I stood outside of the blacksmith with my weapons, so the last thing was food and I was set. I made my way to the marketplace, or rather the few stalls that stood near the well that I came from. Truthfully, I was starving. So I browsed the stalls and seen what they had to offer. 

I saw three stalls, one a jewellery, one a potion stall and finally a stall with meats. Immediate I moved towards the meat stall and purchased a pound of dried venison. 5 coins. So I had 18 left. Hmmm... I suppose that was all I could think off. 

I moved towards the gate munching on the dried meat, the guards, or rather the militia guards looked awkwardly at me.

One of them stopped me and asked. "Where are you going girl?" 

'Girl?' I thought. Huh. Do I really look that young? 

"I'm heading out." I answered. 

"Not right now you're not," He said quickly.

I tensed. Great, was there going to be another problem? I already had my fill of them and I hadn't been here all that long.

"Why not?" I asked. I was expecting "Because you're a woman" or "Don't you have a husband to get back to?" But instead, he said "Because there are reports of highwaymen on the road out. They already ambushed three carriages so no one goes out until it's been resolved" 

Highwaymen? Those masked guys who ambushed carts and such? Instead of being worried I felt a sudden rush of excitement. I had my first chance to do something to earn some fame. I looked at the guard again.

"Well, maybe I can take care of that problem?" I said.

The guard looked at me for a full second before he threw his head back and roared with laughter. 

"Hey Olen! Did you hear what this wench said? She said she'll 'take care of the problem'"

The guard on the opposite side of the gate roaring laughter matched the guard in front of me. Ugh, these... FUCKING guys.

"That's a good jest little gir-" "HOW ABOUT I BEAT YOUR SORRY-FAT-LAZY-GRAVEL-SUCKING ASS RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!" I yelled. My temper blew through the roof. Both guards laughter died instantly.

The guard in front of me narrowed his eyes before saying "Oh, you got a big mouth little girl. Mayhap you shouldn't have left whatever brothel you came from!" He grasped his spear with both hands as I undid the buckle on my two-handed sword. I had my sword out in front of me still in it's sheath, holding it by the sheath and hilt. The guard thrust his spear, I quickly hit the handle of the spear and held it to my right, with the spears path diverted I unsheathed my sword and jabbed it at the guards throat.

I stopped just a few inches from his Adam's apple, we stood there like statues. His expression was one of disbelief. 

"So are you going to let me through or am I going to have to permanently relieve you of your guard duty?"

His eyes widen before saying "A-aye. Go on through." 

I sheathed the blade and did up the buckle again. Leaving the town I walked along the road feeling equal parts nervous and excitement. I was fiddling with my two-handed swords sheath for a little while. I didn't like it at my back because it was hard to reach it. So I made it into a strap and slung it over my should, like a hunter would have his rifle on his shoulder.

I walked for about ten minutes, I had spotted a castle before I left Alton so I wanted to head that way and see what the city had to offer. Judging from it distance it looked like it would take about a day and a half to get there, if I was being optimistic about it. Sudden a man came out from behind a bush to block my path. 

"Well hello there, aren't you a strong beauty with your big sword and your lovely outfit?" The man had a rapier and spoke with a rather suave accent that I wasn't fond of. I figured he wasn't alone, I had a hard time believing a single man with a rapier cause so much trouble for people so my eyes started scanning the woodland area to my left for any comrades. 

"I thank you for your kind words, but I'm not really fond of men, especially ones who have the three-to-one advantage."

I spotted a shadow figure standing on a rock in the clearing in the woodland area and some light shining off of something in a bush near me. A sudden clapping came from the man standing on the road.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Well well well, aren't you sharp? Then I suppose you know what's going to happen next?" 

"Yeah" I said. "We fight" 

I turned to the figure standing in the bush, slid the strap off my shoulder. The figure moved in the bush before rushing out with a dagger, clearly trying to gain the advantage before I could draw my sword. I thrust out the sharp end of the into his stomach which he made an "Ohmfff" sound. Without breaking the stride, I twirled the blade so the crossguard jammed in his eye. 

"HIIIIYYYAHH!" The man screamed. I pulled back to examine the crossguard and seen a bit of blood on it. 'I went that deep?' I thought? The suave man rushed in to save his comrade, thrusting his sword. I leant back, just out of reach of his rapier. I unsheathed my two-handed sword and stood ready. I had the advantage in reach but I had to be careful. 

He tried to close the distance by thrusting past my sword, but I caught it on my crossguard and lifted the blade up so it poked over my head, I then positioned the blade tip at him at thrusted. 

He tried to tilt his head out of the way but I wasn't aiming for his head. I instead cut the side of his throat, which caused a huge gash that spurted blood out from the wound in large amounts. He dropped his sword grabbing his neck and falling to his knees in a panic. The man who's eye I struck let out a cry as he threw himself at me. I simply jabbed the hilt of my sword out at his nose with led to a sickening crunching sound which made him go limp. 

I looked at the scene I made. The suave man was dead, and this other man was probably going to be injured severely.

Bile suddenly boiled  in my throat as I- *Whoosh* a sudden arrow flew by me which snapped me out of my guilt fueled trance. 'Right.' I thought. 'Fight now, guilt later.'  With new resolve, I charged the archers position, he suddenly turned to run away. 'Oh no you don't' I gave chase down a path. I observed him pick something up then turn to throw it at me, a rock? he was desperate.

I jumped off the beaten path and followed him through the woods. I had my sword gripped tightly, ready for the opportune moment to strike. He stopped for a brief moment to catch his breath and see where I was, he showed a confused look as he didn't spot me. I jumped out from the heavy woods, sword pointed at the ready. Before he could react I thrusted the blade through his chest, running him through. He eyes went wide for a brief moment before they rolled back and his body went limp.

"Ha... ha.... ha..." I was panting hard. But I stood there waiting for the guilt to boil again. I waited and waited but only a small twinge of it surfaced. Perhaps the worse of it was gone? I looked down the path that the man way heading. 

"Hmmm..." I wonder where he was heading? Their hideout? I decided to follow the path cautiously. I soon spotted wood smoke and quickly ducked into the woods. I crouched in the tall grass, like a lion sneaking up on a gazelle. I came close and spotted a small camp. 

I sat there and observed the camp, a few tents, fire pit and just single guard. 'huh... only one?' I slowly exited the tall grass sneaking up on the guard. Step after slow step. The tension was enough to kill me, but I have to be relaxed. I finally was crouched behind him. I slowly place my hand on the tip of the sword and positioned it on the back of his neck. Just one stab, one was enough to put him down, so why was I hesitating? Was I feeling guilty again? Why? He undoubtedly killed or assisted in killing a few people so why was I- suddenly he turned his head to look over his shoulder and jolted in alarm as he seen me. 

I thrusted the sword through the back of his neck, blood sprayed through the front and back as he coughed. Blood came running from his mouth as he slumped over and laid quietly. I sat there in silence at the gruesome scene I witnessed. 

Bile rose in my throat but this time, I didn't try to swallow it down, the hot bile rushed in my throat and I knead over and vomited. 

.....................