Eric felt terrible, sharp pain spread all over his body in an instant, making him let out a startled scream. However, the rat got scared much more by his scream, making her instantly let go of his shoulder while jumping away.
A few moments after that, the wolf started mumbling something. Eric saw him facing the rat with his arms crossed, and even though the expressions of these new people were alien to Eric, there was no mistaking that the wolf eyed his companion with the expression that said, ‘I told you so’.
The wolf approached Eric and said a few short words. And while he had no idea what those words meant, the way the wolf had pointed with his head toward the tent’s exit left no doubt about what he wanted to convey. It was over, and now was the time to go back. There would be no further attempts at healing.
Eric nodded and stood up, taking a look at the rat. She kept as much distance away from him as possible, standing at the very edge of the tent, right against the wall. She looked absolutely horrified, as if she would tear through the wall if Eric tried to get any closer to her.
Knowing that his presence was only being tolerated and not wanting to scare the poor healer any further, Eric just bowed slightly.
“Thank you for trying.”
Glancing briefly at the wolf, he headed for the exit.
----
“So, how did it go?” Phisola asked him as soon as he returned.
“It hurt like hell.”
“I told you it would.”
“Yeah, well … I’m not a magical creature, alright. That’s for sure.”
“It’s all a matter of perspective, Eric. We aren’t demons because we are necessarily evil. We are demons because the natives perceive us as such. We come from a different universe with different natural laws, so we are completely different from them. That scares them enough to be wary of us.”
“But you and I don’t come from the same universe. My universe has no magic, so our universes are also different.”
Hearing that made her grin sadistically, “That doesn’t matter to them. All that matters is that your nature is alien. In their minds, you are as bad as I am.”
“But clearly, that’s not true for everyone. We don’t mind if someone is an alien. Neither you nor I have anything against dealing with aliens.”
“That’s because we are both created to dominate others. And it’s hard to dominate people if you don’t interact with them.”
“I’ve never dominated anybody.”
“Of course you didn’t … you are too cowardly. I was talking about your race,” she turned her head to the side, “Isn’t that right, mister pig? Wouldn’t you say this fellow in front of you was born to conquer and dominate?”
“This fellow of yours confuses me to no end,” Pig-faced said matter-of-factly.
“Indeed. He could’ve easily been a mighty warrior, conquering and subjugating others, yet his people chose to turn him into a wimp.”
“My people are way too prosperous to invade and plunder other people,” Eric responded, “We need people who know how to build, not how to destroy.”
“And what about defending what you build?” Pig-faced asked.
“We do have professional soldiers. I’m just not one of them.”
“Ah, I see,” Phisola said, “Did you hear that, mister pig? His people think that being a warrior should be a life-long commitment. That’s totally not how a demonic society works.”
“These professional soldiers, are they forced to be warriors, or is it their choice to serve as such?” Pig-faced asked.
Eric scratched his head, looking rather annoyed to have that kind of conversation, “It depends on the country. There are many countries in my world, almost two hundred. Some have professional soldiers, others don’t.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Pig-faced’s eyes opened wide, “Two … hundred?”
“That’s more than the number of cities in this entire world, twice as much or even more,” Phisola said, “And such a level of power fragmentation is definitely something only the demons would do.”
“The human world is extremely diverse, and different places have different conditions and climates. It’s impossible to manage all those variations from a single place. Trust me, we tried. And in the end, we realized that the locals are the most effective at managing themselves.”
“Do you hear that, Porky? His world and his people are incredibly diverse. Almost as if they aren’t controlled by some higher entity anymore.”
“Do your people have souls?” Porky asked in a measured voice.
Eric shrugged, “I guess that depends on what your definition of soul is. Many humans think we do have souls, although we have yet to find a way to measure them.”
“His people lost their struggle, Porky,” Phisola said, “They aren’t as strong as mine. They were weak, so they lost. As such, their god took their souls away and threw them into hell, probably to serve as an example for his other creations.”
“No, there’s …” Porky thought very hard about something, stroking his chin vigorously, “there has to be more than that. That’s not what happened to culiars. Gods don’t make an example out of someone by letting them go. There has to be some … hmm … some way to get your soul back. Some way to find salvation. Some way to escape the prison.”
“Is there a concept of salvation in your religion?” Phisola asked Eric.
“Well, it depends on which one we are talking about! There are dozens of different religions in my world. Some do have a concept of salvation while others don’t.”
“What about that myth you told me about your people being cast out of heaven? Is there a concept of salvation in that religion? Is there a way for people to save their souls?”
“Well … I mean … there is. But that’s just a myth, and very few people take it seriously.”
“Your people don’t take myths seriously?” Pig-faced asked, looking rather concerned.
“Human myths are products of human imagination, and as such can’t be taken literally,” Eric responded, “It’s not like a divine creature came down from the skies to bring those myths to us.”
“Remember Porky, his people live in a magicless hell. There is no divine intervention there.”
“Yes,” Eric agreed, “Therefore, we have no reason to believe any of those myths are real. Although we don’t live in hell, our world is lush and full of life. She is trying to gaslight me into believing that I’m a demon, but my people are simply the result of an evolutionary process.”
“Yes, we’ve already talked about that,” Pig-faced said, “and you’re expecting me to believe that this evolution somehow created people who are perfectly in line with Zadyja’s twisted view of the world.”
Eric shrugged in annoyance, “Believe what you will. It couldn’t have happened any other way because there are no gods or magic in my world. So my people can’t be a product of intelligent design.”
“You see, mister porky,” Phisola spoke mockingly, “this fellow is too stupid to remember what he told us just a few moments ago. In his own words, his people aren’t natives of the world they’re currently living in because they were cast out of heaven by their god. He fails to understand that his people were created before they were damned to suffer in hell.”
Eric’s eyes rolled hard as he let out a long, loud sigh, “I’ve told you those myths aren’t real! It’s just make-believe bullshit! It’s just one myth of one religion in a world with dozens, if not hundreds of different religions! And all those human religions have their own myths that contradict each other!”
“Your god really did a number on you,” Pig-faced said.
“There are no gods in our world!” Eric raised his voice, “Some of us came up with bullshit stories to control stupid people and feel special, and that’s how our myths came to be! It’s nothing but lies and deception because we are …”
“The product of the evolution,” Piggy cut him off, “Yeah, we know.”
“Why do I have to repeat myself constantly if you get it?”
“Tell us this then, mister,” Phisola said, “Please explain, if you are not the product of an intelligent design, at least originally, but I am, then how come you and I are so similar? And not just you and I. How come you are so similar to the elves and many other people in this world? How is it possible that the world that is so alien to this one, to the point that it doesn’t even have magic, the world with such bizarre fabric and rules, how is it possible for such a world to create a life form so similar to the divine creation? Shouldn’t your people evolve in a completely different direction if no gods exist in your world?”
“Yeah! I agree!” Eric said, “That is very strange, and it’s something that I’ve been wondering about myself! How is it that we are so similar, even though we come from totally different universes? Not only that, but Porky’s friends … they are also very similar to my world. I mean … no offense,” Eric looked Porky in the eye briefly, “I’m not trying to be rude, but his friends are very similar to some animals in my world. His looks are almost identical to some animals my people keep as cattle, with the difference that he has hands and feet instead of hooves. And, of course, he is sentient just like I am.”
“He is actually far more sentient than you are,” Phisola commented, giving Eric a sideways glance, “Yet, that doesn’t make you think?”
“It does, but I won’t accept your explanation without proper evidence. And I can’t just blindly accept something without building up my knowledge first. My people are open-minded, we have no issues with questioning things we think we already know, but I can’t just trust you on your word. What if the explanation is something completely different than my people being created by a god? What if the reason for our similarities has nothing to do with gods or magic? And besides, this argument we are having is purely academic and doesn’t change anything.”
Phisola placed her hands on her hips, frowning deeply, “No, Eric! Being aware of your nature changes everything!”
“Oh, well,” Pig-faced turned around and started leaving, “You can’t say I didn’t try. Your boyfriend is way too thick-headed for his own good, and I can do nothing about it.”