It was a wonderful feeling, to be able to relax in my normal form.

Transmutation spells were something that dragons learned naturally on their own. Magic in general was something that dragons were well-versed in since they held such large portions of it. I was no exception to this.

Despite the cramped space of the woods, the clearing in these woods was much larger than the one previous. In Trane and in the town, thick forests were rampant throughout the region, seemingly. Resting on my side, I huffed, leaning down into the long grass below my scaled body. My wings halfway opened to stretch them out, but not so much to knock any surrounding trees.

Honestly, it was blissful. I had noticed it before while traveling into Trane, but the surrounding woods of the kingdom were covered in demonic energy. I could sense the presence of multiple demons lurking within the trees, even the power of middle-level ones.

Before, the demon race never made it this far into human territory. But, I suppose I had no real understanding of how the world functioned currently, having missed so much time.

Beady, red eyes which resembled my own, prowled from the distance. Still, they didn’t dare come close to me. None of them were humanoid demons like Adbeel, meaning that my status as a dragon alone was enough to deter them. Same race or not, demons wouldn’t hesitate to attack one another.

Morals were not a strong point to us. Power was. That’s how the Morningstar bloodline got away with building a kingdom of this violent race.

We were powerful enough to reign at the top. This fact was acknowledged by those under my father’s influence. It was this influence that allowed for a semi-peaceful life for lower-class demons to live lives that were similar to the humans in Trane.

But.

Whether the demons were under my father’s control didn’t matter at this point. I was no longer an active prince within the kingdom; abandoned and exiled.

Why should it matter anymore? My deeds for the demon race were quite public and widespread, but all that attention was a double-edged sword. If anything, if I was found to be alive, one of two things could happen.

One, I would be slain by my father or enemies. Or two, I would be forbidden from the kingdom till I proved myself again. And judging by the pain of my left wing, covered with scarred tissue and tears, I doubted that would be the case for a very long time. Considering that, my best bet was to remain where I was.

I was too active to go into isolation or camp out on a mountaintop like those corny wife’s tales about imaginary dragons. The mountains were stupid. Why would any dragon want to live on top of a cold overgrown rock?

Withdrawing from society was a straightway ticket to looney town, juggling isolation and the loss of the life you once knew.

I knew as well as any, that you could not mourn the loss of something you once knew. Once you give into that mourning, then you die along with it. To grip the reins of the chance of life ahead, now that was the motto that could never be forgotten.

A motto that I maintained even while parading among humans. Foolish, weak humans. Ants that I had crushed with a single swipe of my claw.

Why? Because I wanted to live. And I would continue to do so.

I rested my head on my claws, huffing as I enjoyed the feeling of my mana restoring itself.

It was long overdue.

Adjusting my laying position, I tried to stretch my left wing as much as possible. Scarred tissue rustled, jarring my senses with stinging pain. It was not as bad as before, as it had healed to the point of not blinding myself in agony.

So, that was good.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I couldn’t help but flinch, as I extended the wing to its full length, nearly knocking a tree nearby. Black blood dripped down from the rips that formed from the ripped tissue, dripping onto the ground with a sizzle.

My breath lurched, as it took everything in me to keep quiet from the pain. This was needed so that it would heal properly, but that didn’t mean that it was the best feeling in the world.

I flapped the torn wing, lightly moving it up and down in the clearing. Leaves from bushes flew across the forest from the gusts. After doing this a few times, I carefully folded the wing back to my side.

It was getting better, but it would be a long time till I would be able to fly again.

All I had left to do was to wait. I observed the edges of the trees that lined the clearing. Again, this clearing was covered in a large canopy, hidden from any magic users that may have been flying into the kingdom.

The reason that I picked this spot was because of the demonic energy that radiated from the area. Clusters of demons in the small area allowed me to release a small amount of energy, meaning that my body would be strained less.

For the most part, it was peaceful. The occasional snapping of twigs would alert me to a demon that had gotten too close. I was able to solve this with a flash of my fangs, normally. Others had simply taken off as soon as I laid eyes on them.

It’s not like I was going to eat them. I didn’t need to, nor did I have the energy to deal with that. But whatever they thought worked to my benefit.

Sometimes, you just went with it.

Between the overwhelming demonic energy, I couldn’t tell which level of demon they were. Simply, all I knew was that they were beneath me. From a collective, there was no presence that had higher energy levels than mine.

This made it ideal. I wouldn’t be bothered the rest of my time here. At least, that’s what I thought.

My head spun in the direction of footsteps approaching a few yards away. Soon the unmistakable sounds of a human voice mumbled in the distance.

“Go get some flowers, they said. It’ll be great, they said. All newbies do this, they said.” The voice complained, their footsteps getting closer.

More bantering ensued, followed by twigs snapping. A little too close for comfort, may I add. If I didn’t move fast, then I could forget the peaceful day that I had hoped for.

Actually, my hope had been thrown out the window already.

“Don’t they have enough money to hire someone to do this?” The voice grumbled.

Not good.

Really not good.

There goes recovering mana for the rest of the day. I cursed, casting the layers of transmutation magic.

My large, scaled body now appearring as my human form. I jumped up, perching on a hanging branch near the top of the canopy. Peering down on the clearing, a human emerged from the surrounding bush.

Not a moment to spare, it seemed. I sighed in relief. I just about made it.

“Oh sick, a clearing.” The human cheered, trying to pick a piece of branch sticking from their hair.

Well, no shit. Now that I think of it, this human looked familiar.

With the swooshing of their robe, an imperial crest exposed itself, they looked up at the opposite end of the clearing. It was just enough to expose their face.

It was Jamie. It was one thing to run into a human here. But Jamie?

Now, what in god’s name was he doing here?

It wasn’t my problem though. Plus, it was my day off. Please.

Should I wait for him to pass? Not even a second later, this hope was also shattered.

My eyes narrowed, and a sudden increase in demonic energy crept closer to the area. I sniffed the area, all too familiar with the odor of human blood. The source was, yours truly, that idiot that decided to venture solo into demon woods. If the scent was this strong, then soon demons would swarm the area.

Unfortunately for both of us, I owed this human for guiding me. Plus, I needed him to navigate human society.

Really, just my luck.

Sighing, I jumped on the other end of the tree that I stood perched in, landing with a small thud that seemed to gather his attention.

“Hello? Is someone there?” He tensed, his head dancing around the edges of the clearing. Now, I could scare him. It would make my day, really. But the energy continued to spike, meaning there wasn’t much time to spare. I had to act fast.

Stepping out from behind the tree, we locked eyes, and I waved, “Fancy seeing you here.”

Jamie looked relieved, holding a hand over his chest and exhaling, “What are you doing here?”

I shrugged, strolling over, “I mean, I could ask you the same thing.” The energy only increased. I needed to hurry this up.

“Well, I was sent to gather herbs, flowers, and mushrooms for some potion ingredients, so,” He explained, pulling out the same satchel that he carried, and opening the flap to reveal all types of plants.

I could hear footsteps approaching from the distance, starting to close in on the clearing.

“Shut up, Jamie.”

“Excuse me?” He raised his eyebrow.

I rolled my eyes, ripping part of my sleeve from my undershirt.

Marching over to him, I followed the scent of blood. The metallic scent grew stronger by the second. It didn’t seem like a small cut either. This fool.

Several footsteps ran closer to the area, followed by hushed snarls of demonic beasts. It was the same demons that could no longer sense my masked energy. There was no more deterrence anymore.

Meaning that this area was fair game.

“For fuck’s sake, screw it,” I cursed under my breath, jumping at him, and feeling along his body for the wound.

He tried to fumble out of my grasp, and to this I grabbed him closer, pulling up his shirt to locate the source of the blood.

“Look man, I don’t swing that way and- “

I cut him off, feeling around to his side, my hands coming in contact with a warm substance. Blood. Bingo.

“Found it.” I wasted no time in using the ripped sleeve to start to bandage him up, trying to cover the scent of blood. It was already too late, but at least it would help in not attracting more demons.

“…Oh. Um. Thanks… I mean I was going to take care of that later and all.” His eyebrows furrowed, obviously confused at my gestures.

Honestly, I was confused by my own gestures. Normally, I didn’t bust my ass to save dumb humans. Except now. I tightened the knot of the makeshift bandage, exhaling when the scent weakened. I glared up, meeting his puzzled eyes with my angry ones.

“Are you dumb?” I scolded, my eyes already darting around to the energy around us.

“You’re really rude today, kid. What’s your problem?” He crossed his arms, not being able to figure out the danger he was in.

Dumb human, incapable waste of space...

“Don’t kid me,” I hissed, pointing around us, “Do you know exactly what lurks in this forest? You’re a fool for coming alone.”

He shook his head, but it was too late. We were surrounded. Red eyes peered from the darkened shade of the surrounding greenery, soon snarls could be heard echoing around the clearing.

“Demons.”