You will not escape this time!

Soria swung her sword at the Korgran which was standing before. The bodies of her parents were splayed out on the floor. There were bite marks and chunks of their flesh removed as the monster had feasted upon them. Both her mother's and father’s eyes were wide open with expressions of terror on their faces.

The Korgran jumped into the air with its dark gray monstrous body crashing through the roof. Soria let out a roar of anger, jumped through the hole in the ceiling, and swung her sword at the monster. The Korgran jumped again and dodged the slash of her sword. The creature started to run across the rooftops of other houses. Soria was not going to let it get away. She raced across the rooftops behind it.

The creature would look back over its shoulder at her and Soria could swear she saw a smile on its face. She felt the rage boil inside of her and she started to run even faster. When she neared the monster, she swung her sword at it. Her sword made perchance as it cut off the Korgran’s left arm. The severed arm flew over the side of the roof. The monster howled in pain but kept running.

You will not escape!

Soria saw that they were reaching the end of roofs to jump onto and she did not want the monster to escape. She ran as fast as she could and as they neared the last roof, her hand on the hilt of her sword tightened. The monster jumped on the roof and Soria landed right behind it. She swung her sword as hard as she could at it. The Korgran somehow was able to dodge it and it lept off the roof.

No!!!

Soria ran toward the edge of the roof and looked at the ground. There was no sight of the Korgran. Her eyes scanned everywhere but the Korgran was gone. She felt her rage boil over and she let out an angry yell.

“ARGGGG!”

Soria roared and sat up from her reclined position on the ground. She quickly scanned her surroundings but found that she was still alone in the woods. The fire was still going and it provided a little warmth to her very cold body. She looked at her right hand and saw that it was squeezing the hilt of her great sword. The large black sword was even slightly glowing red with heat from Soria’s rage-filled sleep. She slowly released the hilt of the sword and the heat dissipated. Her dark red armor was laid a few feet from her and it glinted in the fire’s light.

Soria took a couple of deep breaths in order to relax her wound-up body. The rage was completely encapsulating her as it usually did when she had these dreams. It took a minute before she was able to regain her composure. Once again the Korgran that had killed her parents had gotten away. Soria had been having this dream over and over again since she had witnessed the deaths of her parents to a Korgran. In every single dream, she got close enough to killing the Korgran but it always got away. The creature would disappear into thin air just as it did after slaughtering her parents.

Soria laid back down and looked into the fire. The faces of her parents were still so very vivid in her mind. Her mother’s bright smile and warm eyes as well as her father’s large grin and expressive eyes always flickered in Soria’s thoughts after one of these dreams. The devastation and horror of their deaths had changed over the years into nothing but rage. It was this rage that kept her going and it was yet to burn out. She knew that it would never be extinguished until she killed every single Korgran that existed. 

It was an impossible feat as there were so many Korgrans throughout Vylantis and many of them had even evolved into beings that were even more monstrous than the one that had slain her parents. She had encountered several of these evolved beings throughout her journeys and with her black sword they had fallen but she knew that there were even more and much more powerful ones that she had yet to meet.

A small cold smile came to Soria’s lips as she thought about fighting these beings and driving her sword through them. She eagerly awaited the chance. Soria closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

“Chappa beef for sale! Only 4 loens!” The merchant shouted from his small wooden cart. His head was on a constant swivel as he looked at each passing person. He tried his hardest to be louder than the other merchants that crowded the town square of Dryander. Every merchant was shouting as loud as they could in order to get the attention of the citizens and travelers who were walking about. Many of them were succeeding as they would even shove their wares into the faces of the people.

“Chappa beef for sale! Would you like some?! I am sure you would like some, miss!” The merchant shouted at Soria as she walked by the cart. “It's…” The merchant’s words froze in his mouth as he saw the large black sword on Soria’s back. His eyes widened in shock. He had never seen such a sword before! The sword seemed to be larger than the slim figure that it was attached to. Its blade was a black color that seemed even darker than any black he had ever seen in his life! The sheer size of it was incredible and the merchant could only stare. How is she able to walk upright?! The merchant thought. That sword must weigh a ton! This is impossible!

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Soria kept walking slowly in the square. There were many people who would look at her in awe or in fear. It was not just the gigantic black sword on her back but also Soria’s dark red armor. The armor would sometimes appear black depending on where the sun did not hit it. The top half of the armor was impeccably designed with small sharp black spikes on the shoulders and a breastplate with ribbed edges on the sides that fitted Soria’s slim figure perfectly. The lower half had jagged curves with dark red boots that did not make a sound as Soria walked. She also had on a black cloak that would sometimes partially cover her armor. The only thing that Soria did not have on her person was a helmet which she did not need.

Soria herself was quite a sight as her hair was a pitch-black color and fell to her shoulders. Sometimes it would flow behind her even if no wind was blowing. Her eyes were also quite striking as they were a cerulean blue color that seemed to swirl around her black pupils. Her skin was a very pale color as if the sun had a hard time penetrating it.

There were several knights in the square and their silver armor was dull and bulky compared to what Soria was adorned with. Many of them gave her suspicious looks and even a few had outright envious expressions on their faces. These knights were a mix of elven and human men and women. They were patrolling the square for any trouble and many of them were watching Soria and feeling as if she may be a problem that they would have to contend with. Their eyes went to her black sword and several of them felt a chill move throughout their body even though the weather was warm and the sun was beaming down from above.

Soria could feel the eyes of the knights upon her but she paid them no mind. She glanced over at the merchant who was staring at her with his mouth ajar. She looked at the Chappa beef. There were many that were cooked but her eyes fell upon the uncooked raw meat. “4 loens, you said?” Soria asked him.

“Um…yes…” The merchant audibly gulped. His eyes were still on the large sword. His body even trembled as he could almost feel the danger and violence of that sword. Soria turned to him and his eyes snapped away from it and he looked into her blue eyes. He cleared his throat and put a hand on his cart to stabilize himself. He was surprised to see that his hands were even shaking. “Yes, miss. 4 loens.” He reached for one of the cooked slabs of meat.

“No, I would like the raw one,” Soria said. “Two at that.”

The merchant felt a chill run down his spine as he saw a glint of red in Soria’s pupils as she stared at the raw meat. He had to look away. “Um…yes…let me package it up for you. That’ll be 8 loens.” With shaky hands, the merchant packaged the meat for Soria and slowly extended it to her. Soria handed him the coins and as her fingers brushed against his, the merchant almost cried out in shock at how cold her fingers were. It was like touching ice!

“Thank you,” Soria whispered. She put the meat in a small knapsack bag that was on her left side and under the cloak.

“You’re welcome,” The merchant whispered. He watched the strange woman continue to walk. He wiped at his forehead and found it sweaty. It took him a moment before he regained his composure. “Chappa beef for sale!”

Soria walked slowly through the square. Many people hurried away from her or completely got out of her way. She made her way to a large inn and opened the door. Inside were several people sitting around at tables eating or drinking. The conversation was loud as they talked and there were a lot of raucous laughs from some people who were drunk. One chubby man let out a very loud laugh and clapped another man on the back. The jug of beer in his other hand sloshed about and even drenched his shirt.

The inn suddenly went quiet as the patrons looked at Soria. Many eyes widened and some let out surprised sounds. They gaped at her armor but many of their eyes were on the colossal sword on her back. The innkeeper looked at her curiously with eyes that were trying to take in what he was seeing. He was a thin elderly man with large grey whiskers. Soria walked up to his wooden desk.

“Good day, I would like a room for the night,” She said.

“Eh…that’ll be 2 loens, miss,” The innkeeper said.

Soria took the coins out and handed them to him. The innkeeper took them and was just about to speak when the chubby drunk man came hobbling over. His jug of beer sloshing all over the place.

“Quite the sword you got there, sweetheart! What a pretty thing like you doing with such a weapon?” The man leered at her. He had a drunken grin on his face. There were a few hesitant laughs from his drunk friends at a table but mostly the inn was quiet. Everyone was staring at Soria to see what she would do. She did not acknowledge the man but instead she kept looking at the innkeeper.

“Eh…the room is upstairs to your left, miss,” the innkeeper said to break the awkward silence. He handed her a bronze long key.

“Thank you,” Soria said. She turned and walked by the drunk man as if he were not even there.

“Hey!!! I’m talking to you!” The man reached out and grabbed Soria’s arm. She slowly turned and looked at him. The man gasped with his eyes growing large and the jug of beer fell from his hand and shattered on the floor. He froze completely for a moment and then his other hand quickly released Soria.

Soria turned away and continued to walk forward. She went up the stairs with everyone watching her. The innkeeper looked at the drunk man and saw that there was a look of terror on his face as he stood there frozen for a moment longer. When Soria entered her room, the man let out a gasp and then he glanced around at the other people who were looking at him curiously.

“You alright there, Tommen?” A drunk woman asked him from one of the tables.

Tommen looked at her as if he had never seen her in his life. “I…I…I got to go!” He rushed out of the inn with the doors slamming behind him.