The First Dragon of Marble

Chapter 13

Walking to the weapons store, I arrive not long after I left the guild and the emotional turmoil it stirred inside me. I go inside and see the same bull mink from last time. He stares at my horns, and I just ignore him looking at the weapons he had on display. I used my Dragon Eyes to see if any were enchanted. I was disappointed and decide to ask the shopkeeper. “Good afternoon, sir.” I say to which he nods. “Do you have any enchanted weapons?” “No enchanted weapons here they are very rare, there may be some in the trade district north of here by the river though.” “I see. Hmm. Well, I need a good spear, small shield, two axes, and a knife. Price is not much of an issue.” He thinks for a moment and holds his finger up for me to wait for a moment. He goes into the back of the store and comes back with what I asked. “This spear is meant to be wielded with either one or two hands. Its shaft is made of treated oak and imbued with mana to be as strong a steel. The head is made from darksteel keeping the tip from chipping even if you stabbed into mithril armor.” He shows off the spear turning it for me to inspect.

“May I see it?” I ask and he nods handing it to me. I hold it with one hand and feel as if it was light as a feather. “Is does not feel heavy to me. Is it because of how high my Strength attribute?” I perform a couple of forms that I had learned from Beau and my own experience. My moves were faster than ever with the spear singing through the air at high speeds not possible for any human. The shopkeeper watched in awe before I stopped and placed the spear back down on the counter. I liked the spear, but I would like something heavier. “Do you have a heavier spear?” He snorts and says, “Son that is the heaviest and most expensive spear I have in the shop.” “Okay how about the others.” He picks up the shield. “The shield is made of the same treated oak as the spear. Its strong enough to withstand a charge from a knight’s lance from atop their horse. It is large enough to cover the chest and pairs well with the spear.” I pick it up and inspect the strap and handle to hold the shield. Feeling how light, it was I figured I would either have to make a custom order to a blacksmith or go to a higher end weapons store. Right now, I just want weapons as soon as possible but also with some quality. I am tired of my weapons breaking on me.

I set the shield back down and motion the merchant to continue. He picks up one of the axes and says “The axes are twins and are of the same treated oak imbued with mana along with darksteel for the axe heads. The axe heads are shaped with a blade for hacking, a spike for piercing, and a hammer for blunt strikes.” I pick up the axes and dual wield the axes through a couple of forms that I have learned from Tiamat who seemed to favor cleaving type weapons. Satisfied I placed them back down on the table. The shopkeeper spoke up again mentioning the knife. “The is a simple dismantling knife. I figured you wouldn’t want anything fancy sense you asked for a spear and axes. It is a simple iron knife good for cutting and dressing game.” I nod and ask, “So how much for the whole lot?” “For the lot I’d say one gold and five silver.” I narrow my eyes at him making him flinch, which was rather funny seeing as he was the living embodiment of muscles. “I…it’s a good deal son. These are high quality items and the best that I have in the store.” He stutters defending his price. Tired from the journey and dealing with the Guild Head I concede.

“Fine here.” I retrieve the amount from my earring with a pop and hand it over, storing the weapons inside the earring leaving an axe and the knife out to holster in my belt. “Thank you for the business son.” He says to me as I leave the shop. Not feeling naked anymore without any weapons on me I decide to go ahead and grab some potions and restock my camping equipment and miscellaneous items such as food rations. When I was done, I had spent a total of three silver because I wanted new things and not any secondhand crap that I had been using before going into the dungeon. The sun was setting, and I really wanted to see Cliff and Helen. They were the only people that I could consider friends to a point.

I arrived at the Drunken Elephant and stepped inside admiring the atmosphere of the pub area. When I started towards the bar where I usually sat when coming here, I heard a crash of plates, and a clatter of a wooden beer mug hit the floor. Suddenly I hear a female voice yell over the noise of the laughing and chattering of the patrons of the pub. “L…La…Ladon!!!” I see Helen with broken plates at her feet. She slowly starts walking toward me shaking. I smile at her and say, “Hello Helen, I hope you have been well.” She then sprints towards me and jumps into my arms hugging my neck and starts crying into my neck. “How are you here? Sob. The guild told us that you were dead.” I hugged her back and said, “I wasn’t dead, but someone tried to kill me. What they didn’t know is that I am not so easy to get rid of.”

Suddenly I feel my ribs starting to break and thought I was under attack until I saw that I was being hugged by Cliff as well from the side. “Cliff. Cliff! CLIFF! YOU ARE SQUEEZING ME TO DEATH!” Helen somehow yelled from between us. “Must be the dwarf in her.” I remarked in my head. “Ah sorry just missed you Ladon. We really thought you were dead.” “Haa…Haa…its fine Cliff I missed y’all too.” “What happened to you?” Cliff asked to which when I looked around everyone’s eyes were turned to us watching our little reunion. “How about a drink first, yeah? I haven’t had a good ale in over two years.” He looks around and nods. “Sure, I’ll make some space at the bar.” He walks over and tells some of the people sitting there to make space for me.

I sit down as Cliff goes back behind the counter and pours me an ale. Helen seemingly not caring about her waitress duties comes to sit beside me. Once I chugged some of the ale and sigh with contentment at the taste, Cliff asks, “So tell us, what happened to you and why do you have horns now.” I tell them about Noah and my time in the dungeon. As far as my horns were concerned, I said that they were a part of my race and ignored questions concerning what my race was. Of course, I left out any mention of Tiamat and Odin not that I was ashamed but knew it would bring troublesome problems that I am not ready to deal with yet. The other patrons listened as well gasping at the times I almost died and laughed when I told them of when a caterpillar monster bit me on the ass when I was performing some bowel movements after eating bad monster meat. I never liked attention, but I liked telling stories. Must be from when I was in the orphanage reading story books to the smaller children.

I finished well into the night with some adventurers sympathizing with me giving me encouraging words and some who I saw quickly leave the inn. “They must be friends of Noah and the others. Good they should know that I am coming for them soon.” Afterwards Cliff, Helen, and I continued chatting. Cliff has kept to the inn and providing a place for adventurers to rest in between jobs. Helen seems to have gotten engaged and seemed to be in a depression for a while after she asked about me at the guild when I had not been by the inn for a few weeks. I congratulated her on her engagement and asked about her fiancé. “Oh, you would like him Ladon. He owns a weapons shop and helps out poor adventurers when they need weapons. His shop is called the Adventurer’s Lifeblood.” I blink in surprise and look her up and down then ask, “Is he a bull mink?” Her eyes widen and nods her head, “Have you been there before?” I nod while chuckling and say, “Yeah I bought some weapons from him before I went into the dungeon and just before I came here.” “Oh, that’s fantastic! What do you think of him?” Confused as to why she would ask my opinion of him I say, “He seems like your typical merchant aside that he looks like a body builder.” “What’s a body builder?” She asks to which I say, “Never mind, hehe. So, you like them with a lot of muscle huh?” Helen blushes and looks at the floor and I barely hear her say, “Yes very much so.” I laugh and ruffle her hair. “He is lucky to have such a cute lady by his side.” I then lean down to her ear and whisper, “If he ever hurts you tell me, and I will take care of him.”

She playfully hits me on the arm and shakes her head and smiles. Helen just makes me want to protect her I can’t help it. Cliff then asks me, “So what are you going to do now? Are you going to continue working for the guild?” I nod and say, “Yeah, I like the work and learning and seeing new things. I will eventually leave Melcox so being an adventurer is a good occupation for me.” Cliff’s expression turns sadden for moment before he asks another question. “Will you work with other people again considering what happened? I know that you are not very forth coming, and this experience has most likely put a damper on your willingness to work with others…As a former adventurer myself I would like to warn you that there are some jobs and situations that need more than one person no matter how strong you are my friend.” I look at him with a serious expression and say with honesty, “What you are saying is true and I will admit I experienced an easier time when killing monsters with Noah and his team than when I was taking jobs by myself before they betrayed me.” I then sigh and open up a little to him and say, “Cliff this isn’t the first time someone has done this to me. Before I came to Melcox my…best friend and girlfriend at the time tried to kill me and in a way they succeeded.”

Both of their eyes filled with shock from my revelation so I continued, “So whether or not I can be with or do jobs together with someone is not likely until the far future. I just cannot trust anyone now after everything. People like my friend and girlfriend were the first people that I thought truly cared about me as I did them, but I was humiliated in the end. The people who were supposed to watch my back as I watched theirs even if temporary still decided I was disposable. Does this answer your question?” Speechless for a few moments Cliff then said after thinking, “How about buying a slave then? From your story I know that you have trust issues but whether you believe me or not Helen and I care about your wellbeing.” My brain freezes at the mention of slaves. “Wait, wait, wait…there are slaves?” Both Helen and Cliff look at me in confusion as Helen says, “Of course there is, Ladon.”

I look at both of them with a stunned expression. “Has civilization and society truly devolved back to when slaves were needed for labor and other things. Wait calm down Ladon they could just mean something like indentured servants though they were treated almost as bad.” I take a deep breath to recover from the information that was just revealed. “What do you mean by slaves? Please tell me about the system and how someone becomes a slave.” Helen and Cliff look at each other then back at me. Then Cliff asks a question before answering mine. “Why are you so shocked about slaves?” I stuttered out an answer, “In…In…In my country slavery was abolished almost tw…a very long time ago. There was no need for slaves in my country.”

I hear Helen say under her breath as she looks at the floor with her hand on her chin, “I have never heard of such a country.” Cliff then decides to take my word for it and begins to answer my question. “By slaves I mean people who have been bound by magic to someone else. Sometimes this happens against their will like criminals or in rare occasions in other countries prisoners of war to keep them from rebelling. Most people become slaves to escape debt though have the right to decline the purchase of themselves of someone they do not deem worthy of being their master.” I digest the information and think to myself, “So it’s a replacement for the prison system it seems. I’m guessing that countries do not have the resources for prisons or correctional facilities. As far as debt, that sounds like it could be abused even if they have rights. A loan shark could easily trick someone into becoming a slave to get their money back and then some. Haa, it makes sense to a degree I guess though I am uncomfortable with the idea. It’s not like I am trying to change the world’s view. I just need to stay away from becoming a slave myself.”

I then ask Cliff, “Why would you recommend a slave? If they didn’t like their master, couldn’t they just run away or at worse kill their master?” He shakes his head and says, “The magic that binds the slaves keeps them from killing their master, but yes, a slave could run to local courts and plead their case of mistreatment if they do not like their master due to abuse. That only applies to debt slaves though. Most criminal slaves are sent to mines or sent to other locations for hard labor to work for the rest of their life, if they try to run away, they will die from the magic that separates them from either a debt or criminal slave. They are to be taken care to a certain degree but since they are criminals, they do not have much else than two meals a day and certain number of hours to rest.”

I sit there and mull over what he said and a part of me is positive to the idea of having someone unable to back stab me while doing jobs. “I’ll think about it. Having someone I can trust watch my back would help with my jobs. How much for three nights and meals?” Cliff smiles, “I’ll give you a discount and only ask for eight bronze.” I hand him the coin and he hands me the key. “Room 301 is on the third floor.” I nod and say, “It was good to see and talk to y’all again after so long. Hopefully something like this won’t happen again.” I get up and am hugged by Helen. “I am so glad you are okay Ladon, truly. I have never had many friends and could even see you as a brother.” I’m touched by her words and squeeze back a hug. “Good night” I say as they wave me out of the room.

Once I am inside the room, I wind down by taking a shower and lay down on the bed. “A slave huh. I know the world has changed but it is still the act of owning someone. Could I do that? The way Cliff described it, it seems normal, and society has changed. Should I acclimate to this? If the dungeon taught me anything is that more people fighting together is better than being alone and safer…I’ll think more about it tomorrow. First, I need to see if any changes have occurred in my personal scroll since coming back from the dungeon.”

“I guess what Odin said about the scroll not showing any advancement until level ups is true. That doesn’t seem very user friendly. And it seems my birthday passed again while I was in their domain.” I had been told more about the system from Odin during my training with them. Strength coincides with the body’s strength. Agility deals with the body’s speed. Intelligence is more complicated as it deals with a person’s thinking process and speed and spell control. Endurance deals with the body’s ability to deal with pain and how fast wounds heal. Tiamat said that dragons always have a higher endurance than other races. Finally, Mana Capacity deals with the mana organ and how strong spells are.

“Unless I kill strong monsters, I think it will be a while until I level up again.” I say to myself as I dismiss my scroll and turn over the sleep. I wake up in the morning and think about what I want to do today. “I don’t feel like doing any jobs and if those assholes know that I am back they be watching my moves from now on. I’d rather not be ambushed on the job again. I wonder if there is a proper library in this city and there is the slave thing. I’ll ask Cliff about the library and slave traders then.”

I go downstairs after getting dressed and sit at the bar. Cliff soon comes out and sees me, “Morning Ladon.” “Morning Cliff.” We make small talk before another waitress brings me my breakfast. I eat while asking Cliff about the library and slave trader. “Is there a library aside from the one in the Adventurer’s Guild?” Cliff leans forward on the counter with hands and thinks for a moment. “As far as a library like the one in the capital no, but the church of the Gods may have a library here in Melcox. It is located on the other side of the main road near the center of the city overlooking Mountain Spring River that runs through the city.” I had not explored the city much due to trying to earn enough to stay off the streets. “How about what we talked about last night? Have any recommendations? I at least want to check them out and decide if it is worth bothering.” He nods and says, “There is a slave trader that is very trusted in Melcox. Her name is Francine, and she runs The Easy Flower slave shop in the Merchant District close to the river. She brings in slaves from all over. Just watch her merchant skills and make sure you ask about the slave’s history before deciding to buy.” “Which is closer the church or the trader?” I ask and he says the trader.

I finish my meal and bid goodbye deciding to head to the trader first before the church. I walk toward the north of the city and admire the buildings as I walk along. Everything seemed more magical as I was finally able to admire the architecture. Most buildings like around the south gate seem to only be held intact with magic. I could tell when I crossed over into the Merchant’s district because it seemed more of a bazaar with venders selling their wares on the street. The items were anything from textiles to jewelry. The stalls owners were shouting at passersby to take a look at their wares. Aside from the stalls I see more shops that sell higher end clothes, weapons, and various other things.

Soon I reach the river and come upon some docks with river boats going up and down the river. “Hmm…this must be the city’s major trade route.” I mutter to myself as I look around for the Easy Flower. I walk along the river looking for a sign for the shop and finally I find it. It looks like a warehouse from the outside and blends in with the rest of the warehouses beside it. “A warehouse? I guess you would need space considering.” I thought as I walk up to the gate with two tiger mink guards. One of the guards notices me and says, “State your business.” “Rather rude for a potential customer.” I thought as I answer him, “I am here to have a look at the slaves that are for sale.” The guard then looks at me up and down and raises an eyebrow and shrugs, “Very well head inside someone will come to help you soon.” I nod and am motioned through the gate. I reach the door and go inside to see a highly decorated reception area with a desk with a dwarf man on the other side.

“Welcome sir to the Easy Flower. How can we help you?” The dwarf said bringing me back from admiring the room. “Yes, I was recommended to this establishment to see Miss Francine from Mr. Cliff who owns the Drunken Elephant near the Adventurer’s Guild.” “Very well, sir have a seat and I will go see if Trader Francine is free to help you.” He goes through a door behind him, and I sit down to wait. Suddenly I feel something similar to when I was in the dungeon. Something that seemed to pull me towards a certain location. I had asked Odin and Tiamat about this, and they had no explanation other than possibly an instinct of the dragon race. I contemplate about this and think, “Is this a dragon instinct that Tiamat talked about in her lessons? Or is it just some magical phenomena from the mana of the Cosmos?” “Sir. Sir?” I look up to the dwarf at the desk again calling for me. “Sorry I was lost in thought.” The dwarf smiles and says, “No worries, sir. Trader Francine is free and is waiting in another room. If you would follow, I shall take you to her.” I nod and get up and follow the dwarf. As we walk through the halls and up some stairs, I could still feel the pull, pulling me downward away from where I was going. “There must be a basement if it is directing me below the first floor.”

We reach a door and stop before it. The dwarf turns to me and asks, “May I have your name sir.” “It’s Ladon.” He nods and opens the door. “Trader Francine, Sir Ladon is here to see you.” “Thank you, Aten. That will be all.” He bows and leaves me with the trader. The room was filled with expensive looking artwork, furniture, and books. Francine comes from around a desk and sits on a sofa with another in front of her. She motions with hand and says, “Sir Ladon, please have a seat I’ll have some tea and snacks brought up in a moment.” I sit down and take a closer look at Francine. She has blond hair in curls with blue eyes. Her dress was sleek and hugged her curves displaying her womanly gifts. She would have been pleasant to look at in any other situation if it weren’t all a ruse to get an upper hand in negotiations.

She begins her sales pitch as I am staying silent waiting for her to say something. “Well sir Ladon. As I am sure you know my establishment trades in slaves from all over the continent. I pride myself on giving my customers exactly what they want and need. Before we start could you please tell me what kind of slave you are in need of.” “I need someone to watch my back during my jobs for the Adventurer’s Guild ma’am. To be honest I do not know if I will buy anyone today. I recently came back to Melcox after some trouble and Cliff seemed worried about me doing jobs alone, so he recommended buying a slave and he recommended you. I am more window shopping than anything ma’am.” She taps her index finger on the plump red lips and thinks for a moment. “Any preferences towards race or gender?” I shake my head and say, “No.”

She then stands up and says, “Well if you are merely window shopping, I can show you around the warehouse so that you can get a better idea of the kind of slave you may want to purchase. Keep in mind that some slaves have conditions for their master and even if you chose them they may not chose you.” I nod and she leads me out of the room and into the hall and back down the stairs. We go through another door that leads deeper into the warehouse and I see tens of cubicles. As we get closer, we stop at the first cubicle, and I see a clean sleeping area with cot and a person laying on top. The person was not chained, nor did they look filthy. In fact, they seemed to be taken quite good care of and shattered my image of slaves. Francine turns to me and says, “This area is for the debt slaves and have the conditions that I talked about upstairs.” I nod and start walking through the aisles of cubicles. I focused on the feeling, and it was still pulling me below the floor. “I feel like I am on top of whatever is pulling me.” As we walked through the slaves, who were of all different races, tried to either talk to me trying to get me to buy them or simply just looked at me and then ignored me.

Once I had seen all the slaves we were back where we started and I ask Francine, “Is this all the slaves you have here?” She makes a complicated face and shakes her head and says, “No we have more in the basement though I must warn you that they are criminal slaves. Some are from this kingdom while others are from abroad.” I make a confused expression and ask, “What do you mean by abroad? Why would you bring in other countries’ criminal slaves?” She motions me to follow her, and she talks as we head down a different hall and down some stairs. “At times I do not have enough slaves for lords or merchants who own mines and other hard labor sites so, I have to buy slaves from other countries in order to keep up with demand.” I then ask, “What if the laws for criminal acts differ from this country? For example, if the person is turned into a slave simply because of their race?” She shrugs and says, “Slavery magic is too complex to just release them from the spell. Each country’s slavery magic is different compared to the next so there is no use in trying to release the spell. Though the magic binds the slave to the master they can still lie about their background.” “So, they can still lie huh.” I thought as I ask another question, “Isn’t there some kind of magic to compel someone to tell the truth?” She nods as we descend some stairs. “There is but finding a magi who dabbles in such magic is rare and even more expensive for their services. Even items that are enchanted with truth seeking spells are rare and rarely come onto the market before some lord scoops them up.”

We reach the door as she finishes her statement. “I can already see holes for the slavery system in this world. Innocent people could be slaves if the powers at be do not have any checks and balances.” She opens the door, and the smell of ammonia, dirt, and hay hit my nose. “Fuck me. I guess the criminal slaves have it much worse than the debt slaves.” She moves forward with a handkerchief over mouth and says, “These are the criminal slaves. They cannot hurt me, but I would advise staying away from the bars.” When she says this, I look around I notice people of different races in cages with a pot and hay on the floor. The people only wore a sack with holes cut out for their head, legs, and arms. She motions with her hand for me to walk ahead and browse at my leisure.

I barely look at the people in the cages focusing on the feeling that was pulling me to the other end of the basement. When I reached the end and noticed it pulled me towards a cage to my left. I got closer and could not see anything inside the cage. I cast Illuminate which is a light element spell that produces a small sphere of light. I push the spell further into the cage and see a rabbit mink woman huddled in the corner of the cage. I spoke to Francine in a commanding tone that surprised me, “Open the door now.” Francine looked at me with confusion and says, “Sir I would advise not going into the – “I caught her off with my eyes and say, “Open the door now trader.” She furrows her brows and keys pop into existence as she moves to the cage door to unlock it. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you sir.” I ignore her a step into the cage. The rabbit mink notices me coming in and lifts her head from her knees.

I stop in my tracks and stare into her eyes in disbelief. Ever since I had been reborn, I had not seen anyone with eyes like mine or Tiamat’s. Our irises had two colors that seem to swirl around each other. Tiamat’s were ruby red and sapphire blue where mine were crimson red and midnight purple. Now for the first time aside from Mother and me I see this rabbit mink person has similar eyes that swirled with two different colors. Her irises swirled with colors of cyan and a dark pink. “Stunning.” I mutter to no one though the rabbit mink seemed to have heard as her long left ear twitched. I move closer and sit cross legged in front of her. I could tell that she was malnourished and seemed to have been through quite a lot of trauma and mistreatment. Still staring in her eyes, I say to Francine, “Leave us. I will not harm her, but I want some privacy to speak to her. Consider her sold trader.” Francine was about to speak but I left my view of the mink’s beautiful eyes and released some of my aura towards Francine while looking at her. She squeaked a little when she felt my power and just nodded and walked further down the corridor made by the other cages.

I turn back to the mink who was staring at with both fear and curiosity. “Silent Room.” I whisper casting a dark element spell similar to the magic item that Jon the Guild Head used when I told them about Noah’s team’s betrayal. “Now we can talk without being heard. I am going to ask some questions so please answer to the best of your ability.” Before she could reply with a simple nod I ask, “Can you understand what I am saying?” I give her time to answer, and she nods. “Are you from the Kingdom of Akan?” She shakes her head. “So, she is considered a criminal from a different country, and she can understand what I am saying. Does that mean that there is one language or just this continent or this area? More to investigate later.” Noting the information just from the two questions I continue. “What is your name?” She tries to speak but only coughs and croaks unintelligible sounds. “Hmm…are you sick?” She winces as she tries to shrug her shoulders. “Well, that answers my question.” Since she can’t speak right now, I decide to just ask ‘yes or no’ questions. “Were you considered a criminal in your country?” She shrugs her shoulders again wincing as she does with pain and sorrow on her face. “Do you have experience in fighting monsters?” She nods. “Do you want to remain a slave?” At this question she just stares at me confused. “If I were to buy your slave contract, do you think you could be loyal to me?” She looks at me in the eye and slowly shrugs her shoulders. “Good she is honest. And she seems to be acting cautiously due to her situation. I’ll learn more when she heals…Wait am I really doing this? No…Ladon enough with the indecision about this. This is different. Something brought you to this woman. That must mean something. Maybe…Maybe just maybe…” I smile at her with as kind a smile as I could to ease any worries from her and say, “Would you like to come with me?” I stand up and hold my hand out. “If you do, we will see the world together and conquer anything that gets in our way.”

She stares at me as if I was crazy to which I just chuckle at. “I promise you this, if you watch my back, I’ll watch yours. If you have enemies, then they will be mine and the same goes for my enemies are yours.” She seems to hesitate, but I could see hope and longing being born in her hopeless eyes. I give her a one more little push and say, “Or you could stay here and end up in some mine or worse.” Finally, I see determination in her eyes, and she shakily takes my hand. I pull her up and notice how light she is. The sack covering her was dirty, so I bring out a cloak from my earring and cover her. “Come hold my hand and let’s get you out of here. You do not belong here.” I undo my spell and walk out of the cage holding her hand. I see Francine in the distance with a couple guards on each side of her.

Once I am close enough, I ask, “How much for her?” She looks at me with a rather annoyed look and says, “For you one gold coin.” I knew that she was over charging me because how I acted but I didn’t care. Something had come over me and it took all I had just to keep from ripping the cage doors off its hinges and taking this woman out here by force. It was like a compulsion much stronger than the feeling I had in the dungeon. I retrieve a gold coin and pass it to her. She seemed flabbergasted that I actually had the coin and just sighed. “Haa…come with me we will transfer the owner ship.” We go back to her office with the rabbit mink woman still holding onto my hand. When inside she performed the magic needed to transfer ownership, which consisted mixing mine and the rabbit mink’s blood with a few incantations chanted from Francine. “So, slavery magic is blood magic.” I thought back to the lessons with Odin who only touched on the subject a little.

We finished and I was now outside the Easy Flower’s gate with the rabbit mink by my side hidden with my cloak. I think to myself about what to do next since it was only about noon. “I don’t think I’ll be going to the church today. I need to take care of her first. I need to make sure she recovers…wait…why do I care so much about her? We just met and I just…” I feel a squeeze on my hand from the rabbit mink who wouldn’t let go since coming out of the cage. I look at her and could only see her eyes from underneath the hood of the cloak. “Let’s go back to where I am staying. I’m sure you are hungry.” We start walking back towards the Drunken Elephant and I soon notice that she could barely walk. I let go of her hand and bend down in front of her. “Here I’ll carry you so hop on.” She hesitates to get on my back to which I look behind me and say, “I promise I won’t do anything unbecoming of a gentleman. I know you are hurting and weak right now so just get on my back so we can get some food I’m hungry.” With that she shakily gets onto my back, and I grab her furred malnourished thighs as she wraps her furred arms around my neck. My hearts pangs at the condition of my new partner and start thinking of how I am going to get her back to full health.

I walk carefully as I return to the inn. I soon hear rhythmic breathing on my neck signaling she was asleep. When I reach the inn, I go inside and look for Cliff where I him see at the bar as usual. “Hey Cliff, can I have some soup and bread sent up to my room?” He looks at me then at the woman on my back who was still asleep. “Did you buy a slave?” I nod and looks at the woman again and then with a confused look back at me. “Why a criminal slave?” “I have my reasons, Cliff.” I say shortly trying to start my care of the woman soon. “Okay if you say so, give a few moments to get it ready I’ll have Helen bring it up.” I nod and head to the room.

Inside I carefully lay the rabbit mink on the bed and tuck her in. “What happened to you for you to end up like this.” I say in my head as I sit down in the chair at the desk. After a few minutes I hear a soft knock on the door. I open it to see Helen with a tray of soup, bread, and water. I take and say in a low voice, “Thank you, Helen.” She smiles and nods before asking if she could come inside. I raise an eyebrow but nod and step aside to let her in while I close the door slowly with my foot. I set the tray down on the desk and sit back down again. “So, this is the slave you bought?” She asks as she looks at the figure on my bed. “Yes, I wasn’t going to buy one today. As a matter of fact, the idea of owning someone did not sit well with me so I didn’t really want a slave but when I reached the Easy Flower, I felt something pulling me towards the inside like when I was in the dungeon.” Helen leans against the desk and says, “Really? You didn’t tell us about that last night.” I look at her and smirk, “Well if I am considered your brother then it is only natural to give my sister a little more detail about my dungeon dive.” Helen smiles brightly and blushes. “I do not really believe in the threads of fate or destiny, but I know that she will be of importance in my life just as much as the feeling that pulled me in the dungeon led me to escaping that hell.” She looks at me with worried eyes and says, “Could it be something to do with the gods? There are stories and legends that the gods can lead people to each other.” I shake my head and say, “No I do not think that it is the gods. My mo…someone who I trust told me it may have something to do with my race.” “Really? Aren’t you human though?”

Her question made me chuckle a bit and then answered, “No, Helen I am not human.” She looks at me with anticipation waiting for me to tell her. “Helen I’m sorry but it may be safer not to tell you right now. I do not want trouble to befall you if I were to tell you.” She pouts and then smiles warmly. “Aww…well when you think you can trust me enough, I’ll be waiting.” I feel bad about not telling her but it’s still hard for me to put faith in anyone. I muttered in a low voice, “Thank you.” She nods and starts to head for the door then I think of something. “Helen, I have a favor to ask, and I can pay.” Intrigued she looks around at me. I point at the rabbit mink woman and say, “I need someone to give her a bath when she wakes up and to nurse her while I am away for jobs at least until she is well enough to come with me. She is malnourished and seems to be sick, so I need to find some medicine. Would you mind looking after her when I am not here?” “You truly are weird sometimes Ladon. If she is important to you and will help keep you from following any more shady adventurers into dungeons, then I would be happy too. Just leave the key with Cliff.” I get up and hug her saying, “Thanks sis. I’ll pay you five bronze a day when you watch over her. Tonight, I’d like her to have a bath.” She giggles and says, “That’s too much coin Ladon. Give me one bronze coin a day and we’ll call it even.”

I let go and say, “Okay sounds good, thank you again.” She nods and leaves the room while I sit at the desk. I look at the rabbit mink girl and admire her face that was uncovered from the hood. Her fur is cyan blue and covers her cute face with white fur starting at her neck. Her long fluffy ears lay on the pillow twitching every now and then. Her nose and mouth are that of a rabbits but with a more human like appearance. Her eyes are shaped like almonds and closed tightly likely to having a bad dream. She has hair atop her head like a human’s and was the color of dark pink. “What could she have done to become a slave?” I wonder as I sit in the chair leaning back and feel my eyes grow heavy and soon, I find myself in an ever occurring  nightmare like most nights before and after coming to this world.