(Stella)

I sat outside Harlow’s house, staring off into the distance. Harlow had just told me and Jaxson about what had happened the previous day. About seeing Marcus and Sheela, what they did to him and what they were involved with.

Not only that, but the government was planning something nefarious to strip us of our freedom. I sighed. I shouldn’t be surprised. And things were going so well. Jaxson and I were in carnal bliss, and we were exploring our feelings. Deepening our relationship in more ways than one. Now this bullshit.

But one thing undenounced to Harlow was that I knew something more about his tragedy. I knew what happened to him. A secret I’d been keeping from him till we could do something about it.

8 years before

“The Hydra is in the clearing up ahead.” The hunter informed me softly patting the head of his hawk.

Hydras are nasty things. They have snake-like bodies, six snake-like heads that have hoods like a cobra. You must be careful when fighting any kind of Hydra. Hydra bites should be avoided at all costs too, they were filled with a powerful venom that can kill in a matter of agony-filled minutes.

“Projectiles or ethereal weapons only,” I told the two hunters and knights that were sent to accompany me on this quest. They were all NPCs. That particularly sucked, since it was hard to coordinate with them.

“Knights only slay these demons with our blessed swords.” The knight dressed in his silver armor snapped at me. Case In point. Players or citizens were more reasonable. But then again, they weren’t fanatical idiots.

I would have preferred a mage or a healer instead of the knight. Beggars can’t be choosers. I didn’t like this knight. He pushed his beliefs onto people and cut down any who made negative comments about him, his order, or his beliefs.

“Your sword may be blessed, but it was still made of steel. Hydra scales are nearly as strong as dragon scales. Your sword won’t even scratch it.” I explain, but the knight’s expression looks like he was about to lash out.

“I do not care. This is the way of my order. It is the holy way.” He snarled.

“Then don’t expect me to save you,” I warned him. If he would not listen to reason, then I would not waste my time on him.

The hunter with the hawk launched his raptor into the air. “Enough you two, we need to prepare for the fight ahead. Alishakure will watch the Hydra for us.”

I watched the hunters’ eyes turn white. One of his skills was Animal Communion. It allowed him to see through the eyes of his tamed animals.

“I can see the Hydra. It’s facing away from us. We should advance silently.” He explained.

The Other hunter was a younger man with a Dire wolf the size of a horse. He and the other hunter moved silently forward, their bows knocked and ready. The dire wolf crept forward and alongside his master. They impressed me with the three of them. The knight named Sir Gregor was not as silent. I don’t think he was even trying. He strutted forward, shield up and sword at the ready.

I sighed and waved the two hunters over. They silently came over to me. “Hang back. The idiot will ruin everything for us. Let the knight distract the Hydra.”

After muttering a quick spell. A black misty bow formed into my hand and a quiver filled with arrows made a similar material. I knocked an arrow and nodded to them.

“As you command, my lady.” The master hunter said with hints of awe and fear in his voice. Players and citizens easily impressed NPCs. Especially if they were magic users. As far as they were concerned, I was some mystic master.

We were downwind of the Hydra, so it couldn’t smell us. But sir, dumb ass would get its attention soon.

“The three of us will shoot it with arrows. We should try to draw it towards the trees where its necks will get tangled up. If possible, try to keep its attention. I’ll try to cut off the central neck.” I set out the plan that I think will provide us with the highest chance of killing the Hydra quickly.

The hunter nodded their heads, letting me know that they were ready. All three of us moved forward silently until we were a little closer to the Hydra.

We let our arrows fly, mine, and the master hunters’ arrow both hit one of the Hydras six heads while the younger hunter's arrow planted itself deep into the side of the Hydras body. The Hydra let out a horrifying hiss of rage and then spun to face our direction.

The Hydra charged towards us as we let off another volley of arrows. Sir Gregor charged forward with a battle cry. I cursed silently and dismissed my bow to summon a sword instead.

I looked quickly at the hunters, who nodded and continued to rain arrows down on Hydra. After the knight, I launched myself through the forest. I shot past the trees and reach the Hydra just a split second after the knight who swung his sword at the Hydra's body. The blade bounced off the Hydra's scales with a metallic clang. The knight jumped away from the Hydra. Sir Gregor was cursing profusely. I had no sympathy for him. After all, I warned him.

I launch myself at the Hydra and drew a deep cut across its body. The Hydra's heads bellowed in pain. The heads turned and snapped at me. I dodged and used a magic force shield when I wasn’t fast enough.

“We need to cut out its heart or sever the nerve head,” I told the knight, who nodded his head sharply. Most people understood that cutting off the head of a Hydra is a bad idea. Cut off one head to grow back. I summoned a second sword and tossed it to Sir Gregor. He caught it and, with a pained expression, sheathed his steel blade.

The knight slashed at the chest of the Hydra, cutting deep. The knight looked down at the sword I summoned for him in disbelief. His sword was virtually useless, but the one I gave him worked like a charm. I suppose for a fanatic; it was a tough pill to swallow. One of the Hydras' many heads shot out at the knight.

I said I wouldn’t save him. But he wised up enough to accept my blade without complaint. I shot a fireball at the head, disrupting its attack.

I thrust my blade into the Hydras body where I thought the heart was. I channeled lightning through the blade into the Hydra. It roared in agony. I had enough time to leap out of the way as the Hydra fell forward onto the ground.

Gregor leaped forward and hacked at the nerve neck, and I did the same from the other side. The two of us quickly severed the neck from the body. We both cheer in victory as the other heads let out a last roar of defiance before they went limp in death.

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I turned on my heels, pleased with how easily we killed the Hydra. I touched the Hydra's body and used the auto disassemble feature. In a moment, the Hydras meat bones and scales were in three neat piles. I put most of it into my inventory before leaving the agreed-upon share for the hunters.

I looked around for the hunters. My eyes landed on the young hunter kneeling over the older hunter, who was writhing on the ground in agony. I ran over to them and look down at the pair. I felt sympathy for them, a fang from one of the Hydra's heads had caught the master hunters’ stomach and drew blood meaning the Hydras Venom was now coursing through his veins. He was doomed. There was no saving him. Hydra venom could be cured, but the cure was very rare even for Players and Citizens.

“I’m so sorry,” I told him placing a hand on his shoulder. The young hunter nodded before he drew a dagger and plunged it into the old man's chest easing his suffering.

I felt a pang of sorrow. I had liked the old man he had seemed genuine, kind, and strong. Sure, he was an NPC but in BO that wasn’t saying much. Hell, most days I couldn’t tell the difference unless I check their monikers.

“I'm sorry you had to do that,” I said to the young man.

“He would have wanted to die fighting a worthy foe. A Hydra is a worthy opponent.” The hunter said sadly.

“Then I guess he died a good death.” Said Sir Gregor.

The young hunter nodded at him in acknowledgment.

We walk back to the village quietly, none of us saying a word as we worked together to carry the dead hunter to his family home. The old hunter’s wife wasn’t nearly as distraught as I would have expected. But then again, a hunter’s life is dangerous. I suppose she had many years to prepare for this eventuality.

After giving my sympathies to the hunter's family, I spent little time there. I didn’t want to intrude on their grief. I traveled back to New Haven to collect my reward from the Guild and maybe see what other quests were available.

One of the great things about the Adventurers' guild building was the bar and kitchen. I ordered a spiced ale and beef stew. The ale was excellent, and the meat of the stew was large and tender. The broth was rich and heavenly. Most of the food tasted divine.

A woman sat across from me. She was a sexy-looking dominatrix get-up with long blonde hair. “Hey did you just finish the Hydra quest?” She asked me.

I nodded my head since my mouth was still full. I had manners, after all.

She smirked at me. “Damn girl, you must be a badass. Want to form a party with me?”

I swallowed my food and wiped my mouth with a napkin before replying. “Why not? What’s your name?”

She held out a hand to shake. “I’m Sheela.”

Sheela and I quickly became quite the dynamic duo. We took down a frost dragon, killed a flock of griffins, and slaughtered a rogue band of orc berserkers. We quickly became besties. Then one day when we were in the market, I noticed something strange.

We were standing in front of a dress stall looking over some cute dresses when I notice her go rigid. She darted to the right and hid between the stalls, her chest working a mile a minute.

I gripped her arm in worry. “What’s wrong?”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I need to get out of here now.”

I nodded my head and used an invisibility spell to get us out of the market. The spell lasted long enough for us to get out of there. We stopped in a side alley. Sheela immediately collapsed into tears and seemed to fold in on herself. Sheela and I had an understanding we lived in the moment and never pried into our pasts. But I needed to know what was going on.

“Sheela. Sweat heart tells me what happened.” I took her hands in mine.

“If I do, you won't want to be my friend anymore.” She choked out as she tried to get her sobs under control.

I squeezed her hands and looked her dead into her eyes. “Try me.”

She sniffled. I could see her warring with herself before she decided. “I became a citizen of BO when I and my boyfriend caught a strain of the bubonic. They couldn’t save us, so they let us enroll. But my boyfriend was an abusive bastard. I hoped that when I entered BO, I could be free of him. I was too scared to leave him before, but I hoped it would be different here.” She wiped her eyes. “But he found me and with my new immortality, I thought I had nothing to fear, so I told him to fuck himself and never see me again. I didn’t see him for a week till he showed up and kidnapped me. He took me to a remote cave and linked me to a portable spawn point. Meant for long-distance raids, so if players died, they didn’t have to respawn in cathedrals.” She took several deep breaths before continuing. “He tortured me. He tortured me till I died and respawned in the cave. Then he started all over again. He did that to me for a week till I greed never to leave him again.”

I listened to her and shook my head at her. “Why would that make me not want to be your friend? You’re the victim here.”

She gave me a wabbly smile. “Not that part. It’s what happened next.”

“What happened next?”

She took another minute before she continued her story. “After he tortured me, he forced me to help him, scam players, and other citizens. We’d find people that were still new to the BO or gullible. We’d then use them to help us complete as many quests as we could and collect most of the items and rewards till we were tired of them and then drop them. But that’s not the worst of it. He would have me seduce the marks so they wouldn’t notice what we were doing. If any of them fell in love with me or if I fell in love with them, he’d torture them. Some even went to the embassy to be euthanized. But the worst happened nearly 40 years ago. I met a man. His name was Harlow. He was older, but he was nice and charming. At first, he was a regular mark, but after a couple of years, he became more. I fell in love and so did he. But I messed up. I wasn’t as careful as I should have and Marcus, my scumbag ex, noticed. We accepted a quest to kill some bandits in the mountains. I and Marcus entered the bandit's fort first. That’s when he cornered me and told me he knew about us, and if I tried to stop him, he’d make me wish I was dead. He killed the bandit’s leader and told the others if they wanted to live, then they had to rush outside and kill Harlow.” Hatred burned in her eyes. “They failed and Marcus forced me to buff him with my best health regen spell. Then Marcus hexed Harlow and tossed him over the cliff. I don’t know what happened to him after that, but I know he must have suffered. And worse, I betrayed him. I didn’t want to, but I did it anyway.” Sheela’s crying started again.

I pulled her into my arms. Her story shocked and horrified me. But she was a pawn in this. Does it excuse what she’s done? No. But then again, most plebeians have probably never been tortured into submission. They can quote platitudes about doing what is right no matter what, but I wonder how many would prove themselves full of shit. Sheela did wrong. But if she could stay out of Marcus’s grasp. Then she could spend the rest of her life doing right if given the chance.

I could give her that chance. “You're still my BFF. You’re with me now.”

“Like fuck she is.” Said a voice from behind us.

Sheela went pale and her lip quivered. I turned to see a tall man with jet black hair scowling down at us. This must have been Marcus. How did he find us? Never mind, it didn’t matter. I stood in front of Sheela, sword in hand. “Fuck off, ass wipe.”

He sneered at me and snapped his fingers. Two men appeared behind him. A scream behind me alerted me to two more men behind us that now had Sheela restrained between them.

I stared Marcus and his goons down. “Let’s do this then,” I growled.

I circled them. I instantly saw what their plan was. Marcus would distract me and the other two will try to get behind me and attempt to use my blind spots to their advantage. I tracked them as they maneuver themselves into position. Marcus was directly in front of me and his goons behind. Marcus launches himself at me.

I ducked, barely dodging a swipe from Marcus’s claymore as it sailed over my head. I spun and brought my ethereal sword up to parry a downward strike from goon number one.

Marcus leaped at me, and both goons charged towards me. I understand what they are trying to do, but I can block this move. I summoned a second sword and desperately dodged the whirlwind of vicious slashes and thrust the three of them unleashed.

I brought one blade up and deflected Marcus, knocking him away. I shout in surprise and pain as I felt a blade slice through my side.

“Awe poor baby.” Marcus mocked.

I drop one of my ethereal blades and grab my side. Marcus leaped at me from behind. I didn’t hear him coming until the last second. It was too late for me to summon an ethereal weapon to fend him off. It is also too late to get out of the way of his attack, so I did the only thing I could and moved with him.

I let Marcus slam into me, but instead of falling on my stomach like he wanted me to, I instead curled up so I rolled away from him, using the force from his blow to propel me forward. I come out of the roll and quickly summoned another sword.

“Come on, then.” I roared at them. It was then that I noticed a purple skull and crossbones in the corner of my HUD. I was poisoned. When? The cut to my side. The blade must have been poisoned. My vision wobbled before a blade plunged into my stomach. I let out a cry of pain echoed by Sheela as she desperately tried to help me.

I fell to the ground, my HP dropping rapidly. Marcuse’s face entered my vision. “Since you know our story. I’ll give you one warning. Stay away or I’ll make her life a living nightmare.” With the last of my strength, I shoved my thumb into his right eye before I died.