THWACK!!!

Reacting to the sudden noise behind him, Eric turned around. Phisola’s club was right in front of his eyes, blocking most of his vision.

She pulled it back quickly, rotating it a bit and revealing that an arrow got lodged inside of it. Not deep inside of it though, but enough to stick it in.

“Huh,” Phisola looked at the arrow in frustration, “that’s interesting. She went for you first. How curious.”

The club became a blur, with a clanging sound following right away. Shortly after, Eric saw another arrow spinning out of control while flying through the air before falling to the ground.

Looking in the distance, he saw the elf nocking yet another arrow.

“Do you see what happens when you don’t let me finish my job?” Phisola said, “Now I have to do it all over again. Go find some cover before this is over. It won’t take long, but just in case.”

After one more clang, she ran towards the elf, all the while dashing out of the arrows’ way or outright blocking them when she got close.

And this time, she made sure to club the elf for good.

-----

“Hey, coward, come here!” Phisola yelled once it was over.

Eric observed the area carefully before going anywhere.

“Come! I need your help!”

Slowly and carefully, he walked up to her. He saw the elf lying on the ground with her eyes rolled up, but there were no wounds to be found on the body.

“Come, I need you to do your job and drag one of them!” Phisola said.

“Shouldn’t we run? What about their friends in the camp? It’s only a matter of time before they show up.”

“They won’t be showing up, they’re too scared. They aren’t ready to take me on. They never expected a guardian to come to them.”

“How can you be so sure? Can you sense them?”

“Yees, I can sense them, so you got nothing to worry about,” there was a strong dismissive tone in her voice.

“You can sense them from this distance?”

BONK!

“Ouch!”

“Stop being a nuisance, and do your job! Isn’t that why you’re here, to carry the bodies?”

“I take it they’re dead?”

“Of course they’re dead? What, do you think I would do a bad job?”

“No, I just …”

“They may not look like it, but their brains are scrambled like eggs. With all the sweet, sweet blood still inside. Go get that feline, and let’s go. You took her sword anyway, so you can carry the rest of her back home, too.”

“What about the big guy? Will you get him?”

“He is too heavy, and I don’t feel like undoing all that heavy armor. I’ll drag the elf myself, and you take the feline. Come on, get to it! If you’re worried about their friends coming, then hurry up!”

“Ok, ok, I’ll go get her. I take it we need their blood?”

“Of course! We don’t want to waste such a good catch.”

“… such a good catch …” Eric grumbled begrudgingly as he went to fetch the corpse.

“Oh!” Phisola said while manhandling the elf, looking as if she remembered something important, “Since you’re a coward, you could also get that shield, too. It will serve you well.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

-----

“Elven blood, elven blood …” Phisola sang with a pep in her step on their way back home while dragging a corpse behind her.

“You look very satisfied,” Eric commented coldly.

“Of course I am!” She looked at him, her eyes sparkling with joy, “Elven blood is of extremely high quality! It’s full of magic! And something tells me this one wasn’t an ordinary elf. Maybe she even has noble blood!”

“Does that mean we’ll get out of here quicker?”

“Of course! Just this elf will speed up the process for at least several years! Maybe even decades!”

“Hmm … can’t argue with that.”

“Say what you want about the elves, but they make for great ingredients.”

“I’m glad we got that good blood, it helps me a lot, but … ahh …” he lowered his head in dejection, “I have to admit that I wish she did the smart thing.”

“Turned around and walked away?”

“Yes.”

“That’s because, as a coward, you don’t understand fighters and warriors. She did the smart thing.”

“That corpse you’re dragging says a different story.”

“Sure, she is dead, but she saved her soul. She proved her courage to her deity.”

“Much good that did.”

“I bet you think you did the right thing when you stopped me there.”

“When you were about to kill her the first time?”

“Yes.”

He let out a sigh, “You proved your point. I acknowledge that was a dangerous thing to do. But why would she throw her life away like that? It makes no sense! You already kicked her ass once and killed all of her friends, so how could she think she had any chance? I understand revenge, but …”

“Revenge has nothing to do with it.”

“Then why else?”

“Had she run away, she’d disgrace herself. I’ve told you that families make deals with gods, and hers clearly chose to be fighters. So not only would she disgrace herself, but her family and her ancestors too. Had she refused to fight, she’d break the sacred oath.”

“But she just threw her life away. That’s all she did. Wouldn’t it make more sense to go back to her friends and then go after us together?”

“That’s how cowards think. And sure, most cubus are cowards. I’m not any better, by the way. I’d plead and beg if my ass were on the line. But I’m not a fighter or a warrior. I made no deals that require me to be brave. I got none of the warrior privileges in my life, so I have no obligations either. But fighters and warriors think differently.”

“Do they seek glory or something? Is someone going to make a song about how valiantly she got her ass kicked and how she died for nothing?”

Phisola laughed wholeheartedly at that: “No, that’s not the point. Sure, everyone wants fame, but that’s not the main reason. She had an oath to fulfill, and now she can enjoy the privileges in the afterlife.”

“Pfff!!!” Eric couldn’t bother to hide his disdain for the idea.

“Tell me, what do you think?” Phisola continued, “Is this … material world the only thing there is? Is there nothing beyond it?”

“Hmm …” He thought for a while before answering, looking up at the ceiling the whole time, “I never saw evidence there is, but this world is different from mine. I mean, there’s magic here, so who knows what else could exist? I don’t think there is anything beyond it, but I’m keeping my mind open and am willing to change my opinion if some evidence shows up.”

“Ok, that’s reasonable. But you must understand that the people here believe there are higher planes of existence. And not just believe, they’re certain of it. Now, you may think they’re wrong, but the important thing is that they’re right.”

“What do you think?” He asked, “As a devil.”

“I’ve already told you I’ve dealt with gods before. And gods don’t exist in this plane. They can manifest themselves, but that’s not the same.”

“But what are gods, though? Can you give me a definition?”

“The shortest definition is that gods are powerful entities. It’s all a matter of perspective.”

“That’s not much of a definition. A definition so broad loses all meaning.”

“It all depends on a culture. Now, sure, you have your standard immaterial gods that wield powerful forces like thunder, water, fire, procreation, resurrection, and such. But then there are remote areas that have never heard of such gods. They think the god is a giant, magical boar, the king of their forest, and that’s the only god they’ve ever known. So it’s all a matter of perspective.”

“In other words, the gods you’ve made deals with aren’t all-powerful and all-knowing.”

“Of course! Why would they need me if they’re all-powerful?”

“I see … now it makes more sense, including you working with gods. But wait … couldn’t I be considered a god too if that’s how it is?”

“If you’d show up in some remote area and show them that small lightning-maker you have, you could pass as one.”

“… but doesn’t that make the very idea of deities pointless?”

“Not really. We still need a word to describe those who wield powers we can’t even imagine. It just loses its mysticism.”

“But … do you believe in your god?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Even though he may just be a regular person among his equals?”

“I believe it will fulfill its end of the bargain, so I believe. Just as workers believe they will be paid for their labor, I believe I will be compensated for my service.”

“That’s not what believing in god really means.”

“What else could it mean?”

“It means that you … oh … I mean, you talked with this god of yours, right? You’re sure of his existence.”

“It doesn’t talk and doesn’t have sex, but yes, I had a few exchanges with it. And several others before.”

“When people say they believe in god, in my world, it usually means that they believe that god is real.”

“Because you have no magic, and gods are magical in nature. Even flesh and bone gods need magic to overcome their mortality.”

“Well, this is all nice, but why are we talking about gods all of a sudden? We were having a conversation about that elf foolishly throwing her life away. Why did you shift the conversation like this?”

“Because I can’t explain why she did it if you know nothing of gods. And you also wouldn’t understand that you unintentionally did the worst thing possible.”