Aurora Magazine 2019

tive power that no single man should ever wield.” A hand shot up next to me. “I call dibs!” I turned to my right to spot Meruco, a triumphant smile on his face. I turned my best glare on the human as I recalled every moment his greed had caused us more trouble than we needed. He’d been one of the original members of our group since the beginning and he was hands down the biggest nut-job I’d ever met. You’d think that he, as the only human, would be the most normal out of us all, but that would be a very wrong assumption on all counts. It didn’t help that he was prone to summoning the undead. The sound of a resounding slap snapped me back to the present and I looked for the source. Our half-elven ranger, Gal - low, stood over Meruco with a disapproving frown on his face. “Now Meruco, don’t be greedy. And don’t give me that look. I have a half a mind to slap you again for even making such a suggestion, boy.” Gallow, wizened from his long years and many experiences, was one of the more rational members of our group. He was the guy who had no patience for excuses and half-assed attempts of seriousness in moments like this – something that brought me to respect him more. “Meruco, did you not learn anything from the last time you tried to keep a powerful item,” asked Sariel, our full-elven ranger. She had a lot more patience than most in the party, but we all remembered when he’d been corrupted by a powerful gem and betrayed us. Sariel was the first to forgive Meruco when she saw that he was genuine in trying to right the wrong that he had caused. It took the rest of us a bit longer to get over the mistrust we felt toward him since his betrayal. “That was one time! You guys said you’d forgiven me for that.” Meruco sighed dejectedly, looking like a kicked puppy – as much as grown man could anyway. I held in a laugh at the exas - perated look on Tiberius’s face. “Um, I believe it was like three times. Maybe more. You’ve gotten us into a lot of trouble, Meruco.” I nodded along with 73