Dragon's Hoard 2: A Slice of Life Fantasy by Gwen Grayson

Author:Gwen Grayson [Grayson, Gwen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

I woke with a bleary mind, telling me I needed to get up and get my ass to work. I didn’t want to go. I was tired of the office life, tired of working beneath a boss who shoved all his responsibilities onto me while paying me like crap. Tired of spending my hard-earned cash on frivolous things to dull the fact that I was unsatisfied with my life.

My alarm clock hadn’t gone off yet, so I could still sleep a little longer, which was a small blessing on any given day.

What day was it? Wednesday? That meant I still had three more work days before I could relax. What hell would Gord put me through today?

The battle with the Red Dawn flashed before my mind. Scorching flames, talons, and teeth all glinted in my mind, culminating in the fateful moment when I slayed the beast and he transformed back into a human—well, minus the head.

I still remembered the familiar suit he had worn—the very same as Gord, my old boss.

Guilt tickled at the back of my mind as my consciousness slowly returned to me. I’d tried hard to shove down the feelings of what I’d done, but they continued to creep up on me when I least expected it. Just when I thought I’d forgotten, they came at me again, threatening my humanity.

How long until I became like him? How long until my scales rotted, my magic became corrupted, and I lost myself to the maddening hunger for more. More power. More wealth. More land.

“You look troubled,” Yumi’s soft voice called me from my sleep. Her fingers gently combed through my hair.

“Nightmare,” I murmured.

“About the Red Dawn?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “You know me so well, babe.”

“I do.” She continued to play with my hair, twirling it around her warm fingers. “Only a good man worries if he’s really a good man. Bad men don’t have such thoughts.” Her soft lips brushed my temple. “You did what you had to do. As you always do.”

“What if I have to keep doing something like that?” I asked, my voice hoarse from sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, finding her hovering over me, staring down at me. Her golden hair formed a curtain around us, blocking out the rest of the world. “Will I become a monster like him?”

“Heartling, you will never be like him.” Her lips briefly touched mine.

“What if the world comes for us, and I have to fight them all? I have to kill them all?”

“There’s a difference between hunting people down and defending yourself,” Brynhilda said. A finger parted the curtain of golden hair, and her face popped up beside Yumi’s. Her honey-brown eyes shone fondly as she smiled down at me. “The Nexus recognizes this. It’s why noble warriors defending their homeland don’t end up as such.”

“Oh.” I breathed a sigh of relief. It was like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Sure, I still carried the burden of what I’d done, but that felt normal.

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