25 A cold night.

" Where should we go now?" - Iliriendil asked

At the moment, the two of them were sitting on a big rock looking at the wide-open landscape ahead, it seemed to be stretched out forever. A strange gust of wind came from nowhere and made her eyes become dried, Ilirielth's figure looked so fragile and tired. She just sat there, saying nothing, watching the scenery far far away from there. After a long silence, Ilirielth spoke, her voice was steady and calm.

" It's enough about where I want to go, how about you? Is there any place you want to visit?"

" No, I don't."

" … I see… how about the place you find the most comfort? "

" My old cave. There was always food there."

" Then let's go back."

"…"

Ilirielth stared at her puzzled. The spikes on his face all stood up and his tentacles stopped moving.

" What about your journey? What about getting out of this place? Did you lie to me?"

There was anger in his voice, but it came with no killing intent.

" I didn't lie… I just don't want to go anymore. I just want to stay with you."

Ilirielth let out a smile, she stood up and hugged Iliriendil's arm.

" Let's get back together, to your home."

Although they know the way it still took them a day to get back. The place was still the same, dark, and cold, and the smell of rotten corpses was spreading everywhere. There was a big remain of something like a giant bear, this was Iliriendil's famous bed. The fur was hard and there were even some maggots but he didn't seem to mind. As Iliriendil intended to lay down on it but he was stopped by Ilirielth.

" Don't. Let me clean it first."

Ilirielth swiped her hands through the fur. Maggots spurted out like fountains. Now she looked carefully there's no way a dead monster can be this thicc. She took her sword and slice through its belly which triggered a groan from Iliriendil. Her face immediately frowns because all of the monster's innards had been replaced by maggots. Billions of them, she couldn't imagine how those things could spread this fast. Her silly friend Iliriendil killed everything that tried to harm him but he let go of this? The image of a lovely little dragon crossed her mind. To him, such a cute creature was less than those maggots? Anger welled up in her. As she tightly held her sword.

[Swort art: Thunder!]

Flame sparkled through the air the whole nest of Maggots burned to ashes in an instant alongside Iliriendil's favorite bed. A ding was heard from her system and her level even went up to 1.

" What are you doing? You ruined my —"

" Please be quiet Iliriendil."

Looking at Ilirielth's dead eyes, Iliriendil was confused, he didn't feel his life was threatened but there was something that made him feel extremely uneasy, he nodded quickly and swallowed his protest. After burning the maggots, Ilirielth thoroughly took care of their ashes, she made sure not a single trace of them remained. She then checked on every corpse and not to her surprise they were all just like the bear. Ilirielth closed her eyes, she made her decision.

2 hours later. The place became unrecognizable. The ground was sparkling and so smooth that one can even see their image in it.

" This's muchhhh better! See this Iliriendil? This is how your house looks like if there's a woman's hand!"

She expected him to be mad but it was the opposite of that, he seemed to be quite happy. He was rolling around and kissing the ground. So he was not completely a wild one after all, he could understand the concept of cleanness. Smiling at Iliriendil's mischievous act, her stomach suddenly made an embarrassing sound.

" Are you hungry?"

" N-No I'm not."

" You know I hate liers right?"

" Iliriendil, I'm not hungry, it was just my stomach hurt for some reason, it should be fine soon …"

Iliriendil tilted his head, his tentacles were swinging rhythmically like they were dancing. This was his doubting stance. He let out a dry smile at her. she didn't know if she could count it as a smile or not, it sounded like a horse squealing when it was constipated.

" Then you would not mind if I took some food?"

Iliriendil went out of the cave. About 10 minutes later he came back with a thing that resembled a big lizard. Unlike the usual Iliriendil didn't just pull everything out, he tried to slice the lizard off with his sharp claws but to her surprise, he seemed to have a hard time doing that.

' Was this lizard's skin that hard?'

After a long time of struggle, Iliriendil just barely cut open its skin. Ilirielth decided to give Iliriendil some help, If the monster was on a level that even Iliriendil had a hard time she didn't think she could do anything. She took her sword and walked to the monster's corpse, her sword went through its flesh and bones with almost no resistance. She looked at her sword doubtfully then turned to Iliriendil.

' There was no way right?'

The monster was cut into nice portions that would make the best chefs proud. After almost 3 months of being a carnivore, she could tell it at a glance. This thing's meat was top quality, of course, apply only for this place's standard.

" This… where did you find it?"

" There were a lot of them nearby, they live underground so it was a bit hard to detect with eyes."

" …"

So after all those times, he had delicious food but still make her eat that bird? This was the second worst betrayal Ilirielth received in her life. Not noticing her mood, Iliriendil nonchalantly took a mouthful of bite, while giving Ilirielth a mocking glance.

" Are you not going to eat this?"

" No."

" Even just a bite? I won't be mad."

" No thanks, I rather die than eat that."

Iliriendil stop eating, he threw the meat into the ground.

" Is it poisoned?"

" No!"

" Then why?"

Ilirielth intended to say something but Iliriendil cut her line.

You haven't eaten anything fordays! Why? Youpretend to eat then threw our food away, youthoughtI didn't notice that? You d*mmn liarr!!"

The world seemed to be twisted by Iliriendil's sudden anger. Ilirielth held her shoulder tightly, not because of fear but because of paint and guilt.

" I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

" Then eat. You need to eat."

Saying that Iliriendil gripped the biggest portion and threw it to Ilirielth. She looked at it hesitated, but in the end, she picked it up and took a mouthful bite.

" How was it?"

" It was delicious… thank you."

Iliriendil turned his head and choose a smooth place to lie on. Ilirielth called him a few times but he didn't say anything, just laying there with his back to her face.

' He must be mad at me. ' - Ilirielth thought.

She chose a place near him to lie.

The night soon came. Ilirielth stared blankly at the system clock, it was just 7 P.M but her eyes were so heavy. Iliriendil didn't talk to her the whole noon and the night was abnormally cold. Her body was trembling nonstop, she searched for a cover, the only thing left was the lizard monster's skin, it was not enough.

Years ago when Ilirielth was just a little child, winter was her favorite season because it was the only time her father agreed to sleep with her. He was always busy, always tried to bribe her with a lot of presents but he didn't understand the only thing she wanted was him to stay nearby. She remembered his soft, steady, deep voice, telling her gory stories that were not suited to tell children but to her, they were like fairy tales. It had been a month since she last saw him. She had an ague with him and left. Now she regretted it deeply. How had he been lately? had he heard about his missing daughter and searching for her?

When Ilirielth's consciousness was about to fade in the midst of the cold, the warmth enveloped her body. Something soft held her tightly. After a moment, drops of tears fell to the cold ground.