Chapter 8: Tense Face-Offs

"Well, you did say you wanted to join a gang…" Zephyr made a light joke in a dire situation, glancing at Dain, who glared at him.

The Draegorths stepped forward, their large, almost elephant-type feet shaking the earth. Each demon looked slightly different from the other, but they were huge, at least eight to nine feet, as wide as three to four humans put together, and their feet were just blocks squishing into the mud and ice. The one in the middle who spoke to them kept his bare chest on show, his skin grey with a few jagged edges, his shoulders made of sharp spikes, not to mention his head was like a white alien skull.

Zephyr couldn't tell where his eyes were, though.

The skull-type head had two moose-type horns growing out the top of his head and nearer the bottom, where his sharp teeth were on display from smiling at them, the rest of the skull-shaped two more horns outwards. It looked more like a helmet than the Draegorth's head, but where he laughed at the other Draegorth's insulting comment thrown at them, he turned his head, revealing the bone of this hard skull delved into the back of his skin where his spine was.

To Skullhead's right, standing just as tall and wide was one that looked more like a manatee than anything else. Zephyr expected to see a tail and some flippers, but there weren't any. It was only his mushed-up face that looked a little dumb, as though there was nothing going on in his head.

If his beady little eyes weren't watching him like he was a bug, Zephyr would have said the bugger was almost adorable. Yet that cute manatee was clutching his sword like he could already tell what Zephyr was thinking and didn't like it. He hadn't said a word and merely watched them.

Lastly, on the left of Skullhead and Manatee was a muscular, brown-furred bull standing on two legs. It was packed with muscles and had two large horns and a golden ring between its nostrils. It was a minotaur, and its red eyes flashed as he caught Zephyr staring at him.

All three of them were menacing and large and looked at Zephyr and Dain like cats playing with their fast food.

"Take one more step, and we'll blow ya brains out!"

Zephyr blinked. Everyone forgot about the armoured dwarves surrounding them. Compared to the Draegorths, who easily intimidated everyone with their dangerous presence, the dwarves didn't seem all that scary.

That was until one cocked back their crossbow, keeping their aim steady at Manatee, Skullhead and Bull. Two of the dwarves closest to Zephyr and Dain held their muskets pointed at them, but they didn't seem as concerned about the Slinktails. It was apparent the Slinktails did not pose any threat here.

"Ugh, right when things were gonna get interesting," Bull huffed, steam blowing out his nostrils.

"Come on. I'm beat. We'll see ya another time." Skullhead waved Zephyr and Dain off casually, losing interest. It was clear from the splatter of blood on their bodies that they'd been hunting or killing something and were probably too tired to deal with the dwarves. If it had only been Dain and Zephyr, then it would have been easy pickings for them.

It wasn't unknown for some Draegorths to eat Slinktails. If they couldn't hunt or food was scarce, then a little meat from a skinny, weak Slinktail was better than nothing.

A gunshot ripped into the air, and all five of the demon's heads swivelled to the side at the dwarf pointing the musket in the air. "Get a move on!"

The trio of Draegorths took a step in his direction, their minds clearly changing from the displeasure of being told what to do. But the sounds of more weapons cocking back made them pause. Zephyr and Dain, on the other hand, took a few steps back, allowing the Draegorths to take all the attention. They snorted and snickered at the Slinktails before turning away.

The entire time, Zephyr's heart had been thumping wildly, anticipation clenching his fists shut. While Zephyr had been shitting it, staring up at three mountainous demons and expecting to be punched and sent flying to the other side of the village, Dain had been observing them. As soon as the Draegorths' frames grew smaller in the distance and disappeared around the corner, the dwarves allowed them to go, with not so many weapons trained on them, and they held less suspicion or wariness about them.

All that anxiety and anticipation drained from Zephyr. He'd been prepared to fight- which was something considering he used to curl into a ball and accept his beatings. That was no way to live, though.

Later that night, when they managed to grab a room between them with the little coin they had, Zephyr finally asked Dain what he already knew the answer to be. "You want to find them and join their gang?"

The pair were in twin beds, staring up at the dark ceiling, clean after bathing from the shared quarters down the corridor, and were left with their thoughts from an almost eventful evening. "Yep. We'll be killed as easily as treading on ants if we continue without the protection of a gang."

"Are you sure they won't kill you anyway?" Zephyr asked. "It was obvious they wanted to." He didn't need to explain further who 'they' were. "Also, I didn't think the Draegorths were allowed to enter Iron Hold."

"Hmmm. That's a risk I'm willing to take. With or without the horse, I can still run quicker than them." Dain didn't have an answer about the Draegorths in Iron Hold.

"You sure about that?" They were huge, but that minotaur was packing a lot of muscle in those legs. Zephyr wasn't entirely convinced they could outrun them. He was sure with Zephyrion's skills, he could sneak away and hide; that was something, at least.

The room remained quiet with Dain's lack of answer. Zephyr turned on his side to ask another question-

"Go to sleep," Dain snapped. Clearly, he didn't want to talk anymore.

Fine. Zephyr was done socialising for the day anyway. It really did drain his energy on top of the travelling and running into the Draegorths. He could only hope they wouldn't die the next day trying to join the menacing demon gang.

The following day, Zephyr still dreaded searching for the gang, but like Dain explained, it was better to be protected than to be prey to others. Zephyr didn't want to return to being some fricken punching bag, though. He would follow this Slinktail and join the gang, learn what he needed to, use them to his advantage and leave. He will grow stronger.

It didn't take the pair of Slintkails long to search for the Draegorths. Dain has lived in Emerald Gate and Iron Hold more than the mountains where Zephyrion predominantly resided, so he knew where to search for the demons. Zephyr wasn't expecting them to run into the same ones as the day before, though.

After traipsing through the village, their hoods shielding them from the heavy snowfall that clung to their cloaks, breath forming clouds in the frigid air, Zephyr and Dain arrived at the back of another tavern near the edge of the village. This one was more run down than where they were staying, and outside the doors were other Slinktails. One was cleaning the windows of the wooden structure from the outside, and the other had been leaning against the wall- not looking at all healthy.

As soon as they saw Zephyr and Dain, the one who appeared to be a lookout, swiftly moved inside. Zephyr glanced at Dain when he stopped moving and didn't show any intention of following the Slinktail inside. The other one continued to clean the windows, though it was wary, occasionally looking over its shoulder.

"Are they regulars?" Zephyr asked, trying to figure out what sort of establishment they were in front of or why Iron Hold was allowing Draegorths inside their kingdom and taverns.

When Zephyrion had been running errands- stealing- he didn't go to Iron Hold but remained local to the mountains and sometimes entered Emerald Gate when it was a rough week, and he wanted to get away from the others. He held no memories of Iron Hold, so he didn't know how things ran around here.

Dain didn't answer, and Zephyr didn't bother asking him again or any other questions. The Slinktail had been surprisingly useful, and his grumpiness had been subsiding.

The door swung open, slamming into the wall, and Skullhead was the first to exit. The Slinktail cleaning the window jumped and cowered, backing away slowly, eyes cast on Skullhead's feet as the Draegorth was focused on Zephyr and Dain.

"Come to get ya asses beat?" Skullhead grinned widely, revealing two of his jagged teeth missing. He stopped on the porch before the two steps leading down to the two Slinktails.

Zephyr shook his head, and Dain gingerly stepped forward. For all his attitude, seeing the Slinktail act so… submissive was so strange. "We came to ask if we could join your crew," Dain said, lowering his head slightly. It was almost like he was bowing his head in respect.

What the fu-

Dain shoved Zephyr's head down when Skullhead snarled and started approaching them, mostly marching towards Zephyr. Behind him, the ground shook slightly to the other Draegorths exiting the tavern. Manatee and Bull stepped to either side of Skullhead. The minotaur looked at the beaten-up Slinktail behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee, causing the demon to fall to the ground.

Were we really doing this? Zephyr glared at the bull demon.

"Hmmm… It doesn't look like this one wants to…" Skullhead continued to grin as his face stopped just before Zephyr's, attempting to intimidate him more.

Alright, he was a scary fucking demon that could slice him in two with that sword or stomp on him if he wanted to, but seeing another Slinktail crawling away in fear and from their new injury caused his blood to heat. He couldn't smother his features or stop himself from glaring at the ground. If only he could deck them in the face, he was sure that would make him feel better.

Skullhead chuckled and stepped back. "You want to join?" He questioned, sneering down at them, crossing his arms.

Dain released Zephyr's head, and they looked up at the giant demon together, waiting with bated breath.

"I'll let you join…"

Really?! It was that easy?!

"But there's only one spot available." Skullhead snickered along with Manatee and Bull. "You want to be a part of us so badly… Fight each other to the death."