The King's Gamma (#Wattys2024)

Sixty three

Kent Bardell

I sat down on the ground and lay back, closing my eyes and falling asleep soon after. It was peaceful and warm, and with the two boys doing the work for me, I had no need to do much else.

I felt a sudden cooling sensation soon after. My eyes snapped open to find a nagini curling itself around me gently, as if coddling its own child. It looked me in the eyes for a moment before it continued and then rested its head on my lap. It was a pretty beast with blue-ish white scales over its entire body. So intrigued with the new beast I started petting it with no mind to what was around us.

"Such a pretty thing you are. Do you want to be my pet?"

The Nagini lifted its head as it stared at me curiously again.

"I'll call you Juno." I smiled, and suddenly it disappeared to my astonishment. "Guess she didn't want to be my pet. She was so pretty."

I sighed and got up, deciding to go look for something to eat. I came across a large pond soon after with water fruits around it. I didn't recognise the fruit, but I was too hungry to care. Plucking a fruit I relished in the bitter freshness it held. It was also surprisingly filling.

I turned to see a large salamander staring at me with what I could only describe to be surprise in its eyes. It suddenly bowed down to me and held its head for me to pet.

"Are you going to be my pet? Can I call you Dorian?"

I frowned when suddenly the beast disappeared like the Nagini before it. I sighed and decided to move on, walking along the river I had come across before.  The further I walked, the hotter it got. Finally I came up to a mountain where birds and other small critters became less and less.

"They probably don't like the heat."

I continued forward, finding another interesting fruit soon after. It almost seemed like it was on fire, but when I plucked it the fire disappeared and a small white fruit was left. I took a bite and it tasted like smoked meat, strangely. I finished it and looked around to find more but like the water fruit it had been the only one. Suddenly a thick and barbed tongue licked me and I turned to find a giant fire cat purring as it watched me.

"So fluffy!"

It pressed its flaming head against me.

"Blaze. That's your name."

I went to hug it, yet like the previous three beasts, it disappeared. I sighed. None of the beasts wanted to be my pets. A bit saddened by the thought, I trudged ahead again and came up to a giant cave that had a sweet fragrance to it. I entered it, trying to see where the scent came from. Only when I reached the back of the shallow cave, I found only a large nest with a singular egg inside it. I eyed the egg for a moment, noticing that there had been no traces of anything else living here for quite some time. 

"I'll take care of you. Let me just place you inside my item bag for now."

I placed it inside my item bag and walked back out, deciding to go back to where the boys, Ora and Azrael had left me before. I sat down again and rested in the sunlight, just as Azrael broke through the bushes with a large smile on his face, an earth boar on his back. 

"Kent! Look what I hunted."

I stood up, looking over the beast and smiled at him. This was considered a great find. Their hides were often used for armor by new adventurers and so it sold quickly while the meat was often requested by restaurants whenever their blackhorns were still growing their new limbs. It was a close second to the taste. The tusks were often used to create jewelry for mages, as it was imbued with the life force of the beast it was harvested from, which was a powerful magical conduit. Though it was limited in the amount of uses before it crumbled.