LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 18: I’m back, ready again!
Therissa hissed in pain as the knife drew across her skin, drawing blood but not enough to truly pierce the skin, this time it was on her arm, the very same thing had already transpired on both her legs prior. Out of all the things she had been expecting to happen, after she let two complete strangers into her home, being bound to her bed by chains of shadows and being tortured was rather further down the list.
Luisa withdraws the knife right before she reached the hand of the older elf, on her face was a gigantic smirk as she revelled in the feeling of being in control, she was the one controlling someone else’s life, it was absolutely addicting and truly a euphoric experience. Hanna meanwhile was sitting in a chair near the door, content with having Luisa havre her fun while she was watching, tho for her own tastes Luisa was going a bit to slow.
Yet at the edge of her mind, Hanna was feeling anything but relaxed, she was worried and troubled. Hanna tried to suppress it with watching Luisa have her fun, but in the end it still came back, again and again no matter how often she tries to bring it back down. She felt shame and bitterness against herself whenever she looked back on the last couple of days.
This fact was wearing heavily on her mind, she knew she had no one else to blame but herself, if she hadn’t lost her cool like this, all of this could have been avoided, she wondered what happened back there that send her into such an mindless rage, were the people perhaps right? They called her a mindless beast and she certainly acted like one back there, this thought put a real damper on her mood, though she couldn’t explain why.
She basically just inspired Luisa to let lose and become the beast the populace saw her as, because it’s What she wants to do and Hanna thought she was in the same boat, but now? Thinking back on it and seeing herself acting just like that what her enemies called her made her ashamed and hurt her pride, it was a strange occurrence indeed.
Hanna grew so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear Therissa scream in pain as Luisa cut off one of her fingers. Was This perhaps her old human mind at work? Her humanity as been completely destroyed by her transition into this world, but her mind had stayed, mostly intact, her human empathy was missing, but her intelligence wasn’t and perhaps this was that the problem.
In the last few days she had been almost completely guided by her monstrous instincts, seeking to mindlessly destroy and kill and this had almost lead to her certain death. And now, with her more human mind back in charge, she was ashamed of herself, for letting her instincts take over in the first place.
'I am more then a simple monster, I am more then a simple monster, I am more then a simple monster…' She chanted in her head, over and over again, yes she was in the body of monster, but that didn’t mean she had the simple mind of one, if she wants to continue doing what she wants to do, she would have to remain in control of herself.
With this sorted out Hanna moved to the next troubling thought, she had almost died.
Up until this point Hanna had been unbeatable, never has she been truly threatened and it had gotten to her head, she had truly believed that no one could truly stand up to her in a one on one fight, of course that was very wrong. She may have unrealistic amounts of strength, speed and endurance for her body but that doesn’t truly matter in a fight against a truly skilled opponent, she had said so herself on multiple occasions and yet she blindly attacked a person, who clearly had far more experience then she did and she paid the price for it.
Yes if it weren’t for the reinforcements, she would have killed her, but she knew that at one point they would come looking for the people they send in and haven’t returned for multiple hours, it was a fight she really shouldn’t have taken, because no matter what she was destined to lose.
As Luisa was now moving onto Therissa‘s toes to cut them off, Hanna thought back on her previous encounters and realised that she never truly one because she was better then her opponents, most important battles she won because she was underestimated, her enemies weren’t at full strength or she tricked them until ready for a surprise attack.
Hanna looked into a metaphorical mirror and saw only an idiot staring back, an idiot with sharp teeth and long claws and eyes feral and predictable. Hanna was a monster in the eyes of society and she was fine with it, but she didn’t and couldn’t be a simple beast, she needed to be more then that and the only way to archive that was intelligence, human intelligence. The scariest monster in her old live was a human after all.
She had gladly thrown away her humanity in exchange for the promises of fun and pleasure but she couldn’t throw away her intelligence, or else she would be forever lost, she was more then her monster bodies instincts, she was more then the unnamed beast which lives in the forrest! She would become the stuff of legends if only to spite her body‘s instincts! She will become this worlds Jack the Ripper. She would go down in history as one of the most deadliest killers! That was what she deserved! She was not some unnamed, unintelligent beast slain by the dashing heroes, but as the stuff of nightmares and horror stories! She would terrorise this world and have fun while doing it!!
Hanna stood up, her resolve now firmly restored and her mind set on her goal, she wants fun and the people to fear her name while not knowing anything about her! A goal it’s what keeps people going no matter what and that applied to mass murders too.
She walked over to Luisa who was currently busy carving random shapes into the thigh of Therissa, who had already past out from exhaustion and pain after Luisa had cut off her third toe. Hanna pulled Luisa away from her victim and rammed her hand through her chest, killing her instantly.
Luisa seemed rather irritated at having her fun ripped away just like that, but Hanna gave her one look, with her eyes sparkling an dangerous spark and Luisa kept her mouth shut for the moment.
"We still have so,e unfinished business to take care of, so go the fuck to sleep while of think of a plan." Hanna commanded and then turned to walk out of the room, before being stopped by Luisa who had a rather confused look on her face.
"Unfinished business?" Hanna simply nodded.
"Oh yes we still have a Hunter and a Mage to kill, a village to burn to the ground including all the people living there and we still have to go and kill the two who almost murdered me and abducted my property. I hope you understand.“ And with that she left the room, leaving a grinning Luisa behind.
—————————————————————————————————————
Orwell was feeling very good right now, he had helped a First Lady and her daughter as well as a knights order, saved his home village from an monster and survived to tell the tale. Doing only one of those things would have made him incredibly famous, but all three? He would be known across the whole kingdom, maybe even beyond that.
That‘s why he was extremely happy when he was promised by both Lady Kathrin and Lord Feralt that his name would never be mentioned in any reports about the whole debacle, they still gave him a lot of gold and silver for his services and with that part he was fine, but the fame was something he did not want, he was but a simple hunter for a small village and he wanted it to stay that way.
Klara, the Mage who also helped, was given a similar present and she too chose her name to never be mentioned, it would easily allow her access to any magical academy she wanted, but she reasoned that if she couldn’t get into such a place through her own merits she really didn’t want to enter.
They both lived relaxed lives inside of Querum, although Orwell had to stop hunting, because of the forrest fire the fight had caused and all the animals and monster had vacated the forrest, for now. They would return and soon Orwell would be able to live out his passion once again.
The First Lady and the Knight Order had stayed in their camp for two days after the fight and left only three days ago and on the day they left the First Lady had personally said goodbye to him and she had bowed to him out of respect and thanks for saving her daughter, who was now quickly brought to the capital to have the poison in her system removed. The gesture nearly send him into a coma with how outlandish it seemed in his eyes he only did what was right.
Whenever he thinks back on it he flinches a bit, seeing the form of a First Lady bowing down to you seemed to have had a lasting effect on the hunter, and when ever it happens Klara is there to pull him out of the sock. The two decided to live together, after all Klara was completely new to the village and had no home quite yet and even this would only be temporary at one point she would leave for a city and try and join one of the academy’s.
The two have grown close over the whole debacle and Orwell grew to enjoy the time he spend with the Mage, of course none of the feelings were romantic in nature, he was far to old for that, but he grew to see her as the daughter he never had, he wanted to see her succeed and be able to do what she wanted to do. Klara on the other hand grew to respect the hunter and she appreciated to have some one to talk to and sometimes ask for advise.
It were nice and lazy 5 days of relaxation after all the trouble they had to endure, it was nice and both had needed it, but of course things never truly are that simple, he was told by the Knights Order that the girl they knew as Hanna had been an ancient monster known as a Dark Margenko, know for their high intelligence, at least for monster standards, and extrem brutality. Apparently they were thought to be extinct but that was obviously wrong. They also told that the beast was slain and no trouble should come for them.
That is until one fateful day, both Klara and Orwell were walking along the streets of the village, the morning was colder then normal and the winds faster, but the sky was blue and the sun was shining, it was a good day. They greeted the old lady Jennet as they made their way to the eastern gate, where a group of children were playing with a ball of leather just outside the gates, old man Io was guard that day and he was know for letting the kids get out to play in the open fields near the forrest, much to the frustration to many a mother, but the truth was he always had his eyes open for the kids, he was a kind man.
Orwell had known the man since childhood, they grew up together and they had been friends ever since, tho there are few who aren’t at least on friendly terms with old man Io, also sometimes known as 'Watchful' Io, he had been one of the villages guards for over 40 years and he knew his job well.
They chatted happily and old Io always had a eye open for the children, who were completely indulged in their game, of course old Io knew them all by name, he basically functioned as a babysitter for the children, while their mothers were out doing their morning chores. But Klara noticed something strange.
"Hey Io, aren’t the kids a tad bit to close to the forrest? Couldn’t this get dangerous?" Old man Io only waved his hand in a gesture of disapproval.
“Don’t you worry your young little head Klara, most monster are still ruffled up by the recent fire and even so they wouldn’t dare come close to the village, besides I can still see them. Just let the youth have their mindless fun for now."
Klara nodded her head but still seemed a bit unsure, glancing towards the children multiple times during the conversation, until Orwell put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"Klara, Io has done this for over 40 years, I think we can trust his judgment on this one. Now losen up You you hurt your shoulders."
Klara didn’t even realise she was this tensed up, a shade of red came across her cheeks, while both men smiled at her, she quickly turned her head to the side to hide her embarrassment, but judging by the laughter that didn’t work and her cheeks got even more red. Then suddenly screaming, loud and shrill, clearly a child.
All three of them turned their heads, seeing the children running towards them, screaming and fear on their eyes.
Old man Io quickly made a head count and realised one boy was missing, his concern only grew, some villagers behind them turned their heads towards the commotion happening at the gate. As the children finally reached the gate, Old man Io went onto an knee as almost all the children hugged his frame or hugged themselves against Klara‘s or Orwell‘s legs.
Io tried to calm the children down, some of which were even crying.
"What happened out there and where is George?" Old man Io asked the children, the kids all started to speak at the same time, of course he couldn’t understand them like this, so he rammed his spear into the ground to get the attention of the kids, it worked and they all went quite.
"One at a time please, what happened?"
"W-we we’re just playing around and the suddenly George… h-he…" A girl said.
"He was g-grabbed and dragged into the forrest!!" Another girl cried.
Without further words, both Orwell and Klara sprinted towards the forrest, Klara cursed under her breath, she knew it, but the situation was to urgent to dwell on it. Old man Io stayed behind and tried to calm the children down, while he also asked the villagers nearby to get the village together for an emergency.
Klara And Orwell soon reached the tree line of the forest and they soon discovered bits of clothing hanging from the branches of the many bushes of the forest. They followed the trail and soon found the body of a boy, unmoving and lying in a puddle of blood. His clothes were torn apart and one of his arms was cut off and hanging on one of the branches, he was lying in the dirt and his own blood and his face was contorted in pain and terror.
They approached the boy, and inspected his body, he was dead, that was much they figured out quickly and the reality of the situation started to set in, This was a true tragedy, a boy robbed of his life by a monster of the forest. They looked over body silently and mourned the death and they prayed for his soul, but as they turned the boy around to carry him back to the village to receive a proper burial, a ice cold shill ran down both their spines and their eyes bulged in fear and terror.
Carved into the flesh of the boy‘s back was something written, something truly horrifying.
'I‘m back my lovely Orwell!'
