Deal

I had no words left. This was a torture. 'What am I supposed to do? She doesn't want to kill me but she also doesn't want to let me go. What is this situation?' I thought hopelessly. She stood there while looking at me. Silence, complete silence enveloped the area we were in. After a while, she finally said something "Why do you want to leave me so badly?". I was totally confused and could only blurt out "What?".

I had no idea what she was speaking about. I had no reason to stay and she wouldn't tell me what she wanted from me. I was now adamant in my beliefs that she was crazy. She said "Why do you want to go north so much, even to the extent of risking your life? There is nothing interesting there. No treasures awaiting you, no fame, only beasts that will kill you in an instant. Why don't you want to stay by my side?".

I had no response to that. What could I say? I didn't have a reason not to stay with her but I also didn't have a reason to stay. 'I have my own goals and she has her own. Why does she assume that I need to stay with her? It doesn't make sense' I thought. She continued "Do you hate me?". I again didn't know what to say. I didn't hate her. I was angry of course, she was preventing me from leaving but I didn't hate her. I just didn't know the reason behind her actions.

I finally managed to say "What do you mean? I asked you if you want something from me but you don't want to answer. I don't have a reason to stay. I also have my own path I need to tread, even if it means going north. That is my goal. Whenever I live or die, it will all play out in the north". She didn't respond so I continued "I don't hate you but I also don't understand you. You clearly don't want to kill me, yet you don't want to let me go anywhere. This must mean I have something you want. I just don't know what it is".

She became a bit surprised and said "Then stay with me. You can always go north later right?" I responded "Why do you change the subject? Just tell me what you want. If I can give it to you, I will and we can be done with it". She seemed to struggle a bit but finally said something else "That is why I said that I want you to stay with me. I need you for something, it isn't an item that you possess but what you are". I was confused and didn't know what she meant. Then I realised something and asked "Are you in love?"

She became upset and said "No! of course not! Are you an idiot, I don't need you for… no, I don't need you for that at all". I was also angry and confused, I responded "Then what the hell do you need me for? If you don't want me then what exactly do you want?". She finally mustered the courage and said "I need your power. When I discovered you, I planned to kill you but then I noticed that you have an aura surrounding you that helps me develop. I'm this strong thanks to you".

I thought 'Finally! I got something out of her!' but then I realised something else and said "Wait, what power? I have no power! Are you crazy?" to which she argued back "I'm not crazy! Don't call me that! When you sleep, you have an aura around you that is beneficial to me. That is why I wanted you to stay". 'This bastard, what the hell is she talking about? Either way, I feel used! She wants to use me even more, for her own stuff!' I thought.

I said "So, you've been using me to get stronger yet when I asked you to teach me something, you said outright no! I gain nothing from this while you reap all the benefits! Are you crazy!" to which she shouted back "I told you to stop calling me crazy!" and shot an arrow in my chest. I flew back from the impact and landed on the ground with a grunt "Ungh".

She ran over to me and quickly gave me some kind of thing to eat while saying "Sorry! I didn't mean to, I was angry. Eat this, it will help you heal your wounds". I said "Why don't you just kill me? Why are you torturing me. I'm not your pet you know?". She apologised a few more times while my wounds started to heal.

I said to her "I get nothing out of it while you get even stronger. When you get strong enough and don't need me anymore, you will just kill me or something. I have no reason to agree to that". She shook her head and said "No, I will not kill you. I promise you that" to which I laughed and said "Promise? what is it worth to me? If I die, then you lose big time. I will be dead of course but is this not a good price to pay for my freedom?"

She seemed shocked and quickly grabbed my arms to prevent me from doing anything to myself. I laughed "I don't want to kill myself, I was just saying. I don't agree to that deal. Besides, why should I help you? You hate humanity and I don't want to be the one to send a calamity over my own kind".

She let go of my hands and cried "Please, I need help. I don't want to exterminate your kind, I just want to be strong enough to live my own life". I replied "You yourself said that you wanted to kill me and that you would if not for those so called powers I have. So why should I believe you?". "Besides you, no other human traveled here. I didn't know if you were searching for me or not. Later on, I figured out that you are not searching for my race. I will not kill you not only because you have those powers. You are not a bad human" she said while crying.

I thought 'She is either a very good actress or she really didn't mean to kill me even when her powers no longer benefit from my so called power'. I sighted and extended my hand to touch her head. She stopped crying and looked at me. I said "Don't cry, I'm not what you called a good human either. I can stay with you, if you give me something in exchange. Why don't you teach me something about stealth? or perhaps some other skills". She replied with teary eyes "I can't. Those are techniques passed to us Eterians. We can't teach them to humans". I asked "Why?"

"That is our law. We can't teach outsiders our own abilities or techniques". I said "Who will know if you do? It's not like I will search for Eterians on purpose and spread the fact you taught me. Besides, how will they know that you were the one that taught me?". She seemed to think about it a bit and said "But…". I replied "You want help from human, shouldn't that also be in your race's law? I mean, getting help from human should be against your principles or something". When I said that, she seemed to freeze. 'No, don't tell me' I thought and said "This is also a law of your race? Well, you've already broken one law and you are arguing whenever you could teach me or not?"

She responded promptly "No, it's not!" but I knew she was lying already and said "Why lie to me? You are quite crafty. Were those real tears?". I could see those teary eyes again while she said "No, of course not, I just want to live without fearing for my life! I did lie about it but our techniques are very weird and hard to master. You wouldn't be able to learn them anyway". I said "Why not give it a try? You will get what you want and I will get what I want. Isn't that a perfect conclusion?" and patted her head again.

She calmed down a bit then said "Ok, I agree. I will teach you whatever I can and you have to promise that you stay with me". I thought 'Finally! some improvements. Now I can train in those weird techniques and if she wants to use that whatever power… I don't care. I didn't even know that it existed!'. I said "Then we have a deal". She seemed to brighten up, now that I agreed. Then I realised something and asked "But you could just follow me north. Why not go north then?". She shook her head and said "We would both die. North is too dangerous. That is why I told you, you will die if you go there. Even I would die if I went there and I'm much stronger than you".

I thought about it and asked "What exactly is there? In the north?" to which her face paled a bit and she replied "Monsters, pure evil monsters" but nothing other than that.