A Monster Life

39 - Trap

Texia gazed intently at the green creature standing in front of her in the communal house. It looked away and shifted a little against Ulric standing next to her. 'This is the cause?'

'She's a monster seeder that's been planted for, what we believe, nefarious intentions.' said Iphigenia. 'According to her, they told her everything was dangerous here and she should defend herself at any cost.'

Texia folded her arms. 'You know who they are?'

Iphigenia shook her head. 'No. She doesn't know more and we found no clue during our search in the tunnels. All we found were the monsters she'd hatched and the remains of the earlier party. We buried what was left of them.'

Texia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. 'I'll have to notify the local guild of their deaths.' She looked at the party. 'They'll want to deal with her.'

Ulric sensed her tension when the younf creature held onto his arm. 'Would they be lenient if she worked for the good of the village?'

Texia hummed. 'Maybe I can convince them, if there's something she can do.'

Ulric looked at the creature and she looked up hopeful at him. 'Can you hatch any kind of creature?'

She nodded lightly.

He turned to Texua. 'She could help replenish your livestock.'

Texia raised her eyebrows and hummed for a moment. 'That would free up some time and lessen our burden of hunting for food, compensate well for the loss of game in the forest.' She looked at the nervous face of the creature. 'Do you have a name?'

She shook her head quickly.

'How about Drya?'

A shy smile appeared on her face as Drya accepted her new name.

'Drya, if you promise not to hatch monsters that could harm us, and provide us with animals, you can stay here and we'll say that's your compensation for all the trouble that happened.'

Drya nodded at once and Ulric smiled a little. 'Whoever planted her here taught her a few weird things, so it's best to teach her how things work as a new kid.'

Texia nodded. 'I will take her in like a daughter and keep an eye on her.'

Ulric turned to Drya. 'Is that all right with you?'

Drya nodded, and Taxia held out her hand. She took it with a little hesitation at forst, but relaxed slowly when Texia gave her a warm smile.

'That takes care of the immediate problem, but there's still the question of who started this in the first place.' said Valdys.

'We'll send out word to the other villages to keep an eye out for suspicious strangers.' said Texia. 'I doubt we'll find the perpetrator though.'

'So do I, but now that you know someone tried this it's better to be vigilant.'

'We'll keep an eye out on our travels as well.' said Elzbieta. 'If demons truly are trying to disrupt other countries, we need to squash their efforts as soon as possible.'

'All the more reason to get on our way again.' said Ulric.

Kaui poked his arm. 'Not before you rest, Master.' she said and blushed at once when he gave her a surprised look. She fiddled with her fingers. 'I mean, if you want to. We can see you're troubled from the fight and it would be better to get some treatment before we leave.'

He smiled. 'Of course. We can all use a bit of rest before we continue.'

'I'll have someone prepare you a hearty meal for after.' said Texia. 'If there's anything else we can provide you with, don't hesitate to ask.'