The Deadest Looking Devil
Soundlessly she padded through the tall thick-trunked trees, invisible and unheard. Her pointed ears were pricked, taking in the slightest rustle or crackle around her, mapping the locations of every living creature whose heartbeats she could detect, fluttering in their chests. Her tail quivered in anticipation, they had no idea she was so close to their camp. She could smell them, all sat around in the clearing ahead, completely oblivious to their impending doom. Their odour reminded her of rotting meat, the kind that would usually be riddled with maggots and that even desperate carnivores would avoid, they would rather subject themselves to hunger than eat so much as a morsel of it.
She watched them with the experienced eyes of a warrior. They may outnumber her but she was sure they would be no match for her regardless of what form she chose to meet them in. She circled around the small camp a few times, slowly familiarizing herself with the exact placement of the tattered tents that were dotted around the dimly blazing campfire. They were chaotically assembled and seemed as if they could collapse given a little encouragement… As well as noting where the sentries stood half-asleep at their posts, the Cat Sidhe began to plan how she would attack the camp and its inhabitants.
The sight of the beasts that sat hunched around the fire was more disgusting than their smell. Shreds of material that probably used to be clothes hung from their decaying forms, clumps of mud and dried blood plastered the scraps to them as well as caking their skin and their over-grown matted hair. Her whiskers twitched in revulsion and she shuddered at the thought of picking fragments these creatures from her dagger-like claws, it was not a taste she desired to have in her mouth if she could help it. She decided that she would assume her humanoid form for a majority of the fighting, but only after she had dispatched the lookouts.
With exaggerated caution the Sidhe approached the first of her enemies she would remove before confronting their majority. "Make no sound and your death with be swift and painless." The Cat Sidhe growled, her black fur rose which made her already ferocious looking form grow considerably in size. The sentry creature in front of her gave a gapped tooth grin and let out an ear-splitting shriek that made the Cat Sidhe wince slightly. "I do so wish you hadn't have done that…" she muttered, rolling her sea-green eyes before darting a paw with unsheathed claws straight towards the creatures heart. It was not dead yet, but it would be before the fight was over.
At the sound of their comrades' cry the camp burst into activity, the half-dead gathered their broken weapons of shattered swords and jagged-edged axes and surged towards the sound to find a heavily armed young woman in full battle amour standing by the bleeding corpse of the sentinel. So much for the element of surprise… She thought crossly. They took in her form, evaluating her threat. Her weapons gleamed in the flickering firelight, she held in her hands twin swords plenty sharp enough to do serious damage. At her waist were various odd shaped blades and daggers as well as on her shoulder a quiver and bow. She looked relaxed despite the fact she was faced by a band of monsters who were just waiting for a single signal and then they would rush her, hoping to tear her to pieces.
"Fae ó Murchadha, Cat Sidhe of the Neve." rasped a harsh voice that seemed to come from the deadest looking of the crowd that assembled before her, "How nice of you to deliver yourself to us, we were so looking forward to a feast! Oh, and you brought us some trophies too!" The leader commented tauntingly, its followers sneering cruelly and croaking shouts that sounded painful and caused more than one of the half-dead to hack up a slimy substance which they spat in the Sidhe's general direction.
Fae smiled distastefully, "I see there is no necessity for introductions then… Surely if you know who I am then you would know that you will not get away with what you have done. I do not look kindly on the events which led me to be here, so I will tell you this only once: resist and I will kill you painfully and slowly, surrender now and you will receive as honourable death as you deserve." Almost as an afterthought and with a sly smile, she added, "It may even be quick or painless. What say you all?"
"You don't frighten me little kitten." The leader of the half-dead mocked and spat some congealed blood at her feet. Then to the decaying army it said, "Any one of you who can bring me her handsome little head can have all her trophies and the first taste of our meal." At the sound of this incentive the pack of half-dead began closing in threateningly, all jostling for the chance to be closest to her and all baying for her blood.
It could be worse… Fae reasoned. With an almost unnoticeable inclination of her head, the Cat Sidhe replied, "I do believe you have made your decision." Without more warning than that she leapt high into the air, turning agilely back to face them as she did, and landed behind the crowd of half-dead. They turned clumsily to follow her flight and recommenced their mad rush after her.
As soon as the first half-dead were within reach, her blades began dancing through the air, slicing and slaying all who were in their paths. The decaying monsters kept coming and the blades gravitated towards the weak areas of each opponent, they moved so fast that it seemed as if they were moving independently of the woman who wielded them. Soon there were piles of definitely-dead three to four corpses high, all around where the fighting had begun, there seemed to be never ending waves of half-dead to replace those that fell, never to rise again.
Fae danced closer to the fire, which was still spluttering and spitting, greedily consuming the branches and twigs that had been carelessly thrown in a heap at the centre. As her next assailant approached her for a chance at claiming the reward, Fae dug the tip of one of her swords underneath a few burning embers. With a timed flick of her wrist they flew straight into the eyes of her newest attacker, blinding the creature, it's nearly non-existent excuse for clothes catching from the hot ash. In a moment of pain and panic the monster lashed out with its weapon. The swing missed Fae's head but thudded into the back of the skull of another creature who screamed and turned to hack crazily in the direction from which it had been attacked. The Sidhe disengaged herself quickly and moved on unnoticed, stabbing out at charging bodies as she went.
Witnessing her escape, a group of three half-dead backed the Sidhe towards one of the fragile looking tents. The two outer monsters simultaneously launched their weapons at her, she dodged a rusty axe which had been traveling towards her head, but in doing so did not manage to completely miss being scratched by a fractured blade of a sword that closely skimmed her left arm at the elbow.
She glanced down at the scarlet line that had appeared, "Ow." She said irritably and dropped her swords to grab two daggers from her belt and threw them with enviable accuracy at her two aggressors who fell like decaying leaves, glass-eyed before they even hit the ground. The remaining figure raised its short shafted spear half-heartedly before it began circling her. The Cat Sidhe slowly removed her bow from her back and nocked a beautifully fletched arrow into place. She drew her bow arm to her cheek and held the position, waiting for the right moment to release it. Her movements graceful she circled with it, keeping pace but not closing in just yet. When the creature had its back facing the crude tent she let loose the string. The remaining half-dead sank to its knees, clutching at its throat where the arrow had embedded itself. It gurgled noisily and fell face first into the already blood-slick dirt.
Immediately following the demise of its predecessor, another half-dead thundered towards her but slipped in the steadily growing pool of crimson liquid around her, expertly Fae darted forward and planted a boot against its chest and pushed hard, causing the half-dead to fly back against the tent and collapse it on top of several others. Those caught beneath bellowed savagely and clawed their way free from the material and sticks, their gazes focused on their comrade draped over what remained of the tent, rage grew apparent on their disfigured faces and they charged just as it had managed to stumble back to its feet. Already dazed, the creature was overwhelmed and the attackers roughly clubbed at it until it was an almost unidentifiable mess ground into the remnants of the tent. During the beating, one half-dead caught a passing individual on a back-swing and the offended being swung in retaliation but also succeeded in knocking a fellow half-dead in the back while attempting to dodge another attack from its original offender.
To her satisfaction, Fae's carefully constructed plan was beginning to work. They were losing their solidarity, they were beginning to turn on themselves.
Fae leisurely returned her bow to her back and collected her daggers and swords, whispering an apology to each of them in turn for their rougher than usual treatment. The leader of the half-dead watched her warily from where it stood near the outskirts of the fighting and began making a path towards where she waited for her next victim. The Cat Sidhe noted its arrival and grinned at the prospect of a more stimulating combat, she sheathed both of her swords, a display of obvious confidence. The decomposing figure threw down its weapon, rising to her challenge. It clapped its hands with glee, it would get to wring her neck itself, it thought.
The leader of the band of cursed criminals bowed low to the Sidhe and she returned the gesture but much shallower. For a long while neither moved, they just glared at each other, taking in the sight of their opponent and searching for their weaknesses. The chief half-dead was the first to move, lurching to the side, hoping to catch the Cat Sidhe off-guard. She matched its movements to keep a permanent distance between them, while mentally running through her options of attack. She could, she thought, try to overpower the leader outright and risk being overpowered herself, she could try to use her surroundings to her advantage as she'd started this particular fight without weapons and intended keep it that way or she could try to use the half-dead population's turmoil in her favour. As it turned out she ended up doing all three.
The pair's engagement had brought them perilously close to a group of half-dead that were screaming bloodcurdling war-cries at each other as they hurled their axes and blades through the air. The group were vague about their intended targets as a stray axe caught the half-dead leader in the shoulder and remained embedded there until it yanked the splintered shaft from its torso, dark blood welling and dripping down its almost bare chest. The leader did not seem to be greatly affected by the attack except that it slowed somewhat in reaction time, Fae could not decide if this was due to the injury or if it was taking greater care not to receive a graver wound at the hands of its inferiors.
Fae attempted to back away from the group and surprisingly the chief did not move to stop her. It was not until she had nowhere left to go that she realised she had let the leader cut her off between itself and a huge trunk of an ancient tree. Fae sensed that the leader was tiring of the games and so she ran full on… towards the tree. Milliseconds before she collided with the rough bark she leapt upwards and at an angle to use the trunk as a springboard. She landed behind the head-creature and forced it suddenly to kneel in front of her with a sharp kick to the back of its knees. It began to chuckle darkly, it knew death would be greeting it very soon and for reasons the Sidhe could not fathom the creature found this funny. Fae placed a hand either side of its head and it twisted sharply, the resounding crack confirmed that it was now definitely-dead. Immediately the fighting ceased as all the half-dead turned hazily in her direction before falling like lead weights. It seemed as if due to their leader's demise their tie to this world had been severed along with it.
The Cat Sidhe inhaled a steadying breath, it was over and the air around her was still now that nothing besides her moved. Her assignment was complete and with some amusement she thought: For Red Caps, it's the hat. For half-dead, it's the deadest looking devil you can find… Fae chuckled quietly to herself as she shifted back into her feline form. The dark mist that signalled her change faded as quickly as it had enveloped her and as silently as she had arrived, she melted back into the dense thicket of trees from which she had come.