So far, food stall day is going great, and the food is delicious. I want it to last, and I have the impression that to make it last, I need to be more active. I need to get rid of this Dead Jerk’s attempts at spreading this affront stuff.

I don’t want to ruin the day for others with my doom and gloom about some dead jerk who thinks he’s all that. I’ve had a good taste of what the day has to offer, so it’s a good time to let other people worry less. Nudging Lauren, I let her know that we’ll be going to a more open area by my den, and aside from a raised eyebrow, she’s quick to lead the way.

Moving through the crowd has mixed results as the non-goblins seem cautious around me. They’re afraid. Anyone who hasn’t been around for a while is afraid of me, not just apprehensive or wary, but outright fearful. But the goblins are fine with me, and I like that.

The non-goblins all move away as I approach, but the goblins are running between my legs, not minding my presence at all. They’re all getting very good at evading my steps, but not so good that I’ll get complacent.

I spot Raya and Kanen talking, and every few moments, I feel Raya pull on my magic. It’s not something I notice unless I’m paying attention, but I can feel it. Watching her concentrate on her spells is making me a little envious.

“Lauren, how can I cast a spell?”

“Well, that depends on what kind of spell you want to cast. Some forms of magic are woven, while others are shaped. My healing spells are woven with chanting and divine intervention. So I have to pull the magic, form it into a usable form, and then give it commands to do what I want. After that, Merciferus helps empower and guide me.”

“That’s so much more effort than what I do. I just push magic where I want it, and things happen, like my flame breath.”

“Yes, who would have thought that a magical beast would be able to use magic with ease? Material beings can’t do that. We have to take the shaped magic of the world and force it into what we want. We have our natural reserves just like you do, but without using the magic of the world, I might only be able to cast one or two spells a day.”

Well, it’s clear that she’s making fun of me a little, but that’s some good information. It does make me a little curious if that ties into what Joras mentioned about having an easier time casting spells after I forced my magic into him.

“Don’t yell at me, Lauren, but how did it feel before and after I… tortured you with my magic?”

“Pure. It was as if I had relied on rain to water my crops my entire life, and then you came along and created irrigation. When I calm my mind for prayer, I can feel the magic of the world seeping into me. Don’t think of it as torture, Kira. It may have come from a place of cruelty, but it is a gift I wouldn’t want to be without.”

“Do you think what is happening to Raya will happen to you too?”

“No. I haven’t felt any changes aside from my magical aptitude improving. My guess would be that you consider her your equal, and your magic is trying to make that as true to the world as it is to you.”

That makes sense, I think. That does make me wonder about Lauren, though. Nudging her, I ask what she thinks about that part of it all.

“Can you ever consider yourself equal to someone you saw as an edible obstacle? Don’t worry about that, Kira. I’m content. I wish Kello and Reinfold hadn’t died, but I’ve realized how unhappy that lifestyle made me. It was a life I was forced into due to a lack of options, not one I had chosen. The only time I felt any joy was when I drank with strangers or healed the injured.”

I’m not sure how it differs from what I forced her into here, but if she’s sure that she’s better off, then I won’t stand in her way.

She goes on to suggest that I join Raya and Kanen in their magic studies, and I might do that later, but right now, I think I’m content to just people-watch for a bit. As soon as I lie down, Lauren takes a seat on my arm and leans against my neck as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Listening to the noise of people’s excitement is quite enjoyable and as far as I can tell, a lot for the newcomers are forgetting I’m even here.

“Lauren, could you fetch me a snack?”

“I could, but I don’t want to. I’m comfortable here.”

I get that. I don’t want to get up right now either. She sounds sleepy, and it doesn’t take long before I hear gentle snoring from her, and I’m fine with just spending some time lazing around.

Listening to the noise of Tuiran with my eyes closed is calming, and the sounds of people bartering, laughing, and the occasional child’s playful scream make me happy. This place is great.

For some reason, I’m pulled out of my half-asleep state. Giving the sky a gander, it’s clear that a good chunk of the day is gone. It seems food stall day has ended and folks are packing up. I got to go, and it was fun and delicious. And they’ve left a wheelbarrow of snacks for me!

“Woah!”

Getting up, I start digging in as I hear Lauren yelp. Ooh, it’s delicious even when it’s cold. I’ve got fruit, steaks, skewers, and grilled veggies in here!

“You could have woken me up before moving, Kira…”

She’s not wrong… Grabbing the wheelbarrow, I move it closer to her and offer her a treat and an apology. She gives me a few pats before grabbing a couple of things to munch on.

“Lauren, could you go to the blacksmith and ask him to make some tubes? As thin as he can. We need them to inject the… Actually, never mind that.”

“Kira, I believe that’s your ‘bad idea’ face. How about you just tell me what the plan is?”

Where would the fun be in that? Instead, I ask her to prepare some magic lessons for me, so we can start that when I return. As far as I can tell, she isn’t too keen on it, but that’s okay, it’s important.

“You finish up the wheelbarrow, I’ll return as soon as I can.”

With a small jump, I take off toward Raya's home. I'll need to ask her for directions, and as I soar above the building, I call out to her. She's actually home today, and she's quick to lean out of a window and shout to me.

"Hey Kira!"

"Hey Raya! I need to know where I can find venomous snakes in the forest! The only one I've seen chased Tiffy, but I need more than one!"

She seems to think for a moment, and then she asks Kanen if he knows, but neither of them seems to have experience with giant snakes. Dang it, that means I have to find some on my own. I can do it! I believe in me. And the last time I saw one, it was as big as me, but I'm even bigger now, so I have the size advantage!

Before I fly away, Raya shouts that Kanen says he has heard of venomous snakes in the western forests, so I should be able to find some. Unfortunately, the western forest is literally all the forest to the west, and it goes on to the south. Pushing magic into my wings, it's time to leave Tuiran behind.

Flying over the forest with my eyes peeled, I spot all sorts of familiar things. There’s a good amount of boars and deer running around down there, and it’s taking a surprising amount of effort not to get distracted. All of that running away they’re doing is making me want to hunt them.

Time to focus up, Kira. Stop it with all these wandering thoughts. Where would I be if I were a giant snake wanting a snack? I’d go where the snacks are, and the snake did hunt Tiffy, so maybe near human things. Roads are human things, so if I follow the road south for a bit, I might spot a trail or something.

But the humans are west, and I was told that Tuiran trades with people from the south. There’s definitely a road, and I’ll just follow it and see what I find. Hopefully, the snake. Just like that eastern road I found Kaldren on, this road has a few small outposts for people to sleep in. They’re not occupied at the moment, so I can’t ask about any snake sightings.

Reaching the other side of the forest, the landscape changes from a comfortable forest to the scary hills of unfamiliarity. The ominous fort still sits in the distance, but that’s not important, I have snakes to find. I need their needle teeth!

I’m not having much luck finding any so far, and evening has arrived, so it’s getting a little dark. I’ll need to try something else, so I think it’s time to try that eyesight thing Raya and Kanen talked about.

With a gentle tug on my magic, I can tell a small bit has separated from my source and, with barely any effort, I move it to my eyes where it settles without effort. As it does, the world turns weird. Geez, I should have landed before I did this…

There’s still a clear distinction between ground and air, so I’m able to stay flying, but geez, everything glows in weird colors. I’m not sure what’s going on with that, but it is disorienting. I’ll just slow down and settle into a hover until I get used to this.

The more I look around, the easier it gets, and the swirling blue winds start to make a little sense. Looking at the ground, the shine of the grass has a delightful green color and mixes with the blue of the wind, creating a beautiful teal color where they meet.

Most of the area contains the same colors, but there’s a smudge of red in the distance and I want to know what it is. Setting course for it, I aim for a nearby spot to land so I can approach from the ground. I haven’t seen it move since I started approaching it, and I still don’t know what it is. I will discover you, red-glowing smudge.

Given that I have a good idea of where it is, I stop funneling magic to my eyes and my vision returns to normal. Now I won’t be limited by my unfamiliarity with the way the world looks, at least. If that’s what mages see with their mage sight, then I should’ve started doing it a lot sooner. I’ll have to get into the habit of trying other body reinforcements with magic, who knows what will happen if I infuse my horns with magic or my tail.

I need to focus on finding this smudge, it could be a snake for all I know, and if it’s venomous, which I hope, I have to be extra careful.

Sneaking over the final hill in the cover of darkness, I smell smoke, which is decidedly un-snake-like. I’m still a good distance away, but I’m starting to hear talking. Sneaking even closer, it becomes easier to hear what they’re talking about. As far as I can tell, they’re out here hunting for critters, and they’re just camping for the night.

“Shh, I think I heard something.”

Dang it! I’m not sneaky enough. Standing as still as I can, I try not to make any more sounds.

“I didn’t hear anything, are you sure?”

“Shh, listen.”

I’m Kira, the quiet dragon of the hills today, not making any noise is my specialty.

“I can only hear the wind, maybe it was a particularly powerful gust or something.”

Whoever that person is, he’s far too quick to dismiss his partner. She did hear something, and I know this because I kicked a rock by accident. It’s remarkable how much noise I can make before they notice it because of the wind.

I’m quite certain that they’re holed up in a small cave, and I’m almost on top of it. With my weight, I really should stay off the roof of it, otherwise, I might collapse it on top of them, and that would be rude.

Sneaking further around, the smell of smoke intensifies and I’m almost at the entrance, I’m sure.

“I know I heard something that time! Something’s out there!”

Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve been discovered, so I might as well have a little fun with it.

“There isn’t anything out here. It’s just the wind.”

“I told you, I heard something!”

She doesn’t seem convinced that I’m the wind. In fact, she seems to be getting convinced that I’m some sort of beast looking to eat them. And that simply isn’t entirely true. Instead of focusing on the imminent threat of me, they’re bickering about who was right and never listening. I’d rather not get in the middle of that.

“Are you serious?! Are you trying to say I’m too Uhygfaril [paranoid] when some beast is outside the cave?!”

Or maybe I should get in the middle of that…

“She’s right, guy, I am outside the cave, and she did hear me the first time.”

“See? Even the beast agrees with me! Why don’t you ever listen?!”

“I’m sorry, I really didn’t hear anything. I’ll try to do better in the future.”

Aww... That’s cute, they’re trying to resolve things.

“What makes you think we have a future? Whatever that thing is, it sounds huge!”

Well, that's an easy thing to solve. I’m quick to inform them that all I want is… I don’t know the words for snake or fang in Lauren’s language… Dang it… Easy peasy, all I need is a new plan.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“I’m a harmless lizard, I’m small, and I want to trade.”

“Do you think that’s true?”

Guy seems to believe me for a moment, but the smack I hear knocks that idea right out of his head. She starts telling him not to believe weird voices in the night and such things. Which is fair, that’s just good advice.

Sneaking a little closer, but staying out of the light, I reach a claw out and start drawing in the dirt outside the entrance. I would have thought it’d be easy to draw a snake, they're just tubes with a mouth, but it turns out that they’re difficult to draw. I’m having to restart a few times, but I manage to get a decent drawing going.

“By the gods, that is a huge talon…”

I’m sure she’s impressed and not afraid, but focus! Pointing at the fang, I use my most innocent and calming voice. I hope they’re paying attention and understand what I want.

“I need this, but it needs to be big enough to go through a human’s chest.”

“You lied about being small.”

That doesn’t seem relevant right now, but it is true, I’ll give her that. Instead of lingering on their indecisiveness, I make the suggestion that they tell me where I can find snakes like the ones I need. Judging by the not doing that, they don’t seem all that interested in helping me. It’s a bit rude, I haven’t even done anything.

“Maybe it is friendly. It hasn’t done anything dangerous yet.”

“Are you kidding me?! When growling is a major part of its vocabulary, friendly isn’t an option!”

Is it really that pronounced? I thought my voice was just deep, but to call it growling is a bit rude.

Never mind that. I’m getting a little impatient here, but aside from being rude, they haven’t done anything to warrant my retaliation, so I’m a bit at a loss. I’ll try my luck one last time, otherwise, I’ll try finding some snakes on my own again.

Pointing to my drawing again, I ask them about the fangs and where I can find the animals, but I’m not all that hopeful. They seem far too focused on what I’m not doing… And they do start bickering again. This time about how to escape…

Dealing with these people feels like a giant waste of time, and I should see it as a learning experience. Leaving the distrustful duo behind, I push aside my frustration as best I can, but they got to me a little. Taking to the skies, temptation nags at me with thoughts of turning around and leaving the duo extra crispy, but I’m pretty sure that’s the exact sort of thing Raya doesn’t want me to do.

Instead, I’ll focus on my task: finding these needle fangs so we can cure Lauren of this stupid disease that I’m getting thoroughly tired of. I’m beginning to want to gather everyone up and launch a mission to take out this annoying dead jerk, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore... But that’s probably foolish. Yeah, don’t go attacking the scary bad guy just because he’s annoying.

Focus, Kira! It’s critter-hunting time.

Spotting a few deer, it appears their magic signature is a curious yellow color with a tendency to flatten whenever they move. Or become thin, I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I want to know more about it. Flying after a deer, it flees from me and just as it turns direction, it releases a magic burst. I didn’t notice it the last time I hunted deer, but they don’t lose any speed when turning. Geez, no wonder it got away.

As far as I can tell, the deer’s natural magic helps them in sprints and maneuvering, but they’re quite limited by how little they have, so I won through endurance. Good job, me.

I wonder how other animals are affected by magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if those dang wolves have some sort of magical communication going on, they’re way too organized.

Continuing my flight toward the forest, I see a few boars and their magic signature seems to be brown, and as far as I can tell, the magic itself is tough, robust, and able to feel out the area around them. I want that, I want magical sensory things. I’ll need to experiment with that later.

I can’t focus on boars right now because there’s something peculiar up ahead. I can just see glimpses of it between the trees. A deep blue signature with a bit of red inside it, the border between the two colors creates a pretty purple ring. That definitely deserves a closer look.

Looking around for a spot to land between the trees, I close in on the weird magic signature. I still don’t know what it is, but the area smells like blood. I’m not familiar with this particular scent of blood, but I’m sure there’s a good amount of it.

Disregarding stealth, I break a few treetops to make room for me to hover closer to the ground. I'd rather have as short a fall as possible. Focusing my magic into my extremities, I fold my wings up and fall to the ground, making quite a lot of noise. No doubt about it, whatever is up ahead knows I’m here.

Moving through the woods to close the distance between us, I reach the remnants of a small battlefield. Corpses of beasts and people lie scattered throughout the area, and this looks like the exact sort of thing that would become a bunch of undead.

As far as I can tell, nobody survived this on either side. And I think it’s fortunate that I came along to clean up. It would be a bit of a disaster if all of these beings turned into the undead. And that’s not just me looking for an excuse to chow down on this buffet.

It’s been a while since I’ve had bear, so that’s where I start. With my first bite, I wonder how it would taste with spices, but I don’t get much time to contemplate the option of bringing my bag. I forgot my freakin’ bag! Dang it…

“Die, beast!”

A what now? Fuck! That hurts... One moment, I’m happily enjoying some bear and the next, some jerk impaled me with a spike of dirt… That’s not sanitary…

Flexing my muscles, I break off the part of the dirt spike inside me so I can move again. If I wasn’t so big, the extra weight would’ve been a problem. There’s some weird person panting at me, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re fair game for having attacked me. I’ll just reinforce my scales with a bunch of magic to be safe.

They start chanting something at me while waving their hands around, and a moment later, magic builds under me and another spike connects with my ribs. Geez, even with power-scales it hurts and it still managed to make me bleed... A bunch of my scales break under the pressure and I’ve now got two tips of dirt spike stuck in me... At least my bones are made of dragon bone, so they’re tough, but a piece definitely snuck through the gaps.

Whoever this jerk is, they’re powerful. But so am I. Blowing a powerful stream of flame in their direction, they run to the side while casting another spell. A wall of dirt erupts, forming a large dome, protecting them from my flames. The dang thing is like half my height. I guess we’ll find out if it protects against heat as well.

With my growth, I’ve become quite capable of sustaining a flame, which is terrible news for whoever attacks me.

I’m starting to feel these holes this jerk punched in me, and I should really do something about them. Flexing my belly muscles, I feel the dirt crumble and fall out of me in clumps. It’s not all that comfortable, but it's working.

Cutting off my flame, I give the dirt dome a look, and it has a shiny, blackened exterior now. Keeping an eye out for any buildup of magic, I mentally prepare myself for the incoming pain as I push magic into my wounds. Not enough to heal them completely, but enough to stop the worst of it.

It freakin’ HURTS!

Woah, dizzy… Don’t force healing while using magic eyesight, it’s not a great combination.

Pulling myself together, I approach the dome when more magic builds under me. Dodging to the side, a spike spears upward, scratching my side and tearing more scales off. How the hell did this butthole of a person get this exhausted fighting regular beasts when they’re capable of hurting me?!

Punchy was a lot more fun than this nonsense.

I want to just fly up and scorch the area, but the trees are too close together for me to have enough room, leaving me in a bit of a predicament.

Pulling at my magic to empower my claws, I bring them to the shiny exterior of the dirt dome. Pushing down, it cracks and I start digging. I have to be prepared for another magical attack as I work, and geez, this dome is thick and it keeps trying to rebuild itself. The jerk has somehow reinforced it to make it tougher to dig through as well, but it’s still no match for my big claws.

“Get out here, jerk!”

Shouting at the jerk doesn’t seem to work, but I kinda expected that. Wait, this could be an opportunity to learn a bit more about myself. Holding my mouth open, I move my head over the side of the dome, letting my drool drop onto it. The dirt is quick to absorb the moisture and as it turns to mud, it starts falling away.

The dome is much slower to regenerate the spots affected by my drool. Looking closely with my magic sight, I can see how my saliva mixes with the surrounding magic, creating blockages and isolating it into smaller sections. Geez, no wonder it works so well against complex magic.

The flow of magic increases, making it apparent that the mage is trying to counteract the might of my drool. Not letting up, I start ripping into the surrounding area, creating deep gouges in the dome. I’m getting the impression that the mage is getting a little desperate as I haven’t had to dodge any spikes of dirt since they sliced up my side.

All I wanted were some dang snake fangs to use as needles, and I’m only meeting distrust and aggression... All I can conclude is that they’re envious of my beautiful scales and amazing wings.

Refocusing on the dome, I get another maybe-good idea. I’m gonna see what my tail can do. Looking around, it’s clear that some of these trees will get in the way, so I’ll have to push a few down first. Getting to work on the nearest tree, I get up on my hind legs and use my arms to steady myself. With a thrust, I realize I put way too much power into it as I’m suddenly horizontal again.

At least it didn’t snap, it would have been awkward having to explain how I got impaled on a tree trunk. It does paint a picture of how unfamiliar I am with my own strength, though. Moving to the next tree, I push my head against the trunk, keeping it secure between my horns as I push forward. It doesn’t take much effort before the arboreal foe succumbs to my might.

Geez, I could level a forest with my face. Well, a forest like this with firs growing shallow roots. I’m not sure about other tree types.

Continuing my work, I clear a decent area and I still haven’t been attacked again. Getting into position, I ready my tail and swing it around. The impact with the dirt dome results in a loud and deep thump, but it doesn’t really hurt. My bladed tip digs deep into the barrier, adding extra danger for the mage as the blunt force of my tail leaves a significant dent.

Getting ready for another attack, the dome starts to crumble, and the mage starts running away. That’s not fair! I wanted to crack this egg!

Looking at the jerk, I’m not sure I can describe it as running, they’re on the verge of passing out, and as far as I can tell, they’re taking fast and shallow breaths. That’s just not a good idea when trying to flee. Leaving the dome behind, I find myself not even having to run to catch up. This jerk is really exhausted, and their magic is looking weak and spotty.

Oh! I have leverage! Speeding up a bit, I catch the mage and pin them to the ground. Clearing an area of the forest floor, I reveal the dirt and start drawing again. I’m willing to let this jerk go if I can get some dang snakes already.

It’s pretty clear that the mage is terrified, for obvious reasons, but they are paying attention, which is good. Being the benevolent and kind dragon that I am, I offer a trade of their life for snake fangs. Lifting my claw a bit, they get a moment to breathe.

“If I get you some bakis [Fangs], you’ll let me go?”

Just to make sure, I point to the fang on my drawing and repeat the word bakis, which the mage, a male, it turns out, repeats a few times. I feel like we’re getting somewhere, so I let the guy get up and he’s not throwing magic at me so far. As he settles into a sitting position, he seems to be deep in thought.

Deciding I’m owed something, I point out that he should apologize for attacking me, but that just earns me a frown.

“Why should I apologize to you, beast?”

Geez, don’t these people read about dragons anymore? So far, Wreyn, Joras, and Lauren have realized what a potential threat I am, but Wreyn is into studying, Joras is old, and Lauren has her whole Merciferus cult thing going on, so they seem to be outliers. I would think adventurers would keep up to date on lore as well. I do have a retort, though…

“Why shouldn’t I eat you, lunch?”

Not the best diplomatic option, but I’m not gonna be gracious to someone I don’t know calling me beast. To his credit, he seems to consider his options before he apologizes for his misdeeds. It’s more because of the threat than any sort of remorse, that much is clear.

Focusing back on these needle fangs, Lunch suggests that he buy some in town, but that just sounds like a thinly veiled attempt at getting away or calling in reinforcements. Instead, I tell him that I want to be shown where I can find what I’m looking for, but he just rants about how it’s dangerous and he might die, ignoring the very obvious other way he might die…

“Here’s the plan, Lunch. Either you make yourself useful, or I make you useful. I don’t care whether you live or die, but I would think you do.”

And just like that, he’s a lot more willing to help.

He starts telling me about how the venomous beasts hide in the rocky parts of the forest further west, and I’m searching in the wrong part of the forest. That’s not my fault, this place is huge.

While he seems cooperative, I’m mindful of the obvious risk of him luring me into a trap or turning on me at a critical moment.

Before we head off, I throw a question his way, wondering what he plans to do about all the corpses around here. If my count is right, there are five adventurers and nine animals, one of which is a partially eaten bear.

He still seems reluctant to answer, even after my gentle offer of cooperation, and it’s definitely starting to be grating.

“What we do with our dead is none of your business, beast.”

Okay, screw this guy... Ignoring him, I get to work eating the remains of everything around, starting with the bear. If I eat it, it won’t return as undead, that’s one thing I know. Glancing at Lunch a few times, he seems quite disgusted by my manners, but that’s his problem.

It takes a while to work my way through all the meat, but when I finish up the last animal, he lets out a breath.

“Finally, are you done?”

“No.”

Placing a claw on one of the dead adventurers, I rip off an arm and swallow it before slowly working my way through the rest of the bodies. It may be a bit vindictive, but I’m making it more gory and time-consuming than it has to be. And he does not like it.

Every crunch of bone makes him flinch, and every time I rip a limb from a body, he almost throws up. This far more amusing than it should be.

“You’ve made your point, beast…”

“And you still call me beast, Lunch.”

I’m getting less of a reaction from him, draining a bit of the fun, so picking up the pace, I make the remaining adventurer corpses disappear. He’s glaring at me with quite fierce eyes, and I’m confident that he would attack me again if he thought he had a chance.

“Lead me to what I seek, and you're free to leave.”

He grumbles a bit, but then starts walking west. He seems to grumble a bit with displeasure, but he’s not speaking up and I’m not feeling any magical buildup, so I just leave him to it. I do worry about him attacking me at a critical moment if I end up in a fight, so if it comes to that, I’ll have to have made him leave first. Though I am a little curious about the locals' situation with these snakes. Tiffy certainly had a problem with them.

Asking him about it, he grumbles at me some more and gives me the stink eye. That’s up to him, I just need my fangs and I’ll be gone. As long as they aren’t a threat to Tuiran, they can do whatever they want. I tell him as much, and he seems a little confused before he puts on a scowl.

“So, Lunch, what are you? I can smell that you aren’t human, but I can’t see you properly with that hood on. And I’m not familiar with your scent.”

After giving me a look, he sniffs his armpit before declaring that he doesn’t smell. Well, I disagree, he most certainly smells.

“If I had to describe your smell, I’d say… home, regret, and sorrow. And of course there’s the earthy scent of your magic.”

“Shut your filthy mouth, beast!”

Geez, okay, he’s upset now. Well, he was upset before, too, but now he’s even more upset. Well, nobody said I couldn’t tease an enemy. And he made sure to declare himself my enemy with those attacks.

“Share your sorrows, Lunch, you’ll feel better. I’m just a stranger who can listen to your woes and disappear in the morning.”

Speaking of morning, the sky is changing just a bit, so morning is closing in. As I’m staring at the sky, I feel his magic building and it’s obvious that he’s trying to use some sneak attack on me.

“I can feel your magic, Lunch. If you want to survive this, stop it. You’ve already given me a direction, so I need you a lot less than I did a while back.”

“Why are you doing this?...”

“Simple. I need the fangs of a venomous beast to save a friend. I can’t forge metal thin enough to inject her with the solution, but the fangs already do that naturally. So, my turn for a question. Why did you attack me?”

“Because you killed them!”

I’m drawing a blank, I’ve killed a bunch of people and animals, but I have no idea which ones he’s referring to. Asking for clarification makes him furious, and now he’s shouting at me.

“You killed my friends back there and then you ate them, you fucking hensauai! [monster!]”

I try clearing it up for a moment, but he won’t hear it and I find myself not caring enough to keep trying, so I’ll just leave it at that. I can smell the anger wafting off him as we trudge through the forest, and I’m sure he’s sworn all kinds of revenge on me. All that does is make me want to kill him now, so I don't have to deal with that in the future. But I feel like I should also keep my word, and I did promise him that he could leave when we found these snakes.

“We’re here. The nest is over that hill.”

There is indeed a hill ahead of us and there’s a distinct smell of discomfort in the air. It’s so pervasive that I can’t pinpoint the source, so if I want to track the nest itself, I have to go by intensity.

He’s still here, staring at me. Now we’re staring at each other and I’m not sure what he wants, so I tell him to leave, but he seems reluctant.

“You’ll no doubt attack me when I turn my back.”

Right, because I need him to not pay attention in order to be able to kill him. Lunging at him, I knock him to the ground, pinning him with a claw as I bring my open mouth down over his head. The scent of fear makes it tempting to have a bite, but I get the impression that he got the message. Pulling back, I let him up as I gently inform him that I don’t need him to show me his back for me to kill him.

“Final chance, Lunch. Leave or live up to your name.”