Chapter 1- Rude Awakening
321 2 9
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.
Announcement
Still working on my grammar and fluidity, but I hope you all will enjoy the read anyways.

Have fun~

 

“Leave. Now.”

My eyes shot open at the sound of a voice, vision blurry and neck itching in uncomfortable pain. However, that was the least of my problems because mere steps in front of me was an enchanting woman pointing a rather sharp and dangerous looking wooden spear, right at my throat.

I barely managed a stammered reply, pupils growing wide in recognition- the one before me barely covered in tree bark and leaves, her skin a healthy green and hair not unlike mine, mimicking  the forest’s shades of autumn. She was also definitely taller than me and her gaze was directed at me, full of anger and annoyance.

 

Instincts setting in, my body moved on its own and quickly scrambled up to stand straight in front of this woman, mouth opening to quickly stammer an apology, however before I had even managed to open my mouth properly, the woman interrupted me and aimed her spear at me again before motioning down and outside the forest.

 

A gulp travelled down my throat and I instantly complied, climbing down the tree while keeping her in my sight. Once down on the ground, I carefully backed away and tried to apologize again, only to be once more interrupted by her own voice.“This is my forest. Get your own. Never return or I will kill you on spotting you in my domain.”

 

I got the message and before she had even finished her statement, my body had already turned around on its own and began to run to the forest’s edge and outside as quickly as possible- far away from the terrifying woman.

 

~*~*~

 

Running through an open field at night wasn’t exactly one of the easiest undertakings, but I didn’t care- getting up every time I fell over a stone or dead branch, ignoring the pain shooting through my body. A groan escaped me, finally hearing the most wonderful sound of flowing water. My steps grew slow and quiet, breath calming down ever so slowly and hand moving up to scratch my itching throat while eyes began to move around for any signs of human activity around me.

 

Not too far away were several campfires and torches, the latter illuminating the perimeter of a military encampment. Luckily, they hadn’t noticed me yet and I had every intention to keep it that way, lowering my body as close to the ground as possible and slowly sneaking away and closer to the river, looking for a shallow enough part to walk through.

 

After about an hour, I finally found what I was looking for but there was a problem: Right at the shallowest part was a group of three men in armour, surrounding a young beastkin around my age. The beastkin’s long, fluffy ears drooped down the side of his head and gaze full of panic. He tried to escape several times, only to be rebuffed by the men every time and pushed back into the encirclement, the three laughing at his useless attempts at escape.

 

Hidden behind a patch of high grass, I noticed the marks peeking out through the gaps in his body, anger flaring up inside of me and growing worse once my eyes wandered to his neck, adorned with an ugly iron collar. I struggled with myself to not jump up and run towards them and help the boy with a suicidal charge. No, that wouldn’t help either of us, I needed a plan, preferably before they did anything to the slave. After all, I’d need the boy alive. What better guide than a local?

 

With shaking hands I began removing my cloak and parts of my clothes, doing my best to ignore the chilly air of autumn and slowly got up, retracing my steps for a bit before once again approaching the group, swaying on my feet and releasing a giggle every now and then. Soon, the Soldiers had noticed me and two of them turned in my direction, raising their weapons in threat before one of them shouted for me to halt- which I ignored and slowly made my way closer to them, smiling brightly and licking my lips.

 

“Boys! Finally found somethin’ delicious ‘ere! Been wandrin’ through camp all nite’ an’ seen nothin’ but weenies. But! Look at ye, three fine stallions takin’ care of a foolish escaped animal!” Another giggle escaped me at the end of my words and my smile turned lopsided, continuing my drunken play. “Dada always said nothin’ good would become of me, ye know? Ha! Wrong he was, I get to entertain lovely an’ strong men like you ev’ry day at the camp~. Mmm~ I wonder how much ye three are packin’, gotta be a lot with such strong bodies~.”

 

The Soldiers eyed me for a moment longer before one of them burst out into laughter and dropped his guard, sheathing his weapon and motioning me to come closer, which I did without hesitation while continuing my charade. Once close enough, I held out my hands for two of them and smiled sensually before my eyes fell onto the beastkin and narrowed in disgust. “Mm~. I’d so love to be taken by you three right now, but there’s that… thing ‘ere. Don’t want a filthy animal to see my beautiful skin~. Why don’t you two come with me an’ we ‘ave fun while he guards the animal?” Without hesitation my body moved closer to one of the men and snuggled against his cold armour, head tilting up and looking at him with begging eyes.

 

The third man groaned and the other two turned towards him, laughing at the poor bloke who had the misfortune of being left out. With a giggle, I drew the two soldiers away a bit, just out of sight and waited for them to drop their guard even more, which happened all too soon as they removed part of their clothes and armour, standing before me in nothing but shirt now, moving closer as a sudden wicked smiled crossed over my face and I finally released a cloud of noxious gas, watching it engulf the surprised soldier and enter their airways, forcing their lungs to contract and quickly filling their bloodstream with death. They couldn’t even scream for help.

 

A shiver ran through me and I gazed down at the two dead men for a moment longer before making my way back to the last soldier and the helpless boy, retrieving my cloak and sword on the way, making sure to stay as quiet as possible and walk around where I had found them first. My feet knew how to move silently and soon I managed to find myself behind the last soldier and the beastkin slave, sneaking up behind the former while covering my blade and then lunging closer once I had closed enough of a distance, unceremoniously ramming my sword into the back of the soldier’s head- much to his and the slave’s surprise. There was no struggle. No screams.  Just the silence of death.

 

I finally let out a long since held breath and allowed myself to relax for a moment before glancing over to the slave I had just saved, eyes wandering over his body for a moment before slowly approaching him. He was a beastkin for sure- most likely a rabbitkin, given his ears and lithe, athletic figure. Piercing red eyes stared at me from behind dirty golden locks with a mix of defiance and the slightest hint of fear. Before I could explain myself, we heard an alarm horn in the distance and without hesitation my hand found his and I began dragging him towards the river, not daring to look back before we had reached the other side and Surisian territory.

9