Chapter 308: 308: A Promise in the Skyless Desert
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Miryam lifted her head slowly, blinking at him. Then, to his surprise, she leaned forward and licked his arm. It felt warm. Tingly. Her soul link buzzed again, stronger this time.
<<I missed you Papa. I want to go to the desert with you. I want to play there.>>
"You are definitely your mother’s daughter," Kai muttered, shaking his head fondly. "I will take you to the desert after lunch."
He pulled out the wooden flask containing some essence liquid. A golden glow radiated through the wooden shell, swirling like liquified sunlight and molten honey. He popped the cap, and immediately, the smell of ultra dense aura made his spine straighten.
Miryam’s eyes locked onto the container like a hawk spotting prey.
"Yeah, yeah. Open wide," Kai said, gently tipping the flask toward her snout.
She drank eagerly, lapping at the liquid like a starving beast baby, her throat glowing faintly with each swallow. Her scales shimmered brighter with every drop, and her little nose nubs twitched with excitement.
Kai watched quietly. "I am going to need a lot more of that," he said softly. "You are just getting started to grow."
When the last drop was gone, Miryam curled up with a satisfied hum, laying her head in his lap. Her soul link buzzed again.
<<Papa I want to sleep. I am full. When I wake up we will play together in the desert.>>
Kai smiled. A rare, gentle expression. "Okay, my little princess ," he whispered. "I will make sure to give you the best play time."
He let her sleep, his hand stroking gently over her back. The day outside was only beginning, but in this quiet space, surrounded by warmth and promise, Kai let himself rest for a moment too. Father and daughter resting and bonding.
Kai stretched as the afternoon sun poured through the mountain’s crevices, casting golden beams across the hollow’s central dome. The warmth was sharp but not unpleasant, more like an affectionate slap from the sun gods than a roasting threat of the noon. He stood near the eastern edge of the mountain, the narrow tunnel behind him whispering with echoes of ants chatter and the rhythmic sound of stone being carved, polished, and fitted into new projects. But now was not a time for building for him.
It was the time for bonding.
"Alright, Miryam," Kai said, looking down at the small wyrmling curling beside his feet. "You said you wanted to play in the desert."
Miryam lifted her sleek golden scaled head and gave a slow blink, her molten eyes glittering with the light of a thousand sandstorms. She rose with the grace of a feline, stretched her stubby legs, and sent a short pulse through their soul link.
<<Yes. Take me to Mama’s desert. I want to run in the sand. I want to chase the wind.>>
Kai could not help but grin. "Chase the wind, huh? Not like I was planning on a relaxing nap the entire afternoon or anything."
Miryam’s tail gave a swish of mock apology, and she padded ahead, her little claws clicking on the polished stone. Together, they exited the tunnel and stepped out into the vast sea of shimmering golden dunes that stretched out like an endless canvas.
The Hollow Mountain cast a massive shadow over the desert dunes, but beyond that, the sun ruled supreme. It painted the sky in burning blues and distant ripples, and the sands glowed like powdered fire. This was the desert that had once bowed to Miryam’s mother, the fierce Ruler of Dunes. Now, her daughter was here. Not as a ruler yet, but as a curious bundle of instinct and mischief.
As soon as her feet touched the sand, Miryam let out a happy trill and darted forward.
Kai’s eyes widened. "Hey! Wait, no warming up? No stretching? Never mind who needs relaxing joints."
The little wyrmling dove headfirst into a mound of loose sand, popping back out with her snout coated in dust. She shook herself off violently, sending a cloud of sparkling grit into the air, then leapt back and tried again. This time, she executed a forward tumble, landed in a half roll, and lay belly up, tongue flopped sideways in dramatic death.
Kai clapped slowly. "Truly, a performance worthy of the stage. The Desert Sand Ruler School of Combat would be proud."
Miryam sprang to her feet, tail whipping.
<<Papa, come run too. Catch me.>>
"I’m down for sprinting," Kai muttered, cracking his back, and he jogged forward. The two raced across the dunes, kicking up trails of golden powder, their laughter and trills echoing between distant rocks.
Hours passed like this. Hide and seek behind sand pillars. Digging mini craters with claws. At one point, Kai tried making a sandcastle with ant tunnels, only for Miryam to stomp it gleefully with a, "This is what happens to invaders!" battle cry.
Finally, as the afternoon sun began to dip westward, Miryam suddenly stopped and turned toward Kai, her eyes glowing bright.
<Papa,> she said out loud this time, her voice still baby soft but growing stronger, <I want to fly.>
Kai stopped in his tracks. "Fly?"
She nodded eagerly. <I want to fly above the desert. Like the wind. Like you do in my dreams.>
Kai crouched in front of her, gently brushing dust from her snout. "Sweetie... flying needs wings. Maybe one day you will grow them. Maybe you’ll get strong enough to—"
He froze in mid sentence. Miryam had begun floating. Not falling. Not jumping. Floating.
Her body lifted off the ground by half a meter, then a meter more. A sudden burst of shimmering aura pulsed from beneath her feet like invisible ripples of air. She twirled in mid air, giggling with the grace of a hatchling goddess.
Kai stood dumbfounded. "What is the actual spicy dung beetle..."
[Ding! System Notification: Miryam has awakened the innate skill ’Air Control’. Her body can manipulate wind fields, allowing limited aerial movement without wings. Flight duration, height, and speed scale with emotional state and aura saturation.]