“Master, I have finished checking the perimeter.”
“Roar!”
I walk over to the place we are going to spend the night. The figure of a tall winged beast greets me. Two days have passed since we got to this new world and until now we haven't seen any human or monster. Kaikai is worried that humans may think we are dangerous. He said through Holly, "That how the cliché goes." Sira and I agreed, so we have been moving without leaving the forest. Kaikai still is not able to turn into a human or even talk by himself.
“Rawww roar, ragh roooaar.”
When he first started trying to talk I think his roars were cute. Now it is beginning to annoy me. Sira is way past that and prefers to wander off hunting.
“Rooar grr rarooar?”
“Holly, help me.” It angers me to depend on the fox. It doesn’t matter how many times Sira and I put her in her place; she keeps bragging about their 'connection.'
“Dear asked you to fetch Sira. He was thinking on the way here and got an idea. It originates not from the lore of the game. Instead, it is about several concepts that are usually related with one of Sira's powers.”
“He said all that with a roar?!”
“Draconid is a very concise language.”
It's such an odd sensation. That guy feels like my Kaikai, and even has all of his mannerism and weirdness, yet in a way he is different. I think it may be because I am incapable of talking directly to him. I have the uneasy feeling that he may not be the same guy I have been traveling with for seventy years.
With those dark thoughts on my head, I walk across the trees. It is easy for me because Kaikai helped me max out Thief, Assassin, Archer, and Monk; all of them add to my mobility. As a tracker, I can feel Sira is not far away. Knowing her, she is probably pouting for something in her mind.
“Sira? Master needs your help with something.”
And indeed she is pouting, with her head between her knees under the shade of a tree. Since the first time we met her, she has been prone to feeling down. Sira joined us initially when Kyroz and I were worried about her staying in her town.
“Sira? Are you feeling ok?”
“Yes, just thinking.” she pauses collecting her thoughts, “what do you think of the new Kyroz?”
Her red eyes shine back at querying my expressions for a hint to my answer. From the four of us, Sira has always been the smarter one. Kaikai had the ideas and Sira the knowledge. It was evident that she would be the most troubled by the nonsensical happenings.
To answer her, I remember that moment when despair was sinking in. The aether was unstoppable, and we had nowhere to run. Then Kaikai looked at us and spoke reassuring words, even if they were goodbyes.
“When Kaikai, I mean master, told us how much he cares about us… I was happy.”
Yes, I was delighted. My Kyroz was never someone whose thoughts could easily be understood. He went and acted, never explained or planed. Somehow failing to follow an order always made us fail. And despite how much we wanted him to, he never opened up to us or told us how he felt.
“When he told us all about games, avatars, and NPCs. At first, I thought he was clowning us, as always. But those mad words were coherent. In a way it makes sense. It explains a lot of the weird things that happened in the Rift.”
“If we believe him, you know what it means right?”
“Yes. That we were tools to experience the fantasy of adventure, nothing more.”
“Mia, are you okay with that?”
“Never. I love my Kaikai. Back when we were young, I was the one who asked him to let me follow him on adventures. If I had to make the choice today, I would follow too."
“But he is not our Kyroz.”
“We don't know that. A part of me thinks that dragon might have breathed a little too much of the aether clouds, that may have affected him. Other part thinks that he is not the Kyroz we now, but similar. It may not be a bad thing...”
“What are you saying! Didn’t you love the real Kyroz? Why are you conforming with the new guy?!”
“What I am saying is that the dragon there is trying his best. From his point of view he was controlling Kyroz, right? Doesn't it mean that in a way he is the most real version of Kyroz?”
“I cannot believe you are saying that!”
Sira sits on the ground without looking at me anymore. Only Kaikai would make her move in that state. But I am sure she won't accept the current version of him to do so. I would like to give a chance to the dragon that accompanies us. In some aspects he is entirely different, in others, the resemblance is uncanny.
When I begin thinking I should keep talking about the topic, Sira dismisses me saying, “I’ll go to that dragon in a moment. My Ky would have never left alone a powerless freak.”
----------------------------------------
“I am here. What is the brilliant idea?” says Sira, finally stepping out of the trees.
“Roooar, growl roar grr.”
“Dear says, ‘We both have the psychic class, we may be able to use telepathy to talk.’”
When each of us started our travels, we signed a 'Partners Contract.' It allowed us to share our strengths and overcome weaknesses. It made easy for us to share what we have learned. Kaikai was a completionist freak. He went from trainer to trainer to discovering all possible spells and skills he found. He mastered several classes and then taught them to us. Because he supposedly played as Kyroz, the dragon should have already learned the Psychic skills.
“Telepathy? And how I use it?”
“Rawr.”
“Dear doesn’t know.”
“Last time you gave me a little more information than that.”
“Mmm, Roar growl Grrr Raww roar.”
“He says 'the Psychic class is all about the power of the mind, telepathy is mostly thought transmission. Should be easier than teleport to another world.’"
“Sigh. I'll have to go with that, then. You got us out of the Rift with nonsense. I may as well try.”
“Roar!”
“Dear says ‘That’s the spirit!’”
Holly is the only one who understands Kyroz's dragon speech, and I don't have any useful classes to cooperate, I may as well sleep for now. Just like the two previous nights, we will take turns until sunrise.
----------------------------------------
Most certainly because of the recent events, I dreamt of my childhood. I remembered the streets where I used to roam. They were on the outskirts of some capital city whose name I don’t want to remember.
I believe I was eight years old when I managed to get a job; I had to sweep the floors at a bakery store. The baker was a big man with a round belly. He would give me a loaf of freshly baked bread and a few coppers as payment every day before I left. The only condition was not to eat my meal near his shop, as some nobles didn't like that.
The bakery was in the merchant's district at the intersection of the main road with one of the many branching streets. It was a bit too far away by walking from the slums where I lived, but I didn’t mind as long as I could taste the deliciously baked dough.
For a few months, my routine was going to the shop, sweep the floors, get my loaf and coppers then back to the slums. With the coppers I saved, I bought new clothes and shoes. My new clothes gave the impression I was getting better standing and that was my mistake. With the new clothes, I started being noticed by some of the older kids in the slums. From then onwards, no matter which route I used to get home, someone would steal my coppers or even worst, my loaf of bread.
I kept trying to get past the thieves and failing. One day, I was almost running down the entrance of the slums. Maybe today, I taught, perhaps that day I could arrive home with no problems. But it was not my fate. As always a group of tree thug-looking teenagers approached me. I felt powerless, holding the earnings of my day.
As I trembled, I heard a voice coming from behind the thugs, “Hey, what are you doing?” it said.
He was a kid around my age with sharp golden eyes and two black horns on his forehead. Was he a demon like me? I thought at first. But he was not. He was a dragonkin."
With a defiant expression, he put himself in between the thugs and myself. He was calm, used to the act of looking directly into the bullies eyes and saying an ultimatum, “You should leave.”
In the slums ruled the strongest, and the teenagers would not bulge under an eight-year-old. No matter his confidence.
Two of the bullies move to close any exists from the alley. The third one was the bigger of the bunch, and with an evil grin, he readied his fist to strike.
The dragonkin boy stood there indifferent. He waited until the bully’s fist closed into his range to move. He quickly took hold of the bully's arm and pulled downwards. The boy clenched his free hand in front of his face and placed his arm to hit the falling teen's back with his elbow. In what seemed like an instant the biggest teen of the group was on the floor, his assailant placed a knee on his back and immobilized his arms.
The other two bullies lost any chance as they let escape a single second of doubt. The dragonkin had unsheathed a small iron knife that he pressed onto the fallen thug’s throat. The boy's golden eyes alternated between the two conspirators.
“At first, I asked in a good way for you to leave. Because you didn't listen, I assume you want to play with me a little bit. This knife is Happiness, and he reaaally likes to poke around!” the dragonkin said, with a creepy smile on his face. “Or is it too late for you, kids, to play outside?”
The fallen guy's friends run away shortly after. The dragonkin stood up and let the last guy flee. With the act finished, he turned to me showing a healthy smile.
“Are you ok?”
With a voice that might have been a whisper, I answered with a simple “Thank you.” I wanted to keep my way, but the boy continued.
“No biggie. If you live alone in the slums, you’ll need a good leveled class. Is that bread fresh? It smells delicious.”
“Do.. do you want... some?”
“Sure!”
With the same knife he menaced the bullies, the dragonkin took a small slice of the top of the loaf. Just enough to call it a sample.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
I was a little wary of the boy, but my curiosity was stronger, “Why did you named your knife Happiness?”
“I did? I don’t know. I improvised that to scare them. Smiling kids with knives are scary. Are you a dragon by the way?”
“No, I am a demon.”
”Oh, I am Kyroz. I am a dragon, what’s your name?”
“Mia.”
“Shy Mia. Nice to meet you Mii!”
“Mii?”
“Yeah, it suits you. Mm, if you got a pet name, how about Kaikai for me?”
“Why do you need a pet name?! And isn’t it a bit too cute for a boy?”
“Isn’t cute a compliment?”
“I guess? You are weird.”
“Yep, and you are pretty! See? Compliments! Oh! I should be going now. I have things to do here. You’ll probably see me often! Bye!”
As he said, that was not the last time I met the boy. Almost every day when I returned home from the bakery. He stood there to protect me from some random guy. Soon after he started escorting me all the way, to protect me from danger. With him at my side, I didn't have to fear from the thugs. I also started enjoying the little phrases he said to scare away the bullies. With him there, maybe I could have kept having a good life in the slums.
Those were some of the happier memories of my childhood. Me walking from the bakery chatting with Kaikai. I loved those moments in the street, so I used to walk slowly to make it last a little bit longer. For seven years, we had our little routine. We shared my bread and talked about adventures and all the places he wanted to go.
As a girl in the slums, I was focused on surviving another day. I was jealous of Kaikai's drive to pursue his happiness. I wanted to see the world he was so proud when he talked. In secret, I started training on how to use a knife. Maybe, was my thought, if I proved capable, he would let me accompany him in adventures.
With each new day I resolved myself to ask him to take me with him, and each day I couldn't dare and pushed it to the next. It kept happening until the moment my walks with Kyroz had come to an end.
For me, that was a long week. I didn't see Kaikai any day. It had happened before, but never for a full straight week. And when the cat’s away, the mice once again showed before me.
“Well, well. Look what da’ drag’n left behind. I believe we’ve left yer pockets alone too much.” Says one thug, “Ya owe us yer fee and yer boyfriends.”
I could be happy about being confused as Kaikai’s girlfriend. That was my usual reaction. But these guys annoyed me. I had grown up from the bullied girl of the past.
“You see, my Kaikai is a little busy,” I remember saying, taking my iron knife hidden in my belt. “So today I’ll play for both of us, this is Happiness, my treasure.”
Trying to imitate Kaikai's usual antics I decided to pull the most sadistic smile possible, “It reaaally likes poking the backs of bastards like you.”
I kept staring at them intensively. Finally one of the thugs spoke.
“Scary... Bob, da’ bitch’s crazy. Betta’ to leave her alone.” says the first thug partner, with a very odd accent.
I wanted to leave soon, so I tried to taunt him, “Are you not going to play, Bob?”
“Kill her!”
I definetively wasn't expect that response, I have been training to go on adventures with Kaikai. To leave the slums, first I need to defeat them. I needed to overcome this so that he would take me with him.
With my Happiness in one hand, I went straight to stab the face of Bob. But the man firmly held my arm and squeezed my wrist. With the pressure, I couldn't keep hold of my knife and Happiness fell to my feet.
I had committed a mistake. I was not ready to fight against three thugs. Kaikai wouldn't have any problem. Why is it so difficult to escape my fate.
“What are you doing to Mii?!”, ringed the voice of the boy I had acquainted in the same circumstances.
From the direction of the slums, it was Kyroz who appeared. Throwing a knife to each of Bob’s partners. The pieces of metal flew like arrows hurting the henchmen's shoulders. With that as a distraction, he closed into my direction and punched Bob's chin, making him lose hold of my wrist.
Before I lost that chance, I ducked to pick Happiness. I was fortunate enough to grab it before Kaikai took my other hand and we started running away together.
We stopped in the middle of the merchant's district. It appeared that we were out of danger. Before I could react, Kaikai takes away my knife, surprising me.
“That was dangerous! what were you thinking?!”
“You do it all the time!”
“Yes, but I spent a lot of time training how to do it!”
“I’d been training!”
“Alone? You cannot learn how to fight alone! Have you even went to a class trainer?”
“Class trainer?”
“See? You know nothing about adventures! Adventuring has a lot of weird rules! Things don’t work if you don’t follow them! If you want to use knives to fight, It's not enough to learn to stab. You need to go to a class trainer. They will have the skills. Argh! What do I do with you now? You tried to kill some of those thugs, and they won’t let you get close to the slums anymore.”
“I don't want to live in the slums anymore!"
Those were my true feelings. I had grown out of place. I was sick of my routine. My walks together with Kaikai where the only things I enjoyed.
"Kaikai, I’m sorry… I want to get stronger… to stay together and to go adventuring with you.”
Kaikai just sighed, slumping his shoulders, trying to force the stress away from his body. He looked at me and pondered his options silently.
The moment that seemed to me as an eternity concluded with one word.
“Okay.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, really. But before I can spend any second training you, I have to finish a mission for the thieves guild. It's too dangerous for you to wait in the slums, so you’ll have to come along.”
He ends with a “Don’t put yourself in danger again!” as he returns my Happiness.
----------------------------------------
“Is this the place?” I asked Kaikai as I looked to the bakery where I worked from across the street.
“Yes, on the third floor.”
The brick building had four floors tall, the bakery on the first floor and some merchant's office on the levels above.
“The thieves guild wanted me to set a fire to the bakery, use it as a distraction to steal some noble’s letters from the office of a corrupt merchant.”
“You can’t burn that bakery!” Even if it were for a short time, the baker for whom I worked for gave me a place to belong, and a purpose during the time I kept walking through the street with Kaikai. I couldn’t let him burnt it for a quest.
"Relax, I won't. My plan is way stupider." He tried to reassure me, but his words betrayed him. "I will do the standard adventure plan. I’ll walk straight to the third floor and kick anyone who tries to fight with me!”
“That’s not a plan!”
“It’s the adventurer’s way! You'll get it sooner or later. For now, you should wait here.”
Before I could reply, he stormed off into the stairs that lead to the second floor. It didn't take long for the noises of a commotion came flying from the third level of the building. Some passersby stared by my side as the fighting sounds and scream increased. I thought, maybe I should run and help him, unsure if I could be of any help. Before I could muster my resolve, one of the windows shattered spraying glass shards into the sidewalk. A winged lizard-like creature glided from the frame of the broken window with a leather bag held by his paws.
When the dragon touched the ground, a sudden cloud blasted into existence and within it appeared Kaikai. Once again he took my hand, and we run holding the stolen bag.
To not attract unwanted attention, we had to escape through the district alleys. We only stopped when we were far enough.
“Let’s catch our breaths for now. The only thing remaining is to deliver the goods, and the quest is over.”
“What goods?”
“Some noble’s letters. I am assuming they are in the bag.”
“You assume?”
“I had a hunch. That works most of the time.”
“Kaikai, you should have checked before escaping! Check. It. Now.”
I can't figure him out. Sometimes he acts rationally, then the next he does some outrageous thing.
AS if nothing was said, he shrugs and answers with an, “Okay.”
Kaikai rummaged through the contents of the bag. There were several pieces of parchment, a notebook, pencils, an inkwell, a pen, a stack of letters tied with a rope, and finally, three magic looking scrolls.
“This stack should be it. We should get rid of the others.”
“Really? Nothing else is valuable?”
“My hunch says, keep the scrolls, discard the rest.”
I am not sure of his hunches. But he has an adventurer far longer than me. I could at least trust him for the moment.
----------------------------------------
We were supposed to the est gate near the noble's quarter to turn Kaikai's quest. When we arrived a cloaked figure signaled for us to follow, and so we did.
The cloak exposed its owner while being covered by the shadows between two buildings. She was a young human woman with a stern face and thin framed glasses. Her well combed hair was fastened by a white cloth tiara. She was dressed with a black dress and white apron.
“You sure made a mess back there. Do you have the letters boy?” said the maid, looking into a flustered Kyroz with slightly flushed cheeks. I didn’t like that.
“Yes! I believe this should be all of them.”
Taking the stack of letters, she unfastened the knot and quickly looked through the senders of each paper envelope.
“Indeed. Master will be pleased. As agreed, here is your reward,” The maid said throwing a small cloth bag filled with coins. “Now leave. You and your kind are not welcomed near the Noble Quarter.”
The maid fled with rude words, leaving us alone.
Puzzled I turned to Kaikai, “It was all that just for a small bag of coins?” I said indignant.
He just smiled, something was funny to him, “Nope, the money is extra. The real reward is the scrolls.”
“The scrolls? Weren’t you going to throw them away?”
“What? Never! I know they are useful!”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet. Adventures should be like this! Let’s find out.”
----------------------------------------
I realize I have woken up. I can feel the grainy touch of the forest floor. All those broken leaves and twigs under my body.
My friend Sira notices me. After giving a quick glance to the sky, she says “Mia, swap time. It's supposed to be the dragons turn, but he got a headache from trying to speak and collapsed. He should sleep a bit longer.”
“Did he talk?”, I asked.
“We will know tomorrow." she says as she sits beside me, "Are you okay?”
“Yes, just have things on my mind.”
“A bad dream?”
“A good one.”
Nothing more needs to be said. Sira has been my traveling partner for many years; she sure understands what I mean.
I left Sira so she can rest and move away to look at my surroundings. It’s the early morning, the calmest moment of any day. The darkness of the night slowly but surely starts to leave, tinting on the horizon with color. From the distance, I can hear roosters giving their welcome to the sun.
I witnessed the still image when I heard the rustling sound of leaves. The culprit is a dragon's head that raises to look at me.
“Good morning Mia,” speaks Kyroz, the voice I know so well sounding directly into my mind.
“Kaikai, you can talk.”
“I can still roar if you want me to.”
“No, please stop. It has become annoying already.”
I look at the dragon with the voice of my beloved. His sharp golden eyes look the same as they did back in the slum's alleys. How many times I had found my home, merely by looking at them. And now I can only feel doubt. Kaikai wasn't the perfect man. He always acted rashly, and his actions were impulsive and irrational. He put us in danger more times than I can count. Even still, I enjoyed my time with him. I always felt he genuinely cared about us.
As I keep reflecting about us, an awkward silence stand between us. We haven’t talked directly for three days, and now I don’t have anything to say.
Noticing it too, Kyroz speaks first, “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, a good night sleeping, you?”
“My head still hurts, It hadn’t stopped since that night in the Rift. Back on earth, I would have run into a hospital fearing a bloodstroke.”
“Are you worried?”
“Nah, I am a dragon. I have more pressing concerns like, stop being a dragon.”
“I thought you would have enjoyed being a dragon.”
“Maybe, but I am naked and the morning is breezy.”
How can he say that so calmly?!
“And here I go, making things awkward again.”
“Do you do it on purpose?”
“Yes, you seem distressed. And how wouldn’t you, we arrived at a new world, all our bodies changed, and you discovered a Truman-show computer thingy predetermined all your lives.”
“Truman who?”
“Oh. A… theatre play? I guess. The lead is a clown but can do good dramas too.”
“Are you trying to be a clown?”
“I am a dragon.”
He is just like Kaikai in that sense, always joking to lighten the mood. Are you a different person? Have you just forgotten about us?
“Kaikai, do you remember when we met?” I inquire, hesitant of his answer.
“For me, it was when I created you.” corrected me, trying to make explicit the difference, “are you sure you want to hear it? You probably won’t like my answer.”
“Yes, I need to know.”
“Okay,” he pauses before speaking. ”Of course I remember. I started to quest in Saint Severus City around level 8, I had the monk class in a good place, and I was starting with the thief, that's why I went to the slums, for leveling it. At the entrance of the area, there was this scripted scene of some thugs annoying a demon girl. The guys were killable, gave a little XP and dropped free bread. So, I just went and killed them every time I passed. It took some time, but when I finally got to level 15, I finished a quest for some letters in a bakery for the thieves guild and won the Follower’s Contract. The last thing I needed was an NPC to act as the base of the follower. I choose that girl with the thugs.” with his dragon eyes looking at me he finished, “that girl was you.”
I knew I wouldn’t like it. That story feels so cold. It really was such an un-important event for him?
“I know what you are all thinking. You all have clear feelings for Kyroz. A blind block of Osmium would notice that.”
“I was waiting so I could speak for myself to address it. I have to make clear that I am not the Kyroz you know and I will never claim to be him.”
“If you want to leave, its okay. I cannot or even try to stop you. You are totally in your right to do so. From my point of view this is more than just an odd situation, but from yours, it must be terrible. To lose someone, so important I mean.”
From the corners of my eyes, I can see Sira and Holly looking at us. I ask them, “Sira, Holly, were you listening?”
“Yes I talked to their minds too.” answers the dragon in front of me, instead of my friends.
He continues, “I won't lie to you, I need you more than you need me. At least you come from a world with magic. You understand the stuff at a level that the skill descriptions don't make it justice.”
“I hardly believe the knowledge I have could be of any use here. You have lived with magic and monster all lives. I have only really experienced it for three days.”
“Even if it's just a selfish thought, I hope we can remain together at least until we can better understand this place. What kind of danger awaits us in this world, and have a plan before any surprises."
So, in the end, Sira was right?
I can't look back at him, right now. I need a moment.
“Mia, we should make our plans for the day,” says Sira walking away. “Holly you should come too.”
Why is it so difficult to walk?
“Mia. Sira and Holly are leaving you behind.” says the dragon in a worried voice.
His voice is the one who usually assured me. Why? Why do you have to speak in his voice? I need to ask him.
“Kai…Kyroz, Have you ever lost someone important?”
It seems he wasn’t expecting a question. Taken by surprise, he needs a few seconds to think for an answer.
“No, never. I guess? I kind of got dumped by my childhood friend? And I also got depressed, for like a month or so, after my pet cat died of old age. I was very devastated at the time. But nothing that I can compare to your situation. Sorry."
His posture changes, taking the clownish semblance I am used to seeing.
"For me, this is the first time I have ever heard of someone getting interchanged for a five meter tall cute roaring lizard.”
“Are you happy being called cute?”
“Why not? Cute is a compliment.” said swinging happily his tail.
His comment, actually made me smile a little bit.
“You are weird.”
“Yep, and you are pretty. See? Compliment.”