Chapter 448: Episode 446: Traveling to the Dragon Peaks

The months following the Vanguard Youth Tournament bled into a warm, vibrant Beastworld summer, bringing with it a period of profound peace, terrifyingly accelerated pack growth, and an increasingly heavy reality for the Matriarch.

Roxy was now heavily, undeniably deep into her third trimester.

The transmigrated Vanguard pup growing inside her possessed an absolute, staggering vitality that made itself known at all hours of the day and night. Roxy was practically glowing, her skin radiating a breathtaking, maternal flush that completely mesmerized her five fiercely devoted husbands. However, the physical toll of carrying a super-powered apex predator was undeniable. She was overwhelmingly uncomfortable. Her lower back ached constantly, her center of gravity was entirely compromised, and she could not walk down a single stone corridor without at least three Alpha Kings hovering frantically, fully prepared to catch her if she so much as stumbled over a rug.

But despite the heavy, rolling kicks against her ribs and the suffocating Warlord pampering, Roxy’s mind was entirely fixed on a rapidly approaching geopolitical deadline.

The summer solstice was merely weeks away. It was the official, divinely mandated date for Drax to ascend the Obsidian Throne. And Roxy absolutely refused to sit comfortably in the Iron-Wood Manor while her eldest son took his Warlord oath. She was the Matriarch of the Beastworld; she was going to travel to the Dragon Peaks, and she was going to place the heavy crown upon his head with her own two hands.

The absolute second she announced her travel plans at the breakfast table, the Vanguard Warlords completely, catastrophically lost their minds.

"Absolutely not," Kaelen had immediately growled, dropping his silver goblet. The King of the North’s icy blue eyes widened in sheer, logistical horror. "Roxy, you are weeks away from giving birth! You cannot ride a wyvern! You cannot even ride a horse!"

"The Dragon Peaks are an active volcanic death trap," Syris hissed, his elegant fingers gripping the edge of the mahogany table. "The altitude alone is suffocating. The air is entirely saturated with sulfur, volcanic ash, and blistering heat. It is a terrible, hostile environment for a heavily pregnant terrestrial woman!"

"You will stay here," Torian commanded, his feline tail lashing aggressively against his chair. "We will send an envoy. Or better yet, we will force Drax to come back here and take his oath in the gardens."

Roxy simply crossed her arms over her swollen belly, leveling the panicking Alphas with a calm, unyielding Matriarchal glare. "I am going. Drax stood by us when the world ended. I am not missing his coronation just because I have a backache."

At the head of the table, Zarek slammed his massive hand down, the sound echoing like a thunderclap.

The Dragon King’s golden eyes blazed with fierce, territorial pride. He completely ignored the frantic protests of his brothers and looked directly at his mate.

"She is the Queen of the East just as much as she is the Queen of the North," Zarek rumbled, his gravelly voice vibrating with absolute authority. "She will not be denied entry to my homeland. The dragon lords will fall to their knees and worship the very ground she walks upon."

Zarek stood up, his colossal, heavily scarred chest expanding. "I will personally shield her from the heat. I will carry her up the mountain myself if I have to. My fire will not harm her or our pup."

While Zarek’s promises were fiercely romantic, Kaelen and Torian were entirely unwilling to rely solely on the Dragon’s arrogant optimism. If their Matriarch insisted on traveling into a volcanic wasteland, they were going to engineer an absolute, impenetrable bubble of luxury to transport her.

For the next week, the woodworking sheds of the Iron-Wood Manor became an explosive epicenter of highly aggressive, overprotective Warlord engineering.

The King of the North and the White Tiger Alpha practically ripped up the blueprints for traditional Beastworld carriages. They designed a massive, ridiculously cushioned, magically climate-controlled "moving fortress."

The carriage was a behemoth of polished iron-wood and enchanted steel. Torian utilized his raw, brute strength to forge a complex, heavy-duty suspension system made of magically treated vines and steel springs, ensuring that not a single bump in the road would reach the interior cabin. Kaelen embedded massive, constantly regenerating Northern ice crystals directly into the reinforced walls, creating a flawless, magically sustained air-conditioning system that completely neutralized the outside heat.

The interior was entirely lined with the softest, thickest dire-wolf pelts, silk pillows, and reclining velvet seats. It was less of a carriage and more of a rolling, indestructible Vanguard palace.

When the day of departure finally arrived, Roxy was practically lifted into the fortress by a fiercely purring Torian.

The journey east took an entire week.

It was a massive, highly visible Vanguard procession. The five Alpha Kings rode their magnificent, terrifying war-beasts alongside the carriage, while the Vanguard children—Axel, Onyx, Tanith, Iris, Zale, Tyara, and Fedor—rode in slightly less luxurious, but equally guarded wagons, filling the days with chaotic, excited chatter.

Inside her rolling fortress, Roxy was incredibly comfortable. The enchanted suspension made it feel as though she were floating on a cloud, and Kaelen’s ice crystals kept the heavy, suffocating summer heat entirely at bay.

As the days passed, the lush, green landscape of the central territories slowly began to shift. The ancient forests gave way to jagged, blackened earth. The air outside the carriage grew visibly thicker, tainted with the distant, ominous red glow of active magma flows.

On the seventh day, the Vanguard procession finally halted.

Roxy shifted in her mountain of silk pillows, her hand resting heavily on her pregnant belly. The massive carriage doors were pulled open by Zarek. A rush of dry, incredibly hot air tried to invade the cabin, but it was immediately beaten back by the ambient chill of Kaelen’s magic.

"We are here, little Earthling," Zarek murmured, his golden eyes burning with fierce pride as he offered his massive, calloused hand to help her down.

Roxy gripped his hand, allowing him to carefully, gently lift her out of the carriage. She set her feet onto the dark, ash-covered ground.

She looked up, and her breath instantly caught in her throat.

Looming before them were the Dragon Peaks. They were colossal, terrifying mountains of jagged obsidian and black stone that pierced directly into the clouds. Thick plumes of dark smoke and ash billowed from their summits, staining the sky with a permanent, bruising twilight. It was a harsh, apocalyptic, and undeniably magnificent kingdom.

The entire Vanguard family gathered at the base of the massive volcanic stairs leading up to the Obsidian Palace. The children fell uncharacteristically silent, staring up at the terrifying peaks in awe.

Suddenly, the skies above them violently darkened.

The ambient sunlight was completely blotted out by a massive, sweeping shadow. The sound of heavy, leathery wings beating against the thin mountain air echoed like a series of concussive explosions. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Look!" Iris pointed toward the clouds.

A terrifyingly beautiful, colossal dragon broke through the thick cover of ash. Its scales were the color of midnight and forged iron, rippling with pure, unadulterated draconic muscle. It descended with blinding, apocalyptic speed, tucking its massive wings to plummet directly toward the vanguard procession.

At the very last possible second, the dragon flared its wings.

It landed on the blackened earth just fifty yards away. The impact resulted in an earth-shattering BOOM that violently rattled the iron-wood plating of the carriage and sent a massive, billowing cloud of volcanic dust and ash swirling into the air.

Roxy shielded her face with her arm, entirely unfazed by the dramatic display. She knew exactly who that was.

As the dark smoke slowly began to clear, the massive silhouette of the dragon melted away, shifting smoothly into a tall, broad-shouldered human form.

Drax stepped out of the ash.

The teenage drake she had sent away months ago was completely gone. He had grown broader, taller, and carried the heavy, absolute mantle of a sovereign ruler. He was dressed in striking, regal black attire—a dark, finely tailored tunic embroidered with subtle silver draconic runes, heavy combat trousers, and a sweeping, fur-lined obsidian cloak that dragged elegantly across the ash. He looked every inch the terrifying, majestic King of the East.

Drax’s dark green eyes scanned the procession, completely bypassing the heavily armored Alpha Kings, until his gaze locked directly onto Roxy’s face.

The fierce, untouchable Warlord facade instantly vanished.

Drax strode forward, moving with a fluid, lethal grace. When he reached the space right in front of his mother, the Dragon Heir violently threw his dark cloak back. He dropped smoothly to one knee in the volcanic ash, completely bowing his head in the ultimate, undisputed sign of absolute Vanguard respect.

"Welcome to the Dragon Peaks, Matriarch," Drax said, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that echoed off the obsidian cliffs. "My kingdom is entirely yours."

Roxy’s heart swelled with so much blinding, maternal pride she thought it might physically burst. She took a step forward, completely ignoring her aching back, and placed her soft hand gently on top of his dark hair.

"Rise, my beautiful boy," Roxy whispered warmly, a brilliant, radiant smile on her face. "You have done magnificently."

Drax closed his eyes, leaning into her touch for a fraction of a second, entirely soaking in his mother’s absolute approval.

Then, Drax stood up.

The tender, devoted son vanished as quickly as he had appeared. Drax violently squared his broad shoulders, his dark green eyes narrowing into lethal, furious draconic slits. He snapped his head to the right, glaring directly at the colossal, heavily scarred King of the East standing protectively at Roxy’s side.

The tension in the air violently spiked as Drax’s draconic combat aura clashed aggressively against Zarek’s.

Drax glared at his father.

"How could you bring Mother in her condition?!!!"