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“Good,” Palan said with a nod. “That’s the kind of attitude you need to survive. Seize everything. Discard your morals. No one is out to help you: everyone above you will try to suppress you, and everyone below you will drag you down to bring themselves up. The people being nice to you are trying to use you. I am using you.” Palan slammed his tails against the ground, causing Cherri to jump, and swept his gaze over the centaurs. “The only reason I’m leaving you all alive is because of her.” He pointed at Cherri. “If she dies, there’s no reason for centaurs to exist. If she grows up to be a weakling, there’s no reason for centaurs to exist.” He glanced at Cherri. “If you disappoint me—“
“Then there’s no reason for centaurs to exist?” Cherri asked.
“And Cory said you were stupid,” Palan said. Cherri pouted.
“What exactly do I have to do?” Cherri asked.
“Listen carefully,” Palan said.
“Yes! I’m all ears.” Cherri straightened her back and pursed her lips while inclining her head towards Palan.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I understand! I’ll do my best!” Cherri said and saluted. A second later, her brow wrinkled. “Wait. What?”
Palan shrugged. “Do you have a problem with that?” he asked. “I’ve never been a leader before. Only the stupid or really strong become leaders in Eljiam. I’m not quite sure what they do, but for now, you’re my underling.”
“Oh…,” Cherri said and scratched her head. “Um. Okay.”
“I got it,” Palan said and clapped his hand on Cherri’s shoulder, causing her knees to buckle. “Your first assignment is to figure out what you can do for me.”
“Okay,” Cherri said and nodded as she straightened her legs. She glanced at the archbishop. She never got to meet him until today, but she knew he was a very crafty person. Almost too crafty for a centaur. He could figure something out.
“I’ll be generous,” Palan said, bringing Cherri’s attention back on himself. “You have one minute to complete your assignment. Starting now.”
“Huh?” Cherri’s eyes widened. Her head turned towards the archbishop, but Palan grabbed her face and turned it back towards himself.
“By yourself,” he said. “You have fifty-six seconds left.”
“Ah,” Cherri said as her eyes glazed over.
Centaurs shouted out encouragement, but none of them dared to suggest any ideas. “You can do it, Cherri,” Mathias said. “I believe in you! Think of what I’ve done.”
When Cherri heard Mathias voice, her eyes brightened. What was her father the best at? “Sexual favors!” she blurted out.
“Denied!” Raea said and smacked Cherri’s head. Tears sprang into the centaur’s eyes as she squirmed out of Palan’s grasp and clutched her scalp. She sent an aggrieved glance at Palan, looking up at him.
“Forty-nine seconds,” Palan said. He cleared his throat and ignored the purple tint in Raea’s eyes.
“Free labor?” Cherri asked and glanced at Raea while hunching her shoulders. “We can construct buildings, destroy buildings, move things around, or we can do any grunt work you don’t want to do.”
“That can be saved for the future,” Palan said. “What can you do now? Forty seconds left.”
“Generate income?” Cherri asked. “Bully people you don’t like? Help people you do like? Cannon fodder on the frontlines? Become messengers? Gather intelligence? Wait, cross that—centaurs aren’t sneaky. Pray for your success? Does any of those work?”
“Doesn’t sound appealing,” Palan said. “Twenty seconds.”
“Oh boy,” Cory said and scooted over to the archbishop. “I always wanted to see you four-legged vermin get exterminated. Looks like today’s my lucky day.” She nudged the overdrawn centaur with her wings and chuckled when he couldn’t muster the energy to fend her off.
“Five seconds left,” Palan said as Cherri chewed on her lip and pulled her hair. Her face was scrunched up with wrinkles on her forehead.
Cory laughed and patted the archbishop’s head with her wings, messing up his hair. “Did you hear that?” she asked. “That was the sound of me getting the last laugh.” A warble escaped from Cory’s throat as she stretched her wings and pranced around in a circle around the archbishop.
“Three … two … o—“
“We’ll build you a statue!” Cherri said. Her face was flushed as she held Palan’s gaze, her chest rising up and down as she attempted to control her breath. “A really really really big statue! Bigger than the statues of the four generals the angels created combined! No one will ever forget your appearance for thousands of years to come. We’ll use the best materials that never decay. Your name will be passed on forever and ever and ever.”
Cory frowned as Palan scratched his chin. The surrounding centaurs held their breaths. “I like it,” Palan said and nodded. Cherri exhaled and placed her hand on her chest. She thought her heart was going to jump out at any moment.
“Drat,” Cory said with a scowl. The archbishop started to laugh, but Cory lifted two of his legs and tipped him over.
“How long do you think it’ll take?” Palan asked. “A few hours?”
“A few hours!?” Cherri asked as her eye twitched. “The four generals took at least … actually, I don’t know how long they took.”
“A year each,” Raea said.
“A year each!” Cherri repeated. “If we’re building something bigger, then it has to take longer than a year, right?”
“Yes,” the archbishop said as he stumbled back onto his feet. “At least a year.” He raised his hand before Palan could speak. “Now, before you say anything, someone as strong as you is definitely bound to evolve again. Wouldn’t you want a few delays to capture your true appearance? What if we created a statue of you now that represents a weaker version of yourself in the future?”
“You’re trying to manipulate me with words again,” Palan said and shook his head. “If I evolve in the future, it obviously means you’ll have to build an even bigger statue of that version of myself later on. I want a statue of me as I am right now. And I want you to knock down the current statues of the generals.”
“Wouldn’t that be easier for you to do by yourself?” Cherri asked and tilted her head.
“What’s the point of having an underling if I have to do everything myself?”
Cherri bit her lower lip. “You’re right,” she said and sighed. “I’ll try my best to accomplish these goals.’
“I don’t care about your best,” Palan said and shook his head. “Accomplish them or die. Now go locate Pyre for me and bring me a meal.”
Cherri’s face fell. “Yes,” she said and lowered her head. Why did it feel like she jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire? At least the angels let the centaurs live peacefully underground. Well, like the archbishop said, everything’d be worth it if they could live aboveground.