Page 12 of The Dragon and the Exiled
He couldn't see how many were in this group.Three were outside, and by the light and movement in the house, two more.That was five.The other group had been six, so he had to assume there was one unaccounted for.
Damn it all to the frozen depths.
He let his arrows fly, three in rapid succession.Made it harder to be accurate, but he killed two and injured the third, which was enough to draw out the other…
Three, and one of them was a Fiendish Hound.Well, that fucking explained where number six went.
It spotted him in an instant, roaring more than barking as it came at him, dark flames scorching the grass.Dipak dropped his bow and drew his hunting knife, because a sword wouldn't be of any use here.Even the knife was a joke, but it was all he had.
He threw up an arm as the Hound lunged, letting that take the damage, biting back a scream of pain.He plunged the knife into its throat, but since it wasn't enchanted to damage spectral-class monsters, the damage was minimal at best, only enough to piss it off.
Dipak kicked and twisted, stabbed and stabbed until it finally let go of his mangled arm.It made a noise that vaguely resembled a laugh as it looked at him, dripping fire that risked setting the whole fucking forest aflame.
"Finish it," a voice barked out."Stop playing."
The Hound lunged again, and Dipak managed to kick it before rolling away and regaining his feet—only in time for it to get its teeth into his shoulder, far too close to his neck.He screamed as agony shot through him like hot knives.Everything was hot, so fucking hot, he was going—
Suddenly the pain was gone, the hound screaming before it slammed into the cliff beside the waterfall and let out a last, horrible cry before going silent.
Dipak turned and let out a sobbing laugh.Euclid, in his true form.After so many years of seeing only dull color, to see a shocking, vibrant blue was almost painful."You're beautiful," he said, and then passed out.
He woke to a crackling fire and the smell of mint.Stared up at his own ceiling as he tried to sort everything out.
Mercenaries.Fiendish Hound.Where the fuck had they even found one of those?People who could shift their entire body to a different form were rare enough to begin with, never mind the ones that mastered a spectral form.
Euclid.Euclid had saved him.His heart sped up recalling that moment.
Pushing back the blankets, he slowly sat up, left arm stiff and sore but a long way from the mangled state it had been when he'd collapsed.The skin of his shoulder was still red and tender.Hard, fast healing.It usually faded after an hour or so, so he hadn't been out long.
He looked around the cabin, as though he might have missed an entire person in the small space, but it was just as empty as it had been twenty seconds ago when he'd sat up.Euclid had healed him and left.That shouldn't hurt so much, but he'd thought maybe…
It was fine.Whatever.Keep moving.
He'd just made it to the table, where a pot of peppermint tea sat cooling, when the door flew open.
Dipak's breath caught in his throat, his heart trip-trapping, as he stared at Euclid."You didn't leave."
"I was cleaning up the dead, figured I would check on you one last time," Euclid said gruffly, not quite looking at him."You're on your feet, so—"
"Stay," Dipak said."Please.I'm sorry.I was stupid and wrong.I didn't even really want to do it, or think I'd actually succeed anyway.It was just the only hope I had at getting my stuff back.But I— I— I'd rather have a friend."
Even if the friends he'd had before had only let him down, and his lover…
Apparently, he was just never going to fucking learn his lesson.But the past many days without Euclid popping in with one his stupid bubbly smiles had been unbearable.He just had to accept that he was a fool and wanted his new friend back.
Euclid, frozen and wide-eyed in the doorway, seemed to melt slightly before he stepped inside and closed the door."You shouldn't move around too much, not until the healer burn fades off.It's been some time since I had to heal wounds like that."
Stomach unknotting slightly, Dipak sat down and poured them both tea."You make healing look so easy, when it's one of the hardest magics to master."
Euclid shrugged."Dragons don't have types of magic.Just magic.Thank you for helping with those hunters.I found the first group you killed."
"I didn't want to kill them, especially without tailing them longer, but…" He shrugged his good shoulder and explained all that had happened while he'd been hunting pheasants."So was I right?They were after you?How many were there total?"
"Thirty total, and yes, hunting me specifically, but also seemed to be willing to take whatever they could kill.Thankfully I was alerted early.I think the leader was here, though, with the spectral shifter."
"Always called them Fiendish Hounds.Never seen any other kind, though to be fair, I've only seen three in my entire life, and the first two were from a distance."
"They used to be more common, but also those people were forced to do it.Criminals, impoverished, other people with little to no control of their lives.Thankfully that practice seems to have fallen by the wayside.I am glad they only had the one, though I should have realized sooner they had it at all.Thank you for all that you did; your assistance saved many lives in this forest."
