Pinkie, when he arrived, was still asleep, neck curled tightly around her body, a body which Daimen noticed had grown significantly since the last time he saw her.

  Judging by the increased body size, he reckoned the creature was already approaching two hundred pounds in weight, a drastic size increase for a creature of such realm.

  Her skin, rather than the leathery texture it had sported before, now showed a series of overlapping arrangements of small pearl-like shapes running along its surface, each glimmering a dull shade of violet. Scales.

  How is that possible? Daimen frowned, but soon discarded the train of chaos before he could dig himself deep into it. After all, it should have been obvious. She was reptilian in appearance from the start, the appearance of scales should have been expected.

  The creature’s belly rose and fell gently in rhythmic breathing, and her newly ascended Mid Foundation realm aura thrummed unstably around her.

  “What a magnificent beast,” Daskar whispered. “It hums with potential, a creature I believe shall be fruitful in the future. I shall like to add it to my collection, a prized possession.”

  “Try it and I will take off your head.”

  The demon turned to him, completely ignoring Daimen's threat. “What sort of creature is it?”

  “A mystery I have yet to solve.”

  Daskar nodded. “Odd, but not surprising. I shall acquire it off your hands; all you need to do simply state your price.”

  “No thanks.”

  “But I could make you the richest person in your homeworld, wherever that is. I could drown you in so much wealth, affluence enough to purchase entire worlds.”

  Daimen paused and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Yes,” the demon leaned forward, voice turning a bit too soothing. “A mountain of wealth, two mountains. A world filled to the brim with all that you desire. Whatever it is you want, be it power, eternal life, beauty comparable to mine… all this i offer in exchange for this creature.”

  Daimen opened his mouth to outright reject the offer, but then stopped to consider. He knew for a fact that the Demon wasn't bluffing. For a race so forcibly secluded, prevented from interacting with most of the mortal population, they acquired wealth like no other, only comparable to dragons. When a demon promised something, best assured they had the means to provide it.

  Daimen was not desperately in need of money, but a mountain of gold was an offer he couldn't simply pass up without much thought. Such wealth, although not large enough to fund his progression completely through Spirit King, would surely get him through the early stages.

  All this, just to sell one picky little serpent with an ungrateful attitude.

  He glanced at the sleeping creature and then turned back to Daskar.

  “... No thanks.”

  “Are you sure? I am offering more than mo—”

  “Would you like my firstborn, too? Or my soul, perhaps?”

  Daskar paused, clearly caught offguard. “Well, ahh, if that is what you wish, we can certainly come to an agreement?”

  Daimen stared at the demon for a few seconds, clearly conveying his thoughts on the matter. After that, he leaned back against the dugout wall without a word.

  The demon sighed, leaning back with an expression seemingly close to a pout.

  “No pressure. Think more about my offer, I assure you that no regrets shall be had.”

  Daimen said nothing to that.

  ***

  After resting up for some time, Daimen put his energy to good use by making dinner, timed with the dimming glow of the heavens and the thickening mist.

  He prepared the fish monsters, mixed with the meat of a squirrel-like creature he'd brought down along the way. Daskar was at first reluctant to eat, clearly showing his disgust towards the squirrel meat. But after a curious taste, the demon jumped into the meal with wild abandon, ignoring grace to devour his meal like a beast. He ate with so much gusto that his gem-like violet eyes shone with bright excitement.

  Pinkie woke up mid-meal, and the creature was even more ravenous than Daskar.

  She gulped in her share of the meal in large batches, and as she ate, he finally got the chance to study her new form.

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  The reptilian creature, once two feet in size, now rose double that as she stood. Not only that, but her claws had grown noticeably, now the size of his pinky finger—pun intended. Her fangs, as she ate, glittered silver under the night fire, and her face seemed a little more defined, thick and more adult in features compared to her previous young features.

  He caught Daskar staring at her, having abandoned his food to gaze fixatedly at her.

  He caught the demon's attention and then pointed the knife he'd used in skinning the squirrel-like creature threateningly at him.

  Again, an expression resembling a pout crossed the demon's features, soon replaced by obvious disappointment as he went back to his food, now with much less exuberance.

  ***

  Done eating, Daimen turned his attention to the demon while Pinkie walked to lie beside him.

  The demon's gaze followed the reptilian creature, only interrupted when a pebble landed on his chest.

  “What was that for?” The demon glared.

  “Eyes on me,” Daimen gestured. “Stop leering at the little girl.”

  Caught off guard and unable to sensibly counter, the demon opened its mouth, obviously trying for a word that seemed to escape him. He closed it and then tried again, and when nothing seemed to come out, he clicked it shut with a frustrated glare.

  “You are insufferable, are you aware?”

  “All too well,” Daimen rolled his eyes. “Now that I've finally managed to take your eyes off the little girl,” he let out a smug smile, ignoring the glare the demon sent his way, “I'd like to focus on other matters.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like the ordeal you just forced me into back there,” he pointed behind him, roughly towards the location they'd fought the guards. “You put me in a position where I had to interfere in business that was not mine. It seems only fair that I be made aware of what I've just gotten myself into, no?”

  “We made a deal.”

  “Yes, a deal. I kept up my end of the bargain, evidence to you sitting here, without chains around your limbs. You can go anywhere you want to escape whoever is chasing you. Not me, though. How fair would it be if I do not live to enjoy your end of the bargain?”

  “Then I shall help accomplish whatever it is you desire, as was promised. Tell me what it is you want?”

  “Freedom.”

  Daskar raised an eyebrow. “You already have it.”

  “I want freedom out of Hell.”

  “Oh…”

  “Yes, oh. You didn't seem like a normal run-of-the-mill prisoner, that is the only reason I aided in your escape.” He didn't add the part where he feared the demon would reveal his position to curry favor with his jailers. “I need answers, both of what I have just gotten myself into, and how to escape this place.”

  Daskar was silent for a short while, seemingly contemplating. Daimen let him, patiently waiting for when he would speak. And eventually, he did.

  “Short of those who sit beyond the realm of Kings, there is only one other way to travel between dimensions.” He met Daimen's eyes. “A portal stone.”

  “I know that.”

  “You do?”

  Daimen rolled his eyes. “I am not dumb, you know?”

  “Hmm, a surprise. You continue to amaze me.”

  Daimen glared at him but chose not to bite. Instead, he asked the question he needed an answer to. “Where do I find a portal stone?”

  “The closest one should be within a hundred miles of here, a short distance beyond this forest.”

  Daimen blinked. “That's not far. We can go get it now.”

  Daskar watched him, face blank. “Yes, if it did not reside deep within the tribe Er’Yixil, a short grasp from Erlade Er’Yixil herself.”

  “Err, who's that?”

  “Lady of the tribe.”

  “Oh…”

  “Correct. Moreover, the layout and location of vault of tribe Er’Yixil is foreign to me. There is a high probability we would get caught.” He paused, and then a smile broke out on his face, dark and menacing. “Fortunately for you, another location exists close by where a portal stone could be found, or stolen.”

  Daimen leaned forward. “Where?”

  “Tribe It'Yixil.”

  “Isn't that where you're from?”

  “Correct,” Daskar nodded with a smile. "A layout mastered by me since inception, including where its vault lay, and how to get in.”

  Daimen sent the demon a suspicious look. "I don't imagine everyone in your tribe has access to that vault, or do they?”

  Daskar met his eyes. “No, only the tribe lord… and his heir.”

  Daimen blinked. Ahhh, so that was it then… he had unknowingly gotten himself into the middle of a father-son spat, one where the son had lost, been chained, and then sent away.

  “What did you do to make your father treat you so?”

  Daskar bared his teeth.

  “I refused to be molded to his will.”

  And that was it. The demon stood up immediately and climbed out of their hole, disappearing out into the mist.

  Daimen wanted to call out to him, to warn of prowling dangers within the forest. But frankly, those dangers should be the ones wary of encountering the demon. Daskar, despite how frail he looked, was anything but.

  He sighed and leaned back, golden eyes staring into the dying embers while his hand stroked the hardened surface of his beastly companion.

  He thought of his father, and the hole in his mind where his identity had been swallowed up. No matter how he searched, there was no buried memory within his mind that told of who sired him. All was blank.

  He sighed again, refusing to dwell further on such depressing thoughts.

  ***

  When Daimen woke the next day, he was alone.

  He got up in a flash, a weapon appearing in his hand. He climbed out of the pit and made to call out to Pinkie or Daskar, but paused, wary. The possibility of an enemy finding them was small, but not nonexistent. Just in case, though, he couldn't afford to alert them to his presence.

  Another thought crept into his mind, but he pushed it away. No, Daskar would not dare. The demon had sworn an oath, a promise made under Karma. He would be the biggest fool Daimen had ever met to break such an oath, especially for an unproven creature.

  Daimen gripped his weapon tightly and stalked into the mists, moving away from his hideout. If there was an enemy around, the hideout would soon be discovered. He didn't want to be there when that happened.

  Thirty minutes later and Daimen continued creeping through the forest, which was silent save for the morning crows and craws of the avian creatures living on the trees.

  A distant roar cut through the silence, sending a flock of bird-like creatures fleeing into the air.

  That sounded nothing like Pinkie or anything he knew, so he considered ignoring it and continuing his search. Another roar cut through the air and this time his curiosity got the better of him.

  He turned around and sped towards the origin of the sound, weaving between trees and still sleeping creatures, some of which had already woken up, fleeing the other way from where the sound was originating.

  He arrived just as something cracked and broke, something heavy crashing onto the ground and sending a tremor running through the earth.

  He pushed aside a patch of bush, opening it up to reveal the clearing beyond. Daimen blinked as he raised his spear.

  “What tha?...”