Prompt: The gates of hell stood ajar and out steps one of hell's most cunning creatures. Your Character stares it in the eyes. This hellcat can bring you to your knees or grant you your one deepest desire.

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Meeting Desiré, the sweetest orc in the world, changed something in me—at least how I viewed orcs. I found myself not packing my explosive devices for my latest mission. Why bother? My bag might get stolen on the way, or I might accidentally blow up Desiré. The world was no longer just good and evil; there were in-betweens. There was an excellent orc somewhere who stood out from the many fearsome orcs.

With this new perspective, I embarked on my latest message delivery. This mission seemed simple; it wasn't secret and didn't involve the royal family or the wizard. I was sure it would be boring—just go to Dion, deliver the message, and return to continue my library research. I had started looking into materials about goblins and how they were mentioned, and I am particularly interested in ancient writings.

But let's leave that because I wanted to talk about Dion. The small village was a charming place, inhabited mainly by beekeepers. As I approached the town, I could see the beehives from afar. It was a quiet little area, and I arrived in the evening when they were herding the cows from the pastures, or maybe the cows came home by themselves? A few cows walked ahead of me and turned into their own yards by themselves. I just found out they were smart enough to remember where they lived.

I decided to spend the night at the inn. At this late hour, I wanted to avoid disturbing Abbie, the cheesemaker to whom I had to deliver a recipe. I assumed there was an inn everywhere I went, and there was one here, too, but it was completely empty. I felt a bit uncertain because, besides having no guests, there was no staff—not even a bartender or a cook to order dinner from.

With no better idea, I unpacked the remaining food from my backpack and started eating it. Then, tired from the long journey, I lay down on a bench to rest for a bit. This was an inn, so it would be okay to spend the night there since I couldn't rent a room.

It was uncomfortable, but that wasn't the worst part. A cat came in from somewhere because I woke up to meowing. When I opened my eyes, in the flickering light of the kerosene lamps, a huge, blinking cat's eye was right in front of my face. Its black fur made it invisible in the dim light, and at first, it seemed like only the cat's eyes were staring at me.

Something was frightening about it because I suddenly sat up and saw the black cat. But it wasn't bothered—it jumped onto the bench beside me. When it spoke, I didn't even find it strange.

"I have a proposition for you!" it said in a purring old woman's voice. I saw its mouth move, yet I still looked around to see if someone else was speaking. But I was still alone in the inn.

Seeing my confusion, the cat placed one paw on my thigh and continued, "Listen to me because you won't get this opportunity again in your life!"

When I looked back into its big eyes, it continued, "I'm sure you have the deepest desire, one you barely admit even to yourself, but every part of you yearns for it. What if I told you I could fulfill it?"

As I watched, its mouth moved, but it was extraordinary. "Who are you?" I groaned.

"Is that really the most important thing? Who I am? Not that I want to fulfill your wildest dream?"

It didn't turn out well the last time I wished to be an elf girl. There must be some trick here, some condition that makes it more complex. Some condition...

"You're right; there is a condition," said the cat, and I think I groaned in surprise, out loud, because I hadn't spoken my doubts; I had only thought them.

"Are you some kind of hell cat?" I asked.

"You can call me that, but can we get to the business now?" it said impatiently.

"Business? I don't understand; you wanted to grant my wish earlier."

"Yes, that's right, but as I said, there's a condition... and that makes it a deal," it said as if this was a normal conversation like we were discussing a trade, and it would even be natural to talk to a hellspawn.

"Hellspawn is a bit strong of a word!" it protested.

To my surprise, I groaned again; I didn't like that it could understand my thoughts. "Could you stop rummaging through my thoughts?" I asked.

"But I find you very interesting, so I came to you. Do you think I randomly picked someone?" it purred, or rather, it purred melodiously as if it were purring.

"So you already know what my deepest wish is?" I tested it, deliberately thinking of nothing, especially not of what I wanted most.

The cat closed its eyes, stretched slowly and gracefully as cats do, and at the end of the movement, it lifted its head, came even closer to me, and purred into my eyes, "You want to meet that handsome dark elf again..." I swear, it seemed like the cat was smiling mockingly. "Well, I can't make him do what you imagine, but I can arrange a chance encounter."

I groaned again, not sure where this loud snort came from. But when a person is scared, they tend to do strange things. I wasn't sure if I was scared of the cat, myself, or that there were beings who could easily hear our thoughts. And if this cat was so powerful, why couldn't it grant everything?

"Don't wander off!" I heard its voice and felt its paw on my thigh again. "I promise to do everything I can to make you satisfied with your wish!" Then, seeing I was still just staring, it continued. "Shall we get to your part of the deal?"

I nodded, curious about what condition it had.

"You must deliver a message to the wizard Maxvell from me," it said and lay beside me, only lifting its head expectantly.

"That's all? I just have to deliver a message? What's the catch, the trick?" I worried. Because although sometimes I was mad at the wizard for sending me to hair-raising places with his strange messages, I liked him. And I was worried that the message I had to deliver might affect him.

"The trick is that you don't need to know the message or its effects. I just expect you to deliver it exactly as I tell you!"

"So it is a curse, after all!" I guessed.

"Something for something. I didn't say it was a curse, but I didn't say it wasn't. It's up to you to decide if you'll accept it."

It was a hellcat, so it already knew I would accept. I reassured myself by thinking that it was the wizard we were talking about—he had a lot of antidotes; nothing would go wrong. Besides, he deserved a bit of suffering after all the dangerous places he'd sent me to without a second thought. The idea of meeting the dark elf boy was too enticing. Since I bumped into him at the market and he grabbed my arm to keep me from tripping, his eyes and gaze stayed with me in my dreams.

In the morning, I found the cheesemaker woman, delivered the recipe, and barely paid attention as she explained that the inn was closed because Tobi, the cook, had disappeared.

I focused more on delivering that cursed message to the wizard immediately. I did not linger about whether this Tobi might be the dwarf I met in Aden.

Along the way, I started to regret the whole thing. Maybe this message would kill Maxvell, and in return, I'd get a meeting where I probably wouldn't even be able to speak and would waste my chance...

But there was no turning back now; I'd accepted it, agreed to it. There was no way out.

At the wizard's quarters, the stuffed animals stared at me, and the glaring eyes of a stuffed black cat particularly unnerved me.

Maxwell looked at me questioningly when I arrived, as I only came here if summoned for a task.

"I have a message for you," I said, knowing I had to be quick before the wizard realized who the message was from. I pulled out the small medallion the cat had conjured and instructed me never to hold it when thinking about the message. As quickly as I could, I placed the small black token into Maxvell's hand and let go, rushing to recite the incantation before he could react or drop the token: "Ngiyakuqalekisa, manje ngiyakuqalekisa, anginakho okuningi okusele kuwe."

The words were difficult because of their strange sound, but I said them correctly. Maxvell's expression showed that something was very wrong.

"What have you done?" he groaned, and then he vanished from my sight.

I felt terrible for days afterward. My worldview began to change—not only how I viewed orcs but also how I thought about myself. I was a lousy goblin. Evil, a deceitful, unreliable goblin. Because, in a broader sense, the wizard was my friend. He always entrusted me with the more difficult tasks, so he liked me, and this was how I repaid his trust?

I was so disappointed in myself that I didn't want to leave my room for days. I no longer cared if I never met that handsome dark elf boy again—I just wanted to get the wizard back.