Chapter two: The Bounty

Chapter 2:

Running around the capital without notice wasn't easy. Each turn stopped Lena in her tracks as she tried her best to travel through the city while avoiding the capital guards, normal civilians and merchants that could all seize her for questioning.

Compared to others, Lena no longer felt 'normal'. She felt and thought as though she was human, but not the same as those around her. After all, she carried an abnormal amount of blood on her hands in comparison to the others. If they knew what she had come to be, she'd be sent to the execution docs to be executed in front of all. But saving face in front of civilians was the last thing on Lenas mind. She was going to find out who killed her people, and take them down, with her curse.

Word of her village massacre spread and to Lena's surprise, it was the top gossip among the civilians. As she passed a group of civilians chatting while drinking tea, she eavesdropped on their conversation.

"A whole massacre!"

"Not one survivor!"

"You're wrong!! The culprit survived!"

"Can you even be counted as human after slaughtering your own people? And in such a gruesome and painful way…"

"The order has been let out for the search of the culprit. Women In her early 20's. Her wanted posters describe her as a previous military soldier and a swordwielder. Be sure to keep this in mind…"

"The sooner the culprit is captured, the better. We cannot risk a monster like that in human territories."

Lena turned into an alleyway. As she looks to her left, she's greeted with her own reflection. Except this isn't through a mirror, but a wanted poster with a drawn image of what possibly looks like her. Although the drawing is nowhere near identical, her hair length, hair colour, nose and eye colour were spot on. Or at least, to what she used to look like.

Lena had long since cut her hair before leaving the village. Her once long hair now reached just above her shoulders. The silver soldier troupe armour in the drawing was replaced with the honoured golden armour of her father. She also no longer held a sword, or any other weapons as her now cursed body was capable of manifesting its own within seconds.

Although these were minor changes to her appearance, she now looked nothing like the picture civilians used to track her. Realising this she felt more at ease and found her way to a nearby tavern, hoping to gather information on her next lead.

...

*These people… all blame me….* Lena's mind was running mad.

She sat in the corner of a tavern, listening.

A man with a cup in hand exclaimed, "She ended those innocent people's lives!" That was true.

*That wasn't true!* she wanted to say, but she knew otherwise.

A women then yelled out, "She stabbed through their hearts and slit their throats till she no longer heard their cries!" That was true.

*It had to be done!* Again, she swallowed her tongue.

"I wonder if she felt any remorse while doing such horrors."

*of course I did… but I couldn't just let them…*

Suddenly the same man from earlier exclaimed for a second time, "Remorse?! Do you think she felt much guilt when she ended her own father's life!?! If anything, she's just a-"

The man's sentence was cut short as a shadow passed through the crowd of chattering civilians and seized the man by the neck.

Lena was shaking with anger, fear and guilt. With her hand wrapped around his neck, the man grew scared. In an attempt to save face, he yelled at her despite his evident fear. "What're you doing??!?"

The civilians In the tavern began to crowd in around them. A hand shot at Lena's shoulder, while another clawed at her back, shoving her steps back and forcing her hands off the man.

"You think you can just come in here and cause trouble?? We don't want the guards in here you know?!?"

"Stinkin brat thinks she can do whatever she pleases with her armour on."

"KICK HER OUT!"

"That'd be a waste! She may even attract the guard's attention…."

"TIE HER UP THEN!"

Hands reached out and filled Lena's vision. Grabbing at her arms and another at her neck, forcing her head in a bow. Lena didn't want to attract unnecessary attention and she certainly did not want civilians to know of her capabilities but due to her foolishness in the tavern, she may have to fight back.

With a wave of her hand, blood formed a long but thick whip that sent the surrounding civilians flying. "SHES A SAHER!!!" A fearful man exclaimed in fright. "WITCHES LIKE YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN OUR KINGDOMS TERRITORY!" A short but well built women said. Many held looks of horror while others felt challenged and unsheathed their weapons in an attempt to build face and reputation in front of the others.

A man came swinging a sword from behind, but before it could hit, Lena's whip formed a sword at her command, blocking the attack. "Why are you here?" He asks. "For a drink?" Lena stayed quiet. "You do not belong here." He states firmly, his breath reeking near her face. "I'm just as human as you are." Lena tells him. With a laugh, another vicious attempt of her execution filled her vision as the short women from earlier charged with an axe. While still blocking the man's sword, Lena utilised her free hand and summoned another sword. Wielding two swords, she blocked both attacks and clashed back at both civilians, sending them tumbling backwards.

"You? Human? HAH! What kind of sick joke is that?" At his confidence, more unsheathed their weapons as if mentally agreeing they'd win this fight if they teamed up against one. With a charge, Lena began to form a new weapon. Before she was able to land a hit or even receive the opponents, a loud 'CLANG' was heard.

The crowd turned to the direction of the sound. There was a loud commotion outside.

Suddenly, it all went quiet. A civilian rushed to the door, curious to see what the commotion was about when suddenly the door burst open and slammed his head against the back.

As he falls to the ground, a cloaked figure armed with an drawn bow and ready arrow walks in. Already in aim, they shot a golden arrow. The arrow flew past Lena with great aim and pierced through the man holding a dagger behind her, ready to stab Lena while she was distracted.

Not knowing who was under the cloak or if they had appeared to execute her, Lena unconsciously took a few steps back. The rest of the civilians watched as the man they were exchanging stories and tea with only but an hour ago, now lays on the tavern ground, lifeless. Shock and horror flashed their faces.

A women's fearful scream was heard, and the fight began. All weapons now aimed at the mysterious cloaked figure that finds no problem in passing by them and ending their lives while doing so. Through the slaughter, the cloaked individual heads towards Lena.

Extending her right arm, Lena again manifests a sword. And with her left foot, she expands the bloods range as it seeps onto the ground. Clenching her left hand into a fist, the blood flowing on the ground begins to take shape, similar to shards of ice.

Lena shoots out the blood shards towards the upcoming mysterious individual as they fight back against the mere civilians. Seeing as they were distracted enough by dodging such attacks, Lena charged forward with her sword.

The mysterious figure had yet to say a word since barging into the tavern. Just as they dodged the blood shards, the cloaked figure blocked an attack from an upcoming civilians axe with their golden bow. While distracted, the cloaked individual couldn't sense Lena's new attack till her sword was mere millimetres away from slicing through the back of their neck. Ducking their head, the new fighter dodged.

As if knowing this move may be played, Lena brought back her sword with another swing and aimed straight for the neck.

'CLANG'

Lena's sword was blocked by a dagger. Turns out, the mysterious character had unsheathed a hidden dagger while ducking away and blocked Lena's upcoming attack while still blocking the axe of a vicious civilian with their bow.

Shocked, Lena paused and for a moment, she saw the hidden face of the cloaked individual. This was a women, with sharp brows that complimented her sharp nose and deep red lips that looked of the same pigment as Lena's new curse tattoo.

"Come with me." she commanded. "I'm not here to pick a fight, but I will if it means you come." she urged. Lena was shocked and more so confused. Her perpetuant confusion led to a mild headache that she knew could only get worse soon enough. This cloaked woman retracted her dagger, and pushed back at the axe of the civilian, sending him stumbling backwards.

With furrowed brows, Lena took hold of the extended hand in front of her, rushing out the door along with the mysterious cloaked woman. She felt as though she could trust this woman.

As they rushed through the streets of the bustling city, they passed by many and caught the attention of street thugs, civilians and city guards that were all looking to win the bounty of her capture.

With them following in suit, Lena and her new and currently the only addition to her team, did their best to shake them off. Letting go of Lena's hand, the woman grabs hold of her bow and shoots out an arrow that well pierced four of the thugs following. The arrows looked to be enchanted with magic, seeing that at the woman's command, the arrow followed the route her finger pointed to and pierced through multiple targets. Lena had never seen anything like this before and the civilians seemed to have looked just as confused. Seeing as they had no chance in this fight, the normal surrounding civilians retreated back, but still others kept chase.

Lena figured they were after her for the bounty. Seeing how determined they were, Lena gave a hand in shaking them off their tail. With a sway of her hand, daggers of blood shot out and pierced through three that followed. She then bent slightly enough to touch the ground, released an amount of blood that trailed up the legs of those giving chase and bound their feet to the ground, finally stopping their attempt at capture.

Just as Lena was about to release a sigh of relief, she noticed the presence of another. There had been another cloaked individual following their move from above the homes and caverns. Just as Lena noticed their movement, she swiftly created a drawn bow motion with her hands. Simultaneously, blood travelled from the centre of her back along to her shoulders and trickled down to her palms, shaping a drawn bow and arrow.

Just before she could shoot, she's again disrupted by the same woman as before. The still cloaked woman grasped her shoulder with one hand and clasped Lenas drawn hand with the other in an attempt to stop her. "Dont." perplexed, Lena relaxes her shoulders and turns to face the woman. "Why'd you stop me?" she asks. "He won't hurt you. Don't worry." she stated calmly.

Just then the new cloaked figure jumped down from the roof of a nearby cavern. "Your Highness! Are you okay?"

*Highness? What is going on?* Lena turns to the woman in confusion. So many questions ran in her mind and just when she was about to voice them, she was interrupted again.

The woman turned towards the cloaked man, "Take her and head east."

His eyes looked Lena over. "But what about you?" Lena could've sworn she'd seen his eyes before and yet she couldn't think of whom he may be.

"There's a few things I need to take care of… ill meet you in the mountains in a few days at most."

"But-"

"Go. I'll be there." She then turned towards Lena. "Go with him, he won't hurt you and he'll make sure you're safe till this bounty is over." With that, she turned into a surrounding street and disappeared from Lena's sight.

"We'll be on our way then. Her Highness can take care of herself. We'll meet her in the eastern mountains." the cloaked man said while beginning to walk.

"And who said I was willing to tag along?"

"Her Highness will shelter you till this bounty passes. You must understand that teaming up in this situation is for your best interest. I also believe that her Highness has a plan that requires your assistance."

Lena thought her options over. She had no gold, no family to turn back to, no home, and most importantly, no lead. Weighing her options she came to the conclusion that tagging along may be of some use to her and that being sheltered by this 'highness' could keep her hidden from the world while she investigates the truth of her village's massacre.

With her agreement, the two head east. As they reach the outskirts of the city and enter the surrounding village areas, where the desert connects tribes, a camel awaits the two.

Mounting the camel, they made their way through the scorching desert. Blood covered Lena's head like a hood and the cloaked man was still covered from head to toe, but they still needed to stop on the road for water.

Just as they calmed their blazing throats with water, Lena suddenly felt her entire body lift off the ground. Alarmed, she looked around and realised they were both grabbed by a giant bird, its size three times larger than an elephant. This was a Roc. A giant bird that guarded the kingdoms of the sky, and they had just been seized by it.

They were being taken to the kingdom of Jinn.