Lidia, Born of Embers's Story

Out of the corner of Rafar's eye, the yawning rays of the setting sun glinted off a humanoid's pauldron. As the somewhat polished reflections approached they also varied in their direction and brightness, sometimes not reflecting at all. Their footsteps crackled and rustled along the unpaved ground with no intention of going unheard. There was no fear or hesitation in the slow and methodical crescendo of footsteps. With the beast's final query, the child of ash offered a response.

"Too much credit is given to the vermin, I'm afraid," Lidia drove her greatsword down several inches into the dirt, leaning her palms on the crossguard, "hunters are ineffective at best, cornered rats in a field of helpless mice. Tell me, how many times have you been able to tear into a village whilst the hunters stayed in their inns and watched, only to fall just as quickly as the rest when they finally do help?"

Dear Sir Hunter,

Do you know of the plight of man, or have you grown so blind in your profession? A war within and a war without, such is the plight of man. In my youth I wasted my fury on who instead deserved my pity. Age has enlightened me, made me sober, humbled and hardened me. I have watched in silence and studied. They, man that is, see the monsters with gnashing teeth and flesh rending claws, but are blind to the ones that stand next to them every day, but I am not blind. They feed upon purity, upon innocence, upon the weak and poor. I feed upon these man monsters, these defilers, these child killers.

I do not hate you, sir Hunter, I question you, you are one who lights my curiosity. Do truly believe you can create a better world? Will you come against me, like others have before you? I too have a cause I believe in, and I believe that I am needed. This wretch I've slain, the head of whom I've planted this note upon is one Ungar Larkwood, guilty of luring several wayward youth into his web. I believe capital punishment is the appropriate judgement for his crimes. In his basement you will find the remains of his victims. I could not bare to count them all. Pray for their souls, sir hunter, but waste not one on this vile thing. Be cautious, sir hunter, else that which will kill you may be among you already.

With love,
Beau Geste Bellatroix

With her clawed fingers she wrote her letter upon parchment, eyes glinting in candle light, blood gleaming upon the boards at her feet. The house of the man had windows covered in now blood splattered curtains. They were there to prevent any witnesses, but they had served the same purpose in his own demise. In rags Bellatroix was dressed, in the form of a fair young maiden of dark descent, dirty yet lovely. She had lured him using his weakness, brought into the his home, thinking he would have his way and dispose of her, had instead become a fly in her own web. His headless body lays upon the ground, his head placed neatly upon his own dining table. She draped the note down over his head, blew out the candles, and turns out the door letting in the golden light of the dawning sun. Her midnight black hair flowing behind, glistening, and her head downcast.

It took moments as she left the scene before a bystander peeked in upon the carnage, and then proceeding to scream in horror. Bellatroix was gone before anyone could point a finger, off away from the streets of Ironsguard. In the outskirts she had sensed a convergence of forces, one quite old and familiar, the other newer, vaguely human and smelling of wood ash and burnt flesh that gave her pause. Wretched smell that is, why did she have to be here? When she arrived she raised a brow putting on a curious expression.

"Now, isn't this a curiosity," she says is a charming tone. With wet cracks and pops a barbed tail came forth from the base of her spine, striped in black and white, wrapping it around her ankles to make her inhumanity known. "Contemplating your next hunt, sir Rafar? And you, miss Lidia, still unable to find peace?"

Rafar quietly observed his two new Arrivals, He could not yet muster enough will to rise from his place instead keeping his gentle posture. I will have to answear that question of yours later, Ashen one.. His tone remained calm and soft, He called her Ashsen One as he so does love his nicknames and metaphors. ... but you should not forget the "Champion" the Sheep has acquired, you should know, And you should acknowledge it. His tired eyes shifted to Bella. He did really enjoy her company, her age was something to be respected, he doubted if even his age could rival her... My Next Hunt? Nothing so fancy.. If there is anyone to be contemplating hunting it would be you, No? Did you enjoy your trip to the humans?

Rafar's gaze then swithced back out over the land, watching the last rays of sun disappear, Only for shadows to take its place. Did you perform a slaughter? or maybe you showed mercy, Wich you seem to fancy so much... His claws clicked indignantly against eachother

Still, Rafar was happy for the company, even if it would become the more.. "Aggresive" Sort...

Lidia turned her head towards the witch when she spoke, eventually turning back towards the city overlooked by the group's vantage point. She sighed at the witch's addressing of her, she shouldn't have needed to even ask.

"There will never be peace, you should know that. Try being burned at the stake some time, you'd understand why I'm so upset." She raised an eyebrow at Rafar's appraisal of this new hunter. "What has you so concerned? Don't fool yourself, he is but a man. Has age softened you that much?"

As the daylight waned, the child of ash gripped the handle of her weapon with both hands and slowly heated the blade until it provided a warm glow that could illuminate the three.

"Let him come. I fear no man."

"Mercy, sir Rafar, mercy is something deserved or something earned through penance," she responds in a tone both serious and coy, kneeling down and wiping her claws against the dirt in effort to clean them. "I will say simply that a man-beast thought himself trapping a rabbit, but instead caged himself with a tiger, so to speak. The human wretch had the gall to keep trophies of his kills, all poor creatures that he easily overpowered, guided by some twisted sentiment. There was no room for mercy today, sir Rafar."

She collected her thoughts with a sigh and looked over her claws to see if they were clean. She exudes a kind of righteousness, far less a pleasure in her words and motions, as if she had done a service, a justice. Her attention was then turned back to Lidia, blade now aglow with bright warm light. She sighed again at the revenant's words. The old beast wasn't insensitive to the burned woman's suffering, but the sheer thought of charred flesh was one of few things to make her retch.

"Two things, child," she says courteously. "First, over my long life I have been impaled, eviscerated, bludgeoned and even burned. Second, I feel at times you only torture yourself in reliving that moment over and over."

She stares out in the horizon. "As for sir Hunter, I rather not be so quick to judge or engage him... if it can be helped, that is."

Rafar moved slightly, The stone was by far not the most comfortable thing, But the view was worth it. He continued looking out over the landscape as he spoke. We all have our weaknesses, Ashen One, You are not very skilled at hiding yours. You should never reach the point when bravery tips into recklessness. Rafar's dark eyes suddenly shifted, Only for a short moment and only so that someone very skilled would notice it, He was reminiscing about something. It will then only be a question of time until someone breaks straight trough that flimsy shield.

Rafar's gaze quickly returned to normal as he directed himself towards Bella, Clearly attempting to switch the subject The Humans have their own beasts.. Yet these beasts can only challenge the weak. The black sheeps, ones who dream to be wolves. Yet these black sheeps are so different they just become bigger targets. Especially for the ones like you Black Bella. Rafar usually uses Bella's oldest name, Perhaps in an attempt to remind her about his age. But I can only agree with your last point, The Champion of Sheep, Is someone not to be Underestimated

Lidia suppressed a sneer at the comments from the other two. Cowards, softened by age and petty politics. It sickened her to see beasts fall prey to the same games of status and power that the humans stoop to. Now it didn't surprise her that a new hunter was able to cause a stir for the monsters, if this apathy is what they were up against.

"On another note, if this allegedly terrifying hunter is gathering a flock, why are we waiting? Would't it be best to strike early while they are still unprepared and weak, instead of waiting and letting them grow stronger?"

Bellatroix had long grown weary of it, this repugnant animosity, she had her fill of it from beast and human over a millennia, she had her fill of it from herself. The fiery woman radiates with it as much as her flames do, the kind of hatred that knows no neutrality, that would consume anything in its path regardless of guilt. It was depressing, for the future of Lidia to either succeed and live in a dead world, or die a second time. Will you ever be satisfied child? At least age has given Rafar some level of tranquility.

"I never implied he was terrifying, contrary to it, he is intriguing," she responds with a calm tone. "He is just entering latter half of his thirties... which may not seem much for us, or a common man, for hunters that usually die young, it isn't something to scoff at. But..."

She draws her arms out, her tail's barbs retracting and then returning into her back with a crack, her long claws reducing to human hands, and her height increasing as her body ages forward from a child into an older woman. She warps particles of earth around her and weaves them into her clothes to turn the rags into a dark earthy colored dress before being stained violet by releasing a small amount of her toxic miasma. Her hair seemed to come alive, twisting themselves behind her into a ponytail, and allowing two curly bangs to hang down the front of her face. Within seconds she had transformed fully from a beggar girl into a grown noble woman.

"I do think I will take a closer look to satiate a curiosity," she says somewhat cryptically with a continued calmness. "Do what you feel you must, I suppose."

With this she leaves them on her way back to Ironsguard, with her destination set near the Hunter's guild. She knew better than to head within the door, even in her human guise she wasn't entirely sure what security was placed, if there was any, not putting off the possibility of some magical detection. For now, at least, she would observe inconspicuously by the pole of a street lamp and size the recruits.

Rafar Payed Bella's exit no attention, He gently moved his head back to stare out over the landscape again. I never can stop you when you feel adventorous, I have lost that feeling myself. But I warn you Again Black Bella, I have fought that Sheperd. He can not be considered a normal human, I warn you both. His body suddenly tensed, His claws digging deep into the stone I do not become this.. "Cowardly" That easy, And I hope you do not take my worries lightly. Good Hunting to you.

He then, allowing Bella to leave shifted himself backwards, Moving off his position to the stone to instead approach Lidia. Well... Approach might be the wrong as he simply nonchalantly positioned himself to face her Now. You are not as "Mercyful" as my dear Black Bella. You wish to go and fight them head on? Finish this before anything can come out of it? He then moved himself upwards, Rearing back on his hind legs, Exposing his Twisted chest and arms, He easily towered above Lidia, Like The Pure monster he is. You think to defeat those I failed to kill? His Voice remained as calm and Tired as before, But there was big hints of hostility in his voice.

The ashen knight stood firm to the animal's gestures. Typical, such a simple and brutish creature would try to use size to intimidate her, to gain dominance as if a pack animal. Lidia gazed into Rafar's eyes, unblinking as she finally spoke.

"Do not threaten me, beast. You try to keep us from this hunter for what? Pride? Fear that you will lose your dominance if one of us bests him?" The revenant lifted her weapon from the soil, its blade glowing brighter resembling steel in a forge, and a blistering heat radiating from it. The formerly cool and dark forest perch now illuminated fully with this new flame, as if a scorching desert sun bore down upon the small cliff overlook.

"You hunt humans for sport and entertainment, so you hold back. Being defeated by some half-rate hunter is just a consequence of that," she raised her weapon and pointed its tip towards Rafar for emphasis. She then swiped her blade down to her side in a flicking motion as if removing blood, almost instantly extinguishing the blade and snuffing out any glow it previously emitted.

"The difference between you and I," the burned woman turned about-face and took a few steps away from the beast, "is that I do not hunt my foes, I destroy them."

Lidia began to walk away again. Where she formerly stood a circle several feet in diameter was devoid of life, all of the vegetation seared to ash.

While the distant chatters of an impish crow-child briefly drilled into her ears with its incessant tones, once out of earshot Lidia slowly returned to a somewhat more relaxed state, one which consisted of a tepid irritation at best. Her footsteps no longer singed the ground below her, and many of the embers clinging to her form temporarily ceased to glow.

Instead however, a faint glimmer of lantern wicks caught the corrupted knight's eye. A village, likely still populated. She knew what needed to be done.

---

On the outskirts of a humble farming community, a knight stood under a lamppost with several hastily organized militiamen speaking to him. His armor glinted under the flickering wick above as he listened to the locals' story. He previously caught word of some sort of monster abducting livestock and even sometimes people in the night, and he came to defeat this beast.

"Ser knight, I believe it's upon us," one man dressed in heavy linens clutching a pitchfork gestured towards one of the many farm plots, the baying of hounds and several other unrecognized sounds coming from that direction. Hodrick picked up his shield and followed the townsfolk to the commotion. Several beasts surrounded a flock of sheep, taking the forms of some sort of wolves. The aged knight drew his pistol and steadied it on his shield, quickly aiming in on one of them and pulling the trigger. As the ball hurtled through the air with a crack and embedded itself in the torso of one of the monsters, the others shifted their attention to Hodrick and company and began to charge.

"To arms, men!" the Stalwart holstered the flintlock and drew his gleaming longsword, and the militiamen lowered their pitchforks to brace against the wolves' assault. A handful impaled themselves upon the makeshift pikes, while others circled around the sides or came directly for the knight leading them. A bone-crushing shield bash deflected one leaping wolf harmlessly to the side while he hacked and stabbed at the others around him with his blade. Their fangs were not quite powerful enough to pierce his chain mail, only rendering themselves vulnerable for the kill. Once free, Adalhard turned his focus towards his allies, helping fend off the beasts that were trying to bite and tear at their exposed flesh.

With no time for respite, however, a deafening howl echoed from just past the treeline. From the tangled and thick undergrowth burst a final corrupted being, a canine easily larger than a stallion. Its originally gray and white fur mottled with an abyssal black, the color radiating from the creature's chest as if a hellish tentacled darkness clung to its flesh. Its eyes were open wide, pupils shriveled in a gaze of unnatural rage.

"Return to the village, protect the other citizens. I shall fell the beast," Hodrick dismissed the other militiamen and began to approach the monster, his companions nodding and fleeing as instructed. The canid's pace quickened to a thundering gallop directly towards the knight. Once the distance closed the beast leapt, its maw opening as it hurtled towards Hodrick. He ducked and rolled to the side to avoid the attack, staying knelt on one knee briefly to pick up his talisman and briefly pray.

Gods, grant me strength.

He stood up, the armor feeling almost weightless on his shoulders once the prayer concluded. Sir Hodrick the Stalwart clanged his sword against the front of his shield twice, a gesture of ultimate defiance as he charged into battle.

---

As the village came closer into view, Lidia sneered. A simple farming community, and several guards strolled along one of the roads, several of them limping slightly. Calling them guards felt insincere, they were little more than men with pitchforks, lumber axes and helmets. Resistance would be laughable. She drew her sword, the embers dotting her person reignited and her blade glowing once more of molten steel. The ground below her hissed and charred beneath her steps as she entered the village. A handful of retreating guards noticed her, breaking into a jog to stop her. In response she turned to the nearest home and simply pressed the point of her sword against it, the wood quickly smoldering and catching fire. The men began to shout and charge after the arsonist.

The revenant remained still, only turning to face the militiamen when they drew near. She tensed up slightly as the one in the front lowered his pitchfork, watching with a scowl as the prongs impacted against her cuirass and bent to the side uselessly. Her gauntlet-clad arm reached up and grabbed the pitchfork's handle, shattering the wood in her grip, tossing the weapon and wielder aside with ease. Another man stepped forward and tried to swing his axe down at Lidia, which she responded to with a single slash of her greatsword to slice him horizontally in twain. She turned to the prone man and stomped on him once, swiftly crushing his torso and ending his life.

Next came a shoulder check from the ashen knight into another guard, sending him careening into a nearby building while the attacker turned to the fourth and final townsman. He had begun to run for his life once his companion was halved, but the humanoid monster did not intend on letting him escape. She raised her blade with both hands with the tip pointed down, then drove it into the ground, creating a geyser of flame that burst under the running man and reduced him to little more than cinders.

Now that the resistance was gone, Lidia visited each house, lighting them all ablaze and cutting down anyone that tried to exit the buildings. One by one they all joined together in roaring and crackling, the screams of the buildings' occupants a twisted symphony to accompany the gruesome sight of vengeance.

Unceremoniously, Lidia turned and left the village behind. Her deed here was completed.

---

In the nearby field, Sir Hodrick and the beast remained locked in combat. Both were beginning to tire, but the corrupted wolf's fur began to mat with blood and it moved with a limp. It leapt towards the knight again, this time he was able to deflect the creature slightly to the side of him with a carefully timed shield bash, sending it tumbling from its own momentum into the ground.

He turned at the momentarily prone creature, it was his opportunity to strike. Hodrick broke into a sprint, panting heavily already from exertion, raising his sword and leaping into the beast. He drove his sword to the hilt into its skull as he fell upon it, brackish blood clinging to the steel as he delivered the death blow.

The beast was finally dead, struck down by his hand.

Adalhard stood up and removed his blade from the skull of the former monster, throwing most of the blood from it with a brief flicking motion before finally sheathing it. He turned back towards the village, his eyes widening and jaw dropping behind his visor as he saw the hamlet in flames. He scrambled towards the center of the community to find the guards he previously fought alongside, crumpled and slashed and strewn about the town square while the homes burned.

Then the screams came. The dying wails of dozens of men, women and children echoed around him, each one ceasing their cries when he approached their crumbling homes. Not a single soul remained. He collapsed to his knees, suddenly alone in a desolated village. These were people he was entrusted to protect and he failed all of them.

For the first time, Sir Hodrick Adalhard the Stalwart was defeated.