Chapter 25

  It didn’t take long before we arrived at the meadows.

  Rolling green fields dotted with patches of wildflowers and crossed by a meandering stream. It looked peaceful enough, but I kept Garrick's warning in mind.

  We landed in what looked like the perfect spot, near the stream where the moongazing flowers were supposed to grow as per the description Garrick showed to me earlier.

  I slid off Fei's back and started searching immediately.

  Should be simple, right? Find some pretty blue flowers, collect them, get paid.

  Except there were no moongazing flowers in sight.

  I spent the first hour crawling around on my hands and knees, checking every cluster of wildflowers I could find. Plenty of daisies, some kind of yellow buttercup-looking things, even a few purple blooms that were almost the right color. But no silvery-blue petals anywhere.

  So much for this being an F-rank quest.

  By the second hour, I was starting to panic. What if they don't grow here anymore? What if someone else already picked them all? What if I'm in the wrong meadow entirely?

  Nox had been patiently following me around, occasionally sniffing at flowers I pointed to. But it wasn't until I found the first moongazing flower—a single, perfect specimen growing beside a fallen log—that I had a brilliant idea.

  “Nox, can you smell this? Can you track more of them?” I asked Nox.

  His massive head lowered to the flower, taking in its scent. His ears perked up with understanding, and suddenly our search became a lot easier.

  Within an hour, we'd found three more clusters. Nox would sniff the ground, pad over to a seemingly random spot, and there they'd be, small groups of moongazing flowers in the afternoon shade.

  Thank god for my monsters.

  I was carefully picking the fourth cluster, making sure to leave the roots intact so they could grow back, when I felt it.

  The connection.

  It was like the mental link I had with Nox and Fei, but... different. Distant. Faint, but definitely there. A familiar presence that made my blood run cold.

  No. No, no, no...

  Currently, I only have three monsters bonded to me.

  Which meant this could only be one thing.

  The basilisk.

  Second by second, I could feel the connection getting stronger. Getting nearer.

  The basilisk was coming this way.

  It's tracking me. Following our bond back to its source.

  But strangely, I didn't feel scared or nervous. Not like I should have. Not like any sane person would when a massive serpent capable of melting flesh with its venom was heading straight for them.

  Instead, there was something else. Something that made my chest feel tight in a completely different way.

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  I mean, the basilisk is mine. It's my creation.

  However wrong it sounded, however twisted it made me feel to think it, the basilisk was mine. Born from my power, shaped by my will—even if that will had been corrupted by rage and grief at the time.

  It's my child.

  The thought should have horrified me. Should have made me sick with guilt all over again. But instead, there was an odd sense of... familiarity. Like when Nox or Fei approached after being away. That warm recognition of something that belonged to me, something that was part of me.

  God, what does that make me?

  I shook my head, trying to focus on the situation at hand. But the connection kept pulling at my attention, that distant presence growing stronger with each passing moment.

  What would its reaction be when it sees me? I wondered. By default, it was supposed to be neutral, right? Not loyal, not hostile to me, but just neutral.

  But even when I'd first manifested it in that moment of pure rage, the basilisk hadn't turned on me. It had gone after the bandits, then everything else in sight, but it had never tried to kill or eat me, that also includes Nox and Fei. Even in my unconscious state, it had left us alone.

  That says something, doesn't it?

  Maybe there was more to the creator-monster bond than I'd realized. Maybe even without the loyalty upgrade, there was still some basic recognition between us.

  The basilisk was definitely heading this way. And despite everything rational in my brain screaming that this was bad news, part of me—a dark, twisted part that I didn't want to acknowledge—was actually curious to see it again.

  To see what I'd created in my moment of pure, unbridled rage.

  Then Fei and Nox felt it too.

  Both of my monsters suddenly went rigid, their senses picking up on something approaching. Someone or in this case something was coming near.

  Nox immediately moved to stand guard in front of me, his massive frame blocking my view as he lowered into a protective crouch. His eyes scanned the treeline, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

  Fei took to the air, circling around us at low altitude, ready to strike at a moment's notice. I could feel his tension through our bond.

  I was touched by their protective instincts even as my heart hammered in my chest.

  Then, after a few moments I felt it, the ground shaking beneath my feet.

  Then the basilisk appeared through the trees, its massive coils sliding between the trunks with deadly grace.

  I should have been terrified, should have been running or commanding my monsters to attack.

  But when I saw it, all I felt was sadness and rage.

  The basilisk was hurt. Badly hurt. Deep gashes ran along its scales, some still weeping blood. Burns scarred its hide and worst of all, one of its eyes was gone, leaving behind an empty, scarred socket.

  They've been hunting it. Trying to kill it.

  I knew that was happening.

  I'd heard the whispers at the town, the rumors about bounties and adventuring parties even from the capital tracking the creature. I understood why, too. The basilisk had killed people, besides the bandits and the others, it had been killing adventurers it encountered.

  But seeing it like this, I still felt a surge of anger and frustration.

  It's my child. A monster I created and technically, I'm its mother.

  The contradiction tore at me. How could I feel protective of something that had caused so much death? How could I see a wounded creature in need of help when I knew it was a killer?

  Was this because of the skill? I was not sure…

  This was all my fault, and the basilisk was the one paying for it.

  Maybe if I hadn't lost control back then, I could have created one that was fully under my control.

  One that could have been with me from the start, that could have lived with me.

  When the basilisk's remaining eye found mine, I saw something that made my chest tighten—relief.

  I felt it in our bond. Pure, overwhelming relief, like a lost child finally finding its parent.

  It crawled toward me, its massive head lowering submissively. Nox tensed, ready to intercept, but I held up a hand.

  ‘It's okay’, I told him through our link. ‘It won't hurt me.’

  As the basilisk drew closer, I understood what I was seeing in its behavior. The way it approached with its head down, the way its eye never left my face, the way it seemed to relax just by being near me.

  It regarded me as its mother.

  The realization hit me. This creature saw me as family.

  And despite everything, I couldn't bring myself to turn it away.