Speech = ``...´´
Thoughts = [... }
ºº
It wasn't Alpha…
It wasn't Koldarrd.
In fact Rose did not recognise them in the slightest even though there was a feeling to them that felt familiar to her in the bad sense of the word as her two golden eyes scanned and took in the two men scavenging through one of the leftovers of a ruined house.
They were different from one another, yet awfully similar. One lanky while the other was tall and broad of shoulders. The two of them were covered with tattered clothes and dented patches of armour so ugly that it was hard to say that it had once been clean or well cared for. Their shaggy, unkempt hair that barely covered their sun darkened skin.
Where was Koldarrd and Alpha? Why had they not returned yet..?
She took a step back, only for misfortune to struck as she stepped over a branch on the ground.
It was then that they took notice of her, quickly stopping what they were doing as they slowly approached her. A pair of wicked grins plastered over their rough features once they took a good look at who had intruded into their business.
One that only grew wider the more they stared at her.
Rose felt a cold shudder crawl behind her back. She did not like it, not at all…, not one bit.
It felt wrong, like a sickness spreading inside her..a foulness taking hold of her mouth. A wrongness that threatened to burst through her chest. Something that somehow felt familiar...
She took another step back.
Her heartbeat started to rise inside her chest, her lungs aching as she started to slowly hyperventilate. Her hands clenching around the crown of flowers she still held between her fingers.
``Oh my oh my…, look what the wind dragged to our very doorstep..´´
``I know brother…, she does look like quite the nice catch for such a boring day. Young and pretty..we will make good money from her..´´
``Perhaps even a bit more than that..if you catch what I mean´´
The other chuckled, tapping the other on his shoulder.
Rose bit her lip as the colour of her skin lost a few shades. Her beating heart stopped on its tracks, her breath hitching to a pathetic whimper as her blood ran cold. It was then that she realized what they were…
Bandits.
``Hehe...I like the way you think, brother..hey brat! What do you say about staying with me and my homies? We have cookies back at our camp..´´
``Yeah, it would be the bomb if you were to join us. Haven't seen a women in a lo-ughfff I mean you know what they say, if you scratch my back I will scratch yours..and I would looove to show you so many things´´
Said the other when his brother elbowed him in mid sentence, but she did not care what they had to say. Nor the way they tried to embellish their intent when there was nothing but deceit in their words.
She did not need those endless hours of social lecture to realize that stench of crude, raw malice that the two exuded. One reflected in that vicious grins warping around their lips and that dangerous, voracious glint in their eyes.
Her stomach started to tie itself into knots. Her breath growing heavier and colder, as if someone had pour in cold water.
She had not know the possibility of a person looking more like a monster than an actual human being.
Her breath started to hitch inside her as fear started to get a grip on her soul. Cold, callous talons that numbed everything they touched. And yet her heart had never pounded so fast inside her chest.
Her hands clutched even more tightly than before, her knuckles turning painfully white by now.
She wanted to be away from here.
She wanted them away from her.
What she wanted was her friends to be by her side right now. And now that she thought about it, it only occurred to her now that the two had been gone from the village for an awful amount of time.
Her eyes started to shrink into pin size points, her soft lips stuck in an expression of horror. Where were they? What had happened to them?
Were they safe? Were they fine..?
``So, girlie...what do you say? Wanna come along for a round?´´
``Or two..?´´
``Stay away..´´
``Well, that is too bad..because we really would like to have a chat with you´´
``Perhaps we could play twenty questions under the warmth of a bonfire...´´
She took a third step back, but this time they took one forward. Their hands slowly went to reach for the weapons in their belts. A dangerous glint in their eyes, for even as stupid as they were they could smell the fear plastered in her face.
Like wolves circling around their prey, enjoying the sight for as long as they could, but knowing that the game was going to be up in a moments notice.
[This can not be happening, it-it cant!]
But reality refused to bend to her whims, to take them away and left her be. She could not fight them, so she did the very next thing she could and should have done a long time ago.
She ran..
Turning around and bolting like an arrow in the opposite direction. There was no grace to it, but right not it did not matter to her.
``Hey! What are you doing..?´´
``Stop gawking like a fool brother and go after her!´´
She heard them scream at each other, then she heard then ran after her..rapidly gaining on her. She cursed inwardly at the way each second carried the sound and breath of those men closer and closer.
Even with a head-start her small, slender legs could not compare with the long strides of two fully mature men.
That did not dissuade her from trying. Giving up was not an option she knew would like to enjoy.
So she pushed on.
She forced her body to go far and beyond she had ever ran in her life, her muscle fibre burning up from the unexpected strain they were push through, sweat sliding down her face into her neck before disappearing under her collarbone as she ran.
The golden locks of her mane dancing around with each motion, sometimes hovering behind her back, others slapping her face, while her simple pink dress seemed to take a life of its own as it attempted to make her trip with each stride.
Reminding her that she was clearly not used to nor ready for any of this.
She knew that she could not outrun them in a straight line, so she tried to venture through the narrow streets of the village.
She turned to the right, then the left, passing through broken doors and leaving through ample broken windows or holes in the walls big enough for her, but too small for her pursuers
Never looking back, never wasting even a second to move her eyes an itch from their frontal position, turning her reality into a tunnel whether life was before her, while death only awaited behind.
Every second that she made them waste was another that she gained for her friends to come.
And she knew they would. Not because they had told her, but because somewhere, deep in her heart she knew that to be true.
It wasn't much, but it helped make the fear lighter. It gave her the little push to go on. She could not apologize if she was caught after all...
But it was not enough.
A yelp of surprise and horror slipping through her lips when her feet stumbled on the broken remnants of one of the many pieces of rubble that laid scattered on the ground.
Making her lose her balance in the worst moment possible.
She fell face first into the ground, gasping out in pain once she came into contact with the rough soil.
By the time she tried to rise a hand grabbed her right arm, callous fingers closing tightly around her limb before forcefully yanking her up like a toy.
It hurt..
``You run quite a lot for a little thing, almost like a cockroach...´´
``Or a little bunny...´´
The two men had finally caught up to her, one to each side, cutting her venues of scape. Not like she could have done so while still graved by one of them. The younger one to be exact.
His grasp was too tight around her arm, too strong for her to break free.
It hurt...
``Stop..´´
``Nah, have you seen a rabbit jump through windows? She is more like a damn squirrel..´´
``Bah, what does it matter what kind of animal she is...? We are going to be rich in no time´´
``And what does make you think that?´´
``Please, what commoner have frills like her..? She is clearly a noble..´´
``Oh, I see..quick thinking brother..´´
Rose tried to pull her arm away, to struggle against them, but it didn't work. Her feet fumbled in futility in the air.
``Stop..please..´´
She begged, but that only prompted more laughs and sneers from the two men around her.
``Stop..?´´ The look of surprise in the man's face turned into sadistic bemusement. ``She said stop brother? Can you believe that?´´
``I believe she did.., hey girl, why don't you sing us a song for us? Don't let our appearance deceive you, but we are natural enjoyers of good music..´´
``Yeah, of the feminine kind..´´
Their cruel visage turned into something even more darker even as they laughed at their made up joke. Their mere proximity was making her body shudder with apprehension.
She wanted to throw up.
Why...?
Why they were doing this...?
``No, please..don't do this..´´
She tried to appeal to mercy, to the kindness that had to be in their hearts. Monsters as they were, there had to be a shred of humanity inside them, right? Right?
But it was a self imposed mirage, a ghost in her eyes...that was pulled away from her sight, turned to shreds by the uncaring tone of those that threatened her life.
``Let me think about it…..nah´´
``Hey? What do you have there?´´
Before she realized, the man that was holding her pried the wreath she had been holding in her hands until then.
Robbing the gift she had been working so hard for.
Fear and dread left way to horror and anger to start swirling inside as she viewed the way the man held her gift to her friends. With no regard or care…
She bit her lip, the grip of her remaining hand over the hand holding her up clenching tighter...
She hated this feeling of hopelessness.
``No.!! Give me that back! Is not yours! Its not..!´´
She tried to reach out what it was meant for others, slapping and slamming her small hand against the man's chest..to little effect.
``Oh look at that…, she is trying to get it back. Isn't she adorable?´´
``More like pathetic..´´
``I know, right? Then this is gonna be more fun..´´
``Fun..?´´
``Yeah, just watch brother..´´
The man replied, danger seething out from his mouth, though she did not understand what he meant by that. She would not have to ponder for long when she watched aghast at the man tore and reap apart what she had worked so hard to make.
Vines and petals falling down from his fingers as they left nothing behind.
It was then that he let her go. Her body falling into the ground with a soft thud, but she did not spoke, she did not even grunt when she felt the rocks and dust grace the skin of her knees.
And though free as she was, she could not move…., her eyes fixated on what little remained of the wreath, or what little remained. Refusing to move away from its broken form, tears now freely falling down her eyes.
Watering the soil beneath her in bitter rain.
How dare he…, how dare he do this to her..!? What had she done to deserve this..?
"Bad things happen for no reason, Rose.."
Koldarrds words echoed in her mind and they only seemed to sour her spirits even more, like a cold shower, it made her body feel more brittle as she could not find the words or the courage to speak against them.
And yet there was a small fire brewing inside…
She moved forward, crawling in the ground as she tried to pick up the pieces...only for a boot to land over her left hand and stomped it into the ground.
She cried out as pain surged through her body as he put more and more pressure on it, grinding his boot against the ground with even more fervour the more she tried to pull out.
Tears swelled her eyes, her lips quivered and her limb felt as if wrapped by fire.
And yet her pleads were ignored.
By the time he lifted his boot her hand was burning like never before, not mauled, or broken yet the pain could have been the same. But that was not pained her the most, the wreath was now truly gone, with just a few specks of its former self here and there that could say that there had been something there before.
``Now that looks better..´´
``Holy shit man, you are devious…´´
``Of course I am, see? The little shits spirits are crushed. She is not going to fight us any more…, truly I am the best´´
That was the last thing Rose managed to hear before their voices started to dim out from her mind, becoming weaker and weaker. Becoming from the booming, boasting sound of their evil throats into a ghastly sound that could barely be considered a human voice.
Then there was nothing, the silence of the grave as time seemed to slow down to a crawl around her.
Her eyes still fixated on the leftovers of the wreath, but they were no longer crying. She had no tears left to shed much to her surprise.
The sting still persisting in her now puffy eyes and the moist of the trails her tears had left over her skin were all that was left of them.
She clenched her hands, small, slender fingers graving a handful of dirt as a result. The act hurt, her wounded hand aching terribly by the decision, but she just didn't care any-more. The hole in her heart was more important than such measly and meagre suffering she was experiencing.
Her eyes once again wandered over the remains of her work now laid to waste on the soil by the cruel hands of fate.
Was this the way it ended? Had nothing mattered..?
She had been saved by her dark saviour from such a dark fate, then again by Koldarrd and Alpha had brought a bit more of light into her heart.
She had made friends, she had moments to laugh and enjoy in the company of others.
She had felt so much fear and so much alive and grateful in this last few days than in most of her life back home.
And yet, was this...how it ended?
…
…
No…
This could not end like this, she could NOT allow it. Pride started to burst its way out in the small princess.
She had made a promise.., she had a dream to pursue. She had no time to let her tale end here. She would not become the footnote of a meagre bandits life of crime.
She was Rose Orianna, Princess of the Orianna kingdom…! People were waiting for her, her friends, her family, the servants that take care of her…
And Koldarrd and Alpha.
A timid smile warped around her lips. Thinking of them gave her strength, it made the fear and despair that had taken hold of her weaken and vanish.
But as soon as those emotions left, they were replaced by something else. Something that was not as noble as she would have first prefer them to be, yet she accepted all the same.
Pride, righteous fury and the desire for revenge for those who had slighted her so brazenly and with such lack of compassion...
Slowly at first, yet growing in size exponentially at the same rith of her beating heart. Something that turned into a full out explosion when her eyes found the small knife attached to the mans boot.
Rose had never wielded a blade in her lief…
Had never tried to harm a soul…
So it would be extremely hard to explain how she literally leapt into the mans leg, graved the blade with both of her hands and then stab the mans left thigh with it in the blink of an eye.
But she did not stop there.
She would not…, not even if the goddess herself came down to ask her so.
For what she lacked in strength she made out in enthusiasm. Not waiting even two seconds before yanking the blade from where she had lodged it inside and stabbed the man's leg over and over again.
Hearing the sound of flesh and fabric being torn up, the way warm liquid splattered over her delicate features and her golden mane with each voracious puncture.
Hearing the mans yells and groans of pain grow louder and louder, how he tried to pry her off from his leg, only for her to redouble her efforts. Scarlet blood now staining her hands and slowly dripping down down into her arms from the myriad of cuts she had made, ruining her dress in the process.
Something that should have horrified her before now only impulsed her to commit herself more to it.
Was this the price to fight for her dreams..? Was this the prize to hold a blade..? If it was…she was more than willing to pay for it.
Her thoughts would be interrupted when a fist landed on her face. The blow throwing her away like a rag-doll against the ground a meter away from the two men.
Her head was ringing, and she could feel a strange metallic taste slip past her teeth and into her mouth.
But she still could hear them.
``Argh fuck! What the fuck!? What the actual FUCK was that!?´´
``And here I thought you said that her spirit was broken, well...care to explain that?´´
``Shut up you arsehole and help me! I am bleeding all over like a pig!´´
``Deal with that yourself, use some magic or are you just too dumb to realize that?´´
``Fuck you!´´
``Not very threatening for a man that was almost killed by a brat..´´
``FUCK you twice!´´
The other man snapped, his face becoming flustered in obvious anger at the lack of worry from his brother. Though given their wicked and putrid souls, what was he expecting..?
Companionship?
The warmth of brotherhood...?
He really was a fool.., but she found little comfort in that. Her chest heaving, up and down as she tried to breath in the cold air of the night that brushed against her, her lips tasting that metallic scent in her tongue as she did.
But instead of ending things there with petty words, the man she had stabbed did something else than what she had expected he would do, now confronted by his brother who had drawn until then his attention.
That...being the key word as the man groaning in pain and his seething curses through his clenched teeth graved her by the hair, yanking her painfully from the ground, forcing her feet to dangle in the air aimlessly once again, with her hands trying to pry herself away from his grip.
But it mattered little, for there was not much a child could do to stop a fully grown man from he wrapping his hands around her neck.
Squeezing it tightly.
``You bitch! You are going to pay for what you have done. And I am going to enjoy every single second of it!´´
The rapture of madness flashing through his eyes speaking of the only thing he wanted to do. What he was about to do. What it would eventually happen in a few minutes if not seconds by now.
Kill her…
She was killing her
And frail as she was, it was not soon that she felt the already diminished supply of air from her lungs die out, slip pass her lips as her throat become thinner and thinner. Her face losing colour rapidly as her windpipes were slowly crushed.
And yet.., she found herself falling back into ground once more. Landing on her back with the grace of a sack of potatoes as the other man slammed his fist into his brothers chest.
The surprise loosening his grip on her neck as a result.
``What the fuck are you doing idiot!? If you harm, let alone kill her she will be less valuable in the market than a piece of grox!´´
``Shut up!´´
The man that had been strangling her japed, only for the other to grab him by one of the shoulders and poke at him with one of his fingers.
``No, you shut up! If you have to hit her, do so anywhere that is NOT the face you brain-dead twat..!´´
``Brain dead...!? This is personal..!´´
``What are you talking about..?´´
``What are you on about!? That bitch shank me brother! I will not let that stand! She has to pay. She has to pay hard...´´
The other man shook his head, his face grimacing in annoyance.
``You were an idiot to attach a knife on your boot, and an even bigger one to allow a brat who doesn't reach my hips to take it´´
``What..!?´´
`` Now quit your japing and get her to the rest of the band. We might get to sample her if we are lucky, but if you get any more ideas I promise you that a few stabs are the last thing you are going to worry about´´
``You bastard! What of your brother bleeding down here?´´
The other shrugged. ``Oh please, spare me your whining and grow up. You were always an idiot thinking with his fist rather than his brains.
``You littl-´´
``Besides, a little pain will do you well to remember what NOT to do in our job..´´
That seemed to shut the younger brother for good, but something told her that the silence was only brewing something worse behind it.
The calm before the storm as it was..
She started to slowly crawl away while the two were overly focused in each other.
``Is that so..?´´
``Yeah, pretty much..´´
``You know what brother?´´
``What..?´´
``Fuck you! AND FUCK HER...!´´
With another fit of rage the bandit pushed his brother aside with enough force to throw him off balance. Tugging the sword from the shelve he carried he pulled the slab of iron and brandished it in the air with both of his hands.
Rose blood froze when her golden eyes found his. Realizing that he had taken notice of her intent.
With a wicked smile and a vicious, animalistic cackle he lanced the sword at her. Thrusting through the air as he went to skewer her alive.
On the ground, weak and far too close to even try to dodge. Rose could only stare with wide eyes the glimmer of moon light reflecting over the blade.
And as the end neared, Rose screamed.
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A/N
Here comes another chapter, I hope you like it. Feel free to comment to give some feedback. Any commentary will be apreciated.