There was a knock on the door, which came at precisely the same moment when a massive knife hit the cutting board, splitting a large chunk of meat in two.

"May I come in?" Ruun's voice came from the other side.

"Oh! Master Ruun! Sure, sure, come in!" the dragon inside replied and quickly went to wash his hands. "Oh... Master, are you sure you should be walking around?" he said when he saw the tattered shell of a once-great demon enter his kitchen. A soft clapping could be heard as Ruun moved towards the closest chair with the help of his crutch. The metal braces around his legs squeaked faintly as he sat down.

"There is no point in me resting anymore, Vainam. I know my body far too well. It won't heal any further."

The dragon chef sat down on the other side of the dining table. "It would heal further if you'd eat the rest of the prisoners."

"Not a chance. I'd rather die."

"Why? Why do they mean so much to you?" he said, his voice raising slightly.

"I've killed enough. It is a bit different for me, you know? I can see what lives these people had before we took them. I can physically see what I am taking away. Out of my respect for you, I have agreed to eat the rest of the stew you've made, so please, in return, respect my decision as well."

"Our decision was to save you. Your decision is to stay crippled."

"That is alright. I've lived for long enough, and after the end of our plan, I will not live for much longer. If frail legs, failing organs, and one arm are supposed to be my punishment, then I will gladly accept."

"Why have you come here? I thought you wanted to ask me for more food at first, but now I think you want something else entirely."

"Yes. Well, you've probably already heard that we found a place where to carry out the rest of our plan, right?"

"Yeah, I did. It's some small dwarven town, right? One where they still have a tunnel leading all the way to the impenetrable metal?"

"Sort of. It doesn't lead all the way down. They thought the metal was holy, so they sealed the tunnel to protect it. After we take the town over, we will still have to do some digging."

"That sounds complicated, honestly. Not to mention quite lengthy. Are you sure the hunter won't come knocking at our door?"

"I do not doubt it. Even now, I can still feel my heart racing when I think back about him. He will surely come, and our death will not be far behind. Even if we succeed, he will try to kill us all."

The blue dragon remained silent for a while, thinking about the implications of such a statement. "I see," he eventually said, not sure what else there was to add to the conversation.

"The reason I came, Vainam, is to offer you a way out."

"What? What do you mean? You want me to leave?"

"Yes. I will not lie, I still need someone to stay with me and fight. Someone who would guard the entrance and stall the hunter should he come sooner than anticipated." Ruun leaned a bit closer to his companion. "But a chef is not someone I would necessarily need on the front lines. If you leave, you might still be able to find yourself a home and a new life."

The dragon scoffed. "A new home? A new life? How? They will just capture me again and then it's straight to the gallows. Besides, there is not a single dragon hive out there that would accept someone who used to eat people."

"Maybe not. Then you can perhaps start your own hive. You have already suffered enough. You deserve a brighter future than what I can give you."

"Master, please, we both know that's a lie. You have given me a place where I was welcome. You asked me to cook for you despite my past. You were strict with your rules, yet benevolent. And most importantly, you gave me freedom. I will gladly return the favour."

"But you are not a fighter. Against someone like Glavas–"

"I am still a dragon. I will not go down in a single blow and I am SO eager to let my anger out on the hunter for injuring you like that. So out there on the fronts, I will certainly be able to buy you some time."

Ruun sighed. "You know that these injuries weren't caused by him."

"But happened thanks to him. So I will still gladly punch him in that disgustingly pale face."

"Vainam..."

"You can't change my mind, master. I have already decided to follow you. Till death does us part. Or whatever it is the humans say."

Ruun smiled. "Thank you, Vainam. I will be sure your name is mentioned in the holy text. Generations upon generations of demons will know of your sacrifice."

"Eh, that's not that important. Put in the others first. I just want this whole plan to work." He stood up and walked over to the boiling cauldron sitting in the fireplace. "Would you like some stew? It's just about right."

"I hope there are no people mixed in there."

"Ha! No, of course not. It's a mushroom one. You asked me to make something even the girl could eat."

"Yes, thank you. I will gladly have a bowl. But first, I should bring one to Alma. She must be way hungrier than I am."

The chieftain of skinscale nervously adjusted the black, ceremonial tunic. Even though the custom said that a great tragedy should be mourned by wearing the appropriate attire, he would be willing to do almost anything to be able to take it off and slip into something more comfortable. He stood there, staring at the poor elf in a wheelchair for a couple of minutes before he finally decided to approach him.

"The decorations look quite nice, don't you–"

"What do you want?" Glavas interrupted him before he could even break the ice.

"Oh! Umm... Well, I thought I would just ask how you are doing."

Glavas did not respond. To him, such a statement seemed incredibly stupid. How could have he been doing? He was living through the worst time of his life.

"And... well, I also wanted to thank you for saving my children. They are both fine. Even though they still have nightmares about the whole situation."

"My son used to have nightmares for years," Glavas's words flowed like poisoned honey dripping down into the dragon's ears.

"Right... But, umm... well..."

"You do not deserve them," he said.

"I'm sorry?" the dragon had trouble understanding what he just heard.

"You don't deserve your kids. You couldn't protect them."

"That's not fair."

Glavas turned his wheelchair towards him. "Isn't it? If you protected yours, I could've protected mine. Why did I help your own while mine got taken away?"

"Glavas, truly, I am grateful, but what happened to Alma and Surdi–"

"Don't say their names. Never again. I will not warn you twice."

"Alright, but–"

"You made a trap for me. Set me up just so you can save your family."

"I never–"

"Shush. You know, some time ago, certain people were trying to force me to sacrifice my children too." He paused for a while, looking into the nervously-blinking eyes of the chieftain. "I burned those people and their city to the ground. And I don't mean that as some sort of a metaphor. Rotler no longer exists. I wiped them out."

"But... the people of Skinscale... You wouldn't–"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. You will help me get back up on my feet. Then the two of us are done. Because of your cowardice and incompetence, my family was taken. If I ever see your face again, I will make sure history won't remember even a word about Skinscale. Understood?"

The dragon quickly turned around, hiding his face from the hunter. "U-Understood," he said. There was much more he wished to tell Glavas, but the fear that the hunter would take revenge against him and his people was simply too great. He thought that perhaps at least for now, Glavas would best be left alone.

Ruun opened the door to a small room situated on the top floor of their makeshift base. Hanging from his mouth was a small container tied by a string. He himself had to admit that living with only one arm after previously having four, albeit for only a short time, was quite difficult to get used to. Especially so if he needed that one arm to hold a crutch, which allowed him to walk around the ruined castle with at least some remote stability. He closed the door behind himself and set the container down on the table. Then, his attention turned to the young girl sitting on the other side of the room, with her eyes blank and fixated on the wall in front of her.

"Open the container and eat. If you feel too full, stop," he commanded and Alma moved to the table like a lifeless husk. Her steps were sharp and unnatural, and her almost-unblinking gaze was terrifying, especially given the unnatural whiteness of her eyes.

Ruun sat down opposite her and let out a sigh of relief as his legs could finally get some more rest. He only walked up two flights of stairs and down a corridor, and already he felt like he had been hiking all day long.

"Quite a sad sight I am, don't you think?" he spoke, knowing far too well that the girl would not respond. "I really don't know what to do anymore. When I was younger, I thought that ends would justify all means. That sacrifices and death were necessary to bring change into this world. And don't get me wrong, I still think so. It's just that... I never thought how hard it would be to sacrifice my own people. I mean, don't you think that your father is a bit overprotective? I get it, I get it, I robbed you of everything you had, you're right. And yeah, you do have a point, maybe I am a monster. But... I would be willing to pay almost everything I have. My life, my soul, my well-being. But not them. They are my friends. Sure, we killed people together and they are all wanted criminals, but have you ever thought about the possibility that even criminals can be great people if given a chance? Vainam stopped eating people. Marion cut his ties with the dwarven underground. Miora never stabbed anyone I wouldn't order her to. Or take Millie, for example. She was always so kind! She wanted to use necromancy on a large scale. Imagine that you lived in a kingdom where the dead would come to you themselves to share final words with you. Wouldn't that be amazing? Nobody would ever die an unexpected death. But... I guess the people didn't like that. Thirty years of imprisonment, not to mention the hunters that took everything from her. That just wasn't fair." He took a deep breath. "But now I'm supposed to send them to their deaths just because your father wouldn't see reason. I told them to leave, but they all refuse. And I know that I need someone to at least stall Glavas. I don't know what to do. The worst part is, this is all my fault. Glavas is out there, possibly steaming with anger. He will not give me a second to reason with him the next time we meet. There is no going back now. I have a target on my back and it is not going away until I die." He leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. "I miss the days when we would gather around the table and play cards. When we drank together and sang like there would be no tomorrow. When we travelled and set up camps under the stars. It was all so easier back then. My goal seemed so far. But now you're here. And along with you, my success is drawing nearer. My death with come with it. I just... I don't know. I wish I had lived a bit more." Alma finished her meal and sat there, staring at the demon. "Ah, done already? Okay, then lie down in your bed and go to sleep, it's getting late. I will go wake you up in the morning." She listened and without a sign of protest, she settled down on her bed and closed her eyes.

For a moment, Ruun watched as she lay there before he finally persuaded himself to get up. He walked over to her side and pulled the white duvet over her since he forgot to give her the order to do it herself. Another sigh escaped his mouth. "Glavas... Who would've thought I'd finally find understanding for your stubbornness."