Darksteel

Chapter 33; How NOT to bring about the apocalypse.

The Monster dragged Asta for MILES-- through thickets and groves of trees, and once even over a stream. Unsurprisingly, by the end of it, Asta was cold, hungry, and miserable.

But mostly hungry.

"Have you got anything to eat besides me?" he asked his captore politely then. "Being dragged through the forest makes one quite famished, you know."

Asta felt the beast shake its great head. "Are you always this polite?"

"Not always. I can be quite nasty if I want to be."

"I'm sure you can, young master..." Though the beast did not sound convinced in the slightest.

They were quiet after that and soon the Monster brought Asta into a small cave and set him down on the rough hewn, stone floor and jabbed a finger at him. "Don't run away."

Asta smiled brightly, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Then he made a break for it.

Unfortunately, he did not get very far before the wolf Monster smacked him in the back of the head with something hard-- most likely a stick or rock of some sort-- and Asta fell to the ground, moaning in pain as his skull throbbed as if it were going to crumble. 

Numbly, he felt the Monster lift him up by the collar of his tunic and hold him in front of its face. From this close, the beast's breath smelled of rotting meat and a strong sense of decay, making it quite had for Asta not to gag.

"I told you not to run!" the Monster snarled.

"And you REALLY thought I wouldn't try?" he replied. Sometimes, the easiest thing for Asta to do in the past would have been to run away. But perhaps that would not be the case from now on.

Maybe now it was time to stand and fight.

"I am not afraid of you, you know." Asta said, letting his voice ring clear and strong in the mouth of the cave.

But the Monster only grinned at him; a leer that reminded Asta oddly of Kyrin. "You don't have to be afraid of me. You just have to be afraid of what I tell you."

 Asta narrowed his eyes, "What do you have to tell me?"

"I'm here to warn you of the impending doom you humans have gotten yourself into." The creature then sat Asta down and led him back into the cave. 

And while the idea of a monster in a cave was not at all outlandish, Asta was surprised to find that the cave itself was slightly furnished. 

Yet despite this, the furniture was crudely made as if the Monster had slapped a bunch of sticks and straw together for a bed and assumed that was the end of it. The chairs, or what the boy ASSUMED were chairs, were just piles of pine needles set on a bit of rock.

What was more, Asta was sure that there were all sorts of insects crawling about in those "chairs" but he did not wish to be bashed over the head again so when the Monster told him to sit, he sat.

"So," Asta began rather hesitantly, "Impending doom, eh? I'm listening."

The beast shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Asta, I know you are a Monster Lord..."

Blimey. The Headmaster knew, this Monster knew, the Iron Guild knew. Asta wondered if he was doing a good job at all of keeping his secret powers, well, SECRET.

Still, he said nothing as the creature went on, waving its massive paws as it talked.

"All Monsters, you see, have a special connection with the Monster Lords. We can sense them, feel their presence, and are drawn to them through the bond of Ancient Magic." the Monster paused, "Is any of this getting through to you?"