Max anticipated being broken in half, wondered if the teeth would hurt when they pierce his skin or would he be swallowed alive?

Would every bone in his spine break as the dragon continued to chomp on it, or whether it would be a quick and easy death.

He saw the dragon approach, he saw it approach slowly and clearly, he smelled the strong stench of blood, tissue and acid mixed together when she opened her mouth and he remembered raising his sword to pierce it’s insides as he felt in the end when he was about to be chomped down on as his right arm brushing against one of the dragon teeth drawing blood.

‘ Agh shit, that’s my time here folks ‘ Max thought as he got a system notification for causing a grand total of -5500 damage due to the sword thrust, however, that was it, the dreaded bone crunch never came.

A smooth wind blew past him as he was carried away a few hundred metres from the dragon mouth with insane speed, safe and alive while riding a turtleback.

” You okay sport? ” The turtle asked as Max looked at his own body in wonder, wondering how the fuck was he still alive.

” Yeah, umm thank you? ” Max said, unsure of who the unknown helper was or what he wanted.

” Alright sit tight, the angry mother is going to chase us ” The turtle said as right on cue a dragon roar was heard when the yellow dragon mother realised that she had failed to eat Max once again.

The yellow dragon catched Max’s scent and began tearing through the forest to chase him as the turtle waited for her to catch up right as close as he wanted her to be, before vanishing into the wind without a trace.

It was not like the turtle did not care for the yellow dragon’s feelings, he most certainly did, in his view the actions of Max and his group were plain despicable, however, there were some important answers he wanted from Max, answers to questions that had been bothering him for a long long time.

************

( The turtle’s home – A cowards retreat )

” Where are we? ” Max asked as he felt a little whiplashed from all the high-speed travelling and a little nauseous in the stomach.

” Welcome to my humble house, it’s called a coward’s retreat.

If you have had your fun riding my back, I’d appreciate it if you took your balls and arse off my shell “. The turtle said as Max was embarrassedly reminded that he was inappropriately naked.

” Sorry ” Max said as he disembarked from the turtle’s shell and got dressed in new robes.

Max was a little sad that his brothers gift the concealer mask was burnt to ashes now, but since he did not have it anymore he made do by covering his face by wrapping it in cloth.

” You brought a manaless vampire here, turtle? ” A smooth and ancient voice spoke as Max turned to notice that in the underground cave a large red dragon was resting in a corner.

Max really felt that his eyesight had gotten weak for not noticing her being there before, however, little did he know the true abilities of the dragon monarch Rhea were far more potent than just camouflaging.

” An odd one isn’t he? Haha, that’s how they are, the chosen ones, they may not look much, but boy do they pack a punch! ” The turtle said as he began boiling water in a kettle and slowly adding herbs to it in a methodical order.

” I’m sorry, who are you? And you? And why am I here? ” Max said looking confused as the turtle smiled and said ” Who am I? Well I’m just an old bastard who is most certainly a big coward”

Max was baffled by the answer and the pride with which it was delivered, as there was not an ounce of shame on the turtle’s face as he said it.

***********

( Meanwhile the rest of the gang )

*Poof*

The nether beast turned to dust once it got too far away from Max as Sebastian was forced to start running on his feet.

The group had come far since splitting from Max and thankfully the yellow dragon was no longer on their trail, which meant that they were in the clear.

The team had managed to obtain two dragon eggs, but had most likely lost their leader in the process and now the others contemplated if doing so was the right choice or not?

” We will buy Ravan a dragon egg when we get out, and give him the lion’s share of the loot if he is dead, I-I refuse to accept the loot if the price is his life ” Anna said as she looked visibly baffled and terrified from the experience of being chased by a dragon.

” He stood back to fight against a dragon? A man against a dragon… what balls ” Sebastian said with a hint of awe, respect and sadness all in one.

” Shut up you two and grow a pair, not every emotion needs to be spoken out loud and not everyone is as incompetent as us lot.

Ravan said he has a plan so start trusting that he has one and will meet with us somewhere.

If he did die then the best thing we can do for him is to grasp every opportunity we have here and get stronger.

He is not actually dead that much is for sure, so we will discuss the rest when we see him.

For now, I want to know where we are going next and to do what? “. Asiva said, lashing out at both her teammates.

It wasn’t like she did not care for Max, infact she was the one who cared the most, but she was also the most mature one in the group and knew that once you let emotions flow freely and let the dam break, it always results in a flood.

Now was not the time to let the flood flow, now was the time to keep the act together, which is why she had to admonish them.

Anna and Sebastian hung their heads low in shame, they knew what Asiva was saying was right, so they quickly started to get a walk on towards the forest In hopes of encountering a lucky opportunity nearby.

This was the best they could do for now, not only for themselves but for Max as well.