“What are we going to do now?” Wondered aloud Thug, resting on a rock as they had a lunch composed of dried jerky from his provisions and water from a nearby creek.

A questioning look from Hare was enough to make him smirk.

“I am talking about you, in specific terms.” His hands pointed at her features. “From my personal experience, human kids don't have scales. I may still be wrong, never had one.”

Her vertical pupils were hidden as she turned her head and pouted. “I was never that good at polymorph magic.” Muttered as her tail started to wag around, menacingly.

“Well, you should start learning.” His tone lowered as it got serious. “And now would be a good time.”

Hare turned towards him, challenging him with an angered look. “It is not that easy!” Her tail hit the ground, raising a small cloud of dust.

“What do you need, then?”

“...nothing in particular. To redo the spell. Having something to try and copy would help me too.” Mumbled so lowly that Thug almost didn’t catch it.

“If I can be of use.” Thug got up and walked towards Hare, sitting at a distance of four feet in front of her.

A fearful look and a nod later, Hare shut her eyes and concentrated. Her bones cracked and bent. Her scales slided around, making a sound akin to flowing sand. Her metre and thirty five centimetres of height were reduced to a measly seventy as her legs grew shorter and wider, supporting the weight of both her small thorax and her two arms, now leathery wings. Thug finally understood her initial fear, for she had reverted to her natural form. A small and pitiful dragon, so brittle and weak. Her small head was filled with almost invisible fangs, as they were far too small, and it looked so delicate. The horns on the top of her head protected the sides. The only thing that grew was her tail, now a true weapon that was already oozing beads of poison from its end.

As she raised her head, her blue eyes opened again. ‘Like a cat’s, huh.’ Her nostrils breathed cold air out and, having reassured herself that he would do nothing harmful, she scanned him from head to toe. An unkempt and dirty long black hair. An unattended stubble from a beard cut only when it grew too large for combat. Brown human eyes surrounded by dark circles, fruit of his unhealthy life. Round ears filled with grime. A slender but well toned figure with muscles still well developed, even if they were far from their prime. Calloused hands full of small wounds rested on his sides, always in view as if to convey that he was hiding nothing. Weak and soft skin, even if filled with imperfections.

She closed her eyes yet another time. The fairly grimacing sounds of her body breaking apart and remaking did little to perturb Thug. The gruesome sight did win against him, making him force himself to maintain a straight face with all of his willpower, leaving little focus to see the transformation unveil.

“How is it now?” Her voice slowed down as she looked more ashamed by the letter.

Her previous thirty centimetres long straight horns had been lessened to twenty and had curved towards the back of her head. Her white hair had receded to a shoulder length, so that was an improvement. Her skin had changed from being reptilian, fully composed of scales, to that of a normal human. However, its design remained unchanged, appearing as if it was composed of scales of normal skin, giving the appearance of a body wide tattoo. Her ice-like pupils also retained her vertical slit. The tail, while now a bit smaller, kept being a force to be reckoned with.

“Way better. At least now you can pass for lizard folk.”

“Do you really think so?” As she spoke, her fangs and snake-like tongue showed themselves.

“Maybe?” Thug couldn’t offer more reassurance. He wasn’t so sure that with the cloak she would remain undetected even. “I am sure that, with more practice, you will nail it next time.”

Smelling the lie and pity in his voice, she puffed her checks and jumped out of the rock she had been sitting on. “When will we resume our travels?” Said as her steps propelled her forward, making Thug back to dodge her.

Thug smiled and dropped the topic. “Let’s go then.”

After half an hour, Hare got too curious to maintain her angry state, continuing to ask about everything she smelled and saw. Thug continued to explain the forest that surrounded them, helped by his several years of mercenary, and he even had to dust some of the training in his old Household. He didn’t realise he kept smiling till sundown.

A stop to make dinner, now went without a hitch as no cold breaths fell onto the bonfire, and Hare, after an exhausting day and still somewhat recovering from her wounds, fell asleep like a log.

Thug smiled and, grabbing his cloak, rested it on top of her, shielding her from the cold early winter night. “You are going to get sick, Jess.” That name rolled out of his tongue easy enough. Too easily. The mental distress it caused wasn’t that easy and caused him to back away, shaking his head. Returning to his position of before and, as his hands started to shake again, too alone now to be distracted from the withdrawal symptoms, he asked, ‘Is that how she would have looked like, Irania? Would our daughter have been this cute? Could we have really lived this fantasy?’. His hand grabbed the bottle of Fire and Stone.

He still remembered the verbal beating his wife had given him.

‘“You spent a month of our winnings for a bottle of alcohol?!”

“Your pregnancing called for a celebration!”’

He had spoken, brimming with joy. Her wife had let it go after a while, surrendering to his brimming energy. They would enjoy it when she was born, he had told her. When their happy family grew by one. Thug shook his head and clenched his firsts to stop the trembling.

He had felt ready to take on the world. Her new farmer lifestyle had seemed so colourful back then. He had felt the stronger man of the world, ready to take any challenge. To do what it took with a smile on his face. He had to fight the impulse to crash the bottle against the ground.

How foolish he had been, thinking he had deserved such a good woman. The Gods had agreed too, for he lost it all on the day when she gave birth. He had paced up and down on the waiting room like a confined wolf as the hours passed under the pained screams of her wife. A day so long, he had never felt so relentless before. Not in front of her father and not the day he had been banished. Goosebumps invaded his body as the memories came back.

All her efforts had been useless. Stillborn. Her last cry as she gave birth had ruptured his heart. Nothing had given him such a sense of urgency. And he had acted on it, barreling inside the room, only to see both her soulmate and daughter dead. His throat stopped a sob. How many times had he dreamed this? Why now?

His gaze returned to Hare. A kid. Was he hoping to create another family? Was he going to make her fill the void his daughter had left him? Or was he waiting for something even worse? Was Hare just an excuse…?

His left hand clutched his wineskin, still empty. The nails dug deep into its hide. Needing to do something to distract himself, he laid back on the rock, its unevenness and coldness causing him a pang of pain. That was nearly not enough, but it sufficed. ‘At this pace we will need three days more to reach Yellowhold…And it is empty. Nethers.’. There would be long days ahead.

…….

“Stand back.” The hum…Thug’s voice reflected the danger they had encountered. Hare nodded and backed, her tongue advising her to retreat, to fly away.

A gross grumble, the sound only a throat full of water can croak out, awoke her primordial fear. A true monster was rampaging in their path, a chimaera. In rage, it was hitting the trees and tearing the bushes out, not searching for anything in particular. It's only drive was to inflict the same pain it felt. Five malformed legs that kept changing its joints propelled its body, dressed in wounds that sprang and healed in seconds, forward. Its head, wet in its own black blood, hit the tree it had charged at, breaking its cranium and denting it. From its back, three tentacles flayed, trying to harm the air around it, its bony ends threatening with piercing fury. Its tail had been torn out several times by its fifth leg, as it could only move near the tail.

Its three red eyes had already scanned them, not qualifying them of being worthy of the effort of moving towards them. Its two frontal legs hit the three, gouging half of it and causing it to fall on top of it. Its roars masked the sounds that Thug made as he started to search inside his bag for a flint. Its four working legs clawed at the ground and, exerting inhuman strength, propelled it upwards, knocking the tree aside. Hissing, it bit the tree. Its mandibles sliced the equivalent in wood of a human torso and chewed it a few times before spitting it and trying again. Its old and proud fur had been reduced to a leathery skin that sizzled and popped.

The sound of a stone hitting metal near her startled Hare up, making her jump and approach a nearby tree. The sound of the flames of a torch caused her to look at Thug, who was wielding it with his right hand. The left hand had grabbed one of his ‘eggs’, but this one had a very rough surface, noticeable with even gauntlets on.

Approaching the chimaera, he launched the tool when he was five metres away. The hit caused it to break and drench the monster in its liquid contents. The three eyes and, now, five tentacles turned to him. He was close enough as to be worth the effort of approaching. The mutated wolf howled and croached, getting ready to jump. Its mad look caused Hare to need to support herself onto the tree.

Thug simply throwed his torch, not that interested. He didn’t have to aim that much as the monster didn’t bother to dodge. Its legs released all of the potential energy they had accumulated and its head collided face first with the thrown torch. The chimaera burst into flames, causing it to contour in the air and miss Thug, who had jumped back to dodge its charge. It fell to the ground and started to roll around. It did not avail it as its regenerative properties fuelled the flames to a netherish degree, quickly carbonising it.

It did not have the mercy of a quick death, for its blackened form still convulsed, trying still to attack Thug. Once the flames ate their fill and more, the monster ran out of mana and ceased its movements. Only the burnt carcase of a bigger than usual wolf remained.

Hare asked in a shaky tone. “What…was that?”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“A true monster. Nonetheless, it has travelled far to reach here, huh? Wargs are common only to mountains.”

“That is a wolf?” Her tone only grew unstable.

“No.” Thug shrugged when she pressed him again. After all, nobody knew why monsters existed.

“Can….can that happen to anything?” ‘Can it happen to us?’ Was what she had wanted to ask.

Thug extended his arms to the side, palms upward. “I do not believe it is possible. For what little I know about the topic is that it requires a higher than normal concentration of mana. For sapient beings, who can just deplete it, is just…Not feasible? I really do not know.”

“I see.” She nodded. Her legs had finally stopped shaking. She yed Thug as she patted her legs as if to clean the rags she was wearing.

“You get used to it.” Was the dry answer. Resignation and a bit of, hate?. ‘That foul odour is returning.’ As she inspected him more closely, he noticed and started to walk again. “Let’s get going.”

Hare nodded and strolled behind him. She had to up the pace a bit, the flow of the wind feeling great on her unshielded face. Her vitality returned and she had the impulse to sing to the melody of the cold air and the blue hum of the winter’s sun’s light. A delightful sensation. It was a shame that the day was at its zenith already.

Inhaling in, her tongue detected another interesting smell after a while of walking. Her eyes darted and located a running rabbit-like creature.

“What is that?”

“It’s a bonedigger. They feed on carcasses.” Hare nodded, not realising the edge in Thug’s tone.

“It looked cute.” A small furry animal with two clawed front legs and a small mouth. It smelled delicious.

The cloak of Thug hitting her was her response. “Dress that up quick and look at the ground. Keep walking.”

As he hid her face, the smell of two new humans reached her.

“Hey, Thug. A shame you didn’t d…Wait, from what village did you kidnap that?” Asked the first one, dressed in a red dyed leather armour.

The other laughed loudly as they stepped closer, normal civilian clothes betraying not his skillset, “I was sure you preferred mature ones, but I expected nothing less from you!”

Hare had to stop. It was her first time smelling such true and nauseating hate. The sheer quality of its colours in the human not dressed in red had been enough to cause her goosebumps.

“Shut your mouths you baggages of swordsmen. Do you still keep your swords up your ass or have you finally learned that the pointy end goes first?” The reply of Thug, while appearing normal, had the scent of regret.

“Yes, yes. Keep your insipid remarks to yourself. You know, you are way funnier when you are getting robbed in the ditches of the city, being out cold and all that.” The red dressed man got challengingly close to Thug and, smirking, raised a hand as if to give him a handshake.

“You know, we could be friends. If only I fixed that face of yours. My fists are miracle workers, they tend to say.”

“Oh, I have heard all about them from your old wife. You sure did a wonderful wo….” A right hook to the jaw was enough to launch the red armoured guy a few feet above the ground, breaking it.

“Thug?!? That’s crossing the…” Thug closed in on the casually dressed wizard before he could will a spell into existence, striking him in the face and breaking his nose. ‘Was that, happiness?’

Thug turned to Hare, “Walk.”

Hare walked as fast as she could without entering into a run, Thug’s anger and foul smell fueling her haste.

“I am going to skin both you and your little whore Thug! You have crossed the line this time! Out of luck!” His jaw was already healing, letting him mutter out a pained laugh. Veteran mercenaries always had a healing potion embedded in one of their molars after all.

The only response of Thug was his middle finger as he nudged Hare forward with his right hand.

“...who were they?”

“Old coworkers. Stabbed them in the back once or twice.” No lies, only withhold information.

“...I see…” Her tail coiled, uneasy.

The rest of the day was filled with silence, but they kept encountering people as they got near Yellowhold. Hare did her best to rest, for even her deep sleep couldn’t stop her from awakening at Thug’s mad mutterings and screams as he woke up.

……

Hare didn’t dare to ask questions now. ‘Is he sick?’ Was the only thing on her mind, as Thug’s hands were deep in her pockets. A pale and tired face and an uneven but fast pace. The worst thing was his scent. It was horrid, continually changing between regret, irritation and hate, jumping in hostility at any nearby noise.

After a few hours, she asked, “How long until we reach the city?” She managed to get out, trying to get a conversation going, missing the casual stroll of before.

“Two years.” Was the curt reply. His frigid tone rivalled her breath.

Hare nodded, giving up.

Thanks to their speed up pace, they arrived at the city when the sun was setting down, one day ahead. Hare was willing to drop on the ground in front of the gate out of sheer exhaustion, only the now desperate pushing of Thug keeping her walking.

The guards took a look at Thug and stepped aside. One muttered something to the other, who shook her head.

A completely new ambience, Hare’s excitement shot out against her tired body’s wishes. ‘So many smells, so many humans…’ Her tongue was experiencing for the first time the impossibility of keeping track of all things inside a city, causing her to rely on her vision and ears. A ton of voices, clipping against each other. Colours she had never seen before. So many new things. So many new questions.

She turned her head towards Thug, wanting to ask an uncountable amount of questions. His frown was enough to get her to take her gaze downwards again. But soon enough, she started to steal sightings of her surroundings, curiosity flaring up.

‘Mercenary’s pit? But it is a building?’

With little ceremony Thug barreled inside. The tavern was almost full of people, causing her to latch onto him.

“Jon!” Thug said once he reached the counter.

Jon nodded towards him and, after serving five drinks, approached him.

“Took you long enough.” His eyes darted to him after noticing the eyes of the kid. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “What in the nine nether do you think you are doing here?!?” His anger and worry caused Hare to look to the ground.

“Getting my money.”

“What are you thinking, you absolute fool?! At least hide her or something?!” His low tone was unheard in the noisy bar.

Thug simply put the bag of ears on the counter, together with his wineskin. “Clean my tab and fill that up. Once you do, I will get out of here.”

Understanding came to Jon’s eyes. “Even now, despite the danger you are putting both you and that thing, you are only thinking about drinking?”

Thug grabbed Jon by his clothes, raising him in the air and causing a commotion, one the Inquisitor used to get out of the bar. “You are not my father nor my friend.” Growled Thug. “Do your job, barkeeper.” After saying that, he throwed him back, causing him to hit the furniture Jon had behind, not breaking the shelves by Gods’ grace.

Jon nodded, sadness now flowing from his words. “So be it.”

After filling his wineskin two times, he paid him fifteen silver coins.

“You promised fifty.”

“You said to pay your tab.”

“Nethers.” His mind clearing up a bit, he grabbed Hare’s and left the store, now cursing himself for his recklessness.

“Was that medicine?” Asked Hare. The stench was almost gone, and she could only smell regret and worry from him now.

“Poison if anything. Let’s get you properly dressed, shall we? You can choose whatever you want.” Thug answered in a soft tone.

Hare nodded, not knowing what he was talking about, but happy nonetheless. Soon enough he returned to ask, and Thug answered as deeply as he could.

….

“What do you mean you do not serve lizard folk?” Asked Thug to the shopman. Hare was coursing through the stands, looking at all the colourful clothes.

“It is my store, I sell to however I want to.” Said the shopkeeper.

“I will pay double.” This shit was not what he needed right now.

“I won’t sell anything to you. Get that monster out of my store.”

Thug rested his right hand on the handle of his short sword and snapped. “What a shame. And I really liked this shop.” He shook his head, as if regretting it. A mocking tone.

“You wouldn’t dare to do anything.”

“Me? Oh, no. I would never dream of such a thing!” A dangerous smirk came to his face. “But my friends are too overzealous, you know? And they have gotten closer to the lass, so maybe they would act up, you know?”

“Threats will get you nowhere.” He had still flinched.

His voice abandoned the false worry. “Test the waters. See if you sink.”

The employer backed a step, weighing the risks. “You got five minutes. Double the price.”

“Great to see you are someone so graceful and understanding.” A pat on his shoulder made the worker back off to out of rage.

…

‘Four silver coins left…Money flies.’

“It feels so nice!” Hare was turning around as they walked under the night towards Thug residence. Leather soft boots, a long coat with a big hoodie and casual blue clothes, bigger than they should be, underneath it managed to completely hide her trails from view.

“Happy to hear.” He stopped regretting spending so much money, even if his fear grew.

Opening the door of his home. “Well, we will be staying here.” His last word almost got struck in his throat. He had forgotten that the only place he touched, for worse, was his bedroom. The emptiness of his one floor house was accompanied by unholy quantities of dust.

“....I should get to cleaning.”

………….

Ires got up from her chair. “Are you sure about the report?”

“The Inquisition wouldn’t dare to lie to us now that they are trying to entrench their position. They need all the favours and funds they can get.” Marc reassured her.

“So the pup is in the hands of a mercenary? Find all you can get your hands on about that thug. You have the week that will take us to reach the city.”

“Are you sure about separating the company? And you leave us with all of the mages. I fear for your safety.”

“Tracking Izdral, the White Scourge, is the priority, Second.”

“As you command.”

Ires dressed her helmet and left the tent. After backing the new orders, she spearheaded her platoon of thirty mercenaries.

………….