Chapter 6: One Uncertain Future

I clenched my teeth, but spoke up "before we begin I would like to firstly ensure full compliance my lady." The woman raised an eyebrow "do you mean to insult me boy? Or are you willing to die?" I shuddered at the last comment, and choked out "No it is because I believe in your abilities that I purpose something." She paused "go on just know your place human". I spoke up again "I heard that dark elves used familiar magic, and can also use magic that can make anyone tell the truth."

The woman stared daggers at me "well you heard right, but not everyone can do this type of magic. I can naturally do both" she boasted. This was my chance. She is very overconfident like grandpa said. I quickly stated "oh really as expected I could tell from the moment we met you are from a distinguished breed of dark elves." I didn't slow my pace. " I would have to wonder what this contract magic looks like being the pathetic human I am. I have never seen it after all."

The woman was no longer mad, but instead was practically glowing. She said excitedly "well I guess being a human you have never seen this magic, and seeing as how you will die soon I might consider showing it off." I made sure to push the issue more "well this would be a blessing to see the best contract magic anywhere." She gave me a crooked smile and exclaimed "yeah human I have decided to treat you think of it as one last gift." She paused, and said "before that what are the rules of the game?"

I almost forgot about that, but I was prepared beforehand. I spoke up "well since I am so interested in your magic instead of doing something over complicated what if you just provide me with a series of questions again." I added in "about 5 questions would be fine, I could barely get one afterall" I laughed. She seemed uninterested, and said "yeah sounds fine, but before we begin I will show off my contract magic." She pulled out a journal, and scribbled some magic runes down very fast, and told me everything was ready."

She looked at me with a cocky expression, and stated "alright kid" she pulled out her knife "just put some blood on here, press down with your thumb, and our contract will be complete." She paused and said "the conditions of the contract are that I have to tell the truth five times, and if you get five answers right with me and I say correct out loud I will become your familiar." I pretended to be impressed "amazing you covered everything I heard in books about contract magic wow it's a shame I will die before seeing more of this beautiful magic." She smiled again "well kid maybe I can summon you as my undead familiar, and you can witness more of my magic." I acted excited again "wow you mean it? That sounds awesome! Thanks so much." This scared me If I really did lose this challenge I just hoped she didn't follow up on a fate that would be worse than death.

She laughed and then proceeded to put on a serious expression "alright kid I'm gonna give you the first question at least answer one before you die." I gulped "A-alright I will try to live up to your expectations master." I wasn't afraid of playing the act of a suck up if it meant that my chances were even a bit better, but I will say not all of that was acting. The woman stood tall, and in a loud voice she proclaimed "first question: besides my scarcely known contract magic what is the main type of magic dark elves use?" I couldn't believe what she just said. I cannot believe this was anything other than a trick, but she did bind herself with contract magic. This was something that even a toddler could guess based on the name dark elf alone, so why did she give me a freebie? I studied her for a moment, and then confidently answered "dark magic, but more specifically necromancy, and illusion magic."

She looked like she was about to burst out laughing "pssh no need to act so serious you will ruin my composure, but heh yes you are correct."

I felt a bit irritated that I was still only seen as nothing, but a toy to be used up, and then cast away however I had to maintain my own composure, or else this would be the end for me. The woman's expression returned to normal and she said "next question: what country do we dark elves claim as our home territory boy?" This second question took me aback, but this time it was a great deal harder than any of the questions before. Despite it being much harder it almost made me smile because now I knew that this woman was going in for the kill. I had a map in my backpack, but even that would be no help grandpa left most places blank, so I had no idea about most of the countries past a certain point.

Despite being at a disadvantage I learned something earlier that gave me a bit of confidence, and that's because I realize most of the answers were already in my head given to me by grandpa. Once I thought that I remembered grandpa saying once that one of the countries he wanted me to stay away from was called Zwhen. When I asked grandpa why he would never give me a straight answer, but instead would tell me "that place is only a paradise to thieves, and liars." I got nervous however because saying Zwhen was still a huge gamble there are many places with that exact description, but at this point did I really have another lead? I tried to calm my nerves, and I spoke up "I believe the country of Zwhen is the dark elves home territory."

This time went differently than before the woman's eyes turned a dark shade of crimson, and she looked like she wanted to protest, but her mouth moved automatically "correct." The only thing I imagine that kept my head firmly in place was the contract magic that she used at the start since it forced her to comply with the rules. Despite this she tried to speak normally as to appear like this was trivial "wow boy you did better than expected I guess I will have to hear of your name before I kill you." This act did not hold up. It was clear that she meant to kill me right then, and there, so she didn't waste anymore time. I continued to feign stupidity. I just hope she realized this was my life she was playing with as if I would die faster just because she wanted to move on.

The woman cleared her throat "alright kid steel yourself question three: what god do the dark elves worship?" I almost let the excitement show on my face, and answered right away, but I knew I needed to look like I was thinking it over. This was something I never learned from grandpa, but was actually a piece of obscure information I got while reading Noland's collection of books. Noland's dad had a hobby of collecting treasure just like his son, and so he also did a bit of travelling back in his day. He picked up many pieces of treasure, and history which he then shared with his son. This book in practice contained a wealth of knowledge written many years ago on the various religions in the world, and luckily for me contained information on this god in question. The god in question had been said to be worshipped by the dark elves practically since they came into existence.

The woman spoke loudly seemingly irritated since I seemed to have been thinking too long "out with it bo-" "Xander the god of deceit" I quickly stated. The woman nearly jumped at my sudden answer. Her mouth hung wide open like she had just seen a ghost. The same thing as last time happened like a curse her voice betrayed her, and she responded with "correct." Unlike last time though she was no longer faking composure she shakily squeaked out "y-you there is no way that you know that no human has ever traveled to our country outside of one freak!" "I knew something wasn't right about you when you correctly answered my very first question correctly" she hissed." I wasn't going to let that freak comment slide, and so I decided now was time to drop the act too. I said dryly "next question" with nothing further to say to such a woman. I just wanted this to be over with as much as her.

She looked outraged "listen here you cocky brat I can end this anytime I want stop acting, so cheeky you roach." I smiled "then do it, but wait I thought your contract magic was the best? Is it really so simply undone?"