The Monster's Stratagem (Lesbian Story)

13: Strained Alliance

Taking the long route, Dawn's thoughts were too muddled to know where they were, trees passing in a black blur as she touched her lips. Had she known that kissing someone she loathed felt like this, she would've hated and hooked up with a lot of people by now. Out of the corner of her eye and in the limited light, she could see the slight shake of Syrena's body.

"That meant nothing." The Commander caught her glance, narrowing her eyes. "You're nothing to me."

"Likewise." Dawn laughed, despite the shakiness of her own body. "Though if anything, it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself. Did my kissing not charm you, monster?"

"As if someone as repulsive as you could charm me." Syrena scoffed, voice thick with feigned confidence.

"Is that a challenge?" The Venturer tilted her head, smiling in a way that she knew would annoy her. "Though, I find you equally repulsive so I suppose we're even."

"Then lets not speak of this ever again."

"A sound idea."

When Dawn opened the door to Alani's hut, she was greeted with darkness and an eerie silence. The witch had yet to return from the evening's events. Dawn swore under her breath before heading inside, letting the monster shut the door behind her. She distracted herself by lighting candles, ignoring the heavy and uncomfortable silence that had settled between them. Instead, the Venturer pulled a blank notebook from the shelf and something to write with before compiling everything she remembered on the paper. Most of the information she had gathered consisted of numbers, along with a success rate increasing. How curious this mystery was becoming.

Tapping the pen against her chin, Dawn didn't notice Syrena leaning behind her and observing her writing until she reached down to point at the notes. "Monrya, that's the name of the town I was born in, the one the letters mentioned."

Complying, Dawn hastily scribbled the name down and stared at it as though it possessed a great secret she would soon uncover. "I thought you were from Zyire? You act as though you are."

"I've been there so long I may as well be."

"Aren't you about my age? Surely you couldn't have been there that long." Dawn looked up, confused by the monster's prolonged silence. Ah, there was definitely something wrong. This was the second time tonight where Syrena had looked upset from this topic. The Venturer surmised that something had definitely happened there, something that forced the monster to leave her southern home and travel northeast to the kingdom. Infected wounds, no matter how old or how much time had passed, were hard to heal after all. Sighing, Dawn shrugged before turning back to the notebook. "Never mind then, we have bigger issues than your past."

Despite herself, Syrena huffed the barest hint of a laugh before moving to sit beside Dawn. The monster dutifully relayed every piece of information she had read, and by the time Dawn had written it all down, her wrist and hand were aching.

"Well, at least there is something to go on now. Something better than black clouds." She said, scanning over her handwriting.

"Are you saying black clouds are a common occurrence in the forest?"

"I'm saying that I need something a little more substantial to work with."

Suddenly the door flew open and hit the wall with a bang, causing Dawn to almost fall out of her chair in shock. Syrena, who had been too focused on the conversation to have heard the woman approach, also looked as though she was trying to calm her racing heart.

"Whatever you have found, it better be worth it." Alani all but growled, looking more infuriated than Dawn had ever had the misfortune of seeing before. "Garrett is starting home inspections tomorrow."