Chapter 183. The Lonely Old Dragon
"Let's go.
I'll take you for a spin and show you around my territory."
Hog chatted a bit with Pro and Nofi.
All of a sudden he felt in high spirits, lowered his wings, and urged Pro and the pixies to climb on.
"This time you've got to fly slowly!" Pro said, still shaken.
Only after Hog promised did Pro slowly slide down from Ari's head.
"And you lot? Come up as well!" Hog smiled with proud confidence.
"With your tiny bodies, you won't be able to keep up with my speed in a moment."
Nofi hesitated, then flew forward a short distance and carefully landed on the dragon's back.
Touching the cold scales, Nofi felt something strange.
And Hog's face wore a constant gentle smile, keeping a friendly attitude, not raging like the dragons described by their elders.
Nofi let out a breath and beckoned to the pixies who were hiding in the distant shrubbery but hadn't left.
"You come over too."
The few pixies looked at one another, chattered in low voices, and in the end chose to trust Nofi, cautiously flying to the dragon.
"Wait, wait, what about us!"
The Erumpents Ari and Charlie hurried forward at an anxious pace, wanting to climb onto Hog's back as well.
"Shoo, shoo."
Hog quickly backed up a few steps and said in disgust, "Have you no idea what you weigh?
You're that heavy and still want to climb on?
Even if I could get airborne, I'd be exhausted halfway and drop out of the sky.
Are you trying to murder a dragon and enjoy the prestige of those legendary dragon-slayers?"
Ari halted, wronged and dejected, muttering with drooping brows, "But we've clearly been dieting.
We've eaten much less these last few meals..."
"Eating a little less in a single meal still isn't as much as something bigger than Pro.
You call that 'much'?"
Hog snorted disdainfully, puffing out a cloud of black smoke.
When there was nothing else to do, Hog would circle along the edge of his territory to observe, so he knew quite a lot about other areas.
"Hey, hey!"
Pro stamped twice on Hog's back and said angrily, "I object!
You can't use a Niffler as a unit of measurement for food!"
Listening to the amiable, funny back-and-forth between Pro and Hog, the pixies' fear eased a little and they gradually relaxed.
"Sorry, my friend," Hog said with a grin.
"Friends, ready yourselves—
we're about to take off and rush into the blue sky!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the whoosh of wind rose.
Like an arrow, Hog shot straight upward, and the Erumpents below instantly shrank to the size of rice grains.
"Hog, you lied to me!
Didn't you say you'd fly slowly?"
Pro clutched Hog's scales for dear life, shouting nervously.
That damned Kray's high-altitude bungee stunt had left Pro with a bit of psychological trauma.
It hadn't fully recovered yet, and up high it couldn't help shivering.
Hog laughed heartily.
"This is already my slowest speed.
Look—I've hardly even flapped my wings."
"That's right—this speed is too slow!
Can you go even faster?"
One pixie, feeling the joy of soaring at high altitude, yelled excitedly.
Other pixies, either raking at the clouds with their claws or opening their mouths to let the gale blast through like a blaring horn, chimed in with high spirits.
"Then the minority yields to the majority—
everyone hold on tight!
The Hog Express is departing at top speed!"
Hog shouted in delight.
He gave his wings a sudden beat.
His body shot forward a great distance at once.
Pro hugged Hog with all four limbs, regret written all over its face.
"Look down there—that's my nest.
How's it look?
Nice, isn't it?
Duncan designed it specially for me.
Have to say, he's got excellent taste!"
Reaching the eggshell-shaped nest, Hog deliberately slowed down, proudly introducing it to the others.
Hearing the exclamations of admiration by his ear, Hog nodded in satisfaction, then beat his wings to fly elsewhere.
Not far away, a bald rock face bathed in golden sunshine came into view.
From top to bottom it seemed to shine with a glittering radiance, eye-catching in the extreme.
"Truly gorgeous..." Pro said, eyes glazed.
It couldn't resist things that glowed, even if the thing was just a stone.
"Of course—this is my treasure spot!" Hog said, pleased with himself.
"When I'm idle, I like to lie there basking in the sun, comfortably taking in the view.
When I'm tired, I nap there—cool breezes wafting by—utterly pleasant!"
"That sounds wonderful!" Pro said, drool almost dripping with envy.
"Heh-heh, you can come often in future.
We'll enjoy it together."
Hog climbed higher on beating wings; white, cotton-candy clouds floated at their sides.
"Come on, I'll show you some other places.
There's loads of good stuff here!"
Who knew how much time had passed, until the sun over the dragon's habitat slowly sank, hanging upon the peak of a towering mountain.
With Pro, Nofi, and the others on his back, Hog had just about toured and introduced his entire territory.
By now, Hog was tired of flying.
He panted in great gulps, and a layer of mist seemed to cover the scales that shone with a metallic lustre.
And from talking too much, his throat felt as if it were about to catch fire—smoking, burning pain.
He badly needed water and a short rest.
Setting Pro and the others down at the edge of the territory, Hog slowly descended and said, "My friends, that's about it for today.
But there are many fun places in my territory still.
Come another day and I'll take you to play!"
"Alright, no problem!" Pro replied.
It looked around and found Ari and Charlie under a nearby tree.
Earlier, the two had tried running along the ground after the dragon for a while, but found they simply couldn't keep up, so they chose to come back, lie down, and enjoy a beast's life.
"Hog, help me wake them," Pro said helplessly.
"Right-o."
Hog smiled, bared his teeth, and set a forefoot down.
Boom, boom—he left two footprints, neither too shallow nor too deep.
Ari and Charlie woke from their dreams, looked ahead in a daze, recognised Pro and the others, then leapt up in delight.
They bounded to Hog's side and said happily, "Boss, you're finally back.
How was it?"
"Excellent!"
Pro climbed up to sit steady on Ari's head and waved a paw.
"Hog, we're off—
we'll come find you another day!"
"Go on, go on," Hog said again and again, seeing them off.
As they were about to vanish from sight, Hog called out, still a bit uneasy, "You lot must remember to come and play with me again!"
He was like an old man sending travellers off on a long journey, gazing after them with longing eyes...
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