Epilogue: You will fight another day

"Uuuungh... mggh... urgh..."

"Welcome back to the world of the living, high royal general Carrion"

Carrion opened his eyes, feeling a searing pain with every movement he made and couldn't help but moan. The light that entered his eyes was blinding and almost made him scream. It took him a while to finally get his eyes wide open and his surroundings to focus, and to realize that the blinding light was actually a little fire lit less than a meter away from him.

He forced himself to turn his head to look around, an action that caused a deep pain in his neck. It was the middle of the night and there was only sand around him as far as the eye could see, and if it hadn't been for the fire the temperature would have been freezing. Not far from the fire lay a large animal similar to a horse, but taller, with a longer neck and with some sort of humps on its back, and to it was tied what looked like a cart. Carrion swiveled his head further and saw beside him a figure lit by the pale rays of the moon wearing a fearsome mask.

As soon as he saw her, Carrion acted on instinct and moved to strike the mysterious person, but he hadn't lifted his hand even ten centimeters before intense pain pervaded his entire body and a gush of blood exploded from his mouth. "I wouldn't do it if I were you" said the masked person in a distinctly female voice. "You are still in a very bad state. I have repaired all the body parts you lost and healed everything possible, but that dragon beat you really badly. You should sit still and wait for your body to recover. Also at the moment you're too weak, you couldn't stop me if I wanted to hurt you"

Memories suddenly flooded Carrion's mind, so rapidly that he almost had difficulty comprehending them all. Now everything was dearer to him... he clearly remembered why he was in a desert, the battle against Haku and the fact that that dragon had practically disintegrated him. He couldn't explain how he could still be alive, but the person next to him probably had something to do with it. In any case, she (he was sure it was a she) was right: he was completely drained of any energy, and he had no divine power at the moment. Even if that person was just a level adamantium, she could easily have killed him if she wanted to. The fact that she still hadn't done so made him hope that she wasn't an enemy. "Who are you?"

"I stopped using my real name a long time ago. It's enough for you to know that I am in the service of the king and that he sent me to retrieve you. Going to recover generals who are lost in the desert is not really my job, but since I'm a killer, I'm good at tracking people" the masked woman replied, then she approached with what looked like a still steaming soup. She took a spoonful and brought it to the man's mouth. "Here, eat. You've been passed out for over a week, your body is both dehydrated and starved. And don't complain, at the moment you better move as little muscle as possible, so I'm going to feed you whether you like it or not, so choose the route easy and avoid protesting"

Carrion felt his pride hurt at the thought of being fed like a newborn, but he knew when it was time to put dignity aside, and since he was hurt in the moment it was best to prioritize his recovery; and if he had to lie still to recover, then he had no other choice. His mouth dropped open and he let the masked woman stuff the spoonful of soup into his mouth, which he swallowed immediately after. That alone was enough to make his throat ache, further proof of how hurt he was. "You work for the king, you're an assassin and you hide your face... are you one of them? That group... Black Vulture, right?"

"That's what we call ourselves, yes" the masked woman replied taking another spoonful of soup. "You can call me by that name if you want, it doesn't matter to me. The important thing is that you stay alive so that I can finish my job, everything else doesn't interest me"

Carrion let himself be taken again; the second spoonful of soup was easier to swallow than the first. Perhaps his body was getting used to such sensations again. However, now he finally had a clear idea of ​​who the person in front of him was; he didn't know her name, but the Black Vulture was a group of assassins totally loyal to the king, so he had no reason to consider this woman an enemy. He had no doubts that she was really who she said she was: only a few knew that the members of Black Vulture called themselves around with the name of their organization so as to better confuse their identities. At least he could have given it a name; Black Vulture was kind of bad, but it was still better than 'masked woman'. "That battle... I remember it clearly now. How did you save me? Not even I could stand up to that monster..."

"I didn't save you" Black Vulture replied indifferently as she filled another spoonful of soup. "That major spirit you summoned, before being sent back to his realm, used what little power he had left to cast protection upon you. It withstood the devastating power of that monster's fire, even if you still can't you came out unscathed and were on the brink of death. I was just lurking nearby; I'd been keeping an eye on the beastmen caravan for days, because I knew you'd attack there. And your battle didn't go unnoticed, you did shaking the whole desert. Following the earthquakes and the sand clouds I found you and since it was immediately clear to me who would win I prepared accordingly. Thanks to my observations of the previous days, I found out thanks to the beastmen and dragons that there is a complex underground cave system. While you and that monster were busy playing great warriors, I tracked down a poor giant worm who was running away in terror and made him dig a tunnel for me. Then I waited for the battle to end, and for a moment I seriously thought that they would kill you and that I would fail my mission. But fortunately thanks to that spirit you survived, and I took advantage of the cloud of sand that had been raised to grab you and drag you into the tunnel, only to collapse the entrance. At that point I just waited a few days for them all to leave, and then I went out, put you in my wagon and hit the road to bring you back"

"Urgh... well, thanks for the help anyway" Carrion said letting himself be fed again. "If I slept for over a week, I must have been in really bad shape..."

"You had lost both your legs and arms as well as practically all of your skin. You were just a completely skinned torso and head with your muscles burned to hot coals" Black Vulture said. "When I retrieved you, I was surprised that you were still alive… you legendary levels really have a strong temper. I have injected numerous potions of healing and regeneration into your body and have managed to stabilize most of the wounds and close all the internal bleeding, and your limbs have now completely regrown. If you feel pain now it is because your body is numb from your state of immobility, since it still has some wounds and above all because your muscles are tired, hungry and dehydrated. That is why I am telling you feeding, you need energy"

"Yes, I figured that" Carrion said as he swallowed another spoonful of soup. "Shouldn't you give me some water first?"

"This is a special recipe, it contains both food and large amounts of water, all in liquid form. It's much more efficient than putting two separate things down your throat" Black Vulture replied, then she suddenly added: "By the way, your tail too grew back. You lost that too in the fight"

Carrion's body stiffened and his blood froze; for a moment his heart skipped a beat. Only now did he realize that if he really had been unconscious for that long, then he hadn't activated the spell that could allow him to create the illusion that he was a human being. And in fact, looking down and looking at his hand, he didn't see the soft and pink skin of a human being, but long scaled fingers ending in small claws. "You... You saw..."

"Yes, I saw your true appearance. But I already knew it" Black Vulture anticipated him. "It's useless for me to hide it from you, so I might as well tell you now. The king knows what you really are"

Carrion's eyes widened. "Does he... does he know?" he whispered in a faint voice. "How...?"

"That dragon told them. They made a deal some time ago" Black Vulture replied. "I won't tell you the details, just know that that dragon has traded something important for him with this information"

Carrion grit his teeth. Of course, it was Haku, that cursed dragon. He had told him that he would keep the secret to himself… but it was only natural that such a vicious and evil being didn't keep his word. And now the king knew his hideous true nature, the same nature he constantly sought to suppress and erase, because it bore immeasurable shame and hatred… Carrion almost felt as if he had acid in his mouth. "Who else knows?"

"Aside from the king, just me and the other two legendary levels of the Jurao Kingdom. Unless the king has chosen to tell someone else in my absence, no one else knows" Black Vulture replied, breathing a sigh of relief to Carrion: it was already a terrible disgrace that his king knew the truth, he couldn't accept that the soldiers who followed him in battle knew it or, even worse, the common people who cheered him when he returned from each mission. If everyone had known that he belonged to that inferior and treacherous race, Carrion would have committed suicide in shame.

Black Vulture realized that Carrion was a little more relaxed, which was good since it would speed up his recovery. Having finished giving him the soup, he put down his plate and spoon and then got up: "Now rest. Tomorrow we will leave again and you will travel in the cart, where you can await your complete recovery by continuing to remain motionless waiting for your body to recover. We'll reach the Jurao Kingdom in a few weeks, and by then you'll probably be fully recovered"

"What? No!" Carrion exclaimed, making a pain in his throat. "We can't go back now! Don't you understand? You followed the noble Heloisa's will by saving me! You let me have one more chance to save the kingdom from that damned dragon! Now the tables are to our advantage, they think me dead and they won't be on their guard like before. I'll recover soon, I'll rebuild my power, and you and I together can make a plan to..."

"I'm not going to join you on a dragon hunt" Black Vulture stopped him immediately. "I have only one job, and that's to bring you back. Whether you like it or not, I don't care. You can't oppose me right now, so you'll do as I tell you. And even when you've recovered enough to stop me if you wanted to... it would be better for you not to do it anyway. The king was very clear with me: I had to stay in this desert for a maximum of two months. If I won't return to him in the next twenty-two days, he will reveal your true nature to the whole kingdom. So you better come with me. Forget that dragon for now. You will fight another day"

Carrion bit his lip, wanting to retort rather forcefully at the woman's arrogant words, but he knew she was right. This time, he had no choice but to do as she told him. So he swallowed his pride and kept silent. "Wise decision" Black Vulture said satisfied, then threw a bag of sand on the fire extinguishing it.

Carrion looked at her as if she were insane. "What are you doing? We will freeze!"

"You didn't notice because you're powerful so you didn't have to worry about it, and because the caravan you were following was too big to be attacked... but in this desert it's better not to signal your position if you're just in two, and one of these two is currently unable to fight" Black Vulture replied. "Anything here would see the light of the fire and feel its heat from kilometers away, and it would rush here at full speed. Fire in the middle of the desert means that someone is lighting it, and that means flesh. I can't fight and care of you at the same time, and I didn't take you away from that monster to be eaten by one of those hideous sharks that swim in the sand. Plus, the bitter cold will help your skin regain its sensitivity. And if you just can't stand this climate... you have a blanket next to you. Use it"

And having said this the woman wrapped herself in her cloak and lay down, and then she made no more sound. Most likely she had fallen asleep. Carrion let out a growl of frustration, then with great difficulty he grabbed the blanket and pulled it over himself, and forced himself to rest. After all, even though he'd slept for a week, he was really exhausted.