Last night was outstanding, well noon, I had slept until the next morning and Lory was also still sleeping. Thinking about Lory, she definitely got my rocks off. When I sought the book, it had fallen to the ground. It must have fallen from the shaking of last night. As I bent forward to pick it up, it had fallen on a different extinct demon species. Necros. Never heard of that one either, it did not even have a picture, it just says, variable.

Yeah, no wonder they are extinct. I closed the book and slowly got up. I started getting dressed when Lory spoke up, “Last night was wonderful.”

That made me chuckle, “No, I think it was noon.”

“Oh, well, noon was wonderful.” She got up, and I handed her some of her clothes.

“We should head for the violet plains today, perhaps we can reach the base of the mountain. I have no clue how well this map is scaled. I feel well rested.”

Lory smiled, “Can you help with my tail?”

I walked behind her and helped her get her tail through the hole in her pants. Seductively, I whispered, “You just ask me that, since I like your tail so much.”

She looked at me and grinned, “I would never do that.”

I wrapped my arms around her. She let out a happy sigh. After getting dressed and taking the book, and the bed, along with some other items. We went downstairs. Abby sat there and yawned. “What is wrong, Abby?”

“I barely slept.”

“How come?”

“Well, at noon, some idiots kept smashing their bed against the wall when I tried to sleep. And in the evening, I just couldn’t fall asleep.”

Funk walked downstairs, “I agree with the noon part. However, the other part is your fault. I slept perfectly, once things had calmed down.”

I turned red and scratched my cheek, “Does anyone believe me when I say it was a ghost that moves objects?”

Both Abby and Funk replied at the same time, “No.”

I looked at Lory, “I tried.”

She giggled, “We should leave, or does anyone need to eat first.”

Funk grabbed a sandwich out of his inventory, he handed one to everyone. “We can walk and eat at the same time.”

Abby got up and just as she was about to take a bite of her sandwich, Square grabbed the corner of her sandwich, he ripped it out of her hand, and gone was her sandwich. Everyone laughed, except for Abby. She sighed, “I was really looking forward to that sandwich.”

We walked outside, the sun shone brightly on us. Out of nowhere, we heard thuds. Around us, bandits landed on the ground. They are wearing these weird masquerade things to hide their faces. They even had capes to go along with their leather armor. One of them spoke up, “We are the highway robbers. We heard of wealthy people hiding among the ruins of Kald.”

I held up my hand, “Please let me finish my sandwich first. What do you want?”

The leader sighed, “Your gold, your entire inventory, everything.”

“I am sorry, we can’t part ways with our belongings.”

All of them drew their swords, “Then we just have to beat it out of you.”

I drew my sword. They infused their swords with energy. Lory looked at me, I nodded. There are four of us, and five of them. I charged forward and Lory ran in perfect synch with me. Together, we started trading blows with the leader. Square attacked one of the robbers by biting his face. Abby dealt with another bandit. Funk took care of the other two. I felt, as long as I don’t use energy, I will be fine. Lory is here for me, she will make sure I am fine. I slid over the ground, between the bandit’s legs, and attacked him from behind. He jumped aside as both Lory and I charged at him.

The bandit seemed to be skilled at sword fighting. However, there were two of us, and only one of him. I ducked under a blow at the same time as Lory. She pushed her sword up and ended up in a bind with the leader. Giving me the perfect opportunity to punch the hilt of my sword hard enough in his face. He fell to the ground, knocked out. I walked over to the one that Square is still assaulting. I kicked the bandit in his groin. He grabbed his privates while Square landed on my shoulder. The bandit looked at me as I slammed my fist in his face. The bandit fell down backwards.

Funk and Abby had taken their bandits out, they lay on the ground. I removed some rope out of my inventory. While humming, I dragged the bandits together, and put them in a circle, back to back. Then I tied them up. Somewhere I had found duct tape, I shrugged and also used duct tape. Even to tape their mouths shut. They will get free, eventually. But, they were not dead.

Abby poked me, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, why, do you ask?”

“We just stopped the bandits, right?”

“Yeah, you did not kill them.”

“I see no reason to kill them. Lory and I talked about it, we won’t kill people anymore, unless it is absolutely necessary.”

Funk walked over, “They have darkness in their heart. Are you sure about this? I expected you to kill them.”

“Funk?”

“Yes?”

“I am sure about this.” One of the bandits grumbled, I punched him in his face. “I don’t mind inflicting pain, but killing might release-”

I let out a long and deep sigh, “My rage needs to be sealed up tightly.”

Abby looked at me, “And what about your urge to kill?”

I smiled, “As of now, it’s under control.” I looked at the bandits, mostly their jugular vein, I bit on my lip. An old habit started to resurface, I have the urge to, bite them and drink their blood. As if it feels natural for me to do that.

I went deep into my mind and thought about the past. That moment I came home from a long night of drinking and celebrating, Haley was still alive, I can hear her voice like I can replay the memory in my mind.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Steve, where did you go tonight? I have been waiting hours for you.”

I looked at Haley, “Nowhere in particular, I was just out with the boys, from the bakery, you know Paul and the others.”

Haley walked over to me, “Why do you have blood on your lips?”

Without hesitation, I wiped it away, “Just tomato juice from a silly game.”

Haley kissed me and backed off quickly, “That is most certainly not tomato juice, do I need to call Paul?”

Defeated, I hung my head, “No, I went to a vampire bar, I told you I would not do that again, but I relapsed, sorry.”

Haley sighed, “No worries my love, we will get you clean, I still cannot believe you have such a weird fetish, and to think I let you talk me into trying it once.” She scoffed, “Get cleaned up, I will be in the bedroom, tomorrow we are calling your therapist.”

I shook my head, bringing me to the present, and I took Lory’s hand, “We should go.”

They both nodded and we started walking.

Lory smiled at me and whispered, “I am proud of you, but where did your head go for a moment?”

That made me beam with happiness, “Just something from my past, nothing, interesting.” Lory just nodded and smiled.

We exited the ruined village of Kald. While we started walking over the sand road with some trees around us. I grabbed Talia’s book out of my inventory and scrolled through it. I’m still hoping something might spark. As I started looking for human—like species that can transform, I learned there are not many of them, and not a single one of them sparked a memory or something else.

We kept on walking, and we soon reached a large open grass plain, and we could see the mountain nearby, and behind it a volcano. Which means, Goldia must be behind there. And close to that, Brickton. The sea is also near, but most of the water surface is covered by the void. This place is as flat as a pancake. You could actually sail off this world. We heard a large thud and the ground shook. When I looked at the plains, in the distance, some kind of dragon had landed on the plains. I blinked a couple of times. “Can we, kill that creature?”

Abby looked at me, “How should I know?”

Lory sighed, she pulled out the bestiary. We all waited for her to scroll through the book. Then she spoke up, “Here it is, my mom scanned it using an identifying artifact that shows the names of dragons, their age, and some other things. That thing over there is called Zuldryr the young one. It has a detailed description.”

I nodded, “Would you please read it out loud for us?”

She nodded and started reading, “Calm pearly eyes sit narrowly within this creature’s, scaled skull, which gives the creature a fairly mellow looking appearance. Several enormous horns sit atop its head, just above its large, pointy ears. Numerous rows of small tendrils run down the sides of each of its jaw lines. Its nose is thin and has two thick, oval nostrils, and there’s a crystal growth on its chin. A few sharp teeth poke out from the side of its mouth and show a glimpse of the terror hiding inside. A broad neck runs down from its head and into a massive body. The top is covered with curved scales and rows of small crystal growths run down its spine.”

“Its bottom is covered with massive scales and is colored much lighter than the rest of its body. Two massive limbs carry its body and allow the creature to stand sturdy and arrogantly. Each limb has 5 digits, each of which end in sharp claws seemingly made of onyx. Monstrous wings grow starting from just below its shoulders and end at the end of its shoulder blades. The wings are somewhat triangular, the inside is almost entirely see-through, especially when viewed from a distance, and each bone structures ends in a curved, yet blunt tip. Its fairly short tail ends in a sharp, arrowhead shaped tip and is covered in the same curved scales as its body. Killing this dragon will be near impossible to kill unless you are capable of manipulating vast amounts of energy. Avoid this creature at all costs, unless you desire to talk to a dragon.”

I walked forward, Lory looked at me, “What is your plan?”

“To talk to it, of course, it might have some answers that I am seeking.”

Lory sighed, “Alright, you crazy fool, I’m in.” She followed me.

Abby sighed, “I cannot believe we are going to do this.”

Funk looked at Abby, “Steve is, crazy, remember?”

I shrugged, “Come on, join the party, we’ll talk to a dragon.”

We walked closer and when the dragon saw us, it came our way. I held up my hands, “I come in peace. We just wanted to talk. Your name is Zuldryr, right?”

It spoke in a powerful voice, “Yes.”

“Alright, my name is,”

The creature interrupted me, “I know very well who you are. It is also the reason, I have not wiped you from the earth.”

“Alright, that means you can tell me what my powers are?”

“No, there is no one that can tell you that. At least not someone in this reality. Alice is grasping at straws, Bella has no clue. Robot Stevie has no clue either. Your dreams, what do you dream about, Steve?”

“I dream about a woman with white hair, she seems to be stuck in a crystal. There are other people, they seem important, but it is all a blur.”

The dragon nodded, “Your memory is one giant gap. The answer is in there, if you want an answer, you need to keep digging, if you want to live a life of peace, then let it go and fight without using energy. You are scared, your pheromones are going wild, you use them to attract women.”

I shook my head, what do you mean? My pheromones? I am scared of my powers.

The dragon huffed smoked out of its nose, “Being scared is not wrong, I am scared too when standing near you.”

The dragon started walking away, I called out, “Wait, who can tell me what is going on?”

The dragon looked over his shoulder, “The man you seek is,” the dragon sighed deeply, “I am sorry, the cosmos does not allow me to tell you this.” A dragon sized portal opened up, and the dragon stepped through.

I looked at Lory, “What is it supposed to mean that the cosmos does not want me to know the answer?”