Inside the city capital, A middle aged man was walking back and fort in front of his well decorated desk inside a large expansive private office. He was located on top floor of the City's tallest building, the City Council's headquarters.
The sun was starting to set on the horizon, casting orange glow into his clear glass windows. The view was breathtaking but somehow, the man can't appreciate the beautiful scenery in front of him.
"Try to contact the bastard again. Our deal was he would make contact every three hours. His last update was 5 hours ago." He said in dark voice. It was very hard to maintain his composure at every passing hour.
"Yes sir, I will try again." A young man answered. It was his personal assistant.
The past few days was nothing but a headache for him. Bad news was piling up in front of him one after the other.
"Fuck it all!" He shouted and slammed his fists into his desk, cracking the thick marble top with web-like pattern.
His was the head director of SIU, the Special Investigative Unit. His name was Marco DeContre.
For almost a decade, he had been spending his personal time and resources on researching and studying a cave dungeon on the outskirts of the city. There had long been a legend about a hibernating dragon somewhere deep inside.
Marco DeContre invested years of careful study to find its location. One year ago, his team of specialists finally made a discovery.
His team did not find any clues or remains of any dragon, but they found an egg, frozen inside a thick slab of ice at the deepest part of the dungeon..
They worked on extracting and preserving it for months and then incubated the large egg. He hired a lot of people from all fields of work and transformed the ancient dungeon into a big nursery.
Maintaining such large project in secrecy was quiet an expensive feat. Marco DeContre had to blackmail, kidnap, murder and do all kinds of dirty things just to acquire the needed funds to keep his project going.
Last week ago, while he was on a national conference outside the city, he received the news that the egg has finally hatched. His team of researches was not able to identify the newly hatched creature which only made Marco DeContre more excited.
He arranged for his quick return to the city and ordered his team to transfer the creature to his personal laboratory to study it further. That was his official story. His real intention was to bind the creature to him by blood contract.
That was when all bad things happened.
The creature, barely a week old has managed to escape from its cage while it was being transported. It killed and injured some border guards and fled into the wild.
Marco requested a group of top tier soldiers with his high connections to the military. He requested that the creature be captured alive. But he didn't expect such incompetence. The very next morning, he received the news that the creature was killed.
He quickly recovered the creature's body but its blood has already expired. It cannot be used for anything anymore.
Marco thought that it was the end of the line for him. Then he saw a glimmer of hope when he was told that it was still possible to recreate the creature's blood. They only needed the blood of a person who have been wounded and got his flesh exposed to the blood of the creature while it was still alive.
He quickly ordered the surviving two soldiers who encountered and killed the beast. He had no choice but to kill both of them to extract the needed amount of blood. Only that it did not take effect. There were no traces of the creature's blood in them.
His last chance was the prisoner who helped the soldiers track the creature. He quickly hired a group of mercenaries to break the prisoner out of the prison.
The sequence of events that followed made him beyond frustrated. The mercenaries was not able to capture the man. Now he can't even contact the leader of the mercenaries.
"Damn you Jagen!" He shouted once again. throwing a chair across the room.
"I can't let all my efforts go to waste just because of one worthless convict." He said, his eyes was burning with fury.
Marco DeContre walked out of his disorganized office and headed to the elevator with large strides.
His assistant hurriedly gathered his things and ran after him.
"I will go and see my father." Marco said, answering his assistant's confused look.
"Absolutely sir. I will make the proper preparations." His assistant replied and quickly pulled out his phone.
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Zaia eyed the couple in front of her. They were looking at her cautiously that it was almost funny. It's one thing that she looked very much overdressed at the moment. But looking at the state of their clothing almost make her burst into laughter.
She believe that firsts impressions was important so she wore her official dress for receiving and meeting new guests.
"I want to apologize in Raru's place for attacking you earlier. I just let him out to stretch his legs. He unknowingly wandered too far that he left our domain and mistaken you as trespassers. You see, Midnight Dogs don't have very good eyesight during daytime. Don't worry, I already scolded him big time." She explained once again.
"Uh--Okey. We accept your apology. But that's not only the reason you came to see us, right?" Fox said, his voice was still tense.
"Uhhmm. Raru told me that he had mistakenly attacked a person with blood contract. You see, people under blood contracts with another beast are not allowed to attack each other unless it was an official duel. Like fighting over the right to rule a land, or to fight for the right of marriage. Raru told me that the person was under blood contract to a super strong beast. That's why I came here." Zaia explained thoughtfully.
She climbed again on Raru's back and sat there gracefully. She can't just seat anywhere or she would just dirty her dress.
A few more minutes, the other four of the Midnight Dogs arrived. The dogs formed a semicircle around them. She nodded to the dogs and let them lie down on the grass.
"So, these--all of them are under your command? They will not attack us?" Alieya asked suddenly, her voice sounded anxious.
"Yeah. More or Less. I am only under blood contract with Raru. It's a good thing that Raru is from a more superior bloodline. It means that he's like the leader of this pack. Raru listen to me and these dogs listen to him." She said, gesturing her hands as she explain.
"Your Raru will not listen to anyone else?" Alieya asked again.
"All I know is that a beast can only undergo one blood contract in their whole life. Raru has been with me for a long time" Lucy answered patiently.
"You can talk to each other? Can he speak human language?"
"I can only talk to him face to face. It's like telepathic conversation. I can't do it with other Midnight Dogs, Raru can't communicate with other humans too. But you can pet him if you want" She offered brightly.
The couple went silent for a while, still absorbing all the information they just learned. Zaia did not mind it at all. She was quiet comfortable at her position while stroking Raru's fur. It seemed the people in Zongco city really don't know anything about the human and beast relationship.
Zaia was living in a secluded village which was managed by her own clan. Their place was not as technologically advanced as the City but she doesn't have a problem with that. Their village has a school and lots of happy children running around. Their village has a lot of visitors too that trade with them and challenge Raru in combat from time to time. That was enough for her.
"Can I ask this time? Fox?" She asked.
Fox glanced at her and nodded.
"You see, I'm just wondering. What happened to your contracted beast? Did the bad guys killed it?" She asked in a soft, concerned voice.
"I don't know how blood contracting works, but I don't remember owning a beast in my entire life. Maybe a few chicken and pigs on the past. But I guess it doesn't count." Fox answered, laughing at the last part of his statement.
"You didn't have a beast, ever before? Raru, explain!" Zaia was surprised, then she suddenly smacked the back of the head of her contracted beast lightly.
The Midnight Dog let out a soft whine, but did not drop her from its back.
"Raru said he's sure that he smelled a beast's blood present in your veins when he wounded you earlier." She said, eyeing both of them suspiciously.
She had answered all their questions truthfully but they won't repay her honesty. She even got rid of those bad people that were following them. She was just asking for some general information.
Zaia pouted her lips in disapproval.
"I'm not sure. I'm sorry but I don't really recall having any blood contract with any beast in the past." Fox said, shaking his head slowly.
She looked at him intently, trying too search for the honesty in his eyes. Then she let out a frustrated sigh.
"Perhaps when you were still back on the prison. Were you experimented on with wild beasts?" Alieya guessed solemnly.
"Maybe, There were times that we were made to duel some wild animals, then we would drink their blood after we killed it." Fox said, trying not to remember too much of his past.
"No, forming a contract with a beast doesn't work by drinking the beast's blood." Zaia countered, gesturing wildly with her hands again.
Looking at the dirty couple in front of her sitting on the grass, Zaia started to feel confused too. They really looked like they were telling the truth. Yet Raru was telling her telepathically that he was not wrong also.
Raru has been her contracted beast since she was six years old. Raru was small at that time too. Technically, she grew up with Raru at her side.
Their village was located near the sea and there have been many times that their clan was challenged by others for the right to rule the area. Raru had never lost a battle. He even managed to form his small pack of Midnight Dogs. Now they are protecting their village from roaming bandits and pirates.
Today was the first time she saw her beast quiet intimidated, and told her that he mistakenly attacked a strong beast contractor. She was so curious to find out what kind of beast made Raru scared. Only to find herself in this situation. There was no contracted beast, only two people needed to be rescued.
"Okey, fine. I believe both of you. So, where are you headed?" Zaia finally asked. dropping the idea about finding another beast contractor.
"We haven't planned that far ahead yet. All we wanted to do was to stay away from the guys that were hunting us." Fox answered.
"Well, there is no one hunting you now. Do you want to come with me. Our village is not far from her, and it's already getting dark." She offered. Her bright smile was back on her face again.
"I guess it won't hurt going with our saviour. Your pets will not attack us, right?" Fox glanced at the beasts lying around them.
"Of course, Both of you are my and Raru's guests. You will not be attacked by anything." Zaia spread out her small arms as to make her point.
Fox offered his hands to Alieya as she stood up. They dusted their already dirty clothes and walked forward.
"No, no. It would take us until dawn if we walk to my village. We will ride the dogs. They run fast like the wind." She said quickly, gesturing with her hands again.
It took sometime to convince the couple to climb at the back of the Midnight Dog, specially Alieya who almost ended up crying.
Zaia was starting to get annoyed at this woman. She might look a little more matured than her and a little bit prettier, but she was acting very weak and wimpy. She secretly felt subconsciously jealous of her appearance.
'Hmmmp. I will grow prettier than her. Just a few more years.' She internally declared to herself.
Soon, they were sprinting through the trees. Zaia ended up riding the smaller Midnight Dog as the couple rode Raru. It made her a little more annoyed. She only allowed them to ride Raru because he was the biggest dog and Alieya does not want to ride alone.
She scolded herself at the idea of being annoyed and jealous to the beautiful woman. They were her new friends. She reminded herself. Having new friends is one of her hobby.
'I have more important things to deal back home.' She thought as she focused her attention forward. The soft, cool wind blew past her face.