(Just before dawn, the day of the great surrender.)Ozzy looked down at Suzette, "Ready? We don't have to go back right away."She shook her head, "No.

If I do that, I might not come back for a month.

You have a plan? You always have a plan.""I was thinking about these roles we have.

Not much different from some of the jobs we had before where we had to act out a role.

Let's stick to that.

If we see Ben or Rolly, we can tell them.

But maybe no one else for a bit.

Feel out the situation, see what's up."Suzette frowned, "I don't like it only because we have to play up the whole 'lonely barmaid/oblivious boyfriend' bit.

After I close up, I expect you in our room, that's where I draw the line.""Ok by me." Ozzy took her hand, opened the door and they walked through.They appeared next to the fountain in Sedgewick.

A rooster was crowing.

Ozzy walked towards the barbecue pit, but did an exaggerated wave to Suzette before he wandered off.

She waved back, then slowly walked to the henhouse to gather the eggs, a sad and lonely look on her face.

=*=

Ozzy wandered over to his pit, keeping a big smile on his face.

He saw the smoke golem tending the fire.

"About time you dragged your butt back over this way.

I've had thieves trying to steal from me, and that angel is thrashing about something fierce.

The pit's a bit tight with one angel and four thieves tossed in there.""Players? You tossed players into the firepit? Didn't their bodies go away?"Joe laughed.

"Naw, the pit won't let them.

Oh, there's just a shell left; they aren't real people, just visitors - don’t worry about them hurting much.

The rest of them is off wherever players go to when they’re killed off." The golem paused and looked at him.

"Speaking of which, I see a few things have changed.

You got to the second tier and even picked up a Role.

That's very nice.

Makes it a lot easier to do some things.

Stick to the Role when you can."Ozzy wondered how much the smoke golem could see of his other changes, "Good advice.

I've got an idea I want to test though.

Are you about done with the Screaming Charcoal?"Joe nodded, "Oh yes, have a few good batches.

Multiple screams are really nice.

You want to let this bunch go for now?"Ozzy looked down into the fiery pit with five people chained to the walls.

It was a bit disturbing, to say the least.

He'd thought the pit would just kill them quickly.

Oh well, that's what happens when you steal from a butcher.

And he'd thought about a way to maybe make it up to the angel.

"Yeah, can we drag out the angel? I need to talk to him, and we'll let the other ones go."The fire pit grew much less hot.

The screaming stopped.

The remains of the four players dissolved into ash.

Joe's arms turned smoky, enveloped the angel and dragged him out.

He wasn't looking so good.

Only a few charred feathers on his wings, his halo had melted, and his golden hair was all gone.

Still, even with all the burns on him, he looked pretty good for being in the pit all those days.

"You bastard! Just wait until I get free! Do you know who my father is? He's going to have you chained up and scrubbing the floor of four dungeons for centuries!"Ozzy just patted the angel on the shoulder.

"Now, now, there's no need for that talk, is there? Threats will only mean Joe has to toss you back in the pit and start up another batch of charcoal.

But I got to thinking that maybe we got off on the wrong foot."The angel's face got a bit fearful at the talk of tossing him back in.

Biting back on his righteous anger, he concentrated on getting away, "Uh, right.

Definitely the wrong foot.

Tell you what, you let me limp off to home and I'll consider this little mis-understanding to be my fault.

No hard feelings.

Certainly won't tell my dad." Ozzy smiled at him.

The angel became unsure of why he was angry.

This mortal had such great teeth!"I'm glad you see things that way, but I got to thinking, you probably do have a better deal than that spawn of the underworld.

Her terms just weren't that great.

If you're up for it, I think maybe we can work a deal.

What's your name, son? I'm Oswald." Ozzy stuck out his hand and the angel took it.

"My name is Arnoniel of the 57th host.

Uh..just call me Arnie; everyone does.

What sort of deal would you like to make?"Ozzy smiled again, "Well, first let's get you cleaned up a bit." Ozzy used his cantrip to clean off all the soot and charred skin from the angel.

Arnie was rapidly healing, but looking a lot thinner.

His hair didn't come back, nor his wings."By the glory of the light! You have radiance?" Ozzy just nodded at him benevolently."Yep, that's one of the reasons I think we can make a deal.

See, I'd like to protect some innocent people and their property.

If you're willing to give me a long term extended warranty on some of the buildings in this quaint little town, I'd be willing to pay your price.

I need to do some good to balance out being tempted by that Harlot."The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident."Plus, imagine how good that will make you look back at the home office, Arnie! Sure, you took a bit of a beating, but you're sticking around, making the deals.

Any idiot can make the easy deals.

You took on a Butcher and walked away with a contract! You've literally endured the fires of the underworld to help protect this town."Arnie was silent.

It was true! Any idiot could do the easy deals.

What he'd accomplished was real hard-core angel stuff.

This guy was tough, but Arnie had endured his fire, struggled, and wore him down.

The butcher probably knew he had been close to escape! Dad was finally going to be so proud of him! He checked his radiance.

He had four points and he was going to make this butcher take every point of it to protect his little town!

REJOICE! You have entered into a binding agreement with Arnoniel of the 57th host.

In return for protecting the homes and businesses currently in the town of Sedgewick, you have agreed to the following:Take upon yourself 4 points of RAD.

Pay the sum of 7 gold a year for 99 years.

In the event of your permanent death, the contract will transfer to either your oldest child, or to yourself when you reenter the cycle, if you have no children.