The Smiling Death

Amon slowly stepped into the mansion. The door creaked loudly as it opened, echoing through the empty halls.

There was one thing Amon noticed. He still felt like before, like someone was following him, yet not.

'It seems I was right. They are waiting for the moon to hide. Still, I can't say it a hundred percent.' He really believed that his guess was true.

He shook his head and focused on the thing in front of him. The mansion.

The place was old but still beautiful in its own way. The walls were covered with cracks, and the floor had a layer of dust. Spider webs hung in the corners, and some old furniture stood broken and faded.

Amon looked around carefully, his eyes moving over the grand staircase, the old paintings on the walls, and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling — now dull and covered in dust.

Amon stepped in cautiously, his boots making faint crunching sounds over fallen plaster and debris. Elegant chandeliers hung above, their crystals dulled by grime and time.

"This place must've been amazing once," he muttered softly.

He observed one of the huge paintings on the wall.

The man sat perfectly still on a massive, dark wooden chair that looked like a throne. His clothes were of rich, deep blue velvet and embroidered with silver. He wore a heavy, noticeable green jewel at his throat.

His posture was stiff and powerful. He looked out with a cold, hard expression, his emerald eyes showing no warmth. The eyes of a man who was used to giving orders and having them obeyed without question. His long red hair had fallen loose.

'He looks like the owner of this huge mansion... wait, does this place have some hidden treasure?' A greedy thought suddenly came to his mind.

He turned and moved.

He kept walking through the long corridors, his boots making soft sounds against the dusty floor. Every step made the wooden boards creak under his weight.

After a while, he reached a large door. Bigger than the rest. It looked heavy and ancient, carved with strange patterns.

"What's behind this?" he wondered.

He grabbed the handle and slowly pushed it open. The door groaned as it moved.

The room inside was huge and dark. Like a grand hall. The air was cold, and a faint wind blew from somewhere inside.

Then Amon felt it. A rush of wind brushing against his face. He turned toward it. Heavy, warm, and rhythmic. As if something big was breathing. So he looked in that direction.

His eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Only one thought came now — why?

Lying in the shadows was a massive creature a dragon-like beast, sleeping on the broken floor. Its scales were dark and rough, and its wings folded beside its body.

The creature's huge chest rose and fell with each deep breath. A dragon? No. It was not as devastating as a mythical beast.

Amon realized what it was. A wyvern.

The wall behind it was broken, the ceiling cracked open. It looked like the monster had forced its way inside and made this place its nest, sleeping comfortably.

Amon gulped his saliva.

There's no way he could defeat this thing.

The wyvern exhaled slowly through its nostrils, releasing a heavy, hot breath that swept across the room.

Amon froze. He didn't even dare to breathe. He felt goosebumps through his body. Not from excitement but from fear.

'Just my luck…' he thought quietly, his heart pounding fast in his chest.

'This thing... it could crush me in a second,' he thought, his hand instinctively reaching for his sword.

He took a slow step back, shadow already covering his feet to not make any sound, keeping his eyes fixed on the slumbering beast. The wyvern's tail twitched slightly, scraping against the stone with a low, grinding noise.

The situation was too dire. One mistake and he would be killed.

Amon slowly took a step back.

Suddenly, the wyvern trembled.

'No!' Amon froze in his place. A shiver ran down his spine. His heart beat faster. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He held his breath.

'Please don't wake up! Please don't wake up! Goddess, please save me!' He prayed for the sleeping disaster to stay asleep. Even praying to the Goddess.

He was not a devotee of the Goddess, but every time he was in a dangerous situation, he always prayed. Damn like hell she would help him.

But then, the wyvern stopped moving. Breathing slowly. Good for Amon — it was still asleep.

Amon exhaled the breath he had been holding.

He was relieved. The beast was still asleep.

Amon didn't know much about monsters, but usually, wyverns were rank four or rank five monsters.

In short, they were too strong. They could kill Amon in seconds.

Amon turned back toward the door, ready to open it.

Now that he thought about it, the wyvern didn't wake up at the sound of the door opening. But again, he couldn't take the risk.

So he used his shadow to cover the door, so as not to make a noise.

'Hah, I'm using my shadow ability a lot today. My head is already starting to throb.' It was mild, but his head was aching.

He slid open the door.

But it was his bad day. The moon outside had been covered with clouds again.

How? Just his bad luck.

"Kkeeehh."

"Growlll!"

They appeared again, from the other side of the door.

And from the broken wall of the mansion, just behind the wyvern.

'No! No!' Amon's face paled at the sound of those creatures.

He gazed back at the wyvern. Behind it, from the broken wall, three skinny dark creatures entered.

They growled loudly again.

'Don't do that!' Amon pleaded with a grave expression.

What was amusing was that those creatures stopped looking at Amon.

Now they finally put their attention on another being.

Yup. They actually looked at the wyvern. They stopped growling and yelling, becoming more cautious.

Amon smiled bitterly.

Because it was already out of hand. The wyvern's eyes were already wide open, staring at Amon with its dark green eyes. A vertical slit was there. Like some reptile. Like some dragon.

'Hah... I'm dead.' That was Amon's thought.

Before the wyvern lunged at him.