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Chapter 42

Stone has whipped out his swords before my heart can beat again, and he pushes in front of me, sticking the flickering torch in a small rocky outcropping. I start to say something about the bow, but then I remember there's only one arrow. Eyeing the thick scales covering the sickly pale creature, I doubt it would have pierced the heavy armor anyways.
A fresh breeze whirls through the cave from behind us- Up the trail. I brace myself back against the wall of the cave, feeling helpless, but there's nothing I can do. Do cave dragons even have pressure points?
Stone's shaggy black hair whips over his face, jet wolf ears flat against his skull. He looks so small though, holding his twin blades, staring up at the king of the Beasts that slowly lowers itself down from high above.
It must be wider high up- The Beast can barely squeeze part of it's chest and one front leg down through the narrow crevice- Which is lucky. But it's neck stretches so far, it will be able to gulp us down without so much as twitching it's tail, if it does have one, far up there.
It's black pupils stand vertically in beady red eyes, dark, evil slits that glare out at us from a fiery place. It's head snakes down even further, until it's perfectly even with Stone's. Then it roars again.
This time, the sheer force emanating from the great pink maw, along with the gut-wrenching stench of rotting meat and blood that floats up from it's throat, me and Stone are both knocked over backwards.
Stone rolls up to his feet, just as the great Beast dives in for the kill- On me.
My life flashes before my eyes, when I see there's no way Stone will get there in time. The monster is fast, so fast.
Everything happens in a split second, and yet it lasts an eternity, Stone is whirling, eyes widening in horror, but all in slow motion. And yet, I feel unaffected, as well as the dragon, who's great ugly mug is now inches from mine, and I can feel it's hot breath on my skin...
No. I feel the same defiance I felt back then, mere days ago, though it feels like forever, when me and Stone had been at that cliff with the horned Beast.
I refuse to die helplessly. Lately, I've been depending upon Stone to protect me, always- That's not right. I've nearly forgotten the deepest rule of survival, the one I've been teaching myself since I was first born- You can only trust in yourself.
It's true. Stone has failed me. It was bound to happen at some point- He can't be entirely invincible. But I've let my guard down, lately. And mom... I loved her-Still do! But she's gone too. The only person you should ever trust your life with, is yourself, because that's the only person that will watch out for you, always have your back.
I've forgotten that basic rule, that one, unspoken, unwritten law, the single one we in the Wold generally live by.
And it's cost me my life.
It will, anyways. But not now. No, not today.
In the hundredth of a second it takes for the cave dragon to widen it's gaping mouth, I place my hands on the ground on either side of my head, an elbow at each ear, and roll back with all my weight- Before launching myself up and outwards with all the strength I can muster.
My bare feet slam into the monster's snout, with a satisfying crunch when the fragile tip of the bridge of it's skull is shattered on the impact.
Howling, the great white head withdraws, snarling with pain. When it opens it's beady red eyes again, they're glaring at me with a deep hatred, a thirst for my blood. It strike at me like a snake, again.
But I'm ready, rolling underneath the head, my claws extending, and I force them deep into the softer, delicate, semi-transparent flesh coating the throat, carving deep crimson slits into the pure white flesh.
I roll to the side as the Beast snaps at the open air where I was just standing. Blood is pouring from the wounds on it's neck, and as I watch it's nose is visibly turning black and purple.
It goes in for the kill, yet again, and suddenly there's nowhere for me to dodge. At least I tried to save myself, I think.
The great head lunges at me, jaws open and gaping.
There's a flash of silver.
And the monster's head rolls off a limp neck, hitting the cave floor with a deep thud that shivers up my bones, rattling my teeth. Amidst the utter, contrasting silence, the white, bloody skull teeters on the edge of the ledge for a moment- and, slowly, it's great weight sends it tumbling off the edge. Me and Stone watch in awed terror, as the head bounces, with huge thuds, down the jagged path, and long after it vanishes into the dark, we still sit and listen to the crunching thunks that boom up the tunnel to us.
After what seems like a very long time, I turn slowly to Stone.
"That... Was a big dragon." I manage, realizing I'm still panting.
Stone glances at me, a ghost of a smile hidden by a slightly amused frown. "We just almost got eaten by a huge cave Beast, and that's the only thing you can think of to say?"
"What else do you expect me to say?" I get shakily to my feet, brushing off the knees of my dress the best I can. Why am I even wearing a dress? Couldn't Pine have given me some more mountain-hiking-like clothes?
"I don't know. Um, can I ask you something, Ash?" He says awkwardly, standing as well, and staring down at his right hand. It takes me a second, before I realize there are sharp spikes protruding from five fingertips, through the dark leather glove. His claws worked their way through the hide. He mutters something about the fifth glove that month, and we begin to slowly start our climb up the steadily steepening slope
"I guess...?" I say uncertainly after a while, still thinking about the question. Stone never asks something like that, never. So what does he want to ask me that's so important that he feels the need to give it an introduction?
"Um, well," He nervously runs a hand through his black hair, making it stand up like usual, his black wolf ears twitching agitatedly. "Wh-What would you think of someone if..." He drifts off, looking like he regrets ever starting.
"If?" I urge him on, impatiently waving my hands. This is it, I know it, he's going to spill, he's gonna tell me everything...
"If they... Argh!" He shakes his head in frustration. "Um, well, say- Say that there was this person..."
"Yeah? Person?"
"And they told you they were somebody...."
"Yes, somebody?"
"But they weren't." He finishes in a rush, and I blink in disbelief for a moment. Wow, yeah, that was one heck of a secret.. Woohoo...
"What?" I say blankly.
"Like-" He bites his lip, looking everywhere but at me. "Like me. What if," He begins quickly when I open my mouth to say something I probably will regret. "What if I had lied about what I told you about the truth about me."
"Come again?" I raise an eyebrow at him. Suddenly, the small ridge I'm clinging to crumbles to dust, and I'm left swinging on a rocky outcropping by my other hand. It takes another five minutes for Stone to pull me back up to where I can get a foot hold, in which time I try (unsuccessfully) to gather my wits about me.
"Just- Just say I'm not the person I told you I am." He says quickly, trying to get it over with.
"Are you?" I say, trying to get to the point.
"No-Yes- I mean- Argh!" He runs a hand quickly through his hair, which means he's nervous. "Just say I'm not the person I told you I am." He's keeping something from me, that much is obvious- Either that, or everything he's told me has been a lie, in which case he would be keeping everything from me.
"Argh?"
"It-no-I-y-" He begins to stumble over his words, making it hard for me to understand what he's saying. "I'm not saying I did lie... But, if I had, would you still think of me the same way?"
I begin to answer "No, of course not!" But I stop, and suddenly I have to think about this. Would I? Say Stone was actually, I don't know, a Ruler (Ridiculous, I know), yeah- Would I still think about him the same way? I had always known he was keeping secrets, feeding me lies, but I guess it would depend on how extreme his lie had been...
"Depends on the degree of the lie." I expect his face to light up, for him to sigh in relief, to tell me everything. Instead, his shoulders slump, and he bows his head slightly.
"Um, so, are you going to tell me what the lie is?"
"Hmm? What lie? Who says I'm lying?" Stone says quickly- A little too quickly, if you ask me.
"You did."
"What? No, I didn't!"
"Yes! Yes you did!"
"When?" He challenges.
"Just now!" I say incredulously, taking a cautious step forward. My foot holds for a second on the smooth black stone, then slips, along with the other, so I have to use the strength of my arms to pull myself up and over to a point where the ground is again sturdy.
"No! No, I asked what you would think of me if I weren't me!"
"But why did you ask that?" Stone stumbles beside me. His feet fly out from under him, and he lands stomach first on the rocky trail, sliding some more down the 70˚ angled trail, the lantern tumbling from his hand, and ringing like a gong when it hits the wall. The flame flickers, but luckily, our light source catches on an unnaturally convenient boulder.
"Is it against the law to ask a random question?" He grunts, picking himself up, and grimacing as he looks down at his chest. A sharp rock he landed on poked through his leather vest, as well as the white shirt beneath, and as he slid, it tore a nice foot-long gash through the fabric, even carving out a shallow, but nonetheless bloody scar from the bottom of his left ribcage to his right shoulder.
"That was so not a random question."