A fire crackled softly as smoke wafted in the air. A bright orangish-red glow illuminated dull-looking rocks.

Yu Moto had set off a few days after learning about the passageway, hiring a personal body guard from her trustable business connections. In the dead of night she escaped from her estate, leaving most of everything behind for a better life.

Camped in between an array of rocks just outside the Dragon Mountains, was Yu Moto and her hired personal knight.

They ate stale bread slowly, often sipping their canteens’ between bites.

“Y’know, lady, rushing through the Dragon Mountains at night isn’t really the best Idea,” The Bodyguard said plainly, breaking the tension.

“I Don’t plan when opportunities are available. The Bribe for getting through ‘legally’ would’ve destroyed my funds…. I’m only able to take this dangerous route” She said bluntly. She emanated a cold aura.

“Ah- I’aint mean nothing by it. It’s just that all manner of greedy bastards and dangerous beasts come out into these mountains to hunt. Oh, and don’t forget there are literal dragons,”

Ms. Moto looked unamused. She gave him a look.

“It’s just a fairy tale,” She responded, a tinge of irritation in her voice.

‘What’s her issue? She’s making this so uncomfortable’ The knight thought, planning an unnecessary sentence to ease the awkwardness. “Yea? I’ve heard tales of red winged beasts soaring over the mountains, catching any prey it desires with a single clasp of it’s jaws. Apparently, it’s not difficult to find large prints the size of wells. But hey, as long as I’m getting paid, you do whatever” He said, rubbing his neck.

Silence fell again.

Quickly, his armor clanked as he stood up, The Personal Knight spoke but aimed in the exact opposite direction of Ms. Moto.

“Ok, well, I’ll keep a lookout over here,” He said very robotically. He walked off awkwardly, his movements shifting unevenly.

Ms. Moto looked over in the direction of where he was walking, then stared back at the dirty, rocky ground. Holding her sides, she stifled a laugh.

The Personal Knight heard this, turning his head slightly to hear. His cheeks turned blush red. He wasn’t loosing it, she had been staring at him, he thought.

The fire hummed unbothered.

After gathering herself, and making sure her Knight wasn’t in the vicinity, she took a ragged-looking paper out of her backpack.

The route depicted the Dragon Mountains, and a red-inked path curved throughout the many portrayed hills.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I can only hope we make it,” She finally said out loud.

After a good night’s sleep, where neither of the pair said much of anything to each other, the next day they were off on their journey.

Yu Moto carried their things in a small storage ring,— a portable storage in another dimension.

The Knight caught of a glimpse of the ring, and his eyes lingered for a few seconds too long. He had seen it before, her offering to carry his things and all, but his eyes always seemed to magnetize to the ring.

Breaking his gaze, he forced himself to speak.

“Well, we haven’t run into any troubles yet. Let’s hope it stays that way” The knight said, climbing up a rock. He turned around and helped Yu Moto up.

“Don’t Jinx it. I bought information on many of the hazards contained here. I still have yet to finish it”

“Sounds Daunting. Just know I’m a strong Knight! Fear not for your safety!”

Ms. Moto palmed her forehead, shaking it earnestly. “Run if we encounter anything,” She said, patting his shoulder. “I Pity you” she finished.

His eyebrows scrunched, thinking ‘So little faith, what’s the point in hiring me!?’

Once they had traveled far enough, they paused a moment to see where they had ended up. A waterfall pooled down a land formation, a hill far in the corner. Attached to it was a circular walkway carved right out of a mountain face. To their right was a drop hundreds of feet down into the strong waves of the Waterfall’s fountain basin.

“Whoa… What view” The Knight said. “Plus we’re high up, we can probably plot a path easily from here.”

“Good idea. We can also see the surrounding dangers, or if there are any” Ms. Moto replied. She looked down at her map—which was already out—and started comparing the land masses to the general path on the map.

“Hey uh, you see that smoke over there? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there just a few seconds ago. " The Knight asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

Ms. Moto looked up from her map. She squinted over in the direction for a second.

‘That’s not on the map’ She thought a little concerned.

Dark bloches of black smoke shot up, disintegrating as it got further up. Layers of thick trees blocked the source of the smoke.

“Wait a moment, let me get my binoculars.”

Taking them out of her storage ring and then looking through the lenses, she focused on the source of the flame.

“These may be goblins or bandits, in which case it’d be better to know now if we can slay them rather than having unidentified strengths hunting our trail”

After a few seconds, she stopped looking and turned to face the knight.

“Unless you can’t do that”

The knight’s fists clenched, yet he kept his tongue quiet. He gave a fake smile, and spoke

“Well, let’s take care of it then, hmm? ” He responded, his fake smile persistent.

Her Knight marched forth, hand gripped to his scabbard.

‘He makes it too funny not to mess with him’ She thought, laughing loudly.

Inside the heavily wooded area, the Knight crouched peering between the branches. He tried not to make a sound but just breathing shifted his weight and caused either a branch to snap or his armor to clink.

Ms. Yu sneakily maneuvered between the brush and branches until she had arrived behind him.

He suddenly got serious. “Not goblins. They could be bandits because they’re all wearing the same full black body suit, but I don’t know, it looks too professional. Stay quiet, they give me a bad vibe.” He said, finishing his report.

“Agreed, it isn’t the best idea to make ourselves known… it also isn’t a good idea to blindly fight these guys. but now that we know they’re here we can—”

“—Why does that look like a dragon? Look, that’s assuredly the shape of a horn of a dragon!?” The Knight interrupted.

“No way” she stated in disbelief as she shifted over to his position. She peered through the gap in the branches.

A Large cage in the middle of an octagon pattern of tents encapsulated a weary-looking beast. it was red but the scales looked washed out, like the transparency was being drained out along with its very life force.

This weak, tired-looking animal was nothing other than a dragon.