After that Anzar traveled with us. During the day he would disappear, hunting the smaller monsters that came around us. I started to notice that most monsters weren't exactly looking to pick fights with Anzar or myself, in fact they would avoid it entirely, as if they knew that fighting us would be a death sentence. Anzar would stay next to Rea in camp once we set up for the night, laying in front of the fire waiting for his turn of cooked meat.
"You have gotten spoiled Anzar." Rea laughed as she threw him a thick cut of meat.
They were the only ones that needed to eat, something I missed, the taste of food. I missed sitting in front of a warm plate of food, the smell of cooked meat and fresh bread. The crisp cold taste of an ale. To be human again. I sighed.
"What's wrong?" Rea asked looking concerned.
"Remembering what it was like to be human. Things that are hard to not miss." I replied with a sad tone.
She looked at me with pity for a few minutes and then went back to playing with Anzar. That night I was restless. my mind replaying the day we got the Duskburrow and the fight with the Dulhan. I remember the pain I felt that day, the betrayal, and the death of my former party. I looked at Rea and wondered, would she be able to treat me like they had? Would she stab me in the back the moment it benefits her? My mind raced as she laid down to sleep, Anzar sat in front of the fire and stared at the flames. His tail wagging slightly in the dirt.
"What are you so happy about?" I asked the wolf.
He cocked his head at me, stood up and walked over to me. His face inches from mine, he stared into my eyes. The abyss like eyes seemed to take everything in. His dark muzzle resting in my hand. He wagged his tail then went to the fire to lay down. I sat there completely puzzled. The night drug on, but eventually the sun came across the sky. We got everything ready and started traveling again. The plains had turned into a steppe like region. The sun cooked anything that wasn't covered in shade. Rea was dragging herself along complaining about the heat, causing Anzar to howl and bark. We traveled for days like this, Rea was truly a free soul, she loved to see everything as we progressed on our journey. Aznar was also extremely curious, disappearing for a few hours at a time. On one of these disappearances, he came back with a large bone in his mouth. He ran over towards me and dropped it at my feet. The bone was longer than my arm, covered in ornate etchings and capped with gold. I looked the bone over and then back at the now excited Anzar. He looked at the bone, hopped around with excitement and took off back in the direction he came from after he had found it. I sighed and followed him. The path he led us was beaten and worn down, as if at one point it had some importance. Anzar led us to a cliff face, a giant hole with deep claw marks greeted us. We pushed past the entrance, our footsteps echoing as we marched deeper in. Smaller monsters cowered and hid as we moved. The bigger monsters started moving towards us though, not that I could blame them, we looked like easy targets, and if you couldn't tell how strong we were just by looking, the few who challenged quickly were cut down by Anzar. The damp smell of the caves was soon replaced by a faint smell of rot and decay. The cavern opened up into a large room. In the middle was a large pillar with a ray of light dancing off it. On the pillar was a large book. Ancient looking and the energy that it gave off was ominous. Rea was getting all excited.
"John! that's a tome! Those are super rare! I haven't ever seen one in this kind of condition either!" She danced around me with excitement.
I sighed and looked at the clearing ahead of us. I wasn't sure it wasn't trapped or something bad wouldn't happen the moment we step out into it. Aznar raced out to the middle of the field right before the pillar. I sighed and decided to follow. The tome floated slightly above the pillar. A chilly breeze seemed to come from nowhere as we got closer to it. Suddenly a loud screech filled the air and the sound of enormous wings. A large purple skinned dragon flung its gigantic body towards the ground. The great beast roared as it flung its massive head around. Anzar whimpered as he cowered behind me. Rea was for once speechless.