Captured by the Beast [SS#2]

Chapter 25

"Sister?" I questioned as she nodded before glancing over at the girl from earlier. "Great. And the other two guys?"

"Dralnith’s followers. We'll be fine, just keep on your toes and believe in yourself." She whispered just as the warriors began to split off. "That's our cue to link up with our groups." She informed me while guiding the way. As we caught up to Vutur and the others, I could see Mizail looking my way with this worried look on his face. I quickly gave him a reassuring smile and a wave before turning and following my group. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. I told myself, willing to give Vutur some benefit that he'll like me when he sees I can pull my own weight.

[~~~]

The number of times I've eaten my own words in the past few weeks is insane. Vutur and Dralnith made it their mission to keep me by myself when we were out hunting. Had it not been for my acting, they'd have probably restrained Adai from staying by my side.

I grumbled quietly to myself while stuffing my face with some type of meat bars that Mizail cooked and made for me before I left his house. Surprisingly, they weren't as bad as they sounded. With Mizail cooking the meat thoroughly, they were pretty tender. In fact, I had plenty to last me for a while since I needed all of the energy I could get if I was going to hunt down something big. Without a proper familiar or entity, there wasn't any reserved power for me to use and I wouldn't be able to replenish my energy as fast as I would with one. "Fuck." I cussed under my breath as Vutur approached us. By now, one of the suns had risen high in the sky as I had to pull my scarf over my head to protect myself.

"Gorging yourself, I see. You're holding us back. If you're not going to assist us, then you can starve tonight." He growled, flaring his dark gray wings at me as I continued to chew my food, mentally thinking of the contradictions in his words. He acted like I wasn't prepared to be starved. I've been through worst shit than some old dragon with a stick up his ass. "My fledgling doesn't need a flimsy human who can't even protect themselves let alone hunt. What exactly are you bringing to present to my son? What's so different about you that he finds…need in keeping you?" He asked, a watchful eye studying me as I swallowed down what food I was chewing before drinking some water. If I kept eating with him around, I'd get indigestion. I'm not going to talk about how he made it sound like his son was keeping me around like a pet.

"I don't know. Maybe he's keeping me around to warm his bed and fuck me when he's bored." I shrugged as Vutur looked baffled while Adai hid her smile. "If you're worried about me, I'll be fine." I smiled up at him as his baffled expression turned into shock. "Eat all you want. I'll be fine on my meat bars." I added while patting the large brown bag I had made in a hurry a few days ago which I had sitting in the sand next to me. Standing and stretching, I eased past him while letting the flames freely twirl around my body. Shaking out the tension, I waited for Adai as she hurried alongside me, quietly laughing.

"That was a good one. Now, what shall we hunt for tonight's meal?" She asked while scanning the desolate desert as I kicked around the sand beneath my feet. I could feel the heat radiating from multiple creatures hiding beneath us as my flames grew.

"You mean, how many should we bring up? There's a lot beneath us." I hummed while leaning over towards her as she nodded, a mixture of shock and admiration crossing her face.

"You can tell?"

"Yeah, my powers involve fire and heat. It didn't take me long to realize that the inhabitants were cold blooded but some of the creatures under the sand were warm blooded. Like that giant worm thingy that tried to eat us gave off a ton of heat." I explained while shaking my head at that thought. "Anyway, shall I bring our prey to the surface or what?" I questioned as she smiled at me.

"Absolutely." She quickly agreed before flying up into the air as I swirled my shoes around in the sand almost like I were dancing, unleashing heat against the surface. For a second, everything was quiet before the ground began to rumble and shake. I could now sense five heat signatures growing closer to me. Quickly pushing myself off the sand with the quick spell for my usual cloud, I joined Adai in the sky. "How many did you pull?" She questioned, softly flapping her wings as I finally noticed her attire. Instead of the usual leather dress her people sported, she was wearing dark shorts with a loose dark shirt.

"Five. What are you wearing?" I questioned as she opened her mouth to answer me but was interrupted by loud screeching. Long pale pink tentacles ascended from the sand followed by the head of some weird looking creature. Instead of what I thought would've been an octopus, the pale head of a butterfly with plenty of sharp teeth replaced it. I was staring at a butterfly that had tentacles instead of wings and teeth like a shark. Never thought I'd see or say that. "That's nightmare fuel. What the hell is that?"

"That's a Santer. Their meat is good to eat but they're tricky to kill because of the many arms." She answered as we watched from above as three more like it pulled themselves from the sand. They were all wrinkly and pink. It was both nightmare inducing and disturbing. "This will be a task dealing with four of them by ourselves. I forgot to mention that they're also carnivores and love the heat." She added as I quickly looked around frantically. Four? Where's the fifth heat signature I picked up on?

"Adai, we're missing o—" Before I could even finish my sentence, something flew past us while barely missing. Quickly turning my head, my heart dropped as I noticed the familiar looking creature but it was just as big as the Santers who looked to be as tall as a two story house. "Is that a Louzit?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm as the large creature withdrew its head back to the rest of its body.

"Kind of. That's the mother of a Louzit. It's called a Gourit. There's usually only three of them per season that grow this big. They're edible though." She informed me as I looked at her oddly. How was she thinking about eating these creatures in a time like this? "Trust me, they're good. But, we'll have to kill it first. I'll handle two of the Santers and the Gourit by myself if you handle the other two." She suggested as I nodded, watching as she began to morph. "Whatever you do, keep them separated." Her voice called as she stretched into this large coral dragon who seemed just as big as the creatures we were up against.

This will be fun. I thought as I caught sight of the rest of our group a little away from us. They made no move to help us as I smiled and waved to them. I definitely needed this release.