Chapter 10 (J) - The Flightless Beast's Lair

  The sound of heavy footsteps rouses me from sleep. The cave is almost pitch-black, so I can’t see anything around me. Quickly, I reach into my pocket and pull out Calypso.

  “Huh? Jay, what’s wrong? I was reading.”

  “Flashlight. Now.”

  “Wha? Uh- okay?”

  The tablet lights up, and I direct it around the cave, cutting through the darkness. Nothing inside the main cavern seems amiss, so I shine the light at the narrow passage leading to the forest outside.

  “Jay? What’s going on? I don’t have much oh god what is that-”

  Calypso trails off as a large, scale-covered creature creeps quietly into sight from the cave’s entrance. I scramble to my feet as quickly as I can. The creature appears too big to slip past and flee the cave, and with Calypso’s light, it certainly knows we’re here. I ready myself to fight, drawing my sword and forming my shield,

  ...But the creature doesn’t attack. It recoils at the sight of the sword, but rather than fearful or angry, it looks almost… surprised? The creature shifts again, looking down at the ground in front of it. Its body heaves, almost as though it’s letting out a great sigh. I slowly back away as it slinks forward into the cavern. Now that it isn’t shrouded in darkness, we can see it more clearly, and my hand instinctively moves to the whistle hanging around my neck.

  The creature is quadrupedal, covered from head to tail in dull green scales. Despite being obviously reptilian, its body structure appears more in line with that of a canine. Its body is decorated with scars, appearing to be several years old at least. Its wings appear to have suffered the worst damage, looking completely shredded and nearly skeletal.

  “...It’s a wyvern…”

  “Clearly…”

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  “...Don’t they only live in Gaela? Why is there one here…?”

  I don’t know the answer to that. And I don’t care to, at the moment. Not when the sharp-clawed beast stands right in front of us. I cast my mind back to several years ago. Regina mentioned how to handle wyverns back then, didn’t she?

  “If a wild wyvern wants you dead, it won’t hesitate to attack. If you stumble upon one and it doesn’t immediately try to attack you, that means it doesn’t care that you’re there. Don’t do anything to anger it, and it won’t do anything back.” Those were her words. This one hasn’t shown any sign of aggression yet, aside from slowly approaching. Against my instincts… I sheathe my blade and lower Calypso’s light so as not to shine it in the wyvern’s eyes.

  The wyvern glances at my side for a brief moment, watching the blade return to its sheath. It continues to advance, still moving slowly, but with a bit less caution than before. I can’t help but step back instinctually as the bear-sized reptile stands directly in front of me. It continues moving forward as I step back, until I find my back pressed against the wall of the cavern. Slowly, carefully, the beast lifts a claw from the ground and places it on my chest.

  “Jay! What are you doing?! Run!”

  Then, my body begins to glow. I feel the aches and pains I had grown accustomed to by now from yesterday fade away. Even the bruises visible on my arms from my fall off the cliff slowly vanish.

  “Jay?! What-”

  “It… healed me…?”

  “But- why would it- “

  The wyvern removes its claw from my chest and backs away. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it bears a smug look on its face, as though taunting me for my caution and unease. It then slinks to the far side of the cavern. It flicks its tail, and some large pieces of clumped-up cloth fly over and land near my feet. It then lays down on its stomach on some less-clumped cloth, and remains still. I’m too stunned to move. A minute later, a low, quiet rumble fills the cavern. The wyvern is asleep.

  Before I can finish processing what just happened, Calypso speaks up. “Jay! What the hell was that?! Why didn’t you move?! That thing could’ve ripped your chest open!”

  “I couldn’t have fought a wyvern. Not in my condition. And Regina told us that if a wyvern isn’t aggressive, it’s best to avoid angering it. Or did you forget?”

  “I- Uh… No, I didn’t forget! It just… didn’t come to mind…”

  I sigh. “Well, it appears the wyvern has chosen to grant us a degree of hospitality. We should probably take it.” A bit uneasily, I spread out the cloth that was launched at me. It appears roughly the size of a mattress, though nowhere near as thick. Still, it’s far better than the dirt-strewn floor. I lie on the cloth, and fall asleep far quicker than I’d expected.