The young woman glared at the cave entrance as the sun beat down on her tender skin. Scrunching up her eyes in dismay at her situation she huffed irritably. Her [HUMAN ZOMBIE] race sure wasn’t doing her any favors right now. The recently obtained skill [ETERNAL FLESH] wasn’t doing its job either. It was supposed to keep her flesh together, but at this rate, she would end up a [SKELETON]. Flakes of skin rot and fell off her even faster than usual due to the ball of fire in the sky. It was the bane of an undead’s existence.
How had it come to this? She knew how. Living on the border of Hanoah was always a risk, but that risk was highest where the southern border connected to the [VITO PLAINS]. Though the plains were named, no one lived in the region. It was a place where wars between humans and demons were fought. [HEROES] and [DEMON LORD]s battled out the frustrations of their respective rulers. Towns bordering the [VITO PLAINS] were seen as sacred towns. They were a safe space where provisions were sent off and injured soldiers could lay their heads without worry.
The villagers of these towns were also seen as sacred people. It had been this way for generations, leading the people themselves to think they were sacred and pure. Her white blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and gentle nature had led to a particular young lady being constantly told how wonderful she was. The gentle girl was always the example mentioned whenever someone asked about their town. Her consideration and kindness was absolute. She took the sacred duties on as if they were second nature, tending to the wounded and helping with supplies. Her parents had been so proud of the moniker given to her alone by warriors and townsmen alike, the ‘Angel of Purity’. It had been said so often that she had been sure the Nexus would give her the title too. If not, then maybe one of her class upgrades would have a similar name. Everything had been perfect, until it wasn’t.
The most troublesome times were when a battle drew close to the border. If anything, it was expected that her town might be wiped out in one of these wars, should Hanoah be on the losing side of a battle. However, what had actually occurred, happened during the brief times of peace. Her town had been one of the smallest on the border, more of a village really. A group of ex-warriors that had turned bandits raided the village of Rockleaf and pillaged it for all it was worth, people included. Houses were burned, stock was stolen or slaughtered, but worst of all, they captured and chained nearly half of the roughly five hundred villagers they could find, and carted them off to the northern docks. No one had looked twice as the barred carts had trundled the three-week long trip to the northern shipping docks in the city of Croatia. Slavery was common on this continent. She had never been to a city before. It had been quite the experience. So much so that she had nearly died of dehydration before making it to the second mode of transport. The bruises from random rocks thrown at the cart hadn’t helped much either. It was something she never wanted to experience again.
Dying on the ship had been even less pleasant, but it was waking up again in Thrallton that had truly horrified her. Angel of Purity. The pride of that moniker had been stripped from her. Rotting flesh was all she had been left with. Then the experiments started, and just like when the young lady had starved on the journey to Croatia, she wished for true death. Weeks passed, then months. She wasn’t sure exactly when the change happened, but after enduring one experiment after the other, her resolve slowly grew. Everything had been taken from her. She was no longer pure. The [HUMAN ZOMBIE] could not regain what had been lost, but she would make sure she was strong enough to never let anything be taken away from her ever again. As the recordings of her torture continued, her resolve only continued to intensify. In her mind each pain inflicted was a challenge to overcome. Every agonizing experiment, a trial to endure. Then he came and freed them all, this so-called leader.
He shared information about himself so easily. What a moron. Someone could take everything from him. One of the people in her very vicinity could be plotting something against him. He was such an idiot. Just like she had been. She would not let someone with his consideration and kindness be taken advantage of. She would not let him make the same mistakes. She had to get stronger. Strong enough to protect him. Sure, he was stronger than her, but he was just a stupid bunny that didn’t even know the basics of the world. A stupid bunny that lived in a [UNIQUE] grade dungeon that would be fantastic to level in. Yes, the monster thing had come as a shock, but from the moment he offered refuge after already giving freedom, she had silently vowed undying loyalty. She’d had nothing. Now she had him. She would not lose him.
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The [HUMAN ZOMBIE]’s thoughts trailed off at the sight of over a dozen white and palomino rabbits as well as a white three-tailed fox exiting the dungeon. Three tails? So, a spirit fox then. Spirits were really rare, especially on the continent of Fenivan. The bunny monsters weren’t fully rabbit like either. Their body shapes slightly resembled that of deer, though their tales almost matched the kitsune’s. Interesting. Before she could reflect further, one of the few all white rabbits transformed into a humanoid form. The sovereign quickly donned clothes from a storage space making the process instant. At his appearance, they all gathered around.
“Hi peoples. These monsters are members of my family so I hope you will treat them all with respect. Due to certain conditions, I will be withholding their names for now, however, I will be introducing those who have shown the most initiative to them. I will call you forward in groups through [TELEPATHY] so you can give a greeting they will understand via my skill.”
Immediately the three big hitters strode forward, Caspian the Lich, Kieron the Shade, and Cole the Wight. Shortly after, they stepped back and the rest of Cole’s family walked up to the monsters. The humans Chester and Clyde, the bloodslave Lyle and their newly undeadish brother Finley. After a bit they turned to walk away and then she heard his voice in her head.
“Axar, Agnar, Eulalia, Osteon, Kosci and… I’m sorry but I still haven’t actually learned your name. Zombie lady, would you mind enlightening me?”
Her heart skipped a beat and every muscle froze. She had shown initiative? As far as she could tell she’d been nothing but disrespectful and was wondering why he allowed her to stay with the group at all. Her aggressiveness had originally been to try and protect herself from hoping. But after he offered her a place to call home, she still hadn’t been able to shake the original persona she portrayed.
Lost in her thoughts the [WRAITH], [DARK KNIGHT], [DRAUGR] and two [SKELETON]s went forward while she stared blankly at their ‘sovereign’. Then her mind kicked back into gear.
“My old name is from my past life. I don’t want it. You choose my new one” she sent via the link.
Though the tone was still slightly aggressive, she couldn’t help the emotions of need, want and hope that leaked into her words over the private link. She could somehow sense that he was the only one to hear her.
The rabbitman monster gave a startled look her way before seeming to examine her in deep thought. She sat on one of the larger surrounding rocks in the grassland, baking in the sun. She couldn’t have looked too impressive. With horror her mind conjured names he might pick from just a glance at her. Zom? Flakey? Meanie? Grey? As her thoughts spiraled, he cleared up her fears in an instant.
The answer was cautious, “What do you think of ‘Dabria’, it means… It means ‘angel of death’. If you’re as vicious to our enemies as you are with your words” he finished with a cheeky grin, “then you’ll be my ‘angel of death’ to all that oppose us.”
By the end of his explanation, he looked pretty proud of himself.
Her eyes widened. He didn’t see her as extra baggage with thorns. To him she was a feisty angel that could work as his sword to take out enemies. His ‘Angel of Death’.
“Acceptable” she replied with a scoff before joining the others.
She would not let him down.
During introductions the kitsune once again caught her attention, but for a completely different reason. The protectiveness in his eyes matched her own. They would get along, no doubt. He gave her a slow nod of recognition. The [HUMAN ZOMBIE] returned it with heavy meaning. Her life had been perfect. Then everything had turned to ruin. And now, she had something new to build. A purpose. Her [SOVEREIGN STORM DUAL HORNED RABBIT] would thrive. With her as his sword and the ultra rare spirit as his shield, he would accomplish great things. She inwardly grinned at what the future legends would say. It would go ‘When storms thunder, death follows’.