This Life of Sin

Don't Fuck With Demons

Chapter 6: Don't Fuck with Demons

We reached South Knoll in only three hours and without incident. It was amazing how much having a ride made a difference. Maybe I should investigate buying a horse. Or even better, tame something I could ride. The idea really appealed to me, and I added it to my mental list of potential tames for the future. It would not help me now, however. The ride here may have only been three hours, but chances are I wouldn't be getting back to the inn till nightfall.

"Alright Sin!" Beamed Emelda, her black hair shining just as brightly as my red tinged hair was in the bright sun light. "Here we go. Pick which ever one you like."

I smiled and gazed into the cage. There were twenty-five of the Dragon newts in all, each one a little groggy now that they had been in the shade of the wagon for so long. It was a little sad that I was picking one while knowing that the others were soon to be prime chunks of meat.

There were many varied Dragons in there- I'm pretty sure I would always just call them dragons- and it was hard to choose. But soon one caught my eye. There were others that looked prettier, bigger, and even seemed to catch the sun better, but the small dark red one appealed to me. Maybe, because it was a blood red color, or it was the look in its eyes. Either way it was the one I wanted.

"There." I said, pointing to the dragon in question. It was close to the cage door and laying lazily on the floor. "That red one there with the dark blue eyes."

"You got it!" She opened the cage carefully but none of the dragons made a break for it. Either they were too cold, or they were too stupid to know that they were on their way to being a snack. Her thin, pale hands circled the little dragon gently and it made a squawking noise but otherwise did not protest. "And here you go." She handed me the winged lizard with one hand while shutting the cage and locking it with the other.

I held it close to my breast and looked at it with wonder. It was so cute. As if it decided my body heat was exactly what it was looking for it squirmed then clambered up around my shoulders. Its head rested on my collar bone while its tale dipped down under my shirt and curled under my right breast.

"You know what, he actually does match you." Emelda said with a cock of her head. She pulled a sheaf of parchment out of a pocket and used a spell I had seen used several times now to sign it, handing it to me. "That's the receipt for the job. As you know, once you give that to the guild you will get your gold. Normally I would make you out a receipt for the newt, too, but if you are planning on making a contract with it, than there isn't a need."

"Yes, I will be doing that as soon as I can." I agreed. "How do you tell he is a boy?" I admit I hadn't given him a good look over, but I hadn't seen any obvious signs that it was a male.

She laughed as she tied the flap back down on the wagon. "There are a couple of ways. His wings are wider than a female, his scales are in a darker color while females tend to be lighter and have patterned scales, and also because its snout is slightly pointier than the more rounded females."

"Dang, you really know your stuff. I have been trying to find some bestiaries to get more know how on monsters but the only ones I have found are expensive."

"Oh yes. Mostly that is because the only ones who ever went out of their way to write comprehensive ones were the old tamers. I'm sure you know that the art is not practiced as it once was. The books just aren't being written any more as far as I know. So, they can get pricy."

"I guess I can see that..."

"Hey! Once you get good at this, maybe you can write one. Leave something for future tamers and all that."