How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 59: Chapter 59

Presently, Niklas remained passed out on the neatly folded bed. The fabrics seemed to be woven of silk and clouds and he sunk into them. Smooth and velvety to the touch, but with a plume that one could only imagine clouds had.
Or so he muttered as he slept, complaining about the ache in his joints.
Kaden felt some concern for his friend's future—if he could hardly tolerate a hike at present, how would his body deteriorate in the future?
The journey to the Land of the Fae had been by carriage, until the students had promptly stopped and were informed that the remainder of the distance would have to be covered by their own two feet.
Kaden's stamina wasn't half-bad, and there was something about walking, focused on the pure delights of the cold wind, and the shade that the leaves provided, that brought him some comfort.
Niklas, however, had turned pale as a sheet of paper. He trudged himself most of the way, silent except for his heavy breathing that he felt no shame in.
Professor Alexander had even stopped by, concern crossed between his furrowed eyebrows. "Although I do not judge students based on their fitness capabilities, nor would I insist in strengthening your body if you'd prefer to improve your mind, I have some concerns about any future expeditions."
"I—" wheezed Niklas, grinning as he brushed his light hair back. "May not have stamina, cough, or the ability to walk long distances, wheeze, I have faith in myself!"
Kaden was dumbfounded, clapping slowly. "You're so charming."
"I— oh god, know."
A passing student glanced back, and slowed in her steps. She held out a bottle of water to Niklas shyly. "It's... enhanced. I've been experimenting minimally with my blessing—the water should be refreshing."
"Why, I can— cough, hardly say no then, can I?" He took a swift gulp of the water, and some liveliness returned to his face. A smile brightened his expression, a rosiness to his cheeks. "Delicious! You're a blessing, Selena."
Selena—who Kaden vaguely recalled as one of his classmates—flushed.
"....." Kaden watched the scene numbly.
He watched Niklas' pathetic state of huffing and wheezing, and the worse part was that it was evidently not an act as he often liked to do. The sweaty and slightly reddened cheeks, brown hair brushed back as his rich blue eyes gleamed...
Kaden glanced back at a cluster of girls whispering, and seemed to suddenly realize something. "Really, you're incredible, Niklas."
Niklas squinted at him. "Although I love compliments, and would like to insist that you praise me more, why does it feel more like an insult?"
"I do think you should work on your stamina a little. It's a dangerous world."
"I'd like to hope I won't face any danger in my intended life living inside, preferably on a seat or a bed, doing mental labour and not physical."
"You'll never walk again?"
"I'll walk up the stairs, daily." Niklas raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me, you're judging me for exercising to the best of my ability?"
"I didn't say that."
"Of course, you'd never judge me."
"I'm always judging you. Don't worry."
"....." Niklas cleared his throat, rejuvenated by the water. "Anyway, where's my other, dear, non-judgmental friend?"
Kaden told him that he wasn't sure—Noah had a habit of appearing and disappearing at random, although he was often hovering around Kaden as if ready to remind him to eat, or to scold at any given moment.
He rubbed his arms as Jest rubbed its face against his neck affectionately, a low hum in the back of its throat to express its comfort.
A brown tail swatted his face, and Kaden blinked in surprise. It kept swatting his face, making Kaden's nose itch as if yelling, "Hey! Look at me!"
"Okay, okay, you have my undivided attention Your Majesty—"
He moved the tail out of the way, only to have the feline slide forward, extending its body with surreal flexibility. Kaden hurried to reach out its hands as it gracefully landed in his embrace, climbing up his arm and onto his shoulder where it draped its body over.
The large black eyes blinked at him proudly, showing off its agility.
"Hey now, that's dangerous. What if I hadn't caught you?"
A loud meow was the response, and a tiny lick to his neck as if apologizing.
Kaden rubbed its back with a helpless sigh, before realizing the absence of noise around him. He paused, looking left and right.
There was nobody there.
He frowned. Had he gotten lost in his distraction? He was certain he hadn't been walking for long, though he couldn't estimate how time ran in the Land of the Fae, or even if his estimations were remotely correct.
It was too easy to get lost inside his thoughts and to look at the time and realize an hour or two had passed, that the sun had set or risen.
The path that they'd been walking on had been blooming with flowers that ran up the moss that coated thick oaken trunks, filling the expansive leaves that hovered over them to provide shade.
Kaden sighed again. Staying put was typically the better option, but when lost in a forest that no other could navigate, it would be useless.
He turned around completely and started to walk.
"Should I walk for ten minutes and then wait and see? Climbing a tree is also an option..." He muttered to himself with only a soft meow in respond.
Suddenly, Jest's claws extend and dig into his shoulder painfully, its hair bristling at the edges as a heavy sound comes from the back of its throat. Kaden hissed in pain, feeling red bloom from the sharpness of its nails.
He took another step in surprise, and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He stumbled on a protruding root—certain that it hadn't been there earlier—and hurried to clutch Jest to his chest, colliding heavily onto the stick riddled ground.
The wind twisted around him, a shrill whisper ghosting past his ears, and when he raised his eyes, he saw the flowers before him curling into themselves.
The fall shouldn't have hurt as much as it did, but by some twisted luck, a broken branch had stabbed into his leg where he fell. Kaden furrowed his eyebrows, feeling the weight of the atmosphere around him.
He pressed his hands against the ground, pushing himself up slowly.
A shadow loomed over him.
Jest hissed viscously beside Kaden, a violence in the feline's wide stare.
The shadow—a standing person or beast—slowly turned their head. Back slightly hunched, something was tightly grasped in their curled hand.
Their hands, Kaden stared at deeply. The long, sharpened nails that resembled claws.
Kaden's vision adjusted, and the silhouette of the object became clearer. It was not a 'thing' that the person held, but a limp faerie, wings shredded and torn, yet pitifully clinging onto their small back.
Kaden's voice felt hoarse. "What did you do? Who are you?"
The shadows, seeming to spin around the figure, hid him from being seen properly. Silence rolled between them for a moment, before a quiet voice spoke.
An indifferent voice, void of any feeling or remorse.
"I killed it."
"Why?"
"Does why... matter?" The figure whispered, shaking their head with a stumble, lumbering closer to Kaden. "Why aren't you standing? The pain is nothing to you."
They were a willowy figure, swaying with every toss of the wind. Kaden watched for a second, before rolling over and yanking the branch from his leg. He tossed it a few meters away, smiling. It wasn't deep, and with a brief make-shift bandage, he would walk just fine.
Yet he said, "See, it's painful even if I'm used to it."
"Do you feel the pain, or have you been taught how to remember it?"
Kaden startled at that question, almost dropping his facade. Honestly, he'd felt the first stab, but it was already a numb throb in his leg that would heal over time. It wasn't something he'd think twice about before. Injuries were never, could never, be a priority.
What had changed was obvious.
Why, a certain dragon would grow bitter and seething if Kaden didn't pay more attention to his own injuries.
A hoarse laugh sent shivers across Kaden's arms as he stood, still unable to make out the features of the figure, much to his dismay.
"I'm not your enemy—I'm just passing by."
"Ah but," Kaden spread out his arms helplessly. "So am I. But since I've seen you, I'm technically an accomplice. And that won't do, I'm supposed to be a guest of the Faeries."
The figure swayed again. "You want to make an enemy of me?"
"I'd prefer no fights—if I return covered in injuries, I think that'd look more suspicious." Kaden glanced sideways to confirm nobody was around. For some reason, he didn't think this was a battle he should pick. "I'm only curious. Why?"
"...I act to protect myself. There are no allies between those who cannot understand each other." A clawed finger raised, pointed straight at Kaden. "Don't you understand it? You who cannot be understood by humans, much less other species?"
"I don't have to be understood to trust."
"Yes? But you have to be understood to be trusted." The branches rustled around them. "Have you learned how to trust? But can they, should they trust you?"
Kaden pushed away his insecurities that bubbled at the words, scolding him mind that it wasn't the right time. Jest, too, hissed and pushed its fluffy body closer to Kaden.
"Isn't it wonderful I never expected their trust to begin with? What if I take pleasure in giving without receiving?" Kaden smiled lightly, casual. "Don't tell me you shame others for their hobbies?"
"What a perverse hobby." deadpanned the figure.
"...alright, sure, I'm very perverse. Regardless, why are you—"
A pair of dark wings unfolded from the figure's back, stopping Kaden mid-sentence. They curled around the person's body, shielding and protective.
Kaden's foot moved a step backwards by instinct, the forest urging him to run.
The figure turned their head. "Scared?"
"Charmed, actually. I'm currently thinking about asking my own dragon to reveal their wings in all its glory."
The hidden person didn't deny Kaden's words, and Kaden's mind continued to spin. A missing dragon. Wasn't that who Mr. Mask had been seeking?
And if Niklas had been right, that dragons remained in their lands or in isolated areas, it wouldn't make sense for some passing by dragon to come bother the Fae. They kept to themselves and didn't interfere with other species.
"Why are you here, little dragon?" wondered Kaden, moving closer.
The dragon seemed slightly annoyed by his words. "I'm not little."
"It's the attitude," explained Kaden kindly. "You're giving 'little' attitude. A slip of the tongue."
"Has anybody told you that you make blood lust easy?"
"You're lusting for my blood, are you? I can't say I hear that often. I never realized dragons were blood-sucking creatures."
The dragon's tone dropped, in some resentment and exhaustion. "I have a goal."
"A goal?"
"I want to live. And if others must die for that to be, am I supposed to feel pity or remorse? Am I supposed to care for those who've given me nothing but despair? What am I doing?"
The dragon slunk closer to Kaden, only inches away. Standing on a higher ledge, their head bent over Kaden. "I'm deciding if it's worth keeping everybody alive, or if they must die for me to continue existing."
Kaden looked up, noticing the roundness of the dragon's face, the youthful quality that couldn't be disguised by killing intent.
He revealed no fear in his stance, even as clawed fingers crept by his neck.
"When you say 'your existence' do you mean yourself, or the existence of your race?" Kaden didn't know why he asked it, but the question had left him before his mind could register. "What are you trying to keep alive?"
The dragon regarded him quietly, a cold stare devoid of life. More chilling than Noah's—but then Kaden wondered, was Noah simply not frightening, or was it because he calmed himself in front of Kaden?
Dragons were possessive creatures. Niklas had said. That wasn't the only thing, the reason they were revered and feared for their very existence.
How little did he know about Noah, truly?
Beyond the hero that would save the Kingdom, beyond the wonderful existence that was him? He thought of it, his lacking awareness, over and over again. How long would he be in awe of how little he knew while not trying to change that?
"I had a family. A very precious family. " said the dragon abruptly, wistful.
"You left them."
"Not by choice. Not because I wanted to—and now, even if I were to return, I couldn't. Not until I can protect them properly. You," The claws pierced Kaden's skin, knives curved around his neck. "Will you be a hindrance, or a salvation?"
Kaden tilted his head, deepening the cut as he glanced down at the claws, then at the youthful face disguised by shadows. He raised his eyebrows, amused.
"You're the youngest, aren't you? In your family."
The rounded eyes narrowed sharply. "How did you know—"
"You act spoiled, reckless. I don't dislike that. If you think I'll be trouble, then do it. Kill me. I won't stop you, nor will I fight back."
Kaden's pale green eyes reflected the sharpened claws, raising a gloved hand to press it closer to his exposed neck. There was wild excitement in the gaze, the beat of his heart thrumming and vibrating up his body.
Madness streamed through his body as naturally as blood.
Death, he decided, was creeping around him. A swift slice to his neck, a light press further in until the cut became too deep, and blood—all the red warmth that would bloom and flow—down his skin—down his body, to the ground—how would it feel—
The dragon jerked their hand away, wings flapping twice. Kaden blinked, drawn away from his dazed state as he slowly pressed against the bleeding wound.
His heart thumped in his ribcage, a constant beat that reminded him he was alive. That death, close as it came, hadn't decided to claim him yet.
The young dragon hissed. "You humans are crazy."
"So I've been called." said Kaden quietly, pulling his hand away to spread his red-soaked fingers before his eyes. "You're not killing me? You could be famous, you know? I have a rather notorious reputation."
"...I cannot."
"Why not?"
"Because there are too many that would mourn your death."
Instantly, Kaden picked something wrong in the sentence—the very fact that the dragon was willing to murder to protect himself, yet worried for the ones that would grieve Kaden's death.
Assuming there would be people to grieve, Kaden wasn't special in the fact that somebody might mourn his passing. In fact, it was pathetic to even consider those who would. A number so little, if existing at all, that it wasn't worth considering.
Therefore, there was reason to believe that one of the people that the dragon thought would mourn Kaden's death, was somebody important.
Somebody the dragon didn't want to upset.
Clutter disorganized his mind as he blinked away black spots, dizziness like a veil over his sight. He laughed to himself, amused. "Trying to even believe that there would be somebody who'd mourn my death is ridiculous."
However, it wasn't the time to overlook a hidden meaning for the sake of his own self-deprecation. Thinking positively, who would grieve for him?
There were a few who might shed a tear or two.
"Who is it that you don't want to see mourning?" he wondered aloud.
Two flaps of the dragon's spread wings sent leaves and dirt tossing around Kaden's body, their violet eyes narrowed into slits. The shadows and leaves clung to their arms, racing further up as skin melted and morphed into hundreds of little bumps.
Kaden raised his arm, shielding his eyes from the sudden gust. Squinting, he watched sticks and stones kick up from the ground, spinning in a small tornado where the dragon rose.
As they brushed the hanging tree tops, light spilling onto the sharp lines that defined them, their body folded into itself.
Bones snapped and cracked, popping out of their sockets, protruding from every direction. A black mist spun around the rising figure, a low rumble echoing along the earth.
By the time they took to the skies, a small dragon had emerged from the mist. Two jeweled eyes speckled with colours reflected by the light, spared Kaden a single glance before soaring into the distance.