got into position without the woads noticing.

The wind was blowing in the other direction, and he had ensured that the dark mist that covered his body emulated a branch as much as possible, even moving it in time with the faint wind that occasionally stirred the branches.

Kai pushed his frustration to the side, momentarily glancing at the now still body of the male woad with disinterest.

After killing two of the others, as well as surviving the ambush, Kai considered the males to be the weaker of the woad genders. They were powerful beings with high vitality but lacked the abilities and skills to inflict any real damage.

As such, even though he had eliminated a threat, Kai would have prefered it if the male had escaped and the young female had died in its place.

This is why he had decided to attack the female first, using the cover of her body to potentially kill two birds with one stone.

A faint breath of air hissed through the young dragon's teeth as his blazing red eyes scanned the trio who had retreated to the trees and he couldn't help but snarl in irritation.

The three females locked eyes with the dragon, even though it caused them to feel as if they were staring into the maw of a terrifying foe, their injuries having all been acquired when they had let Kai out of sight and into their blind spots, and they were not willing to make the same mistake twice.

"Foul demon," hissed the bow-wielding woad. "You dishonour the hunt with your rampage and bloodlust. Be satisfied with your kills and retreat before you anger the ancients and suffer their wrath."

The woad had planned to incite an attack by provoking Kai, allowing the three to split up and head in different directions but instead of attacking, Kai's head tilted to the side, the hint of confusion emanating from his eyes.

This action caused the hairs on the back of the woad's heads to stand on end.

There was nothing more dangerous than an intelligent opponent, and while Kai had shown signs of intelligence before, most of that could have been attributed to a strong bloodline and instincts.

Rows of razor sharp teeth were revealed as the confusion disappeared from Kai's eyes, finally having translated a few of the unknown words from the context they were spoken.

"Wrath of an ancient?" chuckled Kai. While other species could live a long time, unless the beings were a god or dragon, nothing he knew of would have survived during his time in the egg. Dragon's had two birthdays, the first was when their egg was laid and the second was when they hatched.

If he was to take this into account, he could say he was around one million and eighteen years old or had at least existed for that long. He was sure even some continents, if the world had continued to drift apart as it had done during his clan's time, were younger than he was.

Suddenly, the amusement disappeared from his face.

"You steal my treasure, kill its subjects, and you dare to blame me?" Kai's voice thundered in their minds. "It seems, no matter how much time passes, the mortal species will remain to be blind and ignorant."

Kai slightly flinched, wondering where his domineering attitude had come yet quickly pushed it aside as it didn't really matter. In his eyes, the Woads in front of him were the invaders who had attacked unprovoked and so, anything he did to them was just.

The surrounding area seemed to become darker, the faint rays of moonlight filtering through the branches weakening as if it fearful of entering the area around Kai.

"We will return the crystal?" shouted Alys' mother. "Just let us go? We have killed the tree's livestock, you have killed some of our warriors, we are even."

The Woads were a nomadic race that focused on hunting. While it pained them to lose their own, to them, it was the way of nature.

If the creature didn't pose a constant threat and was troublesome to deal with, then they would learn from the experience and leave it alone. Only if it became a threat to the tribe would the Woads, even at significant cost, do everything in their power to eliminate it.

"Not only do you know of my existence and some of my abilities, no matter what you say, with the death of your kin there is a blood feud between us," responded Kai, his eyes never leaving the trio, observing every subtle movement they made.

In the young dragon's mind, he had killed some of their kin, and while their relationships weren't known, it was clear they were close.

The young dragon's rage had diminished after each kill and enough time had passed for him to fully awaken. Now that victory was in sight, he was confident he would be able to eliminate the threats and return the dryad's crystal with plenty of time to spare.

As such, he didn't mind engaging in conversation. In fact, Kai wanted to know more about their species in case he was to confront them again.

"Not even my daughter?" responded Alys' mother, her face set in determination, clearing indicating that while they were negotiating, they didn't believe themselves to be in a position of absolute weakness.

"No," responded Kai lazily. "Either both of you live, or both must die. To leave one of you alive would be looking for trouble in the future and I do not know of how the others relate to you."

Kai shook his head, though there wasn't even a hint of sadness in his eyes and instead, there was a faint hint of bloodlust.

"Then you can die ahead of us," screamed the bow-wielding woad as she held her hands out in front of her and ignited her life essence.

Alys' mother did the same moments after pushing her daughter from the tree, the look in her eyes screaming at Alys to run.

After seeing the look, Alys didn't need to be told, and like an arrow released from the bow, she sprinted in the direction of the meeting point.

However, she had not been party to the plan and so, in her surprise had dropped the crystal as she fell from the tree.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity given to her, Alys didn't stop and pick up the dryad's crystal. Instead, she increased her speed, determined to try and get help before returning.

As she disappeared into the tree's, Alys couldn't help but offer a silent prayer, hoping that she would return before her pack members, and more importantly, her mother had entirely burnt their life essences.

Kai had expected some sort of trap, yet his attention was momentarily distracted as he watched the crystal fall out of Alys' hands and so, couldn't react in time to the two substantial ice spears that slammed into his body.

With a roar of anger, through his scales, his chest glowed an orange colour.

The hue quickly travelled up his neck and exploded out of his mouth as a terrifying stream of flame.

The flames instantly melted the two ice spears and snow around him at an incredible speed as it flew towards the two Woads who were still channelling their ice arts.

Surprise, fear, reluctance and defeat fluttered through the pair's eyes.

The energy and power emanating from the rapidly approaching flames making it all too clear that, not only could they not escape, that without a shadow of a doubt, they would not be able to survive the attack.

They had thought that by utilising their life essence, significantly reducing their natural lifespan and wounding their souls, they would be able to buy some time for Alys and hopefully for aid to arrive yet, it was only now that they had released their most potent attacks, that they realise how powerful the creature that they were facing was.

The tree that they were standing in exploded in blinding light, the fire turning into a small twister of flames as it turned everything inside to ash in mear moments.

Beside the roaring flames, that burning wildly, Kai panted in exhaustion.

The surprise attack by the Woads had surprised him.

Adding the fact that they had wounded him in the process, cracking multiple scales on his chest and left arm, Kai had become enraged to the point where he released his remaining draconic essence in his dragon's breath.

The young dragon held nothing back as he utilised his trump card.

Kai couldn't help but mock his decision as he watched Alys leave his sixth sense's range, her figure having already been blotted out by the surrounding trees.

Moving over to the dryad's crystal, that lay half buried in the snow, the young dragon kept debating with himself if he should give chase or retreat for now.

Kai believed that letting the woad live was a terrible mistake, but at the same time, after his quick attack, his speed was drastically diminished. Not only that but if she grouped up with others, they might be able to pose a threat to him in his weakened state.

Kai growled and as his chest rumbled, the movement aggravating his wounds causing him to stop and grimace.

While he had dominated the Woads, it didn't mean that they hadn't inflicted injuries. Before he released his dragonic breath, Kai was confident that he was at around sixty-five per cent strength, but now, he would be at the lower end of the thirties.

He really didn't want to leave Alys alive, but at the same time, due to his stupidity, he was exhausted and couldn't do much about it.

Starting at the crystal, he found he was also faced with another problem. He instinctually knew his teeth would damage the crystal if he tried to carry it in his mouth yet his claws couldn't grasp it.

His tail, while flexible could not also grasp it and so, he had achieved his objective but lacked the means to transport the dryad back to the den and into her chamber.

Flicking his tail from side to side in annoyance, Kai took a deep breath. "I suppose I don't have a choice do I?"

Closing his eyes, Kai started recalling the memories relating to how the dragon's had copied the beasts ability to transform into humans.

While humans were considered one of the physically weakest, they also contained unlimited potential, versatile and were extremely dexterous with their hands, something Kai was in need of.

Yet, unlike the species that the gods bestowed the ability to take human form, the dragon's had to do it the hard way.

If they wanted to achieve the same figure, dragons were forced to manipulate their bodies, reshaping bone and muscle, something that was extremely painful and reduced their strength far more.

It also took a significantly longer time to change compared to the gifted way and so, was a perilous time, especially those that lacked power.

If Kai could reach his mother's previous realm or higher, the divine beast, the stage after monster, then he would be able to instantly transform like her, but until then, it would take a while.

After scanning the surrounding area to make sure no one was close and attempting to pick up the crystal a few more times, Kai sighed in defeat.

Feeling slightly disgusted with the form he was about to take, Kai's body started to change.