BLACK SNAKE-BEAST

After telling Feirro everything that happened a while ago, we decided to keep on moving towards the kingdom of Dolocab. I just put the man inside my magic bag for the convenience of our journey.

"Are you sure that he'll be fine there inside your magic bag? There are enumerable things there; he might get mixed up and get hurt inside," he asked as he mounted on his horse.

"Silly! Each object inside is in its own void space, and when I summon them, they'll get out exactly in the same situation as when I put them inside."

I get on my horse's back too, hold the leash tightly, and slightly kick the horse to make it start moving. "Heyah!"

"You're really amazing! That's why I like you."

He's starting with his sweet talk again, which always makes me feel awkward. I didn't mind him. I just made my horse run faster.

It didn't take long before we finally got out of the forest. "Hoo!" I stopped the horse and looked around.

I could already see a tall gate ahead. "Is that the gate of the kingdom of Dolocab?" I asked Feirro, who had just arrived with his horse.

"Yeah! When I was 13 years old, my father brought me here to buy a Danda plant," he answered.

"Isn't that an herb that can counter any poison and only grows in the king's garden?" I turn around to look at him, waiting for his answer.

He nodded. "My older sister loves to study poisons and medicine; she makes theories, proves them, and adds to her discoveries."

"One day, she made a poison and a detoxifier. What's interesting with her is that she's always making herself her own subject; she drank the poison and tried to treat herself using the detoxifier she made, but unfortunately it wasn't effective."

He kept on talking, and I found his story quite interesting anyway. He's known as the type of guy who is cold and only speaks one to three words at a time in the city, but when it comes to me, he's really talkative.

"For three consecutive days, she tried to make different pills that might be able to detoxify the poison inside her body, but she was still unsuccessful."

"She really has strong nerves!" I comment.

"Indeed! But on the fourth day, she fell unconscious while we were eating our breakfast together. That's why we found out that she was poisoned."

He glanced at me and said, "It was actually your grandma, the best physician in our city, who helped us. We found out that the first detoxifier she made was actually right, but it lacks Danda."

I just shrugged. "Let's keep moving!" I said, but before I could kick my horse to make it move, I suddenly sensed something strange. "Wait!"

A flock of birds flew away from the tree behind us, like they were scared of something.

When I looked around to see what was happening in the forest, I saw a very large black-snake beast approaching us. It is trampling the trees that block its way with its huge body.

It's about 30 feet long; its skin was shining black; its terrifying eyes were red; and it glared at us and hissed like it was very mad.

My horse suddenly ran so wild that I couldn't control it. I had no choice, so I jumped down and let my horse run away.

As I landed, I felt the ground shake as the black-snake beast moved towards us.

I look at Feirro, who's trying to tame his horse too, but seeing me on the ground already made him jump beside me and let his horse run away too.

"Ale, let's run now. We can't defeat this giant snake beast!"

He transformed into a wolf and waited for me to jump off and ride on his back.

I just smirked and looked at the snake directly in the eyes. I waited for it to come closer until half of its body posed vertically as it stopped moving in front of us, eyes looking down on me and ready to attack.

"Yow! Little snake beast, want to go to hell right now?" My wand appeared on my right hand as I summoned it.

I was about to attack it with a spell that could make it smaller, but the stupid wolf pushed me away, causing me to flop on the ground.

"Ouch! My butt!" I clenched my fist, looking at him transform into a man again, and summoned his sword.

What an idiot! I feel quite upset that he pushed me away, but thinking that he just wanted to act like a hero calmed me down.

He mightily fought against the snake beast while I stood up and crossed my arms while watching them.

Want to be a hero? I will let you be. I smirked, looking at him, who desperately wanted to defeat the snake.

I just dodge the random movements of the snake beast as it tries to catch Feirro with its large mouth and sharp little teeth. Every tree that blocks its way and is bumped by his body falls. What a cool scene it is.

He kept dodging the attack of the snake beast and swiftly struck back, using his sword whenever possible. He moves swiftly—fast yet calculated.

His every strike can only give the snake beast a little scratch on its scaly skin, so I'm sure that he could never defeat it with his sword, not unless he could get through and strike its eyes.

I've been watching them for a few minutes already. I guess it will last about half an hour before he gets tired and slowly loses energy, and then and only then will his movements become slow, giving the snake beast a chance to win and swallow him in full.

I might simply enjoy watching them a little longer and save him for later. Unbothered by my fiancee fighting to death against a beast, I even felt drowsy.

 "Escape now!" He shouted at me, but I didn't mind it.

A few moments later, I am still standing aside with my arms crossed in front of my chest. I can't help but yawn with drowsiness while watching their lousy fight in front of me.

Every time Feirro glances at me, I feel like his eyes are saying, "Unbelievable."

He was panting as he shouted at me, asking for help. "If you're not going to run away, at least help me."

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, seeing that he'd been hit by the snake's tail and flopped on the trunk of a lofty tree.

He quickly got up and wielded his sword, waiting for the snake that was currently approaching him. It looks like his left leg was fractured.

A few more seconds passed, and Feirro was caught by the snake. It wraps its body around him, leaving only his head to be seen.

The snake glares at him, hissing fiercely. As he struggles to slink away from its body, it just wraps him tighter.

A few more seconds, and I can see that he almost can't breathe, and it looks like the snake's body can almost crush his flesh and bones.

"Poor man!" I summoned my wand, pointed it at the snake beast, and waved it three times.

The snake was about to bite Feirro's head, and I could imagine how it would swallow his whole body. Gosh!

But before it could do anything worse to him, I had already turned it into something as small as my thumb.

The little snake beast and Feirro both fall to the ground. He's bending, his left hand on his knees and his right hand on his neck, while catching his breath.

The little snake tried to run away, but I quickly ran and caught it.

"You're still a beast anyway, and you might be of use to me someday." I put it inside my magic bag and looked at Feirro.

He squinted. "You really made fun of watching me fight the giant snake beast to death."

He sat on the ground and took a deep breath, trying to relax himself.

I just chuckled and said, "Blame the hell who pushed me away and played the hero but couldn't even help himself. Silly!"

"Whatever!" He mumbles. Gosh, he looked so upset. Understandable anyway; I just trampled on his pride.

I walked closer to him and sat down beside him. "Was your leg broken?" I seriously asked.

"No, just my ankle!"

Silence filled the surroundings for a few seconds, then he sighed, "Thanks for saving my life!"

"Small thing!" I patted his back like we were close friends.

Well, we've known each other since childhood, and he's too clingy for me anyway. However, we lost communication when we were 13, and he was sent to the sacred mountain to train.

He just came back about 4 months ago and suddenly became my fiance after he was known in the whole city to be the strongest werewolf of our generation.

He turned around to look at me. "Don't worry, I will surely repay you. I'm very much willing to stay by your side and be your husband forever!" He winked.

"Geez!" I quickly stood up and walked away.

"I can be your personal slave too. What do you think, my beloved queen?"

He really had the nerve to tease me with his sweet words. Geez! I really find it annoying when someone flirts with me.

"You're just a burden. Get lost!" I kept on walking away. I better leave him here; maybe he could decide to just go back to our city.

"Hey! Wait for me!" He yelled, but I didn't answer or look back. I continue walking; maybe I can reach the gate within just an hour.

Just as I expected, I reached my destination within an hour. Now, I am already in front of the kingdom's gate, just a few meters away from the guards. I looked up, it is about 50ft heigh and there was a guard house at the top.

There are only a few people going inside and out of the city today. Before they can pass through the guards, it looks like they have to give them some information.

"It is a peaceful and free-for-all to live in the kingdom. They are only asking for names, where you are from, and your nature."

I am certain that it was Feirro speaking behind me. This man! He finally caught up since I left him a while ago.

"What nature?" I asked without looking back at him.