Rey used Attraction on the big tiger baby that looked on the verge of taking a permanent nap. Aearbon was dragged towards him as the water orb flew towards him. With some deftness, Rey burst the orb right when Aearbon was passing right under it, cleaning off any poison that lingered on his body.

  Rey skidded to a stop by the unconscious tigerman, but he overcompensated and skidded right along. "Oopsie." He jumped to his feet and backpaddled to Aearbon and got to work.

  There weren't many cuts on his body, but for safety's sake, he poured a little Healing potion on them, followed by pouring the rest of it in his mouth. A lot of it spilled out the side of his maw, but what was to be expected; it wasn't like he had asked for a blood concoction to be forced down his throat. Still, Rey did the best he could and waited. The others had jogged up to them by now.

  "Do you think he will awaken?" Ajay asked.

  "It's better if he doesn't," Filomena muttered, drawing looks. "What? He and his friends killed our friends."

  "And my actions decimated his entire Tiger's Anonymus group. Maybe even a few relatives. I don't think many Baaghrors remain who are not demons. I think we're far from even."

  She didn't respond. The Tigerman was so large that they looked like babies hovering around their dad, waiting for him to wake up and give them the belt for almost letting him die.

  A few tense moments passed, and nothing.

  "Ajay, go get another Healing Potion," Rey stated.

  "But—"

  "You cannot be serious," Filomena practically snarled.

  "Am to. I can't let him die…I just can't."

  Rey saw himself in this tiger. Of course, he wasn't a nine-foot behemoth with striped fur that would make any Mr. Olympia run home to their mommies. But what he represented. The last of his people, doomed to be alone. Rey knew what that felt like all too well. He knew what this place did to someone who was alone, how it fed on their grief, their loneliness, how it broke them until nothing of who they were remained, and turned them into something that would revile their loved ones.

  Rey wasn't proud of the things he had done as a demon, but he owned their part in them. It was the hand he had dealt, and he did what he had to do to survive. But that didn't have to be this noble tiger's fate. He, too, had done all he could for his people and lost…just like the old Rey.

  Aearbon finally stirred. He rubbed his throat, wincing a little.

  Rey slapped his shoulder. "Welcome back to the world of the living. It was a little touch-and-go, but I knew I could save you."

  Aearbon's eyes snapped open.

  "Also, didn't your mother tell you not to use poison as body wash?"

  The Tigerman shot up to a seated position, gripping Rey by the collar and roaring in his face. By merits, shit should've been running down Rey's leg, but he knew he wasn't in any trouble. For one, Aearbon wasn't holding him by the neck, and secondly, his breath stank so much that Rey didn't feel the fear that he should've felt.

  Also, Kassi had an arrow aimed at his eye; the moment he abruptly sat up. So, there was that as well.

  The fear did come when Rey got over the bad breath. He had never come this close to getting his face eaten by a tiger before. He had seen some truly terrifying demons, but there was something about seeing a tiger this close. Some animalistic part of his mind that said—tiger bad, run now.

  Aearbon growled for a moment longer. "Why won't you just let me die?"

  "What did I say about me liking this spot? I don't want the whole desolate landscape to be raving with demons. Also, seeing as how I'm almost on the verge of Mana Fatigue, it would be tough to get rid of them."

  The tiger let him go and looked on the verge of tears. Rey patted his arm. "There, there. Don't be sad. Death will come for us all. But don't you ever go into its sweet embrace quietly. You always rage against it. The most manliest man I've ever seen once said, death can have me once it earns me. Death hasn't earned me yet, hasn't earned any of us. I say, we make him work for our souls."

  The others looked at him solemnly, and they nodded one by one.

  "I almost can't believe that it is you who is saying that," Filomena said.

  "What? I've known to have my moments," he replied. Then turned back to Aearbon. "Also, you need some really strong mouthwash. I could smell what you had for breakfast three weeks ago. Wait, let me guess, it was demon meat."

  Aearbon looked at him for a moment, then snorted.

  "My people say, laughter is the best medicine, but then whoever said that hasn't been poisoned by a poison panther the size of an elephant."

  Rey used a hefty amount of his Mana and flicked the three Luthrols off into the ever-present night. He swooned on his feet as he got dangerously close to dropping into Mana Fatigue. Ajay came forward to steady him, but Rey waved him off.

  "I'm starved from all this fighting," Rey declared.

  Kassi frowned. "But we literally just had breakfast a couple of hours ago."

  "We've had one breakfast, but as my hobbit friends said, it never hurt to have a second breakfast. Besides, what kind of hosts would we be if we only fed him Healing Potions?"

  He was mostly saying that for Aearbon's benefit because his body had been brought back from the brink of death twice. He needed the sustenance. The others saw what he was doing, so they didn't push the matter further.

  "I cannot eat—"

  "With the enemy?" Rey cut him off. "Really? After I saved your life twice, you're still going to say that. What happened to showing respect to your savior? Come suck on my meat, maybe, you'll choke on it and get your wish."

  Rey shared an amused glance with Ajay, who was biting his lower lip to keep himself from cracking up, while the girls just shook their heads. However, Kassi was also doing her best not to smile.

  Aearbon was utterly oblivious to what Rey had said, but the moment he mentioned showing respect, he knew he had him.

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  He stood, towering over them, and nodded. "I will dine with you."

  They arrived back at camp and got to work. Ajay lit the Fireball of Zorina, a bowling-ball-sized, smooth, black rock. He lit it up, set it down immediately, and got to work. He was also the barbecue chef, considering all they ever had was barbecue, since there wasn't much variety out here in the countryside or Hell in general.

  Aearbon coughed. "I don't mean to be an ungrateful guest, but is it okay if I can just eat my meat raw. Cooked meat doesn't sit well with my physiology."

  "Sure thing. Rey, toss him some of your raw meat," Ajay called, snickering.

  Rey couldn't help but laugh, while Filomena groaned, rubbing her temples.

  "He's infected him."

  Aearbon looked at them, confused. "Rey's meat is infected?"

  Everyone shared glances and flew into a fit of laughter.

  "No, I assure you, my friend. My meat is as clean as it can be, considering the filth of this place."

  "I don't understand, then why did she say about infecting the meat?" Aearbon asked.

  "The first thing you need to know about Rey is that he's half mad…" Kassandra gave him a side-long glance. "Actually, cancel that, he's fully cracked. Half the things out of his mouth are either jokes or things that don't make any sense, probably not even to him."

  "We like to think he was dropped as a baby repeatedly," Filomena added.

  "Once!" Rey cried. "I was dropped as a baby once. All the other times, I just rolled out of bed to build up endurance."

  "See, he admits it," Filomena said. "And what I meant by he's infected him is that he's passing on his craziness to Ajay."

  "Who is her current boyfriend," Rey quickly added.

  Ajay raised an eyebrow. "Current boyfriend?"

  "Her words, not mine."

  "I did NOT say that." Filomena looked ready to give him the electric chair treatment.

  "Oh, I meant my words, not hers. But you are technically her current boyfriend."

  Ajay looked at Rey and chuckled. "That is true, and the next time you say that, I will feed you your meat."

  "Ominous."

  "Why do I feel like we're not talking about demon meat?" Aearbon interjected, looking mighty confused.

  Everyone flew into a fit of laughter, making the already confused Aearbon even more confused. After a moment, even the confused tiger cracked a hint of a smile, even if he was unsure why everyone was losing their shit.

  Rey patted his shoulder. "Oh, it's going to be fun having you around."

  That quieted everyone a lot faster than Rey thought was possible. It was like he had thrown a grenade of awkward silence around the bonfire.

  "Why did everyone go all silent as if I'd promised him my firstborn?" Rey finally asked.

  The others glanced at each other, then at Aearbon, who didn't know how to react to this. Finally, Kassandra stepped towards Rey and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

  "Are you sure about this, Rey?" She asked in a hushed whisper as she kept throwing glances at the Tigerman.

  "Yep. Also, you know he can hear you. He has fantastic hearing ability."

  The revelation didn't deter her; instead, she seemed emboldened by it. "Do you think he could be trusted?"

  "Let's just ask him." He turned to Aearbon. "Can we trust you?"

  Aearbon looked to the ground in contemplation. Almost an entire minute passed before he said anything. He was clearly doing some deep thinking. Rey nearly burst the silence by telling him he was taking too long, but before he could, Aearbon looked up.

  "Can you please give me some of that meat?" He pointed towards the stack of raw meat that Ajay was about to barbecue.

  Rey frowned at the words, but shrugged. "Okay."

  Ajay cut up a piece and tossed it to Rey, who handed it to Aearbon. The Tigerman nodded his thanks and shoved the entire thing into his mouth. He hardly chewed and swallowed the whole thing.

  "Boy, you really were hungry, weren't you?"

  Then Aearbon got onto one knee before Rey. Even being on one, he was face-to-face with Rey. He extended his claws from his left hand. Rey's friends were immediately stiffened. Kassandra's hand went to her bow, and Ajay's hand lit up with flames. Rey raised a hand to stop them.

  The other's alarm didn't phase Aearbon. He made a cut on his right palm, and a bloody streak opened up across his palm. This confused everyone, most of all, Rey. They lowered their weapons slowly, throwing confused glances at each other.

  Aearbon extended his bloody palm to Rey. "Rey, you saved my life when you should've killed me. You let me live when you had every right to kill me. Twice you have done this for me, when I owed you nothing. I owe you a debt of blood, which weighs heavily on my conscience. And I cannot forget that you freed me from servitude when you didn't have to." He drew a deep breath. "So, to balance the scales, I pledge my life to you. I will fight where you ask me to fight. I will protect your kin with my body, and I will die, if necessary, so that you may live. I pledge all this with my blood, as the Great Tiger, Sah'rkahn watches on from above. Do you accept?"

  Everyone stood dumbfounded.

  "See, this guy knows how to respect someone who is constantly saving their asses." Rey clasped Aearbon's bloody hand. "As sad as I am for losing all this experience, I accept."

  Aearbon looked relieved as if there was a chance that Rey wouldn't accept. He clearly didn't know him all that well. Rey didn't know this custom of theirs, but he was sure that he had made an ally for life. If Rey commanded it, he would charge the triclops without a moment's hesitation. Besides, Rey had a feeling that if he stalled or thought about it for too long, the Tigerman might take it as disrespect.

  Aearbon lowered his head. "My blood is yours to spill. My arms are yours to command. My life is yours to spend."

  Damn. I will have to work on how to break down all this respectful conditioning. Good thing, he won't attack me for all the bullshit I spew. Probably.

  Rey turned to his friends. "There, he's one of us now."

  "Just like that?" Filomena asked.

  "Just like that."

  Kassandra stared at Aearbon, still clutching her bow tightly. "You never answered his question."

  "Once a Baaghror pledges themselves to another, they will die before they betray their confidence."

  Rey slapped her back, lightly. "See, all is good between us."

  "I don't buy it. Rey, he ordered Bahar's death like it was nothing, and you killed all his people. What if he plans to get closer only to betray us?"

  Aearbon spoke up. "I can understand why you would think so, but I assure you, I bear no ill will towards you anymore. I was defeated, and I failed as a leader, and my people paid the price. So, I will follow without question."

  "There. Can we eat now?" Rey asked.

  Kassandra wasn't convinced. "But Rey—"

  He held her by the shoulders. "Kassi, it's okay. If he really means to harm us, then it's four versus one. Also, you don't know, but his people are all about respect. What he did back there has pretty much tied him to me. If I tell him to curl up in a ball and take a nice long nap, then that is what he will do."

  Aearbon nodded. "He's my Darsahn or captain, as you may call it in your language. A Darsahn's word is absolute."

  "I'm a Darsahn now." Rey grinned. "So all of you give me the respect that I deserve."

  Filomena snorted. "You're a shit Darsahn. The last time we made you our leader, you got half of us killed, and we lost the castle."

  "Castle?" Aearbon perked up. "As in the castle in the dead forest?"

  Filomena nodded, frowning. "How do you know about the castle?"

  Things clicked and fell in place. Rey sighed. "Let me guess, you were also one of Zalathar's chosen ones."