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I tried not to look surprised. After all, was it so unusual that my name should spread far and wide, even to people outside of my battles?

“Well, aren’t you a clever one?” My smile must have turned predatory, betraying me.

He remained unruffled. “I’d like to think so, yes.”

A woman at the man’s elbow whispered sharply to him as she realized their situation, “Levi, be careful.”

Levi… So he had a name.

“Yes, Levi,” I murmured mockingly, casually advancing with a widening grin, “Do be careful.”

“Or what?” the man asked, continuing to look calm.

“Would you like to know?”

“Yeah, actually,” Levi responded, tone remaining good-natured. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

It was my turn to be taken aback. “For me?”

Who would be crazy enough to actually seek me out?

“Come now. Let’s cut straight to it.” He motioned with his blade as he said it. It was almost a pun. Almost. Then he crept closer and lowered his voice. His eyes peered into mine. I noticed they were abnormally blue. “I know what you are. You know what we are. Is it really so difficult to figure out why we are here?”

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“You are seeking the Glade,” I heard myself murmur without thinking.

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“The Glade?” Levi repeated with much interest. “So it does exist. It even has a name.”

Names were important to him, like they were to me.

“Yes, it does exist.” I tried to cover my wicked delight. Of these people, almost all of them bore the mark of the creature-spirits. My army would grow quite a bit should they follow me to the Glade. “Would you like to see it?”

I was terrible at covering up my true intentions. The woman behind Levi spoke his name again, in a tone of warning. Her eyes never left my face. She was no fool.

Levi didn’t respond to her. Instead he dipped his head politely to me. “Yes, I would love to see it.”

“Then, I shall take you there,” I told him, wasting no time.

He paused, pulling the rug out from under my momentum. “After…”

I lowered my brows, reigning in my frustration. “After what?”

“It’s been a long day on the road, friend,” Levi responded, leaning back in a way that imitated my own fake-casual stance. “I assume the Glade’s not going anywhere. And we have many hungry mouths to feed.”

I glowered at that, my gaze falling on the children who still hid behind the armed adults.

“It’ll be night soon. It’s best for us to set up camp,” he reasoned. Then, with one arched eyebrow, he added, “Why don’t you join us?”

“What?” I did a poor job of hiding my surprise.

“Warm fire. Fresh meat to cook. Some of the best cooks this side of the forest, I promise,” Levi flashed an impish grin.

I didn’t know how to answer.

I was being invited to supper. I’d never been invited to supper before. What should I say?

“I don’t…”

He cut me off, “It’s no trouble, really.”

Then he did something I responded to very poorly. He reached out and took me by the arm. Touched me.

image [https://sygnus.org/flames-of-bedlam/story/pic/divider.png]

I recoiled from him with a vicious hiss. I must have looked and sounded terrifying, because the children made frightened sounds as they stared at me in horror.

I felt the beast rising up in me. Felt the desire to loom over them all, show them what I really was, and make my demands known.

Then, Levi said my name. “Bahamut.”

I don’t know why. Something about that stopped me cold.

His gaze met mine, unflinching, despite the fact he was almost a head shorter than I. There was nothing forceful or intimidating about him. Just a presence… an undeniable presence that I still can’t find words to describe. That’s when I realized why he was their leader.

“Come share our fire,” he invited again, unruffled by my poor behavior.

“Levi,” the woman behind him warned again.

This time, he turned to her with a frown. “I’ve got this.”

She pursed her lips, but didn’t protest further.

He turned back to me. “So, what do you say?”

I still didn’t know the proper answer. I just said, “Alright.”