Chapter 6
I Guess Dog's are a Person's best friend
It had been three days since the incident occurred, and things had moved along much more smoothly than I had planned. The dog, who called himself Grim, was quite happy to work, even with a certain….part of him missing. He would wake up early in the morning and only go to sleep after I told him he could. He didn’t even act angry or resentful, but always smiled and said, to my ever growing chagrin, “As you wish.”
Once the tumult had died down, I studied the Grim more closely. He was tall, almost as tall as me, and he was thick set, with muscles that seemed to bulge out from under his fur. He had yellow eyes, making me think of the legendary dog he was named after (or maybe the reverse?). His hair, black as a crow flying in a moonless night, covered his body from head to toe and it felt as soft and fine as silk. He even had armor, but had set it aside when he was going to………Anyways, he had a giant metallic breastplate that encased his chest, and even a barbut around his head. He was geared for war, and when I asked him why, he would just look at me, quite and still as stone.
I decided that it would be best if we used his talents to supply us with food, having him dig us up a huge amount of gems. I was surprised to find out that our cave in which me and dad lived in, even fasted within, had such a huge amount of gems that were literally right under our feet. Go figure.
One time when I had gotten him to dig up some gems, I decided to ask him why he was so calm about losing his member. As I was talking he stopped digging, cocking one of his ears in my direction. By the time I finished, he was laughing. “I’m nineteen, and I haven’t had a use for it since my fifteenth birthday, the first and last time it ever happened. Diamond dogs are practically never gay.”
“What, really? Huh, is that why you’re on your own?” I queried, completely at odds that I had met a gay diamond dog against all, well, odds. By now he was grasping his sides, literally laughing himself hoarse at the expression on my face, but after my new little nugget of accidental comedy he keeled over, falling right into the pit he had been digging.
After he had finally calmed down enough to talk, he sat up and wheezed, “Let’s put it this way. Worst morning you had was with me standing over you, my worst was waking up with over fifteen boys over me, and they were holding daggers. I decided that it might be safer for me to just leave after that.”
After that we left the topic alone. Our food stores were rapidly growing, and it seemed as if we could set out within another few days. I planned on searching all the caves that surrounded the forest. Gilda had been burned, and I knew that it would take them up to a week before they could move her.
But everything went to pot when Grim and I went to gather water from the pond. By that point I had stopped threatening to kill Grim if he had to do a job. Instead I had learned that I would just ask him and he would usually stop whatever he was doing.
We were in a shady section of the forest when Grim asked me a rather unique question. “Why were you living alone?”
Up until then I had been lost in thought, having a silent argument with Gemina about how to track the griffin but as he said that my attention immediately shifted to him. “Would you prefer to be charred or diced?” I asked innocently, ripping a chunk out of a passing tree.
“Why would I be either?” he replied, staring at me intently, as if he was appraising me.
“Because, if I remember right, your fur and flesh is rather easy for me to rip to shreds.” I said, my voice now starting to shift into an angry growl.
It didn't seem to phase him in the slightest, but rather to sadden him, for his ears had suddenly drooped down, flat upon his skull. “Are you sure that your fine? You've been acting depressed ever since I met you. I may not have made the wisest of choices, but I'm not an idiot.”
I stopped walking, rage kindling within the pit of my stomach, my eyes shut tight. Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? He was making me want to hurt him, to make him pay! I turned around, flames leaping in my now open eyes, my right hand rolled into a tight fist, and proceeded to be bull rushed by a five foot eight diamond dog.
I flew through the air, slamming into a tree.
'Dear lord that hurt!'
'Wow, I actually thought he was trustworthy. Who knew.'
And that was when I heard the sound of claws meeting flesh. I looked down at my body quickly, wondering where he cut me, until I remembered that I had scales now. So if I hadn't been cut, then who?
“Gaaaaaaaaahhh”
Grim was the one cut? But why? I looked at the source of his voice and saw him lying right were I had been standing. My jaw dropped open in shock. Grim was lying on the ground, paws clutching at his side, his face a picture of agony. But the suprising thing was the manticore that stood next to him. A real, live, six foot long manticore. Had I been it's target? But if so then why did he save me?
'Now's not the time to be aking questions!' Gemina shouted.
“Run, just run!” Grim shouted at me. His voice earned him a bite from the manticore, right into the fresh wound. He screamed again, and bile poured onto the ground in front of him.
“NO” I shrieked. My body proceeded to move without me even thinking about it, and before I could come up with any coherent plan, I found myself running towards the manticore as fast as I could. The beast turned at the sound of my voice and bellowed a challenge. Ignoring the scream, I thrust my right fist into it's jaw, cleaving its mouth in two, and a sickening *CRACK* that resounded throughout the trees told me that I had also broken a bone or two. The face, now slack, was being consumed by flames.
'Why are there flames?'
'Look down genius.'
I looked down at my arm and noticed that said limb had fire licking the scales upon it. The flames licked upon my skin, but the sensation was akin to a hot breeze blowing across my arm. Was I burning, I thought that I was immune?
'Still, BOOYAH, SHINRYUKEN'
“Gemina, stuff it.”
'Wait, I can do better. Winner, Sion Barzhad'
“Gemina, I said, SHUT IT!”
'Shouldn't you be paying more attention to the diamond dog over there than lil-ol'-me?'
“Grim!” I whispered, remembering why I had even fought the beast in the first place. I wheeled about and dashed over to the downed dog. He was looking up at me weakly, obviously bewildered. “Are you coherent? If yes say one.”
“One.” he muttered, his brow creasing in concentration.
“Okay then, now move your paws away from the wound. No, not yet!” I yelped as his hands loosened their grip prematurely. “Let me roll you onto your side first.”
After I rolled him onto his side so that his guts wouldn't fall out of the wound, I got a good look at the injury, and the sight made me sick. I didn't like what I saw. Not only was the wound large, but it was also deep.
'Do you have any clue how we could cure this Gemina?'
'It worked once, why don't you try it again?'
'What worked?'
'How did you cure him when you literally ripped his manhood off?'
“I DIDN'T MEAN TO!” I screamed, suddenly hyperventilating.
'I know you didn't, but what did you do?'
I forced myself to calm down, to remember what had happened.'Spoke Latin?' I thought tentatively.
'Yep.'
'So you want me to try that again?'
'We can't fix this wound otherwise, we're not surgeons. It's this or nothing.'
“Fine, I'll try it.” I sighed, recalling what I had said before. Hesitantly, I whispered, “Album Ventus.”
The effect was instantaneous. The wound was suddenly covered by a thin layer of skin that was growing thicker with every passing second, and in less than a quarter minute the wound was completely patched up, a layer of fur covering the wound. I tentatively ran my hand over the new fur. Soft and silky, with not even a drop of blood upon it.
He groaned and looked over at me, his face no longer screwed up in pain or determination, but rather a sad little smile adorned his face, his eyes full of empathy.
“Why did you push me out of the way? I've been nothing but a monster to you.” I asked, my voice cracking, the words catching in my throat as they came out.
He put his paw at the side of my head, like a mother would, and whispered, “Because you were in pain.”
I broke down, hugging him around the waist, shoving my face into his shoulder. He returned the hug, wrapping his large arms around my body and whispering to me. I can't remember what he said, except for his last question.
“Ember, please tell me, who is Gemina?”
I pushed away from him, staring, my jaw dropping in fear and shock. “How do you know that name?”
He smiled rather sheepishly and said, quietly, “You were screaming at her to shut up after you beat the manticore.”
By now I was taking large calming breaths as I tried to collect my thoughts and bring my emotions under control. I turned away from him, praying for some kind of distraction. As per usual, a distraction arose within seconds of me asking for it.
'You on your period hun?'
'Gemina, now isn't the time. Are we going to tell him?'
'Of course. He trusted us, so we should trust him.'
'Are you sure?'
'Positive.'
'You always were trusting.'
'You mean am?'
'That too.' I sighed, pressing my hands against my temples.
“Okay then, I'll tell you Grim, but you might want to get comfy, it's not a short story.”