《Sisters from a tree》


 1. Birth Harvest

    The Hill had been a peaceful place for my sisters and me. The grass was a bright and joyful tint of green and waved at us every time a light breeze swung us around. The sun heated our skin through the leaves above us, but his warmth wasn¡¯t as strong as I remembered. Fall was coming. I didn¡¯t know if I was looking forward to the day of falling, or afraid of what it might bring. ¡°When I grow up¡±, Horsis said, sensing my thoughts, ¡°I want to be a horse, wild and free, running from one end of the world to the other. Galloping so fast that it feels like flying. I will be so strong and proud that only the bravest warrior can convince me to join him in his travels.¡± I felt a happy energy radiating from her branch as if her mind was smiling. ¡°Then why not become a pegasus if you want to fly? They aren¡¯t real either, but at least they are cool,¡± Sendly smirked. ¡°Horses are real. I saw one,¡± Horsis assured her. ¡°Trust me, there is a lot more out there than the Hill, the wind, and the sky. And I¡¯m going to see all of it before I will carry the weight of a mother.¡±


    I believed Horsis. As far as I knew, she was the oldest one of us. She had been watching everything around our tree before we could even sense her presence. If she claimed to have seen a horse, I believed her. Maybe she could take me on her back one day to show me the world. Maybe she could take me on her back not because I was her sister, but because I had become the bravest of warriors. I smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m scared!¡± Elia screamed out. Her fear drove itself like a spear in the hearts of all of us. ¡°I¡¯m going to fall,¡± she cried. ¡°Calm down,¡± Horsis told her, ¡°that¡¯s normal. We all fall one day. It¡¯s great actually. You can finally be anything. You will be the first of us to see the world!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to go yet, I¡­¡± Elia¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as her stem sapped. Her connection to the tree of sisters was gone. She was nothing but a pale, bouncy ball rolling down the hill. As she came to a stop against a clump of grass, her skin started to rip open. We watched in horror as a pale insect clawed its way out with its thin legs. ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s what we are¡­ That¡¯s what we really are?¡± we thought in union. Elia had barely left her cocoon when an enormous crow appeared in the sky and started diving towards her. Our sister was helpless prey. Or was she? Elia transformed in the blink of an eye. One moment she was a hideous, crawling insect, the next she was an identical copy of the crow. The first bird stared at her for a moment, confused, before continuing on his path.


    The crow that was Elia flew up and landed on the tree. ¡°This isn¡¯t how I wanted things to go,¡± she spoke. She didn¡¯t sound like one of us anymore, her voice was the voice of a random crow who landed on our tree by coincidence during his travels. ¡°It will be fine,¡± Horsis reassured her. ¡°The horse told me life isn¡¯t always what you want or imagine. But that doesn¡¯t make it not worth living. You are a bird. A strong and big one also. Sure, you didn¡¯t get a chance to meet an eagle or a dragon, but that doesn¡¯t stop you from flying high in the air as if you were an eagle.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to fly away. I will stay here with you. This tree is my home and you are my family. Can we just pretend I¡¯m not a hideous crow, but a squishy ball of joy like the rest of you?¡± We didn¡¯t have the heart to tell her no.


    Thia was the next of us to go. She landed on a stone. The creature that dragged itself out of her cocoon was barely alive. She was able to root herself in the ground as a single blade of grass, but then slowly died over the next couple of days. It was probably for the best that she couldn¡¯t talk. Hearing her fight for her life in vain would have been too much for us to process. We just hung from our tree and watched in silence. There was nothing we could do. Elia said she could hear Thia talk if she went close enough. Some days she asked her to get help, to keep her upright, to do anything. Other days she just asked for death. But Elia couldn¡¯t bring herself to do any of those. She didn¡¯t know how to help nor had the heart to rip her apart. They talked a lot during these days and when her fight was over, Elia picked up the meager seed her remains dropped and flew out of our lives. She had promised Thia she would find her a beautiful spot like the Hill where she could carry the weight of a mother.


    ¡°Why can I still feel you dreaming of galloping through fields after what we¡¯ve seen?¡± I asked Horsis many times. And every time she shrugged me off with a smile. ¡°Because I know. I will be fine. You will be too. You have to trust the world.¡± ¡°And what about me?¡± Blips asked, ¡°Will I be a horse too?¡± She was our youngest sister and the only one who admired Horsis more than I did. ¡°Yeah, probably,¡± Horsis said. Why didn¡¯t she sound convinced?


    ¡°Tom told me there¡¯s another one just five kilometers north,¡± August said. ¡°If we hurry, we¡¯ll be there before sunset.¡± Sarah hesitated. ¡°But it does mean we have to return when it¡¯s dark,¡± she said. ¡°Do you want that money or not? We¡¯ll get at least ten fancy coins for that.¡± ¡°Last time they only paid us sixty shiny coins per mirrorbug instead of the full fancy coin,¡± she argued. ¡°Who cares about four shiny coins? It¡¯s still good money. If we go tomorrow, someone else might have harvested them.¡± Sarah rolled her eyes. She didn¡¯t really care about the risks, she just wanted to argue to pass the time during their walk. ¡°Fine,¡± she told him, ¡°but if we get there and someone got there before us, you owe me one.¡± August laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t owe my children anything. I never asked you to pay me back for raising you. Besides, you are the one who wants to go at a later time.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.¡°Hey there, humans,¡± Horsis greeted the strangers approaching in the distance. ¡°How do you know what humans are?¡± asked Sendly skeptically. ¡°Because there was this guy on top of the horse I met,¡± Horsis explained. ¡°He was weird but brave. I liked him.¡±


    ¡°I think we got lucky,¡± Sarah said when she heard the greetings of the tree. ¡°Hey there, mirrorbugs!¡± She shouted. ¡°Mirror what?¡± Sendly asked. ¡°We aren¡¯t bugs. We are sisters.¡± ¡°My apologies.¡± Sarah smiled. ¡°Hey, how come there is only nine of you? Aren¡¯t there at least ten sisters per tree?¡± ¡°There are more trees like us?¡± I asked curiously. I had always known there were probably more, but it blew my mind to have this knowledge confirmed. The man nodded. ¡°There is a lot more of you where we came from. You know what, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± He stretched out his arm, ripped Blips from our tree, and threw her in our basket.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Horsis shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t do that! We aren¡¯t ripe yet!¡± Sarah ignored her protests and grabbed another one of our sisters. And then the next one. They were so fast my sisters couldn¡¯t even scream before we lost our connection. Sendly was next. As soon as her stem detached from our tree, black wings erupted from her cocoon. She pecked at the hand of the girl until she had to let go. ¡°You need to transform!¡± she shouted. ¡°We can¡¯t fight the way we are.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to become a random crow,¡± Cassy complained. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re good people. We might get a chance to find something better if we let them take us.¡± ¡°Oh yeah,¡± Sarah laughed as August ripped her from the tree, ¡°we have unicorns and dragons and butterflies where we live. You need to see them!¡± Sendley was still trying to attack the humans in vain. She barely knew how to fly and the humans could block her attacks easily. Another sister disappeared into the bag and now it was my turn.


    If someone uses a weapon too strong to beat, it might be a good idea to try wielding that same weapon. The hand of the girl first squished my body and then made the stem on top snap off. And suddenly my skin didn¡¯t feel like my skin anymore. It was just a dead layer of protection. I pictured the image of the man, because he looked the strongest, and started pushing away the cocoon around me. When my head broke through, the world suddenly looked a lot brighter. More real. My insect paws had fallen off and looked extremely tiny now. I was growing, breathing, couching. It hurt like hell. The girl had dropped me. She was still towering over me. And then a flash of pain blinded the world. I couldn¡¯t grow anymore. I was a pale blob rolling around in pain. Too exhausted to move a mussel. Once the humans realized I no longer posed a threat, they continued picking my sisters off their branches one by one. They didn¡¯t resist, too shocked by what I had become. Why wasn¡¯t my transformation complete? When I opened my eyes, I realized I was huge, but not even half the size of the human I was trying to mimic. My hands were blobs with only a thumb. My other fingers were molten together. I couldn¡¯t get up. Even breathing was painful. What was I? Why did it fail? A painful shiver threw me back into the grass as I was trying to get on my knees.


    ¡°What are we doing with this¡­ thing?¡± Sarah asked. The man shrugged. ¡°Just leave it. It¡¯s dying. I¡¯ve seen mirrorbugs die from insta-changing into a rabbit. The fact that she didn¡¯t complete the transformation means all her energy is gone, she¡¯ll starve to death within an hour.¡± I didn¡¯t know if my vision was blurry because of the pain or the tears in my eyes as I watched the two humans grow smaller in the distance. I curled up into a ball, too weak to scream. I felt the coldness of the earth slowly creep into my bones as everything I had ever known and expected had been shattered in less than a minute.


    Horsis¡¯ story has always been destined to be one about travel. Exploring the wonders and the dangers of this world. No adventure is free of pain, but Horsis doesn¡¯t care about the past, she only sees the future. That¡¯s why people tell her tales to this day. You¡¯ve probably heard some of them. My story is one about revenge and the stubborn pursuit of reclaiming what can¡¯t be brought back. A story people tell their kids when they want to warn them of the consequences of greed and bloodthirst. Why some alliances should not be made and why happiness can never be born from hate. Parents teach their kids not to be like me. But if I could go back in time to that moment I was lying on the ground, desperate and broken, almost touching the hand of death, I know I wouldn¡¯t change a thing.

 2. Getting up

    I was hanging from our tree again, but this time, I was alone. There was no wind and no sun. I was freezing and starving because our mother had died. I couldn¡¯t move, couldn¡¯t scream, couldn¡¯t fall. There was no way of escaping a slow and cold death. Clouds gliding in front of the moon formed dark puddles of shadow on the grass. It seemed as if the darkness itself was approaching. Some shapes on the ground didn¡¯t follow the rhythm of the moon. They were free-roaming shadows, out to get me. Suddenly I felt something moving inside my mouth, wiggling around. I tried to push them out with my tongue, but I couldn¡¯t open my mouth since I hadn¡¯t developed lips jet. But how did they get in then? It was maggots, they had dug themselves a tunnel through my skin, now feasting on my flesh as if I was already dead.


    I opened my eyes and tried to spit the wiggling sensation onto the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± a familiar voice warned me. I froze, afraid to do something wrong. ¡°I¡¯m feeding you¡±, Sendly explained. ¡°The humans said you were starving to death, so I¡¯m catching worms for you. Now start eating them.¡± My eyes widened at the idea of the mouthful of worms inside me. ¡°Ah, I get it, humans are picky. Well, just pretend they are human food or whatever.¡± I shook my head in disgust. I didn¡¯t have the courage to spit them out, afraid of what a clump of entangled worms would look like. ¡°Oh come on, it took me a long time to catch all of those. Are you really going to die because you can¡¯t swallow the food I have literally put into your mouth?¡± My stomach was aching. My head hurt. Sendly¡¯s complaints made my headache worse every time she spoke with her scratchy, raw voice. Chewing and swallowing a mouthful of worms couldn¡¯t possibly make my situation any worse, right?¡±  I slowly started biting down on my wiggling meal until all movement ceased. ¡°They¡¯re pretty good, right?¡± Sendly said. I shook my head in disagreement but kept eating.


    Once every last worm had disappeared, the reality of my situation set in. My hunger seemed to have gotten worse by eating. I felt thirsty and exhausted. I looked down at my naked body. I looked like a clay sculpture that had been tossed aside long before it was completed. That¡¯s when I realized I never would be complete. Sisters from a tree can only transform once in their life and when the transformation is completed, that¡¯s it. No going back. No backing out. I would stay a formless blob forever. Not human enough to go unnoticed, but too human to be ignored as some kind of beast. I was a tiny man that looked like a cartoonish drawing made by a six-year-old. I was lacking the features that would have made the human form somewhat appealing. Their strength and fingers would have been useful to defend my sisters, but I had none of those.


    I slowly tried to push myself back onto my feet. All my muscles ached as if I wasn¡¯t meant to move. It was a slow and excruciating process, but I did get up. As I was standing there, on my feet, back straightened, shivering, and hungry, I knew I had survived. I had become a deformed mistake of nature. My body was a hideous mystery. But it was a body and I could control it and as long as there is the tiniest bit of control, there is hope. Even if I was meant to die from my underdeveloped body, I still had time to free my sisters and live on in their legacy. Maybe it was for the best that I had become a monster not worth living as because I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about my own life whilst protecting the ones of my sisters.


    ¡°Where did they take them?¡± I asked Sendly. ¡°That way,¡± she said, pointing her beak in the direction where the humans had first appeared on the horizon. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you should go there just yet though. I don¡¯t believe they are in immediate danger.  You need to eat more worms first.¡± I took a few steps forward on my wobbly legs. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I told her. ¡°I might not be able to best them in combat, but I can take a look so I know how to prepare myself.¡± Sendly shook her head. ¡°The road is long and your body is weak. We can¡¯t afford you to waste your last strength in vain. I will be your eyes and look out for them while you focus on surviving. Find shelter, get warm, look for food. We¡¯ll meet again the morning after tomorrow to discuss what we are working with so we can hatch a plan. If you travel in the same direction as our sisters, you will stumble upon an abandoned house. Humans like to carry a lot of stuff, so maybe you can find something there that will help you reclaim your strength.¡± I nodded quietly. My brain wasn¡¯t functioning enough to produce any rational thoughts and Sendly¡¯s plan seemed reasonable. All I wanted to do was to hunt down the humans and Sendly¡¯s plan allowed me to start walking in the right direction, so I was happy with it.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I had never experienced true loneliness in my life. My mind had always connected with the minds of my ten sisters. Suddenly I was all by myself. Sendly¡¯s silhouette became invisible in the blink of an eye against the night sky. I should have told her I cared about her, I thought. We never spoke about our feelings, because we just knew what our sisters thought. But now there was a rift that I wanted to bridge, but I didn¡¯t know how. Sendly was gone and all I could do was to force my tired, foreign body to keep dragging itself forward step after step.


    It didn¡¯t take long before I slipped on the wet grass and started rolling and gliding down the hill. Once I looked up, my home had been reduced to a tiny plant sticking out of the ground, somewhere high in the sky. I realized I was not going to come back there anytime soon. There was nothing our tree had to offer me since we had fallen.


    It was weird to finally feel coldness. I never had suspected the wind to be sharp and mean. The strangest of all was the realization that it didn¡¯t feel like something new. The hunger, the cold, the anger. I was as I had experienced them many times before. I longed to put on my coat, go home, and sit by the fire while telling Sarah stories about the dumb ideas that got me and Mikel into trouble when we were younger.


    I froze. Those thoughts weren¡¯t mine, they were the humans. By copying his form, I had also inherited the man¡¯s memories. They started invading my own, pushing them aside. I needed to get them out of my head. I didn¡¯t love the cheerful girl who could make wooden tools and furniture with the precision of an experienced woodworker. I screamed internally and shut my eyes, hoping the thoughts would go away. My sisters. My daughter had stolen my sisters. Maybe she had killed them already. And she wasn¡¯t my daughter, she was a nasty, awful human who didn¡¯t deserve to live. Hurting her wouldn¡¯t hurt me. It would hurt the man who had destroyed our lives and I knew just how much he cared about that girl.


    I had stopped walking. There was a dull stinging pain in my hand. I was digging my teeth deep into my skin. The pain slowly drove the confusing thoughts away. I shouldn¡¯t be thinking about Sarah right now, I should be looking for the old house. Maybe I could make a fire and get warm again. I stopped biting myself and looked at the marks my teeth had left on my skin. There was no blood, but the shape of my bite was clearly visible. Oh well, I thought, if I can do that to myself, maybe I can do it to those nasty humans too one day.


    Something heavy pushed me down in the dirt. I screamed. ¡°Got you, silly child,¡± a heavy, rasping voice whispered. ¡°What the hell? What¡¯s your problem, furball!¡± I shouted. The thing on top of me growled confused. ¡°Wait a minute,¡± he said, ¡°you¡¯re not supposed to speak. Are you a mage or something? I¡¯ve never had a mage before. The last time I tried, they set my fur on fire. And why are you naked in the middle of the woods anyway? Is this some sort of ritual, kid?¡± The big fur monster sniffed me loudly whilst speaking. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I told him, ¡°I¡¯m not a human, I¡¯m a sister. I just fell from my tree and now I¡¯m looking for a house. Have you seen anything like that?¡± The wolf grinned. ¡°Oh, so I have a crazy one, huh? Listen, kid, most people are scared when a wolf attacks them. And you should be too. I¡¯m going to eat you.¡± ¡°Wait, wait, you can¡¯t do that,¡± I said, ¡°I need to free my sisters. It¡¯s really unfair if you eat me like that. I got snatched from my tree moments ago.¡± The wolf licked my arm and softly put it in his mouth, but let it go again.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t look very healthy, kid. You¡¯re pale and you look very weird from up close. Are you ill or something? A buddy of mine ate an old man who looked pale like you one day. He got sick and died within a week. And that man wasn¡¯t even disfigured like you.¡± The wolf sniffed a final time and then climbed off me. ¡°Yeah, no, not taking the risk. Good luck with whatever disease it is you have.¡± His tail disappeared into the darkness where it had come from. ¡°Wait!¡± I shouted, ¡°Can I borrow you for a moment? You¡¯re so warm and I¡¯m freezing.¡± ¡°No thank you, I¡¯d like to not get infected.¡± The wolf sounded distant already. I got up again and kept walking.


    I was in fact a na?ve child at that time. I survived the encounter because of the dumb luck that innocent people often seem to have. I wouldn¡¯t let a stupid animal humiliate me like that now, but at the time I was weak. But I can forgive myself for my carelessness because, despite everything, I got up again and kept walking. I didn¡¯t have the brains yet, but at least I had the determination.

 3. The Fire

    What if I went wrong?


    The cold and darkness was still the same, the hill far out of sight. There should be an old house somewhere, but I had no clue where  to look. All I could do was to keep walking forward in a straight line and pray to find the promised warmth before collapsing. Maybe I had walked past it already. Should I go back? Should I keep going? What if I laid down on the freezing ground for just a second?


    Suddenly something caught my eye. It was bright and alive. I couldn¡¯t keep my gaze of the orange, shiny thing in the distance. I wandered away from my straight path and approached the thing in the distance. I didn¡¯t really have a choice, it seemed to invite me.


    Four huge figures were sitting around the fire. They didn¡¯t notice me as I approached in the shadows, they were blinded by light. ¡°And then I said: ¡°Two fancy coins for that sword? What are you, a thief?¡± and I stabbed her with the same sword she was trying to sell me. If she¡¯s going to behave like a filthy criminal, I¡¯ll treat her like one! No way that an elf would get its hands on a weapon worth that much money after the war. It¡¯s either fake or stolen. I should have just killed her for even possessing those things. It¡¯s only been two years and those foul creatures are already forgetting their place. But at least I got some good money out of it as well. She must have a lot of blood on her hands to earn that much in just two years. Most of their kind are still begging in the streets, as they should.¡±


    A woman in the group giggled. ¡°Doing business with elves has become a lot more profitable since the war, am I right?¡± she whispered to the lady next to her. The second woman nodded, but her eyes showed disgust.


    ¡°Cut to the chase, man, what else did she have for us¡±, the last member of the group shouted annoyed. She was sitting with her back towards me, but her voice sounded much older than the rest of her group. The man grabbed his bag and paced a bunch of items around the fire. ¡°She had a bunch of crap, but I think I got most of the good stuff,¡± he said nervously.


    ¡°If you call these things the good stuff, she must have been selling mud cakes.¡± The older woman didn¡¯t sound pleased. ¡°I¡¯ll be taking the coat. At least it¡¯s a tiny bit useful.¡± ¡°I take the knives,¡± the women who had giggled shouted. ¡°Seriously, Allys, how many knives do you need? You always take the knives.¡± The man sighted. Allys grinned, but didn¡¯t give him an explanation.


    ¡°Denny?¡± The oldest women asked. The last women slowly approached the assortment of random items around the fire. After carefully looking through all the stuff, she decided to grab a bunch of papers. Allys roled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not a mage, you know that? And we¡¯re not doing some kind of dangerous quest. You can¡¯t even fight. Why don¡¯t you grab the spear for once. ¡°It¡¯s not about magic,¡± Denny protested. ¡°It¡¯s about some sort of ancient god. I want to read it. Maybe this one has profitable relationships with its followers. Look, there¡¯s blood and dirt on the pages with prayers and rituals. It seems like the elf was actively worshipping him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and that obviously saved her,¡± the man scoffed, ¡°also, doesn¡¯t the blood everywhere raise a red flag for you? I know you want to be edgy end all with your obsession with cursed stuff, but I wouldn¡¯t mess with actual ancient gods. Especially not after we just murdered one of his followers.¡±


    ¡°Let her have it,¡± the leader of the group decided, ¡°but you¡¯re also taking the spear. It¡¯s a waste to only have three fighters on our team.¡± ¡°Great, so far the fair distribution of the loot,¡± Allys laughed. The man got up and turned away from the fire. ¡°I¡¯ve got to go wash my hands real quick. Don¡¯t divide the food part without me. It¡¯s the best part.


    I stumbled backwards the moment I realized the man was walking straight towards me. Of course he heard me immediately. Before I was able to get up and turn around, he had already jumped towards me and held my wrist in an iron hold. I screamed, both out of fear and pain. ¡°What do we have here?¡± he smirked.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Then a deep frown appeared on his face. ¡°No, seriously, what the hell is this?¡± He pulled me into the light of their campfire. The heath felt strangely comforting on my shivering body.


    The leader stared at my body for a couple of seconds. ¡°It¡¯s as pale as an elf and as small as a gnome¡­¡± she pondered. ¡°But both gnomes and elves have fingers.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s disfigured because gnomes and elves having kids together is gross and wrong and probably doesn¡¯t work?¡± Denny proposed. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    She took another look at me. ¡°So, little one, enlighten me. What are you?¡± I froze. I had no idea what I was supposed to say. I knew that I was a sister, but the wolf didn¡¯t know what that meant and the humans had called us mirror bugs. But those same humans had ripped us from our home like we were nothing more than sentient fruit and had then left me to die. I knew from their story that these people killed lives they considered worth less than their own. That meant it was probably for the best if I didn¡¯t tell them the truth. But I also didn¡¯t know if there were any humanoid species I could pretend to be.


    ¡°I am a unique species,¡± I told them. ¡°I¡¯m not the offspring of anyone. I just exist.¡± The four companions stared at me in disbelief, but Denny did seem a little bit intrigued. ¡°What do you mean by that,¡± she asked me ¡°no one just exists. Do you mean you weren¡¯t born?¡± I nodded, hoping she would come up with a decent hypothesis for me. ¡°So are you made by a scientist or summoned by a mage? Or did a god create you?¡± I hesitated. All options seemed plausible, but they all would result in the question of why I was here. Did I have a special mission? I decided to go with the god route since it would make the most sense in the current situation.


    ¡°My master has sent me because you killed one of his followers. He needs someone to replace her. I will teach you how to interpret his laws before returning to where I came from.¡± All humans except for Denny looked at me with suspicion. The man drew his sword. ¡°You look pretty weak to me. What happens if we kill you?¡± ¡°Then he¡¯ll resurrect me as a monster that will hunt you down indefinitely,¡± I said without blinking. I was in too deep to change the story, I had to win the bluffing game.


    The man looked at his leader, waiting for her decision. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything like this thing before,¡± she softly whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it, but it might be a test, and if it¡¯s telling the truth, we¡¯re done for.¡±


    ¡°We can try it for a while and if we find out it¡¯s not working, we can still kill it,¡± Denny proposed. ¡°Or we can kill it right now,¡± Allys said, ¡°A creature sent by a god my ass. No self-respecting god would produce such a monster to collect new followers.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± I said, without hesitating, ¡°do as you deem fit. I am nothing but a messenger, the choice is yours.¡± The man let go of my arm to hold his sword with both hands. I felt the urge to run rising in me, but I knew I wouldn¡¯t have a chance to get away and it would blow my entire cover.


    ¡°Okay, little one, we¡¯ll let you teach us. But tell your god that we want to speak to him ourselves once we know how to reach him.¡± I couldn¡¯t suppress a smile of relief. ¡°You will meet him once the time is ripe. We will start the first lesson in the morning. But you can start behaving like a faithful worshipper by giving me some food. The body my master gave me only had enough strength to lead me towards your camp.¡±


    The travellers gave me food without question. The fire slowly freed me from the cold that had held my body in its grasp for hours. Denny even gave me a blanket to stay warm overnight. I couldn¡¯t believe how easy it had been to mislead this group of hardened adventurers. All I had to do now was improvise some rituals to win their trust and get away once they started to notice I was fooling them.


    Looking back at that night, I still don¡¯t know if I consider that move smart or stupid. It was bold but reckless. But maybe playing safe would have been a lot more dangerous in my vulnerable position. Whenever I tell my story, the beginning is the part that disgusts me the most. I don¡¯t like being reminded of how weak I used to be.  I can¡¯t leave the beginning out though, because it would make me seem like an evil person, born without a heart, and no one would hear me out if they thought my actions came out of cruelty.


    Most people disagree with my actions after some of my stories, despite hearing the beginning, but I enjoy seeing their faces change from compassion to understanding to disgust. Maybe I am cruel after all.

 4. Blood for the Generous

    ¡°Being a horse is amazing,¡± the horse told me. ¡°Once you fall from that tree, you will see it yourself. Maybe we can run together one day. Explore the entire world and save many people on our path. Everyone who sees us will tell tales about us to their children and our legacy will become more impressive with every generation that reproduces our adventures.


    The horse waited for his strange guy to climb back on its back, and galloped out of sight. He looked so majestic as he disappeared behind a forest. Suddenly a hand closed itself around me. The humans, they were back! The hand pulled me from the tree and shook me violently. I desperately tried to transform into a human, but it didn¡¯t work. I was a measly bug.


    I woke up in a human form. I pushed the hands grabbing my shoulders away and got on my knees. That¡¯s when I realized I wasn¡¯t home anymore. I was far away from my tree and my sisters. I had become a weird, humanoid blob. Denny sat on her knees beside me, her eyes glimmering with excitement. ¡°The sun rose,¡± she explained, ¡°it¡¯s time for you to learn us about Grogger The Generous!¡± ¡°Grogger the wha¡­ oh yeah, my master, Grogger the Generic! That¡¯s right! He is such a great guy!¡± I didn¡¯t want to part with my warm blanket, so I wore it over my shoulders as a cape.


    ¡°Do you have the documents laying around somewhere? My memory is a bit rusty.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t Groggers laws your entire purpose?¡± Denny asked, ¡°How could you forget that?¡± ¡°That is¡­ a very good question, haha,¡± I laughed as I searched anxiously for a logical explanation. ¡°See, different followers have different tasks. That way it¡¯s more efficient,¡± I told her. ¡°Ahhh, good old instruction papers 905,¡± I stammered as she handed me her documents. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± I started reading the first page as fast as I could. I suddenly realized how lucky I was that I had inherited the reading skill with my transformation. I would be so done for if I had to make something up here.


    <i>Grogger the Generous, mighty and strong</i>


    <i>I ask for your mercy, oh please hear my song</i>


    <i>Show me generosity, save my health</i>


    <i>Teach me your ways, share me your wealth</i>


    <i>Lead me to wisdom, riches and love</i>


    <i>Bring upon me your blessing, help me from above</i>


    <i>Accept my offer, a spoonful of pain</i>


    <i>And pay me back with victory and personal gain</i>


    That sounds pretty greedy for a prayer, I thought to myself after reading the poem on the first page. ¡°That sounds greedy as fuck,¡± said Denny, echoing my thoughts. ¡°Ah, yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± I stuttered, ¡°Grogger likes to get to business quickly. No need for endless begging and pretending to worship him for his greatness alone. He¡¯s a pretty chill dude if you ask me. He gives great deals if you ask me. Wealth and wisdom in return for just an ¡­errr¡­ spoonful of pain¡­ Sounds amazing, right!¡± ¡°Sounds too good to be true. How much pain is a spoonful of pain exactly?¡± Denny asked. ¡°We, a spoonful is¡­¡± I started flipping the pages looking for an answer. ¡°It depends on how much you¡¯re asking I think.¡± ¡°You think?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± ¡°You can just tell me that you¡¯re lying. I don¡¯t get why you are making up such a weird story. Are you that desperate for food?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure what to say. Denny didn¡¯t look mad about my lies, but telling her the truth could still be dangerous. The other humans would kill me immediately if they found out. But if I was honest, I might be able to convince her to keep my secret. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, little one,¡± Denny giggled, ¡°I want to play along. You might convince my friends to actually try worshipping a god for once. It¡¯s a win-win situation.¡± ¡°Why do you want to worship a god so badly?¡± I asked her. ¡°Hah, got you, now I know for sure you were lying.¡± Oh no, a trap. Now I¡¯m definitely going to die. ¡°Don¡¯t look so scared, the deal is still on. I think following an ancient god might give us a lot of power and protection. My friends think it¡¯s dangerous, but now they don¡¯t have a choice. It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, fine,¡± I said, ¡°let¡¯s study this thing before the others wake up then. I need to know what I¡¯m teaching them.¡± I turned the page. It was another poem with a drawing of a young, tall man next to it. It seemed like there weren¡¯t any real instructions in the document, it was a collection of fanart of the ancient god. The first pages were pretty typical prayers, but the further we looked, the more those prayers started to sound like love letters. There were also way more drawings of the god the further we got. Some of them were colored with blood. ¡°Well that¡¯s disturbing,¡± Denny said. ¡°It seems like she used to cut herself to offer her blood in return for small favors like luck or money. The blood on the drawings are gifts for which she didn¡¯t ask anything in return. She must have had an unhealthy obsession with him.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± I asked. ¡°It looks pretty messed up, I don¡¯t want you to draw your own blood just to please a random god. You won¡¯t have to engage in this craziness if I leave now.¡± Denny smiled at me. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound too bad. That elf was doing great until Jesper killed her. I think this god offers good trades. But thanks for being worried about me. Who are you by the way?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you what I am, because I don¡¯t really know myself.¡± And because you¡¯ll probably laugh at me when I tell you I¡¯m a bug who failed to become a human, I thought. ¡°No real creature looks as hideous as me. My name is Sliver,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re not hideous, Sliver, I think you¡¯re cute,¡± Denny told me, ¡°you remind me of a pet frog I had as a kid.¡± ¡°Thank you, I guess,¡± I said, not sure if a pet frog was an improvement on being a hideous monster.


    ¡°Is our little gnome-elf giving you a head start on worshipping ancient gods?¡± Jesper asked. I had been so focused on the notes of the elf that I hadn¡¯t seen the man wake up. ¡°The sooner we get to know this god, the sooner we can ask him to grant us power. And his name is Sliver by the way,¡± Denny said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get too attached to that little worm,¡± Jesper growled, ¡°I don¡¯t want to see you cry when he proves to be a useless liar and we have to cut his throat. Or maybe you should be the one to do the honors, getting a bit of training with that spear.¡± Jesper made a dramatic stabbing motion in my direction as if he were wielding a gigantic spear made out of air.


    ¡°The only person I¡¯m going to stab is myself,¡± Denny replied. ¡°Wait, what?¡± She waved the documents in front of his face. ¡°Sliver just explained how we can trade our blood for Grogger''s blessing.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s fucked up. Are you sure it¡¯s a god you are trying to worship? Because stabbing yourself sounds like a way to summon demons.¡± I had been asking myself the same question, and luckily, I had found the answer in one of the poems. ¡°There is some ambiguity about the nature of Grogger, I explained. ¡°But we don¡¯t have to worry about any of that since as far as we are concerned, gods and demons are the same thing. The term demon is an invention of humanoids to describe gods that are more selective in what humans they interact with and who aren¡¯t satisfied with low-effort offers like food and poems. Grogger is often described as a demon because he requires his disciples to pay him with pain. However, greater offerings do bring great rewards. He didn¡¯t get his nickname ¡°the Generous¡± by scamming people.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± Jesper said, but his voice betrayed his distrust.


    After a quick breakfast, Helen, the group¡¯s leader, decided to start moving immediately. There was no time for introductions to ancient god worship, they were still too close to the town where they had murdered the elf. Most people didn¡¯t give a shit about the fate of elves, but she might have had relatives who should have found her body by now. There is no point in risking battles that don¡¯t bring profit, so it was better to leave the area.


    As we moved further from their camp from last night, I realized with a growing sense of dread that we were moving away from the direction of the place where my sisters were kept as well. But what could I do? As far as they knew, my only mission was traveling by their side. I had gotten myself into this mess by wandering toward that fire like a moth to a flame. And now I will miss the meeting with my sister. Who knew when I would see her again.


    When the sky turned a darker shade of blue again, Helen stopped us. Allys made a fire while Denny invited me to read the documents one last time before I started teaching them about my ¡°master¡±.


    As I was reading, I suddenly realized that this god might exist for real. I hadn¡¯t really thought about the consequences of worshipping a random god. I had just assumed that the ancient god didn¡¯t exist, or wouldn¡¯t care if I made up some rituals, but now I started wondering what would happen if he did in fact exist. Would he care that I was using his name as a way to stay alive? Would he be mad? Or would he simply enjoy his free followers?


    ¡°Hey, Sliver, are you awake?¡± ¡°What?¡± Helen was standing right in front of me. ¡°It¡¯s time for you to teach us the ways of your god. What do we have to do? Or are you admitting that you don¡¯t have a clue?¡± There was no going back now. I slowly got up and prepared to talk.


    ¡°Grogger the Generous,¡± I said, once everyone sat down around the fire, ¡°is an ancient god who gives his followers great gifts and luck in return for regular, small offers. Most gods ask for flowers, animals, or prayers, but Grogger is different. He doesn¡¯t believe in beautiful rituals and smooth lies. He only sees the proof of true dedication. Grogger is good to his followers, but he doesn¡¯t help cowards and freeloaders. That¡¯s why he asks his disciples to pay him with pain, and in return, he will help you achieve any goal you want, as long as your offerings are high enough to please him.¡±


    Everyone remained silent. I had tried my best to make Grogger sound as reasonable as possible, but I was fully aware of how the ancient god still sounded like a sadistic demon. He most likely was a sadistic demon, so I wasn¡¯t sure how to work around that. Denny sensed my hesitation and tried to salvage the situation.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound too hard, let''s pay Grogger back for his dead follower with a gift of pain!¡± Her fake enthusiasm could barely hide the nervous undertone. ¡°Let''s all grab a knife, draw some blood, and let it drip into the fire to get back on Grogger''s good side.¡± She grabbed a small knife out of her pocket and carefully put the knife against the bare skin of her hand. She bit her lip as she slowly dragged the sharp point forward. A thin, white line appeared in the palm of her hand, but there was no blood to be seen. ¡°Let''s¡­ let''s try that again,¡± she stuttered. This time she closed her eyes and slashed the knife against her skin as fast as she could. This time, some red dots appeared, soon filling the entire cut with a dark shade of red. Denny held her hand above the flames, waiting for a drop to fall off, but there wasn¡¯t enough blood for that. She decided to scoop the blood on her hand up with the knife and held the blade in the fire for a second.


    ¡°That probably counts,¡± she decided. ¡°Allys, you¡¯re next.


    I had no way of knowing back then, but the offer did in fact count. It was the first step on a staircase to power.