CHAPTER 72: FIERY FRIENDS

Approaching the river of lava the two companions looked about hoping to be able to spot some way other than flying to be able to cross this obstacle. Saddly for them the landscape of this region was remarkably flat, at least in the vicinity of the river.

They did spot a number of other beasts milling around a bit away from the edge of the river looking equally stumped on how exactly they should be approaching this obstacle.

A hawk of some kind chose that moment to fly overhead at a rapid rate cawwing in victory as it easily overtook the land bound beasts.

As it crossed the river the lava began to bubble and roil underneath it. The bird noticing this tried to fly up higher but was pushed down after it reached around 30 meters up. ’Seems this place doesn’t like things flying too high’ Violet noted.

As it managed to regain control of itself it found itself less than 10 meters above the river. It was at that point that the surface of the lave exploded as a figure wreathed in molten rock and flames rocketed up and snapped its mighty jaws down on the bird. The hawk was only able to let out a pitiful skreech before the giant form landed back in the river dragging the unfortunate bird down into the depths below.

"Well... I no longer want to fly over." Luna susinctly said. Violet nodded in agreement, not eager to encounter that beast again. It was over 15 meters long and it hadn’t even fully left the river of lava. She didn’t manage to get a propper look at it as it was covered in said lava but she didn’t doubt it was a powerful beast indeed.

"How are we going to get across then?" Violet asked. "Because I don’t want to try swimming across their and it’s too far for us to use void step to get across." Well that’s not entirely true, Violet could just about move that far in a single step but Luna wouldn’t be able to travel half that distance and Violet had no intention of leaving Luna behind.

"Maybe we should just travel around the edge till we find a narrower spot, or hope that we can find a bridge or something that will let us cross?"

"I’d about as good an idea as any I suppose. Come on then let’s get looking." Saying so Violet turned and began to make her way parallel to the river in search of some way to cross this seemingly impassable barrier.

About 30 minutes later the two girls stood a distance away from their best bet of crossing the river. But it was not something they were exactly happy about.

What lay before them was a mess of pillars of black obsidian stone that jutted out of the flowing lava at random intervals. Some gaps were less than a meter but others were over 5. Their were hundred of these pillars that covered a decent section of the river and looked to be the best bet for crossing over.

The thing that they weren’t happy about was the number of fire elementals, lizards and other fire related beasts that seemed to call this region of the river home.

But on the plus side the two companions were not alone on their side. Several dozen beasts that had made the journey through the previous domains stood around. A healthy amount of space between them all as even if they were not actively antagonistic, that didn’t necessarily make them allies.

A few were even familiar to the girls. They spotted the electric wolf pack led by the giant Alpha, although Violet thought she noticed one or two of the weaker wolves were missing now. They also spotted the giant trunked beast standing not too far away, its hide had a number of scorch marks but they didn’t seem to phase the giant beast.

Together all the arrayed beasts stared out over the river as if waiting for the first one to make the move to cross.

Looking around once more Violet sighed and then looked over at Luna besides her. "Wanna just go for it? I’m pretty sure iv got a couple routes figured out. Just need to get past them and not nesesarily fight to the death right?"

A pensive frown formed on the girls face as she bit her bottom lip in thought, an action that Violet found oddly endearing. "Yeah may as well, you try to clear foes ahead of us and I’ll worry about anything that gets close?"

"Naturally." Was violets only reply as she began to slowly make her way closer towards the river of lava and the numerous beasts that suddenly became more alert as the young dragon approached.

"Ready?"

"Let’s do this!"

ROOAARRRR!

Violet let loose a challenging roar enhanced by a full strength blast of her dragon aura to give her and every beast behind her a quick boost in strength before she charged forwards and leapt into the air towards the first colum.

Each of the obsidian platforms was a few meters in diameter so had enough space for her to land, take a couple steps and leap again without too much issue thankfully.

Still the nearest beast was only a couple of platforms away so she sent forward a bolt of void to hopefully knock it away or kill it. It seemed she was successful in the latter as her bolt struck its neck and severed its head.

With a wicked grin on her face she leapt once more and made her way to the second platform. Luna hot on her heels and dozens of stunned beasts behind the pair watching on with keen eyes.

However, the beasts didn’t wait too long before some began to move too, the smarter once especially knew that this would be a rare chance. With the strength flowing through them thanks to the call of that dragon all of the beasts knew that this would be their best chance to cross, especially with the dragon and that strange two legged creature drawing a lot of attention.

The first to move was non other than the electric wolf Alpha. He releases a howl and was joined by his pack before the bolts of electricity running across his fur increased in intensity. Then with a burst of speed he rushed forwards and leapt forwards towards another of the platforms, his pack following in their leaders wake.

More beasts moved at this point and it didn’t take more than a few seconds before all beasts were now moving forwards.

What had started as a reckless charge on their own had now turned into a near stampede as over 50 beasts followed in the dragons footsteps as they all charged forward. Eager to cross this river and slaughter any foe that got in their way to do so.