The Corrupted Draconic Spawn stared and stared before opening its mouth wide.
In front of it stood sothing. It wasn’t exactly alive, nor was it exactly dead.
Such a strange thing. With its ability to raise the dead, seeing such a being, perfectly lodged between life and death, the Corrupted Draconic Spawn couldn’t help but be curious. Can it move? Can it be eaten?
’Had he not fed ...’ Akane thought, emotionless. ’I might have been glad to burn along with this village. Yes, that fire... Would have felt like divine intervention. Like soone was punishing them, saving . Even if it ant burning.’
Once again, she had let her hopes rise, a mistake that, each ti, cost her endless anguish.
’He said he would free ... Now, this thing and the flas...’
The scent and sight made countless mories rise within Akane, while the Demonic Draconic Spawn was bewildered by how sweet the scent was. The death of hope had a scent.
...
The taste of roasted rabbit still lingered faintly on her tongue. Water had washed away the dryness cracking her lips. For the first ti in what felt like an eternity, Akane’s body did not feel like it was falling apart.
"Eat. I’ll find a way to get you out soon."
The strange creature’s voice still rang in her ears. He had spoken with certainty. Not with mockery, not with the casual cruelty she had grown used to. Through his scent, she could tell that he wasn’t a Goblin. He wasn’t a Beast either. He was...
Akane’s trembling hands reached for the food. Her mind whispered caution, but her heart needed sothing to hold on to.
A glimr of hope. Still, it was difficult to hold on to it. So many glimrs of hope had been stifled, choked out, and smothered.
Just earlier, another glimr of hope had been born. It was with the female Hobgoblin’s entrance and,
"I don’t have the key."
It had quickly died, replaced by the glimr of the knife’s blade.
...
The rags rolled around the cage were yanked down. Sunlight struck her face suddenly. By the ti that her eyes adapted, all that remained in her field of vision were ozens of Goblins, eyes wide and gleaming.
Their jeers ca instantly: howls, pants, the gnashing of teeth... Their putrid excitent and the horrible ideas going through their minds could easily be read on their faces..
Akane gripped her rags tighter around herself, ears flattening as she shrank against the bars.
For a mont, the sudden sunlight had felt like another glimr of hope.
***
The Hobgoblins were marching her through the forest. The captive’s wrists stung. The rope was tight. Too tight. She stumbled, falling to her knees, dirt in her mouth.
"Get up." Ron tugged her up by the rope, but his attention shifted when three Hobgoblins returned. "Good." He smiled.
The three were dragging iron. A cage.
Syl frowned, scratching her chin. "They really gave it to you?"
The others laughed. "They did. There are humans who do not care who they do business with, or what they do business with, as long as there is paynt.
"Paynt?" Syl’s frown deepened. "What are you talking about?"
The answer was revealed a mont later as two n stepped from behind the trees. Their eyes imdiately fixed on the captive girl.
Their gazes imdiately made her stomach drop. Just as she had risen to her feet, the humans shoved her to the ground, their hands clawing at her dirty clothes.
The sound of her clothes tearing rang in her ears as desperation-
Splurttt!
"...?!"
Blood sprayed. One head rolled, then another. Syl sighed, her blade dripping.
"What are you doing?" Ron asked, an eyebrow raised.
"We already have the cage," Syl explained with a shrug. "Paynt was unnecessary. Especially when it’s going to humans."
Ron chuckled darkly. "Heh. Yes, very true."
Syl turned away, her voice like steel. "We are different from Goblins, aren’t we?"
Ron’s smile widened. "We sure are."
On the ground, Akane stared up at Syl. Her face was cold, almost expressionless. But in her eyes, for a brief mont, Akane saw it. A flicker, a spark of rcy, and a glimr of hope.
***
The village stretched above the ground, bridges of rope and wood spanning between massive trunks. Children’s laughter filled the air.
"That’s Akane," A Cat girl whispered to her friend, watching from the platform, pointing. "She’s like a big sister to . To everyone here."
"Is that so?" The other Cat girl watched with a smile.
Below,
"Hey, stop that!"
"Catch if you can! Nahaha!"
Akane laughed as she chased a group of children, her long hair flying. Her smile was bright, her eyes warm.
"That’s a weird na though, isn’t it? Akane?" The Cat girl asked.
"Hm... Yeah, now that you say it..."
That night,
"Y-You can’t be serious?" Akane muttered with a shaking voice.
The dark room slled of incense. The village chief’s eyes were heavy, barely visible as the only source of light was a tiny lit fire.
"Like I said, the Hobgoblin Chief demands an offering. If not, they will march on us. We can’t face them. War simply isn’t an option. Plus, he has Demons on his side. It’s necessary to-"
"T-Then..." Akane’s blood ran cold as she interrupted. "The girls who went missing... Every two months, soone went missing. Does that an...?"
The silence was answer enough.
The chief’s voice was stern. "We have no choice, Akane. This village has welcod you when you had nowhere else to go. You rember, don’t you?"
"I..." She lowered her gaze, trembling.
"You can’t only think about yourself. You need think about Lina and Dina, and about everyone else here." The chief explained. "You need to do this for the village, for them."
Her throat closed. The weight crushed her chest.
"What... What will happen to ?"
The chief scratched his chin. "I’m sure you will be all right."
It had already been decided.
***
"That’s a weird na though, isn’t it? Akane?" The Cat girl asked.
"Hm... Yeah, now that you say it...Yeah... I think she’s not from here."
"So she’s like ? New?"
"No, not exactly. She’s been here for a long ti. It’s just... She cos from so weird place."
"A weird place?"
"Yeah, apparently she used to live in a village that was on the ground, for one. Plus, it’s really, really far from here."
"Aha?"
"Apparently, the whole place was always covered by snow."
"Snow, really? I’ve never even seen snow."
"I know, right? either." The Cat girl stared in the distance. "She’s apparently from this place that is far, far to the East."
"To the East, huh?"
"Yep, hence why her na seems weird to us. Well, to you. We don’t think it’s weird anymore."
***
It was always so cold. So cold that the child always needed to curl up and hug her own tail to keep herself from shuddering.
But not that night.
For the first ti, it wasn’t cold.
At first, the heat and warmth consoled her. But before long, it choked her.
The child opened her eyes. Dark smoke filled the room. The ceiling was suddenly pierced by an arrow. The child shook, gathered her strength and courage, before running towards the other room.
"Ma..." the child cried out. "Mama...? Dad...?"
***
’No one is coming to save .’ Akane finally accepted. ’He fed . Thanks to that, I won’t burn... Like Dad did. All things considered...’ She gazed into the abyss contained by the creature’s jaws. ’Being eaten isn’t so bad.’
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