The Warlock that had been pushing them so hard to get her, had a sinister motive. They're hesitating, can they figure out his motive before he talks these, his latest victims, into the unthinkable?
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04613-l229-adequate-warning-is-insufficient -- DaniAndShali
Three turned to face Zygo, who was panicking more than a little. "She promised me," he said. "She promised we would be safe when we went through."
"Your patron," said Ebberhandril, "the devil, made a promise."
"All right, all right, when you say it like that, it sounds way worse than it is. Of course it would. M'lady's kept her word to me, and never once needed to follow through on a threat. She's been good to me."
"So says the Brutus goat," snapped Lytefut. "Nevermind the sheep it used to be with. But the butcher feeds them so well..."
"Er. What?" said Zygo. "City kid? I don't get agrarian metaphors."
"It's a little goat that lives with the sheep," explained Gon. "Sheep are stupid but goats are smart. Goat leads the sheep out of the rain, shows 'em where the food is... and walks into the slaughterhouse. Goat's the only one who walks back out again."
"Shame about the sheep," added Ebberhandril. "And the customers have mutton and fleece."
"I'm a goat?" bleated Zygo. "But... she promised me..."
"What made you think that a demon could do any good?" asked Ebberhandril, not unkindly.
"It's not like the gods ever answered me," Zygo grumbled. "She's kept her promises and I never did anything really horrible for her sake. Nothing that ever made me regret the deal. Please? If I do this, she told me I'd be powerful enough to rival the deaf gods. I could teach them why they should listen to people like me. Teach them to never ignore a desperate plea. Hells, I could be powerful enough to undo the disaster that made me an Adventurer in the first place."
"What did she actually promise?" asked Lytefut. "Her exact words."
Zygo had to think. "She... promised me... A reward that I could not predict nor comprehend. Those were her words. I promise you a reward you cannot predict nor comprehend. That's exactly what she said."
"And I promise you," said Ebberhandril, "that reward is not what you believe it to be."
Tears began to fall from Zygo's eyes. "You don't know what she threatened me with," he whispered.
[Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash]
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