The Dragon's Queen

Chapter 9: Job to do in Edolas

Kai’s POV

*BAM!!!*

The ground trembles as I plow a magic beast deep into its surface. I can feel its skull cracking under my fist as blood starts to come out of its eyes, ears, and mouth. Hell flame grizzlies are bear-type magical beasts that are some of the worst when dealing with them in the wilds. However, you don’t meet many tamed ones either because it takes a truly skilled tamer to tame such a high-level magic beast… and the only way to kill them is with a strong blow to the head or a special blade from a rare metal called Pyrosteel.

Pyrosteel can only be found within the dragon lands and can only be melted with the heat of a dragon’s fire, due to its high heat resistance, but a blade crafted by a dragon master blacksmith can cut through anything… even demon metal.

The biggest difference between hell flame grizzlies and normal bears is the fact that they have two extra legs and are covered in flames. Those two extra legs work just like their front paws, so when they stand and thrash around, they cause four times the destruction.

Right now, we are dealing with the ones going through a frenzy. Once they reach a certain age, the old, sick, or unmated male grizzlies are forced out of the dens so that the new cubs can have room to grow. Once they lose their home and source of food, the fire crystals that grow in the caves of their mountains, the flame grizzlies attack anything and everything in their paths, rampaging until their hearts give out from the amount of cortisol and adrenaline coursing through them.

Flame grizzlies already pack a lot of these hormones in their bodies to give them boosted strength to protect themselves when threatened, but the fire crystals they eat help burn most of them to safer levels.

However, these magic beasts are not for just anyone to hunt down. Their fur is so thick that blades made from Pryosteel are the only ones that can cut through it. It also never helps that they can burn anything around them with the fire that surrounds their back and paws. The most effective way to kill them without the Pryosteel is with a strong blow to the head.

With enough strength that an alpha or beta could do it… But they would have to sneak up on it and kill it before it noticed them; otherwise, they risk getting hit with one of its four arms. Though sneaking up on a hell flame grizzly is hard to do.

Hell flame grizzlies have a very acute sense of smell, especially when not in the magma caves or volcanoes where they live. The caves are always filled with potent sulfur gases, so their noses are sensitive to every new scent outside.

*KABOOM!!!*

I turn to see my younger twin sister, Riley, sending one hell flame grizzly into another with a strong roundhouse kick to the face. ‘I think I just heard its neck snap from the force of the kick alone.’ I think to myself as a shudder runs through my body. The second grizzly falls to the ground with the first one on top of it. Temporarily pinning it to the ground.

My sister used that moment to leap into the air and land with both feet on top of the second grizzly’s head… crushing its skull into the ground a couple of feet. “If I didn’t know you better, little sister, I would think that you hated bears.” I said, before delivering a back kick to a grizzly that tried to sneak up on me.

Riley looks up at me and gives me a bright smile with a small giggle. “That would make things a bit awkward with Uncle Drake, then.” She said. I chuckled as I nodded in agreement. That was true, given that Uncle Drake was the king of the werebears… it would be awkward.

I turn to see Prince Gabriel bring down his own grizzly by throwing the bear completely over his shoulder and knocking the wind out of it as it slams into the ground. He then lifts his right leg high and brings it down with all of his strength. His heel connected with the snout of the bear and smashed it into the bear’s skull.

Normally, Riley and I would handle jobs like this alone when we come to Edolas, but a couple of years ago, Aunt Melody convinced us that it was time we started taking Gabriel with us during his breaks from the academy, as he needed more challenging monsters to help with his training.

This job would be the twentieth job he has joined us on. With the speed of a werewolf and the strength of a werebear… I could see normal shifters not being much of a challenge for the young hybrid prince. I looked around, and it seemed like we had all of the bears.

*ROAR!!!*

I stand corrected. I turned to the forest where the roar sounded just in time to see a giant hell flamed grizzly storm out of the trees and into the field that we were currently in. “Wow… an alpha grizzly.” Riley said as she and Gabriel came up on either side of me. I let out a sigh. Just what we needed.