A Choice

"Out of my way! Out of my way!" I shoved past anyone and anyone that stood before me so I could drag Melli to Matrowyn's pool of milk. The Beast men, an orc, two goblins and a bleeding Orge were all I had left. Sapphire was still snoozing soundly on the floor.

"Boss!" Cyrus cried. "Did you get her?"

"I think so." I laid Melli down and started spooning milk into her mouth. "We need to wait for the poison to clear, but I think she's trapped.

"What about your mask?"

I don't trust it around, whatever she just unleashed up there.

Melli's wounds were healing, butt there was something still wrong.

"Melli?"

She groaned, and her eyes fluttered. She was still shaking despite the life giving milk.

"Melli?"

"Can't breath." She gasped out, clawing at her chest.

"Shit. She poisoned you." I chewed on my lip. All my potions were destroyed in the fight, and my lab was trapped up there with all that gas. The milk wasn't purging the poison. "Shit shit shit, think." I turned to my minions. "Anyone?"

They started at me dumbly.

"Useless!" I slung Melli over my shoulder, easily with Brown's blessing inside of me, and sprinted down to the third level, past the library and into Dorothy's chamber. When I entered the room she had Daliah laid next to her on the floor, and was fingering my apprentice within an inch of her life.

Dorothy looked up at me with a half smile. "You're alive." She rightfully sounded surprised.

"I'm alive." I laid Melli down in front of her. "But things aren't looking so certain for her, she's been poisoned."

"As suits a fight with an alchemist." Dorothy sat up, and Daliah followed her, wrapping her arms around the grand warlock, and sucking on her neck.

"I need to save her." I said my voice harsh, and out of my control.

"Why come to me? Your clan are the ones who deal in poison."

"There's nothing I can do I need help." Melli's body had a constantly rhythm to it, an ever throbbing demise, that needed to be stopped.

Dorothy took a moment to look Melli over, and then she looked at me. I saw a thought pass through her mind, and then saw her settle on it. "There is perhaps a way, but I won't tell you. " She sighed and silenced me before I could argue. "You're the leader of this religion now. You must be ready to accept these losses."

I growled at her. "I've already lost one of them, not not losing another!" I lunged at her and wrapped my hands around her throat. A sure sign of madness, I might as well have grabbed a tiger by it's tail. "How do I save her you witch?"

She stared at me calmly, even as my thumbs dug into her throat. "I've lost everyone I've ever known or loved for the goddess. She demands your strength, Herald."

I dropped my hands, feeling sick. I knew in some sense the grand history of Dorothy, how she'd been the only priestess to survive the purge, she most have seen dozens of witches die... hundreds... but... "That's not good enough Dorothy. You didn't allow your followers to die in the purge, I'm not going to allow Melli to die here."

Dorothy sighed, I felt like I could see the three hundred years old hag beneath her youth and beauty. "Perhaps, you can bargain with the alchemist?"

"I can't get to her, she has a cloud of poison up there."

"We can speak to her from here." She gestured to her chamber. "As the boss of this dungeon part of my job is to taunt adventurers from my chamber." Of course. She waved her hand, and the dungeon seemed to thrum. "Speak."

Here goes nothing. "Celeste? Are you still there?"

There was a beat, then, "Yep, just hanging around."

"Good to know, listen the mage you were fighting, she's poisoned and I need the cure."

More silence. "Very well, there's been enough **** today, you're right."

"I'm glad you're finally seeing reason."

I could have her her scoff without the help of Dorothy's dungeon magic. "I've hardly been the irrational actor in all of this."

"You killed me for stealing a few potions from your store!"

"We're past arguing the details, has the paralysis reached her lungs yet? Even I'll have a hard time reversing the poison at that point."

I shot a panic looked to Melli. "Let's just get one with it, dispel your poison and I'll bring her up to you.

"If..."

"If, what?"

"You let me go..." Fuck, but it was to be expected. I think I had to take it. Sure Celeste could be a big huge gigantic pain for me in the future, but we'd beat her once. That would give her pause about facing me again... or just more prep time. "...and you give me Daliah."

"Fuck you!" I looked back at my apprentice, lust in a haze of lust, plunging her fingers into her sex over and over again.

"Let the two of us leave, and we'll call this whole thing settled. I'll be the one who moves, you can have Crossroads, my shop, whatever you want. You just let me and Daliah walk out of this dungeon."

"You're lying."

"I don't lie."

"IF you don't help me, you're stuck as my prisoner for the rest of your life. I'd be more open to negotiation if I were you."

"If you say so."

"I have a dungeon that can hold you, even a three star can't escape from it."

"Then you'll have a three star, and no mage."

"Fuck." I shut off the connection and squeezed my head between my hands. "What would you do?" I looked to Dorothy.

"**** her." She said casually. "But we hardly have the time." She looked down at Melli. "This one isn't long for the world."

"So I just..."

"Make a choice." Dorothy said gravely.

Make a choice.

I can save Melli, and lose Daliah.

Or I could lose, Melli and save Daliah.

Only it wasn't that simple.

A god has practically killed himself bribing me for Daliah's soul. If she died now Tan'Hagortath would only have Sapphire to feast upon. He might never regain his full power, not unless I fed him souls out of charity.

But saving her meant losing Daliah, her incredibly powerful ability to make potions and... release Celeste back into the wild.

If I let Melli die I'd have Daliah to train, and fuck, and I'd have Celeste trapped in the dungeon.

What the hell?

It's voting time!

Do we Sacrifice Melli? (Saving Daliah)

Sacrifice Daliah? (Saving Melli)

Or a secret third path?

Vote in the comments!