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I pick myself up, nearly tripping over the edge into the infinite abyss.
“I understand, master.”
16
ARIE
It’s been a day since Peliel dangled me over a cliff, nearly dropping me to my death. I could have lost myself then if I’d just rejected the whims of this monster, who somehow holds the key to my redemption.
I wonder why I enjoy his company so much as I stumble through his cavern. The passages only lead to more passages, none of them leading anywhere. With all this space, he could easily decorate, filling every cranny with a bookcase or a kitchen. Beyond the wandering skulls, I find nothing to disrupt that lifestyle.
Peliel peeks around a corner, having returned from another day of terror. He describes the elves he laid ruin to and how he intends to use the fear of the orcs to his advantage.
“For all their magical knowledge, they still couldn’t sense me until I descended upon them,” he brags. “But before I set foot upon them, I turned their relics against them. You should have seen the fear in their eyes before I roasted them, watching their masks animate and speak righteous curses.”
He laughs.
I smile halfheartedly. “Why are you telling me this?” I ask.
He looks at me, puzzled. “I just thought… since you’re a human in the desert, maybe you…”
“Enjoyed the wanton deaths of innocents?” I can’t admit the relief I feel at knowing that there are fewer elves in the realm because that would make me a monster.
And I’m not a monster.
I know that he has a higher calling than me, having been asked to perform the duties of gods… being a righteous being, set upon purging the world of wickedness.
But that’s not me.
He shrugs. “What were you doing?” he asks, peering around the caverns.
“Oh!” I smile at him. “I was just wandering about these caves,” I tell him. “You know, you have a lot of space here.”
He nods at me, confused. I know that I need to choose my next words carefully if I don’t want to face his divine anger.
“So I was thinking, maybe you could do something with it?”
He puzzles over my statement.
“Do something…” He looks down at me. I realize how much taller than me he is, his shimmering blue eyes glaring down. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” I stammer. “I was just meaning, maybe you could make this a kitchen or something? It’s plenty spacious.”
I walk from one edge of the cavern to the other, stretching my arms out to convey how wide the room is. I think the gesture is lost on him however as he looks upon me in utter confusion.
“What is a kitchen?”
I watch as Peliel separates into two beings suddenly… one pacing the threshold, and the other standing before me, still speaking.
“Do you really hope to domesticate me? This is my cavern. And you are my pet. Please remember your place.”
“It’s a place where you cook your food,” I say, trying desperately to ignore the illusion. Though as time wears on, I may not be able to tell which is which.
“But I can summon food from anywhere in the world,” Peliel informs me.
“You naive little bitch,”adds the double.
“Right. But someday, I’d like to cook for you.”
