Birds sang in the trees above and around her. The river to her left rushed loudly away from her. Sera’s mind went with its example, following only the environment around her. She didn’t think about the night before. She didn’t think about silly children’s stories. She didn’t think about fate, or destiny. Instead, she simply allowed herself to enjoy the nature around her. It gave her peace.

She wasn’t sure how long she walked, it wasn’t something that she cared to be concerned about. She simply wandered along the riverbank, the sound of its rushing waters a soothing companion. However, it soon became apparent that she had wandered too far as the forest opened up into a clearing.

Up the bank from where she stood, smoke from many campfires rose up into the sky. Sera could see tents of various sizes. Men and even a few women populated the area. Some milled about going here, returning from there. Some stood at small mirrors scraping the stubble from their chins with knives. Some even sat naked in wooden tubs, casually conversing with each other completely without shame.

Sera froze when she realized where she was. This was the merc camp, just outside of town.

About fifty feet away, Sera saw a woman leave her tent and was shocked to see that she was completely naked save for a high-waisted thong. She seemed completely unconcerned with the men who busied themselves around her as she walked lazily to her fire where she sat to stir the contents of a pot that sat over it.

The woman glanced to her side and noticed Sera staring at her and offered a perplexed smile before waving her over. Sera briefly considered turning back the way she came but, drawn by something she couldn’t make sense of, she tentatively accepted the woman’s wordless invitation.

The woman patted a squat stool that sat nearby as Sera cautiously made her way over. Staring worriedly at the scene around her, she sat awkwardly as the woman was chopping a potato into the steaming pot of stew that she was cooking.

Sera watched, silently.

Her hostess was a bit older than her, but only a bit, no older than twenty-five, one would guess. She was by all accounts, a pretty woman, though she wasn’t just a pretty face. Large, firm breasts hung over a set of equally firm and chiseled abs. She wore her dark-brown hair in a short bob, revealing powerful shoulders. The muscles in her arm rippled beneath her tanned skin as she cut up the potato over her stew.

This woman was a warrior.

Sera quickly realized she was staring and quickly turned away, her cheeks burning slightly.

“You got a name kid?” The woman popped a bit of the raw potato in her mouth and crunched it noisily.

“Sera.” Sera answered. “Sera Bennett.”

“Cute name.” the woman said curtly and then held her hand out to Sera. “Name’s Chilse, nice to meetcha, Sera Bennett.”

Sera daintily reached out to shake the woman’s extended hand. Chilse shook with a firm grip.

“So, Sera Bennett. What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?”

The question felt like a punch, but Chilse wasn’t trying to attack Sera, she was simply pointing out what was so clearly obvious. Sera didn’t belong here.

Even so, it was nice to be in the company of a fellow female. However out of place the innocent town-girl was and despite the brash merc woman’s indecent state, both of them seemed glad for the other's company.

“I just needed to get out and think about some things, I guess.” Sera said after a while.

“Got lost huh?” The woman concluded.

“Yeah.”

“Welp, you’re here now.” The woman reached out to ladle out some of her stew into a small wooden bowl. “Might as well keep me some company. You hungry?

“I just ate a little while ago.” Sera replied, shaking her head. “But thank you.”

“Suit yourself.” Chilse said, spooning a mouthful of stew into her mouth. She gave Sera a once-over as she chewed.

“So what’s bothering you?” She asked, her mouth still half filled with food. “I don’t mean to pry. You just look like you could use some gal-to-gal talk. Ancestors know I could from time to time.”

Chilse rolled her eyes and cocked her head indicating to the men wandering about the camp.

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Sera asked.

“What’s that?” Chilse replied looking genuinely confused.

“You know…” Sera glanced down at the woman’s naked chest before diverting her gaze to the firepit. “Being like that.”

“What? These things?” The woman laughed, pushing her breasts together. “I have tits, yeah. So what? I didn’t choose to be born a woman so why should I be punished for it? Why should I hide myself for something that I have no control over?”

She paused to take another mouthful out of her bowl before continuing with her mouth still full of food.

“Lemme tell you something, Sera Bennett. I like my body, and I’m gonna be comfortable in it. And I’m not gonna let anybody tell me I can’t.”

She motioned around towards the rest of the merc camp with the wooden spoon. “If men can be allowed to waltz around with their nips in the breeze then gods dammit, so can I”

“I didn’t mean…” Sera felt like she had just unintentionally insulted the woman. “It's just that…”

“What? These guys?” Chilse asked, picking up on Sera’s unspoken concern. “Please. These idiots are harmless. Like what you see Tomas?”

It took Sera a moment to realize that Chilse had suddenly switched her attention to a large man who had been standing nearby, staring leerily in her direction.

“N-no, ma’am.” the man named Tomas answered quickly.

Chilse cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Yes, ma’am?” He said, nervously changing his answer.

“How bout you go somewhere else before I decide to come over there?” Chilse gave him a smile, but it was a dangerous smile.

As the intimidated man hurried away, Chilse gave Sera a satisfied grin.

“See?” She said, “Harmless.”

Sera laughed. It was a very needed feeling. Her perfect innocent life ended just last night but it felt like a lifetime since she had been genuinely happy. This woman was certainly no lady, but Sera could definitely tell that this Chilse was a kind soul, and she was thankful for her company.

“I like you, Sera Bennett.” Chilse said. She squinted her eyes and wore a kind smile. “I don’t know what it is but there’s something about you.”

“I wish I could be more like you.” Sera said.

“You wanna walk around with your tits out?”

“God’s no!” Sera laughed, her cheeks burning red at such a thought.

Chilse shook her head. “You don’t need to be like me. I have a feeling you can take care of yourself, in your own way.”

“Yeah…” Sera was still not sure what to think about that fact. “I mean how nothing seems to bother you.”

“Plenty of things bother me.” She said, almost sadly. “I used to be alot like you, y’know?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Really?” Sera couldn’t imagine it.

Chilse let the question hang. Clearly hers was a past that she didn’t want to talk about. Sera could only guess at what could possibly lead a woman into the profession of a merc.

“So what do you do for a living, Sera Bennett?” the woman asked, changing the subject.

“I uh…I’m a barmaid at my father’s tavern.” Sera answered.

Chilse stuffed her mouth with the last of her stew.

“You married?” She managed to say.

Sera winced and shook her head. That got a chuckle out of Chilse as she set her empty bowl on a rock at the fire.

“Better get on that. You’ll end up an old maid, like me.” She said before adding with a wink, “Minus the ‘maid’ part.”

Sera made a face.

“Oh! No, you got me all wrong, kid. Not with these apes!” Chilse laughed, casting a judging look at the men around them. “Sure they’ve tried but, no. I happen to like a nicer, more civilized kind of man. If you can believe that.”

Sera imagined seeing Chilse in the company of a clean-shaven man in a nice expensive suit, then giggled as she imagined Chilse carrying such a man as if he were a child.

“So tavern work huh? Not much for them, myself. I like to have my drink in private.” She sat back up and poked at the fire a bit. “I heard this crazy story this morning about a barmaid, actually.”

She paused looking somewhere over Sera’s shoulder. “Speak of the devil…Hey Johnny!”

“Ho Chilse!.”

Sera turned to see a man coming up the path running alongside Chilse’s little campsite. She spun back around before he could get a good look at her. Sera recognized this man, he was a regular at the tavern.

Johnny wasn’t a very large man, but he was tall, very tall. His long, reddish-brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and connected to a goatee and mustache with a chinstrap beard. Sera never spoke much with him but he was always very nice to her.

She prayed that Johnny was just passing by.

“How’s the slop today?” He asked, coming closer.

“Why don’tcha come over here and find out yourself?”

“No thanks.” He said with a chuckle, “I think I’d like to die fighting Chimera, if you don’t mind.”

Chilse looked offended. “Why is everyone so scared to eat my cooking?”

“Who’s your friend?” John asked, ignoring her.

“Little lost kitten wandered up from the river.” Chilse said, smiling at her new friend, “We've been having some girl time.”

“Oh, well I’d hate to corrupt such a sacred fellowship.” He said, “Catch you later then.”

Yes!

“Nonsense,” Chilse replied. “You’re always welcome to my pit.”

No!

Sera heard the crunching of gravel as the man approached her from behind. To her right she saw the sideways log where he was likely to take his seat. She preemptively turned away, slightly. Maybe he wouldn’t recognize her.

“John’s a good buddy of mine.” Chilse began as the man took a seat right where Sera expected. “Don’t worry. He’s a good man...ahem.”

Chilse snapped her fingers at John, who until then had been staring directly at her exposed breasts. “Johnny Boy. Eyes are up here, Hun.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sorry, Chilse.”

Chilse rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Well, he’s mostly a good man.”

“C’mon,” John protested. “What do you expect, waltzin’ around like that? They’re just…there!”

“Ugh… fine.” Chilse exasperated as she stood up and made for her tent. When she came back out, she was wearing a shirt, or at least most of one.

“Better?” She asked.

“I liked what you had on before.” John said with a mischievous grin.

“Don’t make me hit you.” Chilse growled at John who in turn, simply just laughed.

The objects of his distraction hidden away by a short bit of cloth, the man was able to afford a bit more social consciousness. He turned to Sera to introduce himself properly.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He started, “I’m John, but I’m sure you guessed… Whoa! It’s you!”

Sera winced.

Busted. She thought.

“Oh?” Chilse said, surprised. “You two’ve met?”

“Kinda…” Sera answered, bashfully. “He comes to the tavern I work at a lot.”

“A lot?” He asked enthusiastically. “It's the only one I’ll visit! Biggest glasses in town! What was your name again?”

“Sera.” She answered quietly.

“That’s right!” John said. “Sera Bennett, the old man’s kid. Chilse, this is the girl I was talking about this morning!”

Chilse raised her brows at him.

“Sera?” She said, surprised. “This is the girl that killed Corvo?”

Hearing that sent a jolt through Sera’s chest. Now the memory of the man who molested her and the memory of what she did to him had a name.

Corvo.

“The very same one!” John exclaimed, “Honestly, ya shoulda seen it Chilse. There she was, with Corvo on top of her and surrounded by ten of his goons.”

“Bad lot, those animals.” Chilse commented.

“Yeah, yeah. No kidding. Anyway, no one could get close, and then BOOM! Corvo goes flying across the room.” The man laughed as he went on. “Bastard snapped his neck against a table. Really, it was something else. It was like magic or something!”

As the man enthusiastically recounted the events of that night. Sera hugged her arms close as his story played out in her head. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she felt the man on top of her, and then there was the memory of seeing his corpse crumpled against the table.

“John…” Chilse shook her head at the man upon seeing Sera’s reaction. “No more.”

It took him a moment to notice Sera’s distress.

“...Like from those old stor-.” He stopped, suddenly aware that he’d gone too far. “Oh…”

Chilse moved from her spot to kneel at Sera’s feet and reached up to take Sera’s hand in hers. She gave Sera a look of sympathy and understanding. Despite her scant clothing and strong, sculpted body, the woman Sera had been getting to know was gone. In her place was a soft, caring woman, as caring as an elder sister like Sera never had.

“Sera Bennett,” She began, her bright green eyes looking sadly into Sera’s. “I know all too well what you’re going through, right now.”

“The first kill is easy.” John said quietly, “It’s dealing with it that’s the hard part.”

“It’s not just that.” Chilse said with her voice low. “It can be a hard thing…being a woman.”

She took a deep breath as she gathered herself.

“I was probably about your age when it happened.” Chilse continued. “I just want you to know that it’s not your fault, and you shouldn’t feel guilty for what happened to Corvo. You didn’t mean to kill the man that did that to you… not like I did.”

“Ancestors, Chilse” John swore. “You never told me about that.”

“I never told anyone about that.” She replied, looking over her shoulder. “And if you know what’s good for you, neither will you.”

“You have my word.” John said.

A moment passed before he stood.

“You’re leaving?” Chilse asked.

“I’ll be right back.” He said and walked off.

Chilse turned her attention back to Sera.

“I moved on from what happened to me by becoming strong.” She continued after a while. “You’re going to have to become strong, Sera Bennett. Now I’m not saying you’re bound to the same life I ended up with, but find your own way. Find your own way and be strong.”

John returned some time later carrying something wrapped in a dull colored cloth. He reclaimed his seat as Chilse moved back to hers and handed the wrapped object to Sera.

“For me?” Sera asked, wiping her face. “I couldn’t.”

“Please.” John insisted.

Sera tentatively accepted the mysterious gift and cautiously began unwrapping it.

“John!” Chilse said judgingly as the item came into view.

John only shrugged.

The blade was about as long as Sera’s forearm, not much longer than a child’s play sword, but it was much heavier. The crossguard had a few scratches and the leather wrapped around the hilt was worn but the metal of the blade gleamed radiantly in the afternoon sun.

“Sir…There’s no way I could-”

“Call it a tip for all the excellent service.” John said with a wink. “Besides. I have three more just like it. Sorry I don’t have a scabbard to go with it, though.”

“That’s not a thing for a civilized little town girl to be carrying around, you dunce.” Chilse berated John.

“No.” Sera said. “It’s perfect.”

She stood up and smiled gratefully.

“Thank you. Both of you, thank you.” Sera said to the two kind mercs. “I think I know what I have to do, now.”

John beamed, utterly pleased with himself.

Chilse shook her head and smiled.

“I don’t know anything about magic, but there’s definitely something to you, Sera Bennett.” Chilse said to her. “I know you’ll find your strength. However that is, just be careful.”

Sera smiled before turning to make her way back to the river.

“Come see me again sometime!” She heard Chilse call out behind her.

Sera turned again to wave goodbye to her two new friends.

As she went back to following the river’s current out into the plains outside of Rivera, Sera looked down at the weapon that she had been gifted. The very notion of what its sharp edge was made for was enough to make her heart pound in her chest. This was an object meant for killing, and it was her own hand that gripped the hilt. Despite this, it gave her an odd sense of comfort and focus.

Sera looked up to the shattered mountain. Beyond the rim of the crater, she could just about see the tops of the ruins that she knew rested there. That was where her father said she came from.

She had questions, and desperately wanted answers. Though she didn’t know how or where to find them, she knew where to start.