The Dragon of Mount Dīegol

[This section happens later, I got sick of writing the intro so I switched over to after he escapes.]

My vision was distorted with a blinding light as I charged into the rift. There was a weird drag as if I was trying to run in water, but I kept running, I had to. The blare of the unrelenting alarms faded and was replaced with the sound of rustling leaves, my vision slowly returned to me as I started to make out a forest. There was a sudden jerk and I was sent forward at an unexpected speed, I stumbled forward as I nearly ran right into a tree. I stood for a moment, looking around at my surroundings, no longer was I in the rift room, but a dense forest.

I… I did it!

I immediately leaned back one of the trees, still clutching my naginata as I fell to the floor. That was way too close. For a moment I just sat there, my body was pushed far past its limits during the chase. After a few moments of peace I realized that I had no clue where I was.

“Menu.” I summoned the menu and went to where the map tab was, only to see that it was no longer there. At first I thought that maybe the tab changed locations because I was now in a different plane of existence, but after checking every menu and sub-menu I could see I still couldn't find it.

Shit.

Not only was I presumably being hunted down, but I also had no idea where in the world I was. I rummaged through my bag to see if maybe I had a physical map of the world, but nothing. I clicked into survival mode, and started making a list of everything I had in my head. I had enough food to last me about 4 or 5 days, water for 1 day, and my naginata. I was going to have to find some sort of stream, I could then follow it and see if I can find some town nearby. That was when I noticed a small mountain nearby. It didn't look super steep, I thought I could give a shot climbing and hopefully then I might be able to see a river or a town from above. I started trekking through the forest towards the mountain, looking for any signs of a river or wildlife along the way.

. . .

I kept traversing the land, eventually making it to the side of the mountain. I began to climb, thankfully it wasn't super steep so climbing it wasn't terribly difficult. Just as I thought my luck was turning around, I felt something wet hit my shoulder.

Plip.

I looked up and saw an overcast forming, that's when I heard the roaring thunder.

Plip…plip plip plip plip.

Before I knew it, rain was pouring down on me. Now, not only was I lost, being hunted and in a time crunch, but I was also now soaked. I desperately looked around, seeing if there was anything I could hide under, but no luck. I kept climbing, every step I took felt like I was going to slip and fall. After climbing a particularly difficult patch of rock I got my break, a cave. I rushed into the cave, I was a little cold, but at least I had found shelter.

“Thank goodness…” I said outloud, my voice echoing off the walls. I sat down and leaned against the cave wall, my body was at its limit, I wanted to do nothing more than just rest for a few moments. The rain was much more pleasant compared to a few moments ago when I was stuck in it, the soft sound of distant thunder and droplets was music to my ears. Finally, I was safe…

Or, at least that's what I thought.

“Ah, another foolish hunter has entered my den.” The voice pierced through the calm, I stood up and readied my naginata.

“Who goes there?” I shouted, looking down the cave. A pair of two narrow grey eyes appeared from the immediate darkness, each the size of a wagon wheel and staring me down with murderous intent. I immediately knew what I was looking at; a dragon.

You’ve gotta be kidding me.

“You stand before the dragon of Mount Dīegol, descendant of the ancients. Like many despicable hunters before you, you shall meet a fiery end.”

“Wait! I’m not a hunter!” I shouted back, the dragon laughed callously, its eyes filled with amusement.

“Do you take me for a fool, human? You have entered my domain carrying a weapon, that tells me all I need to know.”

I looked down to my naginata, which was now shaking thanks due to a mixture of panic and me being cold. It was poised to strike. They were right, it did kind of look like I was hunting. I needed to somehow get myself out of this situation. Unlike my fight with the gods, there was nothing I could use to buy me an escape path, and there was no way I was going to be able to fight my way out of this, so my only choice was to somehow talk my way out of this. I thought about just announcing that I was a hero, but that could back fire on me if they were to find out that I was on the run. Pretending to be a traveler from another distant land seemed a lot safer, I could just make up a backstory and land on the spot to explain my lack of knowledge.

“I… am a lost traveler from the distant land of Osaka.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed in suspension, “Osaka? I’m not familiar with that kingdom…”

“Oh, really? It’s a land (something).”

The dragon snorted, “(x to doubt)”

“Why don’t I show you something from Osaka?”

The dragon eyes shifted ever so slightly, “...go on.”

I set my naginata down and reached in my bag, surely I had something I could present… I fumbled around in my bag, I could feel the dragon’s gaze narrowing on me. Finally, I found something, it was a long shot but it might work.

“Behold…” I said as I grabbed an egg salad sandwich from my bag, holding it up in the air as if it were some legendary sword, “An Osaka classic, the Egg Salad Sandwich!”

The dragon’s eyes focused on the sandwich, “Is that… food?”

I smiled triumphantly, I might not die! “Why yes, it is! It’s a fine delicacy from my homeland. Do you care to try it?” The dragon’s eyes stared intently at the sandwich, as if it hadn't eaten in days. Suddenly, the eyes disappeared. I stood there in silence for a moment, only for it to be broken by the sound of footsteps. From the darkness emerged a woman, about as tall as me. Her long crimson hair, dragonic horns, and piercing grey eyes had a mythical majesty that commanded respect. She stopped right in front of me, her eyes examining me closely. I offered the sandwich to her, she looked at it and aggressively snatched it from my hands.

“I doubt anything a lowly human has to offer will impress me.” Without removing the plastic wrap, she bit into the sandwich. As she chewed her face retained its look of annoyance and dissatisfaction, but her tail started swaying back and forth ever so slightly. She was enjoying it. She took another bite, then another. “It’s… acceptable,” she said in between bites, “for what a human can make anyways.”

A wave of relief washed over me, I might not die! I attempted to continue exaggerating the sandwich, but the words failed to leave my mouth. My body could no longer handle the immense amounts of fear and exhaustion that I had been enduring. The last thing I saw before I fainted was a surprised look on the woman’s face as she watched me fall to the ground.

. . .

I awoke some time later, and noticed I was now laying on top of a bedroll. I was in a different part of the cave, the area was illuminated by a small fire with a pot hanging over it along with a few torches. The woman was sitting in front of a flat rock with a few books scattered across it. Unlike the entrance this part of the cave was quite nice and warm, dare I say homey. The woman heard me rustle around and looked behind her.

“Oh good, you’re alive.” The woman walked over from the rock and came to where I was laying. “It would have been inconvenient if you had died.”

“Really?” I retaliated, “it seemed like that was your goal.”

The woman looked down at me and huffed in annoyance, “How bold of a lowly human to test me in such a sorry state.”

Human. She was talking to me as if I was some animal. Now that I thought about it, I never got her name. “I have a name, Kazuki. What’s yours?”

A prideful grin appeared on her face as she relished the opportunity to introduce herself, “I am Astrid Schäfer, protector of Mount Skala, demi-dragon and the only reason why you’re alive!”

You tried to kill me, but who’s keeping track of that? More interestingly, she was a demi-dragon. Back during hero orientation they never mentioned such a race, they talked about elves, humans, dwarfs, and all the other typical fantasy world races, but not any human-dragon race.

“Demi-dragons… I’ve never heard of that before.”

A look of disbelief and utter shock stuck Astrid’s face, “Really? Never?!”

I nodded, “Yeah.”

For a second her arrogant demeter slipped and her expression grew a bit more solemn as she muttered something under her breath, “Are there really not that many of us left?” her eyes darted down to the floor as she clenched her fists. She shook her head, regaining her composure. “Never mind that. I have a few questions for you, human.”

Seeing that I wasn't really in any position to refuse the request of a hot headed dragon who could likely turn me into the human equivalent of a rotisserie chicken, I decided it was best to just do whatever she asked of me.

“Alright…”

“First off, how exactly did you get lost?”

I couldn’t just tell her the truth, not yet anyways. I don’t know how she felt about the gods or heros, so for now it would just be best to pretend I’m a normal person.

“I was part of a small caravan, when the storm hit I got separated from the group.”

Her eyes narrowed, “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an engineer, I design buildings.”

Technically I was telling the truth, it's just that I was designing suburban homes and towers rather than castles and keeps.

“Why were you in the caravan?”

“I was looking to talk to other engineers from distant lands, to see if we could trade building techniques.”

She stared at me a bit longer before finally decreasing her intensity, “Is that so?” She stood up, walked over to the rock where she was sitting before and grabbed something from it.

“Tell me, human,” she continued as she walked back over, “What is this?”

She handed me the plastic wrapper that the sandwich was wrapped in. How the hell was I supposed to explain plastic?

“Thats, uh, what's what we call… clear kelp.”

Her accusing gaze returned, “Why the pause?”

“I simply forgot the name, I’m pretty tired after all.”

She stared at me intently, trying to see through me. I just gave a small awkward smile and tried to play it off.

“...well it tastes like shit.” she said blankly as she tossed it to the ground. I had the instinctive urge to say something back to her, but I didn’t want to risk getting roasted. She studied me for a few more seconds before speaking once more.

“Well, starting tomorrow you will no longer be an engineer: you will be a chef.”

I'm sorry, what? Astrid noticed my confused expression and let out an annoyed huff as she crossed her arms.

“Why did I expect a human to understand? Basically you’re going to make me that sandwich again. I’m going to send you out to town, you’re going to find whatever it is you need to make the sandwich and make it for me again.”

So there was a town nearby! I immediately started thinking about how I could slip away and get as far away as I possibly could, the only question was where? That’s when I recalled The Khan. The gods said he was a cruel monster, someone who looted and pillaged without remorse. What if the story they told me was wrong? What if this khan was just like me, cast out and hunted, only that he was able to not only survive, but thrive?

“Here’s what is going to happen: From this day forward, you are going to make me more dishes from your homeland. The day you run out of dishes…” an evil grin crept up on her face, “I am going to eat you.”

I could tell by the grin on her face that she wasn’t joking.

“You should be grateful I’m even keeping you around, normally I would dispose of trash the second it set foot into my home…” she paused for a moment, her prideful expression faltering into one of annoyance. “But, the food from your homeland is acceptable enough to warrant keeping you around. At least for a while.”

[THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS, THIS CHAPTER WILL BE REVISED AND PLACEHOLDER TEXT WILL BE REMOVED.]