Chapter 231 - Scylla (1)

"Carefully, don't drop the egg before it hatches, will you?"

Arnold commanded Talos, Bad-Breath and duke who were helping him carrying the egg outside. The egg was heavy and more than he could handle by himself. It would've been easier and quicker if Dread or Asterios could get in the building, but sadly their size made it impossible for them to enter the building. Arnold swore he would do something about it as soon as he got free from the ascension quest as well as the swamps. 

All this time the cracking sound kept coming from the egg. It was just a moment before the egg would pop up and who knows what would come crawling out of it. Most probably it would be a wyvern or something closely related to it. At least that's what he thought. 

'Just don't open now... Just don't open now...' 

Arnold kept thinking as the trio rushed out the Avalon, with everyone else rushing behind them. The four of them soon managed to get the egg out of the building and then Dread helped them carry the egg further away from the building.

Arnold didn't want to take any chances. More like, he didn't want Avalon to get destroyed. Not anytime soon. Once the egg was placed down, everyone moved further away. As they were inside Arnold's domain, even if things went south the summons wouldn't need to get involved and use their weapons. However, they were ready to subdue the beast in case their master wanted or needed them to. 

Arnold couldn't say they were overreacting either. After all the different types of blood he had fed the egg, it wouldn't surprise him even a bit if the beast went berserk. With his protective gears gone, he too had the vindicators out to help him out. Just in case. 

"What do you think Talos, what would come out of the egg?" Arnold asked his most trusted and valued creation, who had his digital eyes fixated on the giant egg.

"There is a 21% chance it will be a Dragon. 39% chance it would be an evolved wyvern. And 40% chance it would be a normal wyvern. But I don't think that'll be the case considering all the blood the master has fed it along with the creature's lineage." 

"As calculative as ever, I see." Arnold mumbled, "You've had your eyes on the egg for some time, haven't you?"

"I won't say it hasn't intrigued my interest. Oh, there's another crack on it."

"What's up with this drama and crap." Bad-Breath yawned. He felt out of place there and the creature was taking too much time to come out, "Should punch it once or twice? It would help the egg break right?"

Bad-Breath took a step towards the egg, only to meet with sharp gazes from Arnold. 

"Who knows, maybe it doesn't want to come out because it smelt you from a distance. You know wyvern and dragons have a strong sense of smell and you... Well, when was the last time you smelt good?" Arnold sniggered and so did the rest of them. "I'm sorry, BB, it was a bad attempt at humour but please stay where you were. The creature would make its way out of the egg on its own. You don't need to worry about that."

For the first time, even Bad-Breath smiled at the joke made on himself. Whether he was finally realising how bad he smelled or he had resigned on his fate was a different matter altogether. Still, he was changing and Arnold appreciated it. 

The way Arnold had ushered them out along with the egg, they thought it was only a matter of time before the egg hatched at a new member was added to the family- ahem, added to the army. But it had been a while since then and except a few cracks here and there, nothing much had changed.

A few minutes later...

The cracks were appearing more frequently now, but that was it. Nothing came out of the eggshell. Everyone had circled around the egg and had made themselves comfortable on the floor.

"Come on dude... Come out already." Arnold mumbled. 

Talos and a few of the automatons left to continue building the forge while the rest happily chatted among themselves. Also, Dread and Asterios had left to spar with each other as usual. Alice and Natasha along with Cerberus were keeping him company while Duke had transformed into the troll chieftain and was practising his shooting skill. Bad-Breath was surprisingly teaching the undead basics of brawling. Something Arnold had seen for the first time and Bad-Breath was surprisingly good at teaching too. 

Everyone was busy doing their stuff and all of a sudden Arnold felt tremors coming from the egg. 

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The creature would come out of its shell any moment now. Please step back. 

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The moment this text appeared in front of him. He told everyone to back away and the next minute a stream of steam covered them up followed by an explosive sound. By the time the steam condensed, the egg had already shattered in half and in front of it stood the most majestic creature Arnold had ever seen. 

This creature had an elegant, long body with a slender tail and neck. Its scales were the colour resembling fine jade. It had short limbs with four splayed digits on each foot that end in short claws. It had frill-like black wings ran from its shoulders to the middle of its tail. A row of bony knobs also ran from the base of its skull to its shoulders.

The creature's head was elongated and its had a tiny mouth had a pronounced overbite. It had tiny nostrils located unusually far back on its snout and its hooded eyes that were bronze. The back of the creature's head and neck was protected by a thick layer bone. While tendrils surrounded its mouth. A bony ridge separated its nostrils from the face. Two short horns just like Tiamut's extend straight up from its forehead. Most weirdly... The creature's chest was glowing blue like it had swallowed the sun or something. But Arnold immediately recognised the colour. It was the same colour as Vritra's hellfire. 

'It's Vritra's offspring alright... But how the heck is he bigger than her. Hell, it's even bigger than Dread!'

The dragon-like creature saw Arnold and immediately charged at him. Arnold hastily pulled the guns out but the creature was in front of his face before he could do anything. Cerberus rushed in, however, the creature remained unphased by it, the creature opened it's mouth and proceeded to lick Arnold's face! 

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Due to the time spent with the creature, it has recognised you as his master. 

Congratulations on obtaining your first mystical four-legged friend! 

___

"Talk about weird..." Arnold let out a sigh of relief before petting his new 'friend'.