As I gazed up at the night sky, I was greeted by the flicker of the stars. Some say that the stars are a way for the heavens to communicate with the mortals of our plane. Yet what they don’t consider is whether these messages are even meaningful. For every divine revelation, there might be a few hundred or so penis jokes. Well it’s not like the gods are allowed to really intervene with mortal affairs. 

Ever since the Final God’s War five thousand years ago, the gods all vacated the mortal plane to the heavenly plane, albeit not all did so under their free will. Supposedly there was also an agreement among the gods, most of them to be precise, to not intervene in the affairs of the mortal plane. This excluded maintenance of natural phenomena such as moving the sun around. In fact, the whole hero system exists solely for the benevolent gods as a loophole to intervene. 

The word “hero” might not be the best description for what I am. Most likely it originated from the first heroes resembling the demigods who were the heroes, and villains, of the many gods wars before. The modern hero is more of a law enforcer sanctioned by heaven. But heaven doesn’t sanction enforcers to regulate mortals, our objective is solely to take care of offenders from the heavens, often malevolent gods and stray spirits. The gods make sure to prevent their own from tampering with the mortal realms, but the mortal are allowed to choose to fuck themselves over. 

Well enough of recalling my history lessons, I have to change Sekh’s towel now. It’s too early to know if the wound is seriously infected or not. Hopefully it’s just a minor case, not some cut off the leg situation. At the very least Sekh still felt gently cool and her body wasn’t shivering uncontrollably. Though I’m certain this will happen in the coming days. A few hours after the sun popped up, Sekh also got up. 

“So how are you feeling?” I asked as I began to inspect the recently awoken Sekh.

“A little tired, but that’s all,” Sekh replied with a grin. “You already made food didn’t you?”

“Yeah, the soup is already finished,” I answered. “I made sure to debone the fish and add plenty of vegetables.”

Sekh nuzzled her cheek against mine and began to peer in my eyes while her tail stroked my arm. Our souls did not link whatsoever and I’m fairly certain she’s just going to scold me for staying up.

“You look more tired than I do,” Sekh pouted. 

“Don’t worry about it,” I brushed off. “I’m fine.”

It’s not as though I was lying to her. I can easily go a day without sleep, two days if there’s something important. But not three. I did that once and started seeing things that weren't real.

After eating our breakfast, the two of us began to pack up and resume travel. I did shoulder more of the work than usual, though I let Sekh take care of her own belongings. For one I believe that she can handle it, even if she’s sick. In addition, I’m almost certain that she’ll get angry if I coddle her. 

That day we continued at our slowed pace through the countryside. Despite our conditions, it was hardly apparent that either of us were fatigued. Still, I’d prefer not to engage in another battle under these circumstances.

“Sorry for not being able to help more,” I remarked to Sekh as I was walking. “Things would be much easier if I knew how to use natural remedies or brought some willow extract.”

“You’re already doing plenty,” Sekh reassured. “Let’s just remember to buy medicine when we get the chance, ok?”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” I replied with a soft smile. 

"Azel, I have a question,” Sekh continued. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I noticed that you really hate feeling powerless. Am I right?”

“You are,” I answered almost immediately. “You can probably tell already, but most of my life has always hinged on my personal success. So it feels even more frustrating for me when I can’t do anything in comparison to other people.”

“Were you bullied or pressured as a kid?,” Sekh questioned with a worried look.

“Yeah, both happened,” I told her nonchalantly. “Well the bullying happened first. You know how it is, pick on the kid at the bottom of the social hierarchy. I just happened to be that kid when I was sent as a page to the household of the most influential lord in my home province. That’s part of the reason I trained so hard to be a warrior. Like the stories where the protagonist beats up the bullies and become friends with them after.”

“Did that happen?” Sekh asked curiously.

“No, they just got really scared of me,” I replied flatly. “Most of the boys at the castle I lived in were either scared or jealous of me, normally both. But before you ask, I did have friends and not all of them were shit people.”

“No need to be so defensive,” Sekh replied with a gentle smile. “But your parents only started pressuring you after you started to succeed right?”

“Exactly,” I said wryly. “Well I honestly didn’t care. Most of the pressure that affected me came from myself. Besides, what were my parents going to do? Send me less money? That can’t happen if they weren’t sending me money in the first place.”

“Azel, you sound a bit too carefree about your experiences,” Sekh observed grimly.

“Well what’s done is done,” I answered casually. “Besides, things could be worse. Anyways, can you brighten the mood with your past?”

“Sure,” Sekh chuckled. “Well I was one of the popular kids in the village when I was young. My dad was a well known figure and I got to ride off that wave. That and I had a fun personality according to the other children.”

“I bet a lot of boys must have been love with you,” I teased.

“That would have happened, if I hadn’t been one of the boys,” Sekh laughed. 

“Really paid off for me didn’t it?” I joked.

“I’m glad it did,” Sekh said with a smile.

I’d like to say that we walked towards the sunset, but we’re moving south not west. Still, the day went by fairly normally. I continued to fish from the very convenient river and make broth based dishes, this time I even added some crab that I caught in the shallows. In addition, I also made some juice from the oranges that I brought along. It was during the afternoon that I took a short nap, my sleep ration for the day. So far things were going well.  

However, it was around an hour after dinner that Sekh began getting shivers. I wasn’t too concerned since this was bound to happen, but I certainly felt bad for Sekh who had to go through it. 

“And it’s happening,” Sekh complained as her body began to shiver uncontrollably. 

“I’ll go get you another blanket,” I told Sekh while stroking her ears. 

“Feels a lot better,” Sekh remarked once I draped my own blanket over her. “But can I have you hug me until I go to sleep. It’ll make things easier.” 

“Sure thing,” I answered as I crawled into Sekh’s bedroll and wrapped my arms around the leopard girl. As Sekh dug her face into my chest, I could feel her body sporadically shaking. For a while, I stroked Sekh’s ears and head until she fell asleep. 

It’s a bit of a shame that we couldn’t come along a settlement to rest until Sekh got better. But I guess things could always be worse. 

Once again, I stood like a sentinel under the starry night sky. Strange to think about how my life was going. Just a short time ago I was a hero fighting for the supposed fate of the world. Then I became an infamous murderer and now I’m just a sellsword taking care of his sick lover. I wonder if I would have felt happier just joining the royal guards in the Marches instead of becoming a hero. 

My night was boring as ever, but that’s what people would call a good thing. Instead of being set upon by nocturnal predators, I just changed Sekh’s towel and checked up on her condition. Come to think of it, I’ve been wondering why leopard folk have good night vision when they’re diurnal beings. Is it that they’ve just adjusted this way to fit into human society? 

Similar to me, Sekh didn’t seem to understand the reasoning either. Though she did point out that leopard folk do have traditions of hunting at night and their schedules tend to be more skewed into the night with most waking up later. But their schedule was pretty much identical to that of a student in a university, like the one in Aeolia’s central city of Megara, so I don’t know if that counts.

“Morning sleepyhead, how are you feeling?” I asked Sekh shortly after she stirred awake. 

“Better than last night,” Sekh informed me. “I’m honestly more worried about you.” 

“I appreciate it, but I’m fine,” I said warmly. “It’s not like I’m not getting any sleep, just a lot less.”

“Like that’s any better,” Sekh complained. “I can’t really force you as I am now, but once I get better I’m making you sleep.”

“Try not to overdo it and make my nap permanent,” I said with a laugh. 

Unlike the other two days, today was a rougher journey in comparison. For one, Sekh’s shivers and exhaustion meant that we had to take more frequent rests. In addition, my body has begun to feel the toll of relying on an hour of sleep per day. Thus, I ended up riding my horse instead of walking. 

It was early in the morning when we came into contact with a small patrol of ratmen that were retrieving water by the river. The encounter was considerably lackluster since I just shot them with my bow and burned their bodies. I’m a bit sad to admit that I had a far easier time slaughtering the ratmen than taking care of a sick person. 

Today was also a bit of a lucky day, since we stumbled on some rabbits that went to drink by the river. So instead of fish, we got to eat rabbit. Well we did walk in on a doe and her fawn the day before, but Sekh was very insistent on not killing the duo. This was mainly because there would be a major excess of meat if we killed both and killing just one didn’t sit very well with Sekh. The other reason was that Sekh just likes fish more than venison. 

It was during the afternoon that we met the first people since the last murderous bunch. The people in question were a duo of men who looked to be goods peddlers.

“Do you two have any medicine for sale?” I asked the pair when we got in speaking distance. 

“Why yes we,” the younger man started before getting whacked by the other. 

“We don’t,” the older man said while glaring at his coworker. “Sorry about this idiot trying to scam you, we don’t want any trouble.”

“It’s no problem,” I replied with a yawn. “In that case, do you know if there are any settlements nearby?”

“There’s one about a day to the south,” the older peddler answered. “But take care, that village isn’t doing so well.”

“How come?” Sekh asked from behind. 

“They’re having an issue with an owl-tiger,” the man informed us. “Mostly livestock have been killed, but one person has already been injured.”

“Well thank you for the information,” I told him. “Do you need any food for your journey, we’ve got some excess smoked ham if you want.”

“A little would be good,” the older man said as he bowed, his hands pushing down his colleague to bow as well. 

We parted after I handed them a piece of ham wrapped in cloth, most likely good enough for a day’s worth of meat. Maybe it was a bit much for some information, but I appreciated the honesty from the older man. Besides, it might encourage the younger one to practice more honest methods later on. 

“What’s an owl-tiger?” Sekh asked me as we traveled down the river. 

“Never seen one,” I answered. “I guess it’s a monster hybrid between the two animals.”

“Let’s help out the village after we get better,” Sekh said with a mix of eagerness and exhaustion. 

“That sounds like a good plan,” I agreed. “We can recover at the village then set out to hunt the owl-tiger once we gather the information and tools needed to take care of it.”

Fortunately, Sekh’s condition had improved a bit by the time we made camp for the night. Although there were occasional shivers, she didn't have to take as many breaks as before. Still, she’ll have to take things easy in order to not relapse. 

“Hang in there, I’ll get better as fast as I can,” Sekh said to me as we snuggled. 

“I hope you do,” I replied with a tired smile. “You don’t need to feel guilty about my sleep, I’m choosing to limit my sleep to maximize our speed and safety.”

“Whatever,” Sekh mumbled to my chest. 

It was sometime after midnight when disaster struck. As I stood around the campfire, almost dozing away, I saw the flickering of a shadow. Despite the obvious movements of something, I couldn’t hear a sound. Almost like an owl. Well fuck me, it’s probably the owl-tiger. 

I whirled my head towards the direction of the shadow, a faint outline in the distance. The shape was roughly that of well… a tiger. 

“Sekh wake up!” I shouted. “The fucking owl-tiger is here.”

Sekh popped her head out of the bedroll groggily, still dazed by sleep. 

“Just arm yourself and stay safe,” I advised her. “Don’t do anything risky since you’re still sick.” 

Because the owl-tiger was still stalking about at the perimeter of the camp, Sekh and I managed to gather our gear before it decided to strike. Sekh stood behind me with her javelins, while I stood in front with my hauberk on. 

As I took out my bow, the owl-tiger immediately leapt towards us. Evidently, the creature was well aware of weapons. Instead of drawing my bow, I tossed it aside and I whipped out my spear. 

Before the owl-tiger could pounce, one of Sekh’s javelin slammed into its flank. Despite my sleep deprivation, the adrenaline coursing through my veins temporarily alleviated the problem. 

While the javelin soared through the air, I raced alongside it and thrust my spear at the owl face of the creature. 

Despite trying to avoid the spearpoint, the owl-tiger took the spear right in its nose. Still not dead, the creature pulled its head back and swiped at me with its front paws. I hurriedly stepped back and circled around the creature for an opportunity to strike. 

Once again, Sekh threw another javelin when I got out of the way. The projectile hit the owl-tiger in the shoulder, causing a cry of pain. My relationship with Sekh’s javelins was similar to thunder and lightning. As soon as Sekh hurled her weapon, I charged at the owl-tiger. 

The momentary distractions brought by Sekh’s throws allowed me to score another blow at the creature. This time, I impaled my spear into the owl-tiger’s throat. Although death was inevitable for the creature, it stubbornly decided to fight on. 

However, the creature was far more hindered than I was now and its swipes with its claws and beak were unable to reach me. I had drawn my spear out and every time the creature missed, I would stab it once more with my weapon. Eventually our dance of death died down and the creature lay sprawled on the ground in a thin puddle of blood. 

“Thanks for getting up so fast,” I told Sekh when I stabbed the creature in the heart for safety. 

“I’m glad I could help,” Sekh yawned. “I’ll stay up for a bit until I’m sure you’re safe.” 

After that, I quickly skinned the creature and got some wood to burn its body. Gathering the wood was a bit nerve racking, but Sekh followed me with a makeshift torch. 

“You can go back to sleep now,” I informed Sekh as we burned the owl-tiger’s caracas at a river a bank away from our camp. “I’m just going to clean the pelt and make breakfast.”

“Alright,” Sekh replied with half closed eyes. 

Even though Sekh had mostly stopped having shivers by now, her forehead was still feverishly hot. I don’t know if she’s doing it unconsciously, but I could tell that she was faking her condition a bit to appear stronger. 

Fortunately nothing else came to harass us that night. However, I am curious if this is the owl-tiger that was causing problems to the local village. We could be lucky and have eliminated the problem. Or we might have just killed its relative. 

The journey the next day felt awful. My body was feeling quite dull at this point, the product of my stubbornness. If I didn’t know that there was a village, I would have just decided to rest. But the temptation of a safe place to sleep was too much for me. So in spite of my sluggish movements and consciousness, I continued to press on towards the metaphorical oasis. Good thing I had decided to ride on my horse instead of walking. 

Sekh was doing a bit better in comparison to yesterday. Even if she felt tired and dizzy, she was able to keep a good pace.

It was around noon when the village popped into view. A small settlement was a cluster of buildings by the riverside. The small harbor housed a number of small vessels and I could see outlines of fishermen on boats in the middle of the river. 

“We’re almost there,” I said with relief. “Hopefully there’s an inn or some place for us to stay.”

“I hope so,” Sekh replied. “Well I think it helps that we have the owl-tiger pelt.”

We were able to reach the village in another hour of travel. As we neared the perimeter, a group of wary citizens came out to greet us. Their eyes went wide when they saw the owl-tiger pelt sitting atop my packhorse.

“So is this the thing that was bothering your village,” I asked groggily as I raised up the pelt.

“The size…” one of the men muttered. “It must be. We’ve only seen one owl-tiger so far, so this should be the one. Where did you kill it?”

“Around a third of a day’s ride from your village,” I informed the man. “Got attacked at night by it.”

The crowd gawked at the pelt for a bit before offering their thanks.

“If there’s anything we can help you with, just let us know,” a woman in the group said gratefully. 

“Do you have some place to rest?” Sekh asked. “And some medicine for a fever.”

The group discussed among themselves for a while until the woman spoke up. “I’ll take you to my grandma, she runs a hostel in this village. She should also be able to take care of the fever.”

We walked for a bit until we reached a two story house. Like the other houses in the settlement, it appeared to be made of wood, mud, and straw. However, it was quite a bit larger than the other houses, most likely built during more prosperous times.

“Grandma, I brought some important guests,” the woman said as she knocked on the door.

The door swung back, revealing an elderly woman in her 60s. She was in fact very grandma-like. She had a gentle face, apron, and slightly bent back, it was the whole ensemble.

“Who are these people dear?” the elderly woman asked. “Are they soldiers?”

“Not quite,” the younger woman answered. “These people killed the owl-tiger that’s been prowling outside the village. One of them has a fever so can you please treat her if possible. And they also want to rest here for a while.”

The older woman’s face lit up with joy. “Well it’s a pleasure to be able to help out you people. Please come in, you both looked exhausted.”

“Thank you very much,” Sekh and I said as we stumbled through the door. 

“I’ll deal with the fever right away,” the woman told us. “But you young man, you look like you haven’t been getting sleep. Feel free to pick an empty room upstairs. Don’t worry the sheets are all clean.”

“I’ll do that,” I said dreamily. “Please take care of my companion.”

When I climbed up the stairs and went into an open room, I was greeted by the site of a magnificent bed. It was just like any other bed, but any bed would be great now. I took off my boots and gambeson before I tumbled into the bed. Within seconds of contact with the linen sheets, I was welcomed into the sweet embrace of sleep.