Chapter 4 is now edited and I like it much better but there are no major changes. You don't have to reread it if you don't want to.

This chapter was HARD to write. I knew what I wanted to do but I find dialog is one of the hardest things to write about. I can exposition the shit out of stuff but dialog is really hard and this was a dialog heavy chapter.

I rewrote parts of it a bunch of times, I think there was like 5 lines of dialog I've rewritten over 20 times. I just couldn't get it to perfection and I'm still not completely happy with it.

Edited!

Please enjoy and give any criticism or any spelling/grammatical errors in the comments!

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She was amused. Though she could learn the language quickly by listening, trillions of years of knowledge helped with that, a single touch was all it took to understand his language fully.

It wasn’t all she took from him but she was going to keep the rest of it a secret.

They thought the reason for the earthquake was a dragon? She saw the split earth from her egg, she knew that she did it. Maybe the egg could be used as a farce, perhaps it was a dragon's egg which had hatched and the parent took it off. Yes she would plant that idea in their minds.

Such interesting creatures humans, and now she was one of them.

The young knight Dannet had given her a robe and was going to question her. She would feign ignorance of their language, pretending to learn it over time. She wondered why she didn’t just kill them, she knew she could.

Weeks of travelling had pit her against many different monsters that were around. None of them were of the dragon race which she knew these humans feared, but dangerous none the less.

Only a few species in the other universe would be so dangerous and only because they would kill you by contact. Poisonous or venomous, sometime

s radioactive. That was a strange species, able to live much closer to the centre of their galaxy using the radioactive waves as food. But they died all the same to the Void; no more thinking of that, that place was gone.

Death was intrigued by this world. There were many things which she had no experience with and there were new things to learn. It was an enjoyable experience to her.

Along with new creatures, there was magic, monsters, and new places to explore. With her powers so weak compared to what she had before she was able to explore places with an innocence she had never experienced before.

“Lady, we’ve arrived at the camp,” said Beneger.

She woke up from her thoughts and looked around at the gathering of soldiers. The dawn had just broke when she arrived so they were all getting prepared to leave.

“Hold off on breaking down the camp, the captain will be here soon.” Beneger commanded.

Beneger walked up to the man who seemed to be the mage Jourdain and spoke to him privately while others in the group watched her, the corners of her mouth lifted in amusement at some of their dumbfounded looks, they obviously didn’t have training in subtlety.

A short yet well built man stepped forward to check her. She looked at him with amusement but felt something strange about him. She assumed it was his magical ability, the thoughts from Captain Dannet had taught her that everybody who had magical ability could feel it within others, and those with stronger magical ability could test those.

Of the entire group here she felt an overwhelming amount of people who had magical talent, there were only three who didn’t but even the crass Ansger did.

Death had taken the memories from Dannet. She understood how the body worked and the mind especially. Human minds were extremely easy to read she found but she was only able to get surface memories. At first she hadn’t been sure that she would be able to read the minds of these people, but it pleased her greatly to quickly pick up their language and immediate thoughts.

Language was something that was so ingrained within the mind that it went from the surface to the deepest parts, enabling her to access all of it.

She also knew how Dannet had thought about her, his worries for his unit because of the possibility of a dragon. Their kingdom had nearly been destroyed by a frost dragon before, with the chance of an earth dragon near it could do much more damage.

The Kitesta Kingdom was in the southern part of the land, the frost dragon was young and was out of it’s element to say. Should an earth dragon be any older it could have likely destroyed everything.

She mulled everything over in her head as she walked over to Jourdain the mage. Humans were naturally attuned to one element on their birth. The four elements were the most common, but there was also other magical affinities. Darkness and light, electricity and nature. There were several more uncommon affinities like ice and summoning which very few people had because those who were able to teach them how to use it were so few.

There were other affinities which were completely random. There was a fairy tale of a mage with the power to increase people's weight. Those mages were some of the strongest should they learn how to use their power. That mage had the power over gravity and none since had the same power. She could see the truth of their tale for what they were even if they didn’t.

She knew captain Dannet was curious about her magical affinity, he felt her power and the fact that she was naked with nothing with her when he met her made him think she used her magical powers to stay alive. He wasn’t wrong after all.

“Lady pleased to meet your acquaintance, please let me help you. My affinity is nature and I am quite adept at healing if you don’t mind.” he said to her.

Laughing inside she simply feigned ignorance at his words and shook her head “Besana yeatu cordial.”

Jourdain was completely at a loss for a moment until Beneger remembered to tell him that she didn’t speak the language.

“Could have told me that.” he mumbled to himself. “Any way to get her to talk some more?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” replied Beneger, “She talked to us before and seemed to understand what she wanted after we spoke to her a few times. Maybe she hit her head and forgot the language.” he said at a loss.

“Do you understand the language?” Jourdain asked slowly, trying to get her to continue to talk.

Tiring of the farce she was prepared to just give up but she decided against it, it wouldn’t due to give all away one of her cards. Especially if they figured out she could learn by a simple touch, they might not believe that she could only understand surface thoughts and not delve deep… yet at least.

She started pointing out a few things and speaking words for them. She used English to speak to them because they looked more European. She could have used any language from Earth like Chinese or Spanish because they were more common or even an alien language but she decided to keep things simple for herself.

Catching on quickly Jourdain followed her along and said the words along with her as well as teaching her the words of language. Going up to a tree and saying tree would elicit the same response from him only in their language which was called common to them. Jourdain told her that elves would speak elvish, dwarves; dwarvish, and so on.

Jourdain spent a few moments trying to teach Death the language but realizing that she was picking up every word that was being said he praised her for her skills in language and then was finally able to use his nature magic to check for any disease or wound on her.

She was given a clean bill of health.

During this time Dannet had already come back to the camp and he had set somebody to guard her at all times. Not just for her safety but for their safety.

Dannet decided that they were going to stay at the camp until lunch in order to find more about her.

Since she was so adept at languages Jourdain started to pestering her with questions.

They sat side by side near the fire where a carcass of a boar laid across on a split.

“What is your name Lady?” was the first question.

“I have many names.” was all she replied.

“Could you tell me one?” he asked.

“My name is not easily given.” she said.

Jourdain frowned at the answer. She knew she was being evasive with her answers.

“Could I give you a name then?” he asked.

“Are you good at naming?” she retorted.

He looked slightly embarrassed, “No, not particularly... Perhaps one of my comrades could give you a name.” He suggested.

“If they are good at naming then it is sufficient, but that can be for later. You may continue to call me Lady for now.” she told him.

“That’s fine with me,” he said, satisfied. “Where are you from then?” he asked.

“Far away.” She teased.

She never gave full answers but always gave the truth. She didn’t know his full magical capabilities. She hadn’t touched him to learn the answers, she was already regretting it with Dannet because it made things too easy. She wanted excitement and learning everything took it away.

She knew she had the ability to not take in the information but she was having impulses that she wasn’t used to. She knew she wouldn’t have been able to look into the mind of Jourdain or anyone else she touched.

Once she got control over all of her emotions she would be able to fully control her power.

“What about that language, is it from your home?”

“You’re smart,” was all she said back to him. It wasn’t completely true of course. She was around long before earth and long after, but it was part of her universe so it was technically correct.

“Where is your home?” He asked once again.

“Not too smart it seems.” She frowned, slightly upset at his constant pestering about her home. She didn’t care about answering some questions, maybe throwing out some wisdom that they might not have thought of before, but asking the same questions over and over bored her quickly.

Jourdain was taken back slightly but quickly recovered to continue to ask questions. He pestered her constantly until they were to leave the camp to continue forward.

Death was evasive throughout the questions and would give only one or two word answers to each question. She never asked questions herself, she knew it wouldn’t be fair to receive answers when she wasn’t giving herself.

Ser Dannet came to her as the company started to move. She learned that she was to name him Ser Dannet while they called him Captain or Captain Dannet because of his rank over them. Since she wasn’t military she had to call him by his noble rank instead of military one.

The questions continued until lunch where she was given some of the boar which had been cooking by them while Jourdain left to report to Dannet. She didn’t know what he was telling him but it would obviously be about her answers and her evasiveness.

She didn’t know if their kingdom had problems with other kingdoms. Maybe they would think she’s a spy and keep a close eye on her. That would be exciting, she thought, another game.

Ser Dannet came to sit beside her. “I’ve spoken to Jourdain, it seems you’ve quickly learned the language. Did you know it already?”

“I didn’t know the language when I met you.” She said, thinking if they had any way to tell the truth it would be truth, ignoring the fact that she learned it quickly after meeting him and not from Jourdain.

“How did you learn the language so quick?” He asked her, obviously not satisfied with the answers Jourdain got from her.

“I know many languages, they’re all easily learned to me.”

“How many do you know?” He asked still not satisfied.

Death was starting to get tired of this questioning. She was trying to keep her secrets and it was now obvious that he had a way to tell the truth or else he wouldn’t ask such specific questions.

“Why do you want to know?” She asked him ignoring his question.

“I have to find out if you’re a spy.” He answered. “If your answers don’t satisfy me then I’ll have to kill you. I don’t want to do that but you’ve been too ambiguous. You’re too confident to be walking through the forest with no weapon or clothes. You’ve given us no name, no home, how do I know that you’re not a danger to my kingdom?”

“You have a way to tell the truth don’t you?” She asked him.

Dannet nodded, “Yes.”

The others took out their weapons, they heard the conversation between the two. They wouldn’t risk their captain to danger if she continued to refuse to answer.

“I am not a spy, and my home was destroyed.” She said with no emotion. Truth be told she was happy at the fact. If it wasn’t true then she wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity. But now she was prepared to take all of their lives. She spread her awareness into their lifeforce, ready to take it from them should they become hostile.

Dannet seemed to relax a bit though Death didn’t know why. Death didn’t know how he would be able to tell if she was lying but it must have been magical in nature, maybe a device which notified if lies were told.

“Why are you so evasive?” He continued.

“Some people have their own secrets to be kept.” She said emotionless again.

Dannet could understand that, he paused for a few moments looking at her carefully, as if he looked close enough he could find the answers he was seeking. “Very well, you never lied and you’re not a spy… I don’t know why you’re being so evasive but I understand that we’re strangers to each other as well. I wouldn’t give up my secrets so I won’t ask yours.

She nodded glad that the questioning was over. She would reveal her secrets in her own time. It was all a game to her now.

“I have one last question though, how did you know I was there?” He asked.

She smiled and figured he could get one answer from her, “I could feel your life,” she replied. “Will I go with you or will you send me away?” She asked.

“It’s up to you Lady, we’re in search of something dangerous.” He answered, being evasive in his own way.

“What is so dangerous that all of you are afraid of it?” she questioned.

“We’re in search of what caused damage to our home. It has caused the large scar in the earth that you might have seen.”

“I’ve seen the scar.” She replied to him.

“You have? Did you see what caused it? Did you see the source?” He asked excitedly.

“I didn’t see what caused it but I saw the source, an egg in the ground was there and it was broken, the scars in the earth came from the source of the break in the egg though I’ll say no more.”

He saw the truth in her words because the magical device didn’t go off. “We have to find this egg, if we get confirmation we can go back.” He announced to the camp. “Get ready to head out soldiers. How far away was it Lady?”

“I don’t know your measurements but it was fourteen days of travel on foot from where you met me.” She told him truthfully. This would be her opportunity to direct their questions away from her for now as Dannet was too excited at the prospect of a dragon egg. With her answering all of their questions truthfully they would turn off the magical device and then she could deceive them as she wanted.

They travelled once again and though she was slightly annoyed at the fact of going back to the egg instead of continuing to explore the world, she found it interesting to meet many of the soldiers in the unit.

The men came up to her quickly when it was announced that she was going with them, all trying to get into her good graces. The three women in the party didn’t seem very inclined towards her but were amicable enough, especially Elyse.

Death was fascinated with the elf, the first time she had ever met one. She had a darker skin tone compared to the rest of the company, but Death still thought her skin was pretty. It was naturally dark in colour, nearly olive. When she asked if she was a dark elf Elyse jumped at her and nearly hit her in the face but was only held back by Beneger and Jourdain who heard her ask the question.

“Never ask an elf if they’re related to the dark elves.” he said seriously. “Elves and dark elves have a bad history, and hers is worse with all elves.”

She was curious, “What is so bad about dark elves?”

“Dark elves are evil Lady. They plunder and kill from other elves but not like elves don’t deserve it. Elves are bad folk too, willing to kill humans either way. I think there’s just bad blood between the two.”

“I agree, not all people are bad though there are bad people in each group.” she replied.

“Well said Lady, you seem to know a lot and yet nothing at all.” he said as he looked at her more closely.

She ignored it and they continued to go through more questions.

From the group she found the elf most interesting out of all of them and then Jourdain because he was a mage. His magical powers interested her and he showed off his skills, from clearing the path by making the brambles and tree branches move to calling some birds to scout ahead.

She asked him why he didn’t talk to the animals to come so they could eat them and he replied it was unnatural to talk to an animal then kill it.

“It’s why I hardly talk to any non-flying animal, that way I won’t feel bad if I go hungry.” He laughed.

Within the few days of travel she had already wormed her way into the company, making jokes and laughing at theirs. The only one who didn’t seem to like her was Elyse. She thought it might have been because she offended her because of the dark elf comment but then she realized that the elf had a bit of a crush on Ser Dannet. Dannet didn’t know that but it seemed everybody else did. The blindness of men she thought.

They finally reached the egg after only a few days of mounted travel which made Death appreciative. It wouldn’t be much longer to get back to where she met the company on horse.

They arrived at the egg and examined it for days but though everyone had a theory, from Jourdain to Ansger, the best assumption they came up with was that it was a dragon’s egg. They debated bringing it back to the capitol, but decided that there would be too much danger if the dragon or it’s mother returned to find the egg.

One of the soldiers made a fair sketch of the place and the egg and they marked it on a map to record in the annals of the Kingdom before Captain Dannet ordered their return to the city. He invited the Lady to join them but warned that she would need to provide real answers to their King, as he would not permit any insolence, and the guards there were far less accommodating.

It took three weeks of travel and a few monster attacks for them to reach the Kingdom but she finally saw the white walls of the capitol, Lightcross.