“Oh hey you’re awake-” A masculine voice commented as my eyes opened.
The first thing I noted was that it was bright, second that I was looking at a man whose background was a forest as we appeared to be moving through it, thirdly on his right were another two men and across from them on my right were two women. Fourth, it was really cold and my hands were bound by rope to more bindings around my ankles, making it so I couldn’t raise my hands to my face to warm them up with my breath. Fifthly we were in a big metres wide carriage of some kind because on my left was a man sitting in the centre of a bench with a larger horse than I’d ever seen pulling us down a path through the frosted woodlands.
‘Don’t tell me I’m dreaming the Skyrim opening right now because I will fucking jump out of this cart.’
Looking around a little more I tried to get an understanding of what was going on exactly.
The men opposite me were giants, that was the only way to put it, with hands large enough to crush my skull like a grape. They were dressed the same in thick green padded jackets with dark grey sleeves as well as similar looking trousers and black fur lined boots. Around their waists were leather belts that had holsters for swords or something similar. Their skin was pale and greyish with dark brown hair for the man directly across from me, then a muddy blonde all with greeny-bluish coloured eyes.
The women next to me were much larger than me by some margin, both had shoulder length blood red hair, one with bright golden eyes and the other with greyish-yellow as well they appeared to have more creamy coloured skin than the grey of the men. Both were in tan fur lined waistcoats, white wool long sleeved shirts, dark brown thick trousers and shin-high boots, lastly they wore winter gloves that went up to their elbows. Though the one with the golden eyes was actually next to me, her left arm was metal and besides the white shirt the prosthetic was fully visible from elbow down.
Our driver from what I could see had a large bear pelt cloak over his shoulders with a woollen hood. He was just as enormous as the men.
Further investigating showed the sun rising over the dark pine tree tops as we travelled slowly down the path, the flowers and bushes didn’t really look like any that I’d ever seen.
“No response? Are you mute then or deaf maybe?” The man questioned getting my attention again.
Turning back to him I tried to speak but nothing came out of my mouth “!”
“They removed your tongue did they? Beasts.” He spat with a furious scowl though I didn’t know why of course.
“Hah.” A short laugh came from the lips of one of the women.
“Something to say Witch?” The blonde man said with a furrowed brow.
“Just that your poor interpretation of our captors is souring my mood- the little girl was mute before.” The woman with the prosthetic answered.
“Gotta agree with the Witches.” A hoarse voice cut in.
We all turned to the driver who had been the one to speak.
“Now would you shut the hell up and find your peace before you’re executed.” He growled at everyone, silencing the others.
‘I’m mute as well? what a fucking joke.’ I cursed mentally rolling my eyes. ‘I’m not sure what to make of living through the Skyrim cart opening like this, and the fact that I was a mute protagonist as well? What a fucking awesome start to my night.’
The sounds of the horse and the wheels on the carriage filled my ears along with the distant creaking of the trees, chirping of birds and other creatures of the woods. It was oddly serene despite how ice cold it was and how freezing I felt with the somewhat thin tan coloured clothing I was in. My clothes were a long sleeved tunic, pants and wool socks in leather shoes. I didn’t even have a hood or anything and the cold was nipping at my ears and biting at my exposed face.
Some twenty odd minutes passed on in silence before a large palisade and gateway with a walkway over it came into view, it was part of a greater walled town or village with further wooden bulwarks wrapping around a fairly sized locating that had twenty or fourty buildings? Just guessing anyway, with a big tower made of stone. The walls around the town were about 5 or 6 metres tall.
“Good we’re finally here.” Our driver said with a sigh, his breath visible in the air.
I looked to my right hoping to see a reaction. All but the twin without the prosthetic had blank faces staring off into the distance, the twin I specified though she was nodding her head along to a rhythm no one else could hear. There was a slight smile tugging at her lips as she went about whatever song she was playing in her mind.
Might sound stupid but she seemed really beautiful as she did it, don’t know why she did, I just thought so.
There were some voices yelling as we passed through the gate, once inside there were men dressed in thick padded clothing carrying around spears and shields running around calling things out that I couldn’t quite understand. The carriage headed along a path following seven other carts that I hadn’t noticed before through to a large stone area under that tower I had seen further reminding me of the Skyrim.
Our ride came to a stop last as all other prisoners on the other carriages were offloaded and checked on lists by a woman in clothing like the soldiers we’d seen though she had a large metal plate over her chest where as no one else had any sort of armour like that, just the padded jacket things.
Since I was at the back of the cart I had to watch everyone get off in front of me and line up in front of a few people who asked for names, dates of birth, where they were from and reason for arrest. I was distracted by the military training grounds around us, this stone area had archery targets, straw training dummies and wooden posts set up on the backside of the area from us. What was in front of us however were a rudimentary gallows, a chopping block and a few wooden stands for locking in peoples hands and heads- I forget what those were called.
As I turned back around seeing that everyone was as tall as a one story building or so however was an interesting experience. But I also got to hear the Twins giving their answers.
“Reine, 28th of Ceres, my village wasn’t named and the Crime of witchcraft.” The one without the prosthetic drawled out her answer with an unimpressed look.
The sister with the metal arm stepped up after Reine was sent off to stand by where the line was gathering for the gallows.
“Aurélia, 28th of Ceres, no name village- Conspiracy to use black magic on the people.” Then it was my turn as I watched the woman in front of me was directed to where her sister was standing.
“!” I attempted to answer finding that nothing came out of my mouth again.
Both of the people in front of me who were writing the lists eyed me with confusion for a moment before the woman cut off what the man was about to say-
“No tongue? Must’ve done something wretched.” She commented looking down on me with a slight interest. “You were with those witches so your tongue must’ve spilt foul magic- send her to be hung!” I was then shoved in the direction of the gallows.
As I walked the path to reach the redheads that went ahead of me a sickening sound pulled my and seemingly everyone else's attention.
Thump tchunk!
The heavy sound of the headsman's axe hitting the flesh then stone was somewhat too realistic for a dream, but then again I often had wildly vivid dreams all the time. Good memory and an overly enthusiastic imagination can be awful like that sometimes. A chorus of disgusted groans came from the rest of the onlookers who were armed as it was an open enough space that some of the town's folk had come to watch.
Looking up to the platform for the gallows that was up a flight of stairs to a three metre tall platform where the men we had been in the cart with got their short drop and a sudden stop. Before we walked up the stairs Reine leaned back into her sister and spoke something I didn’t hear, then Aurélia did something before leaning back to me and her normal hand doing something-
Snap
The soft sound of the tension to the rope around my wrists to my feet released as it was slashed by thin knife which she pushed into my hands, she whispered as she did so-
“Keep it hidden until our signal.”
I just nodded, wondering where this was going.
We stepped up to the nooses that were hanging down in front of our faces, a man coming along behind to hook it around our necks and tighten it.
I was the first person he walked up to and I saw him grab it-
Schomp! Btoom! Crash!
Falling forward onto my hands I didn’t catch what exactly happened but there was an explosion, a rush of hot air and sharp splinters hitting my back as I slammed down into the platform wincing in pain.
“human!” A voice hissed out grabbing my attention as I used the knife to undo the bindings on my wrists and feet in the heat of the moment.
Looking around I spotted the individual which had been Reine who was knelt down low holding out a hand as more chaos erupted out around us with another explosion and the sounds of people screaming in terror. Throwing my right arm out she grabbed onto my hand and pulled me up allowing me to see what was going on.
Low rumbling proceed UUURAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
A hellish roar unlike anything else I’d ever heard deafened me as I tried to follow along with the red head. It was so impossibly loud that it rattled my bones and shook my mind as it went on.
“!!!” I yelled out soundlessly at the woman leading me down along a wall that her sister was crouched near the hole in.
The hole was actually an archway that left the courtyard we were in that held all the execution equipment. Around us however the world was burning and the building that weren’t on fire with blazing orange were blackened and collapsed in on themselves.
“This way-” the woman still pulling me along said as I was dragged over to where a fried dead horse was sprawled out on its back.
Past the dead horse was a building somewhat untouched with only some structural damage to its roof on the other end from where we entered. Inside was empty besides a large dining table with plates and utensils out on it all thrown around the place, the end that was in on itself had a few beds and such.
“What’s going on?” I attempted to mouth at the twins in front of me as I was let go of and they began rummaging through the things taking what seemed good and stuffing it all in a large sack that had been filled with kindling prior to Aurélia dumping it.
Said woman answered me as she started picking up what was salvageable of the bread and meat that had been on the table since knocked off. I was thankful that it wasn’t hard to infer what I was saying.
“The lesser dragon must mean the gods didn’t want us to die, so for now just focus on getting what looks useful.” She continued going to a cupboard where some supplies for cooking were.
I just stood in silence for a moment before I tried to find some actual clothing that were the thin rags I was dressed in, which were very clearly not my own clothes.
“Alright, so a fake dragon is rampaging around, gods sent it. Where are we going from here?” I asked another question to a long silence, well, as silent as it could be with thundering crashes and harrowing screams along with the heavy beating of enormous wings outside.
Aurélia started talking to fill me in. “We are going to sneak out the back of this house and leave the town, you are free to join us.” A long silence sat with us as the thundering crashes and harrowing screams along with the heavy beating of enormous wings could be heard outside.
I nodded, following along behind them as they did as she said.
We made our way out through a hole in the back of the building where it had collapsed as mentioned, breaking out into the sunlight we were met with the sounds of the beating wings starting to rise upward and then get distant as though it were going farther away.
What felt like half an hour passed finding us travelling down a dirt road in the direction of a river that the pair told me about that they wanted to fill up the waterskins they’d stolen.
Things still hadn’t really been explained but I was no longer in thin clothing freezing to death, but now in a thick wool tunic and linen pants with fur boots and a wool cloak wrapped around my body. The other two were the same, both having the slightly singed cloaks tightly hugging against their forms as we walked south-west by what I had figured out from the sun's location.
We were in a large wide valley, not that the massive pine trees around us made it easy to tell, and it seemed to me that it was probably easily ten or twenty kilometres wide. The river running through the middle of it being the one we were headed toward, was enormous from how Reine put it, comparing its size to a castle city as her best point of reference.
I began wondering if the pair would provide something of interest to listen to. For the time being I kept myself entertained by trying to put a scale to the women in front of me. A bit of preamble to that was that I, most of the time, was the tallest woman in the room at a little over six feet tall. However these women I was with were taller by quite a bit. Reine was only a few inches by what I could tell, however Aurélia was head and shoulders taller than I. She was far broader with a bulkiness to her silhouette compared to her sister who was more like my normal shape, despite the apparent difference in bust size they had over myself.
Whereas I found myself large enough for others to tell I was a woman, theirs were much larger with the taller of the two seemingly having a bust the size of my head. But that was from the perspective of someone at a lower elevation and the women were both in thick oversized clothing with cloaks around them. So my description deserved a pinch of salt.
Bored of ogling other women's breasts I tapped on the closest of the pair to me, getting her attention to try and mime something that hopefully looked like I wanted them to introduce themselves properly. I’d probably need to write my name in the dirt or something but for now I just wanted to hear people talk since it was too silent out here in the forest.
“Oh-ah I’m Aurélia of Greenburrow, sorry we didn’t say earlier.” The tall woman said.
I assumed they purposefully didn’t tell the executioners where they were from then.
“I don’t see why we should, but I’ll play along. I am Reine of Greenburrow, a medicine woman before this.” The shorter of the two said flatly, clearly unsure as to why I had stopped us for this.
“I’m - Electra” I wrote into the dirt on the side of the road causing the pair to try read it.
Several minutes passed of them making sounds that were everything but my named before Reine got pissed off-
“Fuck this!” She cursed stomping on my name. “Your name is incomprehensible crap! You’ll just be- er…” the woman found herself stumped unable to find a name in her mind.
“Ásta?” The taller of the pair offered and Reine seemed to accept this.
“Fine Ásta it is!” She said storming off, though Aurélia stayed with me and we walked alongside one another.
We continued in silence and went on for about an hour as we travelled, the pair were very in tune with one another able to easily have a baseless rapport about me being a headache from Reine and then Aurélia defending me with comments that I couldn’t help it since my tongue was removed. It would have been funny if not for the fact that it was at my expense though they did eventually come to a stop as we heard the rushing sounds of a very loud river. The currents had to be the most intense I'd ever heard with how loud they were that we could hear them ten minutes before we actually reached part of the path we'd been taking to get here. It was just as described though, a massive couple hundred metre wide river with deep dark blue water with stoney banks that had sand almost the colour of Iron the way it was.
Across the water on the other side I could see a few animals grazing some of the foliage and drinking the water. Though it was hard to tell what they were beyond deer or maybe elk?
I sat by idly waiting as my heroes went about filling these large waterskins. I was handed the sacks of food to hold onto while they did it, so I looked through what they had taken from the burning village. It was much of what I had seen then taking with regards to bread and some dried meats, but there were also vegetables mixed in like a cabbage, some leeks and a few fruits in the form of a couple apples and some tomatoes.
Grumble grumble
My stomach made horrendously loud noises as I looked at the food, so loud the other women perked up their attention away from what they were doing to see what was up. I was flushed red with embarrassment.
‘I mean who knew you could get so hungry in a dream?’ I queried internally to no answer.
“It seems that we should eat.” Aurélia said, raising her brow looking at me as I had dropped the sack in my flight of embarrassment.
My response was becoming bright eyed and trying my best to convey that I was starving, which was met with a jovial laugh from the larger woman as she stepped toward where I was picking the sack back up with her long arms and pulling out some of the dried meat and now hardening bread.
“You’re small like a noble girl, you should eat more to fill out your figure more.” She said handing me another handful of the meat after pausing and thinking I didn’t have enough.
That didn’t do much to help my condition and just flustered me more, I never expected to be told by these imaginary women that I needed to put on weight while I was here.
Sigh
I shook my head and began gnawing on the jerky like meat, it tasted vaguely familiar but I could place exactly what it was. So I just settled for happily filling my stomach as I’d been told, drinking some water they offered me and otherwise enjoying the silence of the day by the river having already forgotten what had happened not a few hours ago.
While I distracted myself with the impressively good meat, I listened as the twins started talking again.
“We’re near Logrot, should we go there and try for some supplies?” Aurélia asked her sister who replied-
“It’s being occupied by Cedric’s Galvaners though. I know there’s a hamlet further along on the opposite side where one of mothers acquaintances is still living, which would be better for us, I’d rather not get caught up in their crap. But Mum's friend will help us if we show her necklace.” The shorter of the pair suggested
“What after that? Where do we go?” The bright golden eyed sister questioned intently.
“Where doesn’t matter sister, so long as there’s a warm bed. If worst comes to worst and this conflict seeps deeper into our lives then we’ll flee to another country and sell our skills.” Reine sounded every content so long as they were alive, whereas Aurélia sounded like she just wanted a purpose or goal to chase.
I wondered about the dragon we’d seen what happened to it and the town we were in.
Not before long however as we travelled along the road- or well path again, heading along the river in the direction of the towns they mentioned.
[SAIL AWAY WITH ME]
My eyes opened, drowsy and heavy.
A yawn threatened to escape my lips as I went to cover my mouth with my hand, I found myself unable to move it. A realisation hit me as the warmth on either side of my body wasn’t that of the sheets, but two larger bodies.
It was the most comfortable I’d been, but I wasn’t sure how to react as it was too dark to tell who they were, as far as I could tell they were women. Trying to move again prompted the larger of the two who was against my front to shift mumbling something incoherent then grumbling from a stomach. I stayed silent between the people who were fast asleep, unlikely to wake soon, not that I could move anyway, they were really heavy and despite my height I wasn’t all that strong.
My thoughts brought me to that dream I had last night wondering why it had been so detailed and what had brought it on, it wasn’t as though I had played any games recently so much that they’d inspire so much, let alone something with such a familiarness to it.
‘Hmm don’t remember where I slept last night and- WAIT! Wait Wait Wait Wait?! I don’t live with anyone! Why are there people in my bed?!’
Hyperventilating while freaking out wasn’t going to help, I needed to figure out what was going on.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Like right now.
Forcing myself with all my strength I pushed myself up and out of the grasp of the individuals, or rather so that I was on my hands and knees, still not really able to see in the pitch black room. Naturally the two people began rolling into the empty space and I found myself playing twister as I attempted not to wake them while I also hurriedly made my way toward getting out of the bed and sheet that were over us.
“!” I gasped, failing to scream as I tripped falling over the top of the larger woman making another pained noise when I hit the ground beside the bed.
Sitting on the icy cold floor I cradled my head with the growing pain on the right side where I had hit the ground. My legs were crossed as I winced from the spot that felt like it was bruising, taking the moment to look around and try my best to adjust to the lack of light and make out the space around me.
Thankfully it wasn’t too much longer before I started to see solid shapes illuminated by a sliver of light coming in from under a door right across the room from the bed that was sideways against the far wall. I checked my clothing next as it seemed appropriate since I wasn’t all that sure about it either, since it didn’t feel like the tshirt and panties I normally slept in. Instead I found myself in an oversized long sleeved shirt that reached my knees and thick pants, my feet weren’t wearing anything which made me wonder further what was happening.
In through your nose . . . . . Out through your mouth
I took a long deep breath hoping when I opened my eyes again I’d be back in my apartment.
Opening them again and peaking around the room, found me still in that dark space trying to figure out what was happening.
But then it hit me-
“What the fuck…” I cursed internally as I was struck by the realisation that I hadn’t just been dreaming.
It was real, I had seen men and some women beheaded, hung and locked up. There really was a dragon that nearly killed me and my saviours-
‘I looked at the two women in the bed next to me.’
My saviours, right. Reine the Witch and Aurélia, some kind of warrior with a prosthetic arm and leg- which I could make out in the room next to the bed frame, they were laying on the floor.
“I’m… in another world…?” My eyes were wide, my shoulders slumped and my posture similar as I tried my best to comprehend- this.
As if to taunt me further, the bed creaked and made noise as Aurélia woke and began getting out of the bed.
“Why’re you on the floor?” The giant woman asked, I could make out her putting the arm on and then leg.
I went to speak again, but found myself still unable to talk so I just shrugged my shoulders.
“Would you like to join me for breakfast?” she asked, standing up and offering a hand to me.
Taking it lent me to being pulled up to my feet in one swift strong motion, I didn’t get a chance to thank her before she had pushed my back sending me toward the door so that I opened it first.
“!” I winced saying an odd noise escaping me as I looked out into the large room outside where we had been sleeping.
“That’s quite bright.” Aurélia said behind me as we walked out.
The new room was a large twenty or twenty-five metre long building with a ten or so metre tall roof, the ribbing the supports were bare so that you could see them, there was a chimney in the roof for smoke to escape from a large fire pit in the middle with a few cooking pots current boiling a wonderful smelling food. From where we stood there was a counter space on our left that had a keg on it with a faucet, on the wall was a cabinet that took up the whole of it, filled with bottles and more kegs of different drinks that I couldn’t read the labels on. To our right was the rest of the dining space and several doors longside the walls that went who knows where. Finally at the opposite end on the right side from us was a staircase with a railing that led down into a cellar maybe?
There weren’t any other people around from what I could see as Aurélia guided me to sit down at one of the tables.
I watched the woman from my seat at a table against a wall on the left side of our room’s door, she walked up to the counter and rapped her metal knuckles on the countertop. A voice came from somewhere I couldn’t see and soon after a man appeared-
“What the fuck.” I mouthed the curse staring wide eyed at the thing before me.
‘Who… no what the hell is that?’
The man was about as tall as I was, from how he matched against Aurélia from behind the counter, his skin was a matte-pastel purple, he had horns like a mountain goat’s crowning his head. His eyes were a lime green with no whites around the outside of the pupil. He was dressed in a fur collared wool shirt- I couldn’t see his lower half behind the counter, but I would say he was wearing pants considering how cold it was away from the fire in the middle.
“Ah, never seen my kind huh? Well no worries, what did you want?” He acknowledged me with an understanding look before looking back up at Aurélia.
“Something to warm us and what’s in the pots, we didn’t get much in the way of good food before we arrived last night.” She said and the guy nodded before kneeling down and picking out something before standing back up and putting two mugs on the counter.
He filled them up out of my sight and handed them to Aurélia as she placed some copper coins on the counter.
“Here, take your fill- you girls are my only customers until late afternoon when they come from work.” He put out two large bowls for us with wooden spoons.
The giant brought me the mugs, placing them on the table I was at before returning for the bowls and filling them up with what was in the pot on the fire and giving one to me.
She sat next to me and took a big gulp of the mug’s contents before digging into her food.
“Ásta?” The redhead said as though testing the world, it took me a moment to realise she was getting my attention having forgotten about the name. “What was it you did before being arrested? I know you can’t speak but if you can mime it?”
Giving a nod I wondered how to explain that I worked in a cubicle most of my time as a recall coordinator, though it was hardly the ‘fun’ that fight club made it seem like. So instead I just shrugged my shoulders not sure what to say, amnesia seemed like a decent excuse so I tried my best to insinuate that I couldn’t remember. Though my erratic gestures didn’t appear to make much sense-
“Haha!” The woman bellowed a short laugh. “Well-ha! I’m unsure how to decipher your movements-” she continued to giggle.
“Something to the effect of ‘I’m not sure I don’t remember much past meeting you’ or at least that’s how I read it.” The demonic looking man said.
I nodded in agreement as I ate the food, I probably shouldn’t just call it ‘food’. It was a thick vegetable soup with some venison chunks in it, or at least that was my guess based on my limited interactions with the meat- which was to say I’d eaten it once for a friend's birthday because their mother had prepared it since they wanted to try it. Though my friend ended up throwing it back up within a few hours from drinking too much.
“Oh? That makes more sense to some degree at least, so you were caught up in Amnesia's webs?” She queried in such a way that sounded like Amnesia was a who instead of a what.
“Amnesia?” I mouthed.
“The goddess.” The bar keeper answered as he walked out around the counter and joined us at the table.
“Yeah, Lady Memory even has her own war.” Lia chipped in and yes I am going to call her that going forward, it's much easier.
We stayed around for another hour eating our fill, I ended up having significantly more than I thought I would finding myself to have a bottomless pit of a stomach. We did leave however just before the first few people of the small town we were in started filing in to do as they will. Before they did I got to find out our devilish friend who helped translate for me’s name, it was Aeshal, his ability to understand my poor attempts to mime anything comprehensible was founded in years of knowing someone who was born mute.
So that was interesting, but yeah once all the people started showing up Lia and I returned to the room where we found the shorter sister was barely awake laying halfway off the bed.
[A Long Morning]
Later around midday we walked along a road about as wide as a sedan that was partially paved with cobblestone, it wasn’t as cold as yesterday, but it was still quite chilly still requiring the full outfits we’d ended up in- not that we had anywhere to store said clothes if it was suddenly as hot as summer.
We were heading toward a place the twins had mentioned yesterday where a family friend was residing, they were apparently an old hunter who was a former lover of their mothers prior to their father whom they’d never met but knew wasn’t the man we were going to see now.
The plan they had as explained to me was to spend some time with him until they could earn money enough to travel again and live comfortably while getting to a city. What they wanted to do in a city I didn’t really know, but they were happy to facilitate me as a tagalong so long as I helped out and just didn’t get in the way, I guess?
“Do you have any family Ásta?” Reine asked me as we walked next to one another with her sister leading our travelling today.
I held up three fingers pointing at the woman with the prosthetic trying my best to insinuate I meant I had three siblings, though I missed my mother dearly, she was very close to all of us.
At the current rate I wasn’t sure if I’d see my family again while being here for the foreseeable future, but it would be nice to talk with my siblings. My eldest sisters were identical twins and my mothers pension for the names of female mythological characters lent to her naming them Euryale and Stheno. She also wanted to name me Medusa for that matter but father thankfully persuaded her into letting him choose it as well as our younger brother.
Though Alcides did hate having to explain how to say his name and who that was since everyone is more familiar with Heracles as the hero’s god name.
“Where are they now?” The woman next to me inquired, her face curious.
Humming as I thought about what they had been doing when I spoke with them last. I couldn’t picture how to explain it either, which was becoming commonplace for me and was starting to get on my nerves making me wonder what had taken my tongue. It wasn’t exactly like I knew if this was even my body which was probably what was happening, for all I knew I’d entered this new world into the body of some other woman of similar looks and replaced their mind.
Anyway as for my older siblings who were for whatever reason deadset on starting their own school or something like that, I could never quite fully understand what they were talking about when they explained it to me. Love them to death, but more often than not I was lost when listening to them when it was a conversation regarding their interests.
“What are they like?” Aurélia asked, looking over her shoulder at us as we continued walking along.
Thwip thwip thwip!
“!!!” A scream burst from my lips when I was suddenly forced to the ground by Reine.
“Stay down or behind Aurélia so that she can deal with this.” The woman said with a scowl across her face as it darkened eyes wildy darting around.
I was very confused.
“We’re being robbed- ah! Shit!” She cursed when an arrow flew past the point cutting open her face.
“Oi! You fucking-!” The woman cursed before saying something I didn’t understand under her breath and flexing her hands in an odd way that caused the knuckles to pop making a loud crack.
KTOOM!
I squealed out indignantly as a heavy brief flash of hot air and force that knocked me over causing me to hit the ground hard.
When I composed myself enough to roll over and look back at what was happening I found myself looking at a bombsite, there just wasn’t any other way of describing it, there were bodies strewn about charred black and unrecognisable along with a horrendous smell that I doubt I’d ever forget. Especially since I knew exactly what it was, it was the smell of cooking human flesh.
I didn’t keep my eyes on the scene for very long as I was drawn away from the opposite bank of the river that had since been reduced down to about fifty odd metres across rather than the hundred or two beforehand. Where a large scorched part of the earth steamed and smoked with wispy whitish-grey clouds coming off it.
Instead I was looking at the woman who had been at myself until a moment ago where she was now stood angrily with a book in her left hand open to a page about a quarter of the way through it. The book was about the size of a novel with hardcovers made from some leathery greenish-black coloured material with the pages a more worn ivory colour than the usual white- but that could be owed up to something simple like it not being refined paper like I was used to seeing. Next to her was her sister with muscles bulging and veins visible though receding back to where they ought to be as tension left her arms- which weren’t covered from the elbow down anymore with the fabric having been torn and shredded by something.
My mind was too frazzled to really react outside of just staring at her.
Before I realised it a shadow loomed from behind me-
“Are you okay Ásta?” I felt a large hand against my back, I looked back and up meeting eyes with with the larger sister who helped me to my feet
I gave a nod as a let loose a sigh, tension fleeing from my body, though my thanks was shaken off when the woman held up a hand to deny it.
“Sorry for Reine, she hadn’t been able to release some of her anger.” She apologised before sighing as the twin who seemed to me like the younger mentally of the two walked over to her other and placed a hand on her shoulder.
A somewhat downtrodden expression took over Reine’s face completely wiping away an almost hysterically manic smile. Aurélia leaned down saying something I couldn’t hear, the magic using twin responded before her face changed again, becoming a neutral and placid look that she wore normally. She expressed a sigh then started humming a tune.
Before I knew it we were on the road again travelling as if what had happened hadn’t, so I tried my best to forget the sights and smells I’d borne witness to.
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Chapter 2 starts here.
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Light streaked out into the hall from a crack in a wooden door as the large boat slowly rocked as waves hit the bow, my footing was tested and I almost adjusted it too far onto a plank I knew to be creaky and loud. Waiting in the dark shadows of the hall I watched a pair of sailors walk by until they were out of sight then I crept into the room whose light was leaking out.
Once in the room I looked around to find my target who was unconscious with their head down on a large desk with all sorts of paperwork across it. Closing the door behind me with a soft click as the metal latch kept it shut I slunk around the edges as not to tempt the fates too much with the creaky wood which I’d heard many people walk across in preparation for this mission,
There were two metre tall and three metres wide bookshelves on either side of the room, with a large meeting table in the actual centre draped in a velvet cloth with eight chairs around it and a ninth throne like bigger chair. On the left side of the room was a wall that jutted out into the space acting as a separating wall with a queen sized bed behind it, along the walls of the room were paintings of scenery and a few of past rulers.
The entirety of the space behind the target at his desk were coloured pane windows that were difficult to see out of, on the right side of the room directly opposite the desk was another door that I knew to go out onto a private balcony on the back of the ship allowing some fresh air to the man before me now.
As I got closer to the desk, my shadow grew bigger against the wall by the several candles throughout the room. That seemed to be just enough however-
His eyes blinked open.
He stared blankly, sitting up and stretching, as though uncaring or uninterested in what could happen, my presence no longer concealed with all the flames illuminating my form.
“Ho? Interesting, I had been wondering when you would approach me.” The older looking man said as if knowing exactly who I was through my clothing which covered my appearance.
“...” I stayed quiet, relaxing my agitated stance.
“You are probably wondering how I knew, and the answer was your eyes, they were unlike anybody else’s I saw before we set off.” He said answering his own question to me.
“My eyes?” I queried, breaking my silence, watching as the dark purplish highlighted black robes drooped to the ground when he stood and released a sigh as he stretched.
“Yes, they are too beautiful to be those of my soldiers who have spent a decade at least warring and taking life- yours are like glittering stars of Titus’ cosmos by comparison to theirs.” When he paused I moved to reply but he held up a hand and continued. “You have killed, many times, I bet. But you are not the same as a soldier, merely a knife to cut compared to the aged swords- though they may have not suspected you simply because of your innocent look- a young girl with an outwardly naive look about you, clean equipment seeming as though it had never been used in stark contrast to the worn scratched up and marred gear of my long serving members.”
I listened to him talk, letting him move freely as he picked up letters from off the desk reading them as he paced around the room.
“You needn’t hide your face, if you’ll kill me, then allow me the request at least that you’ll let me see a pretty face beforehand.” He stopped on the opposite side of the room across the desk from me, placing one of the letters down.
I didn’t respond, continuing to stand in silence waiting for the man to be ready.
He looked at me expectantly for a few moments before simply nodding with a disappointed expression and continued reading as he paced about, another few minutes of silence would pass again before he would suddenly ask another question.
“Would you at least tell me your name? I don’t care who it was that paid or sent you, but the name of my assassin would be a preferable alternative to your face.” His words were almost without inflection and had a solid neutral tone.
A sigh escaped my lips unintentionally getting the man's attention from what he was reading. “It’s Electra, my mother named me.”
“A foreign name?” He said rhetorically before continuing “I didn’t think someone from another country would even know who I was-” the man smiled in a silly prideful way like a child happy to hear something. “This gladdens me to no end, thank you then Electra for that much.”
He ceased pacing and slowly made his way back to the desk before sitting down on the seat and picking up a quill, dipping it in ink and started writing- continuing from where he had left off prior to falling asleep. I’d read the document already, so I didn’t move to strike immediately. There wasn’t anything the matter with him wanting to complete the edict that he wanted enacted once his death was formally announced.
‘He really had known I was an assassin from the beginning.’
Glancing at it again I quickly read it to reaffirm what I’d read the first time making sure he hadn’t mentioned me in any way, or my appearance. Which it didn’t, just who his titles would go to, how wealth would be distributed and a few other things that were inconsequential to me.
Finally he finished after two or three minutes, I wasn’t really counting so it could’ve been longer, he finished it then making sure it was dry rolled the parchment up and wrapped some ribbon around it before melting a stick of wax and taking his seal and marking it over the end of the ribbon. From there he tossed it aside to the edge of the desk.
“If you would make it clean.” He commented as I stepped forward standing directly behind the chair looking at this nape.
Pulling the long thin rapier like blade from my belt I raised it and then swiftly forced it down through the man’s clavicle, through the lungs before ripping it back out in the same motion and throwing it aside onto the floor.
“!” A horrendous gurgling escaped the lips of my target as his lungs filled with crimson liquid.
Turning away I adjusted the fabric of the lower part of my face mask making sure it was still over my nose before calmly going out the door onto the balcony and looking at the water the boat passed over. Mantling the small fence surrounding it I threw myself overboard-
Splosh!
[Dream Again]