When We Burn It Down

Job Information:

Frustration. That was what drove people to lash out. In a way, Anya supposed that made her and the collective group that had put this job out the same. Still, burning down an entire farm? Not a simple task. Easy? Certainly. Farmland was full of just oh so much material that would catch easily. Especially if one applied an accelerant. Of course, she had plenty of that on hand. Hidden beneath her incredibly large coat were bottles upon bottles. They were all only partially filled. But if they shattered, there was definitely going to be a fire started. As she sat on the ruined wall that stood atop a hill overlooking the target, she found herself wondering just how one farm out of all the others using the same land and resources wound up so lucky. There was no way there was any real fair play here.

However, the sun finally dipped beneath the horizon, signaling the beginning of night. That meant her time for contemplating was over. They'd given her a warning that there was a chance that there might have been a few people amongst the collective that weren't entirely on board with the job, so there was a chance there'd be extra workers on hand. That was why Anya had waited until night. The harvest was large enough that they couldn't have afforded to have their extra workers simply stand around all day. Coming for the farm at sundown meant that she'd be dealing with a group of winded farmhands, not a fully rested one.

Of course, that didn't mean they'd be making it easy for her. She could see them even as she made her way down the hill. Lights. Some of their large machinery was still active. That was going to be a pain. Eventually, she made her way down the hill, and followed the winding path. All the while, her hood remained raised. With that jacket being so large, and hiding her appearance so well? She cut quite the imposing figure, even for someone so small. It was no wonder that the few farmhands that she'd caught up to were so unnerved when one of them finally caught a glance at her out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, buddy. I don't know what the big idea here is, but this place i-" He didn't get another word out before a loud crashing noise erupted between his feet. Being a farmhand though, they were nothing if not quick on their feet, and managed to get out of the way as the bottle actually ignited.

The pair looked confused, as they had every right to be. But once the chemicals within the bottle began a small, smoldering fire? They seemed to catch on. One of them had a shovel in hand, and the other was just wearing a pair of thick gloves. Judging by how dirty the pair were, odds were good they'd either repaired or placed some kind of piping. That was unfortunate. It meant they'd be pretty physically strong. But for now, they were serving as a distraction. That just wouldn't do. Anya smirked as she reached up and lowered her hood. She looked the one with the shovel dead in his eyes. The feminine face behind the hood had obviously thrown them off again. That made this even better.

For a brief moment, Anya's Aqua colored eyes flashed purple as she spoke. "My, you're a big one, huh? That's good. See that shovel you've got in those big, strong hands of yours? Use it on your friend over there. And don't stop until he's dead." As she spoke, the farmhand's eyes also glazed over with purple. And with that, the two were going to be too busy fighting off each other to stop her. Raising her hood back up, she continued along the path. It wasn't often that she dipped into that little trick of hers. Truth be told, she hated using it. It was what had let her mother so effectively convince people she was just another servant to be treated as poorly as they wished.

But she only had so much magic power, and entire farm to burn down. Reaching into her coat, she pulled out a second bottle, finally approaching the field closest to the farm. Starting it here would be a poor decision if she just planned to cut and run. But that wasn't what the instructions had been. They said burn it all down. So, she chucked the bottle into the field. The fire it created was glorious, spreading from plant to plant with the kind of ease one would associate with magic. There were a few breaks in the fields that meant she'd probably be going back and doing some tedious work after the fact, but she'd gotten the results she wanted. She could hear every single one of them rushing to her location. She pulled her arms out of the sleeves of her jacket.

This was going to be fun.


Two Hours Later...

Ok. So maybe taking them all on at once hadn't been as fun as she'd thought it would be. Sure, the ones on the ground had gone down easily. Hell, she'd taken out the first three that went after her barehanded. What she hadn't expected was to have to deal with idiots summoning magic guns, let alone having to play a game of chicken with two of the machine drivers. But, she'd done it.

The farmhands were all collapsed either on the ground or in their machines. It'd take about another hour to walk the fields and do the job properly. Shame she wasn't a fire mage, or something. That would have made the rest of this so much less tedious. Still, by the end of the night the contract was fulfilled. Where the farm had once been, there was now acres upon acres of ash. Perhaps the biggest oddity for the authorities would be the two men they found outside of the farm. One with a shovel buried in his stomach. The other, a gloved man who was battered and broken beyond all recognition.

All of that, in the name of Frustration. Frustration about someone having better luck than them. Perhaps now they could move in on that land. Hopefully they wouldn't be too angry about the salt they'd be finding in the rows. But, what did that matter to just some little girl like her?

Word Count: 1,065
Total Word Count: 1,065
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