"About time," the shadow knight that was on the lookout said as he entered Olivia's room.
"The lock was trickier than expected," the other justified as he got to his feet and fell in behind his companion. "Be lucky the others are managing to hold off the rest of the Hellhounds as long as they are."
"Right." The shadow knights looked around Olivia's lavishly decorated prison with bemused eyes that eventually fell onto Olivia. "Let's just get the job done."
"…" Olivia's eyes watched the men approach her while her body remained motionless, though her ears were perked up as if listening to something that wasn't there.
"I guess she's stunned," the lookout said as he approached Olivia. "Even with all these luxuries, being trapped in a box for so long's probably ruined her head." He raised his sword to deliver a clean strike to Olivia's neck. "Guess I'll put you out of your-!?!"
"…" With a swift motion that defied her haggard appearance, Olivia grabbed a metal nail file and stabbed it into the knight's right eye.
"Gah!?!" The man stumbled back and reached up to his face as blood started pouring out of his stabbed eye. "You bitch! I'll-" But the man wouldn't finish his last words as Olivia punched the nail file embedded in the knight's eye with all her strength, piercing it through the man's skull and sending it flying out the back of his head. Blood, brain matter, and bits of skull splattered against the other shadow.
"…Huh?" The remaining shadow knight was temporarily stunned by what he witnessed as he watched his companion's body hit the floor with a thud. His eyes hesitantly rose from the corpse back to his target. Olivia's dilated pupils stared at, into, and through the man. "Y-You-" Olivia grabbed her longsword. "Fuck!" Most knew of Olivia's prowess as a swordsman and the shadows had hoped that wasting away in a room for months would have robbed Olivia of her strength. "Stay back!" They were wrong.
"…" Olivia lunged at the knight. The shadow tried to counter with a thrust, but Olivia easily evaded the flustered strike and drove her sword into the man's stomach. Since they were meant to be stealthy while in Solfin, the shadow knights only wore leather armor at most, but most of them were only wearing heavy cloth that Olivia's extremely sharp blade easily pierced.
"!?!" The man coughed, the air forcefully leaving his lungs, as Olivia didn't stop her momentum and tackled the man to the ground while driving her sword deeper into his stomach. They fell into the hallway and Olivia noticed daggers strapped to the knight's thigh. "Y-Yo-!" Olivia stole one of the daggers, raised it into the air, and started repeatedly stabbing the knight's chest. Rib bones broke under the strength of Olivia's blows, lungs were pierced and flooded with blood, and the life soon flickered out from the knight's eyes and his body went limp. Stab. Stab. Tick. Tock.
"…" Olivia stabbed the dagger one final time into the man's heart before stopping. Her eyes were still dilated, adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she was hyperventilating as she stared at the corpse under her. "…?" Then she realized where she was.
"You're out of the room," the Lucina doll called from its place on the bed.
"…" Slowly, on legs that felt like wet noodles, Olivia stood up. She left the dagger in the knight's chest and pulled her longsword out of his stomach before walking to the middle of the hallway. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was shining in through the windows to fill the hall with warmth. Olivia's bare feet squished against the carpet that was stained red from the blood that was leaking out of three Hellhound knight corpses that littered the hall; her room's former guards. Were they killed here? Olivia didn't remember hearing any combat outside her door earlier, but she also knew that her mind was unstable. Was she that out of it? Think. Think. Tick. Tock.
"They're in the mansion." The metallic clashing of blades echoed from down the hall and drew Olivia out of her thoughts. "The fact they're doing such a desperate assault to get you can only mean one thing…"
"…Lucina's coming back." There had been plenty of attacks over the past few weeks, but none were as large as this one. They must be on a time limit as the master of the house was returning, Olivia concluded. "Lucina-"
"Hey, what's taking so long?" a woman's voice shouted from down the hall. A shadow knight was constantly checking over her shoulder as she ran up the hall, and asked, "How hard is it to kill one-!?!" She finally looked where she was going and halted in her tracks. Olivia stood, covered in blood, in the middle of the hall with a shadow knight's brutalized corpse on the ground behind her. "…!?" Shadow knights were trained to give their lives to complete the mission, should it be required. But as the knight stared at Olivia, all her instincts screamed at her to run. She turned to bolt back down the hall.
"…!" Olivia lunged after her. Thump. Thump. Drip. Drip. Tick. Tock.
***
"Just how many of them are there!?" Carl complained as he chopped his axe into the shoulder of a shadow knight to split their torso but not fully cut it in half. He kicked the corpse back to throw other shadows off balance and yelled, "This seems like a bit much!"
"Focus!" Peter barked as he swung his greatsword to shatter the sword of another shadow and slice them in half. His aura raged along his blade as its blue flames fed on the blood that stained it. The Hellhounds battled the shadow knights in the main hall of the mansion as they desperately tried to push back the intruders. "Are you sure none got past?" An arrow was deflected by Peter's aura.
"Like I can keep track!?" Carl barked back as he threw one of his axes across the hall and nailed the archer in the head. Corpses littered the hall yet there was no end to the shadows.
"Damn it!" Peter cursed as he tried to assess the situation. Carl was right, there were far too many of them for this to be just James' shadows. He knew that James wasn't the only one sending shadows to Solfin, but he didn't think they would potentially team up to attack the mansion in full force. Peter turned to one of the Hellhounds and ordered, "Break off and head upstairs to-"
"Boss!?" But, interrupting the battle, was a cry from the third floor. A female shadow rushed to the third-floor railing and desperately called down, "We need to pull back!"
"What!?" a shadow shouted up at the woman. "How could three of you fail at killing one weak woman!?"
"The target's not weak, she-!?!" Before she could finish her report, a blade pierced through the woman's chest as Olivia caught up. The impact of Olivia crashing into her sent both the shadow knight and Olivia smashing through the wood railing and falling down to the ground floor. Using her flexibility to adjust herself midair, Olivia positioned herself in such a way that the woman under her would take the brunt of the impact and cushion Olivia's fall. They crashed onto the floor, leaving a small crater in the hardwood and splattering the shadow's head.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"…" The battle was silenced as all eyes turned to Olivia who stumbled to her feet. Olivia's left arm hung limp at her side as it was dislocated from the fall. The longsword was ripped out of the corpse. Drip. Drip. The grandfather clock in the hall marched in kind. Tick. Tock.
"…Lady Olivia?" Peter managed to find his voice and called out to Olivia. The fact she was out of her room meant the shadows managed to break the lock and the fact she was here meant they were all dead.
"…Where's Elise?" Olivia's rough voice answered back. She didn't turn to face Peter and instead kept her gaze forward on the shadows that infested the mansion.
"She and Jeremy are helping guard the staff in the kitchen," Peter answered. "Since you're out, you should head there too and-!?" With a sickening pop, Olivia forced her shoulder back in place. She didn't make a single noise, as if she didn't even feel the pain. Olivia slightly turned her head so that her eyes could meet Peter's. Her blue eyes were like frozen lakes.
"There's work to be done here, Peter." And there were cracks along the surface. "Since I'm their target, then I'll stay here so they don't go after the servants." Olivia's nightgown was ruined from the blood and her unruly hair gave her a maddening appearance as she turned to the intruders.
"D-…Don't just stand there!" the leader of the shadow knights yelled despite his hands shaking. "The target's right there! Get-" An axe flew across the room and embedded itself in the leader's shoulder.
Carl turned to Olivia and asked, "Kill'em all?"
"Kill them all," Olivia answered, and the battle resumed. At first, the Hellhound knights tried to form a perimeter around Olivia to protect her since she was the target, but their efforts were quickly made irrelevant. "…" With a cold, brutal efficiency, Olivia cut her way into the enemy's line. She perceived the world like it was in slow motion as her dilated eyes took in all they could while her adrenaline-filled mind processed everything faster than normal. Sword strikes were parried, arrows were dodged, and bodies were cut down. Warm blood splashed against Olivia's face to remind her that she was out of the room; that this was no trick of her strained mind. Every kill a reminder. Every drop of blood a confirmation. Slice. Slice. Drip. Drip. Tick. Tock.
"D-Damn it! Retreat!" The call was given as the tide of battle was rapidly turning against the shadows. Even if they failed at killing Olivia, they had to report back to James about their situation.
"After them!" Olivia ordered.
"Got it!" the Hellhounds answered and fell in with Olivia. Despite her being someone they were supposed to protect, the sight of Olivia covered in blood and chasing the enemy inspired them to run ahead. It was a feeling that hadn't infected their hearts in years yet they all still vividly remembered.
"Lady Olivia!" Peter did his best to not get swept up in the feeling and tried to remember their real goal. "We should stay back and-"
"Didn't you hear me?" Olivia halted her charge in front of the main entrance. While the knights rushed past her, Olivia turned her head to stare back at Peter. "Are the servants safe?"
It was a stare Peter was familiar with, yet was completely alien, and he answered, "Yes." Elise, Jeremy, and the detachment of knights would easily be able to hold off the few shadows that went after the servants.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Olivia turned and took a step onto the stairs outside the doors. She continued to speak, and the Hellhounds around her listened, "They're doing this because Lucina is on her way back."
"She is?" one of the knights asked.
"Why else would they go all out?" Olivia didn't know if it was true, but it felt correct and would give the Hellhounds the drive to continue. She called back to Peter, "It's too late, now, as they already broke open my door. They broke the stalemate so it's time to answer in kind!" She watched the shadow knights scurry away from the mansion and into the trees. She raised her sword and rallied the Hellhounds, "If they're tired of this game, then we should be the ones to finish it! They struck first, so do your duty as knights of Solfin and defend your home! Drive them from our streets! Rout them from our city! Make Lucina proud and water the fields outside Solfin with their blood!"
"Got it!" the Hellhounds shouted and gave chase. Even Peter, who was doing his best to keep calm, found himself running with his knights in a mad sprint after their enemies. The leash was released and it was now impossible to stop the hounds that sprinted through the woods and into the city after their prey. Maws of steel gnashed the fleeing heels of the shadow knights whose bodies were torn apart in the alleys of Solfin.
"…" Olivia, on the other hand, did not follow the Hellhounds. She stood motionless on the dirt path between the mansion and the iron fence that surrounded it. A part of her wanted to rush back into the mansion to check on the servants, but a calm, warm wind whistled across the yard as if to reassure Olivia that everything was fine. Her toes wiggled against the dirt that radiated the warmth of the sun it baked under, and the salty air of the ocean filled her lungs. The sun peaked through Sailest's rings that sliced across the sky and kissed Olivia's cheeks as she raised her face to bask in the outdoors. Crashing waves echoed in the distance which made the world still and calm. Everything was fine. The world was calm. The ticking of the clock no longer broke against her mind. "…Come out." Now it was time to deal with the last remaining onlookers.
"…" While they had evaded the mad Hellhound knights, five remaining shadow knights emerged from the forest when Olivia called them out. They stopped a few yards away from Olivia and made no moves against her.
"Which of you serve my father?" Olivia knew that her father would send people to keep tabs on things but she had a gut feeling that there were more people interested in her than just James and her father.
"…" Two of the five shadows stepped forward and bowed to Olivia. "We are glad to see you unharmed, my Lady."
Olivia looked over the two knights before ordering, "Return to Wortrest and inform my father that he no longer needs to worry about me. We'll have this cleaned up by the end of the day." She wiped her longsword against her nightgown to get the blood off, but the gown was so soaked in blood that it didn't do much to clean the blade.
The shadow seemed surprised by Olivia's words, and asked, "But, my Lady, you should also return to Wortrest with us! With the Hellhounds distracted, and the Countess away, we can-"
"Enough." Olivia's voice was cold as she cut off the shadow knight. Her pupils were still dilated, her mind was not fully well, and she continued, "Return to my father. I'll be sending a letter explaining myself, once Lucina returns and we finish cleaning up Solfin." She saw hesitance in the shadow's body language. "One day, I will return to Wortrest, but now isn't the time."
"…Very well, my Lady." While not fully satisfied with the answer, the shadows saw the reason behind it and decided to back off. They had to inform the Duke, so they would leave this to another's servants. The two shadows gave a glance to the three other shadows and gave a nod before sneaking their way out of Solfin without being killed by the Hellhound knights, leaving Olivia alone with the three remaining shadows.
"…" The three shadows silently watched Olivia.
"So, who do you belong to?" Olivia asked as she lightly tapped the tip of her sword against the ground.
The knight in the center stepped forward and introduced himself, "We were sent by Prince Terence to look for an opening to rescue you, Lady Olivia." He gave a respectful bow to Olivia. "Please come with us to one of the Prince's safe houses in a neighboring county."
"I already said I won't be leaving," Olivia flatly replied. She watched the two shadows in the back exchange glances, and the air took an apprehensive turn.
"I apologize for us not being able to rescue you sooner, Lady Olivia." The leader of the three didn't back down, and justified, "Though your mind is being controlled by the slave collar, know that we only wish for your safety."
"Controlled?" Olivia raised an eyebrow at the shadow, and scoffed, "Lucina hasn't used my collar since arriving in Solfin. I am fully in control of my actions."
"…It's worse than we feared," one of the shadows muttered.
"Lady Olivia," the leader tried to explain himself to Olivia, "Your unwillingness to leave your captor is clearly forced. Please listen: that collar can control not only your actions but has also been known to mess with the wearer's mind. What you feel for Countess Sanguine is a forced emotion that you were ordered to feel by the Countess and then forced to forget." He took a step toward Olivia and reached out a hand in a gesture of peace. "It has been months since your capture which is more than enough time for your mind to be tainted by the Countess' order to submit. Prince Terence has bid us to bring you to a safe house so we can find a way to remove the collar while evading the Countess' wrath. We wish to help you."
"…" Olivia's sword continued to tap against the ground. "Are you done?" She wasn't lost in thought over the shadow's words, she was annoyed by them.
"Lady Olivia?"
"While you may be correct that I'm not in my right mind, that has nothing to do with any 'orders' from the collar." She started swishing her sword back and forth along the ground. "Mary would have kicked up a fuss to me every day if Lucina had used such an order…but she hasn't. So…" She stopped swinging her sword. "Return to Prince Terence and tell him I will be staying in Solfin until a method to remove my collar is found."
"…" The shadow knight fell silent for a long time. A sharp breeze cut through the yard. "Her mind is clearly too far gone." The shadows reached for their swords. "Subdue her, and return to the safe house. Try not to harm her as much as possible, her actions aren't her own."
"Understood," the two subordinates replied and drew their shortswords.
"…It's like talking to a brick wall," Olivia muttered and raised her longsword. "Then again, you probably never intended on believing me to begin with." Her eyes drilled into the leader as she mentioned, "There were far too many shadows to just belong to James. Did you think you could trick them into an alliance and then backstab them once I was out? Or was the plan to trick my father's shadows and just have me killed by James' so my father would be enraged and help the second prince? Are you that stupid?"
"Please, try to remain calm, Lady Olivia," the leader didn't answer Olivia's words, though Olivia did notice him slightly flinch from her accusation. Blue wisps of energy started wafting off his blade with similar wisps, though of different colors, also leaking out of the other shadow's swords. "We will do our best to make this painless." The Auristers activated their auras and readied their swords.
"…Fine." Olivia took a deep breath to center herself, and her grip tightened around the hilt of her sword. "If you're that desperate to die, then be my guest." Olivia felt a hollowness in her soul as her aura bashed against the slave collar's magic, trying to break free. While she didn't know if she could beat three Auristers without her aura, Olivia refused to go down quietly. The kitchen where the servants and remaining Hellhounds were was on the other side of the mansion so she doubted any help would arrive to save her. She bent her knees into a ready stance, pointed the tip of her sword at the lead shadow, and declared the start of the fight, "Let's go!"