...I saw nothing before me...

~

I shoved off the sleeping warrior and walked away, making sure to leave her knife. At the end of this chunk of the mine, a stir came from my pocket. Vaxen.

He clawed at my arm as I reached the threshold.

"So now you come out!" I shouted as I swung at him with a closed fist. "Never wanna show your face when I actually need you like, oh I don't know, ten minutes ago, but you sure love to come out and scold me like you're some enlightened wise one."

I could sense his prideful scoff as he seemed to shrug it off entirely. This baby bird acting like it freaking owns me and my decisions.

"I'm walking away from here, you know that."

He screeched loudly and clawed at me again. This time I grunted and snatched at his talons, gripping both of them very tightly in my hand and pulled him at near eye level.

"You are not my damn boss and I will tie you to a rock and leave you here while I walk the hell away," I said slowly and lowly, each word a promise as I peered through him.

Inevitably, I was left with the realization that I needed answers. That was an inescapable fact. I'll be wandering here for an eternity and I can't have that when I need to get out. I've got people to kill and... not sure what else but that first part is a good starting point.

"You and I are having a talk later," I threatened as I threw him upside down and he flapped and thrashed to get upright. I could sense he wasn't happy about that. He could sense I was glad.

Happy to know we're on the same page there.

With another grunt and a sigh, I sat cross-legged and fidgeted with my tail while I waited for the sleeping headache to wake up, knowing full-well the ensuing anger to come.

Maybe it's the part of me that finds her brazen hostility fun, since it perfectly mirrors my own - mostly in that I love seeing how pissed off I can make her.

But man she just... slept. She was breathing but she was out. Eventually I got so bored I started tossing little grains of rock at her, eventually small pebbles.

It went on long enough that it was starting to become a bit mindless.

While I sat there I could only think about how quickly I was put to shame during that fight. It doesn't make sense. I took out an entire horde. I've wrangled monstrous cave lions and big burly boars with my bare hands. I guess tail too but it's not like I didn't have that either.

It was deeply frustrating, to say the least. Something that makes you realize why the phrase "doesn't sit right" was invented. It was a thought that no matter how I twisted or turned or sat or stood or layed or how many pebbles I could throw, it was always off.

How could I screw up that bad??

I know I can hold my own now!

I suppose I was past that point, though, because in the end I was stuck with an extremely disappointing memory to do nothing but think and think about. At least until I heard a deep, monstrous sound coming from somewhere nearby.

I went into alert mode, searching for its source, until my eyes landed on what could only be described as hell's armpit in the form of a woman, poisonous fury dripping from her venomous fangs.

And I threw another rock because it was in my hand and I didn't put two and two together.

"You filthy, slimy, predatory maniac!! You'd dare watch over me in my sleep!" She shouted as she sat right up.

I did say I was expecting this.

I did not say I would enjoy it.

"Ohhh gee willickers maybe next time I won't protect someone in their sleep."

"Ohoho that's what you call it? If that wasn't a miserable farce, then that depressing show you put on really made you my knight in shining armor!"

"Urrgghh!" I groaned. "Would you please stop bringing that up?"

"Think I care about the pride of a righteous hellspawn who wants to sit and play with his helpless food?"

"Oh put a fucking sock in it, would you?!" I snapped, shouting too now as I angrily whizzed a rock right at her, which connected with her cheek. "You're too disgusting to me to be considered food on any level, for starters, so quit with whatever that delusion is supposed to be."

That shut her up for a moment.

"I stayed here because I have questions that need answering, and maybe I have just enough shred of heart to at the very least make sure you wake up outside the belly of another giant goblin like before."

She closed her mouth, either too taken aback or devoid of something to say to respond.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"And most of all I want an apology for the death threats and the cut to my throat."

Now her face just contorted and twisted and turned, and I swore her mind went on restart.

"You are just a demon," she said almost inaudibly. "And I will kill you at a moment's notice and without hesitation."

"Do it then," I spat back irritatedly, shooting her a glare. "Quit talking all that good stuff and actually walk it."

She let out a long, drawn out, overly dramatic sigh, then kept silent with her eyes closed for a long moment.

"I appreciate you watching over me while I was unconscious," she (tried to) thank me. "I'm on my way to slay a demonic dragon inhabiting the lair of a much older dragon. I suppose as a thank you, I will answer some questions if you want to accompany me."

No lie, I was a little jealous of how calmly she said she was going to kill a dragon, but regardless I merely shrugged and dryly stated, "I've never seen a dragon before."

We uncomfortably got up and she led the way down the mine. For a while, we didn't say anything. Perhaps it was just out of the fact that I was talking to someone that wasn't effectively an NPC, or maybe just a tiny shred of me was lonely, but I bluntly pointed out the silence, and from there we only bickered and argued the rest of the way down the mine.

Either way I can't complain. I was enjoying it, mostly because of whenever she got pissed off.

She would throw jabs at how pitiful my attempt to save her was, made assumptions about my character, made fun of my fur coat for being too makeshift and not at all matching my cloak, made more demon slander comments than I could count, and overall didn't hesitate to make me feel like shit. Not that she did but it was no less annoying.

Vaxen of course returned to his slumber inside my pocket, seeming only to come out whenever he wanted to do his bidding, but never to help me. I mean he is a flaming bird. Surely he could... I don't know spew flames at the million and one things trying to kill me around every corner? Help scout for me?

He at least helped guide me for a little while before I reached the city. Now he's just a lazy slob.

We'd walked and bickered for long enough that we were both hungry and thirsty. I had a little water and food left, and not feeling the need for either of the two, I gave them to her.

Of course, she only had to say, "Surely you couldn't have offered me something that isn't days old and kept in a stupid little pouch like that?"

I just ignored her. It wasn't gonna be good for anyone relatively soon so it's best that someone ate it rather than nobody.

Now that we were both stopped, we agreed to rest for a while. She knew where she was going and said we were close enough that it would be the rest that got us ready for the fight we'd have shortly after.

"Don't even think about trying anything funny!" She shouted, pissed off from our most recent argument, and I just shook my head and plopped down on the floor. Now that we were stationary, I could literally hear her shivering as she, too, lay on the rock. Remember, she had no shoes and a tiny hide covering her, respectfully, thick torso.

So I took off the fur coat I'd made from the giant wolf, and threw it at her. My cloak would be enough, and even though the cold resistance I had from Lydia seems to have worn off, I still have always been a fan of the cold, and even then it's not that bad at the moment.

She grunted, said nothing, and covered up with it. We didn't have a fire, but looking over at her laying a few feet away, I honestly thought it was kind of cute. Not in the sense that I thought she was cute, but this seemingly proud warrior was just all covered up with a wolf snout laying over her head like one of those dumb sweaters.

"I said don't even thi-"

"Goodniiight," I said in a drawn out and annoyed voice.

She slept while I could only lay there with my thoughts. This wasn't one of those times I could reach a calm enough mind to almost be asleep, either. Just completely awake, the whoooole time.

I spent a long while regretting even talking to her in the first place, but then my sanity kicked in and I remembered I still need answers and a way out, and that she's a good fighter. Maybe if I decide I want it badly enough, I'll get on her good side and she'll teach me.

And yes, that is the only thing I care about. There are two eventful things that happen in this cave: killing and being killed. (I'm so original I know.) So naturally I'd like to climb the imaginary rank ladder as someone who can hold his own.

After thinking about what went wrong during my last encounter, I got up and found some things to kill. My own hunger finally kicked in, but I found it satiated after I ate the heart of a fairly-sized boar. Definitely not the first one of theirs I've had since they're one of the most common animals around here, and thankfully one of the most aggressive, too.

I scrapped it for food and then went to lay back down for a while, having gotten my fill.

The lady finally woke up and noticed me still awake. She only gave me a weary stare as she sat up, got up, and walked away, returning moments later with wood for a fire that I haven't the slightest clue where she got. She got a blaze going blazingly fast, which only served to sting my pride.

I stood up and cracked my back what must have been a hundred different ways as I stretched from my time on the rocky floor, but then I remembered that I broke ribs and messed up all kinds of other body parts when I got my ass kicked. Of course I had a reason to remember, if that needed clarifying.

The person on the other end of the fire sure seemed to need clarifying since she was just giving me a blank stare.

"Can I help you?" I called her out.

"Nothing," she said while slowly shaking her head. "You said you have questions and I suppose we have time. Ask away."

Ughhhhhh. I hate feeling like she's better than me. I don't really know in what sense, but just that she's better than me. I'm used to being around a bunch of monsters that I instill that sense into, not the other way around. But I digress.

"Why are you killing a dragon?" I began.

"The hoard it's stolen contains something that could potentially get me to the surface."

I'd hope that also applies to me, but I guess I'll save that fight for later so I can get all the things I need to know answered first.

"But that's not what you wanted to ask," she added.

"True. What's the deal with your clothes and that knife you're running around with? Why wouldn't you have better than that? Doesn't make any sense to me."

She replied only with an angry pout.

"Why are you here at all? And, more importantly, what even is your beef with me?"

"I could ask you more or less the same, you know."

I flicked my eyebrows at her, then froze while I waited for a response. She didn't offer one. "Most of the time when you agree to answer questions you do that weird thing where you... answer questions."

She sighed. "I'm not trying to ignore you, but the answers are a little complicated. I'll consider telling you after I take care of my errands first."

Wait a minute then you'll be on the surface!

While I began to cook some of the boar meat, I thought over a response, and only after she'd had her food, I decided, "Well, we're killing a dragon, I guess."

~

[A/N]

Heyy isn't it your favorite author! Ehehe.... sorry about the basically month long hiatus. I'm packing up my life and driving across the country to start school. It's scary.

But I commissioned some absolutely bonkers art for the new arc coming up in a little while, and it's completely insane. I'm probably gonna make a wallpaper engine background off of it, too.

Anywho, short chapter, don't kill me, but I do have like 12 chapters for other storylines just sitting waiting so that's nice. Love you guys!