Ready Or Not (1)
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A dull sound had been rattling in my ears for the past hour or so.
It scrambled my thoughts each time I heard the brusque noise grinding at my bedside. Unable to bear it any longer, I finally lifted off the covers and turned to the source of it.
“So, you finally decided to come out huh?” asked the woman sitting on a chair by the windowsill. In her hands was a metal looking arrow a few inches longer than a dagger. She was chipping away at its piercing tip with some sort of obsidian colored rock.
“You....knew I was awake?” I asked through a yawn, rubbing the dreariness out of my eyes.
“Well, yeah, more or less. It’s been about an hour or so, right?” She smirked deviously. "Since we’re this close, I could tell based off the difference in your breathing patterns.”
“I see. So what time is it then? Are we going to leave soon?”
“Hmmm..... Well, it's almost midnight and we are supposed to rendezvous with your parents over by the fort so I guess we’re almost at that time. Right, Myra?” With a nudge of her chin, she sent the question at the small creature resting on the dresser.
Seeing Myra actually make contact with solid ground always managed to strike me as surprising for some reason.
“I guess so.” She replied, flapping a few sparkles off her wings in the process. Her eyes had been closed this entire time so as unlikely as it sounds, she had probably just dozed off at some point.
“Heheh....well rested I take it?” Jytte quipped
“Shut up. I wasn’t sleeping.” She mumbled out lazily. “Are you done sharpening your arrows?”
“Yeah, I just needed to keep myself occupied for a while that's all.”
Her fingers effortlessly twirled the arrow in the air and with a simple flick of her thumb, she sent the metal object on an arched trajectory that led to the open quiver at her feet. The second it fell into the quiver’s stacked pile; a dim blue glow enveloped the collection of metal projectiles.
“Jytte....what was that?” I muttered
“That quiver engraves all the arrows I put in there with an enchantment. Basically, it just adds a little magic spell to all my arrows to make them better.”
“A spell? It's not the elemental kind, right?”
“No, that's not what my enchantment does.” She said with a sly smile. “In my case, the enchantment allows me to double either the weight or speed of my arrows depending on the situation.”
Interesting. It was basically a means of altering her attack pattern to optimize for either more damage or more precision. It sounded simple enough, but given the cards she’s been dealt as a warrior; she’s played her hand well.
“Oh, so that's why you never miss. Isn’t that cheating?”
“W-w-well no, not really. I mean it's not like they’re impossible to dodge or anythi- Hey wait! What’s with that look on your face!? Are you......making fun of me?”
By the end of her sentence, all those stutters had ultimately melded to give way for her confusion. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to test it out so I decided not to pass it up, but I never would have guessed that she would end up being this flustered.
“It was a joke. My father always says that there’s no such thing as cheating in a fight.” I said cheekily, before turning to watch as Myra stifled a laugh at the sight of steam rising from her companion’s face.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Hah - To think I’d wake up and see Liam giving his first joke, and he used it on you no less Jytte. This must be some kind of sign.” Myra teased playfully in the midst of her ascent. “Anyway, I’m good to go, but what about you guys?”
“No problems here.” Jytte answered after giving a few light taps to her reddened cheeks.
“I’m all set.”
“Alright the-!”
A sudden tension filled the room.
On instinct, Myra fired off a small sphere of water at the lamp resting on the dresser. It shattered on impact, summoning a shroud of darkness to ensnare us.
Jytte crouched to my level and placed a hand over my mouth. “Don’t make a sound.” she whispered; her voice unusually serious. After pulling me back a few paces, she gave a nod to Myra and slowly crept over to the shining windowsill.
It was the only thing letting the dim moonlight through and based off its orientation, it was angled right above the narrow road that passed behind our inn. A few dimly lit Aether lamps barricaded the empty street that showed no signs of life whatsoever.
Not until now, that is.
“GAAAAAAGH!!!”
A scream came.
It was a sound filled with sheer terror, one that could only come from someone on the brink of death, rising in intensity as it drew nearer, like a wave of dread crashing toward its inevitable, horrifying climax.
After a while, the figure of a stumbling man came into view. It was the large ruffian who had clashed with Jytte just a few hours ago.
He was clutching his right arm, staggering forward with every ounce of strength his body could muster. Ever so often, he would glance over his shoulder, as if expecting someone—or something—to be closing in on him.
A trail followed him, flowing from his body. From where I stood, it seemed like nothing more than tiny black dots scattered in his wake, but that was far from the truth.
It was blood—an alarming amount of it.
“Should we help him?” asked Jytte in a low tone.
“D-don’t bother” Myra replied hesitantly. “It’s too late for him.....and besides, I don’t know if we can win against that.” She said, pointing out the window. There was a palpable sense of dread in her features, she was trembling in fear to the point where her usually well-coordinated wings began flapping out of turn.
“Wha-!” Jytte let out a dumbfounded gasp as the hairs on her body reflexively stood on end.
A familiar sensation resurfaced in my mind, it was twisted and malevolent, poisoning the air with a dreadful aura. I was well adjusted to it, but the two people in front of me clearly weren’t taking it very well.
It was the first time I’d ever seen them act like this, though I understood their dread. After all, the figure approaching its felled prey wasn’t human — Not in the typical sense of it belonging to some other species in this world like an elf or beastfolk, it was a literal anomaly.
That creature was no longer of this world.
Aside from its demented aura, it wouldn’t seem out of place to an ordinary person. But to me, I knew exactly what that thing was—or rather, who it was. Going by the rules of this world, this must have been one step above what these people typically called an ‘irregular’.
Eventually, the focal point of all the malice in the air subtly stepped into view as if unbothered by the cruel scenery unfolding just a few steps away.
Following the bloody red trail left by its prey was something that had the figure of a human woman in her late twenties, with features that were neatly tucked into her slightly oval face. A pair of hazel-colored eyes subtly flickered under the dim moonlight as she approached with sweeping strands of matte-black hair flowing down her back.
She wore an ivory-colored bodice paired with matching elbow-length gloves. The dress parted just below her chest and featured a prominent slit on one side. Though flamboyant, her outfit was clearly oversized, trailing along the floor and mopping up the small bits of blood with its hem.
“That was quite the performance you put up; I must say I'm impressed.” She scoffed sadistically.
The man lying flat on his back was barely able to muster enough strength to raise a hand in submission before muttering something remorsefully.
“P-Please d-don't kill me.....” He said
Witha snicker, the woman waved away the thought, and in the next instant, the man’s body was reduced to a red splatter on the ground. A few seconds later, something emerged from the thinly sliced remains of what was once a human body, it resembled a flame that burned with a bright pewter color.
In other words, it was a soul.
The anomaly stared at it with beady eyes; she slowly took hold of the floating flame, her lips opening to welcome the phantom meal. A loud gulping sound came next, it served to mark the end of her meal, as well as the end of that human's existence.