The Lizard King

Part 6: Ruined

"Trevor?" Kayla asked, trying to keep up with the creature.

"Nope." The creature said as he moved brush aside so they could move.

"What about Alastor? Was that your name?"

"I don't think so," he said, "the thing I remember most about my name is that it was...unique. Unlikely to be a human name."

"I'm confused then, would I even know it?" Kayla asked again.

"Depends. Have you ever met anything like me before?" Kayla was silent because, of course, she hadn't. They had been walking in the woods for almost half a day and she was getting tired. Her foot was really starting to ache. What did I tell ya about staying off your feet ya dingbat? she could hear Marlana saying in her head.

"What were you doing out so late last night anyway?" The creature asked as he walked.

"I was just trying to get home. I had a bad morning that day and had to see my healer. What does it matter anyway? Why'd you attack me?" Kayla asked.

The creature looked down from under his hood, his amber eyes meeting Kayla's for a moment. "I thought you were food."

Kayla stopped in her tracks. She was shocked anyone would eat a person. She never really even thought about it.

"Yes I know," the creature said, "but it was so dark last night that even my eyes couldn't distinguish until I was close enough to see your face. Once I realized my mistake I brought you to my home to tend to your wounds. I wasn't counting on you waking up so quickly."

"You wanted to stay secret?" The creature nodded. "Why?"

He looked ahead as he walked. "Humans fear what they don't understand. I do my best to avoid them so they don't make the mistake of taking action."

Kayla looked down. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Anyone who doesn't fit the norm is cast out, forgotten, or worse. She's known too many people who've made the mistake of a different lifestyle and didn't make it out in time.

It was just as she was thinking this that the creature pulled back a tree limb and the main road was exposed. Kayla quickly looked around and realized she didn't know what stretch she was on.

"Don't worry, I know which way for you to go." The creature pointed down one way of the road. "Back that way is where your house is. Further down you'll find the village."

Kayla looked up at the great beast, into his warm amber eyes. "Thank you."

"No thanks necessary." He said. "I apologize again for my mistakes. Forgive me."

"You're okay." Kayla looked again at the scales on his hand. They glistened with some metallic sheen in the sunlight. She grabbed onto his hand and shook it slowly. She let go and the creature turned away.

"Will I see you again?" She asked.

The creature's head turned slightly back. "Only if you know where to look." With that, he disappeared back into the forest. Kayla didn't know what compelled her to stay there for as long as she did, just staring at the trees, but she finally snapped out of it when she realized how hungry she was.

As she walked down the road, something about that creature kept rattling around in her head. Those weren't the eyes of a monster she was looking into. They actually seemed rather sad. Whatever he had been through in the past, it was beyond traumatic for him.

As she got to her house she quickly realized that it was completely destroyed. The creature must have crashed into it accidentally while he was chasing her. Kayla shoved herself under the collapsed roof and straightened the support to keep it from falling in again. The wall would need to be fixed too and the door needed replacing seeing as it was nonexistent now. The only ways to fix it all required money that she doesn't have. I guess apologies only go so far, she said to herself.

She at least hoped the rabbit she got the other day would be edible still. Kayla reached under her bed and began feeling around for the sack she stored it in. Nothing. She looked around and found the brown sack torn apart. Something got to it in the time she was gone. Another quick look revealed a nearly clean rabbit carcass. Wolves probably.

Kayla's feelings sank and she slumped to the ground. No food, no house, almost no money. All because of some stupid lizard. Why did she feel bad for him? Ever since they met it's been Hell for her. A lost meal, a dislocated ankle, mockery, and now homelessness. She didn't know why she even considered forgiving him.

The best she could do was get up and head into town. The little money she had left was going to be spent on food. That was all she could buy. The walk took the usual time. The day almost seemed darker now, even though the sun was still high in the sky. The only thing giving her solace now was the idea of some semblance of food.

Kayla made a beeline for the pub and stepped through the doors. As she made her way to the bar she got some strange feeling like she was being watched. Looking up, she saw that everybody was staring at her. A lot. Looking back at them, it wasn't disgust or lust she saw in their eyes like usual: they all looked as if they had seen a ghost.

"Kayla!" Brenner yelled. Before Kayla had turned around he'd already got out from behind the bar and hugged her tight. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kayla asked, her voice muffled because her face was held pressed the Brenner's chest.

Brenner let her go and have her a chance to breathe before he started talking. "Marlana rode out to your house yesterday and saw that it was destroyed. No sign of you anywhere. We thought that brigands had got to your house and took you away but here ya are! Come on, let's get you a drink and meal on the house!"

As Brenner guided Kayla to a stool, her head was instantly flooded with one thought: Marlana went to see her? Marlana never went to see anyone except Brenner for her usual seven pints a day. Marlana's been acting weird ever since Kayla pulled that scale from her pocket. First she stormed off all fearful. And the next day she goes to see Kayla. Could it be that she was concerned for her? That's when it hit her: she knew something.

Kayla scarfed her breakfast down as quick as she could and then made a mad dash for Marlana's. Her ankle was still in some pain but that didn't stop her for a second. She needed to know exactly what Marlana knew.

She threw the door to Marlana's open, much to the surprise of an old bat who thought she'd seen it all. Marlana ran over to Kayla-she'd never seen her run before-and hugged her. It was an interesting experience. No one had ever seen Marlana be nice before, let alone hug a person.

The old woman let go almost immediately, rushed to the door, and slammed it shut. She then turned to Kayla slowly and said, "Now...let's discuss that lizard you met in the woods."