This Life of Sin

The Night Before a Boss Fight

Chapter 16: The Night Before a Boss Fight

I couldn't tell you when I had passed out. Heck, I hadn't even known I was feeling like passing out. All I knew was that one moment, I was chatting and the next I was opening my eyes and it was dark. I groaned, putting a handout to sit up. It sunk into warm, course, fur.

"You are awake Mistress." I was confused at first till I remembered Vendaval, my new wolfie tame. I was leaning against his big furry side on the mossy ground. He was laid out next to a giant redwood, his big head now higher than my own in this position.

"Hey, Vendaval. I was asleep?" I asked groggily.

"Passed out is more like." Urp. Vale sounded pissed. "I am done keeping my mouth shut about this. If you are so insistent in acting like a child then I will treat you like one."

I bristled at his tone, as the man approached me. Behind him I saw a small fire and the other three seated around it, watching our exchange. "What are you talking about?"

"You!" He snapped and knelt before me. "Eat this. And when you are done, eat more. And after that, eat more."

I glared at the wooden bowl he held out to me, filled with a steaming stew made with a mystery meat and some select root vegetables. Still glaring I accepted the bowl. I was hungry. "I am getting real sick of people telling me to eat."

"Oh?" He said, and I saw the heroes exchange sad looks. "Well, I am also sick of having to tell you."

I shovelled a spoon full into my mouth, all the while glaring at the man. "I eat. I eat three meals a day. Sometimes more. So, stop harassing me."

"Sin..." Said Kassidy in a quiet voice from the fire side. "Honey, you are skin and bone. I can count your ribs. I am worried your body is starting to consume the muscle."

"I eat!" I insisted. And I did eat. In fact, I enjoyed eating. It was a luxury I didn't really have in my old life much.

"Do you eat until you are full?" Asked the woman while Vale continued to watch me eat. I realised that he was making sure I finished, waiting to take the bowl to fill it again.

I blinked at her, confused. "I eat until the food is gone. I wouldn't waste it."

"She means," said Markus, looking equally concerned. "Do you go get more once you clear your plate. Do you eat until your body says its had enough?"

"Why are you explaining how to eat to a full grown woman?" ground out Roran who was sitting, staring into the flames.

"Because she clearly doesn't get it." Growled Vale. "How much do demons usually eat?" He asked me.

Before I could come up with an answer Markus spoke. "I was at a meal once where the Golden Dragon's demon member was attending. He ate quite a bit. I joked with him, and he said that, if he wasn't in a public setting he may have had more. Then he said, in an off handed sort of way, that I'd be shocked if I saw how much some demon women ate..."

"I eat." I said again, sounding like a broken record even to myself. "I have eaten more in the last two months than I have the majority of my life. So, get off my back."

"Sin, look at yourself!" Pleaded Kassidy, getting to her feet and looking worried. "You need more food. Why can't you see that?"

I looked down at my exposed waistline. The alphas fangs had torn a good portion of my shirt and I could see my stomach and part of my ribs clearly. I was thin. Maybe I hadn't realised because, before coming to hearth, I always looked this way. But I do remember looking less thin when I arrived, naked on the shore of the very lake this dungeon was next to.