He had been the red goat. In this period of the time, you either get to live above the clouds, or you are that slave stepped below everyone else. For Dake’s case, he was not so lucky. He was the youngest and the lowest in ranks, the supposed pet of a bumptious viper, and nothing more than a tool and scapegoat for the higher classes. He detested the bloody tasks he was given, yet he could only obey for the black dog collar was never loosened enough to disagree with. He had dreamed of the glory of nobility—so much for one poor being stuck in a worn-out shirt and dirty pants, doing labors that seemed endless and hopeless—how he had wished if he could choose a better life for his unfortunate soul.

    Walking down the desolate streets painted dark blue and gray under where the moon didn’t even bear to shine, coziness had been an imagination. He could have already hear the indifferent voices of the so-called higher-ups having pleasurable conversations and brown tea…now that’s what’s cozy, he scowled.

    He arrived at the location, trying his best to not think about the trail of mess he left in the public street. He kicked opened the door carelessly. 

    “Oh, darling, and I think there’s no need to open a door like that way.”

    It was fairly large for a living room, there was a long table, a fireplace, some shelves along the walls, and other furnitures shoved to the sides. Members of various animal heads seated across the table, with the obvious leader, a serpent named Cyezteeth, seated at his end chair. The viper had gorgeous carmine-traced, black, petal-like scales along his back, ventral scales bright red like ruby slices, and eyes colder than a Winter’s blow. The members of the table turned towards the entrance, the many different eyes fell upon him, sharp, curious, incredulous, and so on which he felt uncomfortable to comprehend any further.

    “What’s up, goat boy? What cat did you dragged in this time?”

    “Umm…a dead donkey?”

    The members discussed shortly and laughed.

    “Ah, you sure is humorous, Dake,” the head serpent hissed sarcastically, “That’s no donkey, that’s a unicorn.”

    Some of the members gasped, although he suspected their disbelief came more from the surprise of how could such scrawny boy take down that creature than the actual beast itself.

    “Let’s have the long-awaited feast, shall we?” His master announced, casting a shadow over the entire living room as he rose to commence further instructions, the black tongue fluttering each time he pronounced a word, “Bring it up here, boy, and you may have the leftovers.”

    The leftovers, yeah of course, he managed to lift the corpse onto the table with a push, then backing away towards the corner of the room. The viper noticed and gestured him to come closer; Dake shuddered, nevertheless, following the invisible lead reluctantly.

    “Dake? Is that his name?” One of the members said in distaste.

    “Naw, it’s goat boy,” another mocked.

    He growled at the speaker, but was interrupted by a series of rapid pats between his horns.

    “Dake, you did a good job indeed,” he hissed pridefully, “And I suppose the each of you have at least brought something for us? Or you are incompetent enough to even be outmatched by my goat?”

    The table remained silence. The other members exchanged nervous glances. The head serpent waited patiently for their responses, his dangerously calm eyes scanned across the table, and sighed expectedly as the others just nodded in agreement.

    Still, that felt better for Dake. He was at the very end of the table alongside his master, in a position able to observe the room with such a clear view. It felt like standing next to the throne, overlooking the subjects, with such authority above and over all of them. That same excitement never lasted long, as then he snapped out of his delusion and remembered his true position in this room.

    The members were engaging in conversations again, portioning the meat and enjoying the flesh. He could only stand aside and watch, which he was grateful for because he could not endure the guilt if he participate in the feast, and then he actually received his leftovers this time.

    “Take that as a reward, kid,” the serpent smirked, “And this too.”

    He threw him a fresh red apple. In an instant, Dake caught it with confusion as the other members seemed suspiciously aware of the fact.

    He decided to eat the unicorn meat first, not knowing what else to respond otherwise.

    He glared back the anticipated staring eyes, still unsure of why they were so noiseless suddenly.

    Then, he studied the apple.

    “I don’t think I want to eat that apple?” He uttered hesitantly, throwing it back to his master.

    The room bursted into moans of disappointment; however, he could discern the weird appreciation from Cyezteeth, his eyes wide in eerie interest, cutting right through his soul. A chill ran down his spine, a dreadful thought occurred to him: it couldn’t be…maybe, eating the apple wasn’t too bad at all. He had injected venom into it. 

    “Smart thinking, thought it would really fool you,” he produced some sort of laugh within his throat as he put the apple away somewhere, “But I’m glad you didn’t actually eat it, I got bigger plans waiting for you, kid…”