Page 87

Dracoth

Untangle

F or hours, I track the path southwest, seeking the temple of Lanaisor.

The hunter’s directions were helpful, but unnecessary—I know its location.

Princesa rests nestled against my left arm, her soft snores somehow unbothered by the dangers lurking in the Draxxi wilderness.

Strange, for one so easily frightened, to sleep soundly in a place where even hardened warriors tread lightly.

Beasts, both great and small, hunt these immense woods.

Their calls echo like spirits inhabiting these dark forests.

From the shadows, I sense the gleam of red eyes watching, waiting.

Arrohawks circle above, swooping through billowing clouds to snatch squealing prey from the treetops.

Yet, none dare approach. They must sense the fury radiating from me—the primal strength that pulses with every step. They are wise to flee.

“Are we there yet?” Princesa murmurs drowsily, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

Her question irks me, laced with entitlement and lazy expectation. She must grow stronger—not just in mind, but in body—if she is to reach her potential.

“No,” I growl, gently lowering her to the ground.

“Huh?” Princesa protests, clinging to my arm like a mollusk from the great lake. “Ah, don’t be a prick, Dracoth,” her voice still thick with sleep as I pry her delicate fingers from my bicep. “I was so warm...”

“It’s warmer here,” I state flatly, gesturing to the red-tinted foliage around us, now lacking the frosted tips and fluttering ice crystals, though plumes of my molten breath still mist through the chilly air.

“It’s still cold,” she complains, hugging herself for warmth. A flicker of regret almost compels me to scoop her up again.

What is this? Loathsome empathy. It will weaken us both.

“Aren’t you supposed to look after me?” she adds, her silver eyes narrowing behind the haze of her tiny frosty exhalations.

“Yes,” I reply, steering her southward with a firm hand resting on the supple curve of her back. “Decadence weakens both body and mind.” The lesson of Arawnoth—the universal truth.

“I’d hardly call this decadence!” Princesa snorts, spreading her arms wide to gesture at the wild, thriving forest. “What’s decadent about this?

Blisters and frostbite? Being eaten?” She crosses her arms, her voice rising with irritation.

“I don’t get the point. My ex-boyfriends would be embarrassed to treat me like this. ”

Her harsh words and angry glare strike like the fiercest blows. Something’s changed in me—the bond it twists and screws my mind into something weak. Where once I would have felt cold indifference, now there is worthless jealousy.

“Nothing to say?” she presses, her voice growing sharper. “You’re just going to let me freeze to—”

Rage ignites within me, molten and sudden. The image of my female being taken by lowly human males sickens me to my core, filling me with revulsion.

“Speak of past lovers again, female, and I will peel the skin from their bones and fashion you a fine leather tunic to wear—let them keep you warm!” I snarl, fangs bared, my gaze burning down on her.

“Fuck! Alright... God.” Princesa recoils, her silver eyes wide in shock. But then, to my surprise, she titters, clutching my arm with both hands. “Though don’t tempt me, Dracoth. I hated those losers.”

I stare down at the humming Princesa, utterly perplexed.

She laughs at my anger and speaks of lying with males she despises?

The chaos she radiates is incomprehensible to one such as I. When the older warriors gathered with drinks in hand, boasting of their carnal conquests, they never spoke of such nonsense.

“Oh, that’s right!” Princesa interrupts my spiraling thoughts, rummaging deep within her furs and leathers.

“We can feed Todd now!” She holds aloft the curled-up creature, lazily blinking open its single eye—perhaps the only being that sleeps more than she does.

“Look at all the leaves, Todd. You’re going to be so big! ”

She hurries to a nearby brush, thick with branches and moist, vibrant red leaves. Already, the cyloillar’s many legs writhe, and its mandibles skitter uselessly through the air with excitement.

“Bon appétit,” Princesa beams, setting the creature amongst the brambles. Todd immediately scurries toward the nearest leaf, devouring slices with surprising haste. The sound of his clacking mouthpieces mixes with the teeming cacophony of Draxxi wildlife, adding to the background noise.

“Ah, look at the little scamp go,” she exhales, watching him disappear among the foliage.

She watches like a proud venefex mother over newborn whelps. Except she’s a human, and it’s a lowly cyloillar. Such perversion.

Perhaps Princesa suffers from space madness?

“Oh, berries!” Princesa announces, rushing over to a nearby bush, with clusters of green-red fruit dangling from its branches. “These look editable,” she ponders, plucking a bunch from a stem.

“Don’t,” I growl, rushing to snatch them from her tiny grasp. “There’s a trick to these Draxxus fruits.” My frown deepens as I struggle to recall the lessons from my Proving preparations, though in the end, I only consumed the creatures I slaughtered.

“Huh?” Princesa turns, startled, glancing at me and the berries. “What trick?”

“I don’t recall,” I admit, just as Todd skitters out from his bush, his many legs scrambling in excitement as he rushes toward the berry-laden one.

“Neat trick,” Princesa retorts with a grimace, her tone loaded with sarcasm. “Todd doesn’t seem to mind. Do you, you little munchkin?” She coos in that strange, annoying high-pitched voice, offering berries to the eager creature.

It may die, though being rid of the thing would be a blessing.

“Quick, give him those,” Princesa presses, nodding at the berries still in my hand. Reluctantly, I lay them beside the writhing cyloillar. Todd’s mandibles pluck the berries methodically, devouring them with impressive speed.

“Look! He loves them!” Princesa claps her hands with joy. “How exciting.”

Princesa hastens around the bush, gathering an armful of berries. “More for the chonky boy,” she giggles, piling them beside the rapidly expanding creature. “Ah, they must be fine to eat,” she mutters, throwing a handful of berries into her mouth.

But as she chews, her face immediately scrunches, and a shiver runs through her body. “So bitter!” she complains, sticking out her little pink tongue, now tinted green.

“I warned you,” I growl, scrutinizing her watery eyes and puckered face, scanning for any signs of poisoning. Todd is already descending on the pile, its ravenous mandibles shoveling more berries into its jaws.

“You worry too much,” Princesa waves a dismissive hand, still focused on her wriggling pet. “They were just a bit sour.”

With no more berries, Todd scampers deeper into the bush, its black and red segmented body fading into the shadows.

“Wait, Todd! Come back!” she yells, dashing after him with concern.

I grimace, watching the farce. She shames herself—a future chieftainess, my chieftainess—chasing after a mindless grub.

“Come, Princesa,” I beckon with an open arm. “It returns to where it belongs—”

“No!” Her voice cuts through the air, her silver eyes suddenly blazing with intensity. The force of it ripples through our bond, like a surge of bubbling lava. “I won’t leave him. Not after what we’ve been through.”

Madness.

The sky becomes overcast as Princesa resumes her frantic search, while impatience at this foolishness gnaws at me.

“There you are, you little chug bug!” she finally exclaims with relief, spotting Todd stretching his segmented body toward her, as if wanting to be picked up. But the cloud’s shadow above narrows, more focused.

No, not clouds!

In an instant, my muscles coil, acting on instinct. I charge into Princesa, carrying us skidding across the red grass, colliding into the massive root of a nearby tree.

“What the fu—” she grunts, clutching Todd tight in her arms. As I rise to my feet, the sound of beating wings and claws raking through soil reverberates where she stood moments before.

My blood thunders through my veins, scalding my muscles and tendons with molten Rush, yearning to be unleashed.

I whirl in fury, expecting an arrohawk. But this—this is no mere beast. Wings not scaled or webbed, but feathered in purest white on top with hints of purple and blue shading the black underside.

Its wide, muzzled face turns toward us, its eyes shimmering like celestial orbs.

It’s a magnificent, almost mythical creature—a brutonous.

“Is that... one of those arrohawks?” Princesa’s voice trembles, filled with awe and fear.

“No,” I growl, heart pounding with recognition and rage.

My arm instinctively sweeps her behind me.

“This is the brutonous chick that destroyed my glider.” My fangs bare, seething with the memory of shame.

The legendary creature—one that should no longer exist—saved Krogoth from my searing plasma, twisting my honor to bitter, shameful ashes.

It tilts its fuzzy maned head, inspecting us, its powerful front leg talons gouging deep into the soil.

“Chick!” Princesa exclaims, wisely retreating behind me. “It’s the size of an elephant.” I’m unsure what an elephant is, but legends say a full-grown brutonous could eclipse the Peaks of Scarn themselves.

I should hate it—for the shame it inflicted on me, for what it stole. But it possesses an aura of majesty, its eyes and actions suggesting eerie intelligence. It must have been this creature I spotted in the sky earlier, following us.

But for what purpose?

“I don’t like it,” Princesa mutters, clutching Todd tighter to her chest. “It tried to eat me and poor little Todd. Get rid of it, Dracoth.” Her tone sharpens into a sneer.

At her words, the brutonous chick’s attention snaps to the squirming Todd. Its large tongue lolling out, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and large fangs.