Chapter 1
It was cold as fuck. That was the first thought Ashlyn Rae Ann had as she touched down on the grass. She shivered violently as a cold draft went by, rubbing her arms vigorously to get rid of the gooseflesh.
"I seriously need to re-evaluate the jobs I take sometimes." She muttered, annoyed.
The land was green with trees and shrubs and grasses, but no other forms of life existed anywhere. Ashlyn would consider it odd, but she'd seen weirder. Then, there was no more time to analyze. The earth shook as something gigantic made it's way to her.
Cold immediately forgotten, Ashlyn widened her stance, her hands at the ready in case she had to weave spells.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The sound came from directly in front of her. The trees broke apart and out stepped a creature created of stone.
It was massive, standing at a proud 10 ft tall. It's head was probably the size of one of those tires Monster trucks used. It had a stump for a neck and it's torso was a good 12 inch thick and 18 inches wide and ended up longer than her own body. It had two beams for legs and two thick trees for arms. Ashlyn sucked her tongue over her teeth. The bastard wouldn't be suffering any cuts from her scythe anytime soon. The creature saw her, it's eyes blazing a deep, bright Orange. As if flames lived in it's eyes.
Ashlyn cringed as she realised that she would need to sink a shitload of magic into the Golem to knock it, especially since it was powered by the Gem of Life. She cursed Aiden and all his ilk for letting the stupid gem out of his sight. The Golem started towards her, slowly and clunky at first but quickly gaining in speed. Ashlyn groaned before her hands erupted in green fire. She ran at the Golem, chanting under her breath as she did so. The Golem roared and reared its fist, aiming to crush the petite woman.
Bad move, she thought with a grin as she leapt up into the air and used the Golem's arm as a runway to it's chest. Leaping up once she reached its elbow, she pulled her arms back, intending to slam a hole through the creature with her magic. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark shape swinging towards her.
"Shit!" She cursed as the other arm batted her away. Ashlyn flew, landing with a dull boom as she kissed the earth, creating a nice shallow trench as she went.
The Golem roared, the sound like thunder in the air as its eyes blazed brighter, almost white. But his victory was cut short as a green fire flared to life, Ashlyn getting to her feet in the middle of it. She spat blood to the side, and levelled a psychotic grin at the Golem.
"You're in for it now." She said with a laugh before she launched herself at the creature.
It was six and half hours later that Ashlyn appeared through a black hold swirling with green into a high rise office; a magical worm hole.
"Just for once! Once! Can you Keep your bloody shit out of the wrong hands?!" The woman roared, magic imbuing into her voice to shake the building. The man before merely blinked and leaned back in his chair.
"Was it so hard to acquire the gem?" He inquired. Ashlyn sardonically waved her hand at her ragged and injured appearance.
"What the bloody fuck do you think?" She said sarcastically. Aiden sighed.
"I apologize Ashlyn. I didn't realise I had made it so difficult for you." He said sincerely as he stood up.
Ashlyn threw her head back and groaned. "Stop manipulating me you bastard." She growled.
"Manipulate you how Ashlyn? I'm just sorry that you had to go through all this trouble just to get this back for me." He looked at her. Ashlyn squirmed before she kicked him in the shin. He grunted as he stumbled, holding his shin as he jumped around on one foot.
"Ow! Woman!" He roared.
She stuck her tongue out at him. He growled at her.
She took a step towards him but her legs decided to take a nap right then. Her knees buckled and she pivoted to the ground. Luckily, Aiden was there to catch her in his arms.
"Ashlyn at you alright?" He asked worriedly. Her eyes fluttered open.
"I-I'm fine. Just a bit low on energy." She gave him a tired smile. He picked her up in his arms and deposited her on his lap as he sat in his chair.
"I'm calling the medics." He said. Ashlyn struggled weakly to sit up.
"Aiden it's fine. I'm fine. I just need to recharge." She replied. Aiden glared at her.
"Then you'll do it right here where I know you'll be okay." He ordered.
"You're an ass." She said as she leaned into him. He stroked her hair.
"I'm an ass who is going to take care of you."
Ashlyn sighed, as she knew she wouldn't be getting out of his grip for a while.
Ashlyn dragged herself through the wormhole. She was so tired. The medical Mages had healed her injuries, coaxing her body to repair itself. It left her both ravenous and low on energy. She walked through the ward she'd placed around her home, the pressure a familiar one that let her know that she would be well protected. She unlocked the door and headed straight to the shower. She stood in front of the bedroom mirror to check her body. Ashlyn had to cringe. Her shoulder and back when she turned was a lovely purple and sickly yellow, like mucus. There was a nice blue bruise on her jaw, and various bruises in various lovely shades up and down her legs.
The new scars were pale, pink and jagged against her flesh.
"Oy." She sighed. Ashlyn turned and went into the shower, ensuring her skin and hair ran clear of the dirt and blood that had accumulated. Once she was done, she exited and dried off and headed straight for bed.
The next morning her body let her know it wasn't pleased with her ragdoll imitation yesterday. Ashlyn groaned, but got up. She dressed, ate breakfast, brushed her teeth, then locked up and headed down to the guild.
The Guild, formally known as The Guild of Interdimensional Magix, was where Ashlyn worked. It was the organisation you went to when you had money, and you wanted a quick and dirty solution to your mystical problem. For the right price, the Guild made said problem go away. A hundred and twenty five years ago, the guild was just two people, her and Karina. Now it was a booming guild boasting Mercs, or Mercenaries, from every dimension within their reality. Ashlyn appeared before the double metal doors, reinforced with both magic and silver to be able to withstand a siege. The inside of the building was high and cavernous—and noisy to booth. The stories spiraling upwards with a big space in the middle that housed a giant tree, the giant skylight above providing the necessary light. The tree was ancient, there since before the city was a thought in someone's head. Karina and Ashlyn were reluctant to build anywhere near it due to the dormant magic emanating from it, but one day, they found their newly built Guild surrounding the tree like a protective shell. How in the hell the Guild building had gotten there, the two didn't know. But they left the building alone, surmising whatever magic brought it there would do the same thing again if they moved.
To the left of the door, on a raised platform, was the board. It housed the gigs that were available. Organised in such a way as to make Auden's Secretary kill himself with jealousy, the Board hosted Gigs from S-rank level, like slaying powerful mythical beasts that no one person could kill, to simple E-ranked jobs like saving a tree fairy from a mean old lady's cat. To the right sat the weapon's vault and the dojo, and to the center sat the clerk room. The Clerk's were who you went to when you started a gig and when you finished it. They recorded it and made sure that you got paid once the task was complete.
After making a few rounds with fellow Mercs she knew and worked with, Ashlyn went up the stairs. The second floor housed the cafeteria/mess hall. Since the Guild boasted over a thousand people in its employ, the cafeteria had to be a good size to accommodate the hungry Mercs who just got in from a day of hard labour of killing things. Next to the Cafeteria and the mess hall was the library. Despite the slight absurdity, sometimes people didn't know what they were dealing with, so they needed to research and prepare before they could.
The third floor housed the dorms. This was for the trainees the Guild took in, and those who didn't have a home to go to. The Guild always looked after its own.
The Fourth floor housed a few offices and a boardroom. Odd, true, but the offices were for the heads of the Guild. The boardroom was to discuss the budget, and whatever else problems dared to occur within the Guild.
Ashlyn made her way up to the fourth level and came to one of the offices.
She knocked once before entering.
"Hello Karina." She smiled as she poked her head through the door.
The tall elfin woman looked up and smiled upon seeing her. "Ashlyn!"
She got up and hugged the green eyed woman. Ashlyn smiled as she hugged back.
"How was the mission?" Karina asked as she pulled back.
"Horribly Awful. The stupid gem made a Golem and the Golem made me it's favourite ragdoll for a little while." Ashlyn responded. Karina winced a bit. Karina looked her over.
"Thankfully you went to a Medmage." She nodded.
"Sure, let's go with that."
Karina gave her a flat look. To which she just grinned. Shaking her head, she went back to her seat.
"Did you cash in the gig ticket yet?" She asked. Ashlyn shook her head. "No, I wanted to see you first. You know it's our ritual." She smiled at Karina. Karina smiled back. Ashlyn leaned over and their noses rubbed together. It wasn't a sexual thing, but rather a family thing, as strange as that sounded. They parted and with a caress to Karina's hair, Ashlyn left to return downstairs to cash in on her gig.
