Sixteen long, miserable days had come and passed since the death of her beloved. Her favored axe had grown too heavy to hold since it tasted his blood. She had been spared most of her duties for that time by her employer, the man that had ordered the death of Alekxander. It was a kindness she didn't expect to repay, plans already picking at her mind when she lay on her cot at night, comforted only by the scabbard clad sword that once belonged to her lost lover.
The Samsari trading company's base of operations was tucked away in a cove in La Noscea, guarded by only the most fitting and loyal of pirates under the command of Sarune Tarune. Clad in her typical armor of dark dyed steel and leather Tasa approached a door she had gone through countless times over the years. Night had long since fallen, the two moons hanging overhead something of a guide in these dark times. She was well known, even if the fact she walked towards the guard with her axe in hand made him a little concerned.
"Well if it ain't the Hound ah Sarune comin' back home finally. Ready to get back to work?" The large, Roegadyn man asked, looking down at the Elezen with his arms crossed over his broad chest. The shadowed gaze of the helmet didn't reveal anything of her purpose as she replied.
"S'Sarune in?"
"Aye. Why?"
"Good. Leave if ye want ta live." she stated flatly.
"Th'ell? Hey, if you're plannin' something..." His voice trailed off as his hand lowered towards his sword, Tasa already pressing the offensive as she slammed her shoulder into him and knocked him onto the ground. "T-Tasa wait!" he yelled just before the curved edge cut into his shoulder. Bones cracked, muscle tore, and the man ceased to make any more noises as Tasa pulled her axe free and pushed into the headquarters.
The darkened halls were only illuminated by the line of lanterns along the walls, Tasa knowing the way to Sarune's office by heart. It was deep, deep inside, which left ample time for his henchmen to take down whoever may have made it past the first guard. Tasa didn't try to draw attention to herself but she wasn't exactly dressed for stealth.
It wasn't long until she turned the first corner and passed into one of the drinking lounges that many frequented in their time off. It smelled of strong spirits, burning firewood, and the efforts of the slave women. With an axe dripping of blood Tasa's status as a threat was plain to see, a table of three men, highlanders, standing and baring the way.
"Hey Tasa, where ya going? Aren't going to join us?" The youngest of the three asked, taking charge. He was a living stereotype of a sellsword. All muscle, no brains, and no morals.
"Got business wit Sarune." she replied.
"And wha' sort of business is that, huh?"
"The kinda business yer 'bout ta 'ave yerself if ye dun git outta my way." He drew his sword, twirling it around his hand before pointing it at Tasa.
"Shoulda known you'd turn on us after what happened to Alek." he said, looking over his shoulder, "Go warn the others, I'll take care ah her." The man turned his attention back only to find the hulking, armor clad warrior already brandishing her axe and charging forward. With a large, sweeping strike she cleaved through the air, the axe meeting only the table with a crash as it nearly tore it in two. The man hopped back, yelling to one of the terrified girls. "Toss me a damn shield!" The one near the bar quickly doing as she was told and flinging him a metal round shield while Tasa tore the axe free of the table.
With that in hand he pressed in, shield leading him right into the backhand swing of the axe that sent chunks of the table skidding across the stone floor. The force of it tore his guard apart, but the shield served its purpose well enough. Tasa's axe scraped against the ground before she could ready it, the man managing to turn with the blow and swipe Tasa's side with a quick back and forth of the blade. One swipe met the metal but the other tore through the leather, drawing back with a bit of red on the tip. He raised his shield as Tasa brought up her weapon, bringing it down with full force right into the metal hoplon. The man steeled himself just as the axe crashed onto the shield. The metal warped under the force, bending inward while a sickening crack followed. With the blade embedded into the shield Tasa easily jerked him towards her so she could grab onto his neck and drag him to the ground. With a foot on his chest she pulled the axe free and raised it up.
"Shit..." was all he could muster before the axe took his head from his shoulders. Tasa didn't linger, ignoring the cowering slaves as she continued deeper. By this point the shouts of orders and the drumming of feet moving towards her answered the question of if she should expect company. Sarune's men were mostly Roegadyn and Hyurs, the odd Lalafell occasionally joining the ranks, but they were mostly spies or healers.
In a cramp corridor she stood in front of three men and a woman, all wielding swords and axes while standing their ground.
"Stand aside. My fight ain't wit ye lot." Tasa said through her teeth, none seeming to move from their posts.
"You expect us to just let you kill our employer?" One of the men asked.
"Aye. S'either that or ye die."
"There's four of us and one of you."
"So git some more, maybe it'll be fair then." Tasa muttered, the eager man and his female companion charging forward in tandem. The woman was an axe user like Tasa, although favoring the savage marauder style to her own more controlled warrior discipline. The woman lead in with an overhead strike, Tasa's axe raising to meet hilt to hilt while the man wielding a pair of daggers dashing in to follow the assault. Tasa stepped to one side, the man predictably moving to take the easy stab at her exposed side. She raised her axe up to catch the hilt into the woman's axe hook, just so she couldn't move it while the dagger sank into her side. Tasa turned and pushed on the axe hook, tossing the woman off balance before throwing her weight into the man to press him into the wall. With him stunned for a split second Tasa was allowed to continue turning and bring the axe around into a swinging blow that slammed into the woman's back and sent her falling forward in almost two pieces.
The sight of it shook the man, Tasa taking the opportunity to reverse the motion and bring the axe against his stomach, leaving him to fall forward with bloody entrails oozing from the wound. She looked up at the other two, one instantly dropping his weapon and cowering to the floor while the other reluctantly followed not long after. The way he looked at Tasa made her consider killing him to avoid problems later but she decided against it and continued down the hall way until she came before the large, wooden doors that were marked with the crest of Sarune. Of course it was locked, so Tasa set about hacking the door apart, the wooden bar soon cracking in two and leaving the doors bursting open with the shadowed image of a horned beast in the doorway.
A small yelp answered the image, Sarune ducking under his desk too late for Tasa not to miss him. The Elezen stepped forward slowly, each footfall being accented with the clatter of her armor against itself until she stopped. The office was lavished in paintings, piles of coin, expensive cushions, and a few slaves of his personal use. Everything one would expect of a man as vile as him. Tasa raised up her axe and sent it slamming into the desk enough to stick the blade into it. Another cry came from that, Tasa clicking her tongue in response.
"Sarune." She said softly, almost affectionately. No answer came from the words, Tasa stating his name again more firmly. "I know yer there."
Finally a small, tan skinned Lalafell crawled onto his high backed chair. His dark yellow eyes looked at her fearfully, a nervous smile crossing his lips.
"Y-Yes Tasa? What is it?" he asked, eyes flicking to the axe that was stuck into his desk. The edge still had fresh blood streaming down it, a red pool forming around the crack and occasionally dripping to the floor.
"Ye know why m'ere."
"Ah.. Yes of course... Umm. Well, n-normally I don't do this for just anyone, but... Since I know how much Alek meant to you... I was thinking I could let you go. Yes... We'll just forget all this happened? I'll give you ample coin to make life easier."
"Aye? Ye'll let me leave?"
"Absolutely, my dearest Tasa. It seems our contract is nearly at its end anyways." He added quickly, digging into a drawer as if to find the paper in question. His small hand wrapped around something, the Lalafell quickly drawing out a pistol and letting it fire right at her chest. The smoke of the shot obscured his vision until it cleared and revealed the bullet bored into her armor, but still sat visible. Tasa seemed unphased, the once steady barrel starting to tremble.
"Why did I think that would work... You can't kill me, Tasa. I made you, I gave you everything. I deserve some measure of respect for that, don't I?" he asked. Tasa set her foot on the desk, gripped her axe, and pulled it free.
"Yer righ'... Ye did make me... I can't jus' kill ye." she said, turning to start walking towards the door. Before Sarune could even consider that his words had worked, Tasa closed the doors and set her axe into the bar loops to seal it shut. "Tha'd be too good fer ye." she muttered as she pulled off her helmet.
"What're you going to do then?" he asked calmly, hands folding on top of his ruined desk.
"M'gunna ruin ye... M'nae gunna let ye jus' die. Ye dun deserve tha'." she said through her teeth, slowly making her way towards the desk.
"Please Tasa... Let's be civil about this, huh?" He asked, soon hopping to his feet when Tasa started circling around towards him. She made a movement to try and jump onto him, the Lalafell quickly running only for Tasa to grab the chair and hurl it at him. The wooden chair slammed against his body, knocking him to the ground while she walked over to him.
He coughed and groaned, barely managing to open his eyes before Tasa grabbed hold of his neck. She lifted him up with ease, the diminutive frame standing little chance against her far larger grip.
"K-Killing me isn't going... To bring Alek back..." He stammered out.
"Never said it would." She replied flatly. Terror flashed in his eyes as Tasa threw him across the room and crashing against the desk. His limp frame tumbled to the ground, blood stained coughs splattering the stone as he struggled to push up on his hands before Tasa once again had him in her grip.
"Wha'... Ye ain't gunna beg anymore?" Tasa asked through her teeth, jerking his head to look at her. A weak chuckle answered her words.
"You're already set on killing me... Why would I give you the satisfaction of listening to me beg?" He replied, "You're... Worse than anyone else here... I've done wrong, sure... But you..." He laughed again, "There's a reason you're my hound... Because... You're the most savage... Animal we've got." He didn't get the luxury of another laugh before Tasa slammed his head into the ground. Sarune struggled to stay conscious only for the next slam of his head to make the world go black. His body was limp, but breathing, Tasa shaking her head as she rolled him onto his back and tapping his face a few times to bring him back.
"Not the face I expected to see on the other side." he said quietly while Tasa pulled off her gauntlet. With her hand free her fingers curled into a fist and she let it fly right towards his face. The man had long accepted his fate, the blow only further hammering away at the nails in his coffin. The first made his head spin, the second plunged him into darkness, and with the third Tasa could feel the bones of his jaw breaking.
Again and again she hit him, each time the flesh under her fist growing softer and more yielding, until her knuckles were stained with blood and bits of other, unmentionable things. She just stared down at the bloody pulp that was once the face of her tormentor, Tasa slowly rising to her feet and walking to the door. She pulled the axe from the loops and slowly opened the door. The moment was far from what she wanted it to be, what she had fantasized about. It was over, the flavor bitter sweet on her lips as she walked out of the quiet halls that once bustled with life and crime. In a way, the Hound of Sarune died with her owner, only for a new life to make a promise of itself upon the horizon.