When Asmodeos woke up, it was to see a squirrel staring at him.
The small fluffy creature had a small fluffy tail, but that tail was strange. After all, this was just an imp gnome scout, and this particular creature had a wolf's tail.
It also had the teeth of a shark.
And so, as Asmodeos saw that the creature was eyeing him like a particularly juicy piece of steak, he shuddered.
"Look, let us come to an agreement, okay?" Asmodeos knew that he only had one thing to bargain with.
Knew for a fact that the imp gnomes actually sent their best as scouts.
The imp gnomes cared about the life of their brethren, and they, just like anyone who wanted to avoid death, always lived by the motto:
Send the strong first, make sure the weak are safe, and never, ever give ground.
This was actually the gnome general. He was the strongest, and so he combined a couple of shifter powers into a single body. Marek was an old weapon, a weapon of mass destruction.
A weapon that knew no boundaries.
And so, he knew that he could lull Asmodeos into a false sense of security.
A sense of security which was going to end up with Asmodeos getting eaten, or so Marek thought.
"I'll give you the souls of 100 golden snake statues, you can keep the gold," Asmodeos already knew that he had Marek before him.
He knew that the general was ready to sell even his own brethren just to get power. And so, with a glance at Peter, making sure that Peter was still asleep and that no snake was curled around his head, he knew that he had to bargain with everything he had.
The offer was tempting and Marek wanted to take it. He, however, had not made it so far as he had by taking such risks. Marek's showed his pearly whites at Asmodeos.
Made a couple of steps towards him.
He needed one bite, one bite of the throat or one bite around an eyeball, and then Asmodeos would be out of the running.
Asmodeos panicked.
He didn't want to die. He didn't want to face the spirits above, for if he did face the spirits above, they were going to make sure he ended up in hell for lying to them.
With a scream, he reached out, took Peter's hand and teleported them out of the training pendant.
But it was too late.
In his desire to save his life, he had actually bonded with Marek, and the squirrel had revenge on his mind.
And so, because Asmodeos couldn't defeat even the squirrel who was so old, he needed mana to move, all the imp gnome shifters managed to get out of the training pendant.
For the first few seconds, everything was calm.
The gnomes looked at the gathered gnomes, normal gnomes, dark gnomes, imp gnomes.
For, well, the imp gnomes who were gathered there were just two. Just Nick and Alaric.
But the imp gnomes could feel other imp gnomes nearby.
They looked at Asmodeos, who was shaking his head.
Then at Peter, who was yawning.
Then at Marek, who was currently a squirrel.
And, finally, at the forest around them.
One brave imp gnome shifter placed a fist over his heart, lost in the moment.
"We are free. We are finally free!"
More cries joined his cry. The imp gnome shifters felt warm inside. Could already smell the faint scent of hot chocolate in the air.
"We will never go back into the training pendant!"
"Never!"
This cry was taken up by the other gnomes.
And the gnomes who had already been gathered decided that maybe, just maybe, they didn't need Asmodeos and Peter.
That they needed gnomes who could actually fight. Gnomes who wanted to bring honor to the race. The dark gnomes picked up their hellhounds, left a couple of coins for Asmodeos and Peter for all the care they had given them, and picked their new side.
The normal gnomes, green haired and with green eyes, as they were, looked at Asmodeos and Peter for guidance.
Peter sighed.
Oh, so now he couldn't even stay in prison like a normal person?
This was a new low for him.
And yet, he looked at the gnomes and smiled.
"If you commit crimes, then you will end up in jail. But if you don't commit crimes, then you can live anywhere you wish! We will make sure that no gnomes are mistreated, that all the gnomes who live by the laws of the nature and are good and kind and commit no crimes will be able to live freely!"
The green-haired gnomes started to look at Peter with hope in their eyes. That gave him wings.
"And if you, gnomes, can't find a house, then Asmodeos and I will build you one. We will build your city, even! All I ask from you is that you don't commit crimes. Please be good, be kind, be considerate. That is all I ask for," unknown to Peter, the spirits above were listening.
They looked into the hearts of all gnomes present and decided to split them into two groups.
The kind group, the group who just wanted to live a peaceful life, a life where gnomes could eat vegetables and fruit and meat and only eat hot chocolate when they absolutely wanted to.
And then, the other group. The group which wanted to travel the road of world domination.
The group, which was going to be Peter's enemy!
That group got teleported to the edge of the forest.
"I think we are finally going to get a quest," Asmodeos winked at Peter and then reached out to the heavens. "Thank you, spirits above! Now I can finally prove that I can be a hero."
Peter, on the other hand, mourned the loss of these pure, kind creatures.
He had been afraid of the shifter gnomes. But that didn't mean that he wanted for them to be his enemies, and yet, as he swore he would only capture and rehabilitate them, the spirits above smiled upon him.
For he was a good person, and he didn't want to kill the gnomes, and he, just like any other hero, actually had honor.
"We all live happily one day," Peter took out his sword from its scabbard and waved it at the heavens. "We will be happy, and we are never going to spill blood!"
"Why don't you fudge yourselves?!"
The spirits above had finally had enough of Peter and Asmodeos. They hated the two with a passion.
If those two fudges didn't want to do their job, then the spirits above weren't going to do their job either.
And so, the gnomes who were chosen to be the evil gnomes received daggers, swords, bows and arrows and armed themselves.
The gnomes who wanted to be good and kind armed themselves with sticks from the ground.
As for Peter, he finally felt the righteous fire of justice inside of him.
The knowledge of the spirits above finally flew into him, and he, with his newfound muscle mass gained from hours and hours of exercise, finally figured out how to swing a sword.
The shifter gnomes ran away, for Peter made a perfect arc with his copper sword. Now that he could actually hit them, he wasn't so funny to them anymore.
Asmodeos smiled, looked at the heavens, gave a thumbs up, and then went to hug Peter.
As the two of them looked into each other's eyes, Asmodeos could not help but think that if his hair could turn white again and grow to its former length, the world would be perfect.
And it did, for the spirits above had given up on Asmodeos and had decided that if he truly didn't want to be a hero, they weren't going to force the issue.
And so, the two ended up as escaped convicts.
That was not a good thing because the gnomes were on the war path.
Even if they would first take their time preparing their tea…
For the hot chocolate was a thing of the past. A relic of their days as slaves to Fate.
Besides, it was the main reason why most of them had to go to the dentist every year. Some changes had to be made. This was simply one of them.