Going Back

I got out from under the soft blanket and looked around. Ender was sitting on the edge of the bed and watching someone looking at a liquid silver mirror on the floor. The sun had set, proving that the timeline of my original dimension in the dimension I was in didn't match. Luckily, the difference was just hours, not years.

''Exactly three hours,'' the fox said. I was surprised for a moment by its presence in my mind. So an hour in another dimension was worth three hours here. I wondered if a week Malice received as payment would amount to three weeks here.

''How do you feel?'' Ender asked. ''A furry annoying thing said it's your pet and we need to keep you warm.''

Grinning at his definition of the fox, I focused on how I feel. I was tired and cold, but my life energy was not below critical. ''I'm okay. Who is he?'' I asked, pointing to the other man in the room.

''He's my teammate. No matter what I did, you wouldn't wake up so I called him to check you. He has the equipment to check health conditions, like blood pressure and other things,'' Ender said.

''I think it's no longer necessary,'' said the man whose name I don't know said.

Did he just say... no matter what I did? I frowned my eyebrows. What exactly he did?

''Only innocent things, I swear. In fact, I said if a prince kisses you, you will wake up but he didn't,'' the fox said.

''I'm Codey, nice to meet you. Can we move on to the important issues now?'' The pale man sitting on the floor said. He gathered the liquid silver and poured it into a small bottle.

Ender nodded, ''Tell us what you discovered.''

Codey looked at me with doubt for a while, finally, he cleared his throat and started to talk. ''The teleporter in the basement of the guild can teleport to a single location, to a deserted spot in the north of the forest. I think it's the emergency exit of the Frozen Drop guild. Demon side spies must have used it for their own purposes when they discovered this.''

The fox appeared on the bed and climbed into Ender's lap. Ender absently stroked the fox's fur.''You know,'' the fox said directly into my mind, ''With the information about these two, you can get the award the fairy queen promised. Tattoo guy admitted that he slaughtered demon side's spies.''

I was aware that what it said was real. It wasn't like I've never thought of that before either. ''I'm not suicidal,'' I said. ''When the fairies and demons go after him, Ender realizes who was snitching him.''

Meanwhile, Codey kept telling what he found. ''They found and destroyed the microphone you left when you went to the meeting at the human base in the Akagac woodland. Still, until they found it and destroyed it, I was able to learn a few important things.''

''I can show you the records later. In summary, our predictions were correct. Humans had discovered something, but what they discovered is in the ice demon zone of the forest. I don't know what winter fairies' role in all these events. I will try to find out why fairies help demons.''

''What did humans discovered in the forest?'' Ender asked.

Codey looked at me and sighed helplessly. I guess he didn't like sharing important information with strangers. He was right. I really wondered what Ender's purpose was.

''A dungeon,'' Codey said.

''So what makes this dungeon so important is that the human kingdom is preparing to wage war on the demons?'' Ender asked.

''I haven't discovered it yet,'' Codey said.

''He's lying. He just doesn't want to tell you,'' the fox said. It wasn't impossible, actually, it was a logical thing to do. When Ender played with her ears, the fox's spine stretched like a bow. I wondered if the fox was male or female.

''I have no gender,'' it said. ''I'm more of a spiritual creature than physical.''

''If that's all you can leave now Codey,'' Ender said.

Codey put the bottle of silver liquid in his backpack and left without saying goodbye. He was following Ender's orders, However, it can't be said that he was pleased about it.

Ender turned to me with the fox in his arms, ''Are you sick or something?''

I was expecting him to ask this but I didn't know what to answer. 'You see, I sold my soul to a demoness, now I had to fuck people's brains and suck their life force. Would you like to share a bit of your warmth with me?' didn't seem like a very good answer.

''I'm cold,'' I said.

He took a glance at the broken window, ''Why do you live in such a place?''

'Because there is eas food?' I think it'd better not saying that. Instead, ''I have no money to stay at a fancy hotel,'' I said.

He grabbed the fox by both paws, ''Wouldn't it be a better option to stay in a decent place than to feed a pet?''

''It's a spiritual pet. I don't need to feed it,'' I said. At the same time, ''Stop wasting my precious energy and get out of your physical form,'' I said the fox silently.

''Ah,'' he said when the fox suddenly disappeared in front of him. ''Seems useful.'' He stared at the dilapidated hostel room and the broken window for a while. ''Stay my place. I don't want to find you frozen to the death.''

''Yes!'' the fox said in my mind.

I was more dignified, ''I don't want to trouble you,'' I said.

''Not at all. I rarely use the hotel room anyway.''

I gladly accepted the offer and I stuffed all my assets in the leather bag. It was a bit of a pity that everything I had could fit in a bag. Sighing, I put on the fox fur coat and went into Ender's arm. The more I could touch it, the better.

He didn't complain and we headed to the hotel he was staying. I couldn't help but worry by looking at the direction we're going. In the end, I was right to worry. We entered the hotel where I found the secret letter.

When we stopped in front of the room where I get the letter from under the door, I tried hard not to turn around and look at the door of the room where I stayed.

''What is the problem?'' Ender said.

Shivering, ''I'm really cold,'' I said.