As I stepped through the door I was brought back to the same hallway. A brief sense of accomplishment swept over me. Had I failed I would have been dead long before I was allowed to enter my cage again so I knew that I had not been spotted. No one would ever know what creature stole into the faye elder's home and robbed him of his heart.

“Let me see your treasures little pet.”

“Yes, Mistress.” I replied as I handed the heart wrapped in cloth to the queen. She slowly undid my package and had the first real smile of joy on her face as she inspected the shriveled slab. I wondered what she would want with the heart when she immediately conjured fire and burned the heart leaving not even a speck of ash in its wake.

“Tell me, how do you feel after devouring the heart of a powerful faye known as one of the top magic users among their kind?”

“Mistress it was unlike anything I have ever experienced, not only my physical attributes but my senses are far more alert than anything I have ever experienced. On my return trip I felt as if I was one with the surrounding nature.”

“Yes I would imagine so. Devouring the heart provides much more power than simply draining the blood of a being. This is a secret that not even your people remember any longer as it was seen as a 'savage' and 'barbaric' practice. You should also now hold the ability to learn the magics he was affluent in. We will begin training in this subject now.”

“Yes, Mistress.” My tone was shallow and void of emotion however inside I was excited. I had never been taught magic, and the ability to use this skill would be a skill I never dreamed of having as the Sangalia are known to be void of magic outside of the eight whom devoured a dragon. For the first time my mind wandered only momentarily as to what it would be like to devour the heart of Draena. I privately vowed to myself that if I was ever given the opportunity I would not allow it to pass me by.

My training then took a new turn. The morning classes were now lessons in magic primarily the control of four elements. I seemed to have an inherent skill for fire, the heart of Argon gave me talent for nature magic, however I was somewhat lacking in water and control over the wind. After magic classes would be alchemy classes and how to imbue magic into alchemical mixtures. We still continued weapons and hand to hand combat training every day so I never lacked for bruises or broken bones.

With the new training schedule I again passed every day trapped in my small hallway for another three years. Now sixteen years old I was growing steadily into my adult's body. I stood at 5'10” and had finally begun to fill out in my chest and hips. I was truly becoming a woman and I was excited to see how I would look when I stopped my growth which normally happened for the Sangair at age 18, only a few more years.

At this time I had mastered the fire and earth magic and was at an expert stage of wind and water magics however I was not likely to get too much better as I had no talent for them. The only reason I had only got as far as I did was through pure determination and training alone. The mistress never threatened to kill me for my inability to progress though, it seems even getting as far as I had without talent was almost unimaginable.

The Martial arts training took on new difficulties as the mistress began to imbue my training clothes with gravity runes which increased the weight of all items. Within the first year my clothes weighed as much as I did and as I progressed so did the amount of weight I carried. Luckily my body type never became masculine as the Sanglair body is made to adjust to new strength on an incredible level so my body became toned but never overtly muscular.

Finally the mistress came to me with new instructions. I was to have a second test which she advised me of previously. Apparently she would test me three times, and when I accomplished the third test I would be allowed to leave the mountain and begin my quest for vengeance. The second test was all I had thought about for the past three years.

“It is time little pet. I will advise you of your second test now. While the first test was to give you the power of magic and test your ability to kill on my command. This second test is to hone your ruthlessness. I will send you to a tribe of beast-men which lives outside of the forest. Your task will be annihilation. Do not leave a single living being within the village I am sending you to. How you kill them all is your decision I do not care but none must escape. This should be your first time ever leaving the forests as you have always lived within this mountain or the forests beyond but remember your freedom still has not yet been granted. Be sure to return once the task has been completed. Once again failure will mean death.”

“Yes Mistress, I will eradicate the village, none shall escape, none shall survive.”

“Weapons will be your choice, take whatever you please. I have new clothes for you, they will be in the armory, now be gone. You know the way to the door I need not see you out.”

“As you command Mistress.”

I made my way to the dojo where we kept the weapons and made my selections. I took my favorite curved blade which now knew was called a lumer, and strapped it on my back in its sheathe. I loaded a holster for throwing knives which are worn over the shoulder and may be hidden by a good cloak. Finally I took a short dagger and sheathed it to my belt. The clothing this time was perfectly fit as it had been on my first test. Again all black with leather pants however the shirt this time was low cut and the sides were open and laced together revealing more skin but also allowing my body to breathe. For the first time I truly felt that I had the traits of a beautiful woman as the clothing made my assets well displayed. I wondered if this too was for Draena's amusement as she seemed to live by the belief that less clothing was always better. Finally I took a backpack made of leather specially made for carrying alchemical creations and loaded it with various smokes and explosive concoctions

Once geared up I proceeded to exit the room and navigate myself out of my hallway and towards the exit door for the second time. Mistress had told me that I needed to head northwest and would easily be able to locate the village about a day and a half outside of the forest. Navigating to the edge of the forest took about half a day and I decided it was best to sleep the day away before proceeding outside of the forest. When I awoke it was dusk so I made ready to proceed out of the forest for the first time in my life.

I had been traveling for about three hours when I came across the first travelers. There were five men in total, human from the smell. They were each wearing a dirty cloak covering the most of their faces so I could only get a good glimpse of the man in front and it disgusted me immediately. The face was ugly and covered in dirt with a massive unkempt beard. On his forehead was a scar which looked as if it was relatively new and the wound underneath was never properly cleaned. As we came close into contact the men all finally took notice of me with their torches. My face was covered by my cloak however my body was visible clearly showing I was a female and the men's eyes immediately clouded with lust. It was my first experience with the sexual desires of men and the only response I could muster was utter repulsion.

I continued to move forward looking to avoid any encounter with these men, not that I felt an inkling of fear but rather the thought that any choice would be better than to come into contact with such grotesque creatures lead me to decide on quickly passing them by. The men however did not seem to agree with my choice, they saw a young man and thought easy prey, they believed they had found a toy to play with. It was obviously about to be their mistake. Now if only I can avoid direct contact.

“'Ey lil lady how 'bout you come play.” One of the men flanking the leader spoke up first. His voice deep and gnarled, likely destroyed by the smoke that so many humans were addicted to.

“Fuck off.” These were the only words I would allow the pigs. There would be no second warning nor games played with these men.

“Well lookie 'ere fellas she's got a mouth on 'er, why don' we show 'er some other uses for 'dem pretty lips.” The second the sentence was finished I had already conjured fire and tossed a flame between the man's legs. His agonized screams followed him all the way to hell leaving only a pile of ash in his wake. I could have used a dagger but at the thought of retrieving the knife I decided fire was the best option.

With the death of their friend the other four became more wary of me. Yet two of them could not control their tempers, or were simply too dumb to realize that their first steps forward would be their death. The second the began their charge I conjured two more balls of flame and immediately flung them to the assailants burning them on the spot. There were two left, the one I took as the leader and a silent man who was masked and apparently unmoved by the swift deaths of his three companions.

The first attacker was the leader. I threw a ball of flame but he was quicker than expected and dodged the flame while drawing a one handed straight blade. He rushed me with a speed abnormal for a human and slashed at me with ferocious strength. However he was human, to my eyes even the swift movement was slow and before the swing finished rotation I had my dagger out and implanted in the crook of his neck. His lifeless body fell to the ground as I jerked my dagger free. Immediately I switched my attention to the last man standing, the masked man which I now noticed had a deeply bitter smell to his blood and I realized this one was no human, I was now facing a demon. Likely this final creature was the leader of the group, and I had no doubt in the least he was the strongest.

“What are you fire lady? Do I face a faye?” Croaked a gravely voice. My cloak had not once been lifted, none of my features were showing and as such the demon had no way of telling what being I was. My beauty, strength and magical abilities would most likely be to a faye, but I felt that this last man would know that he faced death from a far more frightening adversary. But not before I played with him first. I knew his first move, all demons were the same per Draena's lessons so I naturally taunted him.

“If you can remove my hood then you can find out for yourself demon shit.”

Immediately the masked figure pricked his finger and shot an arrow of blood directly at my neck. Normally even avoiding the shot would require me to move in a manner which would make my hood fall however this was blood, and I was Sangair. I moved an inch and allowed the shot directly into my mouth swallowing it hole. As the demon stepped back in surprise I lowered my hood and grinned.

“Now... it's my attack, yes?”

Without waiting another moment I leapt at the demon, as he raised his arms to block I kneed his solar plexus. Keeling over from the pain I lashed out with my fangs and bit into his neck. Not wanting to kill him just yet I stopped just before death and drove my hand into his chest just as I did the faye elder and began to drain from the weakly pulsating organ. The taste was exactly as expected, it was bitter but sweet at the same time, I had heard of a concoction called chocolate which was described as a very similar sensation. It did not hold the power of Argon but it was a significant pick me up and I decided later I would try to see if I could attempt any blood magic.

Continuing northwest after burning the remains of my attackers I traveled for another six hours until the sun was ready to rise. I then began my search for some shelter which resulted in locating an abandoned cabin about two hours off the northwestern road. The cabin was old and appeared to be ready to fall apart at any time but I had stayed in far worse. My destination was about another half day away so I would arrive with time to do some preliminary observations of the village.

I awoke again just as the sun fell, gathered my backpack and weapons and left the cabin. Soon the ground was covered with recent tracks of people moving to and from the region and I knew the village must be close. Within six hours of the cabin I had located the village and began to circle it looking for the best observational point. There was a small wooded area close to the outskirts most likely where the hunters gathered the food from. These woods would also be my hiding spot during the daytime.

Before the sun came up I had already learned the night guard numbers. This village was much larger than the previous test's and had a dozen nighttime guards. The large village was surrounded by a wooden wall with only two areas one could enter or leave the village through. One near the road I had previously been following and another at the opposite end near the forest. It was impossible for a single person to cover both exits and I had the requisite condition that no one may escape. This meant that closing one of the exits was a necessity. It would funnel all defenders to a single gate however this could be to my benefit if done correctly. However as it stood the numbers were far too against me at the moment. Even with my magic and strength I wasn't sure of a win under these conditions. My plan was to first lower the number of fighters available in the village. Perhaps catching the hunters as the were in the woods would be the best starting point. Next I would take wait for the guards to go looking for the missing hunters. Once I had taken care of all reinforcements my attack on the village itself would begin. Deciding this was the best path forward I retreated to the woods and went to sleep early.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I arose before midday and not a moment too soon. My gear had just been collected when I heard rustling not too far from my tree. Taking a whiff I knew from the strong scent of rainfall on the forest there was a beast-man near my location. My first target had just wandered straight to me, how lucky. As they neared I noticed it was a wolf kin and memories of the last few moments with my mother flooded me, the predatory smile during the chase and her desperation to escape. What a fitting first victim to start my slaughter.

As soon as the wolf reached my tree I dropped, instantly grabbing his mouth to prevent noise and latching to his neck I bit in. His muffled cries became weaker and soon ceased entirely as his body became lifeless. I dropped the corpse and retreated further away and into another tree. Using nature magic to search the forest I located another four hunters were currently close to my position. Two of the hunters were together and the other two separated. The together were my first target and quickly disposed of with throwing knives, each dying before the other even had a chance to react to the scent of blood. Retrieving the knives I set out for the fourth, this was a tiger kin. A scent of blood had apparently permeated the air as he was already wary and clearly ready for an attack. The last target was not far so I knew once the battle begun it would need to be quick or I would be fighting both at the same time which would interfere with my plans. Conjuring vines with nature magic I tied the arms of the beast kin and vaulted from my hiding place unsheathing my sword a quick swipe and his head went rolling. Prepared or not this hunter had never stood a chance against me, the kill was flawless.

As predicted the fifth hunter was already a matter of feet away from me with his axe drawn. I parried his blow with my short sword and lunged straight towards his heart. He was agile and quickly jumped back to avoid my strike. I felt joy in a battle of blades and decided I would not use magic for this fight so I swung again and it was blocked by his axe. Admittedly I may have been playing with my food but there was no harm in having a little fun every now and then. His body tensed and he charged with his axe to his side and vertically sliced at me, I figured it was time already to end the charade and jumped landing neatly on the blade of his weapon. A second later I had pounced towards him and drove my hand into his chest gathering another heart to drain for power.

The entire battle had taken place within fifteen minutes thus giving me likely half a day before anyone would be worried enough to send a search party for the group. This was the perfect time to test if my previous acquisition of a demon’s’ heart allowed me blood magic. My instincts said it was very likely as it seemed ridiculous to assume my kind wouldn’t have a natural knack for all things blood related. My first test was to cut my finger and control the blood as it flowed out using the basics of elemental control I had already mastered. To my surprise it worked perfectly. I channeled magic into the flowing drops and created a string of blood twirling in mid-air. I then proceeded to vary the size and shape of the blood which was once again a very simple task. I decided one more tested would be enough for the moment so I formed an arrow with the blood and proceed to use an explosion of magic force to push it into the nearest tree. To my surprise the arrow shot forward at a speed almost untraceable to my eyes going all the way through not just the nearest tree but the one behind as well. This would become an extremely handy trick and one which I could keep a secret, I silently thanked the masked demon for his wonderful heart.

The hours passed and soon enough shouts arose from the entrance of the forest. The reinforcements had arrived and I was very excited to see how useful my new abilities would be. Scouting the forest with my nature magic the amount of warriors which had came to hunt shocked me. There was a couple dozen men and women grouped into four parties of six departing in different directions hunting for their companions. They would never find them, I had burned the bodies to a crisp and used my magic to clear the smell of blood and death from the area to be sure they would split up. I took the first and second groups in a blur using only a thread of blood magic I targeted the vital spots on each member so that only a small amount of blood was needed. By the third group I was able to create multiple small strands and was practicing shooting them out at once to quickly whittle down the number of enemies. This left me with the last group and I only needed one or two test subjects because I had a few ideas for my new magic skill which needed to be tested. Killing four of the six members immediately I snuck behind the last two and incapacitated them with the hilt of my sword in the confusion.

After tying them to a tree I made my way through the forest and disposed of the twenty two corpses littered around and once again cleansed the air. It was apparently time to start my experiments so I awoke one of the captives, a wolf-kin mongrel, with a little water magic.

“The fuck are you doing bitch, who are you?” Instantly sputtering with rage the dog began to struggle against his bindings and glaring at me. “How long do you think tell the other warriors come and skin your ass for tying me up likes eh?”

The thought was hilarious to me, and my laugh made it apparent that I felt no fear over the mongrel’s threats.. There was a specific dislike in me for the wolf-kin due to my mother’s death and I was looking forward to the tests. “The dead cannot save you little pup. You two are the last of the group which entered these trees. My name is Jade, to be polite should you not tell me yours as well?”

“You won’t get a word from me.. And don’t call me pup, I can smell the death and blood on you, there is only one species rumored to smell so vile you dirty leech, go ahead and kill me now.”

“Oh dear you misunderstand” I giggled at his assumptions. “I’m not going to kill you, nor do I care for any information you think I want from you… I merely need a test subject for some…. magical experiments. That is the only reason you’re alive, to feel more pain. and then die when I am done.” His face immediately fell as he realized there was no hope for him or a quick death. What he now faced was a twisted creature that had no pity for him. Unfortunately he was right, as stated before he reminded me of my mother’s death and the bloodthirsty rage I felt must be appeased.

Earlier while playing with my blood and making shapes and strands I started to wonder if the blood used must be my own. To test the theory I cut the wolf and concentrated my magic on the drops of blood streaming from his cheek. Slowly the blood stopped falling and fathered mid-air as I held it with my concentration. Then the blood began to recede back towards his face. His eyes widened in fear as the blood was returned into the cut. I let go of my hold and now decided to focus on his arm. Freeing one arm from the vines used to entrap him he attempted to move for the instant they were gone but immediately new vines shot around his chest tying him in place. “Please no…” he pleaded but it was ignored. This time without a cut I focused using my Sangair senses on the blood pulsing through his arm and concentrated my magic around it. I moved the arm up and down and smiled with glee as it moved freely with my will. There was only one last idea I had and this would be the cincher… Focusing this time on the blood beating in his heart I again sent my magic through him. Seeing where I was looking the wolf began to whimper, again pleading “Goddess no don’t kill me, please don’t kill me I’ll do anything.” Well he asked so nicely didn’t he? I changed my focus to his arm and without hesitation used an explosion of magic power to scatter the blood with force the arm shredding to pieces from the inside. The wolf’s screams must have been heard kingdoms over and I decided the game was over. I halted the blood flow through his heart and the wolf seized dying within seconds.

The screams had apparently woken up our second victim. A cat-girl who hadn’t made a peep most likely due to the shock of seeing the dead and mutilated corpse of her companion. I would not be too cruel to this one, I just had a quick test then she was done. I used magic to shoot a ball of my blood into the agape mouth of the cat. Spreading the ball throughout her body I took control of her movements. Releasing her binds I had her stand and flail about like she was insane. It was truly a funny sight, but my fun was over. Paralyzing her I latched onto her neck and restored the lost blood from the day and burnt the last two bodies.

As night fell and neither the hunters or warriors had returned the village was in an uproar. They could now clearly sense something was wrong. That there was something hunting them and they would be prepared. All adult villagers capable of bearing arms was doing so and constant patrols rotated the perimeter. The walls were manned all around with archers. It was time to begin the attack. I made my way around the walls shooting arrows of blood at the stationed archers. The attack was silent and soon half of the patrols on the walls were downed and I had arrived at the gate. This gate led to the road and would be blocked. Instantly using earth magic I made a massive wall at the exit startling the guards and civilians near this half of the village. Using the distraction I moved again heading alongside the walls and towards the other entrance while killing the stationed archers which had been heading towards my distraction. It was time for a grand entrance into the village.

I struck the houses surrounding the forest exit with large rocks engulfed in flames, a trick I named meteor shower, killing all inside or around the homes. On the other side of the fire I could tell they had realized the wall was only a distraction and the warriors were being to swarm to me. Continuing to sneak around was a valid option but it was time to face the battle head on. Drawing my sword I lept through the flames at the forty warriors amassed near me. Using the wind I spend my movements and lept throughout the adversaries slashing at their necks and bathing myself in the delicious scent of their blood. As I arrived in the center of the circle the remaining couple dozen warriors closed ranks encircling me. I took their attack parrying their blades and slicing their limbs as they came at me. The sounds of angry screams and wails of pain only drove my bloodlust further and I carved myself through my foes killing one or even two at a time.

Soon enough the enemies dwindled and it was down to me and the last man standing. One would assume the loss of all his compatriots would fill him with fear but the only emotion on his face was rage. Kael was the head of the village warriors,a proud and powerful tiger-kin. He was the very best and the one who trained the recruits, not once had he ever lost a fight before and swore he would not lose this one. His village was burning, the civilians all dead or dying and no warriors but himself stood. He no longer had thoughts of protecting his people, he only thought of revenge. With a blood thirsty cry he lifted his mithril blade and charged the vile creature that had destroyed everything.

I admired the speed of this tiger warrior, it was the first time I had seen anyone outside Draena that could possibly match myself. I shot an arrow of blood at him hoping that his rage could dull his senses but I was wrong, his mithril blade immediately deflected. Deciding this would be fought with blades between warriors I lunged at him yet was parried with skilled efficiency. After deflecting my strike he swung at me forcing me to roll away to avoid the blow and I came up already swinging towards him. His skill was apparent as the battle became a show of parries and lunges never wounding the opponent enough to make a true difference in the fight. I decided drastic measures would be necessary for me to get the kill. I dropped my guard as the tiger lunged and allowed his sword to pierce my shoulder. Using his brief shock at the success of the blow I lunged at him and drove my fangs into his neck, the warrior was strong and it showed in the blood. I could feel power flowing through my body as he weakened. When he was to weak to fight back I removed the blade so that the wound would heal as I fed and dug his heart out of his chest as my reward.

After healing with the blood from my opponent I sent my senses out through the village to search for any possible survivors. As I made my rounds there was none living, the women and children, farmers and elders, everyone was dead from my attacks or from the fire which had spread throughout the village. The sight made me remember my village for a moment, a very similar sight to the one before me and this made a single tear drop from my eyes. The sadness was not for any guilt I felt over the ‘innocents’ in the village, I strongly felt there was no innocent beings left in this village, I remember what their kind had done to my people for generations. Yet remembering the faces of my family and friends still struck a chord deep within my heart. I could not spare time for these feelings though so again I locked them away and left the still burning village.

My mission was complete and I was tired. I spent that night within a tree deep within the forest while planning for my future. I could not spend much longer with the dragon but she was strong. Stronger than every opponent I had seen or fought put together and she was cunning. But I had now had a skill, more than that it was a skill that could be kept secret from my ‘mistress.’ A plan had now begun to slowly form in my mind, perhaps there would not be a third test.