Chapter 31: An Agreement with Conflict.

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: An Agreement with Conflict.

"I..."

Draven looked at Taliah and then at Greydarn’s corpse, which continued to deteriorate.

"I’m going to accept."

Elfin laughed.

"Finally."

"But I have a condition."

There was silence and then another laugh.

"You’re seconds away from losing consciousness and you still want to impose conditions."

"That’s right."

"Your friend is dying."

"I know."

"Your body can barely keep you conscious."

"I know that too."

"Then speak quickly."

Draven breathed with difficulty.

"I won’t trust you."

"That doesn’t offend me."

"I don’t care."

Elfin laughed, to which Draven continued.

"If I do this, you’re not going to decide the rules."

"And who will?"

Draven knew of one possibility.

One that existed precisely for situations where two parties with completely opposing interests needed to fulfill an agreement.

"I want it to be the god Eje..."

For the first time, Elfin took a moment to respond and Draven noticed.

"...the deity of balance."

"I know perfectly well who that is."

"Then you understand what I want."

"I understand that you’re trying to protect yourself."

"Exactly."

Elfin remained silent and Draven took advantage.

"I want a divine contract."

"Ambitious."

"Supervised by Eje."

"You’re still trying to negotiate from a rather miserable position."

"Then reject it."

Draven looked at Taliah, whose breathing was almost imperceptible, and Elfin spoke.

"You know you can’t afford that."

Draven clenched his teeth.

"And you said my body is better than Greydarn’s..."

There was silence from the god.

"...so you want this too."

Elfin didn’t respond, so Draven continued.

"If you truly didn’t care, you would have let me die."

The god let out a small laugh.

"Perhaps you’re not so stupid."

"I’ll only accept with a contract supervised by Eje."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we both lose."

"Your friend will die."

"And you’ll lose the vessel you said you wanted."

Greydarn’s corpse continued to fall apart and large parts of his body were already missing, so Elfin remained silent.

Draven felt his vision darkening again, so he didn’t have much time and finally heard the voice.

"Very well."

Draven opened his eyes.

"You accept?"

"Don’t make me regret it before we even start."

Draven felt something, which didn’t come from Greydarn or from Taliah, but rather a completely different pressure appeared around them.

The atmosphere became still and then a voice without emotion spoke.

"Arbitration has been requested."

Draven didn’t know where it came from, since it seemed to be everywhere, and Elfin stopped laughing while the voice continued.

"First party identified."

A light appeared in front of Greydarn’s corpse.

"Elfin, the deity of destruction."

Then another light appeared in front of Draven.

"Second party identified."

The pressure increased.

"Draven Dunvyr."

Draven could barely stay conscious and the voice spoke again.

"Object of the contract."

Elfin responded.

"Vessel in exchange for preserving the life of Taliah Valdegrim."

Draven intervened.

"And future conditions will also be regulated."

Elfin let out a sound of annoyance.

"That wasn’t part of..."

"Then I don’t accept."

Elfin fell silent, but when he was about to say something, Eje’s voice interrupted.

"The conditions must benefit and limit both parties."

Draven felt a certain relief, but Elfin did not.

"Naturally."

He responded with evident displeasure.

"Do both parties accept submitting the contract to Eje’s decisions?"

Draven looked at Taliah.

"I accept."

Elfin took a few seconds.

"I accept."

The pressure increased and Draven felt a sharp pain in his chest, so for an instant he thought he would lose consciousness.

A mark appeared on his skin, but he couldn’t see it clearly and the voice spoke.

"Contract established."

Draven fell forward and supported himself with his only hand.

"Now..."

He breathed with difficulty.

"Save her."

Elfin laughed.

"How impatient."

"Do it!"

"Remember who’s helping whom."

"Elfin!"

"Fine."

Draven felt something enter his body, which was a completely different mana.

His body reacted immediately with pain, cold, heat and everything happened in a few seconds, so Draven clenched his teeth.

"Get used to it."

"What are you...?"

"I’m fulfilling my part."

The mana moved toward Taliah.

Draven watched as the wound on her abdomen began to react and the blood stopped flowing, but then something else happened.

The tissue started to reconstruct, not immediately and not completely, but Draven could feel the mana working inside her.

Damaged organs, blood vessels and tissues were being repaired by Elfin while Draven watched without blinking.

Several seconds passed and then Taliah’s breathing changed, becoming more stable.

"Is she...?"

"Alive."

Draven lowered his head.

"Will she survive?"

"I fulfilled my part."

"That doesn’t answer."

Elfin huffed.

"Yes, she’ll survive if you get a healer to finish the job."

Draven raised his head.

"Can’t you heal her completely?"

"I could."

"Then do it."

"Our agreement was to save her."

Draven clenched his teeth and Elfin continued.

"She won’t die in the next few minutes, so consider that a considerable improvement."

Draven wanted to insult him, but he didn’t have time, since they needed to get out, so he looked at his bracelet and still didn’t have enough mana.

"I need to open this."

"And?"

"There’s an emergency object inside."

Elfin let out a laugh.

"What admirable planning, you stored the object needed to call for help inside something you can’t open."

"Shut up."

"You’re still entertaining."

"I need mana."

"I already know."

"Then give me some."

"Now I have to solve every problem too?"

"If I die here, you lose your new vessel."

Elfin fell silent.

"I hate that you’re right."

A small amount of energy appeared inside Draven, which wasn’t much, but it was enough.

Draven was able to make the dimensional space open, so he began searching desperately among the objects until he found it.

It was a small piece of dark crystal protected by a red metal structure.

Zenash had given it to him along with the other supplies.

"If something unexpected happens, use it."

Draven had thought he would probably never need it.

Now he was grateful that Zenash didn’t fully trust his ability to stay out of trouble.

He took out the object.

"And what does that piece of junk do?"

Elfin asked.

"It sends a signal to the military units of Fernus."

Draven squeezed the crystal and mana entered the object, making the surface light up red.

An invisible pulse came out from the crystal, then another and Draven let out the air.

"It’s done."

"Now you just have to avoid dying until they arrive."

"Thanks for the advice."

Elfin laughed.

Draven grabbed a potion before the dimensional space closed again and used part of it on his shoulder, making the pain increase.

Then it decreased slightly and the bleeding began to reduce, although it wasn’t enough to reconstruct the arm.

It didn’t even come close, but it could keep him alive.

Draven dragged himself to Taliah and placed two fingers on her neck, feeling a weak but stable pulse.

"Good."

He stayed next to her.

Greydarn’s body had already almost completely disappeared, only remnants of clothing, blood and some blackened parts remaining.

"What will happen to you now?"

Elfin responded from somewhere Draven could no longer identify.

"You’ll find that out."

"I don’t like that answer."

He received no response, so Draven remained next to Taliah and didn’t know how much time passed, since his perception was worsening.

Then he heard something, which were voices, so Draven opened his eyes.

"Over here!"

"We found the signal!"

The sound of branches breaking and many footsteps could be heard, which belonged to a unit of soldiers that appeared among the trees.

They wore armor with the symbols of Fernus.

The first one stopped upon seeing the area, finding that the vocier’s corpse occupied a large part of the terrain.

Several meters away were the remains of Greydarn, while Taliah was unconscious and Draven could barely remain sitting.

"It’s them!"

The soldiers ran and one knelt next to Draven.

"Lord Dunvyr."

Draven tried to respond, but couldn’t.

"Healers!"

Two people ran toward Taliah while another examined Draven’s shoulder.

"Complete amputation."

"The arm..."

Draven looked around and saw it several meters away, just like one of the soldiers.

"Recover it!"

"We have to stabilize them first."

Draven grabbed the soldier’s armor with his only hand.

"Taliah."

"They’re already treating her."

"First..."

His vision began to darken.

"First her."

"Sir, you too..."

"Taliah."

The soldier looked toward the healers and one of them raised his voice.

"She has a pulse, she’s critical, but stable."

Draven stopped gripping the armor.

’Good.’

That was enough.

The sounds began to fade and he heard someone speaking while another soldier ordered them to prepare immediate transport to the capital.

Draven no longer understood the words while his body stopped responding and the last thing he saw was several soldiers carefully lifting Taliah.

Then he lost consciousness.

Draven returned to the present.

Taliah was still asleep and her breathing was calm, just like the room.

They had both survived, but Draven knew that didn’t mean everything was fine.

Now Elfin was inside him.

He had accepted becoming his vessel and placed the future of his own body in the hands of a divine contract with the god of destruction.

Draven looked at his reconstructed arm, moved it slightly and the pain responded.

Then he looked at Taliah and remembered her words before facing the vocier.

"I want to be able to have more adventures like this with you."

Draven lowered his gaze.

’Sorry, Taliah, but I won’t be able to keep that promise...’