Hot.
Very hot. The flames burned with fury. With a swift stride, Adam dodged the fireball. His breath was erratic, not from fear but from pure excitement and thrill. The beast roared with such ferocity that it shook the earth. A smile was plastered on Adam's face. The monster he faced was no mere beast. It was a wyvern — a black one at that. That just made it all the better for Adam.
They circled each other, both cautious of their next move. Adam dashed forward with speed comparable to that of a cheetaire. His speed caught the wyvern by surprise. Adam noticed this, smirked, and then whistled.
That was the signal. By the side, away from the wyvern's line of sight, a small figure rushed from the trees. With a dagger in hand, the figure jumped into the air and dived down, stabbing its dagger deep into the wyvern's eye. Before the wyvern was blinded by the strike, it caught a glimpse of the figure — a white-furred monkey with robotic arms. It let out a shriek of pain and thrashed around. Black blood gushed from its eye.
Adam rushed in and drew his sword, which had seen better days. With his amazing speed, he went in for the kill. He slashed the wyvern's head clean off its body. Blood spewed out and rained down, bathing Adam in it. He looked like a demon straight from hell with his rusty, broken blade. Red blood streaked down his dark, sun kissed skin some even tainted his pure white locks of dread tha he tied behind his back. His hair was a striking contrast to his skin and his blue eyes like the endless sky made him stand out even more.
He heard little footsteps approach him. Turning, he saw Zon.
"I knew you couldn't do this without me. But still, I can't believe you managed to cut off its head with that piece of trash," Zon said as his tail wagged from side to side. He ripped his dagger from the wyvern's ruined eye.
"Hey. Why are you looking at me like that?" Zon asked. "Get your ass over here and help me with removing these scales."
"Yeah, yeah. After we sell it, let's get some pie, 'cause that fight made me hungry." Adam patted his stomach, and it immediately grumbled, begging to be fed.
Adam cleaned the blood of himself and his trusted rust filled sword. They mounted Marcy, their dire wolf, after collecting the wyvern's scales, and headed to the guild hall in Clover Town to sell them.
The ride back was quiet and peaceful. Adam enjoyed the moving scenery. He felt a sense of tranquility watching the trees blur past them. His mind started to drift from the beautiful landscapes to something else. Someone else. He couldn't help but think about her long golden hair, sparkling blue eyes, her sweet scent—
"Ouch!"
Adam yelped and rubbed his face. Zon had pinched him and interrupted his daydream. "What was that for?!"
Zon smiled. "You were thinking about her, weren't you?"
"W-what, no I wasn't."
"You totally were. You had that dreamy look in your eye," Zon joked.
Zon's laughter died down as they neared the edge of Clover Town. Smoke from the guild's forge drifted lazily into the evening air, the scent of metal and ale thick around the streets. The chatter of merchants and adventurers filled the air — the world as ordinary as it ever got for them.
The guild hall loomed ahead, its stone walls etched with claw marks from old hunts. Adam swung off Marcy and stretched. His joints cracked in protest. Zon jumped down after him, tossing the sack of wyvern scales over his shoulder like it weighed nothing.
Inside, the place buzzed with life — hunters and adventurers of all races were arguing over contracts, their blades clanging and laughter spilling from the bar. A few heads turned toward Adam and his half-mask, but no one questioned it. He was a familiar oddity by now, the "masked slayer" who never stayed long enough to be known. Who they were curious about was Zon. They had never seen a teronian monkey so far from home. And the most curious thing was the robot limbs it had.
"What you looking at dog breath?" Zon rudely asked a lycan who was staring too much at him.
The lycan quickly adverted his gaze.
"That's what I thought."
Zon dropped the scales onto the counter with a heavy thud.
"Black wyvern. Fresh kill," he announced proudly.
The guild clerk raised a brow. "You two again? You're either crazy or lucky."
"Both," Zon said.
They collected their reward — a pouch of gold coins, warm from the clerk's hand — and left before anyone could start asking about the fight.
Night had settled by the time they reached the forest. Marcy padded silently through the undergrowth, moonlight gleaming off her silver fur. Fireflies drifted between the trees, blinking like lost stars.
Their cave was hidden behind a waterfall, tucked deep into the valley. The air inside was cool and damp. Zon tossed the coins into a chest already overflowing with loot and dropped onto a makeshift bed of furs.
"Another day, another pile of scales," he yawned. "You'd think saving the world from monsters would pay better."
Adam chuckled softly, pulling off his cloak and setting his sword against the wall. "We're not saving the world. Just surviving it."
He sat down beside the faint glow of a campfire, the flames reflecting in his eyes. For a while, neither of them spoke. Outside, the waterfall's constant murmur filled the silence.
Zon was already snoring.
Adam leaned back against his bed rest, staring at the faint shimmer of his mask's edge.
He closed his eyes, willing the thought away. Tomorrow, there would be another hunt. Another beast. Another day pretending he belonged here.