It had been a few days since the trio had defeated Ukzoc, although they didn't kill him Lynn had cursed him into her servitude for as long as she lives, Kaiser thought the Idea of him being left alive was a mistake but there was not much he could do.
Their wounds had somewhat healed but the bandages on them had to be changed,every other hour Zoephelia probably had it the worse getting stabbed through, thankfully Lynn had pretty good Healing magic, But a small part of Kaiser had genuinely worried she could have died, but she didn't need to know that. She already annoyed him enough.
Kaiser led them on horseback,they could fly but,this was more so to conserve energy as much as they could.
"Let's take a break here for the horses we've been pushing them hard the past few days," said Kaiser.
Zoephelia and Deakon had quickly got off their horses to stretch their legs and to rub any sore spots,Deakon had no shame visibly massaging every area he could, causing Zoephelia to slightly recoil in discomfort.
"Gross, you could have gone in a bush or something"Said Zoephelia
Deakon scoffed, blowing her off and continued to massage his behind and his lower back.
"I'm not ashamed of my body in fact I'm proud of it, as a Dragon should"said Deakon
Zoephelia just Scoffed and turned around to get away from his stupidity, walking around She spotted Kaiser brushing his horse, it was jet black with an even blacker Mane swallowing all light that shined on it, something it had in common with its rider.
Though Kaiser was an idiot ,she thought Deakon was a moron as well. He did know how to take care of Animals,as they had frequently stopped to let the horse rest, he even fed them snacks, something that surprised her maybe he wasn't a complete asshole.
Kaiser had pretty much got the horses settled as he began to Step into the Forrest to gather wood for a small campfire,Deakon had already laid himself to the ground taking a nap. Zoephelia had snuck up on Kaiser and tapped his shoulder trying to get his attention and he ignored her as he continued through the thick bushes.
"I was going to ask to come with you but now I'm just coming to annoy you!" Zoephelia said with excitement.
Kaiser simply didn't even look in her direction as he continued walking, granted he would feel the pokes from her finger but he ignored it as he didn't want to feed into her Antics.
Sure he could but He'd rather get the firewood before entertaining her, with their subtle game they played.
"So Zoephelia, we've been acquaintances for nearly three months now, yet I only know your name and that you're an Angel" said Kaiser.
"What are you truly after? I've never really cared I guess I should now huh"
Zoephelia who had already sliced tree branches using her hand, continued but she did pause for a moment contemplating whether she would actually talk to him
"Ever since I was a little girl I've always wondered what happened to my parents,My Sisters would never tell me" Zoephelia said with sadness.
Kaiser could tell that finding them or even just figuring out what happened meant a lot to her, but a small part of him wanted to pat her on the back and assure her everything would be ok. Walking over to her he tapped her shoulder as her head was looking down at the ground.
"This may not mean much now,but if you need help ripping any place apart you can ask me, or Akaleilia for help"Kaiser said.
Zoephelia turned and looked at him wiping away some tears before she laughed, not one of messing with him or even a prank she just laughed. "You know you can be really corny sometimes," Zoephelia laughed.
Kaiser threw his middle finger up before he began to go to the other side of the clearing to get more firewood. Zoephelia laughed before continuing to chop down branches
A few minutes had gone by with nothing but the sound of branches hitting the ground.Kaiser had thought about their short conversation the entire time. He may not have liked her much but he respected her drive to discover what happened to her parents.
Kaiser had finally gathered enough and began to Walk through the clearing, he slowed down to let Zoephelia catch up, together they had got back to Deakon who was to anyone else's knowledge dead to the world but he was just a heavy sleeper.
Kaiser didn't know how he fell asleep so quickly but it was time to relax.
"I know dragons can be lazy but I didn't expect him to be this lazy. We were only gone for 15 minutes" Said Zoephelia as she stood over him, for a few seconds she was looking at him but then an idea to wake him up entered her head.
Zoephelia let lightning dance around her fingers before she aimed getting ready to fire the small bolt. Kaiser who was sitting on the ground playing with shadows only watched a blank look on his face.
"Ready" said Zoephelia as she was smiling.
Kaiser only nodded his head then in an instant she fired, expecting him to jump out of his sleep only for him to not move an inch.
"Interesting I knew his scales were thick, didn't expect it to do nothing"Said Zoephelia it disappointed her for a second before she charged up another bolt but this time a tiny bit more powerful she thought.
Deakon who was still asleep just laid there unmoving, she shot a bolt again but this time he had caught the bolt and crushed it in one swift motion.
Kaiser simply clapped, and Zoephelia whistled in acknowledgement.
"Alright let's get to sleep we gotta get going in the morning"said Kaiser
Deakon and Zoephelia nodded, the Three had begun to set out their bed rolls,Kaiser had Used his shadows for an alarm system.
The next morning.
Hours later it was a new day. The trio were getting their horses ready so they could pass through the next village on their way back to Akaleilia, they could just skip it but Kaiser needed something, what was it? They didn't know he refused to tell them.
"Alright let's head for Durment, we'll be able to resupply there"said Kaiser, he Climbed onto his horse and clicked his teeth, his horse began to trot Zoephelia and Deakon followed his move. They weren't exactly rushing to get there but they also weren't taking their time as they were still somewhat groggy from their early start.
Zoephelia could tell that Kaiser was not an early person at all, as much as he tried he was yawning every few minutes. Deakon on the other hand was wide awake, she guessed that was just his dragon blood keeping him from being too tired. She knew dragons were powerful creatures but she also knew they had a pride like no other.
"You know Deakon when fighting Ukzoc I think that was the first time I've ever seen you raise your voice, better yet the first time I've seen you angry"Said Zoephelia.
Deakon was using his claws to pick at his teeth his extremely uncaring attitude about his perception immediately popping out."We dragons don't care about your society's rules of public image you say,it's a silly concept I will be myself no matter where I am" Declared Deakon.
Kaiser looked back and had an amused look as Zoephelia could only be exasperated by his words. Deakon did not care in the slightest he wouldn't change himself for he was proud of what he was and sense of shame was gone the moment he took his first breath.
"Fine fine , you can continue to look childishly as we move with grace"Said Zoephelia.
Kaiser knew what she was trying to do, egging him on to join her little game of verbal jabs,it didn't seem to work as Deakon only continued to be shameless no matter what he did.
After a few more unsuccessful attempts by Zoephelia to goad Deakon into a verbal fight they were coming up on the village Durment , well town now as the last time he had come home through there it was as large as it was now, busy streets with many people of different races and species,Many conversing or even watch street entertainers, eating together or even dancing together.
Deakon's eyes lit up as he imagined the different foods he could try here, Zoephelia had seen the different Vendors she could.
Kaiser though was Searching for a specific shop "alright lets meet up at the town square in an hour you're free to do whatever just don't destroy anything"Said Kaiser.
Deakon and Zoephelia nodded before they split and went to look at the different vendors, Kaiser Had simply walked forward walking a path through the town that was familiar, he passed multiple food places, jewelry places and weapon Smiths.After passing a few more stores he stops in front of a smaller shack that was decorated decently with an older woman tending to the few customers she had in line.
After a few minutes he finally got to the front, and the older woman gave him a smile before immediately going to grab something behind her.Kaiser didn't move but only waited as she turned around with a small plate of pastries, strawberry tarts to be exact, his mother's favorite sweet, would she admit it? Not a chance In hell, but one could see it was her favorite whenever they had dinner strawberry tarts were always on the dining table whenever a dessert was made.
"Thank you The queen will enjoy these very much"Kaiser said while bowing to her, the older lady only smiled as she accepted the gold coins from him, she used to deny him, but apparently she used to Watch his mother when she was younger, which only made him question how old she really was.
"See you next time My Lord" she waves him goodbye as he takes the tarts and rounds the corner.
Kaiser, now with the tarts in hand, decided to visit another shop he frequented a jewelry store, he lost some of his rings he had and to replace his earrings that were destroyed.
A few more turns and he'd arrive but as he got closer to crowds in the city center he could hear that a commotion was going on, and as much as he didn't want to curiosity got the best of him as he pushed through the crowd of people and arrived to see a group of bandits harassing an older man. Kicking over his stand, destroying his products, they had pushed him over and the man's daughter rushed to his side to pick him up, and as soon as she got next to his side they slapped her to the ground.
"Next time you'll learn to pay-"
Kaiser had seen enough and had kicked the man Bandit in the face, sending him flying into a wooden stand. "That's enough of that, try it again and I'll feed your bodies to the crows"
Said Kaiser.
The bandits laughed and began to surround Kaiser, their weapons drawn ready to strike. "Fine have it your way" Kaiser had huffed out quickly.
They charged Kaiser only for the shadows to grab them and keep them in place.Kaiser summoned his sword and walked towards them.
"Let's go"
To be continued.