“Where are we?”

This was probably the hundredth time Felicia had asked Fayde that and just like the last few dozen times, he ignored her. It wasn’t that he was particularly angry with her but her constant questioning was frustrating him. Especially since he had no idea where they were.

Felicia and Fayde continued to wander through a dark and twisted jungle, or forest, he couldn’t tell which it was. The place had a strange atmosphere and was sometimes filled with endless trees and other times more like a savannah.

The strangest part of it all, is that it seemed to be perpetual night. A day must have passed according to Fayde’s estimation but it remained as dark as when they first arrived. Fayde found it difficult to see in this type of darkness but it wasn’t much of an issue for Felicia who had a catlike glow emanating from her eyes.

He at least had to admit that without her, he would be in a lot of trouble and for that he should be grateful so he didn’t get too angry at her.

“I know you are somewhat afraid…”

“I’m not afraid!” Interrupted Felicia with a low growl.

“Then why are you clutching my arm so tight that it feels like talons sinking in to my arm?” Fayde asked with an awkward smile.

“Hmph! I’m just making sure that you don’t get lost in the dark!”

‘Right… it's not because you are scared of the dark at all. What kind of cat is afraid of the dark?’ He didn’t voice those thoughts but he was laughing inwardly at her stubbornness.

“Can you at least lighten your grip a bit? You know my powers haven’t fully returned yet…”

“Sorry.” Replied Felicia, her eyes downcast.

“Don’t worry about it. This place is unnerving to me too. What’s even more troublesome is the fact that there are no living animals here other than whatever it was that attacked us earlier. How do those things even survive in this place? At least there is water..”

Felicia nodded her head in agreement and continued to observe the surroundings. Even though she was in fact somewhat afraid she felt comfortable holding Fayde’s arm and didn’t want to let go but she did lighten her grasp a bit.

“Have you seen anything yet? I’m concerned we may get attacked again.”

“Nothing yet, just more of the same. I see trees and more trees and some rocks. Lots of grass, flowers and some other vegetation. No animals or any other signs of life.”

“I see. Wait… I feel something.”

Fayde suddenly became more alert. Even though he couldn’t use his full powers or see in the dark, his connection to the Void still allowed him to sense certain things. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was that was allowing him to sense this strange presence but he knew it had something to do with the Void.

“What is it Fayde?”

“Hold on. Four, no Five.. wait there’s a whole lot of something coming towards us fast! Get ready to fight!”

Felicia begrudgingly let go of Fayde’s arm and readied her warhammer while Fayde unsheathed his sword. Fayde kept his eyes closed for now since it was difficult for him to see at a distance anyway. The power of the Void inherent in his body would be much more useful than his eyes at this junction. Felicia stood protectively in front of Fayde and a powerful aura surrounded her body filled with killing intent.

She wasn’t about to let anything happen to her future husband who she greatly admired even if at this moment he was relatively weak compared to her.

“You should be able to see them soon.. I can feel them coming closer.”

“I see them now! There are at least a dozen… animals? They look like animals, wait is that a bear? There are some other animals that look like large sleek cats but I don’t know what they are… This is very strange, why would these different types of animals be charging towards us together like that?”

Felicia was quite perplexed by their behavior since normally animals didn’t act like that.

“They look a little larger than expected though…”

“Whatever they are, they are definitely coming straight for us!”

By this point, Fayde could hear the animalistic roars coming from the animals charging towards them. There was no way he could outrun them without his power and being as exhausted as he was so he prepared to fight them with all he could muster.

“Felicia, if anything happens to me… you must escape.”

“What are you saying Fayde!? I would never run away and leave you to die!”

“But Felicia..”

“NO! Don’t even say it, I am not going to listen to you!”

“Ugh.. Fine.”

Fayde could see there was no way he was going to convince her of his words.

‘Well, at least she has guts. I have to give her that.’

He definitely felt some respect for her bravery and courage and truly she had already saved his life once.

‘I know I probably shouldn’t be thinking this but I feel kind of pathetic. Why am I always being saved by the women around me?’

Fayde shook his head while ridiculing himself in his mind. However, the animals swiftly approaching didn’t give him much time to reflect. They charged over with incredible speed and quickly surrounded the two who were now standing back to back with their weapons at the ready.

To Fayde’s surprise though, the animals only surrounded them and gave low growls while remaining at a distance.

“What are they doing Fayde?”

“I don’t know. I can make them out somewhat but their features are not very distinct. I think I see a bear and.. Is that a jaguar? Some other large feline like animals too..”

The largest of the bears who was simply enormous stepped forward slowly. The bear was a black bear which if it stood on its hind feet would easily reach twelve feet in height. It sauntered forward in an aggressive manner but moved slowly and eventually stopped a few yards away from the two.

Felicia and Fayde were both nervous but didn’t make any sudden moves. They weren’t sure how they would be attacked and didn’t want to make a mistake. The best they could hope for was to break away from the encirclement at some point although they doubted they would be able to escape this time. They were just too tired from the constant running which seemed to go nowhere.

They weren’t even sure if they hadn’t been going in circles or not. That could very well be why they were now surrounded by these beasts.

The enormous black bear stood up on its hind legs and roared loudly towards the sky before landing back on all four of its paws with a loud bang. Fayde was having difficulty making the bear out in the dark but Felicia could see it clearly and was describing it to Fayde as best she could. Even though Fayde couldn’t see the bear, he could sense its aura and its location through the power of the Void.

“Surrender, the both of you.” The bear suddenly spoke shocking Fayde and Felicia.

“What the hell!? The bear can speak!?” They both practically jumped out of their skins.

“Hmph, ignorant Human. We have you surrounded. If you surrender now I promise no harm will come to you. I am Branz and I serve the great general Al-Kaldun the mighty. Will you come peacefully or must we make you submit with violence?”

Much to Fayde’s surprise, the bear was quite well spoken and in a way he could sense an almost prestige to his mannerism despite being an overly large bear.

“Uh.. We surrender?” Fayde said with some uncertainty.

Felicia looked at him curiously, “Fayde, what are you saying?”

“Felicia, they have us surrounded and we don’t even know where we are or if we are lost or not. Even if we somehow escape from them, we won’t last long without food. And… the bear seems sort of trustworthy I guess..”

Felicia cocked her head and looked at Fayde askance.

“Fayde, it’s a bear and a bunch of animals.”

“Tch, says the half tiger…” Fayde mumbled under his breath.

“What was that!?”

“Nothing.”

“Enough!” Roared the bear, “What is your decision?”

“Alright, we’re coming along! We surrender. Do we have to give up our weapons or something?”

“You may keep your weapons. You wouldn’t be able to defeat us regardless, not with me here.” Replied Branz with extreme confidence. He didn’t even put the two in his eyes.

This angered Felicia and she was about to say something but Fayde covered her mouth. Felicia bit Fayde’s hand which caused him to yell out in pain.

“Dammit, control yourself!” Shouted Fayde.

The animals watched the two with a look of disdain and a bit of schadenfreude.

“Hmph! That’s what you get..”

“Whatever happened to respecting your Great Khan?” Hissed Fayde in a whisper so that only Felicia would hear him.

Felicia ignored him and placed her warhammer back on her back and moved towards the bear.

“Now she’s ignoring me.. How our fates have reversed eh..” Fayde mused.

“Come along the both of you. Our general is waiting for your arrival but his patience is not endless.”

The bear turned and moved at a relatively quick pace back from where he came. The others animals followed but continued to surround Fayde and Felicia as if they were worried they would try to escape again.

“It’s not like we’re going to run…”

“They don’t trust us, nothing to be surprised with there.”

The two continued to whisper between themselves while being led at a brisk pace for a while before they grew tired and needed rest. The trip went on like this for a while until they made their way deep into an area of the forest they had yet to see.

“I see a cave.” Felicia said once they were in sight of a massive cave cut out of an even more enormous mountain.

“I’m not sure if I like the looks of this.. A cave out in the middle of nowhere and it looks like that is where we are heading.”

Felicia grabbed Fayde’s hand and pulled closer to him, “What do you think they plan to do with us?”

‘This girl… so fearless on the battlefield no matter the enemy but scared so easily now.’

Fayde reached over and patted her head, “Relax.”

“Alright enough chattering, the two of you go inside. The general is within!” Branz stomped his paw on the ground causing it to shake slightly and grumpily urged the two on.

“Are you sure this is okay Branz?” Asked another one of the strange animals.

“General’s orders.” Replied Branz in a gruff voice.

As Fayde and Felicia approached the dark cavern before them, Fayde could feel Felicia squirming slightly against him.

“I’m a little scared now Fayde..”

Fayde rolled his eyes, “So you admit it?”

“What if there are ghosts in there!?”

Fayde smacked his palm against his face and sighed, “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Ghosts are real!” She said while glaring at Fayde.

He could clearly make out the sharpness in her eyes because of the glow around them.

“Alright, alright. Let’s just go in.”

Fayde pulled Felicia along as he walked forward under the stern eyes of the strange animals who remained outside the cave. They watched him enter with indiscernible gazes but Fayde got the impression that they didn’t like him much.

‘They don’t seem to be staring at Felicia like that.’

It was especially creepy because he could only vaguely make out their forms but their eyes were eerily visible in the darkness.

Once the two had walked for a short time within the cave, the cave began to open up even more. It had turned into a huge cavern of unknown size but it was so immense that even Felicia couldn’t see the end of it.

The cavern itself was well lit from a fiery glow that was spread everywhere throughout the cavern. It was warm and uncomfortable for the two and they quickly began to sweat. It felt almost as if they were walking into a volcano although Fayde had never actually been in one to compare. Sharp and barbed stalactites drooped down from the ceiling in odd places reminiscent of the jagged maw of a ferocious beast.

There at the cavern’s center lay a monstrous beast of black scales emitting a wild and awe inspiring aura of power. Horns which curled towards the end protruded from its large head and immense wings stemming from its back were practically wrapped against its sides.

The cave rumbled as the beast moved its large body and its head rose lazily as two enormous glowing red eyes fixed their gaze upon the two.

Fayde gasped, “A black dragon!?”