Chapter 005

"He's awake!"

"Wphew!"

"Thaank God!"

Whispers caught up with him. He tried to sit, but he ended up falling back on the ground. He looked around, and he was shocked to see the people of that place giving him terrified looks. Although some looked at him with disgust, they still had those fearful looks in their eyes. It's only been a few hours since they got to see him, but they are already terrified! How annoying. They've only seen him dragging the monster's head to their king, and they haven't seen him doing the actual thing. What will they do if they see that? Run away?

"Where is the healer?" He asked the so-called king, who was staring at him with shock written all over his face. When he sent him away to meet that water monster, he expected him to be killed; he did not expect him to come back with the heads of a monster daggling on his back and all of his kids. They have been disturbing them for years, and when that monster finally came out of the river and told him that if he brought him to them, he would stop feeding on his people's blood, he agreed immediately.

"Umh uhmn," he stammered, looking around.

The slayer was still lying in the place where he had passed out. He had heard the king ask his men to carry him into the house, but none of them did so. They all stood at a distance, looking at him with fright written all over their faces. Even when he struggled to stand on his own, the group of people standing beside him walked backwards, looking at him as if he would turn into one of the monsters he has ever killed.

"I just need the healer and my money, and then we'll be out of here," he whispered to his wolf, who was impatient. The news that a young, good-looking lad who was known by the village people as the monster slayer had killed teh water monster and all of it's generation spread like wildfire. In a short while, even before he could get up from the place he had passed and walk to a chair or under a shade, he was already surrounded by thousands of people who, like he had thought, had come to see the monster he had just slain.

"Where is the king?" He asked when he lost him in the crowd. Thank goodness his wolf had marked his woody scent, or else he would have run away without giving him him money. When he was leaving to hunt the water monster, he had marked a particular stall in the middle of the small village town that sold some really nice clothes. Although they weren't that good, they were much better compared to the ones he was wearing, which were now soaked with the beast's blood. He brushed his fingers through his hair, and he curled his lips in disgust because of how greasy his strands were and because they covered in blood.

"I really need a bath because it looks like I won't be seeing the healer," he murmured, then rose from the ground and tracked the king's scent. He found him sitting on his library floor with a book clutched in between his hands. He gasped and looked at him with fear written all over his face when he saw him. He had walked in so quietly that he had heard him only when he cleared his throat.

"I know you sent me to that monster on purpose." You wanted to use me as a sacrifice. He would get my blood, whereas you'll get your freedom, but don't worry, I won't harm you in any way. "Just give me my gold coins because you have seen the heads, and I will be out of here," he said in one breath. With shaky hands, the king ran towards a metal box, pushed it open, and took out a few gold coins, which he handed over to him. After counting and making sure they added up to the exact price they had agreed on, he bid his goodbyes and walked out of the office.

"It feels really nice when people fear us," his wolf reached over his ears in laughter. People made way for him when he walked past them.

"Whether it feels nice or not, we'll be out of here after a warm bath and a few clothes," he whispered, scanning the area looking for a bathhouse.

"Hey cutie, where is the bathhouse?" He asked a good-looking girl who was tending a herd of cattle. The girl raised her hand to point where it was, but a woman standing next to her slapped her hands, yelling, "I will sell you to the one-eyed monster that came wanting to buy you yesternight if you dare open that filthy mouth of yours, pig!" She was threatened, and he could swear he saw tears welling out of her beautiful brown eyes.

"Weird. "Sell your daughter to a monster because she wants to help me," he called back to the woman, flashed a half smile at her, and walked away. Although the town wasn't much bigger than the one he sees in his dreams, it still had hundreds of people walking around, making his walk difficult. Although many of them seemed to be engrossed in their own business, he still managed to get their attention, and the piercing gazes they had been giving him started to annoy him. Anyway, it was accepted that he was getting all that attention. He was the only person who looked much worse compared to even the beggars lying on the streets. He reeked of the sea's monsters' blood, and he smelled like shit. Any person would think he had never taken a shower since he was born.

Ignoring the terrified and disgusting gazes that were shot to his side, he walked on and rushed to one of the bathhouses he had spotted from afar with white walls painted on the outside. Before he could lift his legs and climb the few stairs built outside of it, cries of help and terror caught up with him. She looked behind him and was shocked to see a large bird, which he had never before seen flying in the sky, and a girl in between its claws.

"My daughter! Someone, please help my daughter! "She is the only one I have!"

A woman screamed at the top of her lungs, but everyone looked at her with pity and ran away to save their lives. He stared at the large bird taking the girl away, and he was shocked when he saw that it was the girl who had wanted to point out to him where the bathhouse was located before her mother shushed her.

"We have to help her!" His wolf screamed.

With a loud roar that diverted all attention to him, he scooted on the ground, and with a leap, beautiful golden wings extended from either sides of his back as he shifted into a beautiful dragon and flew towards the bird. That huge bird was shocked because it opened its beak to peck him and lifted its claws to scratch her, releasing the injured girl who fell on a crib full of tomatoes. Her mother pulled her into her arms and kissed her forehead, with tears of joy flowing down her cheeks. People gathered in the place, their gazes fixed on the sky as they watched his fight with that monstrous bird. It was twenty minutes later thatshe succeeded in putting the huge bird down.

With a heavy thud, it fell to the ground, causing everyone to scream in fear. When he was done shifting back to his human form, the bird woke up and shifted into something much bigger, a huge snake-like monster, which attacked no one but him. He had killed one of its kind on the mountain, so he didn't fight it much longer since he knew its weakness. Fire.

With a puff, the air he exhaled turned into fire, which consumed the monster until it turned into ashes. Before the monster had completely burned, he noticed one thing about it. It was an eye monster in human form.

"So he is the monster that had wanted to buy that beautiful girl," his wolf reminded him of what the girl's mother had said when she tried to help him.

"Yeah, and please shut up." "The last thing I want is people looking at me weirdly while I'm talking with an invisible person," he said, rolling his eyes and shushing his wolf down.

"As if the people are not looking at you weirdly enough," his wolf bickered back, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, they are looking at me weirdly, but for how long?" Soon I'll be out here and go back to my cave," he chuckled and turned to go back to the bathhouse. Before he walked away, the girl's mother rushed to him and thanked him for what he had done to her daughter. She explained to him that the one-eyed monster had been after her girl for so long and that just the other day, he went to them and asked if she could sell her to him, which of course she refused. She never expected him to come back the next day in the form of a bird and try to take her away.

"You don't need to thank me." "Your daughter is now safe," he told the woman, who smiled brightly and carried her daughter away after offering her a packet of chocolate to show her gratitude. He watched the woman disappear behind the crowd with her kid, and when he spun around, he met a group of men, all wearing matching blue outfits, with golden caps on their heads and swords draped across their backs, blocking his way.

"Our king wants to see you," one of them said.

"Oh jeez, not again!" His wolf screamed in such a loud voice that the men had to look around, searching for where it was coming from.