CHAPTER 5: CHAPTER 5 - THE COURAGEOUS BUNNY.

The claw stopped inches from her face.

Its shadow enveloped her, seemingly ready to devour her, but the strike she feared never came.

Instead, with the smallest flick, sharp enough to make the air hiss, one of Kael’s talons cut straight through the rope around her wrists.

Snap.

The pull was gone.

Lyra pitched forward, hitting the moss hard, coughing as her arms gave out. She couldn’t stop shaking. Her legs, her shoulders, even her fingers twitched with disbelief.

She sucked in a long, ragged breath before it even hit her—she was still alive.

Not chewed up. Not crushed flat. Alive.

Then came the voice. Smooth, low, casual.

"You’re free to go."

Her head lifted in a daze.

Kael wasn’t even looking at her anymore.

He’d already turned, massive head angled toward the trees, wings shifting as he strolled away. Each step pressed the earth down under his weight, his tail dragging behind him and carving deep lines in the moss like the ground had no say in it.

Lyra stayed where she’d fallen, staring after him.

He let her go?

Just like that?

The words echoed in her skull, like they’d been burned in there.

’You’re free to go.’

It didn’t feel like mercy. Not "I’ll spare you" or "Don’t follow me."

It felt like... he’d given her something. Freedom.

And that made it stranger, because she could feel it in her gut—it wasn’t kindness. He hadn’t done it out of pity or compassion.

He did it because he felt like it.

Like stretching his wings after a nap.

Her throat tightened as she watched his shadow slip into the trees. She still couldn’t move.

.....................

Meanwhile, Kael yawned as he walked back toward his crooked tree by the lake, the sound rattling through the branches overhead. His wings folded in close, eyes half-shut.

He wasn’t mad. If anything, he felt light.

First, he’d gotten to try something new—bipedal meat.

Second, he’d confirmed the world wasn’t as boring as it looked. Worth hunting in, at least.

Still, he wasn’t ready to fly off just yet.

"Just a nap," he muttered, settling his bulk into the grass. "Then I’ll go."

He paused, frowning, picking at his teeth with a claw. Something was jammed between them.

When it came loose, he snorted. Scrap of cloth. Human leader’s clothes.

The man’s face flickered in his mind and Kael wrinkled his snout.

"Thanks to you," he grumbled at the fabric, "I learned this place has more than bears that shit themselves at shadows and monkeys dry-humping trees."

Even so, laziness dropped back over him, heavy as a blanket. He stretched out on the grass and sighed, tail flicking.

But then he glanced back at that same tail. A faint green tint clung there.

"...Gross."

He shook himself hard. The ground trembled, trees rattling like reeds in a storm.

Then—

"I’ll talk to you!!"

The voice cut across the clearing.

Kael froze. Turned, slow.

There, some distance away, stood Lyra. Wobbly, arms tight around herself, but her red eyes burned bright.

"I—I’ll talk to you!" Her voice cracked, but she forced it louder. "I’m not like them. I won’t lie. I don’t want to trick you or... or kill you."

Kael tilted his head, gold eyes narrowing.

"...You want to talk to me?"

"Y-Yes!"

He sounded almost mocking. "You do know I just turned a man into soup, don’t you?"

Her ears trembled as she nodded, quick.

"Yes! I mean—I saw! But... you didn’t eat me. That counts, doesn’t it?"

Kael tapped a talon against his snout, thinking.

"So the bar’s on the floor, I see."

His gaze swept her up and down. "You’re trembling."

"I know."

"You were sobbing."

"I know."

"...You pissed yourself a little."

Her face went crimson. "N-No, I didn’t!"

His eyes glinted, amused. "Hah. Spark in you after all."

He lowered his head until his snout hovered just in front of her, nostrils flaring as he looked down at her.

Lyra, with her heart hammering against her ribs, wanted to bolt away, but she stayed put.

"You are now... Interesting," he murmured. "You weren’t before."

"Th-Thank you?" She wasn’t sure if it was praise or not.

Kael gave a short snort and turned away, heading toward the water.

"I was going to nap before leaving. But now..." He cut her a sideways glance.

"I think I’ll wait."

Her ears twitched. "W-Why?"

"Because I want to see if you keep talking."

He dropped beside the lake with a thud, tail curling in, wings tucking down. His golden eyes half-shut, rumbling low in his chest.

"Come here, little bunny," he said lazily. "Sit and talk. Bore me, and I’ll eat you."

Her eyes went wide.

"...That was a joke," he added but before she could sigh in relief. "Probably."

He wasn’t faking gentleness. He wasn’t trying at all. He was just himself—raw, dangerous, impossible to predict.

And Lyra knew that was worse than a beast pretending to be a monster.

Still, she swallowed hard and stepped forward.

Because scarier than talking to him... was walking away.

Maybe this was the start of something strange.

For now, the nervous rabbit and the bored dragon sat together.

.....................

A breeze stirred the clearing. Ripples moved across the lake.

Kael lay coiled by the crooked tree, head resting on one folded forelimb, golden eyes half-lidded.

Lyra perched on a flat stone nearby, knees drawn up. Silver hair caught the light as she spoke, her voice soft but steady.

"—And this area’s called the Lawless Zone."

"Creative," Kael muttered.

Her ears twitched at the jab. "It’s not that bad. At least it’s accurate."

She glanced at him, words coming easier now.

"It’s the border between humans and demihumans. Neither side claims it, but... since it’s close to a noble’s land, the humans act like they own it."

Kael raised a brow ridge. "So demihumans hide."

"Pretty much."

"Sounds tiring." He yawned wide, teeth flashing. "I don’t like games that need effort."

Lyra almost smiled. "You don’t seem like someone who likes rules either."

"Only mine."

Silence fell again. A bird called from the canopy.

Kael rumbled, thoughtful. "If it’s crawling with people, why didn’t I see anyone the last few days?"

"You didn’t?" Lyra blinked.

"One golden eye slid open. "Do you mean the squirrels who think they’re kings? The raccoon that fainted when I yawned? The bear that bolted while shitting itself? Yes. I’ve seen things."

She stared. "...Anyone else?"

Kael’s gaze drifted. "There was that deer. Tried to run, tripped on a pebble, died with no dignity. Pitiful."

He scratched his chin, claws rasping over scale. "I thought this world was cursed with stupidity. Didn’t think anyone could actually talk."

Lyra blinked, then laughed. Really laughed. Clear and bright, surprising even herself.

First time in days.

"No, Kael," she said, brushing a tear away. "This world has more. It’s just... most don’t survive here. Beasts eat them before they can."

Kael studied her, then glanced toward the forest, where five humans had ended as nothing but stains.

"...I see."

He didn’t sound convinced but let it go.

Then his eyes slid back. "If it’s that bad, why stay?"

Her smile faded. She hugged her arms tight.

"No one stays here because they want to. Not really."

Her ears drooped. "Most here are criminals, fugitives... or outcasts."

She paused. "Like me."

Kael didn’t interrupt.

Her voice thinned. "We don’t have the strength to fight. Humans do whatever they want—and most of the time, they’re right."

Her eyes dropped. "I thought my family was safe. We lived far in the forest. Then the humans came."

Two faces swam up in her memory—two girls, bright-eyed, mischievous. Not her blood, but hers.

She’d found them abandoned. They clung to her, cried into her chest when nightmares came. She promised them safety.

But the day they played in the forest, the humans came. And they were gone.

Her voice broke. "They’re in the city. I hid them, but now... I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happened to them."

Her shoulders shook, eyes wet.

Kael’s gaze sharpened, tail flicking. Something inside bristled. Her grief dug under his scales, and it irritated him.

He opened his mouth to speak—

The air shifted.

[A group of ten humans is approaching.]

The thought slid through his mind like a blade.

His head turned toward the trees, golden eyes narrowing. The forest seemed to hush.

[A group of ten armed humans is approaching.]

Metal clinked faintly in the distance.

’Better than the last batch,’ he thought, rising slow. The ground groaned under his weight.

Lyra jumped up, panicked.

"I—I’m sorry! Did I upset you?" Her ears shot up, her whole body tight.

Kael didn’t even glance at her.

His gaze cut through the trees, sharp and cold.

Lyra followed it, heart hammering. "W-What is it?"

The silence pressed heavy.

Then Kael spoke, low, sharp.

"More prey. And they’ve come wrapped in metal."

Lyra shivered. The memory of his claws, his fangs, the last men he’d pulped—it all came rushing back.

She wasn’t one to pity humans. Not usually.

But the ones walking toward that clearing?

She almost did.