It wasn’t an attack.

More precisely, it wasn’t the enemy’s assault against us, though the fires far away spoke volumes that there was indeed a fight.

However, it didn’t seem like one we were losing.

Even despite Tama’s confident words, I expected the sudden assault of pain and loss, caused by yet another ‘sealing’ as the punishment for my inability to keep my girls safe, along with one of those bland overlays encouraging me to solve the problem. In violent fashion.

None of it came, which lulled me to a certain sense of calmness and relief that my furry menagerie emerged victorious from whatever happened to them. .

The newly spawned ‘Purifiers’ cheered happily, demanding their share of attention, hugs, or at least pats on their heads. They were entirely unconcerned, and without thinking, I obliged them.

“Tama, what did you do?”

I asked, carefully, once my brain settled up on what probably happened - if humans didn’t strike first, then the group of my little fiery vulpine monsters did.

“Payback, Master.” The vixen answered, with a truly vulpine smirk, looking very satisfied with herself: “The one that seals us couldn’t be everywhere at once, and we could chip away the number of humans between us and her.”

In hindsight, it was painfully obvious things would head toward indiscriminate violence towards all the humans in the vicinity, but I have been too preoccupied with futile attempts to communicate and getting beaten. I hadn’t seen it.

Attacks inspired counter-attacks, and the cycle continued.

“We will get our little ones back, Master.” Tama added, but I didn’t look at her..

In the middle of fields and pastures separating our grounds from the local fortress, a lone homestead burned.

The sound of the gong echoed in the distance as the defenders of the castle likely raised the alarm, though the fortifications were too far away to discern any particular details other than the basic sense of frantic movement on its battlements.

They put down the fires there too.

On the open land between us and them, the only figures I noticed were a few of my monsters dashing into cover.

No soldiers tried to pursue them.

If someone lived in that house among the fields, they would be dead now. I couldn’t quite decide whether I should regret the death of innocent people caught in the crossfire, or shrug it off saying that they deserved it.

It was hard. On one hand, it felt distant, and the deepening connection between me and my monsters made it difficult to sympathise with the natives, among which even the normal peasants didn’t show any significant deal of understanding, or attempts at reason, let alone their fighters.

They attacked us all the same.

On the other, there were always those who differed from their peers. There were certainly those like that girl still left in the village we took over, apathetic and cast out by her own people, or the captured merchant simply too afraid to fight.

Logically, I should experience guilt, but my actual emotions right now weren’t so clear cut on the matter - as long as I didn’t commit to the siege, I could tell myself I was trying to postpone the onslaught, I was sending the right signals.

I wasn’t.

Instead, I was settling on being glad that none of my monsters, little and big, were harmed and didn’t have to suffer being sealed away by some poorly understood magic.

Now, I was certain the trend would, without the doubt, continue. I lent them my trust to handle the situation how they saw fit, and this was the result.

I still said nothing until Tama came closer, affectionately pressing herself closer and running her muzzle down my neck seductively. I automatically placed my hand on my vixen’s hip, even if Miwah loomed over just behind me so close I could lean on her and place her clawed hand over mine, almost as she approved of it.

“I think I deserve a special reward for the plan, Master.” Tama whispered suggestively.

My thoughts, however, were elsewhere. Finally, I glanced back away from my vixen in the castle's direction.

“Withdraw everyone again, Tama.” I said. I almost expected her to protest against my decision, but she didn’t.

Instead, she just purred: “Yes, Master.”

Kuma yawned, bored by the proposal, but none of my companions were vocally against it.

If only there was a way to tell the locals I wasn’t interested in fighting and only wanted my monsters - my girls - back, alive and well. There wasn’t any need to kill more of the humans if they were reasonable.

They were not, so far.

“They will expect an attack now.” I said, or rather thought aloud, “There is no point in fighting them now. They would be on edge through the night. We can wait until the caster woman comes out. If she comes out, then…”

I paused. It sounded more rather like the plan to continue the assaults against the castle, and not a route towards the negotiation.

“Precisely, Master.” Tama confirmed, without stepping away from me.

It was quite distracting, even if none of my monsters questioned the behaviour. My white werewolf, always supportive of me, didn’t mind the vixen making advances.

“Miwah, could you pass instructions to Brave?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Please, remind her I don’t want unnecessary killing at that other village - that sawmill place.” I said, “If they don’t fight, send them running towards the castle.”

“Yes, Master.”

I considered what else I could do to actually limit the casualties and to salvage the situation.

There doesn’t seem to be any easy way, and my hesitation, oscillating between commitment and non-commitment to the siege, was making things worse. I could hardly blame Tama for coming up with the ideas while I wasn’t able to decide.

Without the knowledge of the language, I wasn’t sure how to send a message - any message - to the people in the besieged castle. The reminder of my failed attempts to negotiate came back to me, and I suddenly had doubts that universal gestures worked around here.

“Mia?” I asked, carefully.

“For Master!” The answer came from one of the small, rat-like ‘Defilers’ and I realised I was, once again, confusing the names of my own followers, making me feel inadequate to deal with anything - how could I broker peace, if I can’t remember names I have given. Mia and Mai were two different people.

I closed my eyes, pausing for a second, and enjoyed the closeness Miwah with Tama provided for mental support.

Small rat-girl even stepped close, brimming with enthusiasm. I gave her an affectionate scratch, while throwing Narita a quick glance. She didn’t seem to be judgmental about my mistake, and her kin received some attention.

It seemed it was never wrong to show them appreciation. Even my flirty vixen wasn’t against it, and she, along with my werewolf, already usurped the large portion of my personal space.

“Thank you… Sorry…” I corrected myself, “I meant, Mai!”

“My Master?” The correct girl, the lizard-like Mai, replied. If she thought I was hard to be around with the errors like this, she didn’t show it.

“I want you to transfer the captured merchant here, along with the leftover money.” I said, “He can say we didn’t hurt him, and that we tried to communicate, even if he doesn’t understand why.”

“Yes, my Master.” Mai answered, though it came with the first expression of protest: “Hope we will get rid of him soon. I don’t think I like how they speak. Humans are so disgusting.”

This time, it was she who almost shivered, and judging from her blinking, it irritated her as well. I could only hope it expressed her misanthropy rather than being annoyed by my incompetence.

“Yes, we will.” I answered, with visibly pleased my scaly companion.

My actions regarding taking prisoners and subsequently releasing them weren’t exactly thought through. One might say they were haphazard, based on my turbulent emotions, but this time I told myself there was a reason for it, albeit a flimsy one.

I couldn’t learn the language fast enough to end this fight - and no amount of waving white flags would help here.

So, I considered sending the merchant to the castle, hoping he would tell them the right message - though it was just as likely he would tell the very wrong message, too. I would not only lose the only captive, which learned a couple of words, but also make myself look stupid as well.

“Just bring him here. Alive and unharmed.” I repeated to Mai.

“Yes, my Master.”

It was rolling a die here, metaphorically, and odds weren’t particularly favourable.

However, there wasn’t much of an alternative.

When I took the merchant prisoner, I grossly underestimated how difficult the language was.

When I understood the difficulty of learning the local tongue, the circumstances forced my hand and spiralled beyond my control, with no meaningful ways to deescalate conflict.

I looked at Tama, into her magically yellow eyes - she was beautiful as she was terrible.

She figured out how to wage a war. I just couldn’t accept it, not yet, so I would bet the outcome on this last, last attempt to change the direction of the conflict.

Ironically, there was some slight consolation in the fact I didn’t need the merchant spinning tales about me for further escalation. With our relations with the human being as catastrophic, or rather non-existent, it felt more and more like inevitability, and there was very little to lose, and more to gain, in the gamble.

My ‘Purifiers’ would be forced to torch down this entire valley long before I figured out how to say ‘we came in peace’ - and by time, it would be too late for words.

Besides, it made Mai happy for not having to babysit the prisoner she hated anymore.

If it failed, I would be forced to draw the line in the sand trying to force a human behind the natural border made by the snaking river, slightly more dissuading than the wall of thorns.

But before it came to that, I would have to rely on the single, confused captive to deliver a message he wasn’t even told about

I even considered hastening it using Miwah’s newfound ability, but the threat of side effects of her power dissuaded me from using it as the first default choice for transportation - I needed to hand the humans their merchant reasonably unhurt.

It wasn’t necessary to deliver him by sunset, either. This night wouldn’t see the conflict resolved, no matter what I would do.

“Oh, Master. You tease.” Tama interrupted my thoughts after I silently stared at her for several long seconds. Minutes, perhaps.

“But there is another thing you can reward me for, Master.” She added, her tone sultry. “I would still prefer you would play with me rather than humans.”

“Humans. Disgusting.” Mai added.

Tama pushed herself away and walked forward, swinging her tail as she went, gesturing for something down the road.

I briefly glanced at Miwah before I went after her.

The pale werewolf didn’t show a single sign of objection against Tama’s behaviour towards me, her deep blue gaze showing serene support.

Then I went to see what Tama wanted to show me.

A couple of ‘Purifiers’ dragged in a body, hopefully an unconscious and not a dead one, the little vulpine monsters struggling with the fact they would now have to get it up the slope.

I went to meet them, instead of waiting, with the portion of my retinue rushing forward to secure the captive, likely to put themselves between me and the potential avenue of attack, as unlikely as it would be. The man was obviously fighting for his life, or perhaps, lost that very final battle already.

Seeing I was coming, monsters left him on the road. There wasn’t a need for them to carry their burden further.

“It is safe. Human-thing is nearly dead, Master.” Narita announced as I walked in.

Her two smaller kin still went to poke the body with spears.

Tama’s expression of ‘slightly battered’ was a gross exaggeration.

The human was an old man, and considering the state he was in, his survival was unlikely. Although there were no large, open wounds, he received a beating and sustained several burns, neither of which were fatal alone, but combined, I suspected quite a trauma.

“Humans didn’t like this one too, it seems, Master.” Tama snickered. “They tried to shoot him when he yelled at them. Excellent bait.”

I spared her a quick glance, and even though I couldn’t help myself think she was indeed taking this too far, I also recalled the pain and loss I've felt through that cursed link, an experience intense enough it had brought me down to my knees.

She was perhaps a little vengeful.

Though, even now, in this very moment, I couldn’t help myself to truly judge my devoted protector that suffered through so much.

I shocked my head violently as I tried to get rid of the conflicting thoughts in this critical moment.

Then I kneeled next to the man, and some of my monsters, ever protective, looked like they would jump on should he prove to pose any kind of threat, with others visibly readying themselves to pull me away to safety.

He wasn’t in the state to do so - though he wasn’t dead. At least, not yet.

Even opened his eyes.

The old man tried to speak, his voice shockingly peaceful, considering his sorry state. Sadly, I didn’t understand him, but he obviously tried to say something.

I’ve seen natives being hateful or angry, or terrified even, but here it sounded almost as if he wanted to tell me his last wish. Although, it might be because of the shock too.

Not only I couldn’t comprehend the words, I couldn’t guess who the dying man was. Judging from his damaged clothes, he wasn’t an ordinary peasant. Not a very wealthy individual, but certainly above the commoner. I would bet him to be another trader lost on the road.

Still, it didn’t matter.

He could serve as a replacement for the captive I planned to release.

“Could you please try to heal him?” I asked, carefully, knowing perfectly well that my monsters weren’t exactly thrilled by the prospect of helping a human, the enemies they hated with passion.

“Yes-yes, Master.” Narita said immediately, and one of her kin put their powers to work.

It was the first time I’ve paid attention to how their power worked on a human.

So far, I’d tried, or at least, ordered to try, to use the ‘Defilers’ healing power of captives twice, yet I never actually witnessed it in effect, assuming it worked for humans in the way it did for us.

So far, it was beneficial - at the cost of the local greenery, in most cases, or even the human - but still beneficial for the recipients.

I also saw the person healed by it - weakened, but his injuries removed.

So it didn’t kill other species by default.

However, it doesn’t make it pretty.

Instead of the infusion of energy that we experienced, the human shook, his muscles convulsing wildly, the scars and wounds the emerald glow tried to correct developed disgusting blisters and cracked just to be sealed over, bruises wandered the skin and scars appeared only to be seared again. Only unconsciousness saved the man from undoubtable agony.

I had to look around to confirm they were channelling the life-energy from the environment, and they did - the leaves at the few trees withered and fell off, though the process was much slower than when it worked for us.

Perhaps Narita - or rather her little kin, a misnamed and forgotten Mia - didn’t put her everything into it, but maybe it was for the best. It didn’t expect this to happen.

The rat-girl didn’t seem like she was enjoying inflicting torment, at least not at the moment. I could almost sense her focus. She was trying to make this work.

A tree died, its life-force fed to the process, but the effect wasn’t quite as I imagined it to be.

The attempt to heal the injured bone two days ago has been an immediate relief for me, quick and nearly painless.

For the human, I could almost swear I heard the bones snapping back into place, his body arching as power tried to put it into better shape, almost as my ‘Defiler’ tried to cycle the states repeatedly until it gave the desired, undamaged result.

Then it was over.

The man was healed, his wounds removed, alive, breathing heavily.

The captive opened his eyes - they were visibly glazed over - then he fainted, unconscious once more from an ordeal visibly worse than the injuries we were trying to fix.

Though the result was indeed a person recovering from the injuries, the process was different, less pleasant, more tortuous.

For humans.

It wasn’t meant to be used on them.

The power worked flawlessly for us, on me, fast and convenient. My conviction that I was human in unfortunate circumstances led me to the decision I could use this ability to lessen the divide, to show good will.

This was an opposite result.

Almost like the magic my monsters wielded tried to convince me there were more differences between me and the natives of this world than the confused tongue.

“For Master!” The ‘Defiler’ said, proudly.

I could almost sense her trying to say, ‘I did my best’

She did.

“You did well. Thank you.” I said and gave my little rodent girl a hug.

Not only as a sign of gratitude.

But companionship - since perhaps I indeed belonged with my monsters than I did with humans after all.

Even the magic thought so.