Page 23 of Kiss of Death
“I don’t know the way beyond this,” I said to Viper.
“If your dragon is tired, we can veer slightly to the east. There’s land there.”
“His name is Zehemoth.” He wasn’tmydragon. He wasn’t a steed that brought me from one place to another. I would have said something far more lethal if Viper hadn’t just saved my father and my kingdom from certain death.
He didn’t respond to that, but the message seemed to be clear.
“Are you tired?”
A little. I’m still running off adrenaline.
“But the battle is over.” I continued to speak to him out loud, even though Viper couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.
Yes, but we’re still fighting for your father’s life.
“You should pace yourself. Viper makes it sound like it’s a very faraway place.”
“It is,” Viper said.
Then I will land.
Twenty minutes later, a landmass became visible in the moonlight, and Zehemoth made his descent until he found a secluded clearing for us to retire for the evening. He allowed us to retrieve our packs from his saddle before he took off again to hunt.
Wordlessly, I got to work building the fire like I did when I traveled with Hawk.
Viper set up his tent before he asked if he could open my pack and build mine. When I consented, he put it together a close distance from his.
I got the fire burning and slowly added to it to grow the flames, assuming we would roast whatever Zehemoth brought back to share.
Zehemoth returned twenty minutes later, a dead black bear in his jaws with its neck snapped. He dropped it on the ground for me, and I walked over and pulled out my knife to clean the carcass and prepare our portion of the meat.
Viper walked over but didn’t squat down beside me. “I can do that for you.”
“Why?” I asked without taking my hands off my work. “You don’t eat meat, right?”
He continued to watch me. “No.”
“Then don’t worry about it.”
“You know how to hunt and clean your kills?” he asked in slight admiration.
“I know how to do everything,” I said with a hint of pride. “Because my father taught me.”
He kneeled down beside me even though I’d said I didn’t need his help. Just watched me in silence as I prepared the meal I would cook on the fire for myself. When I was done, I skewered the meat on the stick and let it sit over the fire. Then I washed my hands with my canteen before I sat on a log.
Viper sat on the ground with his back to the log beside me, a few feet between us, both of us staring at the fire as the meat cooked and the juices slowly dripped onto the flames and made them hiss.
“Do you miss eating food?” I asked.
“No. It’s been so long that I don’t remember what it was like.”
“Do you ever get tired of feeding on the same thing? I imagine it’s all the same.”
“No. The taste of blood is unique to each person. Different experience every time.”
“So some people taste better than others?”
“Yes.”
