The claw stopped inches from her.
Its shadow loomed over her like a stormcloud frozen in place, but it didn't descend to crush her.
Instead, with a flick more delicate than it had any right to be, one of Kael's talons sliced cleanly through the rope that bound her.
Snap!
The tension vanished from her body.
She collapsed forward into the mossy grass, coughing, her arms free, her body still trembling.
It took her a few long seconds to realize she was still alive. Not eaten or flattened.
Then came the voice—smooth, deep, and strangely casual.
"You're free to go."
Lyra blinked, slowly looking up.
Kael wasn't even looking at her anymore.
His head had turned, his wings shifting slightly as he began to walk away.
His slow, massive steps made the ground groan beneath him, while his tail dragged behind him lazily, carving trenches into the earth as if the world itself had to yield to his weight.
She remained frozen, processing what had just happened.
He let her go?
Just like that?
Her ears twitched as Kael's voice echoed in her head again. "You're free to go."
It wasn't something like "You're spared" or "Don't follow me."
It was freedom for her.
As the dragon's silhouette receded through the trees, the realization struck her—he wasn't doing this for her.
He didn't save her out of kindness.
He merely did it because he wanted to.
Like a passing mood.
A whim.
A dragon's version of stretching its back.
For a while, Lyra didn't move, staring at the receding back of the black dragon.
...........................
Meanwhile, Kael let out a long yawn as he walked back toward his crooked tree by the lake.
His eyes drooped halfway, wings folding tight again.
He wasn't angry—rather, he felt happy.
Firstly, he got to try a new kind of treat.
Secondly, he now knew that this world wasn't as bland as he thought because of those beings who became his feast.
However, he didn't want to leave yet.
"Just one short nap," he muttered. "Then I'll leave this forest."
But then he frowned, feeling something stuck in his razor-sharp teeth.
His claws moved, and as he scratched away the thing stuck between his sword-like teeth, he realized what it was.
"It was his clothes."
The human group's leader's face passed through his eyes.
His nose scrunched a bit, but then he huffed.
"Thanks to you," he mumbled as he stared at the piece of cloth, "I now know that this world has more than bears who get scared of their own shit and tree-humping monkeys."
As he said that much, his laziness caught up to him again, and he sighed, closing his eyes to sleep.
He needed to sleep so he could wake up, and then he needed to move before his body got mossy.
He paused mid-thought, opening his eyes again and glancing at said tail.
"Hm. A bit green already. Gross."
He huffed and shook his body slightly like a cat trying to shake off water. The trees around him swayed dangerously from the motion.
But then—
"I'll talk to you!!"
The voice was small, but it cracked like lightning across the sky.
Kael stopped mid-motion.
Slowly, curiously, he turned.
Back in the clearing, Lyra stood on shaky legs, her arms wrapped protectively around herself, but her red eyes were burning with something new—resolve.
"I-I'll talk to you!" She repeated, louder now, her voice breaking, but her voice steady. "I'm not like them. I won't lie or pretend! I—I don't want to trick you, or… or kill you."
Kael tilted his massive head.
"...You want to talk to me?" He repeated, blinking slowly.
"Y-Yes!"
His eyes narrowed with mock suspicion. "You do know I just turned a man into soup, yes?"
Lyra nodded rapidly, ears trembling.
"Yes! I mean, I saw it! But you didn't eat me, so I think that's… good?"
Kael hummed, tapping a talon thoughtfully against his snout.
"So the bar is on the floor, I see."
Kael eyed her up and down. "You're trembling."
"I know."
"You were sobbing."
"I know."
"You wet yourself a little."
"N-NO, I DIDN'T!"
Kael's eyes glinted with faint amusement. "Hah. You've got some spark after all."
He lowered his massive head slightly until his snout nearly touched the ground, nostrils flaring as if sniffing the air around her.
Lyra resisted the urge to bolt—barely.
"...You're interesting now," he said, voice almost lazy. "You weren't before."
"Th-Thank you?" She offered uncertainly, not sure if that was a compliment or a death sentence.
Kael turned around again and walked back toward the lake. "I was going to nap one last time before leaving. But now…"
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"I think I'll delay that departure for a while."
Lyra blinked. "W-Why?"
"Because I want to see if you keep talking."
With that, he plopped down by the water with a ground-shaking thud, curling his tail around his massive body like a contented cat. His wings tucked in, his golden eyes half-lidded but still glowing.
"Come, little bunny," he said, sounding half-asleep. "Sit and talk. If you get boring, I'll eat you."
Lyra's eyes widened.
"...That was a joke," Kael added after a beat. "Probably."
Kael wasn't pretending to be gentle or anything. He was being himself now, and he knew that it scared her.
Because a beast who jokes about eating people is more dangerous than one who behaves like a monster.
But he didn't care since she was the one who said she would talk to him.
Lyra, on the other hand, swallowed but walked forward anyway.
Because if there was one thing scarier than talking to a dragon… it was regretting not talking when you had the chance.
And maybe—just maybe—this was the start of something else. Something strange.
A nervous bunny and a bored, ancient beast.
..............................
Some time later.
The gentle lapping of the lake against its mossy shore echoed through the clearing while the sunlight filtered down through the crooked tree, casting patches of light on Kael, who lay curled beside the tree like a small mountain.
His black scales shimmered faintly, as if they were soaking in the warmth. His head rested atop one folded forelimb, golden eyes half-lidded, and tail coiled loosely around him.
Beside his massive bulk, on a flat stone no bigger than his claw, Lyra sat with her knees hugged to her chest, telling Kael everything she knew about the world.
"—And this area's called the Lawless Zone."
Kael's ears twitched lazily. "Creative name."
"It's not that bad a name," Lyra muttered, ears flicking back. "It's accurate, at least."
She looked up at him, her red eyes reflecting his towering form.
After talking for some time, she had lowered her guard and was now behaving like she normally would.
She stared at him for a second longer before she continued.
"It's the border between the human domain and the demihuman domain. Neither side claims it officially, but…" She hesitated. "Because this part is close to a small human noble's territory, the humans act like they own it."
Kael raised an eyebrow ridge. "So, demihumans have to play hide-and-seek?"
She nodded. "Pretty much."
"Sounds exhausting," Kael yawned, his fangs gleaming for a moment like sunlit daggers. "I don't like games that require effort."
Lyra chuckled lightly, her eyes softening. "You don't seem like someone who likes rules either."
"Only if they're mine."
They both sat in silence for a moment. The trees swayed gently, and birds chirped far off in the canopy.
Then Kael's voice rumbled again, slow and curious.
"If this area's crawling with people… why didn't I see anyone for the past few days?"
Lyra blinked, turning toward him in confusion. "Wait, you didn't see anyone?"
Kael lifted his head slightly, one golden eye fixed on her. "Do you mean the drama-prone squirrels? The raccoon that fainted when I yawned too loudly? Or the bear that ran away while shitting the moment our eyes met? If you're talking about them, then yes, I've seen things."
Lyra opened her mouth, then closed it.
Then, finally, after a few seconds of staring, she asked, "...Anyone else?"
Kael's eyes grew distant, thoughtful. "There was also that one deer that charged away from me… and tripped over a pebble mid-sprint. I think it broke its pride. Sad creature."
He scratched his chin with one curved talon, scales clicking softly. "I thought this world was just… cursed with stupidity. I believed that no one could talk to me in this world."
Lyra's lips parted in stunned silence, and then she laughed—a real, clear laugh that startled even the birds above.
That was her first laugh in days.
"No, Kael," she said through a chuckle, wiping a tear from her eye, "this world has a lot more things than you saw in this forest. It's just that the beasts here are terrifying for normal people. They'd tear apart most humans or demihumans who set foot in here."
Kael stared at her, then looked back at the trees, the lake, and then back to the forest where the remains of five humans had recently become fertilizer.
"…I see."
He sounded entirely unconvinced but nodded solemnly, as if coming to terms with the idea that maybe the bear with the bad footing wasn't a great representation of local wildlife.
Then, he turned his gaze back to Lyra, his head tilting slightly. "If it's that bad, why not leave this place?"
Lyra's smile dimmed.
She lowered her head, brushing a strand of silver hair behind one ear, the laughter fading from her expression.
"No one stays here willingly," she said softly. "Not really."
Her fingers gripped her arms tightly. "Most demihumans here are criminals, fugitives, or… outcasts."
She paused, her voice getting quieter.
"...Like me."
Kael's brows twitched slightly, but he didn't speak, letting the silence fill in the space.
Her ears drooped, and her voice grew faint. "We don't have the strength or support to fight the humans here. They think they can do whatever they want to us. And they're usually right."
Something flickered behind her eyes—sadness, maybe. Regret.
"I lived with my family on the other side of the forest, thinking we were safe," she whispered. "But then the humans came."
She swallowed hard, her chest tightening at the thought.
Two small faces danced in her mind—mischievous grins, bright eyes. One boy. One girl.
They weren't related by blood, but they were all the same.
She remembered their tiny hands in hers when she first found them abandoned in the forest.
The way they clung to her when nightmares came. The way she had promised them they'd be free together one day.
Then… when they were playing in the forest, the humans came and took them away.
Her throat felt like it was clenched, and she stared down at the earth, her shoulders quivering slightly. "They're still in the city. I hide them, but I—I don't know what's happened to them…"
Kael's gaze sharpened.
A moment passed.
His eyes caught the faint shimmer of tears threatening to fall, and for some reason, he couldn't explain why, but he felt… annoyed.
Not at her. But at the memory behind her words.
He was about to speak when something shifted in the air.
[A group of ten humans is approaching.]
His instincts spoke in his head.
Unlike last time, his instincts could tell that the ones coming toward him were humans.
Kael's head turned slowly, golden eyes narrowing toward the treeline behind them. The wind stilled.
[A group of ten armed humans is approaching.]
The warning changed as the sound of some low metallic clangs made it obvious that the humans were armed.
'They are better than the last batch.'
With that thought, he rose slowly like a mountain stretching itself awake, the earth groaning beneath his limbs.
Lyra startled, standing to her feet as he moved.
"I-I'm sorry! Did I upset you?" She asked quickly, her ears standing straight in panic.
Maybe her reminiscence made Kael lose interest in talking.
But then she noticed that Kael wasn't looking at her.
His eyes burned cold, locked onto the distance.
She turned to follow his gaze. "W-What is it?"
The dragon didn't answer immediately.
Then, his voice came, low and sharp as obsidian.
"More prey," he said. "And they've come wrapped in metal."
Lyra shivered as the scene of Kael eating humans replayed through her mind.
She didn't usually pity humans, but for the ones coming here, she did.