Chapter 4: A Debt of Ashes.
Gidorah landed hard in front of his cave. The flight back was a blur, all his eyes could picture then were the looks of anguish on the faces of the villagers who had succumbed to his poison.
He sat down heavily and just stared at his own claws. They were shaking.
He watched them tremble, then made a fist, squeezing until his talons dug into his own scales. A frustrated roar burst out of him, tearing through the quiet forest. Birds scattered from the trees in a panic.
His heart felt like a heavy, cold stone in his chest.
'It was an accident..' he thought, the words hollow in his head. 'Just an accident.'
But that didn't matter. Because of his accident, people were dead. Good people. Innocent people.
' For one freaking moment! Can't I do anything right?!' he asked himself, the question leaving a familiar bitter taste in his mouth.
He had tried to help. For once, he had stepped outside himself, outside the quiet, useless life he used to live, and all he'd managed to do was trade one kind of harm for another.
He believed that the he villagers had finally seen the truth. Now viewing him as some kind of blood thirsty monster. They probably hated him now, and he couldn't even blame them.
He let out a long, tired sigh that smelled of poison. Even as a dragon, he was still a failure. Still hopeless.
He wallowed around in silence for several hours before He finally turned and shuffled into the dark cave, wanting only to sleep and forget all that had happened.
But sleep refused to come.
For days, he lay in the dark. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the memory of the villagers dieing agonizing deaths thanks to him.
He smelled the smoke and the blood. His body was still, but his mind wouldn't quiet down. He just stared into the darkness, wide awake.
On the fourth day, he heard a sound he hadn't heard before, he was able to discern that it didn't belong to some beast like the ones he'd heard during the previous days.
Footsteps. Lots of them. Continuously approached his location.
His eyes snapped open. His misery was replaced by a sharp alertness.
' I take it they're here...' he thought. The only ones who'd had him worried since coming to this world, adventurers.
The monster hunters, one might not understand but his fear came from the fact that adventurers were the main organisation in fantasy worlds known to slay creatures like himself. A dragon like himself would definitely fetch a high bounty for the likes of them.
They'd probably finally came to kill him for what he did. In a strange way, he believed it was right.
Nevertheless, just because he thought so didn't mean he was willing to let out his neck to be cut just like that, after all, no one wished to die.
He pushed himself up and walked to the cave entrance. He would meet them head-on.
He spread his huge wings wide, blocking the light, and raised his head, ready to fight.
But he stopped the next moment, his mind filled with confusion.
There were no knights nor warriors.
Rather, It was the villagers, or the surviving ones to be exact. The same ones from the burned village.
' What happend to them.'
They looked terrible, dirty, tired, and scared. Some were leaning on others, barely able to stand. Seeing them like that, so broken, made his anger die away. He just felt sorry for them.
An old woman, the village head, stepped forward. She didn't run from his scary display. Instead, she bowed low.
"Great One," she said, her voice worn out. "We... we have come to ask for your protection."
Gidorah was stunned, yet his face remained aloof due to his draconic nature.
'Protection? From me?'
Before he could speak, she went on, pointing a shaky finger into the crowd. "We know about your deal with our dear Mitsuki." Gidorah looked and saw Mitsuki there, helping support a tired old man. watching silently.
"But I'm sure you're aware that we have nothing left to give you," the old woman said. "Our homes are gone. And we don't even have enough food reserves to last us more than a week. But if you will consider..."
She paused. A few young women stepped forward from the group. They were the prettiest girls in the village, their faces pale with fear, mixed with hints of determination.
"These are our best maidens," the old woman said, her voice slightly reluctant. Which showed that the arrangement wasn't completely her own doing.
"They are all pure. If you would take one for yourself... then the debt from before would be paid."
Gidorah couldn't believe it. They didn't hate him. To think that they were trying to bargain with him after what he'd done.
Not to mention, that they were so scared, they were offering him a person. He'd heard of instances of dragons coveting treasure but if they thought these young women were considered treasures by him, they were terribly wrong.
The silence grew. The girls began to look even more frightened. The villagers started whispering, worried.
" Do you think he's not happy."
" I think we might've offended him instead."
Their fear broke him out of his shock. He couldn't stand it.
' If I say nothing, they'd probably lose it. I don't want to pick but if I don't, they might get suspicious.'
' You know what... Lets just do it.'
"No," he said, his voice a low rumble.
The single word made everyone flinch. Hope died on the old woman's face.
Gidorah's eyes moved past the trembling girls, fixed on the village head. "I won't take any of them."
His words brought about a look of distress on the poor ladies face.
"If someone must serve me, let it be the one who first asked for my help"
' To think that her name was mitsuki.' He had to admit that he'd been curious about who she was the last time they met.
The crowd broke into surprised whispers.
"The widow?"
"Why her?"
Mitsuki looked just as shocked as everyone else. The girls who had been offered looked at her, their fear turning into something like jealousy.
Since they had come all this way, he decided he needed to tell them something else as well. "You can build some shelters in the woods nearby," he said, pointing with his wing. "While I can't watch you all the time. I'm not your guard dog." He drew himself up a little. "If trouble arises, you need only call for me and I shall come."
The change after his words was instant. The fear of the villagers melted away into pure relief. People fell to their knees, crying and thanking him. While some men shouted promises to serve him forever.
Seeing them so happy, so grateful for the smallest safety, the heavy guilt in Gidorah's chest loosened its grip, just a little. He hadn't fixed his mistake, but maybe he'd given them a way to live past it.
Without another word, he turned and went back into his cave. The sound of their joy faded behind him. Inside, the quiet didn't feel so heavy anymore.
The storm in his heart finally calmed to a dull ache. A deep, heavy tiredness pulled at him. He lay down on the stone floor, rested his head on his claws, and closed his eyes.
This time, he was able to fall asleep again.