There were so many things I wanted to ask the dragon, but the sudden end of our conversation made me sigh with relief. I needed time to assess my situation and make sense of what was happening. The fact that I was in the presence of such a creature was still surreal, but even more so my healing.
"In this world dragons can heal people? Or just this dragon?"
I closed my right eye and checked my surroundings, then repeated the process with my left eye.
"There's no mistake, I can see perfectly. But I could've swore I lost my right eye. Maybe it wasn't that bad and the healing was possible. But I won't trust anyone anymore! What if when he wakes up changes his mind and kills me? Should I attack him now that he has his guard down?"
As if to tempt me, near the right wall, there were exposed on pedestals two items: a pair of daggers made from something like obsidian, and a wooden staff carved with strange symbols and with the figure of a woman with dragon wings that was holding a blood-red sphere above her head on the top.
"Somehow, I have the impression that this is a test and this giant lizard is just pretending to be asleep."
I noticed near the fireplace my boots and put them on. The floor, although covered with old carpets, was still cold. I went towards the great window and took its rope tassels from the drapes, then tied the furs around me.
I looked outside the window. Everything was white. I couldn't distinguish the sky from the earth, and it was still snowing heavily.
"What's with this weather? It's been snowing for days now. Is this common in Galanthia? Were those bastards able to get away? If the weather doesn't kill them, I will. No mercy anymore. I learned my lesson. But what can I do?"
My stomach growled loudly, but I ignored it and left the room, after taking the daggers.
Right on the front of the door was a huge dead boar, half covered with the snow that entered through the cracked window.
"Just how big are the animals in this world?! This boar is the size of a wooden cabin. If I would encounter this thing out there it would be over for me. There are way too many dangerous things in this world. And I'm way too weak. I need more power."
The hall was immense, as if it was built by giants, but everything looked so old and desolated, unlike the palace of the king. There were large door-like windows that gave much natural light to the hall, but most of them were broken, letting the snow inside and the cold made me feel as if I was outside.
"This place looks like it hasn't been lived in for years."
I went closer to a window and looked outside. There were defensive walls that were surrounding the settlement, tall and thick, with sentinel towers, but I couldn't see where they were ending. The part of the court that was visible was completely covered in snow and it had some bumps like hills, which I assumed were other small buildings. The snow was untouched. For such a large space surely many workers were needed to maintain it, but there was no one there. My breath turned to steam and I got away from the window, shivering.
"So this may be a fortress... or a defensive citadel. But seems to have been abandoned for years. I wonder why. Could it be because of the dragon? I somehow doubt that. But to abandon such an edifice when it seems still whole... it's kinda creepy."
I walked at the end of the hall, opening doors in the way that screeched ominously and made my hair rise. All of those rooms were empty and dusty.
"These chambers are quite the same. Too simple, with eight to ten suspended beds. None of them has something that could give me even the slightest idea of their owners. They most probably were designated to servants or common soldiers. I guess it's a good thing they don't appear as if the ones who were here left in a haste."
The echoes of my steps were like a gong in that eerie silence and gave me chills that had nothing to do with the cold. It reminded me of my first job as a janitor to the mall, where, after the closing hours, the murmuring noises ceased and the music was deafening and scary in those immense empty halls.
"Maybe I shouldn't explore too much on my own. But I also don't think he would've let me on my own if it was dangerous, after he'd just said... Or maybe he placed those weapons there for me to grab them and search around? Either way, I won't push my luck. It's better to stay closer to the main chamber."
At the end of the corridor was another room before it took the right corner.
"This is the last one from this side... I'll see what's in there, then I'll return."
I looked back, to make sure nothing was out of the place and to check if the boar was still there, then I opened the heavy wooden doors.
Inside were lots of cupboards, stoves, pans and all sorts of pots, plates, cups, even knives, and three other rooms were at the end of the kitchen. Also, it was intact. No broken windows.
"This place is huge! Did the chefs cook for an army here? Is there any food left? Slim chances."
I checked around anyway, until there were only three doors left. The first one was an ice chamber, completely empty. The second was a storage room, but all that was left inside smelled like rotten fruit, mold, and rat crap.
I opened the third door and I stared dumbfounded at the mass of liquid dark that was moving like oily water from the floor to the ceiling, filling the chamber. It didn't make a sound. I slowly closed back the door and barricaded it with a knife. I was waiting for a reaction while I ran away from that door, but nothing happened. I stopped at the kitchen's entrance.
"Just what the heck was that? Some sort of slime? Or a cluster of shadows? Was this place abandoned because of that thing? Or is it hibernating in there?"
In the silence, my stomach roared like a beast, making my heart beat faster in expectancy. Still nothing happened.
"Damn it, I'm hungry."
Then an idea came to my mind. I took a knife and a bucket with a few chopped woods, then I returned to the main room, but the dragon wasn't there anymore.