Sasha was a servant, living just beyond the borders of Zyenur on a remote island. She felt she was a servant, even though outsiders often saw her as a slave. She could understand. Her harsh long hours under the sun making bricks, was the treatment correspondent to a slave. Still, she considered life to be good, she had it better than some others. She had no family, as they had sold her before she could even say her first words, but she had friends, or more specifically, one friend; A boy named Tamert.

Now he is dead, along with all of her co-workers.

Now she sat in a small holding cell. Not imprisonment. It was nicer than where she had slept, or lived for that matter. But there was not much in it. Then again, there was not much in her room either. She had a blanket wrapped around her by the Zyenurian patrols who happened to be sailing on that day. They had traversed the land and had noticed the scattered bodies. They were all spread out as if they had been running from something before they died. Then they found her hiding in one of the ditches created.

A few weeks ago, it had been a normal day for Sasha. Her job was to mold clay together with her small fingers and compact it into a cube, a brick if you will. When she was younger, she would often complain about the tedious task of shaping the lumps of clay into rectangles. But once Tamert was shipped from the wastelands, her complaints died down.

Tamert was a part-dwarf, part beast, and part human. He had told her so in confidence, shortly after they became close. He had dreams, unlike her. His mind was empty every day until he came along and made him imagine freedom. A life beyond repaying a debt to people you’ve never met.

Sasha herself was a Hybrid. She was half-cat half human. She could see well in the dark and had impressive hearing.

Lo-ek, the third person there, was also a Hybrid, a half-reptilian. But unlike Sasha and Tamert, he was not on his hands and knees, or covered in ash. Instead, he was tasked with watching, or more accurately, overseeing their work. He would often threaten to lash at Tam or Sasha if they didn’t reach the quota or broke a tool. Sasha always met the quota, never failing even a single time. She was never praised for this besides Tamert. But she had broken tools from time to time. Once, the rusty mold she used broke, and she hid the pieces under her knees and kept working. Lo-ek had become suspicious, since the bricks looked inconsistent from one another, and that Sasha hadn’t moved from her position, even to get a drink from the buckets. He ordered her to get up, and she revealed the broken tool. He had feigned anger and cracked the whip close to her face. He didn’t hit her, however. Sasha suspected that he did not have the heart to cause harm to others.He threatened a lot, but they were all but empty.

Lo-ek was the nicest of the overseers. Ill-Tenk was not.

Ill-tenk was mostly anivor, but he had a bit of some sort of creature in him. Nevertheless, he was as cruel as they came. He would not just threaten, but attack servants, including Sasha.

Especially Sasha.

Sasha didn’t know what this man held against her, but she felt that he would go out his way to harrass or rebuke her.

“You’re going too slow, pick up the pace!”

“You’re rushing! If you make a mistake, I’ll rip the skin off your bones!”

“You molded that brick wrong! Do it again!”

“Tuck those ugly ears of yours before I cut them off.”

He would also kick her into the mud when she was on her knees or smash her bricks if he decided they didn’t look right.

One time, he had been extra cruel, and decided to follow her back to her shack and beat her for breaking a tool. She did nothing but ball herself as tight as she could, as ill-tenk mercilessly kicked her.

“You’re damn lucky you’re too valuable to be whipped! Otherwise, you would have no flesh left!”

She eventually mentioned it to Tam while she was on break and he was shoveling. He stopped what he was doing and gave her his full attention. He frowned, looking concerned.

“How many times has this happened?”

Sasha hesitated at first, but she eventually told him she had not counted.

“If he does it again, go to my dorm and wake me up. You can stay with me.”

She thanked him.

A few nights later, when she was heading to her shack again, she heard the telltale sound of a boot behind her. She quickened her pace and skipped her shack, continuing to walk until she reached Tamert’s shack. She found the door was left unlocked and she scrambled inside. Tamert was already up. He wore nothing but a pair of pants.

“Get behind me.” He whispered.

Ill-tenk opened the door, and was surprised to find Tamert standing in the doorway.

“Get out of my way!” He snarled, craning his neck to look at Sasha from behind.

When Tam didn’t move, he brought out his whip and smacked it against his other palm.

“I won’t ask you again, you Stone goblin. Get. Out. Of. My. Way.”

When Tam still didn’t budge. Ill-tenk whipped him across the face, giving him a permanent scar. He reeled back for a second time and did it again, but this time, Tam caught the end with his strong hands, and yanked it right out of Ill’s grip.

Ill-tenk panicked and reached for his knife. But Tamert was faster, backhanding Ill-tenk across the face so hard, he knocked some of his teeth out.

Sasha had feared that Tam would be punished for his actions, but the next day Tam told her that when Ill-tenk went to the servant master, he laughed at him.

From that point on, Ill-tenk would never threaten her again. His abuse towards other servants decreased as well. But he was still Qen’s right hand man, whether she liked it or not.

Whatever the case, the episode marked the beginning of her friendship with Tam. He invited her to teach her how to read and write. He told her about all the cities he dreamed of visiting. He often spoke of Rorin, a beautiful western country with warm beaches and with the most rights.

“A middle-class utopia.” He had called it. “When I leave, I want

Yes. Life was good. Just a few more years. She thought. JUst a few more and then I can see the beautiful rorin

Then the Aldarian arrived, and things changed.

His name was Arnelt, and he was

Sasha saw Arnelt patrol the site from time to time.

“Look, an Aldaraian!” She exclaimed, when she had first seen Arnelt wandering around. It was a small island, only a village or two with no name on the map. Tam had craned his neck to see. His eyes widened, but then he came over his shock and muttered to himself.

“Shut up!” Lo-ek, hissed. He tightened his grip on his whip. He looked nervous, and eventually, he decided to take Sasha to Qen, the owner of the business.

Qen had all the color drained from his face upon hearing Sasha’s report. He slammed his fist on the table in anger. “Where did he go?” He demanded. “If you tell me, I will give you an entire week off!” He stroked his long, thin beard.

“Can you take Tam off too?”

He grimaced. “No, he is in charge of the kiln. Go back to your work if you do not take this offer!”

Sasha took the offer, telling Qen she saw the man retreat into the forest. Qen made her stand outside of the tent while he talked with Ill-Tenk, one of the masters. Shortly thereafter, he exited the tent with a lantern and his sword. He elbowed his way past Sasha, even though she wasn’t in his way.

She hoped that Tam wouldn’t be too mad with her that she had left her position. He didn’t seem to mind the news. He just grunted her goodbye.

A few hours later, Ill-tenk came back, empty handed. He took overseer duty that day, and made her miserable.

The next morning, she had woken up to lots of stir.

“He’s in the tent with them…”

“An Aldaraian? Here?”

“Maybe he is going to free us!” One old demibeasts exclaimed.

She went to Tam to ask him what was going on. He looked annoyed.

“An Aldaraian?” He sneered. “So what?”

“People are saying he will free us! Isn't that what they do? Maybe he will relieve us our debt-”

Then, he exploded at her.

“Debt? Debt?! There is no debt, Sasha! We didn’t sign anything! Our parents, who we never even met, signed something, and now we have to carry that burden! Remember when you asked me why I wanted to see my parents? It was because I wanted to strangle them with my own hands! This isn't indenturement, this is slavery.”

“B-but slavery is illegal… Isn’t it?”

He gave her a blank look.

“Oh, it is alright. But they don’t call this slavery. This is…” He made air quotes; Servitude. It’s legal, barely. Except under Aetlen standards, but they aren’t exactly coming to our rescue.”

B-but… The Aldarian!”

“What?”

Sasha straightened her back, filled with hope. “He can help us leave! We both dream of freedom! You can live in Rorin… And I can… Well, I live in Rorin too! You said you wanted to be a blacksmith! Aren’t you excited? The Aldarians are heroes! They will save all of us!”

“No they wont Sasha!” Tam threw down his shovel, which made Sasha jump back in fear.

“But… then why is he here?”

“Why do you think so? What, you think he got lost? He’s here to collect his hush money!”

She cocked her head. “Hush money? You never taught me that word.”

“It’s a phrase. It means money that you pay someone to stay quiet.”

“Quiet? About what?”

“About this!” He threw up his hands. About this whole thing!”

“B-but you don’t know that!”

“Oh yes I do! I used to be just like you: Naive! I used to think the Aldaraians were my friends. But I was wrong.”

Sasha was hurt by his response. “She wasn't naive… was she?”

He curled his fists. “Tell me Sasha, what are you and me?”

When she didn't respond, he continued.

“Friends. We're friends Sasha. We look out for each other. That's what friends do. If the Aldaraian were our friends, we wouldn't even be here! We would be on… the mainland somewhere.”

He wiped his face, which was weird, because he had told her that dwarves didn't sweat at these temperatures.

Were those… tears?

“But… our freedom!”

“Sasha, they will never free us. Never, ever. We're going to die here! I pity you Sasha! I pity you and your nativity!”

He felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.

Tam saw the look on her face, and he quickly regained his composure.

“Sasha… I'm sorry…”

She didn't want to hear it, so she tucked her beast-ears back and covered her other ones.

She retreated back to her station and began to create bricks. She went extra fast, so fast that Lo-ek snapped at her to be slower.

Eventually, she saw the Aldaraian wandering around and realized that Tam had been right. The Aldaraian didn't free them. In fact, Qen had ordered some of his servants to build a hut for the Aldaraian. It was a very regal hut, made from freshly baked bricks and red earth mortar. It was beautiful. Older servants stared in awe, because they had designed it.

“Fit for a king.” Murmured one of them. The Aldaraian thought otherwise.

“It's just a hut, something that primitives live in.” He pointed out, shrugging it off. “Why didn't you build me a shed or something, like… you know for your slaves…

Qen waved his hands, he was sweating profusely, even if he hadn't lifted a finger his whole life or spent more than ten minutes in the sun a day. “Servants! Aha….hahaha they are servants, Mr. Arnelt. Besides, this is a hut designed like the ones the tribe leaders lived.”

Arnelt snorted. “Live? In there? How do I know it isn't going to fall on me like that sign fell on that kid and make me flat? No thanks. If those guys designed it, I don't wanna be in it. I'm just gonna sleep outside.”

And so on the second night of his arrival, he slept outside.

The house was gorgeous. And the old servants grumbled every time they woke up to see it vacant.

“He still won't go near it…”

“Does he think he is too good for it?”

“Aye, he is too good for it. We do not know what title he holds.”

Tamert sighed again. “They’ll probably demolish it in a week or so.” He said this much to the dismay of the senior servants.

An idea popped into her head. The hut did still belong to Arnelt. Since he didn't live in it, what if she could?

She eventually found the courage to approach Arnelt in broad daylight. Il-Tenk followed her with a whip in his hand.

Finally, she saw Arnelt tending to his fire on the beach sands, near the palm trees. He appeared to be roasting a massive fish of some kind.

Sasha came close to his area and stopped just a few meters away. Arnelt looked at her with confusion. Just then, Il-Tenk appeared through the brush, hacking away some of the taller plants with his machete.

Arnelt, upon seeing him, sat on his downed palm trunk and quietly reached for his sword, which was still coated in fresh blood. When Il-Tenk saw this, being the coward he was, he dropped his machete, which hit a rock with a clang, startling him even further, then he retreated back into the forest.

Arnelt grunted. “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“I-I… I want to know if you’ll let me have your house.”

“What house- Oh, the hut? Sure, you can have it.”

Sasha blinked. “What- really? You'll just… let me have it?”

He scratched his ear. “Why not? I’m not planning to live in this backwater village. I got, like, a dozen houses up north. Why would I want to have property in this shithole?”

“Oh, alright then! Thank you! I’ll be g-”

“Whoa, wait.” He called out. “Your friend keeps glaring at me. Tamerg… Tagmet… something like that, what’s his problem?”

Sasha twisted her foot sheepishly. “He doesn't really like Aldarians.” She regretted it as soon as she said it. Arnelt frowned.

“Why not?”

“He says… well. You won’t rescue him.”

He cocked his head. “Doesn’t he like… doing this? He’s a dwarf isn’t he? Don’t dwarves like… ya’ know, smelting stuff and using furnaces?”

“He says he’s a slave.” She said boldy, but inside her heart was thumping. “Is he?”

Arnelt scratched his chin, then he shrugged. “I dunno. You tell me. I don’t write the rules, you anivors do. Technically this is legal, I suppose. I’ve definitely seen some more fucked-up shit in my life, I guess… Well, you know what? It sure seems like slavery. What do you think?”

“It is slavery.” Sasha blurted. “I don’t like being here. I want to be free and I want Tam to be free too. I want him to be happy.” She looked at him expectantly.

“What… what do you think?”

He seemed to be thinking. “Then just leave.”

“What?”

“Gods, you’re a cute little thing aren’t you? You’re like a little kid.”

She blushed at that. No one had ever called her cute, not even Tam, who had called her pretty before, but never cute. The only things she had been called were freak, half breed, and tails.

“How? You took h-hush money?”

Arnelt paused, which caused her to fear that she had said too much, but he didn’t seem to get mad or defensive.

“So?”

She was confused. Doesn’t hush money mean he has to keep quiet?”

“Don’t you have to… Agree to not doing anything?”

He laughed. Which causes an immense amount of fear in Sasha. She didn’t know why, but she felt on edge. She already got what she came for, but she couldn’t leave. She felt glued to the ground.

He put up one finger. “First of all, what’s stopping me from breaking that contract? Second of all, what are they gonna do if I do that? And third, why do you even care? You have everything you need.”

Sasha tried to imagine a consequence for Arnelt breaking whatever contract he made with Qen. She couldn’t. She didn’t imagine there was any way Qen would punish him the same way he did with her and Tam by making her work extra hours. Wouldn’t the Zyenurian government do something about it? No, She thought. If what Tam said was true… they don’t care about this business. Tam had mentioned something he had heard about a samaritan law universally accepted by all governments. She didn’t know anything about laws, but Arnelt was suggesting that he could do whatever he wanted, if he could justify it. And Sasha knew deep down, no matter what the legality, that what was happening here, was morally wrong. And she sensed that was more than enough to justify intervention.

But she still had one question.

“You said I have everything I need to leave? What do you mean by that?”

He shrugged. “Uhh… You got boats just lying around.” He pointed just across the beach, to a dock. “Why don’t you just row away?

“Because… I don’t know how to use a boat?”

He chuckled again. “Wow, just… wow. You know, if you really want to learn how to use a rowboat… It’s not that difficult. You don’t even have to make it to the mainland, you’ll probably be spotted by a Zynurian ship and they’ll rescue you. Hell, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll probably be spotted by an Aetlen cruiser. They really coddle you guys. They keep trying to pass laws outlawing this stuff.”

“B-but, they’ll just return me won't they?”

Arnelt snorted. Tenichally, they should. But what kind of person would go to sleep knowing they returned a servant, who’s probably gonna be punished for escaping, back to whence they came? Anyways, like I said, all you have to do is keep your balance and move your arms, especially if you’re gonna be alone. It’ll be a cakewalk.

“But I don’t want to go alone! I want to go with Tam!”

“Ok then, humor me. How would you do that?”

“I’d… He’s strong, he’ll row the boat, and I’ll keep lookout. He’s much smarter than me. He'll probably be better at it.”

“Not strong enough to break those chains though.” Arnelt muttered.

“What?”

“The chains. They keep him chained up, don’t they?”

Sasha’s heart sank. That was true. Stronger servants were bound by chains.

“Well, how are you gonna do it?”

“I-I’ll saw it off… Yes, there’s a saw at the site!”

“Oh, and Qen and Il-stupidname will be ok with it?”

“No.. I-I…”

He smiled. It was a wicked smile. Sasha felt unnerved.

“Why don’t you just… Kill them?”

Her mind went blank for a few moments to process what Arnelt had just said.

“W-what…?”

He walked over to the machete on the ground near the brush. He picked it up and tested its weight in his hands. He made a comically slow slashing motion, then ran his finger across it, drawing a small drop of blood from his finger. He put his finger in his mouth, and pulled it out again. Then, he smacked the flat end against his palm, just like Il-tenk had done with his whip.

“Well, this blade looks pretty sharp to me. You can just take it and…” He made a cutting motion with his hands across his neck. “Kill him.”

“K-kill them?”

“Yeah, just stab them. What about that is too complicated?”

Sasha was shaking. She didn’t like where this conversation was going, but she felt compelled to continue it. “I-I can’t…”

Arnelt looked genuinely puzzled. “Why the hell not?”

“It’s… It’s not right…”

“Not right?” He laughed. “Are you fucking with me or are you just stupid? Life for you must be hell. You work every single day of your life, you look horrible, covered in dirt all the time, like a dirty pig. Personally, I woulda’ slaughtered them at the insults. I don’t see any reason for any of those shitheads to live.”

“But-”

He got up. “I know where they sleep. I can show you. Those dumb fucks gave me a tour of the entire site. That Qen guy’s tent is completely undefended. The only thing between you and the overseer area is just dumb wooden fence.

The word “fence” was an understatement. At least, to Sasha it was. The barrier separating the two areas was made from solid tree trunks, like the ones from the cliff forest.

Arnelt brought his hand down abruptly on the palm trunk he was sitting on. The wood, with no hollow innards to cave into, spread outwards, causing the pieces to immediately turn into a coarse light brown powder.

“I’m not as strong as you.” She said, trying to ignore the fact she was even entertaining the idea of killing the overseers.

“Hmmm. You’re a cat… thing, aren’t you? Can’t you, like, climb?”

Sasha froze. She could climb. Very well, in fact. You used to do it alot when she was way younger. She would go to the forest and climb to the tallest tree to see the view of the ocean. And she could see very far, even to the coast of Zyenur.

She nodded.

He smiled, spreading his hands out like he had just done a performance. “There you go. You have everything you need. They won’t even see it coming.”

Finally, she snapped out of it. “No! I-I… I don’t want to do it.”

He shrugged. “Fine. I guess you like it here then.”

“C-can’t you just do it for me?”

He blinked. “Do what?-” Suddenly, he threw up. What looked like rotting meat formed a puddle just near the fire. “Oh shit… That fish was definitely… Yeah… Inedible. Fuckin knew it…”

He turned back to Sasha, his face looked somewhat pale, but the fire covered it up pretty well that Sasha didn’t notice right away.

“You want me to… Kill them for you?” He asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

“N-No! I just want you too… I don’t know… Scare them?”

“Scare them?” He laughed. “How? Do I put my arms up and yell boo?”

“Yes! Please?”

He shook his head. “Why don’t you grow a spine? If you wanna leave, you gotta be brave and do what you need to do.” He offered the machete to her.

“Why don’t you take this machete? Your friend Tam would probably be happy if you did it, If you freed him from his chains. They treat him like an animal. You can give a man a fish, or you can teach him…”

“You don’t know Tam!” Then, without thinking, Sasha slapped the machete out of his hands, cutting herself partially in the process, then she ran away, clutching her hand, which had already begun to bleed.

She did it, partially out of fear, and partially out of frustration. Why did he want her to kill them? Was she just a plaything, just entertainment? Was she like a dog in a fighting ring? She knew that, as horrific as it sounded, killing her masters would solve all of her problems. She would be able to start a new life, she would be free. Free with Tam. But would Tam even want to come with her if she did? And if he did, would he ever see her in the same light. She utterly refused to answer that question.

So she kept running. And she didn’t turn around a single time. There was some laughing, then coughing, then a retching sound.

She finally made it to the shacks. She went inside and came face to face with Tamert.

“There you are! I was just about to go out and-” He saw her hand. “What happened? Why are you bleeding? Did Il-Tenk do anything to you?”

“No.” She said, her voice cracking.

“Are you sure? You can tell me.”

“No, I’m fine!” She snapped. “I just… I just got scratched by some thorns while in the forest.”

He raised an eyebrow, but Sasha wasn’t making eye contact. Her head was down,and she was looking at Tamert’s ankle. It was bruised and purple. A ring of a metal that was too strong for Tam to break attached. She followed the chain to the bunk, which was hooked over a notch in the wall and connected to a metal ball.

This was how it always was. But tonight, Sasha was forced to acknowledge the situation. The situation they were trapped in.

And it disturbed her how clear it was. How easy it would be to make, not just her life, but Tam’s life, far better.

And she was the only one who could do it. No matter how much she tried to tell herself that others had not acted on any similar plan because of the same reason as she, but the truth was, most of the slaves were older, or crippled in some way. And the ones who were able-bodied, were chained up like Tam.

She was the only one who could do it.

“Sasha… are you alright?”

“I am fine… just a small scratch.” She tried to put on her best smile, but she knew Tam could see right through it.

“If you want to tell me anything… There’s always tomorrow.”

She woke up the following morning, and went about her day. She felt a little better. And she noticed that Arnelt wasn’t wandering around like he usually did. Maybe he had changed his mind and left to report the operation to the government. They would probably come soon, if this was the case.

Whatever the reason he wasn’t present, the overseers and Qen were becoming worried.

“He still isn’t coming by to collect his payments… Where is he? Do you think he…” Lo-ek asked.

“Of course! He’s probably reporting on us right now! We have to move our base of operations.” Qen seethed.

Il-Tenk cracked his knuckles. “I told you It wasn’t a good idea to trust an Aldarian.”

Qen refocused on Il-Tenk. “Shut up! I didn’t ask for your input! Cou-et, How quickly can we pack up?”

A fat rat-man holding a piece of paper raised his head. “About one or two days, probably. But realistically, if he called them, we would have less than that. I’d recommend an emergency abandoning of this site. We take all our tools and sla- servants with us.”

“What about the big equipment, like the furnaces?”

Cou-et shook his head. “We'd have to leave those behind.”

“FUCK!” Qen cursed. “Why- why the hell would he do that? We’re paying him more than we earn ourselves! Why?”

“I’m going to tell the servants to pack their things.” Lo-ek said, exiting the tent.

Sasha was in the middle of making a brick, when Lo-ek came to the site and commanded everyone to get up. They were slow at first, but one crack of his whip later, they were up and scrambling for tasks.

Sasha also got up. “What’s going on?” She asked Lo-ek.

Lo-ek hesitated for a second. Lo-ek was never cruel to her or Tam. So she didn’t really expect any response other than a threat. But to her surprise, Lo-ek answered her.

“The Aldarian. He is gone now, and we think the Zyenurians are going to come. If they come, they will take you from our care and throw you onto the street, or conscript you. So we are moving our base to another island. Pack your things and then return here to load our supplies onto the ship, now!”

She immediately fled to tell Tam what was happening. He arrived at the furnace as he was being escorted away.

“Tam! We’re moving away!”

Tam looked angry. “I know. When we get on the ship, I’m going to jump off and swim. You can swim with me, then the Zyenurians will find us more easily.”

“How?” Sasha asked. “You are chained to a ball!”

“I’ll figure out a way to take it off.” He gave a confident smile, indicating that he had some sort of plan. “This is good Sasha, this is good.”

Because many of the older servants were complaining about their joint pains. Il-tenk, being the very cruel person he was, argued that the servants could work overnight, but he was voted 5/1. So Sasha and the others got to have a good night's rest.

The next morning, they resumed.

Then the next.

And the next.

By that time three days had passed, and eyebrows were starting to be raised.

Qen was walking with the other overseers. "This is absurd. The authorities have still not shown up. What are we even packing for?"

"Perhaps it's a trap." Il-tenk suggested. "Perhaps they want us to leave so they can snatch us."

"And how would you know this?"

He shrugged. "We have people on the inside, remember? Zyenurians don't like wasting troops. They would rather point a cannon at us and tell us to surrender, than to deploy men to the island."

Qen turned to Cou-et. "Cou-et, is this true?"

The rat-man chewed his nails with his long teeth. "It is possible, but I think that it is much more likely that Arnelt has not even reported us in the first place."

Qen shot a glare at him. "So why the hell has he not returned to pick up his payment? Do you think he is playing with us?"

Cou-et hung his head. "Aldarians are quite unpredictable. It is, again, possible that he lost interest in this entire thing.”

Il-tenk raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that he left because he was bored? What about the money? Does it not have value to him?"

"Of course it has value to him." Cou-et replied, "But you misunderstood. His payment is probably not enough for him to stay around."

“Do you think he could still be on the island?”

“Maybe. I’ve heard of Aldarians who can travel to other places instantly.”

"Why doesn't he just take the payment and leave?" Lo-ek asked, " There is nothing stopping him from doing that, is there?"

"We have cannons." Qen snapped back. He appeared to be disturbed by the idea of being walked all over by a more powerful being.

"Ah, but I have worked with Aldarians." Cou-et suddenly announced, "And trust me when I say they do not care about many things. They have almost no emotional attachment to anything they protect or serve. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing they really care about is money. So yes, he could, if he really wanted to.

“And we couldn’t do a damn thing about it.” Seethed Qen. “We give him more than our salaries, and he still walks away.”

Then one day, Arnetl returned.

That was the last day together.

“Arnelt!” Someone yelled. “He has returned!”

Arnelt had a bag of something slung over his shoulder. His face was covered in blood.

There was a great stir.

Qen came out of his tent, along with Ill-Tenk and Lo-ek.

“Where were you?” Qen demanded. “Why have you hid from us?”

Arnelt said nothing. His face was completely expressionless. He simply threw the bag to the ground.

“What is this?” Qen asked. “What is in the bag?”

Then, a wide smile spread across Arnetls face. “It’s a surprise.”

Ill-tenk rolled his eyes.

“It is a surprise for a young woman named… Let's see… Ah. A young woman named Sasha.”

Sashas ears pricked up as she heard her own name in the distance. She had learned from a young age to swap between her ears. Her feline-ears were accurate, but they were quite sensitive. She preferred using her human ears, except when she was scared.

“Sasha…”

She turned in the direction. Was she hearing things?

“Arnelt…”

That was the moment she realized Arnelt had returned.

Qen looked confused. “Sasha? What do you want with one of our servants?”

“Nothing much. Just a little talk.” he cocked his head. “I would like you to bring her to me… please?”

Qen grimaced. “Why did you leave?”

He shrugged. “Because I wanted to hunt something… Something to show to Sasha.”

Qen sighed. “Il-tenk, bring Sasha.”

Ill-tenk grunted. “I won’t take orders from an Aldarian.”

Qen tensed. Waiting for a response from Arnelt. But Arnelt shrugged.

“It is my order.” Qen hissed. “Bring her to me.”

Grumbling, Ill-Tenk left to retrieve Sasha.

Sasha was about to resume her brickmaking when she spotted Ill-Tenk coming through the fence.

“Get up.” He demanded, and without waiting, he grabbed Sasha by the tail and yanked her from her spot, he dragged her back the other direction while she struggled to regain balance.

As he went by the furnaces, an arm shot out of the darkness and grabbed him. He shouted a curse, but before he could reach for his knife, he was thrown against the wall.

It was Tam.

“Don’t you dare grab her like that.” He seethed. “Let go of her before I break your neck.”

“You wouldn’t dare…”

“I would. Let her go.”

He grimaced. “Qen ordered me to bring her.”

“Bring her? Why?”

He pressed his fingers against Il-tenk’s neck. He grunted in pain.

“T-to the Aldarian. He says he wants to talk to her.”

Tam growled. “All the more reason to let her the fuck go.”

Ill-tenk growled. “I know a stupid stone shitter like you wouldn’t think of what would happen if you killed one of the overseers. They’d put you and Sasha down.”

Tam finally almost let him go, but he still held his arm.

“If anything happens to her, I will rip your spine out.”

He eventually let her go and gazed at Sasha hopelessly, his ankles chained to the furnace.

It was very cloudy, and the wind blew the trees in the distance furiously. It was beginning to rain.

Ill-tenk had also begun pulling her by the hand rather than by her tail, which she greatly appreciated.

When they entered the main camp area, she saw Arnelt again.

Fear filled her heart.

“No!” She yelped. She began to struggle against Ill-tenk’s grip, which he was not fond of.

“Stop squirming, you little rat!” Then Ill-tenk heaved her in front of him. She fell onto the ground, which was mud from the rain. She looked up at Arnelt. He smiled at her.

Qen grunted. “Alright, here’s Sasha. Now what the hell are you here for? Why didn’t you come back to pick up your payment?”

Arnelt ignored him completely. “Sasha,” He kicked the bag. “I brought something for you.”

Sasha looked at the bag. Dark red liquid oozed out of it.

“I want you to open it. I think you’ll really like it.”

Sasha was frozen in place, until Qen added, with some uncertainty; “Sasha, I order you to open the bag for Mr. Arnelt.”

She leaned forward, slowly undoing the knot.

She looked up at Arnelt several times, hoping that she would make her stop.

But he didn’t

Finally, with heavy breathing she spread open the sack. Sure enough, there was a dead animal inside. Some sort of dog-like creature.

She almost threw up, then crawled away.

“Oh wow, you killed a wolf. Big whoop huh? What are you going to do next, chase some squirrels?” Ill-tenk mocked.

Suddenly, the carcass flicked.

Cou-et approached. He frowned. “You found him? Well, I-”

He froze when he saw the wolf.

“T-that’s… That’s a….”

As he stuttered, Arnelt quietly moved the body to the side, revealing a piece of metal sticking out of the body. He pulled it out.

“That’s my machete.” Ill-tenk said.

Arnelt, again, ignored him. He offered the machete to Sasha.

“That’s a Phantom wolf!” Cou-et squeaked in pure terror. “That mean’s demons might be out and about!”

“What the hell are you on about?” Qen asked, turning his attention away from Arnelt.

Sasha still shook. She felt as if something terrible was going to happen.

“I came back because I think you need a little help… You know, getting started with your… Liberation?

Sasha was lost for words. She looked back and forth between the machete and Arnelts face.

She sensed, just by looking at Arnelt that he was different… somehow. She didn’t know how, but she smelled It.

Lo-ek smelled it too, as he slowly began to try and make his way out of

She hesitantly took the machete.

Qen turned back around, in anger. “Sasha, put that thing down!”

Arnelt turned to him, and in a different voice, he said:

Make her.

There was an uncomfortable silence, which was then broken by Cou-et’s panic.

“Don’t you get it?! The phantom wolf is dead! Oh, it's dead! We’ll all be hanged!”

Qen turned to Arnelt. “That’s it. Either you get your money and leave. Or you just leave. And take that damn thing with you.”

“No, Arnelt! He killed it, but we’re all accomplices! We’re all-”

“Shut the fuck up before I take my sword and cut some of that fat off of you!” Ill-tenk snapped at Cou-et.

Arnelt turned back to face Sasha. Time seemed to flow differently, as the overseers argued and servants watched from through the fence.

“Now now, dear Sasha… I am… a changed man. Ever since I realized… What is… a god’s burden? Hmm?” He said this in a deep, soothing, and unnerving voice that was drastically different from his own.

He looked down at the machete, and her fearful eyes.

“Oh… You follow by example. I forgot. Being a servant can do that to you, I suppose. Here, I’ll go first…”

If Sasha knew what was going to happen next, she would have started running.

With blinding speed, Arnelt appeared next to Qen and drove his fist in an upward curve. Qen looked down in surprise to see a fist coming towards him.

Arnelt’s first went into Qen’s stomach, breaking the skin and going through.

Sasha screamed when It appeared through his back.

Qen slid forward across Arnelts arm, groaning as the life faded from his eyes.

“Fuck!” Ill-tenk said, scrambling away. Cou-et fell over.

Arnelt was not a patient man. In one chop, he split Qen’s head into two pieces.

There was yelling from the servants, who immediately began to run away.

“Now it’s your turn.” He said. Presenting the horrified overseers. “Now, I am not one to discriminate, so go break a leg, and maybe other parts too!”

In a burst of speed, he ran towards the fence, when he got to it, instead of jumping over, or sidling it, he punched right through the logs. Two other men outside, who were dressed lavishly, probably clients, scrambled to get out of the way, but they were too late. Large, spearlike splinters created from the destruction flew through the air, one tripped one of the men, causing him to slip and fall from the mud. The other was impaled through the neck. He staggered, wheezing, touching the protruding wood with one of his hands, he looked down at the blood and promptly died, falling over. The wood from his neck propped him up like a cutout.

The ropes holding the fence together snapped causing it to fall over. Servants, who although were out of range of the splinters, saw they were still in range for the large barrier. Not all of them were lucky, including the other client, who, while he was just getting up, was crushed dead by the solid trunks.

Your turn. The voice echoed in her head. She was sweating so much that she was almost losing the grip on the machete.

Your turn.

She raised her head from her gaze at the ground. She looked around wildly. Cou-et was frantically limping away, appearing to have sprained his ankle, his obesity was not helping him either. Il--tenk was staring with horror at the onslaught. She followed his gaze, and with horror too, she realized; Arnelt wasn’t stopping.

He bounded toward the fleeing servants with glee; tearing right through them like a mischievous child through banners. He cackled like a maniac while he did it.

She screamed again. “Stop it! Stopppppp!!!”

But her voice was drowned out in the screams, she curled up into a ball.

Why is this happening? Why, why, why, why?

She pressed her hands over both sets of her ears. She wanted to rip them off to stop the screaming.

“YOU!” Ill-Tenk roared. At that moment, Sasha realized he was part Boar.

“This was your plan all along!” He shouted. “I don’t know how you did it, but you did it! You disgusting rat! He probably wanted you to be his concubine!” He pulled out his whip and slowly approached her.

Suddenly, there was yelling. It was Tam.

“The sailboat! Sash! The sailboat!

She ran towards him, but Ill-Tenk gave chase. Luckily, being a hybrid gave her the advantage yet again, she bounded towards Tam, who had taken a fighting stance. He curled his fists up.

“Raah!” Ill-tenk shouted. He swung his whip, just barely nicking her tail. Finally she got to tam. Every hair on her back was raised as she took safety behind his protective figure.

Ill-tenk, who was still blinded with rage, charged Tamert, who intercepted him by the neck and raised him up off his feet. Ill-tenk choked, dropping his whip on the floor.

“Unhand me, you-!”

Tamert applied pressure.

“I’ll kill you!” He gurgled, I’ll see both of you hanged!”

Then, he whipped out his knife.

“Tam! He has a knife!”

Tam looked down in surprise, but it was too late. Ill-tenk had plunged the knife deep into Tam’s torso and was twisting it with his neck upright, glaring down with hate.

Tam roared and swatted Ill-tenk away, who got up almost immediately and continued to approach Tamert, who was leaking an enormous amount of blood. Sasha feared he would soon collapse.

He got to Tam and began swinging his knife furiously, trying to land another strike. Tam counter attacked, but he was sluggish and dazed from the wound.

Sasha was so frozen with fear, she almost forgot she was still gripping the hilt of the machete with her white knuckles.

Why don’t you grow a spine?

She looked back at the battle Tam was losing.

We look out for each other. Because that’s what friends do.

She let out her most enraged battle cry and lunged at Tam swinging her machete at him.

He turned around.

Sasha had half expected Ill-tenk to dodge the attack, but instead he walked right into it.

The machete blade stuck right into the side of his face, he let out a pained scream, dropping the knife and clutching his head.

“Nhaaah!” He gurgled.

She ripped the blade out with ferocity evoked only by fear and anguish, and brought it down a second time, and then a third and a fourth. She was half screaming and crying, “Die!” She screamed. “Die, die, die!"

He was flailing his arms around, trying to escape. He managed to knock the machete out her hand, but that didn't stop her. She lunged her head forward, screaming and slammed into his, crushing whatever bones she hit. Then, she sank her teeth into his shoulder.

Suddenly, she felt strong hands grab her and pull her away. Her heart was beating quickly, and by now, she had made a mess of blood, and there was little left to identify Ill-tenk. But his chest heaved, indicating he was still alive. The skin on his face was peeling off and his jaw was hanging on by only one of its hinges. His fingers twitched.

“Tam!” She cried.

“Shhh, It’s alright. We have to get to the ship!”

He grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder, but she quickly got off and began to run alongside him. She wouldn’t let him carry her, not with an injury like that.

Suddenly, Arnelt appeared.

“Sasha. sword, now.”

Sasha passed the blade to him. He pointed it at Arnelt, who looked unfazed by it, perhaps even mildly entertained.

“If you come anywhere near us, I will put you down.” He snarled, still covering his wound with his other hand.

“Go ahead then, I will let you go first.” He spread his arms.

“Tam, don't… He’s…”

“I know what he is. But I’ll be damned if I let him past me.”

Tamert hesitated, wobbling. He was starting to succumb to blood loss. He took a staggering step forward, and Arnelt matched his pace.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. No, a cannonshot. Much deeper, it had to be a cannon.

Boom! The iron ball hit the sand near them. It had been from the sailboat which was going along the beach.

It was Lo-ek. He had taken the ship from the dock and was firing on Arnelt, who looked surprised.

“Excuse me while I deal with a more pressing issue.” He announced. Then he sprinted towards the waves.

“Tam!” Sasha yelped.

Tam was pressing his arms over his wounds.

“Come on, Tam. We need to go.”

But Tam was focused on Arnelt.

He sprinted across the sand.

How is he going to…

When Arnelt hit the water, instead of sinking, he ran across it.

No, no, no, no…

He didn’t stop when he got to the ship, instead, putting his arms in front of him in an “x”.

He punched through the hull of the ship.

Tam finally got up. “We need to hide Sasha.”

He grabbed her and led her back up the hill, to the forest near the cliffside. His grip felt weak.

Suddenly, he collapsed.

“Tam!”

“Sasha… you… need to hide…”

“What about you?”

But she already knew what Tam was going to try and do. And she didn’t approve.

“Tam, you can’t-”

Arnelt appeared again. He was dripping wet.

“Now… There you two are… Do not fret, I have decided to spare you both. Live the rest of your life, as you dreamed, and I will-”

“Murderer!” Tamert yelled. He charged at Arnelt, pointing the machete forward and stabbing Arnelt through the stomach. “Go to hell!”

They both tussled for a few moments, Tam trying to bring Arnelt to the cliff, causing Sasha to realize that he was trying to get Arnelt to fall off. Arnelt didn’t seem to be in any pain, and he seemed to be playing into his attack.

Finally, when they were at the edge, Arnelt quickly smacked Tamert back…

Right over the cliff.

Sasha wailed in despair. “Taaaaaamm!” She screamed.

Arnelt appeared to be unfazed. “I told you both I would spare you. He did that to himself.”

“Kill me…” She weeped. “Just do it…”

“To think someone with such large ears could… be so terrible at listening. I am enlightened, Sasha.” We have always strayed away from the path of the angel… But why not go further and embrace it? I see I have enlightened you too. My work here is done.”

Then, he put both of his arms around his neck and head, and twisted it. With a sickening crack, bones from his neck pierced his skin and he toppled over the side of the cliff, leaving Sasha alone again.

Sasha took a few quick panicked breaths, then she fainted.