900+ Years

I Am...

When I awoke I froze in fear at the sight before me. There, across the cave, was the slumbering dragon that I had been speaking with moments earlier. I didn't say anything, afraid to wake it. The human version wasn't so bad but I would take no risks with the dragon itself.

The dragon yawned and got up to stretch its arms and even wings too. It paused and turned to stare at me to which I put my head back down and pretended to sleep. It padded over to me and sat down, watching me. It huffed some smoke and walked over to the pot of soup from yesterday's meal. It stared at it for a while before looking back at me and grunting then eventually it headed back outside the cave. I crawled over to the soup bowl, determined not to make any noise, and poured myself some soup which I ate rather quickly.

I heard the dragon begin to return so I went back to my sleeping position and faked once more. This time I heard a deep low rumble coming from the dragon. He was agitated for some unknown reason. He grumbled a bit before lying a few feet beside me but he never fell asleep. It was like he was waiting for me to wake up but I didn't want to. I didn't want to wake up to the dragon.

He nudged me, hopeful but I didn't budge. Eventually, he grew tired and began to roar loudly until I woke up in shock. I wasn't expecting that so it frightened me greatly. Once I was awake he seemed satisfied enough.

He watched as I sat there unknowingly. I wasn't sure what to do. He didn't speak nor even try to communicate why he wanted me awake so I was unaware of what was happening. Soon enough he left the cave only to come back moments later, a human.

"Did you eat? I think you ate. Why were you pretending to sleep?" He interrogated, bombarding me with questions.

"Yes I did eat. Um...I was scared. The dragon..it scared me. I was afraid it-you would try to..." I mumbled.

"Kill you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing into slits.

I didn't say anything more but let my head drop, confirming his suspicions.

"I'm sorry I-"

"I don't need an explanation. With me I never need an explanation. Just do what you want and I won't question you but for today come with me." He said, his eyes dark.

"Ok.."

I followed him out of the cave, down the mountain the cave resided on, and into a large forest.

"Do you like fruit? Who am I kidding, of course you do. Do you still have that basket?" He asked.

"The basket..?"

"The basket from when we met in the forest!"

Of course I had been right, I had met him then.

"So you were the boy I met that day?" I questioned.

He shrugged as if he wasn't sure himself.

"That was years ago. I am no longer that boy."

I raised my brow.

"Whatever could that mean?"

I followed him through the forest. He picked a few apples and berries, making me hold them. He was awfully good at this. He knew which ones were the ripest and ready to be eaten and which ones should grow for a little longer before they're edible.

I spotted a blue berry similar to one he picked moments before.

"Did he not notice this one?"

I reached down to pick it off the bush before he grabbed my hand quickly, shouting,

"Careful! That's poisonous. Don't even look at it, that's how dangerous they are."

He reached down and picked it himself, then popped it into his mouth as if it was nothing.

"I thought that was poisonous?!" I yelled, worriedly.

"No it's fine. I have a strong immunity towards poison. There's no poison out there that can kill me. I was just making sure that I still know my fruit. Wouldn't it be embarrassing and rather inconvenient if we missed out on food because I mixed these up with Laurelberrys?" He assured me with a chuckle.

I nodded and let him continue. Clearly he was better at this than I was. We gathered fruits until both our hands were full and could carry no more, then we returned home with our findings. He had me lay them down in a cold corner that would keep them well for a while, but we would have to eat them quickly.

He led me back outside, bringing spears and knives with him. It made me uncomfortable. Sometimes I thought he'd use them on me but he never did.

We came across a wild boar and his among the brush.

"Hold this." He whispered, handing me the knife he carried.

I paused to stare at it.

"I could stab him and run away right now."

I shut my eyes tight.

"Why would you think that, Celestinia? You're a nun! Act like one."

I reminded myself.

I held onto the knife while I watched him position himself with his spear in hand. He suddenly launched it into the air, landing it right in the side of the boar. It squealed and ran around crazily.

"If you see it running towards you, run away. Got it? Head right back to the cave." He instructed.

I completely complied. I didn't want to die anytime soon.

I watched as he stepped out of the brush and carefully approached the mad boar.

He was quick and nimble, reaching out and ripping the spear from the boar's side only to stab it right into its head. I stepped out from the bush and watched him handle the wild boar. He cut it up into pieces, leaving the intestines and all the inedible parts before taking it back to the cave. I offered to help but he insisted it was too heavy. I wasn't quite sure why he brought me if all I was going to do was watch him.

We eventually arrived and he made some mean kebabs. At least that's what he called them. Cooked vegetables and boar meat stuck onto a long straight stick. He was proud of his catch and boasted about it to me.

"Yeah I've caught boars ten times bigger than that! It was easy. Try the kebab I made sure not to burn it." He insisted.

I shrugged and ate the kebab. Oh it was glorious. One of the best things I've ever tasted before.

"Oh my! It's delicious! You're a good cook, how did you make this?" I asked, marveling at the food before me.

"It's easy, you just gotta know how to use your herbs." He explained briefly.

That night he taught me all the different ways you could use herbs to make food taste better and "pop" as he liked to word it. I can say I enjoyed listening to him talk and I took mental notes if I ever tried to cook anything.

"Especially basil or thyme, you can use those to-"

"What's your name?" I asked, realizing I didn't know.

"My name? The Golden beast."

"Yes, but you're real name. You're human name." I clarified.

He paused.

"Cassian." He said plainly.

He continued to eat his kebabs in silence, refusing to utter a word. Not even when I asked him about the kebabs. Something was different.

He fell asleep rather quickly that night and I was left wondering why telling me his name made him act in such a way.

"Maybe he's ashamed of his name?"

Sorry I took so long to upload
There's rats in my walls and they don't know how to stfu so I haven't been getting much sleep
So much for coexisting
Hope this chapter was up to your standards
Luv y'all<333