I braced myself for the oncoming assault; the Darkhorn closed the distance in seconds and before I could blink it had charged into me and my left arm got caught in its jaws.  Its large teeth chomped down, crushing my arm.

 

Shinobu better be right about this I thought as I looked at the poisoned arrow in clasped in my fist, we were travelling at an incredible speed so aiming the arrow proved challenging.  It would bite my arm straight through if I waited any longer, so with one last breath I aimed the arrow straight at the beast’s neck.

 

It pierced its flesh, which was supple and softer than a human. It astounded me with how effortlessly the arrow went in; the Nighthorn didn’t pay any attention to the arrow sticking out of its neck continuing to stampede and munch away on my arm.

 

I had to endure this agony for a minute longer before the Darkthorn collapsed. It was like flipping a switch; the toxin had worked its poisonous magic.  I pried my arm loose from its jaws and howled in pain.

 

“Fuck” I screamed.

 

My arm was mangled, crushed and utterly decimated, I could barely move it.

I felt dizzy and like I was going to vomit. Passing out seemed inevitable at this point.  I could hear Shinobu as she ran over to me, she was screaming my name again.

 

“Hold on, Mari, I’ll heal you.”

“Oh mother of life, grant us your blessing and the seal the wounds of this maimed soul, Hygieia.”

 

 

Shinobu took my mangled arm in hers and that familiar blue light washed over me, I could hear my flesh squirm and my bones crack as they returned to their original position.  The worst thing about this world was the healing system.

 

Wounds heal but the pain still lingered. What kind of bullshit was that? I thought as Shinobu finished casting her Hygieia. The darkthorn wasn’t dead, merely paralyzed and sedated, even the greatest behemoths fall given the right circumstances.

 

“Hey Shinobu, I’m beat can you do the honors.” I asked.

“Of course.”

 

“Oh lord of fire, I am your emissary, build for me a blade ablaze, Flamskiva”

 

 

A sword of fire in the shape of a rapier formed in Shinobu’s hand. She then thrust hard into the Darkthorns neck and repeated the action until she was sure it was dead.  The flaming blade disappeared once its purpose was fulfilled.

 

“is it dead?” I asked.

“Deader than dead.”

That’s a relief.”

 

 

I had taken everything for granted in my previous life if I wanted food all I had to do was to part with some money and I could have anything I wanted, in this world you have to fight, hunt and scavenge just to survive day in and day out

“Hey Mari get over here and help me.”

“Oh god no, we are not carrying that all the way back to the village”

“If you don’t help you’re not getting any food for the rest of the week.”

“Can’t you cast a teleportation spell?” I asked.

“That’s a tier two spell, what part of basic nun mage did you not understand?” Shinobu asked.

“of course not that would be too much of a convenience, oh well let’s get this shit over with”

 

 

“Oh lord of fire, I am your emissary, bind my flesh with flaming chains, Ardeat torque.”

 

 

A set of two chains formed in Shinobu hands, she wasted no time fixing them to the body of the felled Darkthorn. She handed one of the two chains to me. “Won’t that burn me?” Shinobu grinned, “Only if I want them to.” I reluctantly took hold of the chain, “That’s reassuring.”

 

The time exhausted me as we made it back to the village; the square was bustling with all the nun’s and the children, the monthly hunt seemed to be a monumental event; I suppose in a dead end place like this excitement is worth celebrating.

 

“Look Sister look, Shinobu’s back” a little girl said.

“is that Darkthorn?” a little boy asked.

“No way, Shinobu could never kill one of those.” one sister said.

 

 

All eyes in the room eventually turned on me and my blood soaked rags, I hate being seen in such an unseemly condition.  A few children surrounded me, all of them with beaming faces and lustrous eyes.

 

“Hi, I’m Chiyo, what’s your name miss?” one girl asked.

“Well, hello Chiyo, I’m Mari.” I said.

“Are you one of the new sisters?”

“Sisters?”

“Yeah, Caroline was saying more sisters should arrive soon.”

“You’re a clever girl, Chiyo, I was going to make a big announcement, but you figured it out all on your own.”

“But why aren’t you dressed like the others?”

“Ah, well….my uniform hasn’t arrived yet, yeah that’s it.” I said.

“Oh okay, well welcome to Shikishima, Miss Mari.”

“Thanks.”

 

 

These kids are way to god damn cute, I should ask Shinobu about a uniform and a hot bath, I’m smelling horrendous.  The kids and other nuns were all congregating around Shinobu, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little envious of all her attention and praise.  

 

Pleasant weather, a roof over my head and hunting, gathering and farming to survive.  It was the polar opposite of my stressful past life.  I think after settling in for a while I could be genuinely happy here.