11 - EMPTY GUARDIAN

The path back to the camp was a somber one. The hunting party having suffered several injuries and possibly deaths? Eve resolved herself to find out about it later. As the group approached the camp clearly tensions were high. It seemed a few guards from the city had arrived to check on the camp and assess the situation.

One guard approached Garm and signaled for him to speak. Lussa clung to her papa as he recapped the events and the appearance of the hydra and how Eve had helped saved the hunters the soldier approached Eve.

Soldier: "I hear we have you to thank for protecting the hunters. Please stop by the checkpoint into the city later where we can reward you properly."

Eve: "Ah... no need, I didn't really do this for a reward anyways."

Soldier: "...Kind of you to say but, this city mainly survives because of trade from the hunter's lodge. I am sure the compensation offered would be small compared to what we could of lost today having fewer skilled hunters around. We would rather not have others spread rumors about how our city treats its benefactors."

Eve: "Well I suppose I can at least pay them a visit..."

Soldier: "Good! may we have our benefactor's name so that I may forward it to the office?"

Eve: "It's Eve"

The soldier nods and writes down on a piece of parchment before passing it to another solder who solutes and heads off to the city.

From the direction the soldier just left Eve suddenly spotted a few familiar faces.

Eve: "Marsh?"

Marsh approached the camp followed by his guards Rex and Harkin.

Marsh: "Ah! greetings again miss Eve! I am surprised to see you here!"

Eve: *smiles* "What brings you here Marsh?"

Marsh: "I was just at the hunter's lodge to pick up some wares to sell when I heard of the trouble at the camp. So I brought a few guards and left Alma with my wife and daughter to see if I could help the camp."

*thump* suddenly several loud thumps are heard becoming louder and louder. from out of the tree line emerges one hydra after another. Seeing the camp the hydras give some pause as if considering avoiding the camp before charging at it. Eve seeing the herd of hydra dashes from the camp to stop them causing Marsh to shout out to her in worry. Eve begins sending out aura bullets in a barrage but the impact is too small to affect the hydras. A few hydras attacked Eve forcing her to avoid the multiple heads striking at her. the rest headed for the camp or past it. (Eve: "Not good! the only thing in that direction is the city! ...I can't afford to hold back anymore...") Despite her desires Eve weighed the lives at stake. She could not treat the hydra's as she did the desert runners. Eve emptied her mind of all but the fight and focused on her goal.

The emotion drained away from Eve until there was nothing. All that stood was the empty guardian as she avoided the hydra's strikes approaching the main body and quickly struck out its heart with her claws. The whole thing taking only a split second before she moved onto the next target.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Having seen some of the hydras attempting to head to the city, some of the soldiers in the camp left the gate in an attempt to drive them away. The guards suddenly were hit in the back of the head by a lion-tailed catgirl that appeared behind them knocking them out before tossing them back into the camp. Eve in her calculating state had decided they would just be in the way and accomplish nothing and sent them back to the camp.

Harkin: "What does that mutt thank she is doing!?"

Harkin having seen this began heading out the gate himself when just like the other guards he was knocked out and sent back into the camp. Eve Dashed to the hydras that had passed the camp and swiftly dealt them a quick death. They could not even put up a fight as they had turned their back to an enemy they had underestimated. Having lost so many of their numbers the instinct of all beasts to survive took over them and they fleed. scattering away from the camp and the city but refused to return from the direction they had come from. Eve had taken note of it in her calculating way and dashed off in that direction.

When Eve had arrived at the clearing where she found the first hydra, she saw dozens of bat-winged imps that spotted her. After several hisses and screeches from the imps they went to attack her. The Imps summoned fire from their hands and threw it at Eve. Seeing this Eve knew that if she dodged them the fire would just ignite the trees around her. Eve allowed the fire to hit her and quickly shook it off afterward. Wounds covered Eve's body where she was stroke by fire as their glowing orangish-red light gradually faded as her wounds healed. Eve charged forward and smashed through the group as it was too slow to stop her she quickly took out all but the last of the group.

She grabbed hold of the last one and probed deep into its mind and found that that group was not alone but part of a larger group of hundreds of thousands of other imps as they attacked and killed anything they came across in the tropical forest. This was not all, there seemed to be an army of what she could only identify as demons behind them. They were at least a few weeks away from the city but headed this way, this was just a scout group.

Eve looked up at the sun... only a few hours left she calculated before taking off into the woods. Eve found and gotten rid of 3 other scouting groups before heading back to comp. The emptiness left Eve... her objectives were finished and the emotions returned to her face. This was not the first time Eve had felt this emptiness. It always came around when she would start again in a new MMO... she would have nothing again, no friends she knew, no cute outfits to wear. Eve would set goals and complete them in the most efficient way. she would not speak to others. At first she would close herself off from the world, running from problems only she knew before she was able to pick herself up again. (Eve: "Just goals to accomplish before I trick everyone again into liking me?)

A tiny bit of self-loathing washed over Eve before she shook it off. She knew she was not a calculating woman who simply messed with others hearts, she was just lonely... Eve remembered the first time she truly felt she fell in love with someone. It seemed innocent enough at first... just enjoying a mmo together. Eve found she couldn't help but tease him. It seemed he liked someone else in-game so Eve thought nothing of just being friends. But his love didn't work out and he confessed to Eve. Eve found herself agreeing even though she knew she shouldn't. Not without telling the truth. All this leads to more lies especially the one that leads to her biggest source self-loathing. to shake him and explain her reluctance she pretended to be a dying person to explain why she couldn't accept his feelings... all that lead to her spiral of depression and her original suicidal thoughts. (Eve: "No more... I am not the same! I have changed myself...")

The sound of drums and a wind instrument Eve could not identify played from the camp. It seemed a hunter wanted to soothe his companion's troubled hearts had taken up a melody in hopes to encourage the rest of the camp. Eve approached and sat beside the man and began humming a tune. (Eve: "Would have been nice if Lussa came over... but it's clear she is more worried about her papa") Several of the hunters and soldiers thanked her as she passed but she was tired and simply sat down and closed her eyes to the music as it washed over her.