Fang stood upright, his heart beating with fear as the dry scent of smoke invaded the cave. He dashed, his instincts kicking in before his mind caught up. Fire.
Fire everywhere.
"Shit! What the hell?"
He rushed to the cave entrance, not giving any mind to the way his feet slipped against the bumpy stone.
Outside, the forest was a disaster of flickering orange and deep shadows, flames jumping between the trees. Smoke pillars shot upward, staining the sky with black fumes. Panic seized his gut, and he gripped his fists in fear.
"How the fuck did this happen? Is there a volcano here or something?" His mind raced, grasping for any explanation, but nothing made sense. A wildfire? A deliberate attack? Or was it some monster?
Either way, he had to figure out how far it had spread and whether it was heading for the cave.
Fang spun around and stomped back inside, throwing his cloak over his shoulder and grabbing his knife. If the fire was moving this way, he needed to be ready to move.
Smoke was already wide awake in the cave.
Fang swore under his breath as he scooped up the remaining wrapped meat and stuffed it into a makeshift bag. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his chest tightened as he glanced at Smoke, who was twitching his nose and trembling, clearly sensing the danger.
"Stay close," Fang barked. The rabbit hopped to his side, not needing to be told twice.
A sudden crash sounded outside, with wood splintering and a wall of flames falling on the ground nearby.
Fang whipped around, his knife at the ready, when a figure wobbled into view, hunched over and bleeding. The small figure collapsed just outside the cave's entrance, coughing so hard it sounded like his lungs were on the edge of ripping apart
Fang hesitated, eyes flickering between the fires and the dwarf. Another blast of heat hit him, and he could see the singed hair and burned patches on the dwarf's clothes. One look at the man's mangled shoulder, red and oozing, and he was ready to puke. There is a difference between a dead animal and a dead man.
"Fuck... of all the times..." He muttered, glancing at the fireline creeping closer. Readying himself, he moved forward, grabbing the dwarf by the uninjured arm and dragging him into the cave. Once inside, Fang let him drop to the ground, and for a moment, the only sound was the dwarf's ragged breathing.
Fang knelt down and looked to see if he was still alive. The burn marks spread across his shoulder and down his side, and it seemed like a deep burn. Fang scanned the cave for anything useful, his thoughts a chaotic mess.
"Damn it... Why am I doing this?" He said loudly, rummaging through his insufficient gear. His eyes landed on a cluster of broad, waxy leaves he'd gathered earlier.
'They were good for the meat that was cooked. Maybe it will stop the burns from inflicting more damage?
Deciding they were good enough to bandage with, he tore strips from his shirt, feeling already heated enough from the fire to not feel the cold of the air outside, and started bandaging the worst of the wounds, making sure to layer the leaves several times over the wounds.
"Stupid bastard... nearly got roasted, do you you're some steak?" he complained, though his hands moved steadily, almost delicate despite his annoyed tone. He didn't know why he was helping, but something about leaving the dwarf to die didn't sit right with him.
'Well, it seems I still have some humanity in me and not just the urge to kill and eat like an animal.'
The dwarf shifted, mumbling and rambling before falling silent again. Fang just shook his head, finishing the makeshift bandage and putting his torn shirt back on.
"Great. Just what I needed.
some idiot falling half-dead into my cave while the whole damn forest burns. What can cause such a fire?"
Outside, the fire raged on, but it seemed to be drifting away from the cave's entrance. Fang took a deep breath, trying to clear his head.
'I need to cut some of the trees nearby when this is over, so if this happens again, I will have a clearing near the cave. Those trees are massive, and if one were to fall on the cave's entrance, I would be blocked for a long time till I was able to saw my way through.'
Fang laid the man against the cave wall, and went to sleep in his downward hole in the ground, safe from the heat waves.
"Smoke, keep an eye on that man. If he wakes up alert me, use your mana to wake me up. We good boy?"
The rabbit's shadow silhouette nodded his head, and he then sat near the extinguished fire pit.
The flames raged outside the cave, but Fang couldn't care less.
'for fuck sake, I just need some sleep. Is this Asu trying to mess with me or something?'
Little did he know that the one who set the fire were in the cave with him.
-------
Smoke nudged Fang's cheek, thumping his paw against Fang's nose for good measure. Fang was now awake, immediately reaching for his knife before spotting the rabbit's anxious stare.
"What's your problem?" he grumbled, but Smoke shot a glance at the dwarf, who was sitting up against the cave wall, eyes bleary and confused.
Fang tensed, shifting to his feet and keeping his knife low but ready. The dwarf coughed, his whole body trembling from pain and exhaustion. His gaze darted around the cave, panic flickering in his eyes before landing on Fang.
"You're awake," Fang said flatly, voice rough from sleep. "Who the hell are you, and... what are you?" Fang said.
He looked at the man who was barely 1.50 meters, one of the smallest men he ever saw.
He had a hood that covered his head but his facial features were exposed once the dwarf looked up at Fang.
He eyes defiant brown, and his chin adorned with braided red hair.
He wasn't ginger, his hair was deep red and his full beard was surprisingly unburnt.
The dwarf didn't respond right away, just panted heavily, wincing as the movement pulled at his bandaged wounds. Fang wasn't feeling particularly patient, but he stayed where he was, not wanting to spook the guy into doing something stupid.
"Answer me," Fang pressed. "What's your name?"
"Boy..." The dwarf coughed, his bandages threatening to tear.
"I am Isgram, and your tone is rude. Didn't your god teach you to be... Nice... To your elders?"
Fang paled when the out of breath dwarf mentioned his god, as if knowing that he was chosen by one specific god.
Fang clenched his fist over knife even harder, wary of the hidden knowledge that is so easily known by this stranger.
"I will not ask again, who are you and what are you doing here? How do you know me?"
"You're not the only one with god's on his side, though mine is different.
Where are we?"
Fang didn't drop his guard. "A cave in one of the elven forests, but only I use this place.
What is so important that you walked through the fire just to get here?"
The dwarf's lips twisted into a grimace as he fought to hold back another fit of coughing. His hands, bloodied and bandaged, trembled as he reached up to touch his shoulder. Despite the pain, his eyes remained sharp, sizing up Fang with a careful, almost amused glance.
"Walked through the fire?" Isgram rasped, voice rough like gravel. "I didn't walk through it, boy. I created it." His lips curled into a strained smirk. "Fire's a cleaner death than the one waiting for me if I don't get answers, especially with elves on my tail."
"Elves, huh? Well no idea why they're after you but you're lucky I even helped you," Fang muttered, stepping back a little. "Most people would've left your ass to burn."
Isgram's defiant gaze met his, burning with a hidden fire of its own. "You think you're the only one who can play the hero, huh?" he coughed again, cradling his side as he sat up straighter. "I didn't come here by chance, boy. I came because we've got some business."
Fang stiffened at the words. "Business?"
The dwarf nodded, though his movement was slow, deliberate. "Aye. You and I aren't strangers. We're connected in ways that are unknown to me too, but my god told me to find you so I did."
Fang's stomach churned with a growing unease. Was this dwarf another chosen one? Someone sent by the gods? If so, which god?
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Fang demanded, his patience wearing thin.
Isgram ignored the question, his gaze flickering to the cave's entrance, where the smoke had begun to clear. The fire still raged outside, but it was losing some of its intensity.
"Why did you help me, Fang?" Isgram asked suddenly, his voice softer now, tinged with something like curiosity. "You could've left me to burn, But you didn't. You took a risk, and it's the only reason I'm still here."
Fang's eyes flicked from the dwarf to the entrance. He knew the answer, of course.
He had helped, It was because...
Because leaving him to die didn't sit right with him. That's all.
"There is right and wrong, and frankly, I'm not sure if I did right at this moment.
The important thing is for you to tell me what the hell did your god tell you that you had to find me."
The dwarf gave a weak smile, and spoke slowly.
"Maybe we need to start with the world we're in and what is expecting you, my fellow magisto."