...of my empty eyes...

~

With both a very dead dragon and a very high heart rate, I began to pry and cut off what I could of the beast's scales.

As far as I'm concerned, in the dragon sense, that thing is ugly. I made a small pile of the scales, since a few of them wouldn't peel right and ended up mangled. I assumed they'd be useful for armor or weapons or... something honestly I have no idea what to do with them or how valuable they are.

I would know their value, but the lady over there was giving me the silent treatment.

"Know anything about the flashy lights and visions and all?" I prodded. She ignored me and kept searching around the edges of the piles of loot. "Know anything about what happened to your jaw? It doesn't seem to be moving much."

I was quickly feeling my jabs bounce back at me from the wall she was putting up, and I wasn't a fan.

"I mean seriously did you use so much magic it fried your brain and you forgot how to speak? Or maybe it's that you're deaf now, cause that presents a little bit of a problem."

She stopped and gave me a deadpan look. Not necessarily seething, but upset and disappointed.

"So not deaf... do we need to get your voice box checked out?"

And still nothing.

"Or maybe I just need to come down there and knock your head in," I growled. I'd expect her to be dishing out twice as much as I was giving but she just kept digging through the loot while I stood next to my pile of dragon scales feeling defeated.

She turned again and looked me in the eye. "There's money, weapons, gear, and anything else you can dream of in this pile of loot. Help yourself."

What was it that I was upset about again?

I of course wasted no time at all finding my way through the piles and piles of money, treasures, chalices, and just about any other shiny, illustrious, or otherwise eye-snatching item you could possibly think of. I'm no expert on dragon hoards, but this one definitely looks impressive.

I pocketed handfuls and handfuls of money, but it felt like I was a kid in a candy store, with so much loot here that was all mine for the taking. Only one teensy weensy issue: I don't have the "inventory space".

My eyes did land on a short spear (which in the grand scheme of things was still pretty long), and this cloak I'd stolen had a sort of clip on the back that could hold longer, more sturdy weapons like this, so I took it and decided it would be a great backup weapon to learn. Maybe. I only know how to use my fists and knives.

My carrying capabilities were an issue, though. I've been in luck lately to be able to have animals to kill and fuel for fires, but now that my battles seem to be getting more serious, it would be nice to carry some more stuff just in case. I'm kind of nomadic that way.

However, this hoard's plentifulness did not disappoint me, and I was soon stuffing coins into a new traveler's backpack, one that seemed actually to be in great shape. Of course I put more than my fair share of money in there, then put the hammock I'd had tied to my hide into it as well.

One item in particular seemed to have its own gleam: a clear bottle full of a rich, dark liquid... a bottle of alcohol! Seeing how old everything else here and the abandoned caverns all around here, it has to be old and well-aged.

So I just about dashed after it and made sure to set it in a small, well-protected pocket of my bag. I'll later be finding an animal with soft fur to use to pad it, too.

My attention to reality and the goals at hand was returned to me when the woman scooped through the piles of loot with both her hands and arms, and I remembered we were here to get something that would bring us out of the cave.

She dug around for a very long while, but there was at least, in a weird way, an organization to this place. After a certain point it became clear to both of us that what we were looking for wasn't here.

She let out a deeply frustrated groan. "I can't find it."

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Yikes..." I trailed off. "Want a gold coin?"

"I'm serious! This was our opportunity to escape and we've completely lost it!! How are we supposed to get out?!"

I don't think I'd heard that tone of worry come from her, and it was at least a little funny. I wasn't bothered by not finding it. First of all I was only really here just to kill the dragon, and second of all I've been down here so long that not being able to leave just yet doesn't scare me.

At least it doesn't yet.

With a sigh, we picked up the last of the scraps from the treasure trove of a room that we could, but to be honest, most of it was just coins. There were a few weapons and some knightly armor that... well you get why I wouldn't be taking that with me.

As we were finishing up, I noticed the woman shivering and struggling to keep the hide I'd given her on, grabbing at it as quickly as her shivers made it come loose again.

I choked down a chuckle as I watched her struggle.

"Is something funny to you about watching a girl struggle to keep her clothes on? Some tantalizing pull towards my womanly parts at the thought of them being made visible? Are you that much of a child?"

I glared daggers at her. "Sorry that I was concerned you might freeze to death. Maybe I should take back the hide I busted my ass to get? You're disgusting to me anyways. Don't be so full of yourself."

Her jaw dropped. "Who the hell are you to call me that?? And if you want your hide back so badly, take it," she spat and threw it at me. "Maybe it'll help you figure out how to not be a blithering idiot who almost got the both of us killed, too."

"I mean we're pretty alive, I don't see the issue here," I replied innocently.

"And then you have the nerve to pester me with questions after everything I did for you."

"What the hell even are you talking about," I laughed with a bit of confusion.

She grumbled. "Augh, forget it."

I didn't give her the chance to get the last word in, and just walked away. But I couldn't help picturing her in my mind and thinking... she's really not all that bad-looking. A very curvy and erm... well-featured woman slips her coat and her jewels are left for the world to see...

I've not much of a perverted or lustful nature, but regardless, the fact remains that she's a very good-looking woman that leaves your imagination wandering.

After walking away, I walked around for a little while, looking for some well-sized creatures to kill, hoping to get her a thick coat so I could get my glorious hide back. I worked damn hard for it, okay?

I didn't have much luck finding any creatures. I killed a few decently-sized rabbits, but those obviously wouldn't cover anyone's figure, let along hers. So I figured I could turn to the dragon's lair for some results, and sure enough, there were drawers and stacks of various fabrics and animal hides, though some of them were very much old and stiff.

Thinking I could throw together something decent with the little bit of tailoring skill I (honestly don't have), I took the biggest and thickest hide available that seemed still even half decent to use, and combined it with a few of the soft, cut fabrics laying around, to make a two-layered coat sown together with some very coarse yarn.

It wasn't much of a coat since I didn't know her sizes (obviously), but we'd have to somehow find her some boots that fit. In the meantime I made some cuffs out of the rabbit fur to help stop her arms from getting too cold. It was something okay? I didn't want her freezing to death while I was still trying to get answers from her, and at the very least wanted to wait until she got me out of the cave before I would let her die.

In other words, I value the resource more than the sanity that said resource takes away from me.

I brought it back to the hoard room, where she'd started a fire from a convenient pile of some well-rotted wood. When I gave her the new clothes, she hesitantly put them on, then gestured for me to sit down as I put back on my hide, which was still warm from her.

Before I sat, I warmed my ass and feet with the fire's heat, but then afterwards I turned back to see that the poncho-ish coat I'd given her seemed like it would do its job.

"I suppose I owe you an apology," she began.

"This is true," I agreed condescendingly.

"Oi," she warned, then continued. "I am thankful that you were here to help me and that you got me the new clothes, and moreover that you helped me with those goblins and demons."

I gleamed, realizing it was all my doing.

"I don't hate you in specific, nor do I really hate demons as a whole," she changed the topic. I didn't question that further, but I then realized what that meant: she didn't hold hatred, she held fear.

"Sure did a great job of showing it," I replied snarky-like, but she brushed it off. Feeling this would be one of the only times I could actually get anywhere conversation-wise, I asked, "What's your name?"

"Robin," she answered, staring off into the distance. "At least it was. Not really sure what to call myself anymore."

"Felt that."

She sighed, seeming like she was trying to figure out how to say something. "Listen I..."

Long pause.

"I have something I need to tell you," she said firmly as her eyes unconfidently drifted toward mine.

"Being...?" A little bit of anxiousness creeping its way into my heart rate.

"You've called me human but... that's not the case."

"I don't see how that's that important..."

"I'm a fairy. More specifically, a fairy spirit." She said it like she was revealing something groundbreaking.

"And my best friend is Casper."

This Robin could only reply with an empty and confused look.

"Now we both have shared information that the other has no fucking clue what it means."

Her patience stretched very thin for a moment. "Okay listen, if I really must break it down for you, I am an extremely powerful, highly controversial, basically immortal creature who died and has returned in spirit form."

"Casper 2?"

"No! I'm a living collection of magic that is now bonded to you."

She looked like she'd about cry when she said that.

"And that's supposed to mean.....?"