(Deer's POV)The demon fell, a gaping crater left where its life had been.
For a moment, everything was a blur of terrible speed.
Was that a new spell? I wondered, my mind racing.
Where the heck am I?
It was pitch black, then a shimmering light appeared.
I thought I had found it—the gateway to Deer Valhalla. I saw them: beautiful ladies standing under a tree laden with fruit. They were Volmens—the lady deers of legend.
"Hurry!" they called. "We love Mr. Deer! Come to us and the fruit!"
Driven by joy, my body trembling with anticipation,
I raced toward that golden light. I slowed down at the very end, wanting to enter with majesty,
to show off my grace. But the moment I stepped through the white light, my soul curdled.
The beautiful ladies shriveled into hideous, golem-like hags.
The lush paradise withered into a dark, suffocating wasteland.
Behind a tattered curtain of reality, I saw the truth: rows of male deer enslaved,
working in misery,
while the golem-deers lashed them with whips of thorns.
One of the hags struck my back, her voice a gravelly hiss: "Get to work!"
I looked her in the eye and snarled, "Hell no. Over my dead body."