Day Three #8

The choices were laid out before the women who were tied up and were either in a sitting or lying down position.

Death would mean they would accept a quick death from her as they wished which would end their suffering.

Join would mean that they would have to follow along on their own accord no matter what the dangers would be but if they ever attempted to attack her or betrayed after they made that decision then Inis had no problem against killing them in retaliation.

Freedom would mean that they would be set free from their restraints and be allowed to escape but it would be done without her assistance.

If they were not willing to follow her back and offer a little assistance of their own during the journey then there was no need for her to escort or offer extra aid on the way.

Some had been confined for a longer time and would have suffered some injuries or had grown weaker so not everyone would be able to stand so easily so not everyone would be so easy to bring along.

In order to reduce those that were brought along by her, those that wished for freedom would have to find their own way out of the forest and take on the dangers on their own.

If they were cautious and lucky enough then they could survive without her help.

Inis had already saved their lives so she had already done more than enough for them.

Inis remembered a quote vaguely which was along the lines of 'a drowning man should not ask for food and shelter after being saved' which fit the situation quite well.

It was already enough for her to risk her life against the goblins which had saved them from their suffering so she did not have to go out of her way to offer them more.

It was already morally correct that she had given them the options available to them after she had saved their lives and she did not need to go any further to help them.

By doing so, it would only increase her burden further and put those around her in further danger.

Which was why Inis spoke once again. "If join.. must earn keep."

Those that followed her needed to find a way of their own to contribute so that they would not waste her resources and efforts to bring them along.

If they were brought to her cave then there would be other Gremlins which would cause problems with them so there would be times where they would be in danger or would need to be protected so it would become troublesome for herself to handle.

If they helped in hunts or had a specialty which could help then they would be able to pay off some of their debts to her.

The elf raised her eyes which were full of rage and disgust. "Join a monster like you? I would rather die! Come monster! Show your true colours! Savage beast!"

For Inis, it was her first time meeting another intelligent life form that she could converse with but she was very disappointed once the elf started to shout at her.

The curved bone blade was then removed from the sheath then placed at the throat of the elf. "Join? Freedom? Death? Choose."

The elf grit her teeth as her gaze was filled with hatred and despair, the next moment she had pushed her body forward into the edge of the blade which had caused a cut to appear on her neck. "I would rather die."

The force increased which caused the wound to become larger which included the loss of blood, Inis held it in place calmly then sighed. "It was your choice."

The curved blade was removed from her neck after it had pushed deeper and then sliced to the side which had cut deeper into the throat to end her life quicker.

Inis watched as the elf fell back with a gaze full of relief and longing as if she was experiencing some faint memories during her final moments. "If human.. would you.. still say..the same? Or is.. it just.. your own wish.. to die?"

Inis pondered over the fact that if she was a human or elf which had offered the same question instead of her current form, would the elf have answered differently or was their decision always going to be the same no matter who gave them an option.

The elf acted like she was provoking Inis to kill her rather than actually wishing to insult her for no reason.

The moment that the blade was at her throat, she pushed her own throat against it which showed that when she was confronted with death, she had chosen to jump towards it.

Inis paused for a moment then looked down at her bloodied curved bone blades.

The blood was flicked from it with a little movement of her wrist and Inis looked up towards the other women. "Now choose."

One woman tried to move towards her silently and pushed out her neck towards Inis with a pleading look in her eyes.

Inis held the curved blade up and asked. "Are you.. sure?"

The woman nodded her head and closed her eyes so a quick slash of the curved blade had quickly ended her life.

More of them crawled forward with eager or dead eyes as they looked towards the blade in her hands like they were seeking their salvation.

Each of them were killed very quickly which had let only two behind and one was the one who had watched everything in a carefree manner.

The Satyress was leaning against the cave entrance with her legs and arms restrained as she watched the deaths of the women.

She clicked her tongue and finally spoke up. "Cowards."

Inis pointed her blade towards the Satyress. "You choose."

The Satyress revealed an amused expression. "I will join you. You seem interesting. You can keep me from feeling bored."

Inis sliced down towards the Satyress suddenly but it did not cut her and was instead targeted towards the bindings on the legs and arms. "Betray means death. Earn your keep. Find use.. for you.. later."

She pointed towards the bodies of the goblins that were laid out near the entrance. "Collect strongest.. carry back."

She was gradually getting better at using her current body to speak but it would take her some time to adjust to allow herself to form a complete sentence without making mistakes or having to take breaks.

The other Gremlins had already collected the short spears which had been thrown or set up within the cave then were placed in the basket on the back of Remli.

Some smaller pieces of the bodies had been put inside the basket or were carried in the arms of them.

Inis pointed her blade towards the final woman who had a small protruding belly. "Choose."

The Satyress had already walked into the cave and turned to look back towards Inis but her gaze rested on the body of the woman with a sarcastic look on her face. 'She would never choose death but.. I doubt she would trust a monster either.'

If there was anyone among the group which had developed a large grudge against monsters during their experience then it was the woman remaining.

Each of them had their own stories and experience a lot within the cave but the last woman did not give up on cursing the goblins.

The woman let out a voice filled with her strong hatred and anger. "Freedom."

No time was wasted as the bindings on her had been cut just like the Satyress which allowed the woman to look at Inis with a strange gaze before slowly stumbling up onto her feet.

She looked back towards Inis and the others a couple of times which showed her caution and mistrust towards them.

She was very fearful of turning her back on them and leaving her back exposed to them, there was also a high possibility that it could be a trick or as some kind of sick game the monsters wanted to play against her.

It would not be strange for an intelligent monster to pick up a strange habit of releasing their prey so they could enjoy the hunt.

As she was walking slowly within the forest, the woman kept moving slowly and kept herself hidden while using dirt and herbs to mask her scent.

A large animal was detected upon approaching so she hid with her hands over her mouth until it had moved on.

It took many similar encounters until she had made it out of the forest and had come across the roads which had been built by the labour of humans.

She fell to the ground and let out a large wail as tears flowed down her cheeks but afterwards, there was only hatred and vengeance left deep within her gaze. "Aaaah.. hahhhaaa.. huu.. grrr.. death. Death to them all."

As for who that hatred was directed towards, only she would know.