Chapter 68: Purple-Striped Scorpion
The four stood on the top and before them was a vast plain landform with a big river there as well separated into many tributaries A little further away from the river stood a sole volcanic mountain.
"My King, before our unification, your kingdom didn't have its own river. Thus, during Black Dragon's reign, his beasts had to drink rain water from ponds and pits. Now, that problem is solved. With no borders between the two territories, we can make a branch route here that's directed towards V-Valley's capital."
Golden Panther explained.
"For that, we first have to make a path through these high mountains."
Akash replied.
"Indeed, that will be quite the challenging feat for us."
Red Mamba added his thoughts while Akash looked at Golden Panther and questioned.
"Have you ever faced any problems with the river, like floods or unexpected droughts?"
"Unfortunately, yes, each year we have to deal with either of them. A flood doesn't cause much damage but a drought always takes the lives of thousands of beasts."
"Then a simple branch route won't do any good, we have to build a dam here."
"Uhh, what is a dam, My King?"
Golden Panther asked curiously, Red Mamba was puzzled as well.
"A dam is a structure built for the purposes of holding water, it is helpful in controlling floods and storing water."
Akash answered.
"What an amazing idea, I had never even considered such an idea. How can we make this structure, My King?"
"You will know once we start the process, let's pick up the pace for now."
Akash said and hiked down from the mountain. Soon after, they arrived at a big stone castle. It was smaller than Akash's palace but was still quite remarkable.
"I assume this is your home?"
Akash inquired.
"Haha, indeed, you have guessed it correctly. This is the house of your lowly duke."
The panther replied and Akash spontaneously inspected the surroundings before asking again.
"So, how will we be able to find that scorpion?"
"Please give me a moment."
~ROOAAARRRRR~
Golden Panther let out a loud reverberating roar. Then, a few moments later, they heard a beast running at incredible speed towards them.
~thapakthapakthapak~
It easily jumped over the tributaries in its path and arrived at the castle they were at.
~Waof Waof~
It was a 10-meters tall and 17-meters long brown dog with long ears and a red nose.
Akash's eyes widened when he saw it. This dog made Akash remember his pet in his previous life, a loyal hound. He calmed himself without showing his feelings and opened its profile.
[Species: Mole Hound (Beast)
Realm: 1st Moon, Star Knight.
Bloodline: Star Prince nobility rank
Learnt Laws: Earth Law
Inborn Laws: Wind Law (Awakened), Blood Law (Awakened)]
"My King, this is the best scout I have in the entire dukedom."
"I see, this fella has already awakened his blood law, very good."
Akash stated.
"He is just a spy, so his attacks are very weak but his nose and ears are exceptional. He can even find a buried beast after just sniffing its blood and he can hear and recognize someone's voice even in the wildest tempests".
"Impressive, tell him to find the scorpion then."
Akash ordered Panther, who then looked at the mole dog and asked.
"Do you remember the wounded scorpion that came in our dukedom?"
"Waof waof!"
Mole Dog barked and shook his tail.
"Can you tell us where she is now?"
The Mole Dog closed his eyes before he started sniffing and flapping his big ears. Then, he raised his head high and suddenly stood on his hind legs before opening his eyes again.
~Awoooo waof waof~
He howled and barked while Akash squinted his eyes, after which Golden Panther began to translate.
"My King, he is saying..."
"I know what he said, Golden Panther."
Akash intercepted the panther's translation, making Razi Tea curious.
"What did he say?"
Golden Panther answered.
"He said the Purple-Stripped Scorpion is in this dukedom but she is already dead."
"I see, it's a shame we couldn't save her in time, but if she only died recently, then I could may still be able to extract her poison."
Akash replied with a serious face and ordered the dog.
"Hurry up, show us the way."
"Waof!"
Mole Dog barked and started running as the four followed him.
A beast could only speak when its bloodline was very high while the lowest criteria was being at the Star King nobility rank bloodline. However, there have been some rare beasts who could speak despite having bloodline of Star Prince nobility rank.
Akash and the rest were chasing after Mole Dog as he went in the direction of the Volcanic Mountain. Before long, they reached it and there, Mole Dog barked and gestured towards the mountain, saying that the dead scorpion was up there. The volcanic mountain was smaller than the ones Akash had seen before. Regardless, everyone started looking towards the mountain to find the corpse. There were various beasts on the mountains, all Fire Law users.
"I think she is in there/"
Red Mamba said as he found something. Just below the top there was a boulder that hid an entrance to a cave.
"You two wait here!"
Akash ordered Red Mamba and Golden Panther as he jumped towards the cave and Razi Tea followed him. As Akash was stood in front of the boulder, he sniffed, his bestial senses coming in handy.
"She is inside."
Akash declared as he was about to pick the boulder before Razi stopped him.
"My Liege, please let me do it."
Razi Tea hugged the boulder and poured his cosmic powers into his body. With a swift throw, he sent the huge boulder away. After which, Akash stepped in and saw the dead body of the Purple- Stripped Scorpion before he touching it for inspection
The scorpion's whole body was yellow with some purple stripes permeating it. She had around a 16-meter-long body with a 20-meter-long tail and 10-meter-long pincers. After finishing, he sighed.
"What a pity..."