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The chilling sound of screams echoed across the field of decayed yellow and green where three corpses lied motionless. A woman stood above them, her calloused fingers wrapped around a hilt. Her wrists were stained crimson, the color thickening as it ran down her palms to her fingers and finally onto the silver gleam of her blade. She inhaled a sharp, ragged breath, then exhaled deeper.
This woman's name was Lune Victriius. She had eyes like an arctic wind and was a short height of 5'1 but she was far from weak. Her movements were precise and none without reason.
Knee-high pale yellow grass wavered against her strong ankles, pulled north by the strong breeze.
Her gaze landed on a young boy; one of the camp leader’s sons. He was crouched against a large oak tree with his arms wrapped around his knees fearfully. Terrified ten-year-old eyes glanced back at her. Lune forced a smile to curve her lips. She was a killer, but not quite a ruthless one.
“Please,” he choked out through tears. He held up scarred, calloused hands in a pleading manner. “Don’t hurt me.”
The girl crouched beside him, sheathing one of her knives. She held a small hand out to him kindly. “I won’t.”
Something shuffled behind them and she instantly stood up. A burly man known as Abraham moved swiftly across the fields and his veins pumped with adrenaline and desperation. Lune barked a laugh and flicked her blade out, amused. “Silly man, you cannot escape me.”
She lunged forwards and chucked the knife. It swiveled through the air, eyes glued to its shiny surface. A devastating crack rang throughout the land as the blade collided with the man’s skull, sending him lurching forwards into the blood-soaked grass.
“Betrayal and insubordination aren’t handled well here. Isn’t that right, Abraham?” She turned to face a man who crept not so silently behind them. A bald man paused in his tracks and stifled a gasp.
“… How did you know?” He uttered in disbelief.
“As I’ve said, you cannot escape.” Lune leaped at him before he could begin running. Her claw-like nails seized his back and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to the grass. It felt like needles. She swiftly moved her hand towards his eyes and snapped his head back, cracking his neck. The lights died from his eyes suddenly and he stopped struggling. Lune stood again. She gestured her arms toward the rest of the bandits who hid under the cloak of darkness and a wide, crazed smile curved her lips. “Who else wants to test me?”
Nobody spoke.
Lune clapped her hands together. “Ah, good. Move and I won’t hesitate to kill you.” The predator of a woman prowled the open land. “I must say, I didn’t consider you all cowards until now. You all looked intimidating and tough, but I guess that does change when your leader is gone, hmm? Still, I expected more of you all.” Another soul slowly moved behind a dead bush.
Her gaze deviated towards a black-haired boy her age a few meters away. “Drakon…” She muttered and motioned towards him. “Come here, will you?”
The boy stuttered, struggling to protest, and stood up silently. The hiders collectively gasped from behind him as he stepped forwards. His arms were sickly pale and he had obsidian black almond-shaped eyes that glittered like black diamonds. His tough, muscly arms had scars that ran down his skin and a thick pink one marked his cheek down to the base of his neck.
“Drop your weapons.”
His sword clattered to the floor and he inhaled a sharp breath. The girl slowly walked around him in a semi-circle before clapping her hands together, pleased. “Well, well, isn’t it my little traitor?”
The dry ground crackled beneath her feet and she leaned forwards, her warm breath against his neck. It elicited goosebumps to bubble across his pale arms.
Drakon hesitated. “I… I’m sorry, beautiful.”
Lune barked a laugh. She cupped his cheek with a hand and stroked the back of his jaw, glancing into twin empty void-like orbs. “Love, sorry won’t do. Refusing to cooperate doesn’t end very well, does it? Does telling dear old dad about our plan to escape seem so terribly important now?”
The boy swallowed hard. “N-no. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I betrayed you and I apologize. I love you… Lune.”
Her hand slowly slipped to behind her back, tugging at her sheath. Blade glimmering, she held her weapon forward. “I should kill you right here; maybe then your voice won’t sicken me so much.” She purred.
“L-Lune…” He choked out and gingerly touched her cheek with pale, cold fingers. She still twitched at his touch, but her face remained like stone. “Forgive me. We can still run away; we can go look at the stars and pick flowers and—…”
Lune’s knife lurched forward. A strangled scream echoed through the field and she held his throat still. “There’s no time for that anymore. You’ve lost your shot and now you will lose your life.”
She moved her blade deeper and caught his shrieks with her hand, muffling his voice. “Hush now, love.” He fell to his knees, the knife opening a deep gash between his thighs and buried itself upward.
As the light began to flicker out of his eyes and he took his last breath, she murmured. “See you in hell."
