I slowly opened my eyes. I had half suspected that I would meet that thing of smoke and shadows in the void again, but I was glad that that did not happen this time.
After my vision was finally clear again, I could see in which part of the cave I currently resided. This part of the cave was not in use that often since it was pretty secluded from the rest. But it laid deeper in the mountains and thus made it harder for other demons to detect me.
Both the dwarf and my father stood beside me, and I could tell that Beatrice and Noah had halted their duties to stand guard in front of the tunnel that led to this place.
"What the hell were you thinking?" The dwarf angrily exclaimed. "What were we supposed to do if you died because you decided to accept the challenge of that demon? Do you know how hard it was to drag you in here while you were out?"
I just shrugged. "Well, I have full access to the outside world again. so, I guess it was worth it."
"Do you know the state you were in? What if a horde of imps decided to pas by and kill everyone on sight? Would that still be worth it?"
Ignoring the question, I decided to just get up. Tough I was immediately hindered by a sharp pian on my wrist.
Looking down I saw that I had been bound to some of the rocks around me with holy thread.
"What is this for?" I snared in annoyance, now realising that even my legs and tail were bound down.
"Once you started to heal you moved around quite a lot. It was too dangerous to treat your wounds while you would occasionally knock someone over with your tail." My father answered while staring at the fresh wounds that I had created by moving too much.
"Either way. How is your wing doing?"
I quickly bit trough the threads that were still holding me down so that I could freely move again. then I stretched out my damaged wing. A lot of the membrane was still missing but most of the flesh and scales had already reformed. Judging from this I could also tell that the horn that was broken off should be reformed as well. Since my horns were basically just exposed bones it wouldn't take long to regrow in comparison to a wing.
"I think that I would be able to use it within a few hours. But I can use my other pair separate anyways so it is not that big of a deal."
I folded my wing again and pressed it against my back so that I could not damage it again.
"Both of you shut up about his wounds! As long as he doesn't starve himself, he will heal just fine!" the dwarf jelled out in anger. "The angel that was supposed to kill that demon could come at any time. And without its opponent it is going to look for the next best thing. And Rubedo. That is going to be you!"
I was a bit confused by this. I understood that he was probably angry that I put my life on the line for something that might just solve itself. But to call me Rubedo, even when there were no people around that I did not know directly felt just… weird. But I guess that, that was just his way of telling me that he was serious.
I decided to just shrug it off and go back to the main part of the cave.
My first few steps were still a bit unbalanced, and I had to use my wings and tail in order not to fall over. But I soon restabilised myself and made my way to the main area of the cave.
As soon as I entered said area Alex and Allenya came to great me in their usual high energy way, even tough they did not have a proper meal in days.
Alex was mainly excited about the fact that I had managed to kill something this big and came back alive. But Allenya tried to punch me in the stomach because I worried everyone by immediately collapsing upon arrival. But she was stopped be Noah.
I was barely lucky enough to hold Beatrice back from trying to attack Allenya in return. Tough I did find their actions of protection funny, it was not like anything a human could do that could hurt me anymore.
As I walked through the cave, I saw how multiple people started to form a cult like organisation based around me. I did not really know what to think of it. I had never suspected that people would actually start to worship me.
A bit further away I saw Elisa happily chatting with Nathan. The two seemed in a deep conversation. So, I decided not to bother them.
When I eventually reached Leonor, she looked up at me with a warm smile. "I'm glad to see that you're doing better." She exclaimed while carefully holding a sleeping Zosimos.
Then the little child woke up and stared at me with his big brown eyes. To which Leonor chuckled and handed him to me. "I guess that it should be your turn to hold him now, is it not?"
When I held the child, he was just staring at my face instead of immediately reaching out to one of my claws to play.
"Why is he just staring like that?" I asked slightly concerned.
"You mean you didn't notice?"
I shook my head. "Notice what?"
"You have a few scales on your face now." She said with a nearly mocking smile.
In lack of a mirror, I briefly entered her mind to see it for myself trough her eyes. And indeed, I had a few scales on my face now. there were some that followed my jawline, some under my eyes and a few above my eyebrows. It didn't look bad, but it was just different. And to my judgment it made me appear even more demonic than I already did. Which in turn slightly upset me since from the beginning my face had always stayed relatively the same.
"Then why did no one say anything about it?" I responded once I left her mind.
"Com on. In a few months I have seen you grow three more horns, two more wings and a few dozen spikes running all the way from your neck to your tail. Everyone is just used to you changing all of the time."
"I guess you're right. It just bothers me that I don't have any say in what is going to change next. I am probably the only one who is still not used to it. Well apart from Zosimos."
After this I stayed with Leonor and Zosimos a little longer until my wing completely healed, and I was finally able to safely gather food for the humans again.