27

"It's dark, like a black hole! I never saw what Ertaki monster looked like," - I complained to Adivaris, breathing heavily and hanging on his neck.

"Hah... so you met Ertaki? Well, this is still a relatively kind monster! You even met him - consider him friends!"

"What? Friends? But this beast scratched me! Damn him with his four arms and a tail. He groped me and was going to fuck me.

"I warned you... So he liked you as a mate... or rather, your smell drove him crazy."

"What? Smell? What's my smell?" — I was alarmed, sniffing myself.

"Well... he knows better... his sense is tens of times stronger, he's a predator!"

"You are lucky that you are a polymorph, you have wings... he could easily catch up with you. It has five limbs in total... and a tail."

"He promised to leave me alive..."

"Heh... good guy!"

"Does he have a muzzle or a face? I still don't understand..."

"You can say that the face... is that really important? It is unlikely that you will want to meet with Ertaki again... he will find a way to keep you at a new opportunity."

"Who is his father? He never confessed!"

"One ancient magician-licorn... it's better not to cross paths with him."

"What are his abilities?"

"He can walk through walls and disappear from sight, and if his son starts whining about you, you can't avoid meeting him... but don't worry, no one will get through my magic!"

... I didn't think about such consequences... Ertaki's father, a yellow-eyed tall blond with an angry look, still entered our home for a showdown.

"What do you want, Liorif? I didn't invite you!" - Adivaris said sharply, stepping out to meet the uninvited guest.

"And I didn't invite your partner... to tease my hybrid," - Liorif threw a disapproving look at me. - "Don't you have anything to do, Prince Irsy? Hanging out on the streets at night! You would sleep in a warm bed while monsters patrol the city. How can I calm down Ertaki now?"

"Is everything so fatal?"- Adivaris grinned.

"I understand... that you find it funny... this is such a new type of entertainment among aristocrats for survival... but what does it feel like for me to listen to his squeals and curses! He bangs his head against the wall, spraying blood, wanting to meet again with the prince who managed to escape from him. How did you even get this idea to tease the beast? This is wildly dangerous!"

"I can help and calm him down with a lightning bolt!" - my fiancé suggested.

"No need! I put so much effort into raising him and for now I have to keep him in a cage... It would be better for the prince to visit Ertaki and calm him down."

"Oh-hoh-ho... Calm down? — indignation poured out of me. - Yes, I barely survived!"

"And let me ask, Your Highness... How did you manage to do this … stay alive?"

"Irsy is a polymorph! - Adivaris explained. - "He just disappeared in the death grip of four paws!"

"Polymorph?" - Liorif chuckled. — "Are you both having fun, sweet couple? I beg you... don't do this again! Please train on less dangerous animals!"

"I... will visit your hybrid son, if he is in a cage... so be it..." - I unexpectedly agreed to everyone.

"Wonderful..." - muttered the yellow-eyed licorn with satisfaction. - "I'll accompany you..."

"You don't have to do this, Irsy!" - Adivaris grabbed my hand.

"All is good! I want to see his face and look into his impudent eyes."

The staircase in the dungeon, where Liorif kept Ertaki, led deep down, where any magic manifested itself much weaker and from where escape caused complications, given the thick, dense metal bars that numerously blocked the path from captivity. Such overprotection confirmed the danger of beast-like creatures that spent time here without access to the sun in freezing darkness, filled with a pungent musky odor. In the distance there was a threatening growl, a howl and the clanging of claws on metal and granite.

"Very harsh conditions for these creatures," - I commented, distinguishing in the darkness only vague silhouettes among brightly glowing pairs of eyes.

"You just haven't seen them in battle," - Liorif said casually, slapping me on the shoulder. - "Go to the end of the corridor and do not go close to the bars."

I just wanted to gain night vision and instantly my eyes began to see much more detail in the dark figures in the cages. Horns, wings, tails, tentacles... Kunstkamera! Anything of different shapes to suit any fantasy... Someone was sleeping, and someone was staring at me, baring rows of razor-sharp teeth. Tough! We approached a cage in which someone was screaming desperately.

"Is it Ertaki howling like that?"

"Yes…"

Suddenly the scream died down and I realized that the monster had caught my scent and fell silent.

"Irsy... my precious, you came... does that mean you missed me?" — soon there was an insinuating rustling sound.