'I know the commander wouldn't send me to go and die but...'
Orin saw the struggle in her eyes and sighed.
"Ride with me." Orin invited Aeloria onto his horse.
The rest of the soldiers watched as the Tyrant rode into the distance with the cannibal.
Aeloria sat behind Orin, her arms wrapped gently around his waist.
"Your friends denied Aeloria, the Kingdom denied Aeloria, the world does not know of Aeloria. However there's one thing they have in common." Orin spoke, riding slowly.
"What do they have in common?" Aeloria asked.
"They all chose to accept the existence of the cannibal. So now, you will ride into enemy territory and introduce yourself as not Aeloria, but as the cannibal. If a cannibal is what they chose to accept, then let them meet the cannibal." Orin explained.
"I think I understand what you mean, but won't sending me alone get me killed?"
"You don't seem to understand your own capabilities. Sure if you go in as Aeloria, you'll most certainly die, however, the one I'm sending is the cannibal. Those are not my men, so it's alright if you directed your teeth at them." They stopped when they saw a group of soldiers approaching.
"Runevale soldiers?" A soldier whispered as he saw the wolf crest of Orin's armor.
Just then, a middle aged soldier stepped forward and spoke.
"Greetings, soldiers of Runevale. A few more hundred paces and you would be in Namesh lands. As such, it falls within my duty to know what your purpose is for entering our kingdom." The soldier arms trembled slightly as he spoke.
'What is the Tyrant doing here? Why did this have to happen on my shift?' The middle aged soldier cursed inwardly.
"I'm here to deliver a message from lady Nyxelene. These neutral lands will be neutral no longer. As of this moment, this land belongs to Runevale." Orin yelled for every Namesh soldier to hear.
"Please, sir Orin, do not jest like that. Such matters should be handled by both sides deliberately in order not to start any discord." The soldier pleaded.
"I was notified to rush here immediately, since there were a lot of people entering our lands. But to think the Tyrant himself would be here, muttering nonsense. The land belongs to Runevale you say." A captain of Namesh approached from behind the middle aged soldier with a little over two hundred soldiers behind him.
Orin sighed and turned his head towards Aeloria.
"This is why I didn't want to come here. It's so bothersome trying to reason with other people when you could just beat them up."
"Should I go get the others?" Aeloria suggested, noticing the dangerous expression the opposing party wore.
"No, you'd be fine on your own." Orin said to Aeloria.
"What do you mean?" Aeloria asked but a voice disrupted their conversation.
"Even if you're the Tyrant, you're here alone, we could end you before your men arrive. What say you apologize, leave the girl and walk on all fours, then we would consider letting you keep your head on your shoulders." The captain said, fixing his gaze on the horizon where Runevale soldiers waited patiently.
Orin dismounted the horse and helped Aeloria down.
"You want her? Well she's yours. That is, if you can tame her." Orin said to the captain.
"Commander, I'm scared." This was no sparring game, she may be aware of her strength, but she's still a young maiden. Two hundred enemy soldier still terrified her. Bluffing won't save her like the first time when she entered the royal army.
"Throw that fear away, Aeloria, as long as I'm by your side, no man would be able to take your life. So go, and introduce yourself." Orin encouraged her.
Aeloria took hesitant steps forward as Orin moved backwards.
'I want to see how far you can go, Aeloria. Even if a sword was stabbed into your heart, I can still save you with Šërēĺįťh. As long as the duration doesn't exceed ten heartbeats. So go, and don't hold back.'
"Who is she by the way? She looks gorgeous even in that gown. I guess the Tyrant is a man after all. Bringing a woman to have fun on your journey." The captain spoke.
"You seem to have misunderstood my intentions, she's just my useless little sibling. And she's the rumored cannibal." The moment the words left his lips, the soldiers froze.
"Does he mean the one that ate her child?" One of the Namesh soldiers asked, but to no one.
"And so what if she's the cannibal? To think you would throw your younger sibling at the enemy. Then again, I suppose I would too, if my sister was a man eating monster." The captain took confident steps towards the Aeloria.
However, Aeloria had her gaze to the ground. 'He called me his younger sister. Does that mean I can call him older brother?' She was filled with emotions, as though for the first time, she had found a family. Now, she wasn't alone in the world.
'Wait a minute. Maybe he was just saying it to upset the enemy. Maybe he doesn't mean it. To think I almost took it seriously.'
"What are you daydreaming about. Your brother just sold you out, what do you have to say about that?" The captain stretched his hand to hold Aeloria's.
"Honestly, young people should start taking rumors seriously. I don't know about the girl, however, to leave a scar on the Tyrant's body is an achievement worthy of honor." The middle aged man whispered to himself.
As soon as the soldier's hand touched hers, her vision blurred for a moment.
'Lira happy, mama alive.' All her instincts switched to survival mode.
She slashed downward, her finger nails already elongated to about the size of half her middle finger.
Her nails, now claws, slashed the soldier's arm, tearing through armor and flesh. The soldier was taken aback by the moment.
He didn't have time to react as Aeloria slapped his head into the ground. She ripped open his helmet and bit into his face.
The captain's screams were a muffled mess.
The Namesh soldiers watched, unsure of what to make of the entire situation.
One man, with quick reflexes seized the moment of distraction and executed a sneak attack. With the cannibal greedily munching on the captains motionless body, he plunged his sword straight into her back.
Aeloria stopped eating. She turned her head slowly to look at the attacker.
The man stumbled back in terror.
In all his years of fighting, a single sword thrust always did the work.
But now, he was looking at a woman who had sword protruding from her stomach, yet she stood and watched him without any expression of pain.
Orin watched Aeloria with a frown. 'Her purple eyes turned red, does that mean she's not in control of her actions?' Orin thought.
"On me. Let's rush in at once, we may yet have a chance if we attacked together." The soldier whose sword was stuck in Aeloria's torso screamed desperately.
Snapping out of their terror, the men surged forward.
A soldier slashed right, another slashed left, however, the cannibal did not move.
As soon as their blades were withdrawn, white smoke oozed out of the wounds on Aeloria's body. As the white smoke disappeared, so did her wounds.
She yanked the sword from her stomach as another slash cut across her face, the wounds disappearing with a hiss.
Orin watched as Aeloria leapt from one man to the other, tearing off armor like wet parchment. Swords were useless, and with every passing heartbeat, she moved faster, and attacked more precisely. It was as though she was attacking and evolving.
"Run, run, she's a monster." One soldier shouted, turning and running away without looking back.
The eighteen Namesh soldiers left dispersed in different directions in an attempt to save their lives.
"It was left with the terrified middle aged soldier and four others behind him.
Aeloria turned to the five men to her right and took a step towards them.
"Stop, that's enough biting for today." Orin yelled, however, Aeloria paid him no heed. She was lost in bloodlust.
She lunged at the man who sat on the dried grass painted crimson. His legs had long given out beneath him.
Aeloria twisted mid-lunge, ready to tear through the man's neck.
A sharp familiar knock struck her head, sending her falling to the side.
"I thought I told you to stop." Orin yelled.
"Owie." Aeloria yelped, her crimson eyes now turning purple again.
'So a familiar action is able to bring her back to her senses?' Orin thought.
'As I suspected, the Tyrant is the real monster. Look at the way he silenced the woman who had torn through the flesh of over two hundred soldiers in a single strike.' The middle aged man thought, trying to stand in wobbly legs.
"Looks like we didn't have to step in." On a hill north, an archer said to his comrade.
"Commander Orin said he would send the cannibal alone, and that we're to provide support. I planned on piercing one of these babies into her head and call it a misfire. But now, I'm glad I didn't." The archer stroked his arrow head gently as he spoke.
"You made the right decision brother, a sword thrust did not slow her down, I doubt a poisoned arrow would be any different. It would've only exposed our intentions." His comrade looked at the image of Aeloria's black and jade gown soaked dark in blood.
'To think I would fail at the special mission given to me by the Almon family, just what should I tell them when I get back. Do I have to get the help of a thornsleeper?' The archer stared at the cannibal rub the lump on her head with a frown.