WOOOO!

 

 

This chapter took a while to finish, but I am so glad I powered through it! I really am so glad that you have stuck with me on this journey so far! Please consider leaving a comment or review!

 

 

 

 

I've Been Reincarnated as a Bunny Girl?!

 

 

by

 

 

Elite Shade

 

 

"The tunnel has been completed, sir," the soldier said to Percival. The high priest looked the goblin before him up and down. His skin was a deep crimson, with yellow glinting eyes, covered in the polished silver and gold armor bearing the lion and crescent moon symbol of their holy order. The red-headed elf was wearing his lavender robes as he stood at the foot of the imposing mountain range. He sent the soldier on his way to begin conferring with the others while rubbing his temples. At least something he was involved in lately was going right.

 

To say that the Grand Bishop had been displeased upon learning of the failure of the attack on Ghostflower was a major understatement. Percival had been made to leave the room, finding several statues obliterated into dust in the interim. Many would look upon the old man and notice only his frail and ancient body. This was often the last mistake an assassin or spy would ever make, as what he lacked in physical strength he more than made up for with raw, overwhelming magical power. Upon being let back in to the chambers, Percival was sent to oversee the construction of the tunnel. Thankfully, aside from a couple of cave-ins, progress had been otherwise steady and the project was now completed ahead of schedule. The high priest looked forward to contacting his superior via the private crystallarium communicae to deliver his report.

 

He pulled from within his robes the furled map and looked upon it once more. With the slightest of smiles playing at the corners of his mouth, he called for the sergeant beneath him. As he heard the human man's footsteps fast approaching, Percival looked again upon the target that the tunnel would allow them to take and establish a proper foothold. The town of Starlight Rose.

 

 

Meanwhile...

 

 

"Truly amazing!" Archibald said in wonder from where he sat in the rented cart, looking out at the massive crater. He was wearing a simple blue button up shirt and light brown trousers. "So this is where the infamous Spire once stood? I had heard of its destruction, but there are so many conflicting stories about what actually happened to it, it's impossible to tell which is the truth." In the years since its creation, the crater had slowly been filling with rain water, with the locals deciding to name it Spire Lake. With local rangers introducing fish to it, it was quickly becoming not only a tourist attraction but also a popular fishing spot.

 

Bolt was pulling the cart at a brisk pace, with Geth holding the reins while Archibald and Kiana sat in the back with their supply packs. Slithering next to the cart was Mirabelle, the turquoise snake already too big to sit in the cart alone, now sporting a much larger pink bow tied snugly around her neck. Flying lazily above them, Snowflake, the name Kiana had given to the snow white wyvern that seemed to have taken a liking to her, chirped happily. In the day after the bandit attack, a wyvern stablehand had identified Snowflake as being a juvenile wyvern, hence why after her show of strength, it seemed to have formed an attachment to Kiana. The black and blue tenebricorn snorted seemingly in response, and Archibald could have sworn that Bolt had rolled his eyes while doing so.

 

"Some years back, I had actually been preparing to come to fight the evil lurking within the Spire," Geth said, riding without his armor on. Instead he was wearing a light green silk shirt with looping silver symbols on the back, and a pair of black trousers, also with some silver trim on them. His black hair was being tousled by a gentle breeze. "But by the time I had left, word had spread of its sudden destruction."

 

"Word spread through the merchant network to reach us as well." Archibald let out a laugh. "There were some pessimists who were convinced that some powerful monster had been the one to smash it and punch a crater into the land itself."

 

"I had run into a group of adventurers who had arrived in the very town that had put forth a quest to destroy the ancient evil lurking within. They had claimed that a young girl, a rabbit beasta, had been the one to smash it with a hammer." Geth and Archibald both turned to regard Kiana, who was wearing her usual green and gold trim adventuring outfit, casually tossing chunks of jerky out for Mirabelle and Snowflake to snap up. She looked over at the two and shrugged.

 

"I was bored and I wanted to see if I could do it," she said simply while reaching out and petting Mirabelle, who loudly thumped her tail on the ground in response. Then she smiled and pointed ahead as they crested a hill. "Look there, boys! That's my hometown of Starlight Rose." As Geth and Archibald looked on, Kiana took note of how in the month she had been gone, the town seemed to have grown, looking like it was fast approaching the status of a small city. New houses, what looked like a stone tower, and a proper fortified stone wall just beyond the new metallic drawbridge all leapt out to Kiana's eyes. "Woah," was all she could say.

 

It wasn't much longer before they started to approach the bridge. The cart slowed to a crawl due to the traffic. Kiana was surprised to see an influx of carts ahead of them in the right lane of the bridge, along with more carts, most mechanical and laden with goods and wares in the left lane, exiting. On the majority of those carts was a symbol of a burning phoenix clutching a sword in its claws. She smiled, recognizing it immediately.

 

"So Callum started up his business after all," she said to herself.

 

"Callum?" Archibald asked, looking over at the bunny girl. After the attack on Ghostflower, an excited Archie had asked the traveling duo to tag along for a little while. Kiana and Geth had wondered about his responsibilities, but the young noble had assured them that he wasn't supposed to be back in Shuta for at least a month. Not seeing a problem taking him along, the two had agreed.

 

"He's a friend of mine from school. He had a real knack for alchemy as well as cooking, and was always saying he was going to use alchemy to create a line of candy to sell. That symbol over there is the one he came up with for his business idea."

 

"He sure seems to be shipping a lot of candy," Geth mused as their cart inched forward. Ahead they could see a set of deputies checking travelers and carts before letting them pass.

 

"Yeah. Callum told me that it's one thing to have a good product to sell, and another altogether to keep it in stock. Mass production is the way of the future," Kiana said, looking a little wistful.

 

Am I seeing the beginning of this world's industrial revolution? she thought, feeling a twinge of excitement at the prospect of seeing more of what was to come from life in this crazy and amazing world. After a few more carts were inspected, they finally came to the pair of deputies.

 

"Good afternoon, sirs and madam, can you please identify yourselves and confirm if these animals have had their sho--Kiana?" The bored-looking human deputy in his light green cloak over green leather armor smiled wide when he saw the bunny girl in question. His partner, a halfling woman with a battleax strapped to her back, turned to wave before resuming checking the next cart about to leave Starlight Rose.

 

"Hey there, Taynor, Llinwa," Kiana said with a wave back. "It's been a while. How are things?"

 

"Well, as you've probably noticed, we got us a new wall and a new drawbridge. Got it made out of dwarven steel to boot, since someone kept smashing the previous ones..."

 

"Hey now, those were all accidents," Kiana said defensively, turning to regard the shining crimson metal. Dwarven steel was stronger and more durable than regular steel. It was also supposed to be a lot more expensive.

 

"Maybe, but the Mayor decided that it would be a good investment in case of any future incidents, and the rest of the town agreed. And now, we've got so many new people moving to town! It's amazing!"

 

"It looks like it, but what's going on with the inspections here?"

 

"There's been bandits spotted lurking about in the area, as well as talk of some illicit substances being involved. So we're checking folks coming and going." The man then looked to Geth and Archibald, who both nodded in his direction. Upon seeing Geth's face, Taynor's hand moved to rest near the hilt of his sword. If Geth took any notice, he didn't give any indication. "Who're your friends here, by the way?"

 

"Geth here is my traveling partner, and Archie here is coming along with us for a while," Kiana explained just as Snowflake landed on top of the wall with a thud, letting out a chirp, and making Taynor jump. "Oh, and I've got a new pet. His name is Snowflake."

 

"Ahem," Llinwa said, stepping forward and smiling at the party, "we really do need to keep moving this along, so welcome to Starlight Rose." The halfling waved them through, and Taynor stammered an apology for taking so long. The cart rumbled through, with Mirabelle and now Snowflake, who had leapt down to walk on all fours behind her, in tow. As they went up main street, Kiana waved and greeted numerous other townsfolk. Archibald couldn't help but smile both at how friendly and lively the town was, as well at how excited Kiana seemed to be. Geth was pleased by the sights of the peaceful town. It was hard to imagine that the rough-and-tumble Kiana was from such a place.

 

Geth froze and, his hand as quick as lightning, he snatched something out of the air. He was surprised to see a strange young beasta being held by the collar of his navy blue shirt struggling in his grasp.

 

"Awww, I thought I had ya!" Valay said in disappointment. He then looked over to Kiana and his face broke into a wide smile of pure joy. "Ki-ki!" The young wolbet beasta wriggled out of Geth's grip and leapt into his big sister's arms.

 

"Hey there, buddy," Kiana said, giving her little brother a hug. She then set him down next to her in the cart. "Where's Malay?"

 

"Off with Dad, practicing the basics of magic," Valay said, looking behind at the two reptiles following behind. "Oh wow! Mirabelle's gotten really big! And you've got a wyvern now? COOL! Can I ride him?"

 

Kiana giggled at how excited Valay was and patted him on the head. "Sure, you and Malay can both ride Snowflake for a little bit later today." She then looked to her two traveling companions. "Now then. This is Geth and this is Archie. Geth, Archie, this is my little brother Valay."

 

"A pleasure to meet you, Valay," Archibald said with a smile. He had taken note of how Kiana had looked very cute when doting on her younger sibling.

 

"Kiki's spoken a lot about you and your sister," Geth said, chuckling when he felt Kiana's eyes burning holes in the back of his head. He was going to enjoy teasing her with the nickname in the future.

 

"Hey, how'd you spot me anyway?" Valay asked, confused.

 

"A true Ventin has heightened their senses through training and learning to observe their surroundings," Geth explained.

 

"I take it that you were using some kind of camouflage magic?" Kiana asked.

 

"Nope! It was a basic ninjutsu unseen skill! I've been practicing around the house! Until Dad told me not to do that when he's working, especially when he's conjuring fire magic. We kinda had to get a new kitchen table after I accidentally startled him." Valay had a sheepish grin on his muzzle as he said this. He and Kiana chatted, with Kiana directing Geth on where to go. Soon, they were pulling up to the house, where Pumala was standing outside, waving to them, rubbing an even larger baby bump.

 

"Woah, so Mom hasn't had the baby yet?" Kiana asked.

 

"The healer said that it should be any day now," Valay answered.

 

Once the cart pulled up next to the small one-story property, Kiana hopped out, only to quickly find herself pulled into a hug by Pumala.

 

"There's my Honey-Bunny," the older rabbit beasta said. She was wearing a cream-colored sundress, but oddly enough still had a sword and sheath strapped to her hip. Kiana saw this and chose not to say anything for now, just happy to see her mother again.

 

"Hi, Mom," Kiana said once the hug was finished. She looked around and saw that they apparently had some new neighbors from the sights of the newly constructed houses built on a couple of nearby hills, as well as some tents on some other hills. "The town sure has gotten bigger!"

 

"I'll say," Pumala said with a laugh. "We've had an influx of traders and new residents since The Spire was destroyed, but for some reason that number's just been increasing lately."

 

"I know that a lot of refugees have been traveling from the south of the continent to find new homes after being driven out by the Leoluna Empire," Archibald said as he climbed down from the cart, holding several pieces of luggage. Valay had grabbed a couple of packs as well. Setting some of the luggage down, Archibald offered Pumala his hand to shake. "I am Archibald Nunarin, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

 

"It is a pleasure to make yours as well, Mr. Nunarin. I have to say, that name sounds familiar," Pumala said, taking Archie's hand and shaking it.The human man felt the strength in Kiana's mother's grip. That combined with how she carried herself made him certain that she was no stranger to combat. Having heard stories from Kiana about her mother, the town sheriff, this did not come off as much of a shock to him.

 

"Well, my family name does tend to get around. My father is the Duke responsible for the city of Shuta," Archibald explained. Pumala's eyes went wide at that.

 

"Shuta... now I'm recalling that some kind of natural disaster happened there recently? I briefly overheard some of the townsfolk discussing it, but I didn't have time to stop and ask them what happened."

 

A little panicked, Kiana got behind Geth and shoved him towards her mother. He stumbled forward in surprise, and looked back at her, the bunny girl innocently whistling and looking away. Composing himself, Geth smiled and bowed to Pumala before extending his own hand, which practically enveloped the older bunny lady's when she took it.

 

"I am Getholon the Mystic, and it has been an honor to travel with your daughter, Sheriff," he said. The older rabbit-kin beasta looked over at her daughter and gave her another smile, before turning it on to the massive orc that stood a head taller than her.

 

"Well, I am just happy to know that my little girl is traveling with two very capable-seeming gentlemen. I must admit, if I wasn't pregnant right now, I'd be wanting to spar with the two of you," Pumala said with a laugh, her hand going back to her stomach.

 

"Perhaps when we next visit, then?" Geth asked, sounding intrigued by the idea. Archibald raised an eyebrow, finding the idea a fun one, partly because it implied that he would be included in a future sparring match here in Kiana's home town.

 

It was then that a gray and purple blur slammed into Kiana's side. She looked down to see Malay wearing a pretty purple sundress hugging her.

 

"Kiki! You're home!" Her tufted tail started spinning like a lone helicopter blade. Kiana giggled and bent down to pick up her little sister, giving her a big hug.

 

"Hi there, Malmal," she said, setting the young wolbet down, "I toldja I'd come back to visit."

 

Malay's eyes looked over at Archie and Geth who were still chatting with Pumala. "Oh! Didja finally find yourself a boyfriend? Is one of them it?" She asked, pointing to the two male adventurers. Kiana blushed and gently pushed down Malay's paw.

 

"No and no," she whispered. "I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now, I'm just palling around with a couple of friends, beating up some bad guys and monsters along the way."

 

"So does that mean you're going to start looking for a boyfriend in the future then?" Malay asked, looking innocent as she started to rock back and forth on her heels, a familiar mischievous glint in her eye. Kiana facepalmed, but smiled. It was then that Kiana felt herself being enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. She turned to see her father, wagging his tail, whilst he hugged her tight, wearing his red wizarding robes.

 

"My biggest Little Princess is back," he excitedly exclaimed. Kiana blushed but happily hugged her papa back. She had missed her family, especially her daddy's goofy antics. But she suddenly started to worry when she saw that he had opened his eyes, which alighted on Archibald and Geth. He bit back a low growl and frowned a bit instead. Letting go of his daughter, he walked forward, crossing his arms, trying to look intimidating to the two.

 

"I take it that you two are currently my daughter's party members?" Geth and Archie shared a look, before nodding.

 

"Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am Felixin the Firetongue. I myself used to be an adventurer, until an old knee injury forced me to settle down. However, my skills in the mystic arts and my power have only grown since those days. My point being that my little princess is a delicate little flower, and I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting her in any way," he said, making his eyes glow orange for emphasis.

 

"My good sir," Archibald said with a sweeping bow that, to Kiana, would have looked goofy or sarcastic if anyone else had done it, but Archibald managed with a clearly practiced grace. "It truly is an honor to meet you and your lovely wife. I hold nothing but the highest respect for my traveling companions, especially those who have demonstrated bravery and skill like Getholon and Kiana have. I would proudly stand by their sides no matter the trouble, as I know that they would mine. You have raised a kind and strong adventurer, and have every reason to be proud."

 

Felixin paused and seemed to deflate a bit, his tail suddenly becoming a blur. He smiled, putting his hands to his hips.

 

"Well, it was a joint effort with Pumala making it possible. My little girl could always be quite the handful when she wanted to be," he said, puffing out his chest in pride. Archibald looked to Kiana and gave her a wink. While she still had a blush on her face, she smiled back, grateful that Archie had diplomatically defused a potentially awkward situation.

 

"She still can be," Geth said under his breath. He then bowed and introduced himself to the wizard before him. After the introductions, they were led inside the house, with Geth and Archie being led to a spare couple of guest rooms. It felt strange for Kiana to reenter her childhood bedroom. It had only been a few months, but it had felt like she had first struck out on her own long ago. She wasted no time in heading to the bath to scrub the road off herself, and donned her favorite cream white sundress once she had dried. She excused herself from the house for a little while, the knowing smirk on Malay's muzzle a telltale sign that she knew full well where Kiana was going. She rolled her eyes to her little sister, but that couldn't distract her from the nervousness welling up inside herself.

 

In letters as well as speaking with her family on the crystalarium network in other towns and cities that had it set up, she had learned of some of the goings on of the townsfolks. As she approached a large white stone building with a domed top, carved with roman-esque pillars and a solid cherrywood door, Kiana smiled. More users of healing magic had moved to town, and now Matteo, who once was the only town healer, who had assisted with her very own birth, now was the head of his own order. He had even taken on a new apprentice. Someone from Kiana's graduating class.

 

"Hey there, Davtio," Kiana said as she entered the structure. She and the blonde elf shared a smile, though she couldn't help but feel a slight blush to be wearing such a feminine outfit in front of him. She wasn't sure why, but it had been that way in the recent years before her departure for the life of an adventurer. She had faced down ogres and trolls, bandits and slavers, wyvern riding warriors, and the undead. Yet now she felt so nervous and awkward around a dear childhood friend. He was wearing white apprentice robes with silver trim instead of gold, over his red tunic and blue trousers.

 

"Hello, Kiana, Malay told me that you were coming back for a visit," he said, smiling as he set down the box of scrolls he had been carrying. He couldn't help it as his eyes traveled up and down the bunny beasta. "I'm glad to see you again."

 

Of course she did, Kiana thought, making a mental note to have a talk with her baby sister about her matchmaking obsession. "So you were worrying about me then?" Kiana asked, intending it to sound like she was teasing him, but she found she was legitimately curious to know if he had been.

 

Davtio snorted and shook his head. "More like I've been worrying about the trail of destruction you would leave in your wake."

 

Kiana, without realizing it, puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, and waved a dismissive paw. "So I can be a little reckless sometimes, but it's not like I'm some kind of monster going on a rampage."

 

Davtio chuckled and held up a newspaper, showing the front page to Kiana. It was a black and white photo of Shuta, with the massive hole in the city walls. Taking it from him, she quickly skimmed the article. It stated that according to eyewitness accounts, an unknown rabbit beasta had gone on a savage rampage to apprehend a wanted criminal from a neighboring country. Kiana tossed the paper back onto the desk and huffed while crossing her arms.

 

"That is just a gross oversimplification of what happened," she said. Davtio laughed, his voice sounding melodic, and held his sides.

 

"I'm sure that it was," he said, wiping away a tear. He looked to her once more. "I am very happy to see you again, Kiana."

 

"And I'm happy to see you again, Dav," Kiana said, smiling back. Then she turned her gaze down to look at her feet, which she shuffled nervously. "I was actually... a little nervous that maybe you wouldn't want to see me after... uhm... well... after we last spoke."

 

Davtio's smile faded a little, but a soft one was still there.

 

"I could never not wish to see you, Kiana," he said in a soft voice. Kiana nodded and looked up to meet his eyes.

 

Kiana looked away and bit her lower lip. What the hell am I doing? I'm old enough to be his grandmother. "I'm glad."

 

"Well, it was lovely to see you again, Kiana. And please, always feel free to come and see me. However, at the moment, I am supposed to be bringing these scrolls to Master Matteo," he said, looking a little forlorn, but happy nonetheless. Kiana smiled, knowing that healing others was something Davtio had been passionate about, even when they were little kids, running around and making forts out in the woods for their fantasy zombie invasions.

 

"Right, sorry. I just wanted to stop by and check in. I'm gunna be in town for the next few days, so maybe we can catch up?"

 

"I would like that," Davtio said with a warm smile of his own. "Lilith opened up her own cafe, actually. I've been meaning to try their lunch menu. Maybe we could go there tomorrow at around noon?"

 

"Sure! Lilith, huh? Wow. I never woulda guessed," Kiana chuckled. The shy mousey mouse-kin beasta girl from their grade opening up her own business sounded so out of character to Kiana, but she was excited for her friend.

 

"Yup, it was a surprise to everyone in town, even her own parents. But she's been doing great. From what I understand, thanks to all the traffic coming in from the drawbridge, which is where she set it up, in her first month of opening, she managed to pay back the business loan to the bank in full, and still had enough leftover to reinvest in her business," Davtio explained, hefting up the crate again.

 

"I can't wait to see it. Bye, Dav," she said, opening the door once again.

 

"Goodbye, Kiana," Davtio said, giving her one last smile, before turning to head down another hallway.

 

 

Elsewhere...

 

 

"I thought the report said that there were no flying mounts of any kind!" Percival felt the beginnings of another stress headache and began to massage his temples yet again.

 

"The first two scouting units were very thorough. The wyvern must have entered when we were setting up the crystalarium signal jammers and the wards to prevent communication spells. But newer reports confirm it's the only one." The dark elf looking up at Percival did so through slits in her camouflaged face covering. Her clothing had been made to resemble that of the colorations of the forest near the cave. Upon learning of the wyvern and having the followup report confirm it, she had been dispatched to bring the new report to Percival himself.

 

"We can't run the risk of anyone spreading the word of the town being under attack or worse, escaping and alerting the Duke, not before we've taken the town and set up our own defenses. Eliminate the beast, and do so without being seen." The scout nodded, saluted, and started running off back down the tunnel to relay the message to her unit. Percival scratched his chin, feeling a sense of dread settle in the back of his mind. He snapped his fingers, and within half a second, a nearby captain was at his side. Instead of camouflaged clothing, he was wearing the shining armor.

 

"Captain Grellis, I want you to start assembling platoons to begin marching through the tunnel as soon as possible," he ordered.

 

The wolf beasta cocked his head and looked at the elf quizzically. "Yes sir, but considering that the tunnel can only allow for four soldiers to walk abreast, it will take quite some time."

 

"I am aware, Captain," Percival said testily. "But it is better to be safe than sorry. Just start the preparations and begin sending units through as quickly as you can get them to."

 

"Aye, sir," Captain Grellis saluted and bowed, before hurrying away, barking orders left and right to the resting soldiers.

 

"I have a bad feeling about this," Percival muttered softly to himself.

 

 

Shortly After Dusk...

 

 

Valay was busy sneaking up on Malay, hoping to scare her, when his ears twitched. He heard a soft rhythmic chiming in the distance. He recognized the sound. Their house was located partially nestled in the woods, and so the young wolbet beasta had taken it upon himself to set up numerous ninjutsu traps. They mainly consisted of setting up pieces of parchment with matching symbols on them facing each other. They were hidden in underbrush and in other secret locations. If something passed between them, like an animal or a person, it would set off a chime that only he could hear. When he had explained it to Kiana and even demonstrated how it worked, she said it was like an invisible laser tripwire. Whatever that was.

 

He was hearing the chiming, ringing time and time again, coming from different locations. Sometimes he would hear it once or twice in a night, usually from a squirrel or something triggering it. But this was no squirrel or deer. Too many of his alarms were going off at once. As if a lot of creatures were tripping them. He felt his hackles start to raise, and jumped a little when Malay put her paw on his shoulder.

 

"What's wrong, Val?" she asked, concern lacing her voice. "Usually when you try to sneak up on me, you at least try to scare me."

 

"I-it's my ninjutsu alarms... a lot of them are being triggered, all at once," he said, the locations of the chimes getting closer. His eyes widened when he realized that they were heading for their home. He told his sister as much. Malay was usually skeptical and of the mind that her twin was up to some kind of mischief. But seeing his hackles rise had her own start to as well. She grabbed her staff from where she had laid it, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him inside.

 

A few minutes later, Mirabelle was coiled up with Snowflake relaxing on her, the two dozing, as a group of twelve darkly dressed individuals silently approached. One began making their way towards the snow wyvern, unseen, but froze when a deep voice cleared their throat.

 

"And just what do you think you are doing?" Geth asked, stepping down from the porch, clad in his red armor, his sword unsheathed and flaring its brilliant purple flames. Without saying a word, three of the other figures silently ran towards Geth, while another threw two blue glowing shuriken towards him. His movements were precise and graceful, the tip of his blade darting with surprising speed. He deflected both shurikens just before he decapitated the first of the assailants to reach him. The second did not fare much better, despite having their scimitars drawn. Just as the third made it, Geth dodged left and then right as they swung their poisoned dagger. The hand clutching it was soon parted from the rest of the arm, its owner letting out a hiss and leaping back to stem first the bleeding, and then small purple flames began to ignite on her sleeve.

 

While all that was happening, the one that had been approaching Snowflake was suddenly airborne, with his ribs broken, sent crashing into a tree. Standing protectively in front of Mirabell and Snowflake stood Kiana, wearing her mithril knuckles and her adventurer outfit.

 

"You folks just made a very serious mistake," she said, no humor in her voice. At that, six more silent assailants charged forth from the trees, some loosing arrows at the bunny beasta, others towards the paladin. Geth had no issue deflecting the arrows sent his way. Kiana's eyes glowed bright blue, and she felt a power flowing through her. She created a funnel in the air itself, that only she could see. In the arrows went while she spun, creating more of this wind tunnel in front of the poison-tipped points, redirecting them. Completing her turn, she aimed the opening of her wind funnel at the ones who had fired them, each arrow finding its mark in the chest of the surprised archers. The speed with which Kiana did this made her actions appear as a blur.

 

Still, the remaining killers were not to be easily deterred. And they kept coming towards Snowflake, who chirped nervously, before loosing a conical blast of his frost breath. Anticipating this, four of the enemies managed to dodge it, with the unlucky fifth instead taking a full blast and freezing solid. Falling over and hitting a rock caused their upper torso to shatter like glass. A group of five was coming in on the left, and didn't see Mirabelle, whose scales had turned black and her eyes red. She hissed and unleashed her paralysis breath attack on them. The five soon dropped, unable to move. Another four tried to rush Kiana. With grotesque crunches, she sent them each flying, their bodies clearly misshapen.

 

Another group of the unit had been dispatched around to the front of the house, with orders to kill all inside if any resistance was to be found. One quietly unlocked the front door and opened it wide. Just before he could set foot inside, a large fireball greeted him and blasted him back a good distance. Out stepped Felixin, his red robes shimmering and matching his glowing orange eyes, which were filled with rage.

 

"You do not try and touch my FAMILY!" the wolf roared, his cloak seeming to ignite and wreathing him in flames, his staff held aloft. With a wave, a large tornado of flames burst forth down from the sky and began to suck up and immolate the assassins. Four of them were burning while another three aimed crossbows at Felixin. They were then blinded by a green light just as they were blasted back with enough force to rip two of them to pieces, and smash a third one against a stone fence, both the stone and their back breaking. Out leapt Archibald, rapier in hand, while his mechanical arm quickly rearranged itself to its original state.

 

Around back, the now one-armed assassin, the drow whom Percival had sent back through the tunnel, hissed again. As the remnants of her squad were wiped out, with great shame, she elected to retreat. She began running through the woods, looking back behind her to see the bunny girl sprinting after her, charging at a fast pace, but the drow knew she could lose her. She took a circuitous route to ensure that she wasn't to be followed back to the tunnel. Not seeing any sign of the monster bunny, she leapt out from the underbrush into the base camp that had been set up there, an entire platoon of soldiers dressed as bandits already through and setting up some defenses around the camp. She ran straight to Captain Grellis. She knelt, wincing from the pain of her stump. The wolf looked the drow over and felt worry begin to settle in his gut.

 

"I take it that you encountered some trouble?"

 

She nodded. "Yes. There are some powerful fighters and magic users here. They must have known we were coming and laid a trap for us," she said.

 

"Were you followed?"

 

Just as the drow opened her mouth to speak, Kiana beat her to it. "Yup."

 

The dark elf turned to see the bunny girl stepping out from the foliage. "I hung back a bit to let you think you had lost me. I wanted to see where you were gunna go. And you did not disappoint." A nearby soldier with a spear lunged at Kiana with a stab. She caught the spear, broke the tip off with her hand, and smashed the pointed end through his forehead. He dropped and she kept walking forward.

 

"I don't know if you guys didn't get the memo. But the last time a group of bandits attacked my town, they were wiped out. And it's lookin' like history's about to repeat itself." Kiana's tone was cold and filled with venom.

 

"Attack!" Grellis barked, unsheathing his sword. Archers and crossbowmen loosed arrows and bolts. Kiana repeated her wind funnel trick, sending them all back to their original owners. Others charged, hoping to overwhelm her. Kiana's fists and feet were a blur of punches and kicks that resulted in red mist being sprayed left and right. Bodies and chunks of bodies went everywhere, terrifying the surviving soldiers. The drow watched as the bunny kicked Grellis' head clean off his shoulders when he tried to join the fray. She had been brought up to be an assassin, to fear none but her god, having been a part of numerous brutal missions and campaigns. But as she crouched there, staring transfixed as the entire platoon was quickly wiped out, as though the trained elite soldiers of the empire were nothing but a nuisance to the bunny girl, Selina felt sheer terror take hold of her for the first time in a very long time.

 

Soon, she was alone with the monster, whose fur was partially stained red from the blood and gore that lay strewn about. It hadn't been a fight. It had been a slaughter. Said monster was now leaning over her, clearly not afraid of any kind of surprise attack or last-ditch effort on Selina's part. Just before Selina could speak, she was lifted up off the ground by her throat, carried by this petite girl, closer to the mouth of the tunnel. Kiana looked the tunnel up and down.

 

"Bandits sure are industrious and incorrigible. I'll give you guys that. Now, you are going to be my messenger tonight. You are going to go back through this tunnel and start telling all of your friends... or anyone else who will listen, that Starlight Rose is off limits. Got it?" Kiana said this matter-of-factly, without any of her anger or hatred in her voice. Selina nodded, grateful that she'd be spared. Then she saw the smile on the bunny's face, and felt dread wash over her. "Good."

 

Back on the other side of the tunnel, Percival watched as the next platoon began to march through the tunnel. They stopped as they heard a noise. It sounded like a scream, one that was fast approaching. The first group of soldiers that had entered the tunnel were bowled over, a small lithe figure limply strewn about them. Percival froze as he recognized the drow. He noticed the state she was in and moved forward as more soldiers looked on in horror.

 

"What happened? What's going on over there?" he asked, worried.

 

Selina, despite a few broken ribs, started to laugh and cough. She looked up at him with crazed eyes.

 

"JUDGEMENT! THAT IS WHAT'S HAPPENING!!!" she screeched, before devolving into a coughing fit. Suddenly, before anyone could move, there was a loud BOOM followed by a shockwave, and another. They were so violent that some groups of soldiers lost their footing. Then with one last BOOM, the tunnel collapsed in on itself. Percival looked on from where he lay, having been knocked over by the shockwaves. He took in a deep breath, and felt the headache return.

 

"His Holiness is going to be very displeased," he said in a whisper, to which Selina barked out a laugh before passing out.

 

 

Hehehe, messing with Kiana's pets or family is a major nono. I hope that you all enjoyed the new chapter! Thanks for reading so far!