Hellfire - A Dragon's Lifestory (Prologue)

Chap. 06 - "Fluffiness is Just a Tiny Part of Cuteness"

Now we have three fire starters in the group. A red-eyed, fire-breathing, black-scaled dragon, a literally-on-fire giant salamander, and finally, a fiery-feathered baby cockatrice. Honestly... all of us got surprised when Garg said that Niks was actually a girl. Well, Croc didn't look surprised. I'm not sure if Croc already knew that Niks was a girl, or that he just didn't mind finding out that she really was a girl.

This means that Niks is the first girl to join the family. Another one that I'm going to protect. She's young, energetic, and sometimes clumsy, but she's family now. That's more than enough reason to me.

Niks is always around Croc. They sleep together, eat together, hunt together, and Niks even tried to jump in deep cold water so they could swim together, but that was a bad idea. Instead, Croc made a new channel of water by digging up a path from the main stream all the way to our cave. He then crushed the ground at the end of the path. Water from the stream followed the new path Croc made and when it reached the end, it circled around the small hole that Croc crushed from the ground. It's a small pool just for Niks to play around with.

Croc seems to always enjoy his time together with her. And then, one day, Croc started teaching her how to fend for herself. One her first try, she successfully defeated a spider many times larger than her. All she did was release a bunch of flames and charged straight at the spider. She bit the spider with her beak like a wild animal on the loose, not letting go at all. The spider burned and died shortly after.

Croc told Niks that she can have the spider all to herself since it's her first catch. She happily ate it. Mander went near the spider and sniffed at it. He said there was lingering poison inside.

"Well, of course there's poison in it. It's a poisonous spider."

Mander: "No, Boss. I'm smelling a different poison inside it. It's not the spider's poison, it's something else."

Garg inspected it himself and found out that this other poison came from Niks. Who knew. Cockatrice aren't only carnivorous, they're also poisonous. We learned a lot about Cockatrice now from Niks. And then, she said her first word...

Niks: "Ku... Kur... Kurak!"

Ooh! I think she just said Croc's name. Croc looks really happy. This might be the first time I've ever seen him so happy before.

Niks: "Krak! Kur... Krok!"

Aah! She's getting better at this! I'm impressed that she's able to learn to speak in less than a week of being with us. She looks young. I wonder if she's younger than me. I want to act like her big brother, or something. Mander moves towards Niks.

Mander: "Hey, Niks. Say my name too. Come on, say it."

Niks: "......... ?"

"I... don't think she can."

Mander: "She will! She will! I'm sure of it!"

Niks: "........."

Niks looks at Croc.

Niks: "Croc!"

"Whoa! She said it right this time!"

Niks: "Croc! Croc!"

Croc tilted his head towards Niks and rubbed her with his snout. Niks went up on his head like always.

Mander: "Geh... she didn't utter my name once."

Garg: "Ku ha ha! Don't worry. She'll start calling us by our names in no time."

Mander: "Grrr..."

Well, at least they're getting used to having Niks around now. As for me...

"Say..."

Garg: "Hm?"

Mander: "What is it, boss?"

"I'm... thinking of going hunting too."

Everyone soon fell silent. Until Mander yelled...

Mander: "Haaah?!! Boss, do you even hear yourself?!"

Garg: "He's right, Boss. You could accidentally turn the entire cave into an inferno, and you wouldn't even be aware of it!"

Croc: "Too risky."

"Eee~eh? But, I'm bored here! I wanna do something!"

Mander: "Even if you say that, there's just no guarantee that it'll end well for this cave and everyone living in it."

Garg: "Boss. It's best if you just keep a low profile and stay here."

"But, I'm bored! I wanna do something! It's boring here! I-...!"

Niks suddenly jumped off Croc's head, dashed towards me, and gave me a hug. Her feathers are so warm and fluffy, it's so relaxing. Wait a second... why though? Why is she hugging me? And, also... isn't this the first time she's ever touched me after I let her eat my egg shell coated in dragon blood?

Niks turns her head up to me. Her eyes are still closed.

Niks: "B-... Boss!"

Everyone was awestruck! Not only did Niks just said her second word, but it was me! And she got it right! Even Croc looked surprised.

Croc: "N-Niks... that's..."

Niks: "Boss!

She's... She's so cute! The fluffiness from her feathers, the warmth from her body, and everything about her is just so adorable! Was this why Croc wanted to save her when he found her? No, wait... Niks looked pale when I first saw her. So it couldn't have been because Croc thought she was cute that time. So then why...

Niks: "Boss! Boss!"

Aah~... she's calling me, she's calling me. I can't help myself anymore. I hugged her back. She's so cuddly, I'm happy for myself that I saved her. Good job, Croc. Whatever reason you had for bringing her, I'm glad you brought her here.

Mander: "This isn't fair! I wanna hug her too!"

Garg: "Hey, me too! Me too!"

Croc's tail slammed in between me and Niks, and Mander and Garg. He glared his eyes down at the two of them with bloodlust. Mander and Garg backed away.

Mander: "This just isn't fair! Where's the love for the ol' salamander, huh?!"

Croc sighed in relief when he reassured himself that nothing bad happened while I was hugging Niks. Of course nothing bad's gonna happen. Niks is family now. And I'll make sure nothing bad's gonna happen at all.

"Hmm... If you guys want me to stay here that badly, then I'll gladly stay here if you're that desperate. But, on one condition..."

Mander: "And, that is...?"

Croc: "........."

"You'll have to leave Niks here with me."

Croc: "...... ?!"

"So... what do you say?"

Mander and Garg looked at Croc. Croc nodded at me.

Croc: "Understood."

He took that quite well. I don't know if it's because he trusts me enough to look out for Niks, or because he can't go against me. But, wait... didn't he just try to go against me when he agreed with the others that I should stay here?

Croc: "Boss..."

"Hm?"

Croc: "I leave her in your care."

"Ah... of course! You can count me."

Mander(thought): "I wanted to hug her too... Boo..."