Chapter 22: The Beast

The next morning, Foin was woken up by a strange sound. A sound so unknown that, at first, he thought that it was still part of a dream. However, as he opened his eyes, he realised it was no dream at all.

What he heard was some sort of arithmetic claps. It was as if some sort of warning was being issued. So he slowly sat up to look around. Being himself, at first, he noticed his garden, which seemed to be more lush than it used to be; it was probably due to him watering his plants. Everything seemed to be a bit bigger, even the products.

His only tree, although it did grow, the change was quite small. However, he could see that there were two slightly larger fruits hanging from the tree, so he was relieved, at least until he turned to look at a different area.

What he saw was beyond shocking. He wanted to go back to sleep and just be invisible as much as possible; however, he knew that it was impossible and that he needed to face his fears in order to survive. No matter how dangerous or terrifíing it was.

He was in his under-construction house, and he could see that a few meters from him, the ant was standing, showing its back to him. The insect seemed to have greatly grown since the last time he saw him, and at the same time, it seemed to have recovered from its previous injuries. The clapping sounds came from the ant.

As soon as Foin noticed what was going on, he understood it. Wild animals would use some sort of signal to show that they are on high alert and that they should not be approached as they are ready to fight, and at the same time, they are signalling to others that a potential threat or intruder has arrived.

Foin was unable to move for a few minutes as he just stared ahead. He was staring at a portion of the forest, which had previously been full of large trees, but now most of it had been greatly altered. There was a line of destruction in which no tree was left untouched. Each and every last tree in that line was pulled down.

Just outside of Foin's domain, a massive orange beast was lying on the ground. It had many metal rods that pierced its scales and skin, and on its back, it had a sword with a purple blade.

"A dragon?!"

Screeched Foin and stepped back with shaking legs. Hearing his voice, the ant quickly looked back and doubled its clapping sounds. However, his voice did not only draw his supposed ally's attention. The dragon opened its massive eyes and looked at him.

"Mommy... I am going to be eaten..."

Foin uttered as he hurriedly looked around his house, thinking of what to do. Now, he had quite a massive amount of food and had managed to develop his area to his liking, but he had nothing that he could use to battle such a massive beast. Even if he had some sort of bladed weapon, he doubted that he would be able to deal any kind of damage.

As his eyes darted around his field, he once again looked at his food storage. A reckless plan slipped into his mind, one which he himself didn't believe in; however, he had no choice, as he was still in great shock from the predicament he was in. And it had already worked out before, so he had nothing to lose.

"What are you, two-legged entity."

Foin heard a voice emitted by the dragon as it pushed itself up. The dragon's legs were shaking and seemed that they could give out at any moment; however, Foin didn't notice it as he was terrified. All he could hear was his fast-pounding heart and the annoying clapping sound produced by the ant.

"ANSWER!"

The dragon roared, sending a massive gust of wind.

"I-I am just a lowly human being... A farmer... Erm..." Foin finally spoke up but then swallowed hard before he continued. "Erm... If you promise not to eat me... I could give you food. Please?"

The beast looked down at the trembling Foin and then lowered itself back onto the ground.

"A human, huh... He would give me food if I didn't eat him?! I am not in a state in which I could attack him. I can barely even move... In my current state, even that black ant would be able to kill me... Not that I have long before I die... That girl back then... She sent me here just to die! She knew I would no longer be able to survive with her blade in my black, tainting and poisoning me... Well... It would be nice to die with a full stomach."

The dragon thought as it kept staring at Foin.

"Fine, bring me something to drink first!"

After a minute of silence, the dragon finally spoke up. Foin nodded and looked around. He had no empty container which he could fill with fresh water, and a simple water bottle wouldn't be enough, seeing how massive the beast was. Since he had a bit larger bucket, he grabbed it with a trembling hand.

He carefully walked closer to the dragon, who stayed still and was panting, when he extended his hand and brought the container right under the nose of the dragon for it to smell it.

"What is this?!"

"Erm... I call it tea... It is a beverage that I make from fresh water and my flowers... It is very sweet and helps smoothen the body, as well as mitigates pain a bit..."

Foin explained hurriedly, as he didn't want to be eaten. The dragon waited for a few seconds and then opened its massive mouth. Foin carefully poured all of the tea which was in the bucket and then stepped back. With shaking hands, he held his bucket in front of his chest.

The dragon moved the liquid around in its mouth and then swallowed. Moments later, its eyes widened as it glared back down at Foin.