My (Monster?) Hero Life

"Hm, I wondered where you guys had got to." Rysa chuckled as she stared at Kace with gorgeous violet eyes.

On the other hand, Kace was mesmerised as he watched Rysa's pale skin turn a tanned colour and her light brown hair turned pitch black. 'Well, that's unusual.' Kace thought as Rysa's waistline slimmed a bit more and her chest grew a few sizes. Rysa chuckled when she saw the confusion on Kace's face.

"Don't worry about it. We Phoenixes are vain creatures. Our looks are always changing to match what we like to imagine ourselves as at any given moment. I'm still trying to settle on a form for now. It's just a shame I can't make myself look younger." Rysa sighed as if she genuinely regretted growing older.

"I thought Phoenix's started a whole new life whenever they are reborn?" Kace raised an eyebrow inquisitively. He was, of course, talking about the legends back on earth.

"Who told you that?" Rysa giggled melodically as her black silk dress with a split down the left leg swayed with her body. 

"It's just something I heard somewhere…." Kace gulped as Rysa's long, slender tanned leg slipped into view.

"Well, you shouldn't believe every rumour," Rysa smirked as she noticed where Kace was looking. However, she did not interrupt him. After all, Phoenixes were known to be attention seekers and relished it whenever someone googled them. "We just have extremely long lifespans. Take me, for example. I'm middle-aged amongst my species at a little over five thousand odd years old."

Kace was shocked for a moment as he stared at the beauty in front of him. It was hard to believe that she was that old. Did that not mean that she was even older than queen Sonja? Kace frowned for a moment as he realised something. If he included Rysa, then every woman closely involved with his life were all old hags.

'Except Lilly, maybe. But I still don't know her actual age.' Kace had a sinking feeling that she was probably ancient compared to him as well. Thinking along those lines would also mean that the wrinkly Vaskra was perhaps the youngest. That thought alone almost made Kace vomit on the spot.

"You're looking good for your age, Lady Rysa." Kace just said the first compliment he could think of as he bowed towards her. Of course, his praise was completely sincere.

"Rysa is fine. I think we can dispense with any formalities. You did save my son and me after all." Rysa suddenly seemed to think of something as she started to tap her chin softly. "Or you could call me Aunt Rysa? Or how does Auntie sound?"

Kace's expression became awkward at Rysa's suggestion. He hardly knew her butte was suggesting that they treat each other like family. Was this an attempt to make herself feel younger? 

"I think calling you aunt would be doing you a great disservice Rysa. You hardly look old enough to be one." Kace gave the best excuse that he could think of to deny her suggestion while flattering her at the same time. 

"You've got quite a smooth tongue on you." Rysa had a playful look in her eyes as she scanned Kace's physique. "Maybe we should play sometime."

Rysa winked at Kace, and the latter felt his nether regions go cold. He had the distinct feeling that something horrible would happen if he took Rysa up on her offer. Kace limited himself to performing an uncomfortable smile in response.

"Well, you can always think about it." Rysa smiled warmly as she placed her hand on Kace's chest. "Oh, right. What made you guys decide to wake up my pet?"

Kace frowned for a moment as he initially failed to understand what she was talking about. However, there was only one thing that it could be. The tri headed drake was now sunbathing in the sand where Rysa had spared it.

"That thing is your pet?" Kace exclaimed in shock.

"Well, he's a little bigger than he was the last time we saw each other. But it's definitely the same drake. I actually tried looking for him a week or so ago, but he totally alluded me. I never thought that he would have gone into hibernation at his size." 

Rysa's expression as she spoke told Kace that she was pretty attached to the beast that almost ate them for a snack. Still, Kace felt a lot better now that he knew they would not have to worry about it in the future. 

"Well, we didn't mean to disturb him. We were just testing out the ship's combat power and stretching our muscles a little against the drake pack. We had no idea he was down there." Kace glanced towards the beast in the distance with some apprehension on his face.

"Oh, well, he seems to have had fun messing around with you guys anyway, so no damage done." Rysa blankly stared into space as she considered something. "Is your vessel still able to fly?"

Kace hesitantly glanced at Gyn, who appeared next to them. He was the only one qualified to answer that question. However, Kace was more afraid that Gyn would say something to provoke Rysa with his personality being what it was.

"Well, I can get it in the air, but your fucking lizard over there chewed the ass off of it!" Gyn shouted, making Kace's fears come true instantly. "You any idea how long it took me to fix the mess that it used to be? Huh? Not long! Because I'm the only one with any brains around here, apparently. But that's not the point. Just give me what I need to fix it, a few tons of drake scales and your body, and we'll call it even."

Kace gaped in shock at the little goblin boldly asking for Rysa's body. Sure, she had been particularly forward with Kace, but what gave Gyn the confidence to ask for the same treatment? Rysa seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Kace as she frowned deeply at the ugly little squirt. 

That was one creature that she did not covet any attention from. Rysa seemed to be weighing her response carefully as she considered Gyn's other demands.

"I can give you the materials to fix your vessel. The drake scales are not a problem either. However, my body is definitely out of the question." Rysa said each word carefully to make sure that Gyn got the message. However, his expression looked confused, as if he could not understand why. 

"It shouldn't be a problem, though, right? It's just your body. It's not anything special to you." Gyn hummed as a dark look crossed Rysa's face. Kace wanted to run for cover. Gyn's stupidity had reached new levels with this comment. "I mean, you are a Phoenix, right? So you'll get a new one when you're reborn. So just off yourself and let me take the corpse to study it. I might get something good from it."

Rysa, who was about to unleash all of hell on the goblin, suddenly paused. 'He wants to use my body as materials?' Rysa frowned as she realised the misunderstanding and the fact she could not sense any malice coming from Gyn. He was like a child that was full of curiosity. Kace, on the other hand, felt like he had gone through something similar before.

Ah right. It was at that time that Lilly caused a misunderstanding. 'Seriously! What is it with monsters! Don't they have any common sense?' Still, Kace felt relieved that Gyn had not actually meant to offend anyone this time. His other requests were reasonable, and although it was better than asking Rysa to share a night with him, it was still an unreasonable request to ask her to off herself.

"I'll take it into consideration then." Surprisingly though, Rysa did not outright reject the idea. "You'd only gain ashes from it, but I'd be quite interested to see if you could find a use for them."

'Ah, that's right. She's something of a research junkie too.' Kace thought as he remembered the personal library full of her own notes.

"Ashes? Is there no way to preserve the body?" Gyn asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Not that I know of, but you're welcome to give it a try." Rysa grinned at Gyn as if she were challenging him. "Since we seem to have an agreement. Shall we get going?"

Kace agreed that they should get to the oasis city as soon as possible. The invasion of the Northern territories had been put off long enough. He could only hope that they could break through with the army that they had assembled this time. There was a good chance that Gyn's airship and Rysa would be the key to victory.

Kace stared off into the distance as he wondered how the council would take it when he parted ways with them after this campaign…