The bird was just sitting on the stone like usual. But it seemed calmer than it formally was. It could be that it was just warming up to me. but wasn't this a little soon?
Now that I thought about it. Back when I just had become a demon the others were still on guard around me. but even they warmed up to me rather quickly.
I figured that it may had something to do with the pressure demons gave off. It would only be natural if it worked like that, because how could they enter worlds if people were to terrify to let them in?
But in the end, I decided that this phenomenon was something positive, or at least positive for me.
I carefully played around with the bird, until I heard footsteps again.
The dwarf hesitantly came back into the room.
I gave him a fierce snarl when he approached me. but he just kept coming forward.
"Look. I-I'm sorry. It was not fair to straight up assume that you asked me about true names with evil intentions. You probably just asked because you heard it from Elisa and got curious."
I did not respond. I had jet to tell anyone about all the lives I had claimed just because they killed someone I barely even knew. Most of them probably just thought that they were helping to keep each other safe. And I burned the whole village down back then. Would the dwarf still apologise like this if he knew that I had already done what he was worried about?
"Don't worry, I believe that it was something personal. I know you did not really mean it that way. And you are right. It is probably better if I don't know how to do such things."
The dwarf showed a faint smile. "you know, if you still want to, I can explain the concept of a true name to you."
I shook my head. "no, you really don't have to."
Relieved, he nodded in agreement.
"Then if you don't mind," I said to the dwarf. "I just want to… be alone for a while."
With that I walked out of the room and onto the crooked streets of the ruins.
I could near of the dwarf, who was still in the room, was filing down the scale he got from me to make it a better fit for the detection device.
I tried to ignore the horrid sound of metal scraping against whatever my scales were made off and just wandered further.
Thoughts about my father still plagued my mind. But also, the concern of the dwarf that seemingly kept growing.
At the beginning he hardly took anything I did seriously and trusted every word I said about what had happened to me. but now, he was incredibly suspicious about all of my actions. Even when he himself does not want to believe it.
("Should I get into his head, to try to find the origin of his suspicions towards me? no, he hates it so much when I do that. But maybe that is also part of his suspicion.")
I turned left and right, not really caring where I was going.
Then after a while I picked up a rather familiar scent. I immediately snuck into one of the ruins.
("Why is he here? why now?!")
I climbed up the stairs in the broken building. I had to press my wings against my back to be able to fit through the narrow staircase.
I figured that I would be harder to spot if I hid on the second floor.
Knowing fully well that he could not hear me. I still tried to move as quietly as possible.
I crawled towards one of the glassless windows and looked at how my father walked over the empty street.
Again, he carried the spear-like weapon with its magic draining effect.
I did not know why he had come alone. Maybe there were others and they had just split up to cover more ground. Or no one even knew that he was here in the first place.
I watched how he snuck from house to house in order to remain unseen.
After he disappeared behind a house, climbed out of the window, and quickly flew to one of the roofs in order to keep following him.
After flying from roof to roof for a little while I soon realised where he was going to.
It was the place where he and his two companions had killed the woman.