: Breath

Entering the cabin, The first thing that Dimitri, Clouse and Gerrin saw was a small little Drakin with her head down.

The entire air around her was gloomy and dejected.

But once she had noticed that others had entered the cabin, it was as if a switch had been switched and she had immediately turned from downcast to a completely inexpressive and stony little beast.

The switch was so fast that it was barely even noticeable, but Dimitri witnessed the whole thing causing a curious flint to pass through his eyes before quickly disappearing.

Dimitri and Clouse weren't at all surprised to see Kayda standing there, but Gerrin was rooted to the spot he stood on.

Gerrin was a tall and burly man with broad and bulky shoulders and a long scar that ran down the side of his jaw all the way to his collarbone. With the presence of a mountain and the intimidation of a bear, one could only describe him as a big and scary man.

But at this moment, his eyes were wide opened and his jaw slightly opened as he looked at Kayda in surprise.

It was well known that Drakin were a very rare and elusive species in the beastkin society. They were a very elite existence that were known for their loyalty to the royalty of Ealapea. But when he was just a boy, he had heard tales of how there was a mass genocide of the species, leaving only a few left in hiding.

Seeing such a being in front of him right now made him feel as if he was seeing something from an old bedtime story.

"Is this why you brought me here?"

Gerrin turned and looked to Clouse for answers. He didn't know how to react to this situation.

Seeing such a large man with such a dumbfounded look on his face, Clouse couldn't help but give a chuckle.

"Ya, we both thought that she would be more comfortable around you than the two of us."

Gerrin immediately understood his intentions when he looked back and saw Kayda's horns and tail.

All the while, Kayda just stared at them. Not understanding a thing they were saying as they were once again talking in the eastern's native language she had yet to learn.

Clouse was amused by the darkening look on Kayda's face but thought better of it to mess around with such a thin and fragile kid without knowing the extent of her damage.

"Kayda, this is Gerrin. He'll help with your horns and tail."

Clouse smiled as he started talking in the western language.

Listening to his words, Kayda tilted her head a bit in confusion. What does he mean with her horns and tail? There wasn't much that could be done about them.

A traumatic memory suddenly materialized in her head after hearing his words and she was suddenly oozing killing intent that could choke a person.

The sudden hostility shocked everyone making Gerrin and Clouse freeze on the spot before they both instinctively reached for their weapons.

Clouse felt the most strain as the strong intent was directed towards him. Looking at Kayda, he noticed how her once inexpressive eyes turned into dead pits of darkness that would completely shred apart his existence if allowed to. And as he looked into her eyes, he felt as if a cold blade was tracing its way up his spine towards his throat.

Dimitri was the first one to react. In blurring motions, he threw off his coat and covered Kayda in it, completely blocking her view of everything around her and was now surrounded by a warm darkness and an earthy scent filling her nose.

All of a sudden, the killing intent was gone as the sudden change of surroundings shocked Kayda into calming down.

The sudden withdrawal of Kayda's killing intent almost put Clouse and Gerrin in a whiplashed state. Almost making them believe that they hallucinated what just happened if it wasn't for the cold sweat that still stuck to their skins.

Ignoring the shocked states of both Clouse and Gerrin, Dimitri put his full focus on Kayda.

Her breathing was slightly irregular as she seemed to be in a panic.

"No one is going to hurt you."

Hearing the familiar language, Kayda took in a breath and held it in her chest. Afraid to even breath as her emotions threatened to wreak havoc on everything.

"Breath."

With his words, Kayda let out a shallow breath. Just trying to contain the turmoil inside her.

After a few seconds of calming down, Kayda reached up and removed the coat that covered her face.

She had reverted to her earlier calm and expressionless demeanor. With a sigh, she held out Dimtiri's coat.

"I apologize for my earlier actions."

Her words were hollow and empty, but you could tell she felt regretful by the slight quiver at the end of her sentence.

Dimitri took his coat back from her and nodded as if nothing had happened.

Clouse on the other hand didn't feel like he was thick skinned enough to be able to act completely fine after feeling like he had just stared death in the face. So he just coughed into his hand to regain his composure and plastered on his signature charming smile.

"You should at least let me finish before you decide to rid the world of me."

His joking manner was able to slightly disperse the tension in the room.

"Now, as I was saying, Gerrin is here to help you hide your tail and horns so that you don't draw unwanted attention in public."

This time he went more into detail to not cause another incident like the one he experienced just seconds ago.

Kayda just nodded and didn't bother to ask any questions

Breathing out a sigh, he looked to Gerrin who seemed to have regained his composure form earlier.

"Luckily, Gerrin knows the Zedrulian language as well so we don't need any translators. Oh, and since it's just the four of us, Gerrin, you can deactivate the spell."

Gerrin solemnly nodded as he concentrated silently before some runes translucently appeared around him before disappearing again. But this time, when they disappeared, Gerrin's form had completely changed.

Gerrin was now bigger than before. His hands had turned hairy and paw-like with large claws on his fingers. His face had taken on more of an animal shape with fur and rounded ears on the top of his head.

Taking his hand, he put it over his chest as he slightly bowed towards Kayda.

"I am Gerrin Belmont. I belong to the bear tribe. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Looking back up, he gave a smile that showed off his large fangs.

His entire form was intimidating but there wasn't an ounce of hostility emitting from him, and even if there was, Kayda wouldn't care as she looked at Gerrin with big eyes.

She had seen plenty of other beastfolk. All from different races and species, but it was her first time seeing one that could change his appearance to look the part of a human. If that wasn't surprising enough, she couldn't even smell that he was of the bear tribe.

A person born as a beastkin was greatly discriminated against on half of the continents. And their greatest asset could also be their greatest weakness. Their physical appearance.