Chapter 7 Chapter Six The Quality of Compassion

Cadderly stood motionless for a long moment, too shocked to even notice the approach of the two friends.All his thoughts were focused on what had just happened, what he had just done.Three orcs had died as a result of his actions, and, worse, he had even killed one of them with his own hands. Those acts are so easy.Cadderly had struck without even thinking, acting purely on instinct—a killing instinct that had even driven him to kill an Uruk running towards Rufo, which wasn't even near him.The orc was there, within range of the crossbow, and then it died. It's so easy. It wasn't the first time in weeks, either.Cadderly questioned his purpose in life, the sincerity of his calling to the god Denir.Dean Avery had once called Cadderly a disciple of Gond, a sect whose clergy valued invention but seldom had a sense of moral restraint in the manufacture of their dangerous creations. The words "disciples of Gond" linger in the young scholar's mind now, like the eyes of death on the faces of those he killed.

Cadderly came out of his trance to see Danica standing next to him, wiping her face, while Zilkhan Rufo was nodding gratefully, holding Cadderly's sombrero .Cadderly shuddered as Danica wiped the blood from her beautiful cheek.Can she really wipe it clean?he doubted.And can he really wash his hands?The image of the beautiful Danica covered in blood seems eerily symbolic.Cadderly felt as if the world had been turned upside down, as if the lines of good and evil had been flipped over and mixed together into a blurred gray area, based only on primitive instincts of savagery and survival. The simple fact is that they could have bypassed the tree and avoided the carnage once and for all.

Compassion was evident on Danica's face as she took the hat from Rufo, handed it to him, and held out her arms to him.The trembling young scholar accepted both without hesitation, and Zirkan Rufo gave him another solemn nod as a token of thanks, and as far as Cadderly could see, the gaunt man It also seems to respect his inner struggle at the same time. They headed back toward the maple, Danica and Cadderly arm in arm, just in time to see Abereth punch the twisted orc's head.The elven prince rudely pulled his short sword from the creature's leg. Cadderly looked away and pushed Danica away, thinking he was about to throw up.He eyed the elf prince gloomily for a moment, then turned deliberately to leave the place.He walked parallel to Aberes, but didn't look at him.

"Otherwise what do you want me to do?" he heard Abeles exclaim angrily.Danica whispered something to the elf that Cadderly couldn't hear, but Abereth didn't want to end his furious speech. "If that's his hometown..." Cadderly heard clearly, and knew that although Abereth said these words to Danica, they were aimed at him.He looked back to see Danica nod to Abereth, and the two exchanged solemn smiles before clasping each other's hands warmly. The whole world is turned upside down. A sound near the maple trees caught his attention.He saw the only surviving Uruk, lying motionless, staring upward.Cadderly followed its gaze upwards, saw split branches, and the dangling piece of flesh.Startled, the young scholar rushed to the wounded creature.It took him a moment to recognize that the creature was still alive, that it was still breathing, because its chest rose and fell so slowly, its breathing was very shallow and uneven.Cadderly pulled the sacred emblem with the eye above the candle from his hat, then fumbled for a pouch on his belt.He heard others moving behind him, but paid them no attention.

"What are you doing?" Aberez asked him. "It's alive," Cadderly replied, "I have the magic to..." "no!" Sharp as the retort was, it didn't hit Cadderly more deeply than hearing it come from Danica—not Abereth.He turned his head slowly, as if he expected to see a terrifying monster looming over his head. But only Danica, Alberez, and Rufo.Cadderly wished otherwise. "The creature has been hurt too badly," Danica said, her voice suddenly very low. "You shouldn't be wasting your magic on creatures like Uruks!" Abereth added, and his voice was sharp.

"We can't leave it here to die," Cadderly countered, fumbling with his pouch again, "it will bleed out." "It's very suitable for an orc to die." Aberes replied flatly. Cadderly watched him, still amazed at the grim elf's lack of mercy. "Go if you want," Cadderly growled, "I am a priest of a merciful god, and I will not leave a wounded creature like this!" Danica then dragged Alberez away, since they had a lot to do before they left anyway.A lot of luggage was strewn about, the weapon was still lodged in the Uruk, and the horse that tripped over a broken branch needed tending.

Aberez understands and respects the woman's feelings.Cadderly had fought valiantly—the elf could not deny this—and they could have prepared to go without his help. Back on the path, Abereth retrieved his dropped bow and arrow, and as he slung it over his shoulder, he heard Danica gasp as she picked up the backpack a few feet away. Aberes turned around sharply, then immediately looked in the direction she was looking. Black smoke rose profusely from Simista's northwestern border. Cadderly, oblivious to the sight in the distance, was furiously trying to stop the blood from the Uruk's leg wound.Where should he start?The skin on the outside of the leg was ripped from the ankle to the mid-thigh, and to make matters worse, the creature had several other injuries, including multiple fractures from being trampled by Rufo's horse.Cadderly had never been particularly proficient in the studies that came with his priestly duties, and divine magic had not come easily to him.Even though he was already the top healer in the library of cuteness, he doubted how much he could do for this badly injured creature.

The piece of torn skin hanging from the tree dropped a few drops of blood to Cadderly's side from time to time.Cadderly believed that this was a warning with a deep meaning, falling regularly like a heartbeat.Then it stopped.Cadderly tried very hard not to look up. At least he could comfort the dying creature, though it was a meager compensation for the damage he had done.He dragged a broken branch and placed it under the Uruk's head, then went back to tend to the wound.He refused to consider the monster's nature, refused to remember that the orcs had planned to kill him and the others.He bandages, knots, and plugs the wound with his own fingers, not disgusted by the fresh blood on his hands.

"Scholar!" he heard Alberez say.Cadderly looked aside, backed up and yelled, for a fully drawn bow was pointed in his direction. The bow and arrow narrowly grazed his chest—he could feel the wind vibrate as it flew past—and shot into the wounded Uruk, through its jaw, and through its brain.The creature contorted violently, then fell still. "We don't have time for you to do stupid things!" Abereth roared, and he raged past the stunned man, not letting his glare leave Cadderly for a moment, until he reached the wounded horse. . Cadderly wanted to protest loudly, to run and punch Abereth, but Danica stood beside him, calming him and helping him to his feet.

"Just let it go," the young woman said.Cadderly turned to her angrily, but all he could see was tenderness in her clear brown eyes and her lips were tightly pressed. "We must leave now," Danica said. "The forest is burning." Aberes euthanized the wounded horse with his long sword, still stained with blood.Cadderly noticed the elf's mournful expression, and the gentle way he carried out his sad task, noting that the elf cared more about horses than he did about orcs. It was Cadderly's horse, and Cadderly had taken it when they set off.He rejects Danica and Rufo's offer to share a horse.In addition, Aberes said that he could use the walking one and let Cadderly ride.Cadderly ignored it.

Cadderly stared straight ahead every step of the way, refusing to acknowledge his companion.However, in his silent inspection of himself, this battle is replaying, and from above this spiritual battlefield, Ba Jin's dead eyes stare at them all, forever criticizing. They entered at dusk among the thick and thick foliage of Simista, and Abereth, though anxious to find his people, soon began to pitch his camp. "We'll be leaving early, well before morning," he explained with a stern expression, "so if you're going to sleep, you'd better go now. It's going to be a short night." "Are you going to sleep?" Cadderly growled at him.Aberes' eyes narrowed as the young scholar boldly approached. "Can you sleep?" Cadderly asked again, his voice growing dangerously louder. "Will your heart cry under what your bow and sword have done? Do you care about it?" Danica and Rufo looked up alertly, almost expecting Abereth to kill Cadderly on the spot. "They are Orcs, orcs of the same kind." Aberes reminded him calmly. "If we lack compassion, how can we be any better than them?" Cadderly growled in frustration. "Are our veins as thick as the orcs' blood?" "It's not your hometown that is being victimized now." The elf replied flatly, his voice full of sarcasm, "Have you ever had a hometown?" Cadderly didn't answer, but he didn't and couldn't ignore the question.He really doesn't know the answer.Before he lived in the Moezhi Library, he lived in the city of Lake Impesk: Karaton.But he has no memory of that time long ago.Maybe the library was his hometown, but he couldn't be sure because he had no other place to compare it to. "If your hometown is in danger, you will fight for it, don't doubt it." Aberes kept calm and continued. "You will ruthlessly kill anything that endangers your homeland, and you will not feel at all sad about its death." The elf looked deeply into Cadderly's gray eyes for a moment longer, waiting for an answer. Then Abeles went away, disappeared into the shadows of the forest, and began to search the nearby area. Cadderly heard Danica's relieved voice behind him. Zirkan Rufo was exhausted and started snoring almost immediately after lying down.Danica wanted to do the same, but Cadderly sat down in front of the low campfire, wrapping himself in a thick blanket.Even the thick blanket couldn't warm the chill in his heart much. He barely noticed Danica coming and sitting next to him. "You don't need to worry so much," she said after a long time. "Should I let that orc die?" Cadderly asked sharply. Danica shrugged, then nodded. "Ulks are malevolent and vicious things," she said. "They live to destroy, caring for nothing but their baser desires. I don't mourn their deaths." She glanced sideways at Cadderly. , "You don't need it either." "It's because of Barjin, isn't it?" Danica asked him again, sympathy in her voice. The words stung Cadderly, and he turned to Danica. "The orcs were never the point," Danica continued fearlessly. "Your madness to care for that creature was not for the good of the orcs. You were driven by guilt, by the guilt of the man who died. Driven by the memory of the priest." Cadderly's expression didn't change, though it was difficult for him to defend Danica's words.Why did he care so much about the Orc, a villain who would have his heart ripped out if he had the chance?Why did the wounded Uruk draw so much sympathy from him? "You acted and fought because the situation demanded it," Danica said quietly, "as with the Uruk as with Barjin. It was Barjin, not Cadderly, who caused Barjin's death. We can mourn the incident." Why things happen, but don't carry guilt over things that are out of your control." "What difference does it make?" Cadderly asked sincerely. Danica put an arm around his shoulders and moved closer to him.Cadderly could feel her breath, hear her heartbeat, see the luster on her full lips. "You have to judge yourself by the same standards you judge others," Danica whispered. "I fought Barjin too, and I would have killed him if I had the chance. What would you do if that happened?" Look at me?" Cadderly had no answer. Danica moved closer, kissed him, and hugged him tightly, though he didn't have the strength to respond.Without another word, she went back to lie down under her blanket, gave him a goodnight smile, closed her eyes, and fell asleep tiredly. Cadderly sat for a while, watching the young woman.She knew him so well, even better than he knew herself.Or was it because Danica understood the wider world better than the sheltered Cadderly?In the short time he had lived, Cadderly had looked for answers in books, while Danica, with her practical survival wisdom, had looked for them in experience. It seems that there are some things that cannot be understood just by reading about them. Abeles returned to camp a moment later.Cadderly was lying down now, but not asleep.He looked at the elf.Aberes set his bow and arrows down against a log, untied his sword, and laid it beside his bedding.Then, to Cadderly's surprise, Abereth walked up to Danica and gently pulled her blanket up and tucked it under her shoulders.He stroked Danica's rich hair, then walked back to his bedding and lay down among the countless stars. For the second time in the same day, Cadderly didn't know what to think, or feel.