"Penance," the zombie giant says gravely.
I have no idea what little flags have to do with anything. How does one "do" a flag? I don't think I want to know.
"I will give you three tasks that you must complete before I will show you how to return home," she adds.
"Well, why didn't you say so before?" I mutter. More loudly, I say, "I'm not your sodding errand boy. Just because I want something from you is no reason to send me to do all the shitty jobs you don't want to do!"
"Unless you can prove you didn't kill the elf, you will do these three tasks as penance for the elf's murder," the giant roars at me.
I fall to the ground with the force of her breath and try not to breathe myself because the stench make me dry heave. This is so unfair. I didn't kill the elf! Why won't she believe me? Why would I lie?
"And if I don't?" I ask.
The giant laughs. I push my forehead against the ground and tuck my chin in to avoid the worst of the smell. "If you don't, I shall excommunicate you. I shall ban everyone in this world from helping you."
She can't do that.
"You can't do that!"
It's not physically possible.
Is it?
"I will mark you, monster, and everyone will know what you are," she roars. "No-one helps monsters in this world."
"Says the actual monster," I mutter to myself.
"You will have to stay here forever!"
"Exactly," I say more loudly. "You don't want me here any more than I want to be here."
"But I know how to get away from you," she says.
I grit my teeth. "And I know how to make you pay." Or I will after I've thought about it a bit and, until then, I just have to play for time. So I shrug. "Anyway, this is all just a dream. I'll wake up eventually."
This can't be real.
"Do you accept the terms or not?" the giant asks, as if I haven't said a thing.
I'm still going to make her pay for this.
"Well?" she demands.
I'm going to make them all pay. How dare they do this to me!
"Answer me!" she shouts.
"Yes," I lie.
I'll have a better idea of how to get my own back once I know what she expects me to do - because she's going to ask me to do the kind of things she hates to do. What better way of getting revenge than finding a way to make her do those things, after all?
"Good," she says. "For your first task of penance, I ask that you free the Oak Tree One!"