It rained in torrents.
It had been 2 days since Marianne had left on a mission to look for the enemy and take her challenge to him.
Upon her departure, she had asked Lamo, her faithful spokesperson, to convey the following words after she had left: "I'm going to look for our enemy to take them my challenge. I will challenge all the warlords one by one."
No one in the order knew Marianne's face or voice, nor did they even know she was a woman, a precaution in case there were spies mingled among the ranks. The warlords were powerful and the challenge she now was bringing to them was absurd, but it was better than waiting to die doing nothing. The very idea of someone daring to challenge them would make warlords furious, and furious people made stupid mistakes, she was not afraid of anything, not even death, even if she had no chance of winning a direct fight against such monsters, she was smart and bold enough to become an obstacle. It was just a pity her spirit wasn't up to the task.
Certain warriors were born with powerful spirits that gave them superhuman speed and strength, Marianne's spirit was far below the spirits of warlords and on top of that, every time she used it, she got dizzy. Not only did her spirit fall short, but her body couldn't stand it.
She was coming to the edge of the woods, in the valley below, a camp. A dozen tents were arranged in a small circle. Some people were sharpening their weapons, others talking and drinking. In the center was a person tied to a thick wooden pole, chained and bleeding.
Marianne started to descend the slope towards the camp. When she was close, several guards gathered to block her way.
"Who da fuck are you? What do you want from here?" Shouted one of the guards.
Marianne replied in a calm, unruffled tone. "I want to talk to your boss. I have a question for him."
Behind the guards, a huge figure detached himself and walked over to Marianne. He was at least 2m tall. The giant blade on his back seemed to weigh over 30kg. The giant stared at the intruder from the top of the barrier of guards.
"What do you want?" The voice was harsh, like thunder.
"I want to challenge the warlord of this territory, I need my message to reach him."
Everyone laughed. That woman must be crazy. Defying a god-like power.
"Oh, it is not necessary to pass any message, since you will die very soon." The giant mocked.
The guards quickly rushed to the sides, anticipating the boss's attack. The gigantic blade sliced through the air, raising leaves and dust on all sides. Strangely, it found no resistance when it hit the woman's body.
The dust settled and the huge creature was startled when he saw all the guards dead on either side of the entrance.
Sensing someone behind him, he tried to turn around but something strange happened: his body turned, but his head didn't follow the movement.
"Too bad, let it be, I'll take him the message myself," Marianne said as the giant's head fell to the ground.
Moments earlier, when the giant blade swung in front of her, Marianne ducked down quickly, taking advantage of the dust, stole one of the guards' swords, moving like a thunder, killed them all, and still had time to cut off the chief's head.
The camp was deserted, it seemed that all the occupants had come to the entrance to welcome her.
When she arrived at the center she saw the prisoner tied to the thick post, after all, it was a woman, with a dark complexion, young, in her early 20s. Apparently, she was the guards' sex slave. She was in very bad shape, several areas of her body were purple and swollen, blood was running profusely from her head and between her legs.
Marianne could barely imagine the hell that woman had been through, she had nothing to offer her but freedom.
She broke the chains that held her to the post and the woman fell helpless. Marianne caught her fall, holding her in her arms.
In a hoarse voice, the slave babbled a few tenuous words, "wa…nt..o…be…st..r..on…g…lik..e…yo…u.." Marianne replied with a soft voice. "You already are, but you still don't know." The slave had a brief moment of surprise as if she had heard total nonsense, then she passed out.