Frozen Wolf, Fire Dragon

Chapter 7

* * *

I was just doing a final check of my inventory, preparing to go home after a long day of business, when I heard a hoarse voice call out to me.

“Psst. Hey!”

I turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw a dirty man with an extremely disheveled appearance walking up to me, nervously fiddling with his unkempt mustache. I frowned as I checked that my mask was on properly. It was obvious he wasn’t exactly sober.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m, uh, in a hurry. Do you have any goods?”

I sighed in frustration, wondering how this addict had been able to find me. No matter how much I valued money, I still valued my morals more. If I’d been willing to earn money doing dirty work, I would have started doing it a long time ago. I certainly wouldn’t be going to the trouble of secretly selling medicinal plants in a back alley like this. It was inefficient to stand around all day waiting for customers after gathering plants all night.

I really hated people that let themselves go like this. Addicts like him were usually unable to hide their wolf instincts. They often said they liked the feeling of being high since it made them feel neither human nor wolf.

Bet you wouldn’t like to be called a mongrel, though. I clicked my tongue in disdain.

“I don’t sell those kinds of plants. Go away. You’ve got the wrong place.”

“But... they told me about someone wearing a black cloak...”

He tilted to the side a bit and hiccupped. I could smell the foul odor of his breath every time he opened his mouth. It was so strong I could smell it through my mask.

“Well, it’s not me, so off you go.” I frowned, waving him off.

“What the hell...” the man grumbled as he stumbled back a step, but then his eyes fell on my hands. “Hey, that ring looks expensive! There’s no way it belongs to you. How about I take it off your hands?”

“It’s not for sale, so get lost.”

“It’s not?”

“Actually, you know what, it is. For fifty million gold you can have it.”

“That’s a ridiculous price!” he cried.

Exactly, because I’m not selling it. I tried to keep the disdain out of my eyes, but he noticed.

“Are you looking down on me? How dare you treat a customer like this! What kind of business do you expect to get with that kind of attitude?”

He began stumbling closer to me then. Just what I would expect from someone like him.

I looked around to check and see if anyone was watching, but there was no one since it was such a concealed place. I’ll teach him a lesson. He’s too inebriated to even know what’s going on anyway. I put my basket carefully down on the ground. I knew I needed to get rid of him if I wanted to head home.

I hated people that abused drugs like this, for quite obvious reasons. First of all, it puts them out of their minds. Second, their unkempt appearance was really gross. But, most importantly, third—

“Oh, I get it. You’ve got the goods but are refusing to sell them to me, huh?”

They just blabbered nonsense.

Ugh, I hate troublesome stuff like this. I looked around once more, just to be safe, and as expected, there was no one. I took my hand out of my cape and used my ice magic on him.

The man gave a sharp cry from the unexpected pain. Everyone has experienced that sharp head pain while drinking something cold really fast—it’s most commonly called a brain freeze. That’s the amount of ice magic I shot at his head.

He started wobbling, and when he looked to be unbalanced and about to stumble, I waved my hand again, causing some ice to appear on the ground right below him.

“Ack!” the man yelled as he slipped.

He fell on the floor with a big thud, splitting his pants right down the seam. He groaned in pain. Now I could see his dirty underwear through his ripped pants.

Ugh, my poor eyes...

I was definitely ready to hurry back home and cleanse my eyes with the sight of Sion and Rahel’s beautiful faces.

“I hate addicts,” I said out loud, unable to hide my hatred. The man huffed and glared at me.

“You little—”

“Eat this and go to sleep. Consider it charity,” I snapped, dropping an herb by his side. It was a great remedy for insomniacs. I turned to go home, but then stopped and smirked. “Oh, and also… I’m not selling this ring. It’s very precious to me. But maybe I’ll reconsider if you bring me fifty million gold.”

I couldn’t even dream of seeing that kind of money in my lifetime, but it was the first present I’d received from Rahel. Even if she’d eventually become my enemy, it was mine to treasure. I’d never sell it.

I laughed a little to myself as I hurried home. The world outside could be so dangerous...

* * *

As I walked home, I tried to decide what to feed the kids that day.

Now that I think about it, how many days has it been since Rahel started staying at our place? It had been quite some time. Isn’t it about time the dragons got here to the north?

They certainly were taking their time, which was weird because, in the novel, Rahel’s brother was so extremely overprotective of her.

Well, maybe they just can’t find us since we’re hidden so deep in the woods. Oh, wait a second... That makes me look even more like a kidnapper. I shuddered at the thought. I progressed up the mountain, thinking I should really treat Rahel better, just in case.

The further I went into the forest, the more my feet sank into the snow. There was a powerful winter storm building in the air and my hat almost flew off from the strong winds. I held on to the edge of it and lowered my head, but then suddenly, I sensed someone looking at me.

Such an intense gaze in the middle of this secluded forest... Pretending to be unaffected, I continued walking while a million thoughts rushed through my head. Was Rahel’s brother finally here in search of her? No, if that were the case, he wouldn’t just stare and do nothing. The obvious choice for him would’ve been to attack me and take Rahel with them.

It’s not dragons then... but who is it?

The north and the south have been and would always be enemies. Anyone from the south would think that I looked highly suspicious right now.

“I’ve been hearing about a missing child from the south. Apparently, it’s the little sister of the southern chief.” I recalled the doctor’s words. If the doctor knew about it, then other hybreeds probably knew as well.

There really are despicable people out there who would kidnap someone just to make some money.

My stalker was likely someone who was trying to find out where I lived so they could kidnap Rahel in order to sell her off or get a reward for finding her. But how would they have known she was with me? I thought back through what had transpired.

That damn doctor! I couldn’t think of any other way. It must have been him. How dare he break our trust!

Swearing I’d never do business with him ever again, I finally turned around with my guard up. It seemed like I had no other option but to take them down. The children’s safety was my absolute priority.

I reached inside the basket and grabbed an apple. With a single touch, the cold energy running through my body froze the apple with a light cracking sound. The apple was now hard enough to crack open a skull.

“Show yourself,” I commanded.

* * *

Rahel woke up and slowly opened her eyes. The crackling noise of the fire was dying down again.

Eve should be here any minute now, Rahel thought as she sat up in the bed. Eve was an ice sorcerer, but she was still susceptible to the cold. I should make the fire stronger.

The hard wooden bed creaked as she moved. Rahel spread her hand out toward the weak fire but stopped as she sensed something shocking. There was a presence of fire in the middle of the frozen forest, and it wasn’t the kind of fire that burned in a fireplace with a red flame—this was a blue flame.

Rahel hurriedly got to her feet and prepared to rush out of the house.

“Ruby?” Sion called out to her, still half asleep and confused. Rahel stopped dead in her tracks, the doorknob in her hand. “Where are you going? Eve said not to go out without permission.”

“I have to go,” she said simply.

“Huh?” Sion asked, totally clueless.

Rahel turned to him and shouted, “I have to go save my sister-in-law!”

As she sprinted out, a strong wind poured snow in through the open door.

“Sister... in-law?” Sion stared blankly out into the blizzard outside. The winter forest beyond the door was still dark and cold.