Enitan

We shouldn’t have felt relief too fast because everything changed when an E-rank soldier walked down the bunker stairs and closed the metal door behind him.

The sweeping glance he cast over our veiled faces and huddled bodies couldn’t hide the debauchery in his gaze. My body tensed and I clenched my fingers into fists as his gaze wandering over us stopped briefly on me.

“You, over there. The one with a pink veil…come here.” He said, his voice full of the arrogance afforded him as a mana weaver born in this post-apocalyptic day and age.

Several women sighed in relief as they turned away in several directions to reveal the girl in the pink veil. Just by the pattern of the flowers embroidered on her veil, I knew why she had been chosen. She was an unmarried virgin, obviously traveling to Abuja District for her coming-of-age ceremony.

If she had gotten there safely, she would have been able to find a husband. Even if she had to be one of several wives, she would still be a married woman, and, depending on the rank of her husband, she would probably be free from other men’s unwanted attentions for the rest of her life.

Unfortunately, she was an unlucky young woman like my sister. On her trip to her coming-of-age ceremony, she had to go into a bunker with a bunch of soldiers and was chosen by one of them for ‘relaxation’ purposes. After that, she would have to return home as a shamed woman.

If she was very lucky, her family will take on the responsibility of caring for her and find a human man to marry her. However, if she was as unlucky as my sister, like most women in the low and mid safe zones were, one of the soldiers who forced himself on her would be forced to marry her by the authorities. Like my sister, she would become a soldier’s wife, which never ended well as she would most likely end up being used as a tool for relaxation by both her husband and his comrades until she killed herself or someone put her out of her misery.

The girl in the pink veil knew what was coming, and she immediately started shaking her head and sobbing.

Her sobs were heartbreaking, but everyone else other than the four men with the ability to weave mana which made them stronger than all humans were too weak to protect themselves. So how could they think of protecting her or standing up for her? Several women were even relieved that they hadn’t been chosen.

Ignoring her sobs, we all bowed our heads and prayed that the Kwara District’s C-rank soldiers would deal with the invading wraith quickly before these monsters in the uniform of district soldiers chose another girl to force themselves on.

Although I bowed my head, I couldn’t help looking back at the pink-veiled girl. An image of my sister’s lavender veil, which she’d embroidered peony flowers onto for her coming-of-age ceremony, flashed through my mind. I understood what was happening, so I bowed my head and fixed my gaze on the dusty, cemented ground.

However, when a soldier’s boot walked past me, heading straight toward the pink-veiled girl, my heart started beating very fast. It was the fight-or-flight response cultivated from when I was still a B-rank mana weaver before my meridians were damaged.

Unfortunately, my fight-or-flight response was useless here. Mana could no longer flow along my meridians and I wouldn’t be able to stand a chance against these E and F-rank soldiers that I could have stamped to death in a single move in my heyday. I was just a mere human now and just as easily as I could have dealt with them when I was still a B-rank weaver, they could kick me to death with a single move.

So I kept my head down like a coward as one of the F-rank soldiers dragged the pink-veiled girl past me to the E-rank soldier who was still standing in front of the metal door.

“Take off the veil.” The E-rank soldier ordered.

“No, no, no. You don’t have any right to do this. I will report you to the Human Protection Organization! You’re abusing your power!” The pink-veiled girl was a courageous one, but her voice was still shaky with fear.

At her words, the E-rank soldier and the other soldiers started laughing.

“How old are you? 16? Your parents have been very protective of you, haven’t they? You don’t even know that soldiers can now pick their brides when they meet them? You’re just a low safe zone woman from the Lagos District. I’m a mid safe zone E-rank mana weaver and I fell in love with you at first sight. Other than forcing me to marry you, the Human Protection Organization cannot do anything to me.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The E-rank soldier was right. That was the current way the law protecting human women was skewed. The Human Protection Organization’s Women’s Department stopped protecting women decades ago. Even the women coming of age ceremony meant to protect women from abuse by ensuring they got legally married to a respectable man who was mandated by his marriage vows to protect them had long since become an auction.

As the sound of laughter faded, I heard the sound of fabric ripping and raised my head to see the pink-veiled girl’s veil ripped into two, revealing her pretty mixed face. She was no doubt a mix of Solari and Lunari heritages with dark olive skin, a petite yet flat-bridged Solari nose, Lunari big blue eyes, and two-toned pink lips, which seemed to excite the soldiers.

“Jordan, if you don’t want to take her as your wife, how about I do it for you? Don’t worry, I’ll let you visit her once in a while.” One of the F-rank soldiers said in a loud voice.

With how pretty she was, I knew the pink-veiled girl would live a life similar to or worse than my sister’s life before she jumped off a tall building to end her life. Whatever soldier she married below the D-rank would just send her off to any and everybody’s bed for a night or two in exchange for money, weapons, or favors.

“You’re kidding yourself! This one is mine. Go pick another if you want one.” The E-rank soldier’s arrogance grated on my nerves and if I was still a B-rank mana weaver, I would have teased him with a dagger and my light mana until he peed himself.

“That’s a bad idea. If we go too far, we may get court-martialled and demoted.” Another F-rank soldier warned.

“Oh, nothing is going to happen. These women are all coming from the Lagos and Ogun low safe zone districts. They have no one to fight for them.” The E-rank soldier assured them.

The other F-rank soldier hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Well, you don’t have to do anything if you’re just a fucking p*ssy!” The E-rank soldier said.

I happened to look up at that time and watch him reach for the pink-veiled girl who was inching toward the iron door, obviously trying to escape.

When he leaned down and grabbed her bust and another woman behind me started begging the F-rank soldier to let her go, I could no longer stand it.

“Stop!” My voice echoed around the bunker as I stood up to face the soldiers, who turned to stare at me as well.

The E-rank soldier eyed me from my veiled head down to my trembling body and asked with a smirk, “What? You want to participate?”

He released the pink-veiled girl, and she quickly crawled away from him as he and the other F-rank soldiers turned to face me.

“Bring her here. We’ll start with her.” The E-rank soldier said.

“But she’s married?” The quiet F-rank soldier protested. After all, I was wearing a veil with an embroidered edge which signified that I was married.

“Who cares what lowly human man she’s married to? Bring her here!” The E-rank soldier yelled.

The loud F-rank soldier strode toward me and reached for my hand, but I avoided his grip. Since I had chosen to face them, my body was entering fight mode, and it slowly stopped trembling.

“A weaver?” The quiet F-rank soldier asked.

“Definitely not. Female Weavers do not wear veils! She’s just trying to scare us. Chinedu, bring her here immediately.” The E-rank soldier instructed.

This time, the loud F-rank soldier grabbed my arms in a rough, tight grip and pulled me toward the E-rank soldier named Jordan.

Jordan didn’t ask me to take off my veil. He took it off himself.

I glared at him defiantly, but he just smirked. “It’s another beautiful woman. Gentlemen, this woman will serve all of us today. Nedu, you can even marry her. I’m sure everyone at the barracks will enjoy her service.”

His voice became deeper as he locked gazes with me and said, “And your human husband won’t be able to do anything about it.”

I smiled and stared at him. “What are you going to do, though? I don’t have a human husband. I’m married to a C-rank light weaver who is the leader of his dungeon hunting team. I’m also his only legally married wife, so I can assure you that he will come after you to teach you a lesson if you lay a single hand on me. As an F-rank weaver, I also have contact with the district soldier misconduct report channel and I can report you all to them with your soldier numbers.”

Most of my words were the truth, but the part about being an F-rank weaver was a lie. My meridians through which mana flowed to strengthen a mana weaver’s body based on their ranks were damaged so badly that I was just an ordinary human now.

The F-rank soldiers immediately moved away from me while the E-rank soldier’s face flushed red. “I don’t believe you. Show me some ID, so I can be sure.”

His reaction was relieving. I’d thought the reason for his arrogance was that he was the pampered E-rank son of some high-tier Legacy family but his reaction was proof that he wasn’t, which meant that my identity would be able to protect me and all the women here from he and his grubby friend’s attentions.

I smiled and brought out my ID card, behind which was my husband’s picture and ranking. “Enitan Adewunmi, wife to Legacy C-rank light weaver, Adepoju Ojo.”

With shaking hands, he returned my ID, opened the metal door, and walked out like a dejected dog with his tail between his legs.

The rest of our stay in the bunker was peaceful, the pink-veiled girl got a new veil from another woman, and the soldiers behaved themselves until the C-rank wraith was killed and we were released from the bunker to resume our trip back to Abuja District.

When I got to Abuja District, I wrote a complaint letter and submitted it to the Human Protection organization before going home. They were unlikely to do anything about the letter, but I couldn’t sleep well if I didn’t report those men’s actions to the authorities.

Now, I just needed to deal with the monster in my home.