"Horns." Amethiel shifted his position as he studied the creature in front of him. "Two legs. Two arms. But those aren't human hands."
It was clearly a monster, yet its shape was unmistakably human.
The creature lay against a tree as if resting, almost as if it were asleep. Its eyes were closed, its chest rising and falling steadily. It was breathing.
The right side of its body was black, hard, almost armor-like, streaked with bright green cracks that pulsed faintly with light. The left side was different. More reptilian. Its left arm was covered in dark purple scales, ending in sharp claws.
Its torso was a twisted fusion of both halves. In the center, between the two sides, molten green light glowed like lava seeping through cracks in stone.
Near Amethiel, a tail lay stretched out.
A slender black tail.
It twitched.
The creature's face was shrouded in black, as though swallowed by shadow. Large horns curved from its head, imposing and unmistakable.
And yet, what made it unsettlingly human was the hair.
Thick, styled, and very much Blond.
Everything about the monster was terrifying.
Both in how monstrous it looked, and in how eerily human it seemed.
But to Amethiel?
Oh, to Amethiel.
"Oh, Prismara. Oh, dear mother of mine!" He fought the urge to squeal, eyes shining with excitement, breath coming heavy. "What a wonderful specimen. There's nothing else like you. Nothing at all."
Goosebumps rippled across his skin, every fine hair standing on end in anticipation.
He was far too excited.
Amethiel forced himself to breathe, reminding himself of the sharp ache still lingering from the fall.
Slowly, carefully, he shifted into a position where he could crawl closer to the creature.
'I need to be careful,' Amethiel thought. Monsters were never docile. They always fought back, at least until they were trained into submission.
And this one was the largest he had ever encountered.
Possibly the most dangerous.
He had to be careful.
Amethiel was lucky it was still asleep—nevermind.
"Oh no," he murmured under his breath.
The creature's eyes opened.
Neon green met bright red.
Amethiel immediately scrambled backward, putting distance between them before the creature could strike.
"H-Hi… hello there," Amethiel stammered as he tried to stand. "I'm a friend. I'm—shit!"
A sharp, immediate pain flared through his ankle. Only then did Amethiel realize he'd dislocated it when he fell.
'Seriously?'
As if this day couldn't get any worse.
He sank back down, but instead of his body hitting solid ground, something curled around his arm.
Something soft.
Amethiel's eyes widened as he realized it was the creature's tail.
"Fascina—woah!" he yelped as the creature pulled him closer. Not just closer.
He tipped forward.
Face-first.
Right onto the creature.
His palms landed flat against its chest, cold and solid beneath his hands.
And god, the reaction that shot through him was immediate and deeply embarrassing.
Amethiel wasn't easily flustered, but he'd read enough of his maids' romance novels to know what a heated face meant.
And no.
This wasn't romantic.
Not at all.
"Are you attacking me?" Amethiel asked, voice breathless, almost too pleased by the proximity.
He was thrilled. Absolutely thrilled to be this close to such a unique creature.
A creature that only he might have discovered.
"Or…" His gaze flicked up as he realized the creature was simply staring at him. Its tail shifted slowly, but it remained lying there, breathing steadily.
"…did you help me on purpose?"
The creature didn't make a sound.
It didn't even blink.
It only tilted its head slightly, as if trying to understand him.
Amethiel's breath caught.
"You're curious," he murmured, awe bleeding into his voice. "Curiosity is always a sign of intelligence."
'He also doesn't seem violent,' Amethiel thought as he slowly raised a hand, careful and deliberate, making sure the creature could see every movement. 'At least… not yet.'
The creature blinked.
Once.
Then, to Amethiel's complete surprise, it lifted its own hand, copying the motion almost perfectly.
This time, Amethiel squealed.
Silently.
"Oh, dear mother of mine, this is fantastic!"
The sound made the creature flinch.
Which immediately made Amethiel flinch as well, his heart leaping into his throat as he braced himself for the attack that never came.
Nothing happened.
The creature simply continued staring at him.
"Huh." Amethiel stared back, disbelief creeping in. Its appearance alone was astonishing, but this? This level of awareness?
"Tell me," Amethiel said softly, tilting his head, "are you really a creature?"
No response.
Instead, the creature tilted its head in the exact same direction.
Amethiel tilted his head the other way.
So did the creature.
His breath hitched again, his chest aching in delight.
No animal did that.
Not even a trained dog.
No monster mirrored human behavior this closely without conditioning.
"You…" Amethiel couldn't stop himself. He reached out and cupped the creature's face, startling it. "…are amazing!!!"
The words burst out of him, reverent and breathless, like he'd just stumbled upon a miracle.
The creature only stared back, wide-eyed and still.
Amethiel could almost feel it. Something behind its gaze. Something close to emotion. And truthfully, he kept pushing his luck, taking risk after risk, touching it, speaking too loudly, watching closely to see how it would react.
But he was nearly certain now.
The creature was docile.
And it was intelligent.
"I have to take you home," Amethiel whispered as he gently shifted the creature's face, inspecting it, memorizing every detail while they waited. "I have to. I just do."
He exhaled slowly.
He couldn't carry a monster this large on his own, after all.
"You're my breakthrough," he continued softly. "There's nothing else like you."
As a self-proclaimed monster researcher, Amethiel was more or less dismissed by everyone around him. They called him unhinged. Reckless. Borderline psychotic for even entertaining the idea that monsters were worth studying.
To them, monsters were pets. Decorations. Trophies from hunts.
Not to Amethiel.
That was why, in his eyes, everyone else was foolish.
Idiots wearing human skin.
Amethiel saw potential where others saw beasts. He believed monsters could be more than ornaments.
They could be weapons.
They could be taught.
"You're my chance to show everyone what monsters are truly capable of," Amethiel grinned at the clueless creature. "Now all we have to do is wait. My men will arrive any minute to help us."
He settled back slightly, confidence blooming in his chest.
'Any minute now–'
Two hours later…
'I SAID a minute! Where are those bum assets?! Since when were they this slow?! I ran straight here! I didn't even run that far!'
Amethiel was spiraling.
He'd been sitting on top of the creature for over two hours now. The monster hadn't moved. Hadn't spoken. Hadn't made a single sound.
It just stared at him.
Not even a blink.
'What am I going to do?' Amethiel thought as he glanced down at his swollen foot. 'It's not like I can carry this thing even if I wanted to.'
He shifted and tried to stand, moving carefully this time, biting back a hiss.
'It's going to be nighttime soon,' Amethiel realized. 'And as much as I love monsters, I do not want to be in this forest after dark.'
That forced him to think rationally.
Which meant he had no choice but to leave the way he came, try to find his way out of the forest.
Which also meant leaving the creature behind.
Amethiel hesitated.
He hesitated far longer than he should have.
A creature like this was a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. Something no one else had ever seen. Something that could change everything.
But he had to believe he could find it again.
"Hah." Amethiel took a deep breath as he straightened up. His ankle still hurts, but not as badly as before. Enough for him to walk, at least. Enough to get out. "I'll come back," he said quietly. "I promise. I'll come back and get you."
He couldn't bring himself to look at the creature.
Because he knew that if he did, he wouldn't leave.
Amethiel forced himself to move.
One step.
Then another.
Each one sent a dull ache up his leg, but he welcomed the pain. It helped keep his mind focused, and kept him from turning around.
'I'll find you again,' he told himself. 'I will. I always do.'
He limped forward, careful, slow, counting his breaths, refusing to look back. If he did, he knew he'd stay. He knew he'd make another reckless choice and doom himself for it.
So he didn't look.
Leaves crunched softly beneath his boots as he put more distance between himself and the clearing. The forest swallowed the space behind him, quiet and indifferent.
'I'll come back,' Amethiel repeated in his head. 'This isn't goodbye.'
Then—
Crunch.
Amethiel froze.
That wasn't his foot.
His heartbeat stuttered. He told himself it was nothing. An animal. The wind. His imagination spiralled again.
He took another step.
Crunch.
Closer this time.
Amethiel's breath caught.
'No,' he thought slowly. 'That's not possible.'
He turned.
The creature stood there.
Not lying down.
Not asleep.
Standing upright, horns cutting through the dim light filtering between the trees. Its red eyes were fixed on him, unblinking, its tail swaying slowly behind it.
It had followed him.
Amethiel's mouth fell open.
"…You," he whispered.
The creature took one step forward.
"You're following me?"