It was as if I was submerged on black goopy ink as my shadow propagates over my form and overtakes it, the blackness growing bigger and bigger, a mixture of solid and formless, parts of me stretching out over the walls, pillars, floor and ceilings as my face contrasted with my shadow parts, the white skull surface opening up to rows of sharp teeth"s in a sinister grim, horns turning their sharp edges up, making my figure even bigger; if that was possible since I already took over the entire chamber with my body.A low growl gurgles up my throat as my silver platinum eyes stared the creature down, my form taking shape of a nightmarish creature as I bring my black lips up to show teeth the size of an arm.
A deadly smile indeed.
"Any last words, Oak?" I growled more then said to him, a mischievous glint pa.s.sing through my eyes as I let my murderous aura overcame me, the edged of my body turning into snaky shadowy limbs that contorted sideways as if eager for the hunt.
I got closer to him, my steps soundless as my figure went back and forth from being a shadow to a solid figure, the blackness of my fur seeming like it was made of black liquid ink being stirred in a constant movement.
Oak limbs seemed to s.h.i.+rk, the roots recoiling back until he was standing thin as a twig, a submissive stance far too different from the battle mode that the creature had before; but now it knew that had lost.
And I was eager to prove him that.
"No more tricks up your sleeve, twig?" I growl grows between my gigantic teeth, making the thing step back, only to find it surrounded by my gigantic Shadow Body.
He tries to sidestep me, but I kick hard the mountain of gold by the side, my claws digging deep on the metal, making it hit were he intended to go.
Now I was just playing with my food.
The creature starts to tremble, his leaves falling down as he tries to look even smaller, wintering away, his hands together at the front as he closes his eyes with a frown.
"Then burn."
I open my mouth, being able to swallow him whole with one bite, however before I attack I hear Leo scream from somewhere behind me. "Wait!"
I, however, had already started a fire deep in my belly, ready to strike; and intending too; the flames already licking the deeps of my throat when I see Shrum right up the creatures shoulder, saying:
"Mama, brotha! Mama, moma!"
Panicking I close by mouth shut, feeling the fire go up my throat and exploding in my mouth, making me a little dizzy as smoke comes out from my nose and ears.
And what the h.e.l.l? Shrum wasn"t even supposed to be here at all! Sneaky little bun!
I look behind as Leonel comes closer, not even a little afraid of the creature to give it my attention anymore, as Leo"s eyes lock on mine. Once close his hand brushes against my side, as if testing my inky fur, making me s.h.i.+ver.
"He is trapped here as your magical creatures are to their owners. He means you no harm."
I close my big mouth again as I see Shrum back to Leo"s shoulder, my sharp silver eyes scanning the Oak creature down, who did not say anything. Frowning I look at it once more with my third eye, focusing in its energy and founding, surprisingly, in its green ma.s.s a ball of yellow light being squished down by many tiny chains, a type that I haven"t seen before, but could recognize anywhere; a forced contract.
"Is that so? Since when?"
Oak, surprised by the question, turns his face up, confusion showing as much as his wood face would allow him to. Joining his fingers at the front the creature starts to speak:
"For far too long, Hound. Since this place was built, I guess, forced to stay in this place and protect its gold, generation after generation."
So he… was a victim too? Like all the others I have freed before? From above I look down to the tiny creature, now resented from his fate being under my paws.
"Do you want to be free?"
Once more surprised he seemed to frown beyond all the freckles and wrinkles that the wood already had, and said:
"I"m not sure anymore, it has been so long that I don"t even know what exists beyond this chambers…Plus my kind is bond to gold, like dragons and gnomes. Soon enough I would be trapped in this vicious cycle again."
"Is that so? So you will give up before even trying?"
"…I…"
"Uhm. Then tell me: Do you wish to die here, in this place?" He seems to think, as I continue: "Because I"ll probably be your only chance of getting out of this place, or at least for a very, very long time. So I"ll ask again: Do you want to be free?"
We stay still for a while, but no answer comes from him, leading me to snort fire out of my nostrils, walking further in the chamber.
"Suit yourself then."
Leo follows close, taking the lead at one point to guide me through the chambers. We stop at yet another tall metal double door, but not tall enough for me to fit in.
But of course, before going back to my humanoid form, I stop in front of the place, beside Leonel, and lower my face right beside him.
"So… who is the little one now eh?" I say, a full sharp teeth smirk curving my black lips up.
He only raises one eyebrow, rolling his eyes afterward and snikering as a thundering laugh resonates from me, tunning down as I go back to my human form.
Ahh… I remember when I chose this evolution back then… How many times I played this same phrase over and over in my head, waiting to rub at his face… not that I chose this evolution for the line "tall as mountains" one, of course, cough cough.
Sighting and nodding his head sideways, he ignores my still present smile, my fluffy tail wiggling back and forth as he goes to the door and open it up.
Another part of the treasure chamber unfolds… and a very tidy one at that. For what I could tell everything was separated in labels, the gold coins together in bags, separated from the golden/silver chains, jewels stored away in chests, as well as the golden jewelry and miscellaneous, a remarkable contrast from the others rooms.
"This is your part?"
"Yes."
Figures.
"Hm… so you want me to take only this part?"
"Yes"
"Why not all the rest?"
"It would break the royal family, they would increase the taxes to make up for it, the people would suffer a lot, then it would lead to a civil war."
Wow, he already thought so far ahead uhm, though I didn"t intend to take all of it, just asked out of curiosity.
"Well, with things going the way they are now that civil war will come sooner than later."
"Why do you say that?"
Well, because I liked to study history back in my past life and knew the symptoms of a sick country? I think while I start to swallow up all the gold with my shadow.
"Uhm… there is a limit of pain a person can take until not even death scares them anymore. The n.o.bles here are already killing off their people bit by bit, until they will reach a point where either way the population will die; from starvation, from sickness, so they will have nothing to lose in a war."
"A trapped wounded animal is the most dangerous type there is."
He stays silent as I start to babble my mouth out, remembering all the books I read, all the stories it had, far off in the subject to realize that maybe; probably; they did not exist in here so nothing would make sense to him.
"Sun Tzu said in his book about war that you should never trap an army entirely, even when flanking, because a trapped army will fight with all his might in the face of certain death."
"Uhm, sounds interesting. You like war books?"
"Uhum, I do not enjoy war mind you, but I like to learn the strategies, and history as well. They are very connected." He chuckles, making me stop on my heels and look at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Ha, ah, no, that is something you haven"t changed. You never liked leaving apparent weakness, you always needed to learn everything, know everything, because the thing you didn"t expertise in would be exploited by others."
That shocked me at how accurate it was. I shrug.
"Well, Da Vinci said that it doesn"t makes sense being a genius in one thing and an ignorant on other."
"Do you agree with that?"
"Uhm… So-so, because that is a very self-destructive line of thought don"t you think? Never satisfied, never enough…"
"Well, that"s a part that you have changed a lot, made you a lot more… carefree."
"Is that so? How?"
"Back then you were full of rage, the only thing you thought of was revenge, so you lived your life for it; to the point of obsessive sickness."
That reminds me, I haven"t put too much thought in the us from back then that he talked about before. I wonder if that"s true, not that he is lying, but the fact that I would have changed so much with the death of my brother, with the loss of my family so early on in my life, all by the hands of the humans.
I wonder… how much these things mold us?
"And the creatures that you freed joined you against mankind, to the point of war. You were truly known as the Terror then."
"What about you? How do you know so much?"
"I followed you, helped even."
"Why?" It must had been hard for him, mistreated by all for being half human, only to not be accepted by the one he loved… I can imagine all the pain and lowliness, so why?
"… You are not the only one that changed…" I stopped, looking at him and his golden eyes, knowing that I hit the mark. "It wasn"t easy, but I was too… naïve, and still hoped, all those years… That"s why I choose to live this life to the fullest, without attachments to this n.o.bility, without waiting a lifetime to conquer you…" With a small smile he shrugs, looking away.
"What if I had said no?"
I go back to messing around with the gold, and once I finally finish I realize he didn"t answer, making me look up to a very quirky Leo.
The moment he smirked, his melted golden eyes filling with l.u.s.t, I knew I had said something wrong.
"Why? Because you said yes?"
"N-no, that"s not what I m-meant-!"
He stares me down even more, the shadows of the helmet covering his features, making his eyes s.h.i.+ne even more.
"Tsk, you! G.o.dd.a.m.nit stop messing around with me!" Not knowing what to say I just pout and fume, resisting the urge to stomp my feet on the ground like a little kid.
The p.r.i.c.k just smiles, the laughs, making me even more angry and fl.u.s.tered.
"Why should I? It"s too much fun…" Suddenly he is close to me, brus.h.i.+ng a loose hair and playing with it with his long fingers, his warm body that close adding to the intimate contact makes me blush even more, closing my arms at my front.
"And I finally learned something you did not train yourself for…"
Could I get even redder? I think he was trying to find out…
~~~~
Heyo! Guys! Beautiful, amazing readers! I have a new project! It"s called:
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So, I was thinking these days; d.a.m.n, is hard to find good BL/GL content, but once I find it I don"t have anyone to fangirl about!
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I"m opening a discord channel/chat to Yaoi/Yuri fans! There we can talk, share, and ask for indications in one go! Plus I intend to have more authors/translators there in the future so they can promote their works as well!
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If you are an author/translator yourself and wants to join as such, don"t be shy and ask it away!
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EDIT: Guys!! A author friend of mine already has a discord, so I"m changing from making one to joining hers!!! If you like Yaoi/Yuri, come hang out!!