@soulflatter your starter is here, madam!
There’s a sharp silence in the air as the wolf stares down her prey.
Her heart, thumping so loudly against her breast yet silently in the wind above, felt ready to explode. This was it; her first real test in this world of madness. It felt strange, that barely a year ago, she was at home with her family.
Relaxing, enjoying her Saturday afternoon whilst her mother prepared them both lunch to eat at their favorite picnic spot. Or maybe she’d taken her older brother's gameboy advance to try and play some more Pokemon from the cartridge she brought at the market.
Her inhale was as sharp as her exhale, trying to focus her own mind; if she let it wander, even for a moment, there was no turning back from certain death. A foe such as this was not one to ever be underestimated, no matter how many hits Lyla had endured from other creatures.
It’d been tasked to her Master by someone else; a stranger in her eyes, but one that seemed to incite fear in the beastman that owned her. He had ordered that he send his best warrior to fight “Vaimiti”, though the reasons were left unknown.
Someone wanted this person dead, with Lyla being chosen to bear as the executioner.
Humans were not a race to be trifled with; she knew that first hand. Cunning, deceitful creatures capable of hiding the malice in their hearts with precision beyond comprehension. She herself was human; and that fact alone meant that this would be the hardest foe she’d ever fought.
With a gulp of dried-up saliva scratching the back of her throat, Lyla took one tentative step out into the open; then another, followed by another. Rhythmically yet filled with fear and terror, the wolf-girls hand rested on the scabbard of her blade.
A larger broadsword, one that she’d saved up to buy instead of the chipped and dented amalgamation of metal she’d originally been given. This weapon had no name, not yet; though she knew people that had named their weapons in the past.
It was often in folklore; weapons such as Excallibur and Galburn or the Spear of Longinus.
Her foot stepped on a twig, the ravenette looking up in stark horror as the sound reached her ears. She wanted to cover it, to throw her body on the sound akin to a grenade to silence the scream of the wood that’d echoed out.
Yet Vaimiti remained still on the body of water; at least, to Lyla she had.
The scene of their battle was set in a clearing; a lake surrounded by hills on all sides. In the middle was a tiny island, filled with grass and littered with trees. Lyla would have called it picturesque in her past life if she’d ever seen it. Now, the waters would be forced to run red with blood.
A shame, she pondered as thoughts were allowed free roam for a moment as the would-be mercenary collected herself. I just need to make sure it’s not my blood.
With her target's form coming more into view, Lyla couldn’t help but gasp; in her own mind, she’d pictured this person as a knight in armor, a faceless foe that wreaked havoc and sowed chaos in their stead. A person of pure evil that killed children and dogs for fun and sport.
Instead, her eyes were greeted with green; both natural and not, vibrant hues dancing around darker tones as it snaked up her hairline. There was a tail, too, denoting her demi-human nature; perhaps that was the real reason why Lyla had been tasked with slaying the other.
Her jacket and boots were just like that of anyone else's; wholly forgettable yet surprisingly fashionable against her frame. A unique look for unremarkable clothing.
It was a question for later; disobedience meant a fate worse than death, at least for her. Her conscience wouldn’t allow her to let the children become a target because of her own morals, no matter how badly she wanted to resolve this without combat.
It was the first words she could think to utter, Lyla’s mind racing several miles per second to think of the right way to introduce herself, introduce this situation to the other. Was she aware she was marked for death, to be hunted until she succumbed to nothingness? Or did she remain blissfully unaware of her situation, with the wolf-girl bringing down such cataclysmic news with her very entrance?
“I don’t want to be here. To do this. But I must.”
Her sword was slowly drawn, each syllable another inch of sharpened, hardened steel against a leather scabbard being drawn. Reflections of the water echoed against the metal, the few rays of sunlight bouncing off the blade and back against the water.
It was entirely picturesque, if Lyla wasn’t about to defile it. It’d have made a good postcard picture without all of the violence that she threatened to stitch into the ground beneath her.
“I’m tasked with slaying you; my name is Lyla, although I have no last name. Before we engage in combat… I would know your name, but not your story.”
If she didn’t know her target on a personal level, it’d make killing her that much easier. It allowed the wolf to dehumanize her foe and ensure she could deliver the killing blow without as much guilt that would otherwise be thrust upon her.
The guilt, Lyla knew, wasn’t going to be anything like she’d felt before. This person may have a family; a pet, a loved one that didn’t know she wasn’t going to come home today. And yet, for what? Because someone wanted her removed from the picture? Because someone else decided that it was her turn to be returned to the Earth, if Vaimiti was even afforded such a luxury?
Had she been resting here, awaiting her death? Was this where she’d want to be left behind?
The children were counting on Lyla’s success; if she failed, if she died here, then he’d send the children off to fight in her stead. Or worse, he’d use them as blackmail for another slave. Another person to throw their life away.
It was better if Lyla did all the fighting for them, if only to ensure that nobody else got hurt.
“I don’t want to blindside you; when you’re ready, we’ll start. I owe a fellow demi-human as much respect, even if I’m not here for such.”
