The Blood Bath

Baharsh and the High Commander were interrupted by the watcher's unmistakable rage filled bellow, followed by a scream of pain, then one of panic that was quickly stifled. As one, he and Reihnash ran from the conference room toward the courtyard of the compound. As they reached the entry way, a crowd of demons had already gathered and formed a circle; they had to push their way through.

Meikosh held a furious watcher back from a demon Baharsh did not recognize; one that was trembling in rage and fear. Meikosh himself had murder in his eye, but was doing everything he could to pacify the other demon. As Baharsh and Reihnash pushed their way to the edge of the circle and the entire scene came into his view, Baharsh felt himself flush with anger, panic... and a protective instinct?

The woman stood almost in the center of the circle, blood running down her face and chest and panting in an effort to control her own rage. A slain demon lay at her feet... no, slain was not the right term. Looking at the broken body before her, and the lack of a weapon on the woman, he deeply desired to see what had actually happened here. Following the trail of the blood to the source, he quickly got a disturbing insight on what had happened.

Before the High Commander had a chance to speak, the watcher approached Baharsh. "I am sorry commander, I took my eyes from her for a second for this fool", gesturing to the trembling demon in the circle. "It happened fast, but is no excuse for my negligence. With your permission High Commander, I would have this traitor's life!"

Almost casually, with that same gleam in his eye they had since seen arriving, Reihnash asked, "What has he done exactly?"

Before the watcher could respond, Meikosh laughed, drawing the attention to him. Baharsh silently thanked him for following.

"What indeed! Yhgand here was taking her to the quarters you directed him to, when this one distracted him so that his brother could spirit off the little sorceress for their own, I'm sure foul, plans. Apparently, the term sorceress is not known to them. They also failed to realize the warning of 'behaving poorly' has more meaning than just our ask or your command. She does not respond well to physical contact, so the second he grabbed her, she reacted. You can see how that went."

The recounting of what had happened seem to break the other demon out of his fear induced trance. "Lies! All lies! My brother merely wanted to talk to her. It is not everyday we get to deal with humans. He merely tried to stop her walking away and this happened!"

Looking back at the body Meikosh took a deep breath. "Then why did you stop her escort? Fascinating how deceptive her physique is. Those tiny arms ripped his parts off of him like they were paper, and her teeth are either inhumanly sharp or her jaw is ridiculously strong." Turning back to Reihnash he finished his story, "What are we to do with the other one?"

Reihnash looked again at the watcher Yhgand, Baharsh, the assembled crowd and settled on the woman. He locked his eyes on her, trying to see into her soul the way she saw into his. He knew the rumors, and the look in her and the way she licked the blood on her lips confirmed his suspicions. He could not control himself; he needed to see her in action, and knew it would be enough to waylay another attempt on her like this. Fear of getting caught is one thing, fear of the one you are thinking about harming is a whole nother bucket of bats.

"What is you name?" he asked the dead demons' brother?

"Cainhur."

"Well then, let the fate of Cainhur and his brother be a warning to you all! Meikosh, Yhgand, come away from there. I have heard stories of the effect blood has on her, let us see if she does the tales' justice!"

Baharsh gawked at his leader in disbelief but glancing over to the woman he realized he had nothing to worry about. There was an air to the womans demeanor, predatory as she crouched, slowly approaching the terrified demon who had drawn his dagger and realized he would need to fight to the death. He knew the woman was unarmed, but glancing at his brother, he also knew it did not matter.

The demons weapon drawn and the closing circle around them was enough to let the woman know she was to fight her way out of this. Licking her lips and narrowing her sight on him, she let out an angry feral scream. Baharsh could only imagine how much of The General was included in that scream as he noticed her eyes flash purple red fire. Glancing again at the broken demons body, he was glad he hadn't tried anything after unchaining her at the compound.

Before the demon could think whether to run or to attack, she sprang. His combat instinct saved him at the last second, and he moved out of her path and into a combat position of his own. He was quickly thrown into defense however as her tiny human foot slammed into his stomach with an amount of force she should not have been capable of. Her movements were quick and calculated.

Stumbling back he furiously tried to block as numerous blows rained down, aimed for his head and neck mostly. She was fully in the rage now, eyes blazing red, attack after attack finding a place to hit and do damage. The demon could not follow her blows to sense a pattern though he tried to stab and block with no avail. Unfortunately making matters worse for him, he stumbled over the body of his fallen brother, his hand coming down on the detached skin that was once his throat and sliding his arm out from under him. In a desperate attempt to regain control, and maybe live, he threw his dagger at her, aiming perfectly for her head.

Baharsh and his companions were struggling to hold themselves out of the fight. So many conflicting things were running through their heads. Clearly she didn't need the help but they still felt the need to protect her. Why had the High Commander not been more clear about the warning. Why was he letting it go down like this?

As if sensing their unrest, Reihnash whispered under his breath. "I need to see the blood rage in action. I needed to know if it was as powerful as legend says. Now I know; this woman is truly the weapon I have heard she is."

How she managed to dodge the blade no one could really say, but they would speak of what happened next for years to come. Those that could see her face swore they saw hell in her eyes as she snarled and ran for Cainhur. Jumping on top of him her tiny fists made a punching bag of his head. How her bones didn't break no one could say as they watched the demons face begin to bleed more and more.

Finally getting his feet under him the demon pushed with his right foot to send him into a roll so he could gain leverage on the woman. Full defense mode kicked in as the woman launched herself out of the way. Cainhur got his hand around her leg, ripping the pants and her skin as she kicked her way out of his grasp. Done playing games and tired from the nights events, all Aryna wanted to do was get to a warm bed and sleep real sleep. Even the blood rage, which could drive her in battle for hours, could not hide the exhaustion from her ragged conscious mind.

Growling again in pure hatred her hands and eyes lit up in a purple glow. The demon was ready to spring into attack, but was stopped as he felt a red-hot fire in his abdomen. Unable to do anything but watch in terror, the womans hands pierced the air in front of her, back-to-back. As she did, his abdomen burned more and he squealed and groaned in terror and pain. The assembled demons watched in awe as his abdomen began to spill blood, starting at his navel and moving up to his throat.

Breathing heavily and starting to sweat, the sorceress gave a final angry scream as her eyes burned red, and she pulled her hands apart, ripping the demon in half in a bloody display of power. She relished the surrounding reactions briefly, then dropped the two halves and struggled to regain control from both exhaustion and rage. It was a battle, but one she would not lose.

The assembled demons watched her, unable to speak or react. Baharsh couldn't help but notice the smile on Reihnash's face. His instinct to protect this woman seemed silly now, but she was proving to be a much greater asset than The General, as he had hoped. Still, he had to wonder if Reihnash's intentions were good, or if he was merely taking notes in a long term game to take her as his own.

Looking back, he noticed Aryna was breathing mostly normal and looking in their direction. She met the eyes of Yhgand and Meikosh, and held Baharsh's gaze momentarily before looking at Reihnash. Seeing the glee in his eye her rational brain decided she had not caused a scene. Looking around her, around the circle and finally back at Reihnash she merely stated. "I seem to have made a mess of your hall."

True to form, Meikosh exploded into laughter that filled the area, and was quickly joined by the rest of the assembled. Yghand and Baharsh shared a look amid the laughter, both relieved to know the woman could handle herself and that all the assembled knew it and would talk about it. They both silently resolved that she would be staying in their quarters, not matter what.

As the laughter died, Baharsh turned to the High Commander to make his request. "With all due respect commander, perhaps it would be best if she takes quarters with my company. She knows us and none would dare bring her harm. We all have developed an attachment to her and I know they would agree we would not sleep well knowing she was potentially in harms way. Also since she knows us, less chance of an accidental death."

"What are your intentions with this woman?" the High Commander inquired.

The question set Baharsh back on his heels. He knew what was being asked, but he did not have an answer. If he vehemently denied any attraction he would be called a liar, and truth be told he would be. If he said anything with feelings he would be branded a fool and if he said anything hinting of sexual desire he feared he would be her next victim. To his relief, Reihnash laughed.

"Based on the look of terror on your face and the long pause I see your intentions are good. Meikosh clearly agrees with you and I think Yghand would need 20 demons to pull him away from her. I agree with your assessment. Take her to the quarters you see fit. I will have the...."

It all fell away into a blur. The exhaustion was setting in, stronger than she had ever felt it. Magical exhaustion was always worse than physical, and given her predicament over the last few.. actually she didn't know how long, she felt she could sleep for an eternity. She instinctively knew her watcher would not let this happen again, making it a bit easier to give into the darkness. That being thought, she did not want to be carried again, and forced the fuzziness out of her brain and her eyes to focus.

"..clean this mess up. I will have the brothers strung up outside the main door, as a warning to any that would try something on our guest. Take heed of my warning. This woman is our ally and yes, to some, a friend. She is not keen on being touched and as you can see, will not tolerate your bullshit! Leave her be."

The rest of the day turned into a blur then. She followed Yghand through many areas of the compound, then up a winding staircase before heading through a doorway. She knew she should be paying attention, but her brain was having a hard enough time convincing her feet to keep going. Entering a common room, she was led up another stairway to a room with an adjacent bathroom. Here, she was told, she could shower before.. something.

The hot water felt 10 times better than the warm pool in the cave had. Meikosh had provided her with a present before leaving, and she drank the stronger brew of heilock, letting its healing properties take her away from her body, and the fermenting property shut out her brain. She scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, but knew she would never feel truly clean.

As she wrapped herself in the towel, her semi working brain told her there was something she was supposed to do. Whatever it was, it faded into blackness with the rest of the world..