23 - A Difficult Choice

The camoose, probably already very tired, couldn’t turn that sharply. A leg came down wrong and snapped. The camoose plunged into the sand. Rider, chained passenger, and animal went down in a tumble.

That’s all I saw because I was racing past, trying to slam on the brakes in loose sand as I slid closer and closer to the edge of a small canyon. It was a sharp lip, the canyon walls smooth-bored and oddly shaped, like the place had been a nest chewed out by those giant worms. Couldn’t see any gormedon inside, and I got a real good view before I threw my body to the ground, belly down, and tried to use arms and friction to stop myself from shooting backwards over the side and into the deep hole. Closer…closer…I went over.

The sudden drop arrested just enough momentum. My hands gripped the edge of the cliff, and my body swung down. The underside of the cliff was curved like the body of the worm who’d likely created it, so I didn’t hit the wall. My feet swung so far forward that I almost lost my grip. Then I was swinging back. Then hanging by my fingers. Like an idiot, I looked down.

It was a far drop, probably thirty or fifty meters. The place was like a nest where multiple tunnels had eaten into each other, so there was a lot of space under me. No worms, though. Thank goodness for big miracles.

My hands slipped slightly. I think my heart might have stopped.

The genie appeared above, looking over the edge. When she spotted me, she swooped down next to me. “Want some help?”

“Yes!”

She shrugged. “Make a wish. I literally can’t do anything unless you do.”

I gritted my teeth and refused to respond to that. Sweat dripping off my brow, I was almost too scared to move for fear of falling, yet anxious to get the hell back up top. The grains of sand under my fingers made my grip uncertain. Very carefully, I squeezed and slowly pulled upward like I was doing a chin-up. I was damn glad for the stat boost now. No way my lazy ass would have been able to pull myself up back on Earth. I hauled myself high enough to throw a leg up over the edge. Then I pulled some more and rolled, and just like that, I was safe again.

I lay on my back for a few long seconds, breathing hard.

Whimpering and struggling sounds came from the side.

I remembered I wasn’t alone. Blinking rapidly, I rolled over and got to all fours as I took a deep breath, then stood.

The camoose hadn’t gone far.

I winced and looked away. For some reason, seeing animals hurt always really got to me. I had to force myself to look back.

The camoose was on its side, and one of its forelegs had broken. It was struggling to right itself, but in pain, and its leg wasn’t working. The ringtail person was whimpering, half caught under the weight of the large and very heavy animal. It was still tied to the saddle and chained, helpless to free itself. Both slave and animal would die if left alone here.

I jogged over to help, and that’s when I saw the lizard person. He was lying still in the sand nearby. From the angle his head and neck were at, there was no way he’d survived the fall. I’d killed another person.

But chest and eyes heated fast. I shook my head in denial and took a step back. I’d killed three people. I was sickened. I wasn’t…me anymore. I had fallen. How could anyone look at me as human after this?

A young male voice called out, “Help me! Please!”

I sluggishly swam through the emotional mess I was in enough to look up at the ringtail. I could see he was in pain. Pushing my feelings aside, I moved to help. I got around the downed camoose and untied the ropes binding the ringtail to the saddle. They’d also been keeping his hands behind his back.

The genie followed, apparently invisible except to me. She impassively yet curiously watched everything but made no move to intervene.

Freed, the ringtail gushed, “Thank you, friend!” He was drenched in recently dried blood, his fur matted in reddish brown sludge that was turning even darker in the heat.

I basically pulled him out from under the camoose, growing alarmed at the blood. “You ok? Anything broken?”

The ringtail shook his head as he patted himself down. “I don’t think so. Just sprained and bruised.”

“Are you hurt?” I pointed.

Then he noticed where my eyes were. “Ah.” His voice caught. He needed to swallow before continuing, “It’s not mine.” He was about as tall as my chin, or would be if he stood straight. He naturally seemed to stand in a slouch, his body similar to that of a cat or weasel. Below his big ears, his face was very similar to a lemur’s, but with dark rings around his eyes. His fluffy ringed tail was as long as he was tall. With a small hand, he reached up to the collar and tried to loosen it from his neck.

I moved to help, but quickly saw the lock. “It needs a key.”

The ringtail pointed. “I think he had it. Maybe in a pocket?”

A cold sensation stole over my stomach. I looked at the dead lizard person. The one I’d killed. Now I needed to loot the body. This was just like a game. I checked the ring on my finger. To my relief, it was not showing a blinking light. I hadn’t levelled up from killing these people. If I had, I probably would have torn the ring off and chucked it into the canyon. I was not a murderhobo, and I never, ever wanted to be one.

Trying to get a hold of myself, I knelt next to the lizard man. I rolled him over.

“Sssaavve me…”

“Fuck!” I jerked my hand away and leaped to my feet. The guy was alive!

The slaver’s forked tongue flickered. He didn’t move, though, and only his eyes followed me. “Ssaave.”

I backed away, hand to my mouth in horror.

The ringtail asked, “What’s wrong with him?”

“I think his neck’s broken.”

The ringtail stared at the paralyzed raider for a long time. There was no sympathy on his features. Finally, softly, he said, “Good. Let the desert take him, and may a thousand curses follow him into the eternal night.”

I turned my head and looked at him.

The ringtail couldn’t take his eyes off the lizard. “We’d finally escaped. My parents and I. We were free. Crossing the desert. He and the other two found us. Killed my parents. Took me.”

I glanced down at the blood. “These…lizard people. They’re slavers then?”

The ringtail looked at me strangely. “Of course. Aren’t you?”

“I’m…new to this region. But no. I hate the idea of slavery.”

He appeared mollified but didn’t seem to entirely believe me.

I stared at the lizard. He was a murderer and a slaver. If I believed the ringtail, the lizard was evil. Did I leave him there to die? Try to save him? I looked up at the genie. “Could you save him?” I was curious, wanting to know if it was an option. Just to lessen my guilt, maybe.

The ringtail looked up, probably saw only empty hot air, and frowned.

The genie met my eyes. She faded into full view.

The ringtail gasped. Then he dropped to the ground like a stone, head on the ground, bowing to her. “Esteemed Magic One, please forgive this poor, insignificant creature for not being aware of your presence.”

She only glanced at him. “I was invisible.”

The ringtail smoothly shifted so that he then bowed to me, head still on the sand. “Master, forgive this one for—”

“Stop!” I reached down and hauled him up to his feet. “I’m not a slaver. Nobody’s master. The genie and I are… acquaintances.”

The ringtail’s tail curled low, and he hunched, eying both me and the genie with frightened confusion. “But, M—sir, everyone knows the legends. You must—”

“No. Just no. I’m just a regular person. Like you.” I thumbed at the genie. “She’s just a person too. Ok? No more bowing. It’s fine. I promise.”

He shook his head so hard in denial of the idea that his whole body followed. “I cannot believe it, sir!”

“No sir either!” I would have said more, but the lizard hissed on the ground. I looked up at the genie and shot her a questioning look.

She appeared to be closely watching me. After a delay, she answered, “Yes. Would you save such a person?”

“I…don’t know. Maybe? It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?”

“Is it?”

“If he’s a criminal, he should be taken to trial. Then punished.”

The genie laughed. She turned to the ringtail, making him shrink even more. “Is slavery a crime in this era?”

He looked down, too afraid to meet her shining gaze. “No, Esteemed One.”

A knowing smile. “And killing your family? Runaway slaves? A crime?”

The ringtail swallowed, his tone a little angry under the fear. “No, Esteemed One. There is no one who would punish him for that.”

The genie had obviously been expecting that answer. She rolled her head my way and arched one brow.

I opened my mouth to say something…but what? I felt sickened by my actions. I had never, ever wanted to take a life. Yet with these skills and stats, I’d grown more powerful than I’d realized. Maybe killing had been an accident, but it was still my fault.

On the other hand, from everything I’d seen and heard, these were terrible people. The world would probably be better off without them.

I was nobody, not some paragon of virtue worthy enough to judge others. Yet I held this person’s life in my hands. In part, he was in this situation because of me. Did I break my personal code and my promise to the genie to save a bad person? Clenching my fists, I agonized over the decision.

Relaxing my hands, conflicted, I shook my head. I couldn’t do it. Then a thought struck. “I have [Heal Wounds].” My head jerked up and I looked the genie in the eyes. “[Heal Wounds]! Can I use skills on others?”

She just shrugged.

I quickly turned to the ringtail. “Skills. I have a skill. Magic or something. Can I use it on someone else? How?’

He looked at me strangely. “You have magic? Such things are rare. At last among my people.”

“Can I use it? On him?”

He looked worried. “I do not know.” Perhaps he feared being punished for not having the answers.

I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, saving the lizard’s life, but I knelt by his head. I put my hands on his head and shoulder. “Maybe if I will it hard enough or focus on wanting it to happen?” I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. It didn’t really work. Then I imagined the skill flowing from me into the lizard. “[Heal Wounds].”

A scratch on the lizard’s face began healing.

I smiled.

His head twitched. A muffled click. The lizard’s eyes stopped moving and stared straight ahead.

My smile vanished. “[Heal Wounds].” Nothing happened. “[Heal Wounds]!” The lizard only lay there, unmoving.

The ringtail haltingly spoke, “He is dead.”

I looked up at the genie in confusion. I exclaimed, “But why?”

She had a small frown as she regarded me. Then her eyes travelled over the dead. “Your skill is not an overly powerful one. Healing bones and nerves is also complex. And his spine was severely out of alignment. When you tried to heal him, the process killed him.”

I sagged, distraught and guilty. “So…I killed him?”

The ringtail insisted, “You were very generous to even attempt it on such a worthless person. Do not be sad for this.”

The genie grumbled, “Better a quick death than he would have gotten if you’d left him.”

I tried not to let even more guilt tear me apart inside. Recalling my original mission, I patted the corpse down, eventually finding a small iron key in a belt pouch. Returning to the ringtail, I unlocked the collar.

The ringtail massaged his neck. “Free again! Thank you! I wore it only for a couple of days, and it was already horrible. I am quite glad it is gone. You have saved my life and freedom. You are a great kindness in physical form.” He came up and hugged me. A handshake would have been fine, but maybe ringtails were natural huggers.

“You’re welcome.” Not feeling worthy of his gratitude, I disengaged. I also tried to take a mental step back. The three lizard people were all dead. This ringtail was my only lead now. “Listen…this is going to sound strange, but… I’m not from around here, this land, this place. I’m looking for someone. A woman. Human, like me. She was at that oasis as well. I don’t know exactly how long ago. She was taken. I don’t know where. I think maybe lizard people, like him,” I gestured at the dead, “took her. Maybe. Can you think of where they might have taken her? Or is there a place she might have gone?”

The ringtail listened intently until I finished. “A human woman? There are not many in the desert. Mostly, they live in Agarahbad, the big city on the coast.” He paused to think. “My family and I were held in Leonidas for many months. The lizard tribes sometimes sell slaves in the city. I saw a few humans. What does this one look like?”

My hope rose. “She’s about your height. Long, black hair. Her skin’s darker than mine. Like caramel. She has the most expressive eyes. And her smile…” Almost without thinking, I mentally used [Do the Unlikely]. I felt something happen.

The ringtail’s face grew excited. “Ah! Her name—

“Cerise.”

“Yes, yes! I am very happy to say that I know her. We have met a few times.”

I was stunned. “You have?”

“Yes!” He seemed very pleased to be of help. “She was also a prisoner of the lion king.”

I blinked. “The who now?”

“The lion king. Of Leonidas.”