“Ok, we have a deal,” Ghilanna said.

“Excellent!” The devil raised its hands in satisfaction, “If you guys are in a hurry, we can start immediately!”

“Are you in a hurry?” Ghilanna asked.

“Of course I am! I can’t wait to leave this disgusting place and enjoy the fruits of civilization once again! Sure, I don’t have a fixed date when I need to leave, so you could argue I don’t have to rush. But I’ve been here for far too long, and I’m slowly starting to go crazy. Defying Dungeon Master is the best proof of that.”

“That certainly is something only a crazy person would do,” Svinjko commented.

“Let’s just say he became too much of a jerk to work with. If a god doesn’t find it fitting to uphold his end of the bargain, why should I do it?”

“Why not make a blood contract with him then? Ghilanna asked.

The devil looked at her as if she were some ignorant child, “You can’t make a blood contract with a god, honey. They have no blood to make it with.”

Svinjko raised his arm to stop the argument before it even started, “Let’s avoid discussing gods and their nature right now. We have far more important things to do.

“I agree,” the devil nodded, “Educating you is not a part of our agreement. The point is, I want to leave this place as soon as possible. So, we can go as soon as you guys are ready and have built us a cauldron-cartwheel or whatever your dwarf comes up with.”

“And you will lead us to the guardian?” Ghilanna asked.

“Yes. Didn’t my companion make it clear? I thought you guys made a deal with him, and you’re only waiting for a blood contract now.”

“Yes, we did, but … my elven companion likes confirming things,” Svinjko responded.

“Ah!” The devil’s face shone with amusement, “They don’t trust you either! Good. You should never trust an inquisitor.”

“What happens in our party is none of your business,” Ghilanna said in a very harsh, hostile voice.

“Fair enough. At least it looks like you have more common sense than his previous parties did.”

“Don’t trust her, Ghilanna,” Svinjko warned, “You know devils are deceitful and love spreading discord. It’s all a game to her.”

“Look, miss pretty elf,” the devil said, leaning in slightly, “I won’t tell you more unless you press me to, because I need your party at its best. I do like messing with people, but not when I need them to do something for me first. We can talk more about your companion once we’re done with the guardian. If you insist, of course.”

“The devil is trying to turn us against each other, Ghilanna. Don’t fall into her trap.”

Ghilanna responded by smacking the back of Svinjko’s head, “I know, you imbecile! I’m not about to undermine the cohesion of our party just because some devil I’ve just met said something.”

That made the devil giggle, “Good. That’s how a leader should be. That’s exactly why I’d prefer not to discuss my history with your inquisitor. At least until everything is settled.”

“As if I’d believe the words of some random devil I met in a dungeon,” Ghilanna responded.

“What if we’d make it a part of our blood contract then?” The devil raised its eyebrow, “I’d be forced to speak the truth in that case.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ghilanna eyed Svinjko after hearing that. The fact that he avoided making eye contact with her told her everything she needed to know.

“That won’t be necessary,” she responded.

“You’re not curious? Not in the slightest?” The devil asked with an amused smile on her face.

“No, I’m not. I didn’t enter this dungeon out of curiosity. I came here with a purpose. Now, if we could do something with a purpose instead of flapping our gums, that would be great.”

The devil’s smile widened, “Alright. I agree. The sooner we get to business, the better. So, while your inquisitor and I are busy making our blood contract, how about you take my companion and try to heal him?”

“You mean, hurt him?” Ghilanna said.

“How about, bring him back to his senses? I need him to understand that your healing magic is not only useless to him but is harmful.”

Ghilanna turned her head to look at the healer behind her, “Could he cause us trouble?”

“I … I don’t know!” The mouse-faced responded, “I have no idea how he will react!”

“Don’t worry, my companion is completely harmless,” the devil said dismissively, “He is the biggest wimp you’ve ever met in your life.”

“Then why is he with you?” Ghilanna asked.

The devil gave her a twisted smile this time, “I told you … I’m starting to go crazy down here.”

-----

“Ok, listen here,” Phisola said to Eric, “I’m about to make the blood contract with this pig, and meanwhile, you’re going to follow that rat over there so she can cast her healing spell on you.”

“And you think it’s going to fail,” he responded.

“I’m absolutely certain it’s going to fail. And it’s going to hurt a lot. But don’t worry, that’s natural. Don’t try resisting it and scream instead. If you don’t let them know it hurts, their mage will keep at it, which could cause lasting damage.”

“You mean … a tumor.”

“Yes. But don’t worry, it won’t happen if you scream right away. By the way, they don’t know our tongue, so you can’t just tell them to stop. You will have to scream.”

“And what if everything is fine and it doesn’t hurt?”

That made her chuckle, “There is no way that will happen.”

“Just in case.”

“Then their mage will fix everything perfectly, and you’ll be in perfect health again. That would be the best possible outcome, but reality is often disappointing. Now go,” she pushed him forward, “Follow that rat. She is the healer.”

“A rat is a healer?” Eric looked back at her, looking somewhat perplexed.

“Yes,” she responded with a wide smile, “And a pig is a holy person. Quite an interesting party, aren’t they? Now go!”

Moving on, Eric looked at the rat, but somehow, he couldn’t resist the idea that the person in front of him was much more akin to a mouse. After all, rats are ugly and vicious, but this healer looked rather meek and gentle.

Eric even got the impression that the mousy person was scared of him, even though their friends were everywhere around them.

Approaching her, he just gave her a nod, knowing that the language barrier would make it impossible to tell her he was ready. And soon enough, she nodded back meekly before turning away and walking deeper into the camp.

“How strange it is that a simple nod can convey a thought even with a different species and in a different world,” he thought as he followed the small rat.

This time, she led him to a different tent, one with a large, portable bed in the middle. The bed had a frame made of several parts so it could be disassembled quickly. The rest of the tent was filled with similarly designed, simple furniture, like crates and stands, holding wooden and metallic instruments utterly alien to Eric.

The rat gestured to the bed, and Eric understood. He took his top off and got on the bed with his chest up. The bed wasn’t long enough for him, so the top of his head and his feet hung outside of it.

The rat fiddled with the instruments for a while before picking up a ball-shaped, wooden one and putting it on his chest. She touched the tip of it, closing her eyes.

A few moments passed without anything happening. The rat just held her finger on the round instrument as if she were frozen. But eventually, Eric felt the instrument moving over his skin.

It started moving slowly and going in circles, but its speed increased steadily with each passing moment. As its speed increased, the circles began getting bigger and bigger until it started circling his entire chest. Eric was surprised to realize that the instrument stayed on his body even when it started moving along the outer side of his chest. It should’ve fallen to the side, but it stuck to his skin somehow.

However, as the instrument kept picking up speed, the rat caught it and got it off Eric, giving him a worried, hesitant look.

Knowing that verbal communication is not an option, Eric said nothing. He just looked the rat in the eye, expecting her to gesticulate somehow.

And she did, by slowly shaking her head from left to right.

Thinking they were done, Eric got up into the seating position. Then he heard someone talk to his left. It was the familiar wolf, the guard that was assigned to keep an eye on him. Eric didn’t even notice him get into the tent.

The wolf talked with the rat in a stern but friendly manner. Eric couldn’t detect malice in his voice. It sounded as if he was giving a stern lecture to his friend. After a brief exchange, the rat let out a deep sigh and got one of her hands on the bare Eric’s shoulder.

And he was taken completely by surprise.