As I took a sharp left into the thicket, I heard the shouts approaching from behind.

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!” I barked. Those dunces should have known that killing the son of a very rich, angry businessman was going to get little ol’ me sicced on them. It did not take much effort to get their little black market shop shut down. You get that kind of guy drunk, they do way too much jabbering.

I had built up quite a reputation in the area. Not that I necessarily thought that was a good thing, but it kept the requests and money coming. The ones who have heard of me were usually the ones who could afford me, or the ones who earned themselves a visit.

Triumphantly, I wove through the foliage, trying to create space in between me and my friends. There were a lot of them, but they were all big and bulky humans. Getting through this maze of brush and trees would be near impossible for them (I hoped.)

I ran and hurdled until my lungs burned and my legs begged me to stop. I made it an impressive distance, and no longer heard the ruckus of the angry bandwagon behind me.

Content, I took a seat on a large boulder to catch my breath. I was ready to run again but didn’t think I’d need to. I was thankfully en route home, even on my scenic detour. It was still probably 12 hours travel, but that was better than having to backtrack through the commotion I just made.

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Night was descended upon the land. I figured I’d make it home mid-morning if I continued on at my steady pace. A few hours had already come and gone swiftly. I was making good time. As I sauntered along, I intently listened to the sweet melody of wildlife. There was a near constant hum of insects. Leaves shook as tiny critters pounced through them. I moved so mechanically, as if I was in a hypnotic trance. Nature had a way of doing that to me.

“Phina, Phina, Phina.”

Before I could react, a man in oddly fancy attire for a midnight stroll in the woods appeared in my path. His dark hair was slicked back and greasy. His eyes were the color of death.

I turned to make my escape but was met by another person. He was tall with a deep burgundy complexion. Bat-like wings sprouted from his back and horns curled from his skull. I had never seen such a being before. I stumbled backwards in shock, sandwiched between the two strangers.

“Gellan, I don’t suppose you’ll help me teach this dear girl a lesson, would you?” The human said. I could tell he was savoring each syllable that escaped his lips.

“It would be my pleasure, Angus.”

The Tiefling looked down at me, wings stretching farther, making him appear bigger.

“You know we are going to lose a lot of money because of you. I mean- a lot a lot,” Angus roared, “Now!”

With that, I felt the first kick to my torso. I doubled over, grasping at my side.

“The empire we built from nothing, all gone,” Angus spat. “Again!”

Another kick planted against my side by Gellan, but this one resulted in a crack. I tried to turn my attention away from the ache and come up with a plan to get out of there alive. It was a welcomed distraction.

Do I even stand a chance in this fight?

“Is the little elf scared?” Angus taunted. I didn’t respond.

“I said, is the little elf scared?” This time, my silent protest resulted in the winged stranger stomping on my hand with a crunch.

I was in fact scared, but if they were going to kill me, they would no matter my answer. I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.

“Scared of you? Never,” I hissed, curling myself in defense of the inevitable next blow. I felt the pain only momentarily, before darkness greeted me.

*****************************************************************************

I was convinced I was dead until I realized migraines probably didn’t exist in the afterlife. My conscious thoughts became more prominent and I accepted that I was alive. I was hurt, but alive. I could hear the faint crackle of a campfire and slowly realized I was feeling the warmth of it. A burst of gratitude tingled through me as I forced my eyes open. Who saved me?

My excitement was short lived because I was greeted by Angus, asleep against a stump and Gellan knelt over a campfire, close enough that if he had a beard, it would have singed off. I looked down at my mess of a body to see that my wrists were bound by some impressively strong rope. It didn’t even shift a little when I pulled against it with all of the force I could muster.

The good news was that I was alive, which meant they wanted me alive. I was as good as gone if their goal was to kill me. That gives me time. How much, not sure.

I snapped my eyes shut when Gellan turned to look at me but I wasn’t quick enough.

“I’m not dumb. I know you’re awake,” the winged man said in a raspy voice. I sat up, feeling an agonizing throb from my middle. At first, he turned his attention back to the fire, inhaling deep enough for me to hear from a few feet away. Then our gazes met once again.

“Come, you must be cold,” he spoke with what almost seemed to be sympathy.

“If I’m going to die, it’s not going to be by the means of fire,” I responded, cowering.

“I’m not going to push you in the fire,” he grumbled, a hint of humor behind his words.

“No-” I weakly protested.

“I said COME!” The haunting voice snapped. He glanced over to his counterpart who was still fast asleep. Angus did not even stir. It was then I noticed the empty bottle next to him. He wasn’t sleeping; he was passed out drunk.

I jumped to my feet and torturously limped towards him. The sheer gravity of my injuries forced a few sniffles and tears out as I went. He scooched over on the overturned log and patted the space next to him. I dared not disobey. I dropped until I was seated. Although in rough shape, the fire did feel heavenly against my bloodied, goosebumped skin. I closed my eyes.

“You caused my friend and I great trouble and misfortune,” he spoke darkly. “Every ounce of wealth we had will be surely gone.”

“Yea.” What else is there to say?

“You have a lot of people that want you dead, Phina.”

“I assumed as much,” I sighed.

We sat in silence as the popping of the flames continued. Ignoring the current circumstances, I breathed in the atmosphere. The world around me was melancholy, peaceful. If this was my end, it could be worse.

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” I asked, breaking the prolonged emptiness.

“I still might,” he answered. “I have a proposition for you first.”

“Of course you do.”

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I didn’t speak as Gellan prodded at the lumber in the firepit with a branch.

“It’s either that or death, Phina. You know that, right?” He spoke calmly.

“I don’t think I could do that,” I squeaked. “I do bad things to bad guys, yes. I have a lot of people that aren’t a fan of me. But my family is here.”

Gellan chuckled, “What have Angus and I done to deserve your wrath? Why are we bad in your eyes?”

“Besides the fact that you did this to me?” I asked, weakly motioning towards myself.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“If you had stayed out of our business, we would have stayed out of yours.”

I thought back to what the person who hired me had said.

There’s a smuggling ring running in the basement of Asmod’s Inn. They do some shady stuff, sell some shady stuff. A danger to society I tell ya! And they killed my boy. My innocent boy. Two pound gold bar to shut them down! To make them suffer like I am.

“Innocent?” Gellan snorted when I finished explaining. “I wouldn’t say we are model citizens, true. We do some shady business on the downlow. But that innocent boy we took care of was the real danger to society. One of our best girls… Mag,” Gellan continued, a slight crack to his tough voice, “She worked real hard finding customers. Was great at client relationships. We had repeat buyers just so they could have another of Mag’s famous pastries. She made them for people who bought big ticket items. She was taken from us by the hands of that innocent boy and we avenged her. She meant something to us, to me.”

He chucked his stick into the fire angrily. “Did the person who hired you fail to mention that? Or that we are, were, his biggest business rival? Did you ask about his shady business, Phina?”

I hung my head in shame. I knew I was no heroine but I thought I was only agreeing to jobs against the bad guys. I didn’t want to be one of them.

Gellan must have understood from my reaction that I actually didn’t know and I was upset about it. His tense jaw loosened a little.

“Truth be told, no matter what, Angus wants you dead and wants you to suffer. He’s a man who will go to great lengths to get what he wants. I’m mad, no, furious, but deep inside, I know you just did what you were paid to do and that if you had known the situation, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.” He explored my reaction. My head was still hung down, guilt eating away at my core, more than the wounds.

Gellan continued, “This offer is your only way out alive, I’m afraid. I tend to be more level-headed than my counterpart and he’s not much for compromise.”

“So, I just go home, pack up my things, and never show my face around here again?”

“At least not until Angus here dies from old age. Give or take 25 years. That’s basically a vacation for an elf. He’ll live on thinking I already took care of you.”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked.

“As you were taking your little cat nap, I got to thinking. Thinking, a dangerous thing that is.You started to remind me of my daughter, Eeran. If she ever got herself into such deep water, I would want someone to do the same for her.”

*****************************************************************************

I knew Gellan was sincere when he hoisted me onto his back, making himself vulnerable to me. Still, I burrowed my sore face into his shoulder as his wings began to flap, raising us off the ground. I was relatively light, but he still had to leave most of his equipment behind in order to get airborne with my added weight.

Masked in the night, we darted towards the elven hamlet, hovering just above the treetops. He had suggested flying to shave off some of the time we would have spent weaving through the forest. The plan was simple. He was going to drop me off right before the clearing and head back to tell Angus that he got impatient and took care of me himself. As long as we didn’t cross paths again, I would be okay. Angus would think that he got his revenge and then they could move on to a different entrepreneurial enterprise. Plus, Angus would get bragging rights for getting rid of the notorious Phina. That would bring him joy.

As we glided through the night, Gellan was humming. I was watching the blur of trees get thinner and thinner. I don’t know if I fell into a trance or passed out from my injuries.

“Is that an Ettercap?” Gellan’s voice pulled me out of my sleepy haze.

“A what?”

Right outside of the entrance to our community, a large, purplish monster had fallen and was lifeless. As soon as Gellan was close enough to the ground where I wouldn’t get any more hurt than I already was, I jumped off his back, fumbling immediately. My face hit the dirt but I hoisted myself right back up and began sprinting. The creature I passed was ugly and terrifying. It was spider-like and bulbous, with long fangs jutted out of its mouth.

Fire. Some of the neighboring homes in the settlement were ablaze. Smoke was visible, billowing out into the sky. As I entered the acreage, the direness became clear. Elves, friendly faces to me and my family, littered the land. So much gore.

“Mother? Father? Philo? Phyre!” I screamed. From afar, I could see our cottage was burned to the ground. The animals in the pasture were mostly okay, many just panicking. I unhitched the gate swiftly, letting the horses and livestock flee. It was their best chance at survival.

There were so many victims, both elf and Ettercap. Where did they come from? Why were there so many? My people must have fought hard. A dozen Ettercaps were downed, only two left standing that I could tell, one tearing at the flesh of a blurred figure towards the back fence and the other shredding one of our unlucky cattle.

As I booked it towards the figure being mauled on the other end of the hamlet, Phyre was the first of my family that I stumbled upon. He was just behind Father’s tool shed. He was shielding Rin, a young elf from down the path. Neither of them were alive. I threw up. Wiping my mouth, I continued towards the combat. I found Philo and Mother next, huddled together behind the shed. I let out a horrible howl. They were gone too.

My father was so bloodied from the attack that he was barely recognizable until I was up close. He was still conscious, fighting against the monstrosity that alternated between biting him and clawing him.

“Phina, get out of here!” Father snarled when he noticed me. The vicious attack continued. I ignored his command and pounced at the beast. I didn’t have a weapon but I was determined. The Ettercap swiped me to the side with ease. I thudded to the ground and picked myself back up, lunging back at it immediately. Once again, I was plowed into the dirt.

“Phina, now!” Father screamed at me. His voice was strained, desperate.

“No, I will not leave you!” This time, I struggled to get up. I was already weak, broken. My body was using all the strength that I had left just to get onto my hands and knees.

While the Ettercap’s attention was on me, Father grabbed his ax from beside him and plunged it into its head. It stumbled around for a few seconds before falling to the ground with a deafening squeal. I rotated to see where the other Ettercap was and saw Gellan finishing it off. He looked untouched as he plunged his sword into it one last time.

“Father, what-” I turned back to him and let the waterworks begin. Mother, Philo, Phyre.

“I could not protect my family-” Father whispered.

“Stop it! You’re okay. You and I are okay,” I sobbed.

I knew that wasn’t true. My father reached out and grabbed my shaking hand. He held it firmly for only a moment and then let go.

*****************************************************************************

I dropped my face into the lawn and wailed. The iron-y scent of blood was overwhelming, as was my grief. I felt Gellan’s gentle hand on my back. I was thankful that he didn’t speak. I cried into the grass until morning and Gellan sat with me as I did so.

“Phina, I must head back before Angus grows suspicious.”

“Go. Thank you for everything,” I whispered. I hoped I sounded sincere because I was.

“I sympathize with you. And I wish so hard that this wasn’t the outcome but this might be the perfect opportunity for you to begin anew,” The winged man said.

“Huh?” I coughed in between whimpers.

“Not only because of my request for you to leave, but because of the danger that you are in remaining here. When I said that there were a lot of people that wanted you dead, I wasn’t lying.”

“What is the point of living, Gellan? Everything I had, everything I lived for, gone!” I pounded the ground in misguided fury.

“You have 700 more years to find things worth living for. Start fresh. No enemies, no danger. Just be a kid, Phina.”

“Everything I have ever loved is gone.”

“There is a lot in the world worth loving. You just have to go and find it.” *****************************************************************************

I remained on the ground for hours after Gellan left, until the sun began to sink again. With permission, he chopped a chunk of my platinum hair off as his proof before he flew off. I debated heavily whether or not to go back and just let Angus end me for real.

“What a dumb choice that would be,” a hushed voice bounced around my brain. I jolted my head up, fearful. No one was there at first glance. I stood up, gripping my side.

“Hello?” I called with a lack of conviction.

“What a waste of life that would be, Phina Elwin,” the voice rang out again. I stiffened. Out from nothingness appeared a woman. She was dressed in elegant robes. Her hair was woven into an intricate braid.

“Uh-”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” she scolded.

“Excuse me?”

“Get yourself together. You are destined for big things, Phina. It would be a shame if you threw it all away,” her tone was offensive as she admonished me.

I threw a punch. I wasn’t one for physical violence but everything was all wrong. And the way she spoke to me- how dare she? When my hand should have connected with her, it didn’t. There was just nothing.

“Your parents asked me to make sure you did not do anything foolish.”

“My parents…?”

“Leave this place. Your destiny is not to perish along with the others. Go now. The town will believe that you did. It’s your opportunity for a new beginning, a clean slate.Your purpose is not here, not anymore.”

“My purpose?”

Before she responded, her essence dissipated into the dusk, leaving me all alone once again.