Hearing Clay spoke of the huge bonfire – the Scred flame. Dein was once again reminded of the destruction of the tribe the spell had shown him.
Of course, by now, Dein had already guess that he's on that very same place, just on the outskirts of the tribe. Things like that isn't hard to put together considering he had already suspected that something would happen to him that'll bring him closer to this place.
But now that he's actually here, locked up inside a wooden cage, and still visibly wounded, Dein is now completely loss of what to do next.
He knows he had to get information somehow which is why he talked to Clay in the first place – though Dein did not expect that they'll actually befriend each other, at least somewhat. Clay is still a bit warry of him after all, which is shown by how he sit a bit farther away from Dein.
Also, their last conversation hadn't even lasted long. Dein just convinced Clay that he's a very special monster who doesn't eat humans. He even used Gi's words to reinforce his argument and said that if he brings him normal food and clothes that'll prove it.
Turns out, Clay is quite a curious and naive guy so he did.
So now they're talking to each other like it's just a normal day.
"I see, but how would a bonfire even choose someone?"
Dein asked, making Clay blink a few times, perplexed by the question. After a short while, he answered. Scratching the back of his head.
"I… actually don't know. All I know is that once chosen you'll be granted extraordinary strength and powers but also a flaw… at least, that's what the priestess said."
Extraordinary powers? Flaws? Isn't that just awakening? Is that sacred flame the same as the spell? It doesn't makes sense if it is since the spell have no actual form, however, considering that this is the past already, it might be?
Also…
"Priestess? You mean the woman named Gi?"
Based on the woman's clothing Dein already suspected that she's a priestess of some kind but that's where questions begun though, why would there be a priestess on a secluded tribe? Aren't they supposed to be on shrines and temples?
Meanwhile, Clay answered with a nod, a wide smile on his face.
"Yup, she only arrived on the tribe a few years ago but our tribe already changed a lot because of her"
So she's an outsider. That explains it. But why would she go here anyway? The answer of course, probably have something to do with that gigantic bonfire who's said to be able to awaken people.
Dein was just about to open his mouth to speak but then paused.
'Wait… awaken people? Does that mean there's a lot of awakened in this stupid place?'
A frown appeared on Dein's face at the thought. If the flame could really awaken people like the spell then that means that Dein would have to fight countless awakened is he ever tried to escape.
Much more, considering that he saw those same awakened get brutality killed when the tribe was attacked would also mean that the creature who attacked them must be exceptionally strong.
And… and Dein would've to defeat that thing to clear the nightmare…
Feeling the gnawing fear of dreadful trepidation crawl on his skin, Dein couldn't help but click his tongue.
'tsk, just… just what the hell did the spell thrown me into!'
The spell is basically telling him to die! More than that, the attack hadn't even started and Dein is already covered in wounds! Even if it's already been treated, wounds are still wounds, they take long to heal and would give you excruciating pain.
'No, no… there's still hope' Dein thought, grimacing internally.
By this time, Clay had already noticed his awkward silence and the frown on his face. Confused, he asked.
"Is something wrong Dein?"
The words almost made Dein flinch in surprise as it pulled him away from his train of thoughts. Luckily, Dein manage to hold himself and answered.
"Ah, yeah… I was just thinking. What do you think your friends would do me after the three days?"
This time, it was Clay's turn to frown as he avoided eye contact. He looked down, watching the soil beneath the tree branch he's sitting.
At the same time, Dein could also feel the shadow running on his face.
Silence permeated the air and even the little girl who's always giggling and laughing shared their look.
After a while, Clay spoke. His voice barely a murmur.
"Does monsters have family too?"
Huh? The words caught Dein off guard, the shadow on his face dissapeared and he somehow felt dumbstruck. 'What does family have to do with my question!' caught off guard, Dein just said what comes to mind intead of carefully choosing his words.
"How the hell should I know?"
Clay looked up, startled by the sudden change of tone, he blink a couple of times.
"But aren't you also a monster?"
"Wha– I mean, I am. But I'm a special one so I don't know about the others"
That was close. Dein have been keeping himself as friendly as he could earlier but because of Clay unaccounted question, his true personality slipped. But then again, who said you have to pretend to be a good guy to befriend someone.
Finally, Dein sigh. 'Im tired of this'
"But yes, I do have a family back home. A very huge family in fact that we're called a clan"
Clay smiled, as if happy to know that, then his eyes shone with excitement and he exclaimed.
"You mean a monster clan?"
This guy! If it is any other situation, Dein would've slapped Clay right in his face for calling his family a monster but… well, considering Dein is currently a monster Clay has right to assume.
And it's not like he's completely wrong, there are monster in his family after all.
Remembering Freya, the father and the other members of the clan, Dein spoke with a sigh.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it like that"
Hearing the words, Clay shifted from his sit and faced Dein. His eyes still sparkling as if "monster clan" is the best thing he had ever heard his whole life before asking a barrage of questions.
"Can all of your clan talk as well? Are they dark too? How tall are they?…"
Face with stupid questions that he doesn't even want to answer even though it's just a lie, Dein's face contorted in annoyance as he stared at Clay. Cutting him off, Dein spoke.
"What the hell are you talking about stupid! Where do you even get those questions… no, wait, why are you so interested about monsters anyway?"
This time, it was Clay who got caught off guard by the question, he looked away once more, clearly flustered. Then he muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"That… uhm… you see, I've been in charge of watching these monsters for years now and I… um, think they're cool"
"Cool? But aren't you trembling in fear earlier when I'm trying to convince you that I'm a good guy!"
Still flustered, Clay finally stared at Dein's eyes once more. He retorted.
"That's different! you're a strange beast y'know? You can talk, you don't sleep and I heard you also blinded Lei's one eye! He's one of the chosen you know? What'll I do if you decided to eat me"
That… makes sense. It seems people of this tribe aren't accustomed to talking monsters – well, who is? Even Dein would be afraid of that. However…
"What do you mean I don't sleep? I'm pretty sure I do!"
Clay waved his hand into the air, dismissing his words as he explained.
"No no, that's not what I meant."
He pause a bit before continuing.
"…You see, when the monsters from the fog was captured and taken here in the tribe, where the fog doesn't exist, they become unable to wake up. That's also why we hand them on the trees so if ever the fog invade, the monsters won't immediately wake up..."
What? Is that why those monsters aren't moving at all? Dein thought the tribes people are doing something to keep them still but as it turns out they're all just asleep.
Dein was suddenly reminded of the nagging fear he felt before he fell asleep after being attacked, thinking he had died and what happened after that, where Dein suddenly became confused of the world and he started thinking of Freya and the others back home.
At that time, Dein felt like there's something… something that he had to do but couldn't quite put his mind onto it.
After that…
Dein turned to his left, there the little girl sat, a smile still on her face but she remained very quiet, unlike earlier when there's only two of them. At times she'll moved around, swaying left and right as she listened to the conversation silently, as if enjoying herself.
'After that, the little girl woke me up…'
By this time, Clay stole his attention again as he curiously mentioned.
"Now that I think about it, you're not actually that special, there's also that big monster on the north side of the tribe who wakes up from time to time just like you..."
Monster on the north side? So this isn't just where they kept the monsters… just how many are they that these people have captured?
'Also, what does this guy meant by "you're not that special" I'm a legacy stupid, of course I'm special!' of course, Dein did not voice that, he's not stupid after all. Instead, he asked.
"Big monster? Did all of the chosen fought to defeat it?"
Clay grin proudly.
"Yeah, the monster is big and strong so they have to. But don't get it wrong now, our tribe only has four chosen yet they still defeated such abomination without as much as a scratch!"
Four! The words repeated itself over and over on Dein's ear. 'four! Only four!' for a while there, Dein thought he'll be fighting dozens of awakened but as it turns out there's only four, excluding Gi, of course, because she wasn't part of the tribe but an outsider. At the same time, Dein is also quite sure that Gi wasn't a fighter type of awaken but instead a utility one, a healer maybe. And even though that doesn't make her any less of a threat it's still comforting to know that there's someone Dein could potentially run away from.
That said, four is still nowhere near a good number, in fact even one awakened could decimate Dein easily just like what happened last night so four is actually bad, really bad in fact, however, five or six would've been worse so he'll take it.