Chapter 12: Danger

Adrenaline rushed his heartbeat into a beating faster. His legs felt numb, but despite their betrayal he forced them to stand. Quickly approaching, the captain soon stopped right in front of the exhausted body of the old man and Teus.

The old man snapped at Teus one final time.

“Teus, get out of here now!-”

Bfft!

The child watched in horror as the captain put his foot on top of the old man, plunging his head into the dirt. Staring at Teus the entire time, almost to analyze his reaction to such a thing. Before raising his same foot to kick the child back, but instinctively, Teus backed away as his feet skid across the ground beneath him. Though with a determined look, he never broke eye contact with him. Teus faltered briefly before regaining his balance. The captain smirked, he seemed amused. He placed his foot firmly on the old man’s head again, making Teus all the more infuriated.

He glared at him. His eyes, full of rage.

“So it was you!?”

Teus balled up his hand into a fist as it shook from his side, barely containing his anger.

“W-why would you do this to him…!?” Still practically wheezing from his fury he tried his hardest to remain composed. 

A look of disinterest was plastered across the captain’s face as he explained.

“All we are doing is fulfilling the will of the king…”

Teus grit his teeth harder than ever.

“D- don’t give me that! Aren’t you guys supposed to be protecting us from the dragon!? Mister Fluff and Puff is a kind man! You have no reason to kill him! I-I won’t let you!”

Teus reached into his pocket for his dragon core before the captain raised his sword to his neck, stopping him in his tracks. 

“Don’t be so hasty. You don’t need to reach for a weapon.” He said with an overconfident smile.

His foot still planted on the old man’s neck, he quickly closed the distance between the two of them through use of his weapon. The captain's gaze, now serious, almost cut through Teus.

“Now before I continue, explain yourself, last time I recall, the entire town was instructed to wait inside, during the attack on Kuravana. You better have a good reason for being out here?”

Teus looked down to the shaking head of the old man, his face was thoroughly submerged in the ground, struggling to move. He felt a chill go through his body. Not having anywhere to run, Teus relented. He thought maybe, just maybe, if he cooperated with the Beast Breaker he would spare their lives. If he wanted to leave with the two of them, begging for mercy was not an option he was willing to let pass him. It just might work.

“I…I came out here to get the scarf that you guys stole from me, well, Raud really...”

“…”

“...”

“Even though you knew there was a dragon on the loose…?”

“Yes, I thought it wouldn’t be anything I couldn’t handle.”

The captain’s eyes widened before he continued with a soft chuckle. A smirk began to form around his lips again.

“Is that so… and how was a child like you intending on handling the dragon?” He sounded surprised. His grip stiffened against the handle, his gaze not leaving Teus, only getting more intense.

“Well, I-”

Before Teus could finish his sentence, he noticed the captain struggling to contain himself. His eyes flickered from the old man’s head to the Beast Breaker's smug demeanor as he watched him continue to chortle. His subtle chuckling soon became boisterous laughter, and from laughter to an echoing guffaw that resounded throughout the empty streets and alleys of Thorinhil. Teus struggled to discern if he had thoroughly upset him or not. His feet barely sliding backwards out of fear.

“Shoot! I was trying to get in his good graces so that he could let us slide just this once. But it looks like it backfired. Has he lost it?”

The laughter soon was done. Still holding the sword to his neck, the captain used his free hand to wipe away a tear from his eye. He had what appeared to be a manic smile and for the first time in their interaction, he looked more relaxed than anything.

“I’m sorry, I should have let you finish. I just didn’t know you were so stupid! It caught me off guard.”

A deep sigh of relief exited Teus, for a brief moment he closed his eyes as he blinked. He was thankful for the fact that the captain did not seem too upset at his answer and instead found it humorous.

“You wanna know something else that’s funny?...”

The sound of metal sliding across each other made Teus immediately snap his eyes open.

The captain was now walking towards him with his sword sheathed in his scabbard. His foot now off the old man, though he could clearly see him struggling to unplug his head from the ground.

He came to an abrupt stop once in front of him. The captain gently grabbed Teus’ scarf and was whimsily toying with it in his hands. His gaze seemingly lost in thought.

“...I was able to find you guys so easily because of this blood-drenched scarf. The smell was so potent of fish, I imagine anyone could have figured out where you two were.” 

Teus’ sweating began to get more intense.

“Mister Fluff and Puff ran almost halfway across the town, how did he smell us from that far away?”

The captain continued.

“I guess you could say, I found you because I smelt something…fishy. Aha ha!”

As the captain laughed Teus averted his gaze and awkwardly joined in laughter. His heart raced with every second. The two laughed for a few seconds before Teus felt a drip of warm liquid touch the bridge of his nose before it gently rolled off the tip. 

He was confused.

He looked up to find that the captain was no longer laughing. His face was completely serious and his gaze transfixed on Teus. The most disturbing part was that his jaw was wide open and bits and slivers of saliva fell down on Teus’ face.

“Oh…uh, I bet you’re wondering why I thought it was so funny that you could handle a dragon, aren’t you?”

The terrified look on Teus’ face remained unphased. He did not respond or even move, for in that moment he was taken up in the terror of the one who stood before him. He realized it. The eyes that were staring at him were no eyes that could possibly be possessed by a human. Eyes that stared through his soul, gleamed with morbid curiosity and most importantly, eyes that were starved of sustenance.

Instinctively, Teus pushed himself back, his somersaulted backwards before catching a grip on the ground below. The captain continued to manically chuckle to himself.

“Who am I kidding, you probably figured it out by now…It’s because…”

Teus ran towards the old man and clutched onto his shoulders, pulling the rest of his head from above ground. The old man popped his head out of the dirt and screamed at Teus. 

“What are you doing! Get away, Teus!”

The captain did not chase the boy, just looked at him with a crooked smile that was befitting enough to haunt him in his nightmares, his eyes following his every move, enjoying every last moment of tonight’s events. Like an owl, his head turned in an unnatural one-hundred and eighty degree angle before meeting gazes with Teus once again. Not even thinking to wipe the drool from his mouth.

His smile grew into a twisted manic grin.

“...I am one!”

A blast of aura erupts from the ground beneath the masquerading dragon as the human flesh he pretended to have billowed in the wind and his body, twisted and contorted freakishly in the void. Teus and the old man could only look on in horror, gobsmacked by the absolute gruesome display of shuffling limbs. Only a silhouette could be seen through the blaze of energy surrounding him, which made what they heard stand out all the more.

Limbs cracking, joints popping, skin searing and the otherworldly grunting as the voice of the Beast Breaker’s captain was replaced, slowly transitioning into something much more harrowing. Soon the aura around the dragon dissipated and all that was left was his true form.

His eyes a dark green, but still held a shine in the dark. Dirty yellow fur barely covering his large, sword-like, razor sharp claws. He stood on his two feet, which were more shaped like hooves and his tail was long and thick, playfully smacking the ground beneath them. His hands were folded behind his back as though to proudly present his final form. He held a genuine smile from ear to ear. He began to stretch briefly, as though being in that form had not entirely suited him.

“Masterful performance as always. I got everyone nice and horrified before I eat them!”

His gaze drifted to the old man.

“That annoying look of a determined warrior ready to die you had earlier seems to have faded. And I can sense that you’re worried because you know now that I’m gonna eat this kid. Perfect!” His gazes quickly snapped over to Teus. “And you…”

“Oh you look terrified! That’s gonna make it so much better once I eat you. Definitely gonna feast on you first!”

A joyous grin stretched against the dragon’s face before he got into a fighting stance befitting of such a beast, with his arms angled forward, ready to strike.

“Teus, was it…? I never really got to thank you. I have a bad habit of playing with my food but you seem to have made it all worth it. I now have two meals instead of one, and they’re both filled with much more despair than I could have ever hoped for. When I smelt the scent of fish on you both I just couldn’t resist. I had to make this an experience I would never forget…”

Teus flinched as he saw the dragon’s grin widen.

“Thank you so much Teus, for this delicious meal!”