After the villagers inspected the dragon’s corpse to confirm it was real, Arad used his last drop of strength to absorb it back into his stomach. He then passed out, going limp on Aella’s back.
“Let’s go to the village. You have room to rest in, right?” Aella glared at the woman.
The woman growled, “Fine, let’s move,” she growled. Standing up, “Bring that one as well,” she said, pointing at Jack.
The woman and her men guided Arad’s party to the village. On their way, one of the men disclosed that the woman Arad smacked was the former chieftain’s daughter. Her father is getting old, so she’s taking over his job.
“He can’t come?” Aella asked.
“Yeah, the former chieftain is barely able to walk. We’re in the middle of a powershift.” The man replied.
“So her father is still the chieftain,” Aella looked at the men.
“Yeah, he takes care of the village problems while she takes care of things that need a lot of moving.” The men looked at each other, “Like coming to check on the dragon. Or trade with other villages.”
The woman glared back at them with a sore face and quickly shifted her eyes, “To think you killed the dragon,” she growled.
“Yeah, we’re saved,” One of the men smiled.
Aella stared at the woman’s back, sensing destain from her voice. She didn’t seem to be pleased that the dragon died. “Who is going to put those flames down?” The woman sighed.
Aella looked back at the flames. ^Is she just irritated from the forest fire?^
When they reached the village, the chieftain heard and became furious. “Kristina! Why don’t you listen before acting?” The chieftain shouted, almost damaging his lungs. Cough! Cough!
“If the dragon had been alive, he would have been watching. Us trying to help the people who attacked him would have burned the village.” Kristina replied.
“That doesn’t mean your first instinct should be to sacrifice people to the dragon!” He stood.
“What do you want me to do then?” Kristina shouted.
“Dragons rule with terror. The moment we kneel and lose our fighting spirits is when we become slaves to the dragon.” Kristina’s father stood, “We’re not goblins or wolves who shake their tails at the first hit. We fight, fight! And keep moving forward!” The chieftain shouted. “The moment our oppressors turn their backs is when we stab them!”
“It isn’t that easy, father,” Kristina said, glaring at the chieftain.
“It is. The dragon has warped your minds. Enthralled them with fear and awe,” He shouted, heading to his room.
One of the men looked at Aella, “Sorry about him.” Scratching his cheek, “The chieftain is getting old and senile.”
Aella looked at the chieftain back as he walked away, “No, those are the words of a soldier. He isn’t a snail.” She said, “If the entire village was like him, you might have been able to defeat the dragon with a coordinated attack.”
The man looked at Aella with a surprised face, “He was a platoon leader in his past. And he did form a hunting party when the dragon showed up,”
Kristina looked at them, “He fell ill before the hunting party could do anything. The dragon must have cursed him. It’s the price of anyone foolish enough to stand against the beast.”
She left with an angry face.
*** .
Later that night, the villagers gave Aella and the two guys one big room. She was the only one to have dinner as Arad and Jack are unconscious.
Just moments later, Jack was the first one to wake up. The potion Aella used on his seemed to have finally worked, but he woke up starving.
Jack exited the room to look for a midnight snake and left Aella watching over Arad.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Who’s there?” Aella replied, standing up.
“It’s me, Kristina.” The chieftain’s daughter replied.
“Come in. What do you need?” Aella replied, and Kristina walked in.
“I wanted to ask about the dragon fight. How did you manage to kill him?”
Aella told her the story, emitting anything sensitive and painting Jack as the hero of the hunt. Even so, Kristina seemed to keep asking about Arad. What did he do? How did he do it? How could he survive the breath?
Kristina’s question slowly increased, and Aella started to feel uncomfortable, “I’m getting sleepy,” Aella yawned, “Let’s continue our talk in the morning,” she said.
Kristina stared at Aella with a smile.
Aella sighed, “Can you leave us alone for a moment?” He got enough of Kristina’s attitude. This whole village was giving her the creep. The chieftain seemed normal to her.
With a sad face, Kristina left the room, and Jack returned soon after. “Aella,” He approached her, whispering in her ear. “The place is surrounded. They don’t seem to be willing to attack. But I feel like we’re in jail.”
Aella looked at him, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ve been to jail before. We better take turns to stand as guards throughout the night.” He said.
“We just killed a dragon. I doubt they trust us,” Aella replied, “I also don’t feel comfortable around here, but relax,” She lay on the bed beside Arad.
“You might be right,” Jack sat on his bed, “Fearing power is a normal thing. To them, we’re a party strong enough to kill a dragon.”
They slept through the night peacefully.
Aella looked at Jack in the morning, “See, nothing happened,” She smiled, “This village has its problems, but let’s leave as soon as Arad wakes up.”
Arad didn’t wake up and kept sleeping.
After a while, Jack headed to the village center to buy some supplies. He needs a handful of nails, ropes, and the like, as he used a lot of building the traps.
“Excuse me, do you sell ropes?” Jack pushed the store’s door open and walked in with a smile. “Yeah, we do!” the owner replied.
Jack looked around, but his eyes immediately stopped on a hooded figure standing as tall as the wall.
^Oi! Oi! The ceiling is almost three meters high. Who is that?^ He slowly approached, trying to peek at the figure’s face.
From the outside, it was clear the figure was a woman. She turned toward Jack and glared at him, “Do you need something?”
Red skin and eyes, two long silver horns peeking from her forehead, and sharp teeth. She bent to look at Arad’s face, “Want something?”
Jack shook his face, “No, lady.” He looked around, “I was just impressed. I have never seen someone so tall.”
After a short glare, she stood, “We oni are tall. It isn’t strange,”
The shopkeeper stared at her, “No! No! Aren’t on a rare type of Tieflings? Seeing someone like you is rare.”
The woman smiled, “Aren’t you scared? We have demonic blood,”
Jack shook his head, “Actually. My older sister is a Tiefling.” He smiled.
“I’m sure you two don’t look alike.” The woman asked.
“We’re all abandoned kids who grew up on the streets. I doubt we’re actual siblings,” Jack shook his head.
The woman looked worried, “So no matter what we do. It’s always going to be a problem.”
“Lily, Let’s go!” A man called from the back.
When Jack looked, he saw a six-eyed man carrying a pink-haired, four-armed little girl on his neck. “We need to traverse the forest, remember?” The man said.
“Yes,” The woman approached him.
The shopkeeper stood, “You can’t! The forest is dangerous, and the monsters are agitated due to the forest fire.”
“Don’t worry!” the little girl said with a smile, “Daddy is super strong!” She smiled, “Be it monsters, dragons, or gods, nothing can escape his sword. OW!”
Before she could finish talking, the man pinched her leg, “Don’t exaggerate. We need to be careful,” The three left, and Jack looked at the shopkeeper. “You get a lot of Tieflings?”
The shopkeeper shook his head, “No, this is the first time I saw a whole family.” He smiled, “They seemed nice. I hope they can safely cross the forest,”
Jack smiled, “That woman was amazing,”
The shopkeeper stared at him with a wry smile, “She’s married. Or do you have a thing for tall women?”
Jack shook his head, “No. I mean she seemed strong.” He then glared at the shopkeeper, “Do you have ropes? I also need some nails, oil, two small bags, salt, and more things,”
The shopkeeper turned around toward the shelves, “One at a time. How much rope do you need?”
“Three meters of the thin rope and two of the thick one,” Jack replied and rubbed his eyes, and yawned.
“You okay?” The shopkeeper asked.
“Yeah, I just feel drowsy,” Jack replied, pulling a chair and sitting.
When Jack returned that evening, Arad seems to have woken at noon and he was doing fine.
“Cheif, hear this. I saw this tall woman. She stood up like this!” Jack stretched his hand up.
“Tiefling?” Aella asked.
“Yeah, she called herself an Oni,” Jack replied.
Aella suddenly yawned. She was feeling sleepy.