7 What Kind of King

I hear Candy come up from behind, joining me in my hiding spot. Turning to her, I point at the creature on the ground that I spotted earlier. "Candy, it's a centaur."

I see her look in the direction of my finger. Then she nods. "I think you're right, King Ash. Do you think it's injured? What do you think the bugbears are going to do to it?"

I shake my head. "I don't know." Kill it? Eat it? To some extent, I don't particularly care.

Now, before you think I'm a heartless bastard, just know this. Things like the different races and species killing each other is fairly commonplace in this world. Heck, I've done my fair share of killing, and so to some extent, I've been desensitized to it all, coming to the conclusion that that's just the natural order of things. And in that sense, the scene before me is no different than if I had seen a pack of lions attacking a wild gazelle. It's interesting, gruesome maybe, but not empathy inducing. That's just how things are in this world. It's not like Candy's questions suddenly stir a heroic desire within me to step in and intervene on some stranger's behalf. Why should I care what happens to a random centaur I've never met? Plus, I think all centaurs are men, right? Not that that really matters...

I tap Candy on the shoulder and gesture in the opposite direction of the bugbears. "Come on, let's go."

Candy looks at me in surprise. "You're not going to fight them?"

I shake my head and wave my hand across my face. "Too much work. And besides, it's like you said. You're low on arrows. And I'm low on mana. We'd be at a huge disadvantage if we engage now. 'A wise man knows to fight another day.' Or something like that."

"Oh, that makes complete sense," Candy says with a nod of her head. The two of us stand, and we are about to make our retreat from the situation, when suddenly, a movement catches my attention. From the corner of my eye, I see one of the bugbears lifting the centaur up into its arms and flipping it over. This motion brings the centaur fully into view from behind the trees, revealing its anterior, its face and torso. My eyes narrow as I process the centaur's newly uncovered features, and I come to an abrupt realization that causes my eyes to shoot open with surprise.

That centaur is female?! Wait, there are female centaurs?!

I stare silently, awestruck by the female centaur's noble beauty, her large forehead and high cheekbones framed by strands of long, pure-white hair, and the pale, pinkness of her lips, sitting below a sharp, narrow nose. Looking down, I see her exposed torso, dotted with a pair of small breasts, rising and falling with her shallow, unconscious breathing. A sudden heat surges through my body, and I stop mid-stride, grabbing Candy's hand and jerking her back.

"Candy, ready your bow. We're going to engage," I command, my voice steady and resolute.

"W-what? I thought we were leaving, King Ash," Candy whispers in reply. I can hear the confusion in her voice, and I just let out a soft chuckle before wagging my finger at my elf companion.

"Candy. Candy. Candy. My dear naive girl. What kind of king runs away when he sees the weak being oppressed right before his eyes? What kind of king tolerates the bullying and injustice that is three versus one? Not I! There shall be no oppression of the weak or numerically disadvantageous shenanigans on my watch. Curse me if you must, Candy, but this is just the kind of king I am," I declare.

I look over to Candy and see that she is giving me an excited nod. "Oh, that makes complete sense. That's my king. King Ash the brave. King Ash the just. King Ash the strong."

I turn up my nose, then point to the bugbears. "Ready your bow, Candy, and strike them down with a single shot. Pierce their heart, that they might rue the day they had the misfortune to meet us. On my mark. Three. Two. One. Fire!"

I must have said the last part a bit too loud, because as the arrow leaves Candy's bow, I see one of the bugbears look up in our direction. Its yellow eyes are glaring, but I feel no fear, letting out a smirk instead. "Too late, you fool!" I say, watching as the arrow whizzes towards the creatures head, waiting for it to be impaled by Candy's marksmanship as so many goblins had before it. But then something completely unexpected happens. With surprising speed, the bugbear swings its club upward, intercepting and deflecting the arrow harmlessly to the side. I sense the smirk still on my face, but now it's beginning to feel a bit stupid. "Uh, or not? Not too late-?" I say as my words taper off.

Thanks to our abrupt assault, we've also drawn the attention of the other two bugbears, who move to join the first. Suddenly, six menacing eyes are staring in our direction, with large spiked clubs swinging at the ready. What's worse, I've misjudged their power. I thought they would be slow and stupid, like the goblins we've been fighting up until now. But the bugbears are clearly stronger and faster, and I realize now that we are woefully under-equipped and too low on resources to deal with them at the moment.

I glance over to Candy as a shiver runs down my spine. "Uh, Candy," I say nervously, "remember the secret strategy we talked about earlier?"

She nods. "What about it, King Ash?"

"Let's use it."

"Right now?"

I hear the thud of heavy footsteps as the bugbears begin charging towards our location, with strides so forceful that the ground trembles beneath my feet. I grab ahold of Candy's hand, pulling her with me. "Yes, right now! Run!"