The last thing he ever felt was the warmth enveloping him.
It wasn't as scorching as expected, though, soft—wet even. Almost as if a girl's lips pressed against his dry mouth, a playful tongue probing inside, swirling, and—
Konrad's eyes snapped open.
Freckles until his sight could reach, and indeed, soft lips joined his.
He wasn't dead, nor dreaming. No, the stench of burnt flesh mixed with a familiar sweetness suggested otherwise. Huge hazel eyes opened, then—SMACK.
"You're not supposed to kiss with your eyes open, stupid," Lily pouted.
She patted his sleeve to put out a flame, yet he felt no pain—other than the sting. Molten steel and charred skeletons lay all around him—and a giant monster hovered above.
Its maw opened, flames forming into a ball, then—
"No, you don't," she turned to face it while straddling Konrad's hips. "Bad dragon, sit."
And with a wave of her hand, this enormous beast crashed into the ground. The force shook the entire dungeon. No illusion—nobody could've faked those tremors.
The monster thrashed, causing an earthquake, and the little redhead rolled her eyes.
"Hold on, it's not listening."
She took off from his lap, cracking her knuckles. Her round little bottom swayed, with a fluffy tail in tow. As exhausted as he felt, it could've hypnotized Konrad to watch it forever.
But then another crack—a deafening howl, more earth-shattering thremors, and—silence.
Seconds later, the gorgeous tribesgirl clapped her hands clean on her way back. Other than the crimson splatter, she looked fresh outta bed, fiery hair messier than usual.
"Where were we?" she reclaimed her rightful place on his lap. "You hurt anywhere?"
"No?" his tone jumped an octave from her touch. "What happened?"
"I should be asking that," her eyes flashed. "I take a nap, and you're off to fight a dragon. If you wanna be my boytoy, we'll have to set some ground rules."
"W-what?!" Konrad asked, and he didn't mean 'what ground rules', but 'what the hell.'
"First," she counted on her fingers. "No kissing with eyes open. It's creepy and rude. Second, don't leave Lily behind when you're having fun. Third—"
He couldn't pay attention when her hips brushed against him like that.
To get his mind off the gutter, he squeezed his fists, finding Eyna's carved amulet inside.
Did she and Welf—
"Wow, seventh," Lily yanked his face up. "No thinking of others when I'm with you."
Was she angry enough to have the ground rumble? She did kill a dragon moments ago, but—
"Ugh, the other rules will have to wait. Time's up," she rolled her eyes, helping him up. "We'd better catch up with Welf before the dungeon collapses. Shouldn't have taken the core yet—"
"You have it?!"
Even if the duke laid a claim on it—Vargas said it'd be worth thousands of gold. He could've bought a kingdom with that money—or conquer one if he harnessed the—
"Yeah, here," Lily held up a pile of shards. "I crushed it; easier to digest like this."
"Wha— Why? H-how?" Konrad's jaw hit the floor. His mind broke.
That power? Such an infinite wealth—gone.
His dream of control—a kingdom—was shattered with it.
He wanted to cry, to scream, to punch himself in the face, but Lily was already on the move.
"Come on," she pushed his sword into his hand. "Welf's waiting."
Only a rainbow sheen on the blade reminded him of the dragon's breath.
Everything—and everyone else—melted, burned, disintegrated. How the hell did he survive?
And what for? Once the duke realized the core was no more, he'd take his head. And Vargas told him there were twenty riders on both exits—the tribesmen were fugitives.
He didn't even have an escape plan.
"Have you seen a vial of ink somewhere?" he asked, trying to recover his brain.
"Nope, you were the only thing I could salvage," Lily ran. "And better hurry, because it'd be a pain to dig you out after the collapse. I'll take care of the monsters ahead."
Yeah, after seeing her toy with that dragon, Konrad didn't doubt that.
Taking on the duke's army must've been easy for her, too—but she'd become a murderer.
No, he couldn't let her do all the work. He stumbled after her, every step sending jolts of pain through his exhausted body. The dungeon groaned, rocks clattering, almost squashing him.
His lungs burned, the voices—shrieks, laughter—coming from further and further away.
A glowing fissure split the ceiling, raining crystalline dust. Which reminded him—
The runes on his forearm almost completely faded. He used up all the low-grade crystals, too, and the Griphlet's drop had cracked. It wouldn't have survived another spell—
But he only needed one.
Goblin-breakout from the dungeon to cover the tribe's escape.
If he didn't have to fake-fight and create a maze—it should've been doable. After that, he'd be out. No margin for error. That meant it had to be perfect, no distractions.
Like that kiss—what was that all about? And why'd it feel so familiar?
It could've been part of her healing—but why'd she talk about ground rules? Were they dating now? Not that he'd mind, but—what'd that mean for his future?
That girl was out of control—control, that he'd built this life around.
Could he tame chaos? He found it exciting to try—
But his mind was in the gutter after that ten-minute jog. He reached the exit—back to the real world—and the cavern with all the alien flora and fauna collapsed behind him.
The redheads and the Black Rivers all waited—but they were no longer the battered pariahs.
Lily healed them? Like returned to their eyes. And to a purple pair in particular—following him everywhere. His new girlfriend—girlfriend?!—wasn't happy about it.
"Who's that chick eyeing meow Konny?" Lily asked Welf without any subtlety.
"It's Eyna, you idiot. You've met at the council," the blacksmith smacked her head. Nothing changed on that front. "You were in a coma from the second day, though—"
Konrad had to double-take when he noticed who they were talking about.
Eyna's skin was dark and flawless, hair no longer matted, but silver with a violet shine.
Her beauty was equal to Lily's in many ways—even if she was as different from her as possible.
The ginger caught him staring and pouted.
"Well, our master baiter is here, so everyone get ready to sally out."
"Please use any other word." The boy rubbed his forehead. "And let me focus."
A small horde of blue goblins appeared out of thin air. They looked vicious but silent, smoke pooling at their feet. Lily couldn't help but poke her fingers through their lifelike faces.
"Wow, if not for the color, they'd look exactly like the ones I met on meow way here."
She tiptoed to pat his head and kiss his cheeks, and Konrad almost dropped the illusion.
Yep, seemed like they were dating—and she made sure everyone else knew it, too.
"I said, let me concentrate," blood rushed to his face. "I'm running on fumes, so no distractions."
"You're no fun," she grinned, her cat ears flicking, as a purple pair of eyes flashed with jealousy.
Konrad shivered—what was happening?
A few hours ago, Lily was miles away, asleep, and Eyna was too afraid to even look at him.
Now the air crackled with tension—and his chance to focus was gone for good.