Memoirs of a Modern Adventurer

by ErnestTBass

The original has so much potential if it was written with at least a little sanity, so I gave it my best shot while also trying my hardest not to self-insert. I try to stick to the lore as much as I can, while adding some other stuff. This is a lot slower than most other stories in this genre. It's also the first draft, and subject to editing and retconning.

7. The Natives are Restless

I will admit, I had some expectations of him. I had no idea what they were at the time, but I knew I wanted something. The passive-aggressiveness wasn't the friendliest idea in retrospect, but stuff like that just flies right over his head… usually. I had received what I wanted: choice. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to do with it. I'd compare it to the human school system, as much contempt as I hold for it. The student is given knowledge on the world around them, but little in terms of the wisdom to live in it. Then, they are unceremoniously hurled out into it when the academy decides they know enough. They are given a vast amount of options, but receive little education on which option to decide. I couldn't identify what I wanted next. Neither did he, but I don't blame him. We all have our social issues and we all were dealing with them at the time. It became obvious quickly not all of my nature was removed. I suppose wishing to be entirely normal was selfish, but what do I know of normal? Richard says normal is what we decide is normal. The world isn't just the sum of its denizens and we can choose to acknowledge them or not. He says that I am good, and that is enough for me. Despite the new outlook, the hunger remained. I no longer had the instinctual urge to pursue it, but that somehow made it worse in a more subtle, creeping way.

Gusoyn's move… simultaneously surprised and scared me. I did not fear her, nor did I blame her. I feared what her actions reminded me of. I'd lived for the past few days under the illusion that my previous world was behind me; that this one couldn't be touched. I was very wrong. I was re-taught the lesson that nothing is untouchable and I agonized that I may be doomed to return to my old ways, my only opportunity taken immediately in front of me. Does no one know what it's like to be hated; to be fated? I had a few dreams, but they weren't as empty as my conscience seemed to be. Everything seemed so, so fragile. The town raid wasn't an unfortunate coincidence. They were searching for something and I knew exactly what. I was foolishly teaching him how to wield the very energy that made him an unwitting target. He shone like a beacon for those who could see. He was a mobile oasis in the middle of the desert and I was hogging him. The previous encounter only worked in our favor out of disorganization. The horde would grow and a charismatic mamano would inevitably rise to take leadership. Then it would become much more of a threat.

Despite these worries, I took great comfort in teaching Richard. It almost made me giddy to have someone take great interest in what I knew and thought. So much so that I gave up on trying to nap and enjoyed everyone's company while we had our brief time of leisure. I scavenged some wooden toy blocks and brought them out. Sitting down, I told Richard to imagine a current flowing outward from his arm. Then, I instructed him to imagine twisting that current into the shape of a hand. It was a hand that could push, pull, grasp, or do anything he willed it to. He sat there for some time, staring at the block. I began building a small house out of the rest of them. I told him to imagine that hand pushing the block across the ground.

He focused, he strained, and, credit where it's due, genuinely tried. Of course, I could see no energy use at all, so I was confident what the problem was.

"You don't believe me, do you?" I began lightly throwing blocks at his forehead. He's cute when he pretends he's not frustrated.

Bonk.

"Come on, you've seen me do it with ease."

Bonk.

"I can't tell if you want to try or don't."

Bonk.

"It's not a muscle you flex. Moving is just to assist the mind."

Bonk.

"If you don't think you can, you won't."

In a fit of frustration, he violently lifted his arm and raised a single finger at me. I'm sure the human readers can guess which one. However, this moment of focus and direction toward something made the block slowly roll toward me and bump against my knee, propelled by an invisible force. I performed a slow clap.

To be honest, I think Gusoyn's good for him. She is what he is not. He houses passions, but simply needs someone who starts things easier. Richard is similar to a large wagon: difficult to start rolling, but extremely hard to turn from it's path once it gains speed. Gusoyn is good for me as well. I admit I have difficulty expressing myself, but I feel her rebellious and straightforward ways are a breath of fresh air for me. She will casually hit Richard in the shoulder and he will return it. Eventually it will devolve into a jostling contest and both will end up in the dirt.

She opens the door to just… honesty. Anything other than the truth is just pointless to her. I don't need to be on guard around her. If nothing else, our journey would have been much less interesting. She gets the wagon going. I ride on top and steer it.

No, I'm pretty sure you're the bottom here.

That was a great conclusion! Are you determined to ruin my storytelling with your unconstructive jabs?

Pretty much. You're as longwinded as ever. It was nice to read either way.

The day came to a close, and we returned inside the RV. Ruth declared she had something to say. She said while my goal returning to my homeland was admirable, and the other members of our group were generous to help me find my way safely, she admitted those weren't her goals. She wanted to pursue her own path in her own time and in her own way.

Aurelio simultaneously was and wasn't hers as well. She said that, considering our current situation, the baby's calculated chance of survival with us wasn't something I'd be happy with.

There was some talk and she proposed a deal. Nobody wanted Aurelio to live the life of an orphan forever, so here it was:

1: We would drive to the nearest major settlement. In this case, Ottumwa.

2: Ruth would take a bag, some essentials, and Aurelio. She was confident in her ability to infiltrate the town, safely drop Aurelio off somewhere he would be found, then disappear.

3: She knew how much the little guy had grown on us, so she would be on the lookout for when and where we settled. When that happened, she would find Aurelio wherever he was, then return him to us discreetly. That would be the last favor she did for anyone for as long as she could foresee.

I didn't ask how she planned on doing any of that, or if kidnapping was implied. As we moved out, there was this awkward silence between her and everyone else. Autriel had also decided to travel and sleep inside.

The trip to Ottumwa was mostly uneventful. At one point, Ruth spoke in a hushed tone to Gusoyn. Since then, both occasionally glanced toward the makeshift rear window. I didn't ask why. Traffic coming into town got steadily worse, and we saw many motionless cars with the driver doors open or simply removed entirely. With a quick check of the map, we went south and found a smaller town with a more discreet bridge to cross the Des Moines river. There, we said our goodbyes to Ruth and Aurelio. It wasn't five minutes out that shit hit the fan, almost immediately after entering the highway.

As we drove, Gusoyn pointed out a car behind us. According to her, it had been following us for some time, slowly attracting more cars behind it. None of them had changed their route.

The road had three lanes and never curved, so I gradually increased my speed in increments. Every time I did so, the cars behind would match it. Now I was convinced they were. What to do, though? Eventually, I put the pedal down as far as it would go.

Autriel asked, "Can we not go any faster?" I replied, a little irked, "This thing wasn't exactly made for speed. I don't think we'll get away in it." She asked again, "Then, may we do whatever we need to in order to stop them?" I thought for a moment, then said, "As long as you don't slow us down. Whoever they are, they know our car, so we're going to have to change it as soon as possible." She grinned and said, "Beautiful."

Meanwhile in the sedan behind us, three average-looking men were occupying it. The one in the passenger seat charged his rifle, while the one in the back fiddled with a pistol. The driver had one hand on the wheel, while the other was holding a ham radio.

"Base to Hendricks. Is this our guy?"

Hendricks pressed to talk. "Yeah his plate checks out. There's two others moving around inside. They don't look human to me." There was a pause, then the radio said, "Two? They said there were three. Where's the other one?" The driver was impatient, "Look, plate's right, car's right, this has gotta be our traitor. He's even running away." The radio hissed, "All right. There's no cops for the next while. You better be right. Be quick."

He grinned and signaled the two other cars. The passenger said, "This bitch is gonna pay for my fucking son." He looked through the sight of his Ruger .22 and noticed one of the shapes was looking right out the rear window at him.

Autriel casually walked up to the mini fridge. She jammed her claws in the front of the door and then ripped it off. No one responded to her, except I stared in awe. After this, she strode to the rear window, cocked her arm back, and then frisbeed that shit into the leading car's windshield, ignoring ours.

Stating the obvious, windshields are tough stuff. It didn't shatter, but it was certainly more crack than anything else. Our rear window wasn't made of the same material, and exploded in a very precisely engineered shower of glass.

The cars spread out, the recently attacked one taking the left side. The middle station wagon shifted right. The rear SUV also began advancing up behind us.

Things went agonizingly slowly for me. I could see the cars rolling down their windows, most likely with very armed and very pissed off people inside. As the car on the right moved beside us, Gusoyn performed a mighty kick against the RV's door, near the hinges. This sent it flying toward the station wagon, impacting briefly with it and making a horrible metal-on-metal scratching noise with a few sparks. Gusoyn leapt the gap between the vehicles immediately after and latched onto the driver side door, easily piercing the cosmetic exterior with her claws. The gunmen inside fired off some panicked shots, but were trying not to hit their driver. He instinctively swerved right, and briefly drifted onto the shoulder slightly.

Autriel's approach was equally aggressive. Again, using a piece of the RV as cover, she pummeled the rear wall until it burst open, showering the SUV in debris. As an added bonus, she kicked the armchair out the back, however the SUV dodged it. Anticipating the driver, she fearlessly leapt out of the back and slammed against the car's radiator. The impact crumpled the SUV's front somewhat and ripped off the hood. She began spewing flames all over the car, blinding everyone inside, and ripping into the(barely) still-running engine.

Gusoyn jammed her claws into the driver door and ripped it off. It tumbled off behind the station wagon. The inside was a chaotic scene of Gusoyn throttling the driver and then unceremoniously throwing him back into his comrades in the backseat. In their panic, the gunmen accidentally landed a shot on the driver, shattering his collarbone. Another shot snapped by Gusoyn's arm, shaving off some fur. She took this insultingly. Later, authorities found the first man on the grassy shoulder, nearly dead with almost all of his bones broken, some by the impact, some before. Only the lower half of the other man was found nearby.

Autriel performed a ridiculous leap off of the unpowered SUV and back inside the RV. Her claws shredded the carpeting as she pulled herself up. Gusoyn had control of the station wagon, and after hurling the gunmen out, she shifted closer toward the RV, with significant jerkiness of a new driver. She gestured towards me. Autriel noticed and understood. She said this was the time to switch cars.

I was incredulous, "Seriously? You think the station wagon is any faster than this?" She said flatly, "I don't know, but it looks faster. Either way, they knew us from our wagon, so we must change it." I said, "Fine." It would be the second time we'd started from zero, and this one was missing it's driver side door.

I got out of my seat and crossed the small gap into the other car. Gusoyn scooted over. As soon as I did that, the sedan with the cracked windshield decided to open fire again at the RV. They were fairly accurate this time, and shot the front left side tire. Autriel jumped out and clamped onto the outside of the car, piercing the bodyshell with her claws. The RV, now coasting and with a flattening tire, drifted left and started slinging mud around in the median. It was quickly and unceremoniously left behind. The sedan was forced to slow down to avoid the RV, and moved behind us.

At this point I thought I was going to die from a bullet to the back of the skull, but no. Autriel decided to do that move again, because apparently she thinks flinging herself off moving cars is quality fun. She tucked everything in, exposing only armored scale, as she leapt up and off the car. They took a few potshots at her, but only two ricocheted off her arm and leg. I could hear another hit our car's bumper. She slammed into the pursuing sedan, flattening the front like an accordion.

This is the point where I call bullshit on myself. There was no possible way I could even survive in the presence of beings such as these. She turned herself around with her back to one of the headlights. With an expression of glee, she extended her legs out onto the asphalt.

A normal human would have either lost her lower half, or have been pulled under the car. Not her. Her armored legs dug into the asphalt, making a loud crunching noise and spraying black rock everywhere. The sudden stop of movement made the car suddenly jerk to the right. The rear of the car wanted to continue forward, so it spun the entire vehicle around onto the shoulder. Still spinning and now trailing a cloud of mud and grass, physics suddenly decided Autriel was no longer the fulcrum of this disaster of a lever. She was flung off of the front of the car and had about a second of air time before connecting with the earth and digging a trench out of it, but not before bouncing a few times. She disappeared behind a spray of topsoil. The car rammed it's side into a drainage ditch with a wet crunch.

I braked as hard as I could without losing control. I thought to myself, "This is it. She's fucking dead." I assumed she was more powerful than humans, but one does not simply walk away from a car wreck. I made a sharp U-turn and drove back towards the wreck. Good thing there were no cars coming our way. If they did come, they'd see the two mamano, and then we'd have to… I don't know.

I've heard Autriel describe herself as "immensely powerful, at least to other mamano". Gysoyn begrudgingly agreed with her. Just how powerful is "immensely"? It's all comparative. Does "immensely" mean a serious contender in an arm wrestling championship? Does it mean she's close to a three-hundred-pound prizefighter? What about shrugging off a car wreck with ease? I didn't know. She was honest, yet so vague about these things.

We pulled up to the wreck and first saw the car on it's side in the ditch. We traced the shredded grass where Autriel landed to this figure lying in the weeds. My stomach wrenched, and I tried to call her name, but all that came out of my mouth was nothing.

Then, the grass shuffled, and Autriel pulled herself off the ground and stood up, facing away from us. She turned around and I noticed she was absolutely caked in dirt. She showed us a toothy grin, yet her yellow eyes gave off a wild and bestial, yet victorious look on them. She looked like a combination of a kid who'd spend several hours playing on a dirt pile and a wolf that had singlehandedly killed her first deer. She dusted herself off(which did no good), and proudly strode toward me. There was silence until she was right in front of me. It was then I realized she was at least a few inches taller than me. She looked down upon me and said, "I trust I've earned some respect today?"

I stammered, "Yeah...uh...I..." Suddenly, I was choking back tears. "I...thought you were dead. I didn't know. I thought you'd sacrificed yourself or..something. I mean, I know we're on the run, but I'd given you a nice burial and.."

Suddenly she stepped forward and embraced me. She smelled of earth. Claws capable of cutting steel ran through my hair without causing the slightest pain. "Shhhh. I would never do something to make you worry. I'm sorry you were not sure I lived; I'll be more clear next time. However, I want you to know that, if there was no other way, I would happily risk my life for you."

I hugged her back by reaction and said, "You can't do that shit to me." I sniffled. "You guys are all I have right now and the world might be ending for all we know. I don't wanna see the end alone."

She sighed, "If it makes you feel any better, the same is true for me." She held me out at arm's length, looked me in the eyes, and said, "Now, all of the drama's over. I can see you're a little upset over there. Are you going to go back to being a big boy soon?"

I wiped my eyes and grinned, "Oh, don't fucking mock me. It's not every day I'm in a car chase with a bunch of hitmen, and then somebody close to me gets in a car wreck while I watch."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. We'll give you some leeway. In the meantime, we need to find the nearest body of water. I'm quite filthy."

We walked toward the car. Guyson leaned toward Autriel and said mockingly, "D'awww. That was sweet." The dragon didn't go for the taunt. "We all have our needs. I think he needed a little personal comfort."

It was about then that I realized the scope of what just happened. Adrenaline and shock left, while trauma mosied it's way in. I became so distracted that I stopped walking entirely. There were at least six people dead, assuming two per car. They'd all died in crashes but not before having their cars torn apart by otherworldly creatures. I didn't know why they attacked us. Did they do so because mamano were in the RV? If that was so, how did they know? Everybody was busy defending their homesteads, so why go after me? Why did they shoot at me? What did we do to them? Didn't they know I'm human like them? Was I? Maybe it was all a mistake; a mistake that ended in the death and dismemberment of at least half a dozen people.

Autriel placed her hand on my shoulder and asked, "Are you well?"

I distractedly answered, "Kinda. Just thinking." She replied, "Actually, I have been as well. Since our pursuers were armed, and they're clearly not using their weapons anymore. Gusoyn and I are capable of defending ourselves, but it would make us both more comfortable if you were more... independent. Perhaps we could check this closest car for something useful."

Did she mean the car in the ditch over there? The one where the front looks closer to a wad of colored tinfoil than anything else? The one with the dead people in it? "I… don't feel comfortable looting the dead."

She shrugged. "I would be more than happy to grab one for you. Er… I forget what they're called, but I don't exactly know what I'm looking for."

I stared toward the wreck and spoke with little expression on my face, "Yeah. I don't want you handling a gun anyway. Might hurt yourself." I approached the car apprehensively, and quietly put my hand on the door handle.

I pulled it open and contained nausea. The driver was still in his seat, slumped over the gearbox. The two passengers in the back had not been wearing seat belts, and were compressed into the right side door. One man's head had smashed through the window. Both of their mouth's were open, and I tried not to look at their faces. I found a rifle conveniently lying on the seat. It looked like one of them had been aiming the gun when the car crashed, jamming the stock into his skull. There was a blood splatter on the weapon and the man's face was drenched. I tentatively grabbed it.

It appeared to be a grey Mini-14. It looked like it was chambered in .300 blackout, judging by what was already inside it. The footwell was littered with loose rounds, casings, and full magazines. I took what I could hold. That was all. I wanted nothing more to do with the bodies, the car, or even the area. In fact, the faster I got out of Iowa, the better.

We cautiously returned to the highway. Traffic heading west was packed, while the road heading the opposite direction was deserted. Nobody had broken the rules and started driving the opposite way… yet. When they did, they would most likely start a panic and then the road would be undrivable. Not that our vehicle was in the best condition anyway. Gusoyn had called shotgun, while Autriel reclined in the back, getting everything dirty. She grinned and her pearly white teeth deeply contrasted the rest of her. The hellhound picked dried blood off her leg.

We drove a little, spotting a few ponds here and there. Eventually, I decided we could just borrow someone's garden hose outside. I realized I wouldn't care if Autriel suddenly decided to shred the back seats into leather and foam. I did not care in the slightest, unless I was expected to sleep there. We came across a horse farm and turned into its driveway.

The sight was pretty grim from the get-go. A chunk of the house was smashed in, exposing the living room. It was abandoned, but clearly not with the owner's consent. The horses were out back, unnerved, but still grazing in a corner of the pasture, away from us. Autriel said, "Oh horses! I love horses. Usually where they are, centaurs are nearby. They're really good folk. I'm sure they'll like us."

Gusoyn suddenly put on a mischievous grin, "What do you know about centaurs? What makes you think you can speak for them?" Autriel was confused, "One of my best friends is a centaur! She and I get along very well. I wonder how she's doing." Gusoyn snorted, "Oh, they all say that. What have you done for them?" Autriel, unknowingly taking the bait, retorted, "I flew air reconnaissance numerous times for their skirmishers!"

At this point, Gusoyn could barely contain her laughter. "But what have you done for them lately?" Autriel, irate, shouted, "Nothing, because I was unceremoniously grabbed and dumped here, you infernal hellspawn!" Gusoyn fake scoffed, "Exactly. And 'infernal hellspawn' is redundant."

Autriel gestured toward me and gave the expression of, "You see the shit I have to deal with?"

We exited the car. In my case, I just stepped out. Around the side of the house was a working garden hose with one of those clicker-nozzle-things. I don't know what they're called. I was told to hold onto the hose, then spaced out.

I wondered to myself, just what is different about me? Gusoyn ripped off a car door while holding onto a car moving high speed. Autriel forced a car to spin out by jamming her legs into the asphalt, and then survived a car wreck while stuck on the front of the car. She walked away from the entire thing with maybe a few bruises and scratches.

This begs the question: How am I still alive and kicking? Were they conspiring together, pretending to be weak, to give me the illusion of control? That would be something Gusoyn would do, but I didn't think she'd have the patience to keep the lie up for this long. Autriel seemed like the type that would just straight-up refuse orders, sometimes even suggestions. Also, what were they doing? Oh shit.

All higher cognitive functions immediately failed. Normally wearing little, the two mamano had absolutely nothing on now. Navigation went down, I could only stand. Gusoyn turned to me and snidely commented, "What? You've seen this before. Granted, it was in the dark." My nostrils flared, and my eyes stayed open, unable to blink. My mind was determined to observe as much of this as possible, dry-eye be damned. Autriel gave me an understanding, albeit a little patronizing, look. For a moment, I swore I saw a little desperation in her eyes as well. She said, "Well?" I gave the trigger an iron grip.

As I'd been told many times, it was a part of mamano's nature to seduce men. It was their method of reproducing. They nailed it.

Gusoyn was a big girl, and not in a bad way. She was large, and if it makes any sense, everything was… proportionate. When she stood straight up, she was a little taller than Autriel. She was also surprisingly well built, and carried with her an undeniable confidence in her body. It was more subtle than Autriel's, but certainly there. She looked at me and gave off a twisted grin. "Like what you see?"

Thinking of a response felt like a solid minute of silence. A lot of thought went into something witty, but the only thing that came out was, "Yeah. Very nice. Very well built."

She performed a bodybuilder pose, looking like a combination lightweight prizefighter and wet dog. She boasted, "This is what you look like when you have to fight your way to the top." She grabbed Autriel's arm(who immediately looked offended) and shook it. "Look at this. Bet you haven't been in a real fight all your life. They just take one look at the dragon and run."

Autriel huffed, "For good reason. Have you forgotten the events of the past few hours?" Gusoyn wasn't convinced. "That's just your blood doing all the work. Imagine what you would look like if you actually tried. I bet Richard could imagine. Right?"

Not paying attention, I said, "Yeah, I bet it would be great." I was very distracted.

Autriel was on the thinner side. Not skinny, but something closer to more efficient. Lithe was a very good word to describe her. Her body was built to take to the air as easily as possible. Still equally alluring; The only difference between her and Gusoyn would be if someone had a personal preference.

Physical critique aside, the dragon's honor had been questioned. The devil's advocate hellhound had poked it. Autriel's voice took on a tone I hadn't heard before and said to me, "Spare me, the dragon family isn't legendary for nothing. Maybe you need a refresher on what made us such a name."

Guysoyn made a playful growl and began hopping back and forth with her hands in the air. She said, "Aw, quit picking on the little human. Revenge isn't very sportsmanlike. Why don't you pick on me?"

Autriel slowly turned her head and said, "Really?"

Gusoyn grinned, "Yeah, I've been twitchy ever since that big chase. It'd be my first fair fight since I got here." She stopped a second and looked at me. "Except maybe for you. That's been my favorite yet."

I was too distracted to defuse the situation and didn't realize it was going downhill until it was too late. The air around both of them began to shimmer with heat and the water on them steamed. Autriel vented smoke out of her mouth and said, "Oh, this'll be far from fair."

Gusoyn's back was against the house. Autriel leapt forward at an angle, simultaneously taking a swipe at Gusoyn's head, crashing through the soffit, and setting everything in front of her ablaze. Gusoyn sidestepped and pursued Autriel onto the roof by easily leaping onto it. I could do nothing but gawk.

The two of them locked arms, attempting to throw each other off the roof. The shingles scraped and cracked under their claws. Gusoyn performed a kick to the gut. Autriel retreated, but spewed fire in Gusoyn's face on the way out. She didn't care in the slightest. In fact, she giggled and said, "Fire doesn't work on me!" Autriel immediately took to the air.

Gusoyn said, "Hey, don't go flying up like a coward!" Autriel shouted, fire licking out of her mouth, "Then jump up on here!" The hellhound thought for a second and then said, "Nah. I got a better idea." She jammed her claws under a shingle, ripped it off the roof, and then flung it toward Autriel. The dragon blew a cone of fire, intending to destroy the projectile. Instead of a shingle hitting her, a glob of hot tar and fiberglass smacked her squarely in the face. She ascended and grabbed the black, sticky, steaming substance off her face. The stakes had just been raised. Gusoyn's stance and facial expression took on a more serious tone. Autriel's face was terrifying. Oh look at that. She's got fangs, too. She let out an indignant roar that made me wonder if I'd get tinnitus from this.

Trailing flames, Autriel took a shockingly fast dive straight through the roof, spraying chunks of shingle and splinters everywhere. Gusoyn managed to dodge down the roof, but Autriel's goal now included wanton destruction. She carried through her movement by tearing through the wall under Gusoyn, forcing it to collapse. Gusoyn fell down in a cloud of plaster dust. She leapt up onto the roof again, attempting to keep the high ground, but Autriel was already on her way back up. Under the cover of a ball of fire, she tackled Gusoyn and dragged her up the roof to the peak. Autriel yelled, "Why so on the defensive all of a sudden? Scared?" Gusoyn snarled and performed an impressive feat of leg strength. She kicked Autriel's lower body up, while simultaneously punching her in the nose. As Autriel's body did a somersault, Gusoyn broke Autriel's weakened grip. She scooted out of the way, grabbed Autriel's shoulders and jammed her horns into the peak of the roof, right into the ridge board. She landed in an awkward position.

Autriel took a moment to realize what happened, then let out a deafening insulted roar. She tried to quickly jerk her head out and failed. The second time she gave a great heave and split the board, ripping it right out from under the roof. She stood up and ripped the partial board off her horns. She jammed it in her mouth, reduced it to charcoal in less than a second, and then crushed it in her jaws. At that moment, the roof gave way and she fell into the house.

Gusoyn leapt into the ground and said, "I may have poked the metaphorical bear. You should probably move." I should've done anything other than stand there. She crouched with three limbs on the ground and stared into the smoking house. I could hear her whispering rapidly. "Where? Where? Where? Where?" What was left of the side of the house exploded in a ball of flaming wood, plaster dust, and glass. Autriel's foot impacted with Gusoyn's stomach, and she slammed into a tree. The back of her head smacked the trunk. The ancient oak split down the middle. Gusoyn moved a little, then slumped over.

Autriel turned to me with predatory eyes and said, "Your turn. Are you up for round two?"

She must've been in some kind of blood rage. I was being punished for standing and doing nothing while Gusoyn fought her. I shouldn't have assumed she'd win or Autriel would back down. Now, she was hungry for more destruction and I was paying for not being prepared. I backed off toward the car. She noticed and threatened, "Oh, you're going for the car? Were you planning on running, like the absolute human you are? I'm confident I can destroy that thing from here, and then you'll be stuck with me."

I nervously made a defensive stance. All I had was myself. "Actually, I was going for the gun. As much as it pains me to threaten you with lethal force, I'm guessing it's the only think you'll listen to right now. I guess if I do, you'll destroy the car, and I'll still be stuck with you."

She chuckled and said, "Funny paradox isn't it? Now human, luck isn't on your side anymore. I think it's time to give you a sense of perspective! Show me what passes for combat among your misbegotten kind!"

"You know, I'm trying to think of some kind of witty retort, but nothing's coming up. Uhhhh, fuck you."

She shrugged, "I've heard worse." She sliced the cables to the air conditioning unit, kicked it into the air with one foot, then struck it with the palm of her hand. It flew toward me at great speed, and I barely dodged it. I rolled behind a small tree.

Autriel wasn't impressed with my cover, and inhaled. There wasn't enough time to react. In the blink of an eye, a ball of fire approached me, and I just closed my eyes. I felt a warm sensation envelop me, and thought this was it. This was the end. I could see the yellow glow behind my eyelids.

But I felt nothing more. I opened my eyes to see everything around me scorched black. Everything around this black cone was on fire. My clothes were almost nonexistent. The tree in front of me was roasted. Autriel looked just as stunned as I was. Not a hair on my body was singed.

She stammered, "What? How?" Suddenly, she realized, "Oh, it's because you… Fine! Pummeling you into submission is more satisfying anyway!"

She charged the tree, chopping it in half. I dodged again. While the tree was mid-air, I had the sudden feeling like I could move it. Logic and experience said no, but something else said yes. I decided to kick it toward where Autriel was. Surprisingly, it worked.

The tree slammed against Autriel, who staggered, but was not knocked prone. She sneered. "About time you started opening up." I retorted, "If this is opening up, we should keep to ourselves." She roared and leapt at me, claws bared. This time, I felt like I could stand my ground, so I did.

Autriel slammed into me and my feet dug into the soil. She gave off a surprised face. I used the shock to push her off balance, and then threw a haymaker right into the side of her face. It worked shockingly well. She fell backward and hit the ground with a great thud. I attempted to get on top and pin her, but she suddenly howled, "No! I'm always the highest!" and struck me in my chest. I flew backwards and rolled in the dirt, flinging grass everywhere.

She was already on the offensive again. Her silhouette blocked out the sun as she flew towards me, readying a finishing blow. I met it with both my hands. I pushed her back and returned the punch. She blocked with both her armored forearms and skidded across the grass. I screamed, "Why?! Have you been plotting to kill me this whole time?!"

She stood there, every exhale came with a puff of flame. She yelled, "No! I'm just unfathomably angry!"

We began pacing in a circle. I asked, "Why? And why take it out on me?"

"Because look at me! I have these stupid, clunky claws! I can't do anything with them! I create fire with every breath and destroy things! Every part of me except the quote-unquote 'important bits' is covered in armored scale! Am I just dancing around my nature as some mindless automaton of death and sex? I swoop in, raze the town, snag a man, and then reproduce! Rinse and repeat!"

I yelled, "That's stupid! Look at all you've done! You've helped us survive! You've stuck with me on my journey east!"

She spat, "Oh I'm just along for the ride! At the end of the day, I'm the monologuing dragon that's doomed to be unhappy for her entire life and then come back as some undead fuckdoll!"

I said, "Woah. Language. But you have a mind of your own! Maybe you should start asking yourself big questions! Who are you, and what do you want?"

She gripped her head and bellowed, "They didn't tell me how to know what I wanted! I don't know how to be anything else! Every time I asked, they laughed at me! I don't have an answer and wouldn't know what one looked like if you threw it in my face!"

I said, "Then why are you so violent about it?"

She bayed her head back and yelled at the sky. "Because I'm scared and confused! I have all these fantasies and wishes stored in my head, but every time I try to talk to someone about it, I'm immediately laughed at!" Then she pointed at me accusingly, slowly advanced, and said, "And all the humans I grabbed and asked were cowards like you. They didn't know anything and just went along with it. They gave up so easily. I had a theory they secretly enjoyed it. You haven't exactly proven it wrong."

I took offense, "Oh I'm the coward? Look who's talking about being scared about sharing her fantasies with a 'lowly human'? What? Am I different?"

She threw up a cone of fire, blinding me. I'd already seen her use fire as a smoke screen, but wasn't used to it yet. She slammed into me from the side, sliced my arm with her claws, and then dragged them across my chest on the way out. I flew across the front porch, crashed through a support beam, and ripped the porch swing off its hinges. Three huge gashes opened up on my arm and chest. I should have died many times over, but didn't. As I pulled myself up, she marched toward me, her face still expressing rage.

"Yes! You've got real potential, you just run from it! You run from everything, and that just makes it worse. It's hard to say someone's special to you if they frustrate you so much!"

She was a few steps away from me and I said, "Why don't you fucking run at me, then?! I'm standing my ground!"

I saw red. I don't know what triggered this particular burst of emotions and adrenaline. Maybe it was some sort of challenge of honor or something. I wasn't going to have someone tell me I wasn't giving it my all and get away with it.

She charged, readying a blow to my face. In a surprisingly graceful move, took advantage of her momentum and grabbed her by the arm. She had a shocked expression on her face. I continued the movement, lifted her over me, and body slammed her to the ground. The impact was deafening. The earth around shook and leaves fell from trees. She hit the ground so hard she bounced. It was on that bounce that I clasped my hands together, brought them down on her torso, and doubled the size of the hole made a few seconds ago. The sound was so loud, I had a brief ringing in my ears.

I attempted to restrain Autriel from above and we locked hands. She put both her legs against my side, holding me there. She held for a moment, smiled, then exhaled in defeat, dropping me onto her. I realized too late that neither of us was wearing anything, and that was when "something" inserted.

I laid on top for a moment as she twitched. She said in a quiet voice, "There we go." I had no words.

She continued, also quietly. "You know, maybe bottom isn't so bad after all. Hey, I just thought of two fantasies I have." I asked, still trying to suddenly shift gears, "What?"

"I'd like to be good friends and on equal grounds with a human. And maybe, one day… a good mom. That would be a fine start."

I said as confidently as I could, "I thought I was doing the first already. I guess I can help with the second if you really want to."

"Please do. I don't want the hellhound's commentary constantly running in the background."

I exhaled, "You have a really weird way of expressing yourself."

Meanwhile, in a local police station, a chief was sitting in his office and wondering why nobody had called him yet, when one of his deputies came in the door.

"Chief, we have reports of an armed car chase and wreck on highway 34. A concerned citizen informed us. We also heard over the radio that someone may be using explosive ordinance west of Fairfield."

"Y'know. I heard they were going to try something, but suddenly when taking the law into their own hands doesn't go well, they immediately come crying to us. It's probably over by now. Order an investigation of the scene, and figure out what car they were pursuing. Then, send out an APB for all units to avoid or ignore, but monitor our 'suspect' for the time being."

"Avoid or ignore?"

"You heard me. I don't know why the hell they think he's important, but he is. Those are the orders for now."

"Sir, if this is the guy I think it is, why don't we just put him into custody? He's obviously linked to a car chase and nobody shoots at somebody for no reason. If word about what happened in Osceola is true, he didn't resist when they stopped him. Maybe he's scared and he'll come willingly."

The police chief scratched his police chief mustache, then pointed at his deputy. "Or he's spooked into a panic and he'll run from everyone. We don't have the manpower to maintain order and perform a manhunt across every damn cornfield in this state. The point is, he's heading in a direction we want him to for now, and it's a fairly straight course. If he really is some kind of magnet, and the higher ups are somewhat convinced he is, then we're supposed to plan around that."

"What do you think, sir?"

"Oh I think it's a load of bull. I think this is some guy who's had a string of bad luck, and the locals suddenly have a target on him. I'm gonna need to see some more before I believe he's some kind of "harbinger of monsters".

Suddenly, a new lieutenant ran into the office, holding a paper with some hasty scribbles on it. He panted, "Chief!"

"Barkley. What's up?"

Barkley stuttered for a bit, then spoke. "They're moving again!"

The chief leaned forward in his chair and put his fist on the desk. "Please tell me it's not north."

"It's east."

The other officer looked at the man in the chair and said, "Harbinger of monsters?"

The chief slowly lifted his fist up, then brought it down and pounded the desk. "Damn it!"

Imagine, if you will, you are hovering in the air, high enough that you can see the entire state. Imagine the state is dark; No artificial lights, no moon, no stars. Now, if you'd been paying attention in Autriel's magic lessons and focused a little, you'd see little pinpricks of light across the landscape. All of them are in various colors and fairly evenly distributed, except for this one place. Previously known as Osceola, the town is now the center for this spiral of little lights. They're all twinkling around the area, but other lights are attracted to this thing that looks like a fledgling galaxy. It slowly grows.

Suddenly, a brighter than usual light you didn't notice before shoots out to the right, with a few smaller lights in tow. It travels for some time, stopping or changing course occasionally, looking similar to a drunken satellite in the night sky. The cluster doesn't notice at first, but then all of the lights stop dancing about. Slowly but surely, they begin moving their way toward the escaping light.

Honestly, I wish Autriel would tell me things as soon as she learns about them.