THE BEAST

"I'm here to meet whatever council that decides all the shit please," Eddy growled at the guard in front of the gate.

The guard gulped, holding onto his spear for dear life.

"There is a strict time that you can meet the council members and even then, you need to make a proper appointment-"

Eddy grabbed the man's neck with his hand, squeezing it tight. The guard turned blue, gasping for breath.

"I'm not here to ask for your permission. Just tell me where they are."

Eddy's hot breath almost burned the man's face. The guard frantically pointed to the direction upstair.

"Thank you," Eddy dropped the person and stomped up the pearly stairs. Soon, he arrived in front of a huge oak door designed with ancient runes. When he approached the door, the runes shined, indicating that it is locked for any trespassers. Eddy shrugged as if he expected this much. He took a step back to blow a stream of fire onto the door, burning it down completely.

The magic door crumbled to the floor with a deafening thud.

What he saw beyond the door was just a high ceiling room surrounded by books. There were three highest council members sitting in a long table, caught in the middle of a tea break.

"What brings you here, Reihanza's familiar?" The highest member of the council, Karian, asked as she stirred her tea slowly.

Eddy walked toward the council members, stopping right in front of Karian.

"I'm here to take Reia out of here."

Karian snorted, sipping her cup.

"So you chose to be a knight for the princess, I see. The short answer is no. We still need her."

"The war is almost at the end for fuck's sake. I'll pay for whatever price that she holds."

Karian waved her hand dismissingly.

"She is simply invaluable."

Eddy's eyes bore into Karian as he took out a piece of gold coin from his pocket.

"I'm willing to give out my nest."

Eddy's bargain finally caught the council's interest as he threw the gold coin on the table.

"Your nest?"

"You know how we dragons have a knack to collect anything shiny and valuable."

Karian picked up the gold coin gingerly, checking that it is real gold.

"I have a cave full of golds that I accumulated for the past thousand years. Now that is also priceless."

Karian smiled at the beast as she bit into the coin.

"Now we're talking, beast."

.

.

"I'm really dismissed?" Reia asked with wide eyes when she received the letter from the council, telling her that she is officially retired.

"Well, the war is almost at the end. I guess the council appreciated your work so much and decided to give you some break, finally," Eddy hugged Reia from the back, smiling. He hasn't told Reia that he bargained with the council to make this happen.

"The council also says to contact them if I need any help. How thoughtful of them," Reia whispered as she put the letter carefully back to the envelope.

Eddy shrugged. He didn't like the council at all to be honest. They didn't seem nice at all. The dragon could only guess that the council at least liked the cave full of gold he gave them to offer an after service for Reia.