It was nice to be away from the sands of Desierto and as the slayer whipped the horses in front of her in order to get them to move a bit faster, she couldn’t help but smile. Her jobs abroad had been a complete success and she could feel her own strength growing by the day, much to her joy. Every mission completed was another step closer to her fulfilling her potential and every kill caused her power to increase. How she loved this life and the sheer thrill that could only come from the adventures of the unburdened mage. No rules to hold her back and no morality to blind her. This was how life was supposed to be and she could see why her mother had followed the exact same path for so long. Hopefully today’s task would be another wonderful adventure albeit a rather unusual one. She honestly just felt like a change of pace.
Rather than fly towards her destination, Lena was currently sitting at the front of a wagon with four large black stallions cantering as quickly as possible along the earthy roads. The reason for the beasts was pretty simple. She was going to need to carry a lot of cargo back to her employer once the task was done and this seemed to be the most effective way of doing it. Besides, it hadn’t cost much to loan the animals and wagon from its owner. In fact, it hadn’t cost anything at all, besides the tiniest amount of energy used in killing the moronic fool. He’d decided that rather than help her with her task, he’d instead moan at her for the reason why she needed them. So, she’d just hit him in the face and took what she wanted. Business as usual.
Her destination for the job would be a quiet and out of the way place called Peace Village. It didn’t sound all that fun of a place but the task more than made up for it. She was going to play the role of recruiter for a group of individuals who wished to spread a bit of chaos, a cause that she could get behind. They wanted to indoctrinate a few youngsters into their ranks and so had hired her to find and do just that. If that wasn’t enough, they also wanted her to bring back a few lovely ladies for the group's men to have some fun with which had certainly brought a smile to the girl’s face. Some things never changed and given her own preferences, she wondered if perhaps she could find a lovely girl for herself in the process. The thought caused a giggle to escape her lips and as she once more whipped the horses into full motion, a wide smile crossed her features.
The trip itself had taken most of the day and by the time that the girl reached the outskirts of the village, the girl was just begging for some action after the long and rather dull trek. The thought of what was going to happen had kept her going but there was only so long that such thoughts and desires could keep her stimulated before she just got bored. No, she needed action and soon, before was driven mad by it. Luckily, she’d arrived just in time and as she brought the wagon into the village and parked it in the centre of the place, she realised just how much fun that this was going to be. There were so many innocent looking faces coming towards her, perfect for what she was going to do.
As a small crowd formed around her, Lena would stand up on top of the wagon so that she had the attention of everyone and spoke in a clear voice, “Hi there, people of Peace Village. I’m Lena Lena, a recruiter for a newly formed organisation who wishes to see these lands grow and prosper. It is my pleasure today to come to this lovely village today in order to bring you into our order. There will be no need for payment or tribute, I simply ask that I am able to take a few of your youngsters and young women in order to help boost our ranks. They won’t be harmed and we will open their eyes as to how the world should be, rather than how it is. I ask that you willingly accept these terms and that both our communities can prosper.” The look on her face was rather sweet for her and there was no sign of the darker thoughts that were swirling inside her mind. Not yet, anyway.
An elderly male would step forth in front of the other villagers and after a moment or two, began to reply, sounding deeply concerned, a small frown appearing on his face, “I welcome you to our village, Miss Lena but I speak for my people when I say that we will not be allowing anyone to go with you. I have heard such speeches before in my time and they always stem from the same source. Evil. You try to bewitch us with your sweet words but they are tainted with poison. I am the leader of this village and it is my task to keep my friends and family safe from the likes of you. Leave. Now.”
As he spoke, the slayer’s expression quickly darkened and her fists were clenched by the time he’d finished. Her tone was far more threatening when she spoke again, “Perhaps I did not make myself clear, old man. Your village will become a part of the organisation, regardless of whether you wish to or not. You will hand over five children and three of your prettiest women over to me, now. If not, then I will slaughter every single one of you, starting with your family. I’ll paint this village with their blood and make you all watch. Don’t be stupid and use your brain. Give them to me.”
“I have already said my piece,” the village leader answered, “Go home, child and….”
There was a sudden scream of anguish from the crowd as the leader was impaled by a sudden javelin of Ice, causing his body to spasm and convulse, before crashing to the ground.
Scowling, Lena would then leap off of the wagon, hand still crackling with Ice, “I’m not gonna be lectured by a pathetic old bastard nor anyone else. Are there any other objections or are you going to do as I say now?”
The village people would look nervously between one another before suddenly running for their lives and sprinting into the village church, barricading the doors behind them while the bemused mage just watched. She didn’t make any effort to stop them, knowing that it was futile and simply smirked at the sudden action. God wasn’t going to save them, in fact, the only god that was going to get involved in the situation was Lena herself and she certainly wasn’t going to play nice any longer. They’d had their chance and the foolish old man had ruined any hope of a pleasant encounter. Oh no, it was going to be painful, which was secretly what she’d been hoping for anyway.
Heading towards the church, the ginger haired slayer would swiftly begin to tap into her powers in order to blast her way through the door but she was rather rudely interrupted as her keen senses picked up on a group of figures approaching from her right. Turning sharply, she’d find herself confronted by four robed figures, all wildling various types of magical artefacts. Her employer hadn’t mentioned the possibility of mages, although it was certainly a pleasant surprise. It was difficult to tell whether they were male or female from their cloaks and it was only when their leader took a step forward and spoke that she discovered at least theirs or in this case, hers.
“You made a mistake killing our village elder, kid,” the figure said seriously, looking up at the girl, revealing a pair of brown eyes, “You come here making ridiculous demands and then kill him because he disagreed with you? I am not sure as to whether you are just childish or insane but either way, we are going to deal with you, here and now. I am sure that the Rune Knights will be more than willing to haul you off to the nearest prison and we have already sent a couple of our scouts to inform them of what has happened here. Your little killing spree ends here here, girl.”
“The Rune Knights can’t even piss on target, let alone actually do their jobs,” Lena answered with a laugh, “I’m not scared of either them or you. I’ll happily kill you guys first before dealing with the townspeople, it doesn’t matter to me. I think I’ll keep you alive though as I’m just dying to see what’s under those robes of yours. Don’t worry, I won’t hand you over to the Brotherhood, you can stay with me instead and we can have some fun.”
“You dirty minded little bitch,” the lead mage snapped in response, “Keep your perverted thoughts to yourself.” Annoyed, she quickly turned around and barked at her fellow mages, who had started to snigger, “What the hell are you laughing at? This is not funny. Deal with her.”
Smirking, Lena took a few steps back as the largest of the mages came forwards, wielding a large staff that was finely dusted with ice. He was quite a size and as he began uttering a spell, he seemed to be rather confident in his abilities. His staff would change into a large blue scythe, with which he’d proceed to start swinging from left to right, causing bolts of ice to come hurtling towards the ginger haired slayer. Her instincts taking over, Lena would nimbly avoid the attacks, before unleashing a powerful wave of water that forced him to stop his attack and have to fend off. The other mages quickly got out of the way too, separating out and starting to surround the girl.
Unwilling to let them do so, Lena quickly dashed towards the ice mage, summoning her water claws and body in order to increase her physical strength and speed. He would swing his large scythe in order to strike her but just as he was about to make contact, the girl would vanish into a water pool, moving underneath him and reappearing behind. With a giggle, she’d quickly spin around and stab him in the kidneys with her claws, causing him to drop to his knees but she was sadly robbed of the final blow as one of the other mages launched a fireball, which struck him rather than her. Slashing him across the back as he fell forward anyway, the mage would collapse, landing flat on his face.
“Oh my, you attacked your own friend? That’s rough,” the slayer chuckled at the fire mage, who seemed shaken by the act, judging from his body language. Leaving him to suffer for a bit, she’d turn her gaze towards the third mage, who’d so far just watched in silence. He seemed ready now though, wielding a bow of light and proceeded to launch a barrage of arrows in her direction. Long distance attacks could be somewhat of a pain for her and so she simply inhaled and launched a mighty roar of water from her mouth, which soaked up many of the arrows and solidified as it travelled. He desperately tried to block it with his bow but there was little chance of that and it crashed full force into him, hurling him backwards and up against the side of one of the village houses. Darting in close, she’d then unleash a barrage of Ice from her hand which had him twitching on the floor in pain, before he shortly expired, joining his ice mage ally in death.
These mages weren’t much good but that made sense, given how quiet and quaint the village seemed to be. They weren’t prepared for the true experience and emotions that came from battle. They were naive and as the girl spun, her eyes focusing on the fire mage, he seemed to realise that and tried to run. Lena was having none of it and raised a hand towards the sky, causing a bolt of wicked Ice to strike from the sky, hitting the fool on the head and causing him to scream with pain. He’d inadvertently helped her but that meant nothing and so rather than just leave him to rot, she’d instead create an Ice javelin and launch that towards him as well, catching him in his twitching body and having it be used as a conduit. It was a painful ending for him and when he finally collapsed to the ground, he was little more than a charred husk, his eyes still wide open, even in death.
With the minions gone, she’d turn to face the lead mage, who lowered her hood to reveal her face. She was a lovely looking woman indeed, with long blonde hair, her brown eyes glaring at the ginger haired girl. With a chuckle, Lena quipped, “You’ve got no one left to hide behind now, so just submit to me and I won’t hurt you too much. I’d hate to damage that beautiful face and body of yours, after all. I meant what I said before and I’ll treat you well.”
“Die,” the blonde answered savagely, creating a dual pair of swords which blazed with magical energy. There was no need for further words and the two females charged towards each other and started their battle. It was a violent and vicious contest, with the two performing a dance of death across the village. She wasn’t the leader of the group for nothing and was definitely more of a challenge for the ginger then any of the others had been. It wasn’t often that Lena’s fights lasted all that long but this was probably one of the longest.
Yet, experience was still on the slayer’s side and as time wore on, her almost endless supply of energy and lust for blood began to give her the advantage. An enormous uppercut to the dual wielder's jaw would send her left sword tumbling to the jaw and Lena followed up with a water enhanced fist to the stomach, before leaping up into the air and delivering a Ice enhanced roundhouse kick to her face, hurling her foe backwards. To finish the fight, Lena would then inhale and unleash a combination of her two elements in a mighty roar, which struck the village mage hard and sent her to the ground, dazed and winded.
“Phew, you're pretty good you know,” the slayer said happily, brushing a few tufts of pink hair out of her face, breathing a little heavily, “Now I’m gonna have my way with you.”
chuckling, she’d approach the downed woman and rip apart her robes using her claws, careful to avoid actually cutting her. The blonde didn’t have the strength to fight her and simply lay there panting as the girl went to work. Lena would then use the woman’s own torn robes to bind her hands and feet, cinching them tightly enough to cause the woman to grunt, before grinning wickedly and creating a few more adult ties, leaving her victim with very little room to move at all.
“I suggest you stay still now otherwise it’s gonna hurt,” Lena chuckled, before finishing off her work by blindfolding and gagging the woman with what was left of the women's robes. Once it was done, she’d then bodily pick up her helpless captive and carry her over to the wagon, before climbing up onto the back of it and leaving the tied up mage inside the canopy for later. With one last smile, she’d add, “Don’t worry, you’re not the first girl that I’ve tied up, as long as you don’t try anything funny, you’ll be safe. If I come back and find that you've been picking on those knots though, you’re gonna be in trouble. Think about that.”
With that, she’d then jump off of the wagon and return to the task at hand, fully expecting to have to burn the church to the ground. Yet, to her surprise, the crowd had returned to face her, seeming to have accepted the inevitable.
The shock was evident on the faces of each and every villager as they surveyed the damage that the slayer had caused. The bodies of the mages and the village leader showing the effects of her brutality. Many looked pale and one or two seemed to be struggling not to vomit. A very weak group indeed and rather than try and cause any more issues. They reluctantly pushed five children to the front of the group, three male and two female. Oddly enough, the children didn’t seem quite so shocked and one or two of them seemed more curious than anything. It was a little odd but Lena couldn’t help but smile, as her love for blood dimmed and she returned to her sweeter demeanour. There was no need to be overly threatening to them, at least not yet and instead she simply beckoned them towards her, which they swiftly did. In the background, the villagers were having a rather heated and unhappy discussion and after an anguished wail or two, the three women were chosen too.
The slayer would raise a hand and utter, “As lovely as you three are, I don’t trust you enough to just climb aboard my wagon freely. I want the rest of you villagers to bind them hand, feet, eyes and mouth, so that they are not encouraged to try anything stupid.” The villagers looked at each other briefly but one look at Lena was enough to get them to do as she asked and they soon began to carry out her orders. The pink haired slayer couldn’t help but smile as the task was done, unable to keep her drifting eyes away from the lovely ladies as they were bound and silenced. It was a shame that they had to be delivered unspoilt but she had the mage to play with, so it wasn’t all that bad. When the task was done, she’d nod her head and say, “Right, now put them on the wagon, away from each other, as well as my lovely companion.” Her orders were once again followed, with the strongest of the villagers picking up the woman and placing them where instructed, they would then climb back off and rejoin the rest of the group.
“Good, now stay there for a moment while I have a word with these youngsters,” she said with a giggle, before walking around the back of the wagon, the children following her. They certainly were a rather enthusiastic bunch and they looked far more excited than afraid, which honestly reminded the girl of herself when she’d been training with her mother. They all looked to be between eight and twelve years of age, which was the age that her employers had been looking for and she had no doubt that she could get them to see things her way or at least twist them.
“Right, kiddos,” she said sweetly, looking from one child to the next, “You guys can call me Lena and I’ll be taking you to a place where you can have all kinds of fun and adventures. You won’t have to worry about your parents or rules or living in this boring dump. You’ll be able to explore the world, as I get to do every day. The brotherhood’s all about people being themselves and being who they really are and by joining us, you all get to do that too.”
“Wow, that sounds like fun,” piped up the youngest of the group, a blonde boy with a massive awestruck grin on his face, “Do we get to learn magic too? That’s what you used on those people, right?”
“Yeah, you can learn all kinds of magic, whatever type you want,” Lena lied, the smile never leaving her face, “Everyone who joins becomes a mage, it’s part of the training. One day you’ll be able to cast spells just like me. All you have to do is pass a little test. Once you’ve done that, then I can take you to the base and your journey can begin..”
“What test?” asked a redheaded girl, “It’d better not be maths because I’m bad at that.”
“Like I’d give you a maths test, maths is for losers,” the ginger chuckled, “No, I just need you to to kill everyone in this village.”
All five children blinked and looked at one another, before looking back at the slayer.
“K..Kill?” A nervous sounding brown haired boy asked, “What d’ya mean kill? You didn’t say anything ‘about killing? I don’t think I could do that.”
“It wouldn’t be much of a test if it was easy,” the vampire quipped, “When I was growing up, my mum made me do the exact same thing in order to toughen me up. I was nervous too but once I got that first one outta the way, I started having fun. You will too.”
“Really? My mum always said that killing was the worst thing that a person could do,” the fourth child said with her arms folded, a bluenette girl and tallest of the group.
“Your mum talks bullshit,” the slayer laughed, “Look at me, I’m as happy as could be and I’ve taken loads of lives. You guys will love it too. Just trust me and do what I tell you. I even have some gifts for you to do the job.”
Clambering back into the wagon for a moment, Lena would briefly smirk at the four lovely ladies, now bound and gagged within, before picking up a cloth covered package and jumping back off the wagon. Bringing it around to where the children were waiting, she’d then roll it out onto the ground, revealing various types of blades and sharp objects. “See? You can use these to do the job. Just take one and paint the village red. If anyone tries to get in your way, I’ll stop em. Now go have fun.”
But...” the brown haired boy quivered.
“Do it!” Lena cut said sharply, cutting him off and giving him a more serious look. It was enough to stop him in his tracks and he eventually joined the others in picking out a weapon for themselves. With a nod from the mage, they’d then sprint around the side of the wagon and charge at the helpless villagers…
What happened next was little more than a massacre and as the children went about following their new leaders orders, Lena simply peeked around the corner of the wagon and watched. The cries and screams were so loud and vibrant and after a little while, she could have sworn that the children were starting to giggle with joy, just as she tended to whenever she was in the middle of a bloodbath. The nostalgia struck her so very hard but in doing so, caused the smile to slightly fade from her face, as the more harrowing images of her childhood came screaming to the surface of her mind. The days without food, the viciousness of her mother’s temper and the brutal lessons that had turned the timid girl into the monster that she was today. What she was seeing was like staring into a mirror, which caused both a great deal of joy and sadness at the same time. The emotions were so strong that for a moment, she briefly moved her hands up to her head, as her feelings and memories overtook her. Yet, it was for just a few seconds and she quickly slapped herself across the face, to get herself back on track. Such feelings were signs of weakness and she’d left those behind her.
She looked up to find that the children were just finishing their bloody work and after thirty seconds or so, they merrily jogged and skipped towards the mage, covered head to toe in the crimson liquid. Each one had a beaming grin on their face and they were soon chatting to one another, discussing what they’d just experienced. Lena was a little surprised at how even the most timid of them was now seeming to love the thought of death and destruction, which did bring a smile back to her face. They then looked towards her, raising their bloody weapons towards her, looking for approval.
“Wow, great job!” the slayer chuckled with a clap of her hands, “I couldn’t have done better myself and you’ve more than passed my little test. You’re definitely ready to start your new lives in the brotherhood. Before we go, I’ll give you a few minutes to go and gather whatever belongings you have. Once you’re ready, come back here and we can get going. Well done, my young friends, you’ve taken your first steps into a larger world.”
With a happy cheer, the kids quickly sprinted away from her and disappeared into their houses to pack, leaving the pink haired mage alone again for the moment. Sniggering, she’d briefly clamber into the wagon and glance at the bound women, still lying there and helpless although the mage in the top right corner was still struggling against her bonds, unlike the other three. Her smile turning rather menacing, she’d move over towards the feisty captive, kneel down beside her and pull rather cruelly at her intricate bonds, causing a muffled gasp of pain to come from the woman’s mouth. “I told you to behave and for your sake, you’d better do what I tell you because I’m not gonna hand you over like the other three. I’m gonna keep you with me for a while, no matter what you try to do. The best thing for you to do is just accept it, cutie.”The woman would angrily shout into her gag but in response Lena would just slap her across the backside, “I said behave!” Cackling, she’d then jump off the wagon again, where the kids would be waiting for her.
However, they were not alone as another pair of mages had appeared, keeping them from Lena. They wore robes just like the other mages had and were clearly the so called scouting party who’d gone to inform the Rune Knights. The children could only stand and watch the situation, their weapons having taken from them. Her smile quickly disappearing, she’d simply tap into her magic, summoning a large frozen axe into her hand, making her intentions clear. When she spoke, her voice was confident and clear, “So you cowards came back to face me, huh? I thought you’d be smart enough to have just pissed off once you’d done your little job. Your leader told me all about you and she’s currently having a lot of fun in the back of my wagon, rolling around in rope. I’d do the same to you but I’m not interested in guys so I’ll just pulverise you instead. That’s what’s left of your village, corpses and blood. All who lived here are either in hell or coming with me. Once I’m done with you, this place will simply become a permanent graveyard, where only the crows will reside, feeding on the dead.”
Without another word, she slammed her axe to the ground, causing a wave of ice to burst forth and freeze both of the stupid fools in a flash. The children’s eyes widened with awe, which brought a grim smirk to Lena’s face. She then allowed the axe to vanish as she summoned a pair of gauntlets instead and moving towards the two icicle men, she’d strike them hard with a duo of powerful punches, causing them both to shatter into pieces. The fight had taken place in little more than a minute and the ginger understood now why they’d been chosen to warn people. They were simply useless in battle.
Walking over what was left to them, she’d smile at the kids and say, “Alright, all aboard the wagon now so we can get this show on the road. Don’t untie any of the ladies in there please as they’ll be needed for later, OK? Feel free to kick the one at the back though if she makes too much noise. She hasn’t learned her lesson yet.”
“That old cow always did have a big mouth and was always telling me off,” one of the kids piped up, “Thanks for shutting her up, Lena.”
Snorting with laughter, the slayer turned her head and answered, “Did she now? Well in that case, by all means pull at her ropes a bit and see what happens. Just don’t let her out as she could be a pain to deal with.”
“This’ll be fun,” the boy chuckled in return, before clambering on board with the other kids, who started to chat again, seemingly oblivious to the bound and gagged women around them, having fallen for Lena’s trickery and mind games. They were blissfully unaware of the true future that her employers for the day had in store for them
Walking around and hopping up onto the front of the wagon, she’d quickly give the patiently waiting horses a brief crack of the whip in order to get them moving. It had all gone to plan so far and Lena was pretty happy with how things had gone but she wasn’t convinced that it would be quite so easy. If those scouts had managed to get in contact with the authorities then there would be a little more left to do, which only caused her to grin again. It’d been a while since she’d killed some local law and the idea certainly aroused her lust for blood.
The trip back for the first half an hour or so was pretty quiet and besides the occasional chuckling from the kids, nothing much happened. The roads were pretty bare and the pink haired slayer had an easy job of keeping the horses going in the right direction. She’d never even actually rode in a wagon before, usually preferring to fly and so it was a pretty fun experience. The steeds were well behaved and seemed to know their jobs well enough, keeping in time with each other perfectly and having no problem with the bumpy road. They’d handled all of the bloodshed pretty well too and Lena wondered to herself just how much battle they’d seen in their lives. She knew that the brotherhood that she was working for was pretty severe and they were all a bunch of nutters as far as she knew but the girl did admire their goals. The world needed to change and would definitely be more fun and exciting under their rule than the pompous idiots who ruled it now. Fiore was ruled by a bunch of clueless apes and she reckoned that almost anyone could do a better job. Not that she really cared who was in charge, as long as they stayed the hell out of her and her family's way. Her mother and sister were her priority, no one else.
A sudden shaking brought her out of her happy thoughts and as she whipped around to her right, she noticed an armour wearing knight dashing beside her on a magical steed. To her left was another and both of them were preparing to launch spells in her direction. With a curse, she suddenly pulled back on the reins, causing the horses to pull up and a massive shriek as the kids and tied up women in the back suddenly all ended up in a pile due to the sudden halt. The knights would turn sharply to approach the wagon, their faces were shielded by their helmets, making it impossible for the girl to tell much about them. The insignia on their armour was familiar to her though. Rune Knights. The most arrogant and pompous bastards in the world. They seemed to exist just to ruin people’s fun and a wolfish grin appeared across Lena’s face as she jumped off of the wagon. She was going to enjoy this.
“Alright kid,” the left knight stated in a deep voice, “You have performed an atrocity here today and we will take you in, one way or another. We have been granted permission to use as much force as possible and if we have to put an end to you, we will. We know who you are and your mother is known to us too. She had a list of crimes as long as her arm and I know that you certainly do as well. We have heard of your little quests in Desierto, as well as the castles that you have wiped out. Your path of destruction ends now. Do yourself a favour and come with us willingly.”
“If you know of both my mother and me,” Lena hissed, “Then you already know that neither of us would come willingly with you. We are above you in the grand scheme of things. Gods among mortals. You and your people are just playthings to us and we treat you as such. You live because we let you and if we wanted, we could bring this whole little kingdom of yours down, just the two of us. You’ve nothing to threaten me with and I hold all the cards. All that’s gonna happen is that I will leave you two as nothing more than drooling wretches, unable to even say my name without being driven mad. Well, that would’ve been the case but you see, my employers were very insistent on what I should do if I came up against any of you guys, which funnily enough is exactly the same advice that my mum gave me...”
chuckling, she tapped into her magic and an odd looking device would appear over her back and shoulders. A weapon of sorts, spewing flame from the nozzle at the end. “I’ve been wanting to try out this baby for a while and the thought of killing you guys is burning me up a bit. So, I’m gonna set you guys ablaze and watch you cook. Would you prefer to be barbecued or fried? Your choice fellas.” Unleashing a flume of fire from her flame-thrower, the knights would shout and dive off of their magical steeds. Both of them quickly drew out a sword and shield, wary of the pink haired girl in front of them. “What’s wrong boys?” she chuckled, “Your balls drop off now that you’ve seen what I can do? Too late to be pussies now. Let’s fight!”
Oh, how the adrenaline was starting to pump as she unleashed blazing spouts from her lovely weapon. She was still getting used to this newest magic of hers, a lovely collection of weapons that were just made to end lives. She’d only used the melee ones until now but she was quickly beginning to enjoy being able to fight from a distance too. Seeing the lovely flames as they burst forth was a beautiful sight and as she leapt into the sky and unleashed a ball of flame towards the pair, her laughter began to ring out in the area. Not one of the kids dared to come out from the wagon as the fight started, smart enough to know that they were safest within the wagon. They simply followed the girl’s orders and kept an eye on the captives, stopping them from getting free and keeping the mouthy mage in a world of constant torment.
The fireball struck one of the guards hard and quickly began to burn his armour while his partner quickly attempted to put it out, which only began to cause his own gear to catch fire itself. Meanwhile the girl simply watched from above, her godly wings now fully on show, her weapon ready to unleash even more hell.
The knights didn’t have much time to save themselves but they were at least well trained enough to be able to utter a healing spell to help deal with the damage, though their armour was still rather charred. Grinning, Lena would fly down and unleash another burst of flame from overhead, while opening her mouth and firing a roar from water to go along with it. The attacks together were potent and the knights had to quickly evade the attack although one of their steeds wasn’t quite so lucky and entered up taking the full brunt of the blow, causing it to be left in bits. The girl simply chuckled at that and came in for another attack, launching yet another fireball that knocked one of the two men backwards and to the ground. He managed to roll over and was clearly still alive but the slayer was rather disappointed with the fight that they were putting on but what had she really expected from them? They were rather limited and she wondered if they’d actually thought that they had a chance against her or had just been talking shit before.
The figure still standing pointed up towards her with his blade and made a cross gesture, unleashing a bolt of holy light that came shooting up towards her. With a twirl, the slayer would nimbly dodge to the side, before summoning an Ice javelin and hurling it in return, forcing him to raise his large shield. For a moment, it would seem like it had worked but soon the javelin would start to spin and break through the defence, piercing it completely and catching the knight in the chest. It wasn’t quite as potent as it would’ve been but the damage was enough to force him back and collapse on top of his fellow knight. Cackling, Lena would then swipe one of her hands and cause the ground beneath them to turn to water, resulting in them starting to sink into the puddle. They would both try and struggle to stay afloat but in the end they both sank into it, suffocating due to the lack of oxygen. A sticky end to a useless pair of mages. The spell would soon end, leaving no visible sight of them.
Satisfied, the dual slayer would then quickly fly back around the back of the wagon and would thankfully find that no one seemed to have been hurt by the incident. In fact the kids looked more excited than ever and the women didn’t exactly have much of a say in the matter, bound as they were. The only one who seemed to be reacting in a bad way was the tied up mage, who was panting awfully hard at this point, causing the girl’s eyebrows to rise. “Just what have you been doing to her while I was taking out the trash?”
“Just playing with the knots, as you told us to,” one of the kids said cheerfully, before pulling rather hard on the woman’s harness, resulting in a painful wail.
“Well don’t tire her out too much, I wanna have some fun with her too later on,” the ginger chuckled in answer, before returning to the front of the wagon and getting the horses under way again. They briefly reared but calmed down after a few moments, setting off once again at a steady pace. They didn’t even need the whip this time, which only proved how much they’d learned.
There were no further incidents after that and the rest of the day passed quietly, until the mage finally saw the town of Hargeon in the distance. This was the final stop for the kids and after that, their future would be entirely in the hands of this brotherhood. Lena did again briefly ponder about what was to come for them but given how well they’d done today, she wasn’t too worried about them. They’d become the soldiers that they were meant to be and if they weren't tough enough? Well, she didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what would happen then. They’d face trials and no doubt would find that tough love would be the order of the day. She knew that sensation all too well, as it had been ingrained in her from a young age by her mother. Sarisha had raised her harshly but Lena had eventually come to understand why. It had been for her own good and had served her well. She lived her life without any doubts or fears and it was all due to her rough childhood.
Once the wagon reached the headquarters, Lena would jump off the front of the wagon, before moving around to the back and presenting the children and women for the order members to see. Satisfied, they would take them off the girl’s hands, before thrusting a large amount of jewels into her hands, before making a very swift farewell. They hadn’t said much when she’d taken the job either and she simply shrugged and wandered off with her well deserved reward. It’d been a flawless mission pretty much and she couldn’t have been happier with how it went. Another story to tell her mum when they reunited and another step closer to achieving her full potential.
Attaching the jewels to her belt, she’d gleefully clamber back into the wagon and pull out the still tied up mage, before flying off into the night. She’d done the hard work and now it was time for her to relax and have a little me time. As time passed, a wicked giggle could soon be heard as the slayer headed out of the town, her tied up victim helpless in her arms. It was going to be a very fun night, that was for sure.
(7003 Words)
Rather than fly towards her destination, Lena was currently sitting at the front of a wagon with four large black stallions cantering as quickly as possible along the earthy roads. The reason for the beasts was pretty simple. She was going to need to carry a lot of cargo back to her employer once the task was done and this seemed to be the most effective way of doing it. Besides, it hadn’t cost much to loan the animals and wagon from its owner. In fact, it hadn’t cost anything at all, besides the tiniest amount of energy used in killing the moronic fool. He’d decided that rather than help her with her task, he’d instead moan at her for the reason why she needed them. So, she’d just hit him in the face and took what she wanted. Business as usual.
Her destination for the job would be a quiet and out of the way place called Peace Village. It didn’t sound all that fun of a place but the task more than made up for it. She was going to play the role of recruiter for a group of individuals who wished to spread a bit of chaos, a cause that she could get behind. They wanted to indoctrinate a few youngsters into their ranks and so had hired her to find and do just that. If that wasn’t enough, they also wanted her to bring back a few lovely ladies for the group's men to have some fun with which had certainly brought a smile to the girl’s face. Some things never changed and given her own preferences, she wondered if perhaps she could find a lovely girl for herself in the process. The thought caused a giggle to escape her lips and as she once more whipped the horses into full motion, a wide smile crossed her features.
The trip itself had taken most of the day and by the time that the girl reached the outskirts of the village, the girl was just begging for some action after the long and rather dull trek. The thought of what was going to happen had kept her going but there was only so long that such thoughts and desires could keep her stimulated before she just got bored. No, she needed action and soon, before was driven mad by it. Luckily, she’d arrived just in time and as she brought the wagon into the village and parked it in the centre of the place, she realised just how much fun that this was going to be. There were so many innocent looking faces coming towards her, perfect for what she was going to do.
As a small crowd formed around her, Lena would stand up on top of the wagon so that she had the attention of everyone and spoke in a clear voice, “Hi there, people of Peace Village. I’m Lena Lena, a recruiter for a newly formed organisation who wishes to see these lands grow and prosper. It is my pleasure today to come to this lovely village today in order to bring you into our order. There will be no need for payment or tribute, I simply ask that I am able to take a few of your youngsters and young women in order to help boost our ranks. They won’t be harmed and we will open their eyes as to how the world should be, rather than how it is. I ask that you willingly accept these terms and that both our communities can prosper.” The look on her face was rather sweet for her and there was no sign of the darker thoughts that were swirling inside her mind. Not yet, anyway.
An elderly male would step forth in front of the other villagers and after a moment or two, began to reply, sounding deeply concerned, a small frown appearing on his face, “I welcome you to our village, Miss Lena but I speak for my people when I say that we will not be allowing anyone to go with you. I have heard such speeches before in my time and they always stem from the same source. Evil. You try to bewitch us with your sweet words but they are tainted with poison. I am the leader of this village and it is my task to keep my friends and family safe from the likes of you. Leave. Now.”
As he spoke, the slayer’s expression quickly darkened and her fists were clenched by the time he’d finished. Her tone was far more threatening when she spoke again, “Perhaps I did not make myself clear, old man. Your village will become a part of the organisation, regardless of whether you wish to or not. You will hand over five children and three of your prettiest women over to me, now. If not, then I will slaughter every single one of you, starting with your family. I’ll paint this village with their blood and make you all watch. Don’t be stupid and use your brain. Give them to me.”
“I have already said my piece,” the village leader answered, “Go home, child and….”
There was a sudden scream of anguish from the crowd as the leader was impaled by a sudden javelin of Ice, causing his body to spasm and convulse, before crashing to the ground.
Scowling, Lena would then leap off of the wagon, hand still crackling with Ice, “I’m not gonna be lectured by a pathetic old bastard nor anyone else. Are there any other objections or are you going to do as I say now?”
The village people would look nervously between one another before suddenly running for their lives and sprinting into the village church, barricading the doors behind them while the bemused mage just watched. She didn’t make any effort to stop them, knowing that it was futile and simply smirked at the sudden action. God wasn’t going to save them, in fact, the only god that was going to get involved in the situation was Lena herself and she certainly wasn’t going to play nice any longer. They’d had their chance and the foolish old man had ruined any hope of a pleasant encounter. Oh no, it was going to be painful, which was secretly what she’d been hoping for anyway.
Heading towards the church, the ginger haired slayer would swiftly begin to tap into her powers in order to blast her way through the door but she was rather rudely interrupted as her keen senses picked up on a group of figures approaching from her right. Turning sharply, she’d find herself confronted by four robed figures, all wildling various types of magical artefacts. Her employer hadn’t mentioned the possibility of mages, although it was certainly a pleasant surprise. It was difficult to tell whether they were male or female from their cloaks and it was only when their leader took a step forward and spoke that she discovered at least theirs or in this case, hers.
“You made a mistake killing our village elder, kid,” the figure said seriously, looking up at the girl, revealing a pair of brown eyes, “You come here making ridiculous demands and then kill him because he disagreed with you? I am not sure as to whether you are just childish or insane but either way, we are going to deal with you, here and now. I am sure that the Rune Knights will be more than willing to haul you off to the nearest prison and we have already sent a couple of our scouts to inform them of what has happened here. Your little killing spree ends here here, girl.”
“The Rune Knights can’t even piss on target, let alone actually do their jobs,” Lena answered with a laugh, “I’m not scared of either them or you. I’ll happily kill you guys first before dealing with the townspeople, it doesn’t matter to me. I think I’ll keep you alive though as I’m just dying to see what’s under those robes of yours. Don’t worry, I won’t hand you over to the Brotherhood, you can stay with me instead and we can have some fun.”
“You dirty minded little bitch,” the lead mage snapped in response, “Keep your perverted thoughts to yourself.” Annoyed, she quickly turned around and barked at her fellow mages, who had started to snigger, “What the hell are you laughing at? This is not funny. Deal with her.”
Smirking, Lena took a few steps back as the largest of the mages came forwards, wielding a large staff that was finely dusted with ice. He was quite a size and as he began uttering a spell, he seemed to be rather confident in his abilities. His staff would change into a large blue scythe, with which he’d proceed to start swinging from left to right, causing bolts of ice to come hurtling towards the ginger haired slayer. Her instincts taking over, Lena would nimbly avoid the attacks, before unleashing a powerful wave of water that forced him to stop his attack and have to fend off. The other mages quickly got out of the way too, separating out and starting to surround the girl.
Unwilling to let them do so, Lena quickly dashed towards the ice mage, summoning her water claws and body in order to increase her physical strength and speed. He would swing his large scythe in order to strike her but just as he was about to make contact, the girl would vanish into a water pool, moving underneath him and reappearing behind. With a giggle, she’d quickly spin around and stab him in the kidneys with her claws, causing him to drop to his knees but she was sadly robbed of the final blow as one of the other mages launched a fireball, which struck him rather than her. Slashing him across the back as he fell forward anyway, the mage would collapse, landing flat on his face.
“Oh my, you attacked your own friend? That’s rough,” the slayer chuckled at the fire mage, who seemed shaken by the act, judging from his body language. Leaving him to suffer for a bit, she’d turn her gaze towards the third mage, who’d so far just watched in silence. He seemed ready now though, wielding a bow of light and proceeded to launch a barrage of arrows in her direction. Long distance attacks could be somewhat of a pain for her and so she simply inhaled and launched a mighty roar of water from her mouth, which soaked up many of the arrows and solidified as it travelled. He desperately tried to block it with his bow but there was little chance of that and it crashed full force into him, hurling him backwards and up against the side of one of the village houses. Darting in close, she’d then unleash a barrage of Ice from her hand which had him twitching on the floor in pain, before he shortly expired, joining his ice mage ally in death.
These mages weren’t much good but that made sense, given how quiet and quaint the village seemed to be. They weren’t prepared for the true experience and emotions that came from battle. They were naive and as the girl spun, her eyes focusing on the fire mage, he seemed to realise that and tried to run. Lena was having none of it and raised a hand towards the sky, causing a bolt of wicked Ice to strike from the sky, hitting the fool on the head and causing him to scream with pain. He’d inadvertently helped her but that meant nothing and so rather than just leave him to rot, she’d instead create an Ice javelin and launch that towards him as well, catching him in his twitching body and having it be used as a conduit. It was a painful ending for him and when he finally collapsed to the ground, he was little more than a charred husk, his eyes still wide open, even in death.
With the minions gone, she’d turn to face the lead mage, who lowered her hood to reveal her face. She was a lovely looking woman indeed, with long blonde hair, her brown eyes glaring at the ginger haired girl. With a chuckle, Lena quipped, “You’ve got no one left to hide behind now, so just submit to me and I won’t hurt you too much. I’d hate to damage that beautiful face and body of yours, after all. I meant what I said before and I’ll treat you well.”
“Die,” the blonde answered savagely, creating a dual pair of swords which blazed with magical energy. There was no need for further words and the two females charged towards each other and started their battle. It was a violent and vicious contest, with the two performing a dance of death across the village. She wasn’t the leader of the group for nothing and was definitely more of a challenge for the ginger then any of the others had been. It wasn’t often that Lena’s fights lasted all that long but this was probably one of the longest.
Yet, experience was still on the slayer’s side and as time wore on, her almost endless supply of energy and lust for blood began to give her the advantage. An enormous uppercut to the dual wielder's jaw would send her left sword tumbling to the jaw and Lena followed up with a water enhanced fist to the stomach, before leaping up into the air and delivering a Ice enhanced roundhouse kick to her face, hurling her foe backwards. To finish the fight, Lena would then inhale and unleash a combination of her two elements in a mighty roar, which struck the village mage hard and sent her to the ground, dazed and winded.
“Phew, you're pretty good you know,” the slayer said happily, brushing a few tufts of pink hair out of her face, breathing a little heavily, “Now I’m gonna have my way with you.”
chuckling, she’d approach the downed woman and rip apart her robes using her claws, careful to avoid actually cutting her. The blonde didn’t have the strength to fight her and simply lay there panting as the girl went to work. Lena would then use the woman’s own torn robes to bind her hands and feet, cinching them tightly enough to cause the woman to grunt, before grinning wickedly and creating a few more adult ties, leaving her victim with very little room to move at all.
“I suggest you stay still now otherwise it’s gonna hurt,” Lena chuckled, before finishing off her work by blindfolding and gagging the woman with what was left of the women's robes. Once it was done, she’d then bodily pick up her helpless captive and carry her over to the wagon, before climbing up onto the back of it and leaving the tied up mage inside the canopy for later. With one last smile, she’d add, “Don’t worry, you’re not the first girl that I’ve tied up, as long as you don’t try anything funny, you’ll be safe. If I come back and find that you've been picking on those knots though, you’re gonna be in trouble. Think about that.”
With that, she’d then jump off of the wagon and return to the task at hand, fully expecting to have to burn the church to the ground. Yet, to her surprise, the crowd had returned to face her, seeming to have accepted the inevitable.
The shock was evident on the faces of each and every villager as they surveyed the damage that the slayer had caused. The bodies of the mages and the village leader showing the effects of her brutality. Many looked pale and one or two seemed to be struggling not to vomit. A very weak group indeed and rather than try and cause any more issues. They reluctantly pushed five children to the front of the group, three male and two female. Oddly enough, the children didn’t seem quite so shocked and one or two of them seemed more curious than anything. It was a little odd but Lena couldn’t help but smile, as her love for blood dimmed and she returned to her sweeter demeanour. There was no need to be overly threatening to them, at least not yet and instead she simply beckoned them towards her, which they swiftly did. In the background, the villagers were having a rather heated and unhappy discussion and after an anguished wail or two, the three women were chosen too.
The slayer would raise a hand and utter, “As lovely as you three are, I don’t trust you enough to just climb aboard my wagon freely. I want the rest of you villagers to bind them hand, feet, eyes and mouth, so that they are not encouraged to try anything stupid.” The villagers looked at each other briefly but one look at Lena was enough to get them to do as she asked and they soon began to carry out her orders. The pink haired slayer couldn’t help but smile as the task was done, unable to keep her drifting eyes away from the lovely ladies as they were bound and silenced. It was a shame that they had to be delivered unspoilt but she had the mage to play with, so it wasn’t all that bad. When the task was done, she’d nod her head and say, “Right, now put them on the wagon, away from each other, as well as my lovely companion.” Her orders were once again followed, with the strongest of the villagers picking up the woman and placing them where instructed, they would then climb back off and rejoin the rest of the group.
“Good, now stay there for a moment while I have a word with these youngsters,” she said with a giggle, before walking around the back of the wagon, the children following her. They certainly were a rather enthusiastic bunch and they looked far more excited than afraid, which honestly reminded the girl of herself when she’d been training with her mother. They all looked to be between eight and twelve years of age, which was the age that her employers had been looking for and she had no doubt that she could get them to see things her way or at least twist them.
“Right, kiddos,” she said sweetly, looking from one child to the next, “You guys can call me Lena and I’ll be taking you to a place where you can have all kinds of fun and adventures. You won’t have to worry about your parents or rules or living in this boring dump. You’ll be able to explore the world, as I get to do every day. The brotherhood’s all about people being themselves and being who they really are and by joining us, you all get to do that too.”
“Wow, that sounds like fun,” piped up the youngest of the group, a blonde boy with a massive awestruck grin on his face, “Do we get to learn magic too? That’s what you used on those people, right?”
“Yeah, you can learn all kinds of magic, whatever type you want,” Lena lied, the smile never leaving her face, “Everyone who joins becomes a mage, it’s part of the training. One day you’ll be able to cast spells just like me. All you have to do is pass a little test. Once you’ve done that, then I can take you to the base and your journey can begin..”
“What test?” asked a redheaded girl, “It’d better not be maths because I’m bad at that.”
“Like I’d give you a maths test, maths is for losers,” the ginger chuckled, “No, I just need you to to kill everyone in this village.”
All five children blinked and looked at one another, before looking back at the slayer.
“K..Kill?” A nervous sounding brown haired boy asked, “What d’ya mean kill? You didn’t say anything ‘about killing? I don’t think I could do that.”
“It wouldn’t be much of a test if it was easy,” the vampire quipped, “When I was growing up, my mum made me do the exact same thing in order to toughen me up. I was nervous too but once I got that first one outta the way, I started having fun. You will too.”
“Really? My mum always said that killing was the worst thing that a person could do,” the fourth child said with her arms folded, a bluenette girl and tallest of the group.
“Your mum talks bullshit,” the slayer laughed, “Look at me, I’m as happy as could be and I’ve taken loads of lives. You guys will love it too. Just trust me and do what I tell you. I even have some gifts for you to do the job.”
Clambering back into the wagon for a moment, Lena would briefly smirk at the four lovely ladies, now bound and gagged within, before picking up a cloth covered package and jumping back off the wagon. Bringing it around to where the children were waiting, she’d then roll it out onto the ground, revealing various types of blades and sharp objects. “See? You can use these to do the job. Just take one and paint the village red. If anyone tries to get in your way, I’ll stop em. Now go have fun.”
But...” the brown haired boy quivered.
“Do it!” Lena cut said sharply, cutting him off and giving him a more serious look. It was enough to stop him in his tracks and he eventually joined the others in picking out a weapon for themselves. With a nod from the mage, they’d then sprint around the side of the wagon and charge at the helpless villagers…
What happened next was little more than a massacre and as the children went about following their new leaders orders, Lena simply peeked around the corner of the wagon and watched. The cries and screams were so loud and vibrant and after a little while, she could have sworn that the children were starting to giggle with joy, just as she tended to whenever she was in the middle of a bloodbath. The nostalgia struck her so very hard but in doing so, caused the smile to slightly fade from her face, as the more harrowing images of her childhood came screaming to the surface of her mind. The days without food, the viciousness of her mother’s temper and the brutal lessons that had turned the timid girl into the monster that she was today. What she was seeing was like staring into a mirror, which caused both a great deal of joy and sadness at the same time. The emotions were so strong that for a moment, she briefly moved her hands up to her head, as her feelings and memories overtook her. Yet, it was for just a few seconds and she quickly slapped herself across the face, to get herself back on track. Such feelings were signs of weakness and she’d left those behind her.
She looked up to find that the children were just finishing their bloody work and after thirty seconds or so, they merrily jogged and skipped towards the mage, covered head to toe in the crimson liquid. Each one had a beaming grin on their face and they were soon chatting to one another, discussing what they’d just experienced. Lena was a little surprised at how even the most timid of them was now seeming to love the thought of death and destruction, which did bring a smile back to her face. They then looked towards her, raising their bloody weapons towards her, looking for approval.
“Wow, great job!” the slayer chuckled with a clap of her hands, “I couldn’t have done better myself and you’ve more than passed my little test. You’re definitely ready to start your new lives in the brotherhood. Before we go, I’ll give you a few minutes to go and gather whatever belongings you have. Once you’re ready, come back here and we can get going. Well done, my young friends, you’ve taken your first steps into a larger world.”
With a happy cheer, the kids quickly sprinted away from her and disappeared into their houses to pack, leaving the pink haired mage alone again for the moment. Sniggering, she’d briefly clamber into the wagon and glance at the bound women, still lying there and helpless although the mage in the top right corner was still struggling against her bonds, unlike the other three. Her smile turning rather menacing, she’d move over towards the feisty captive, kneel down beside her and pull rather cruelly at her intricate bonds, causing a muffled gasp of pain to come from the woman’s mouth. “I told you to behave and for your sake, you’d better do what I tell you because I’m not gonna hand you over like the other three. I’m gonna keep you with me for a while, no matter what you try to do. The best thing for you to do is just accept it, cutie.”The woman would angrily shout into her gag but in response Lena would just slap her across the backside, “I said behave!” Cackling, she’d then jump off the wagon again, where the kids would be waiting for her.
However, they were not alone as another pair of mages had appeared, keeping them from Lena. They wore robes just like the other mages had and were clearly the so called scouting party who’d gone to inform the Rune Knights. The children could only stand and watch the situation, their weapons having taken from them. Her smile quickly disappearing, she’d simply tap into her magic, summoning a large frozen axe into her hand, making her intentions clear. When she spoke, her voice was confident and clear, “So you cowards came back to face me, huh? I thought you’d be smart enough to have just pissed off once you’d done your little job. Your leader told me all about you and she’s currently having a lot of fun in the back of my wagon, rolling around in rope. I’d do the same to you but I’m not interested in guys so I’ll just pulverise you instead. That’s what’s left of your village, corpses and blood. All who lived here are either in hell or coming with me. Once I’m done with you, this place will simply become a permanent graveyard, where only the crows will reside, feeding on the dead.”
Without another word, she slammed her axe to the ground, causing a wave of ice to burst forth and freeze both of the stupid fools in a flash. The children’s eyes widened with awe, which brought a grim smirk to Lena’s face. She then allowed the axe to vanish as she summoned a pair of gauntlets instead and moving towards the two icicle men, she’d strike them hard with a duo of powerful punches, causing them both to shatter into pieces. The fight had taken place in little more than a minute and the ginger understood now why they’d been chosen to warn people. They were simply useless in battle.
Walking over what was left to them, she’d smile at the kids and say, “Alright, all aboard the wagon now so we can get this show on the road. Don’t untie any of the ladies in there please as they’ll be needed for later, OK? Feel free to kick the one at the back though if she makes too much noise. She hasn’t learned her lesson yet.”
“That old cow always did have a big mouth and was always telling me off,” one of the kids piped up, “Thanks for shutting her up, Lena.”
Snorting with laughter, the slayer turned her head and answered, “Did she now? Well in that case, by all means pull at her ropes a bit and see what happens. Just don’t let her out as she could be a pain to deal with.”
“This’ll be fun,” the boy chuckled in return, before clambering on board with the other kids, who started to chat again, seemingly oblivious to the bound and gagged women around them, having fallen for Lena’s trickery and mind games. They were blissfully unaware of the true future that her employers for the day had in store for them
Walking around and hopping up onto the front of the wagon, she’d quickly give the patiently waiting horses a brief crack of the whip in order to get them moving. It had all gone to plan so far and Lena was pretty happy with how things had gone but she wasn’t convinced that it would be quite so easy. If those scouts had managed to get in contact with the authorities then there would be a little more left to do, which only caused her to grin again. It’d been a while since she’d killed some local law and the idea certainly aroused her lust for blood.
The trip back for the first half an hour or so was pretty quiet and besides the occasional chuckling from the kids, nothing much happened. The roads were pretty bare and the pink haired slayer had an easy job of keeping the horses going in the right direction. She’d never even actually rode in a wagon before, usually preferring to fly and so it was a pretty fun experience. The steeds were well behaved and seemed to know their jobs well enough, keeping in time with each other perfectly and having no problem with the bumpy road. They’d handled all of the bloodshed pretty well too and Lena wondered to herself just how much battle they’d seen in their lives. She knew that the brotherhood that she was working for was pretty severe and they were all a bunch of nutters as far as she knew but the girl did admire their goals. The world needed to change and would definitely be more fun and exciting under their rule than the pompous idiots who ruled it now. Fiore was ruled by a bunch of clueless apes and she reckoned that almost anyone could do a better job. Not that she really cared who was in charge, as long as they stayed the hell out of her and her family's way. Her mother and sister were her priority, no one else.
A sudden shaking brought her out of her happy thoughts and as she whipped around to her right, she noticed an armour wearing knight dashing beside her on a magical steed. To her left was another and both of them were preparing to launch spells in her direction. With a curse, she suddenly pulled back on the reins, causing the horses to pull up and a massive shriek as the kids and tied up women in the back suddenly all ended up in a pile due to the sudden halt. The knights would turn sharply to approach the wagon, their faces were shielded by their helmets, making it impossible for the girl to tell much about them. The insignia on their armour was familiar to her though. Rune Knights. The most arrogant and pompous bastards in the world. They seemed to exist just to ruin people’s fun and a wolfish grin appeared across Lena’s face as she jumped off of the wagon. She was going to enjoy this.
“Alright kid,” the left knight stated in a deep voice, “You have performed an atrocity here today and we will take you in, one way or another. We have been granted permission to use as much force as possible and if we have to put an end to you, we will. We know who you are and your mother is known to us too. She had a list of crimes as long as her arm and I know that you certainly do as well. We have heard of your little quests in Desierto, as well as the castles that you have wiped out. Your path of destruction ends now. Do yourself a favour and come with us willingly.”
“If you know of both my mother and me,” Lena hissed, “Then you already know that neither of us would come willingly with you. We are above you in the grand scheme of things. Gods among mortals. You and your people are just playthings to us and we treat you as such. You live because we let you and if we wanted, we could bring this whole little kingdom of yours down, just the two of us. You’ve nothing to threaten me with and I hold all the cards. All that’s gonna happen is that I will leave you two as nothing more than drooling wretches, unable to even say my name without being driven mad. Well, that would’ve been the case but you see, my employers were very insistent on what I should do if I came up against any of you guys, which funnily enough is exactly the same advice that my mum gave me...”
chuckling, she tapped into her magic and an odd looking device would appear over her back and shoulders. A weapon of sorts, spewing flame from the nozzle at the end. “I’ve been wanting to try out this baby for a while and the thought of killing you guys is burning me up a bit. So, I’m gonna set you guys ablaze and watch you cook. Would you prefer to be barbecued or fried? Your choice fellas.” Unleashing a flume of fire from her flame-thrower, the knights would shout and dive off of their magical steeds. Both of them quickly drew out a sword and shield, wary of the pink haired girl in front of them. “What’s wrong boys?” she chuckled, “Your balls drop off now that you’ve seen what I can do? Too late to be pussies now. Let’s fight!”
Oh, how the adrenaline was starting to pump as she unleashed blazing spouts from her lovely weapon. She was still getting used to this newest magic of hers, a lovely collection of weapons that were just made to end lives. She’d only used the melee ones until now but she was quickly beginning to enjoy being able to fight from a distance too. Seeing the lovely flames as they burst forth was a beautiful sight and as she leapt into the sky and unleashed a ball of flame towards the pair, her laughter began to ring out in the area. Not one of the kids dared to come out from the wagon as the fight started, smart enough to know that they were safest within the wagon. They simply followed the girl’s orders and kept an eye on the captives, stopping them from getting free and keeping the mouthy mage in a world of constant torment.
The fireball struck one of the guards hard and quickly began to burn his armour while his partner quickly attempted to put it out, which only began to cause his own gear to catch fire itself. Meanwhile the girl simply watched from above, her godly wings now fully on show, her weapon ready to unleash even more hell.
The knights didn’t have much time to save themselves but they were at least well trained enough to be able to utter a healing spell to help deal with the damage, though their armour was still rather charred. Grinning, Lena would fly down and unleash another burst of flame from overhead, while opening her mouth and firing a roar from water to go along with it. The attacks together were potent and the knights had to quickly evade the attack although one of their steeds wasn’t quite so lucky and entered up taking the full brunt of the blow, causing it to be left in bits. The girl simply chuckled at that and came in for another attack, launching yet another fireball that knocked one of the two men backwards and to the ground. He managed to roll over and was clearly still alive but the slayer was rather disappointed with the fight that they were putting on but what had she really expected from them? They were rather limited and she wondered if they’d actually thought that they had a chance against her or had just been talking shit before.
The figure still standing pointed up towards her with his blade and made a cross gesture, unleashing a bolt of holy light that came shooting up towards her. With a twirl, the slayer would nimbly dodge to the side, before summoning an Ice javelin and hurling it in return, forcing him to raise his large shield. For a moment, it would seem like it had worked but soon the javelin would start to spin and break through the defence, piercing it completely and catching the knight in the chest. It wasn’t quite as potent as it would’ve been but the damage was enough to force him back and collapse on top of his fellow knight. Cackling, Lena would then swipe one of her hands and cause the ground beneath them to turn to water, resulting in them starting to sink into the puddle. They would both try and struggle to stay afloat but in the end they both sank into it, suffocating due to the lack of oxygen. A sticky end to a useless pair of mages. The spell would soon end, leaving no visible sight of them.
Satisfied, the dual slayer would then quickly fly back around the back of the wagon and would thankfully find that no one seemed to have been hurt by the incident. In fact the kids looked more excited than ever and the women didn’t exactly have much of a say in the matter, bound as they were. The only one who seemed to be reacting in a bad way was the tied up mage, who was panting awfully hard at this point, causing the girl’s eyebrows to rise. “Just what have you been doing to her while I was taking out the trash?”
“Just playing with the knots, as you told us to,” one of the kids said cheerfully, before pulling rather hard on the woman’s harness, resulting in a painful wail.
“Well don’t tire her out too much, I wanna have some fun with her too later on,” the ginger chuckled in answer, before returning to the front of the wagon and getting the horses under way again. They briefly reared but calmed down after a few moments, setting off once again at a steady pace. They didn’t even need the whip this time, which only proved how much they’d learned.
There were no further incidents after that and the rest of the day passed quietly, until the mage finally saw the town of Hargeon in the distance. This was the final stop for the kids and after that, their future would be entirely in the hands of this brotherhood. Lena did again briefly ponder about what was to come for them but given how well they’d done today, she wasn’t too worried about them. They’d become the soldiers that they were meant to be and if they weren't tough enough? Well, she didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what would happen then. They’d face trials and no doubt would find that tough love would be the order of the day. She knew that sensation all too well, as it had been ingrained in her from a young age by her mother. Sarisha had raised her harshly but Lena had eventually come to understand why. It had been for her own good and had served her well. She lived her life without any doubts or fears and it was all due to her rough childhood.
Once the wagon reached the headquarters, Lena would jump off the front of the wagon, before moving around to the back and presenting the children and women for the order members to see. Satisfied, they would take them off the girl’s hands, before thrusting a large amount of jewels into her hands, before making a very swift farewell. They hadn’t said much when she’d taken the job either and she simply shrugged and wandered off with her well deserved reward. It’d been a flawless mission pretty much and she couldn’t have been happier with how it went. Another story to tell her mum when they reunited and another step closer to achieving her full potential.
Attaching the jewels to her belt, she’d gleefully clamber back into the wagon and pull out the still tied up mage, before flying off into the night. She’d done the hard work and now it was time for her to relax and have a little me time. As time passed, a wicked giggle could soon be heard as the slayer headed out of the town, her tied up victim helpless in her arms. It was going to be a very fun night, that was for sure.
(7003 Words)
