"And? Another one will just rise in his place. One who doesn't care about making alliances and figuring out why we're brought here. What force is yanking us from our world? How long have dungeon builders been a problem?"
She squirmed. "It's hard to say. Thousands of years since Meskalamdug the Flaming Devil first arose. So much has been lost." She trembled. "Our world is constantly being assaulted."
"I know." I stared into her blue eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"For now, Fuegin is more valuable as my friend. If he is repentant of his crimes, if he truly has made it peaceful in his lands, then I need his help. I'm sorry. I understand if that is too much for you to swallow. If you would rather seek out vengeance than make this world better. I'll release you from my service."
"Lord Leo," she whimpered, tears springing in her eyes.
"But you have to choose."
"You can't ask me to work with my father's murderer!" Her liquid depths pleaded with me.
"You don't have to work with him. You don't have to be around him. You just have to let me deal with him. Okay? You have to give up on vengeance to make this world better. Are you strong enough to do that?"
"I'm strong," she hissed.
"Then what do you truly want?"
She squeezed her eyes shut. Her arm lowered. She shuddered and then opened her eyes. "I want peace. You showed me that, Lord Leo. I'm your paladin. That has not changed. It's just... He..."
"I know."
Then I noticed that my mother was by us. She watched, pain on her woody face. I gently pressed Halia towards her. "Take care of her, Mom."
"I will," she said gently, her arm going around Halia's shoulder. My mother led the trembling paladin away, the tip of her humming sword nearly dragging across the ground. I watched them pass by the thrones and then through the doors that led to our quarters. They boomed shut.
I turned to Fuegin. "I--"
He held up a forestalling hand. "No apologies needed. I had heard you had recruited a paladin to your side, but I had no idea it was Anguin's daughter. I would have taken more care. I truly had no choice. Her father nearly killed me. He was a legend. He had taken down some of the vilest dungeon builders."
"And how many of them had burned two cities to the ground?" I asked, my voice cold.
Fuegin closed his eyes. "I was younger. Angry at the situation. How everyone hated me. I gave an ultimatum, and then thought I had no choice but to carry it out when they ignored me. When you make a threat and don't act on it, your enemies are only emboldened. Remember that, Leo. Never threaten to do something that will leave you haunted by nightmares. It took two cities, after that, they surrendered. I took an area of petty kingdoms always warring with each other when not dealing with builders, and unified it. I crammed peace down their throats. They all hate me for what I did, deservedly so, but at least their lives are as comfortable as such a primitive world will allow."
I considered his words. Fifty years... That would make him older than my mother though he didn't look it. He looked to be in his twenties instead of his sixties or seventies. A lot of time to reflect. To change.
"Why are you here?" I asked, sinking on the throne. I needed allies. I couldn't be picky. If he wasn't actively hurting people now, I would just have to overlook his past acts.
Two cities burned, though...
"Have you had any insights into why we're here?" Fuegin asked.
"I've been thinking about it," I said, my thoughts still spinning from the revelations. It was hard not to see the man standing before me as a monster. But he was just a human, like me, torn from our world and thrust into this insanity. "Souleen, the Soul of my Void Crystal, asked if I could protect her before I was summoned. Only... she seemed a little different from my Souleen. Almost more majestic. I don't know. Did you have that dream?"
"Yeah," he said. "Before the fire came and burned me. I dreamed of her and then she asked me again. We made love and then I appeared here. A contract formed."
"There's something there," I said, leaning back in my throne. "Something important that I feel like we're missing. Why was she different?"
"She hadn't imprinted on us yet," said Fuegin with a shrug. "The Soul then bonded with us and that has to affect her. Every single dungeon builder I've talked to has one. They're the same and yet subtlety different. They react to us and adapt to us, becoming, maybe, what we need when we first arrive."
"Okay," I said. That felt almost right, but I just couldn't quite accept it. "There are the elemental gods. Any others? Like an over god or something."
"Not that I know of," Fuegin said. "Religion isn't my strong suit. I was an atheist. I never imagined anything like this world was possible. I don't even know if their gods are real or if they just believe in the superstition. Why, you think some chief god summoned us?"
"How about demons or evil gods?" I asked.
"That's us." He chuckled. "We're the evil gods, basically. To them, we're the source of all evil. The corruption that festers in the world."
"Why are we brought here to protect the Void Crystal? To protect our Souls. That's what we agreed to, right."
Fuegin frowned at that. His brow furrowed. "I hadn't really given that much thought. We have to protect our Crystals to keep ourselves alive."
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