“Davey, how the hell did your squad manage to suffer a casualty? Those fuckers were nothing but small time bandits!” Sir Galladeel slammed his hands on his desk in fury.

“There was a beastman girl we thought was dead, sir. Somehow she got the jump on Sean. I am just as shocked as you are.” I did not put any effort into hiding the disdain in my voice when stating her race.

“Where is she now?” Sir Galladeel asked me.

“We have her in a holding cell underneath the main barracks, sir. Would you like me to retrieve her?” I tried to maintain a certain level of respect speaking to the man in front of me. He was an esteemed knight who served directly under the king, I did not want to end up on his bad side as there were rumours his strength was enough to handle a magnitude seven magical beast alone.

“No, get one of the diviners to find out if she has any Blessings or Curses. If she came back to life as you said, we may be able to do more than just execute her to compensate for what she did.”

“Very well sir, I will do as you ask.” I took a step towards the door before Sir Galladeel spoke again.

“Remember, Davey, she is a bandit, the lowest of the low. She will likely try anything to get out of her situation, show her no mercy.”

I gave him a final nod before finally leaving Sir Galladeel’s quarters. Letting out a sigh, finally relieved to escape the pressure of the old knight’s gaze, I started towards the barracks. There was a slight tension in the air, only palpable to those privy of the events earlier today.

It had been a routine duty – we were tasked with eliminating a bandit encampment. Those scum had been robbing people going in and out of Anodyne for the last few months. Since Anodyne was considered a neutral territory and was geographically in the middle of The Great Continent, it was the preferred location for most major trade branches. Meaning there was plenty of goods for bandits to steal if they were callous enough to disregard the lives of those they were stealing from.

This group had been on our radar for a while now – we assumed that today’s operation was going to be surgically smooth. Unfortunately, we hadn’t accounted for one of the bandits to have some sort of resurrection blessing. Resurrection Blessings were rare but not unheard of, and there usually was a caveat to them which prevented them from being particularly useful in a fight. Most of the time, they only work once and only if the individual was not in an irreparable state. Not to mention they did not provide any combat utility.

My mind wandered back to my dead friend and the bitch who had killed him. Most of the guys were already unhappy with this new regime pushing for beastman acceptance; the fact that a beastman had killed one of our men was likely to cause quite a stir amongst the battalion. Beastman were rare enough that some people considered them to be slightly more intelligent magic beasts. However, the elves had been pushing to elevate beastman rights to that of humans and last year they succeeded.

On my way to the barracks, I bumped into Steph, one of our diviners, and asked her to accompany me to where the beastman was being held. We made small talk on the way but after seeing most of my responses were non-commital, she decided to remain quiet.

Opening the door to the basement cells, I was hit with the smell of urine. Grimacing, I shielded my nose and took a step down the stairs. Having heard Steph’s yelp behind me, I assumed she wasn’t a fan of the smell either.

The dreary corridors of the basement were lined with caged doors, each with a torch adjacent. The atmosphere was heavy. Steeling myself, I prepared to face the killer of my friend.

About halfway down the corridor, I stopped at one of the cell doors and sharply inhaled. Turning to the right, I could barely make out the crumpled form of the beastwoman from earlier. She was laying in a pool of her own piss, occasionally twitching. The only sounds from her cell were infrequent yelps and rasps from her foul maw.

She couldn’t have been older than eighteen cycles, yet she had clear scars all over her body. You could tell from a glance that her lifestyle was one of constant movement. Her legs, despite being currently curled beneath her sodden tail, were clearly defined and boasted powerful calves and thighs.

Her midriff betrayed yet another aspect of her life – only a thin layer of fat covered angular abdominal muscles, indicating a life of malnourishment. Had it not been for the fact that this woman was responsible for killing Sean, as well as the fact she was a beastman, I may have found her attractive.

My eyes wandered to her head, adorned with two large grey ears, matching the colour of her shoulder-length mop of hair. Small fangs protruded from her mouth. The very same fangs that took the life— I stopped myself from finishing that thought. I had been a part of the King’s Militia for two years now, I shouldn’t let such notions of anger corrupt my mental state.

I looked over at Steph, her eyes holding a glint of sympathy for the woman on the floor. Beckoning towards the cell, I spoke.

“So, has she got any Blessings or Curses? Or was it an act of the gods that caused her to rise from the dead?” My voice was laced with bitterness. Steph turned to me wide-eyed and muttered something unintelligible.

“Say again?” I asked her

“Both…” She responded in shock, her eyes moving between myself and the beastman. “She has a Blessing and a Curse, but I can’t divine her Blessing.”

“By the gods! How the hell does she have both? Everyone knows that you can only walk one path!” I am nearly shouting from the shock of Steph’s divination. My education had taught me that the Pantheon of the Risen and the Pantheon of the Fallen would never bestow a Gift to the same person.

“I’m not sure, but I can reveal her Curse.” Steph responded with a hint of awe.

“Out with it then, what is it?” I asked.

Steph held out her hand, above her outstretched palm, a golden flame appeared. It burned brightly in the dreary corridor of the basement. Within the flame, two words took shape:

Excruciating Existense

“That doesn’t tell us much, does it.” I said, not bothering to look away from Steph’s palm.

“We could wake her up and get her to tell us more?” Steph suggested with a hint of hesitance in her tone.

“You’re right, but how will we know is she is telling us the truth in regards to the content of her Curse and Blessing?” I had a couple of ideas of how to make the beastman girl spill the truth, but I wanted to make sure that Steph was on the same page as me.

“W-well, I’m sure there is someone around here who knows some interrogation techniques…” Steph trailed off, not quite looking me in the eyes as if to remove any personal stakes from what she was trying to suggest. Steph and I clearly had similar ideas as to how we would get the girl to reveal to us what her Curse and Blessing were, but as a diviner, Steph has not had the same life experiences that I have, so it made sense that she would be hesitant to cause the beastman girl more harm.

I dismissed Steph and arranged for the beastman girl to be transported to the interrogation room. Before that though, I reapplied the [Sleep] spell I had cast on her earlier to ensure she wouldn’t cause any trouble between then and when she woke up.

This was going to be a long night.