The sky had long darkened. The stars did not make their appearance for tonight, leaving the black sky wallowing in its own desolation. The girl ran through the dark forest despite being barely able to see a few metres in front of her. Her lungs were burning. Her feet were numbing. If she tripped and fell now, she would not be able to get back up. In spite of all these demerits, she ran with all her might. Though she didn’t have a torch like pursuers, she ran without minding the dangers of the darkness.
“She’s right up ahead! After her!” shouted one of her many pursuers. They were all wearing full-plated steel armour. Each bore the insignia of a black lion head silhouette on a red field, the symbol of the Leorin Kingdom.
She was only but a girl. Her pursuers were grown men. She could never hope to outrun them but still, she refused to relent. She did not look back. She kept her eyes forward. Even if she could see a single thing, her eyes did not waver on the darkness in front of her. She would rather stare into the unending darkness than witnessing the scene behind her.
She was just a normal girl, living with her family in a small village in the countryside. Her life wasn’t special nor was it mundane. It was just the average life of any girl of age and status. However, the soldiers of a rival nation came. They appeared without warning. They razed and plundered the village. They killed the men. They kidnapped the children to sell them off as slaves. They raped the women until their minds broke. This wasn’t uncommon. Nations were always at war, no matter the scale. The village was just unfortunate for it to succumb to this cruel fate on this very night.
The same night the dark sky bore a violet moon. No stars painted the black field but the moon was present.
The girl cursed the violet moon. She knew her fate had nothing with it but she couldn’t help but curse it as she ran for her life. She was just angry and desperate. She didn’t know what to do but to keep running. She was naive to believe she could outrun her pursuers. Soon, her body would give out and the soldiers would catch up to her. She knew her death wouldn’t be swift. She was a girl of marriageable age. She also knew her body and face were the object of envy of many young ladies in her village. She was proud of it. She saw it as a generous gift from the gods for blessing her with such beauty. But now, she saw it as her bane. Due to these blessings, she would suffer tremendously.
The path in front of her began to brighten. She came to a clearing with only a colossal tree in the centre. Her feet slowed down. There were densely packed trees to cover her. She would become an easy target for the archers. Still, she did not stop. She kept running, towards the colossal tree. She remembered the village elders’ conversations. The tree was supposedly more than a thousand years old. It was believed to be the prison of an ancient dark being. As a result of having a powerful being underneath all this soil, the land became rich and fertile.
Of course, no one had actually believed in the story. It was just a campfire tale to keep their nights entertained. To the girl, that tale was the sole hope of her circumstance. She understood the absurdity of relying on such a tale but it was better than waiting for her cruel fate.
An arrow was fired. The arrow was normal but not fired with normal means. The bowstring itself was imbued with magic. The arrow travelled in a force strong enough to penetrate boulders. The arrow streaked past the darkness and went right through the girl’s right leg. She cried out a short yelp before plunging to the ground. She bit down her lips and crawled towards the tree. The pain spread throughout her body but she persisted. She refused to die without at least trying.
The soldiers eventually caught up to her. There were seven of them.
“Fucking hell...” one of the soldiers cursed. He was panting heavily like his peers. “This lassie sure can run.”
“This is good. Her twat will feel even better. Moreover, she will be too tired to resist us.”
The soldiers laughed and sneered at the girl’s state as they drew closer and closer to her.
“Good shot, Rell.”
“It was nothing, Lieutenant. She is a huge target. She is plump but not overly so.”
“Ehehe. I know, this makes the chase all the more worth it.”
“And she’s blonde too. I like blondes. They tend to scream the loudest.”
Vulgar words came right after one another from the soldiers’ lips. The girl felt sick just from hearing it. She tried not to mind it much and kept crawling towards the trees, or at least till the roots.
“Look at her, she’s still trying to run. How admirable. Can’t wait to have a taste of her.”
“Oi! I crippled her, so I should be the one getting the first taste.”
“You dare to oppose your superior, Rell?”
“What kind of superior are you anyway?” the archer named Rell snorted. “You were the one who let the girl slip away in the first place. I discovered it. Wouldn’t this be a fair reward for my achievements?”
The lieutenant drew his sword. “I said back off! I am the lieutenant here! Your achievements are mine.”
The soldiers began to argue about who gets the girl’s virtue but the girl herself paid them no heed and mustered all of her remaining strength to keep crawling. However, her limbs stopped moving all of a sudden. Her body had lost too much blood. She was only halfway to the roots of the tree but this was the closest she could get. She had reached her limit.
Tears trickled down her cheek. Death was supposed to be a sweet release but it was also a luxury to her considering what the soldiers had planned. She cursed herself. She cursed her fate. She cursed her blessings. She cursed her country that had forsaken her village due to the absence of significant consequence should it fall. She cursed the soldiers who were about to defile her. She cursed everything in the world that had wronged her.
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Her eyes began to close. Death was close but before that, she would go through hell. She could do nothing but let everything transpire as it was.
“Such a pity...” a voice spoke. It was gentle but foreboding.
A glint of hope sparked within her.
“Untainted. Unwedded. Your life will be a waste if you die now.”
The girl wanted to ask about the voice’s identity but she had lost her voice to her exhaustion from all the running she did and the pain from the arrow lodged in her leg. Be that as it may, her thoughts were heard.
“You know who I am. Isn’t that why you chose to run to this tree?”
The girl nodded in her mind.
“Sadly, I can’t give you what you expected. You are no kin of mine. I can’t help you.”
Despair washed off the girl’s hopeful will. Her expectations were betrayed and she only had herself to blame for believing in something absurd.
“I can’t bring you the peace you sought but I can give you something better. I can give you vengeance. I can bring ruin to all those who wronged you.”
“How?” the girl asked meekly, barely letting out the word.
“Simple. Surrender your body and soul to me. In return, I will exact your vengeance.”
The girl had no hesitation. She didn’t care for anything else. Her life was at an end but at the very least, she could drag her tormentors down with her. The girl gave her permission. She surrendered her body and soul to the voice.
“Very well, little one. Your will, I will carry it on.”
These were the words the girl heard in her final moments before a hollow and empty feeling devoured her.
****
“Oi! That girl… she’s not moving.”
“Don’t tell me… she’s dead?”
“What? Impossible, I only shot her leg.”
“Yeah, you did but she’s just a girl. She could have died from losing her blood.”
“This is just great. I ain’t fucking a corpse.”
“Heh… Even if she’s dead, she’s still warm. Maybe her twat is tight from all the running she did.”
“You’re fucked in the head— wait. Look, she’s moving. The girl ain’t dead.”
Smiles returned to the soldiers. They approached the girl in small steps. Though she was only a girl, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be dangerous. They had done this more than enough times to know the girls tend to have a small but sharp object concealed as their last resort. They had their weapons drawn in case of such a scenario.
However, the scenario they imagined did not happen. Instead, the girl suddenly pushed herself off the ground and stood straight on her feet. Her movements were not shaky nor dull. It had strength. The eyes that were losing their light were now filled with resolve and sinister intent.
“W-what the hell…? How is she standing? Her leg is supposed to be—” the soldier stopped at his words. His eyes spanned to their widest. His voice gagged at his shock. The wound on the girl’s leg was gone. There was blood. It stood to reason she had indeed been wounded but now, the wound was no longer there.
“What does it matter?” the lieutenant said. “She lives. Which means, a good time for all of us.”
The soldiers chortled. The girl chortled along with them.
The soldiers ceased their laughter and stared at the girl who was still laughing.
“Wh— why is she laughing with us…? Has she gone mad?”
“Oi, lass! What the hell’s wrong with ya?” shouted the archer, Rell.
The girl stopped laughing and directed her gaze at the archer. “Oh, it’s nothing,” the girl said. “Just thinking. Thinking about how I’m going to fulfil the girl’s final wishes.”
“The girl’s off her hinges… She must have been really scared. That’s disappointing…”
“Disappointing?”
“Well, I like it when they scream and flail. Looking at her now, she’ll probably just obediently let us do what we want with her.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“You know it well, sir.”
The girl chuckled. “What a bunch of dimwits,” she sighed disappointingly.
“What did you just call us!?”
“Dimwits.”
“You fucking bitch. Looks like I’ll have to carve your tongue out for you to—”
“Hey lieutenant, doesn’t she seem to be a bit taller than she was?”
The lieutenant wanted to scoff at his subordinate's foolish observation but he gave the girl a good glance, he also realised the girl was indeed taller. And not just that. Her hair was also longer and it was still growing, reaching her waist. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things and he wasn’t.
“What the… Did her chest just grow two sizes? Her arse and thighs too… They’re… bigger?”
“Lieutenant, what the hell is going on?”
Before the lieutenant could arrive at an answer, the girl’s hair began to turn as black as the night sky and her pale green eyes shifted into a striking pair of amethysts. Her skin also turned as pale as the moon but the shade did not make her look feeble or ill. On the contrary, she only became more intimidating.
The dress the girl was wearing began to tear as a result of her body’s sudden growth but with a wave of her hands, the dress magically transformed into a simple yet elegant black gown with impressive slits. Furthermore, her ears became pointed and a small pair of curved horns protruded from her forehead.
While the soldiers had question marks above their heads, the lieutenant widened his eyes in realisation. “D-Demon...” he gasped. “This girl is no longer human! A demon has taken possession of the body!”
The soldiers immediately assumed a formation without baulking or whining. They no longer had the lax expressions they were carrying around as they tormented the girl. In their eyes, they were no longer the hunters but some prey who had fallen into a hunter’s trap. The sight of their attempts at suppressing their fears invoked a chuckle from the girl.
“Quite a reaction you all have. Times have indeed changed,” the girl, now a lithe yet ample lady that was oozing off an adult’s allure and charm, muttered. “And how terribly rude of you all. I have a name, you know? All of you here shall address me as Lady Xatara.”
“Silence, foul demon!”
Xatara scrunched up her beautifully moulded face. “Even chivalry has declined. How saddening, but this sure lightens the guilt I will be gathering,” she said and summoned a ball of dark violet flames and lightning into her palm. “I dedicate these deaths to you, little girl.”