The stranger stared at Nhea, studying her closely. Her eyes suddenly locked on to Quantum's body, motionless in the pool. The night silence slowly crawled over the pool.
Nhea glared at the stranger.
They had not been completely annihilated.
One remained.
Nhea's mind raced. She had never been in a direct encounter with a mercenary. Her chances of survival were low. Those mercenaries were bloodthirsty and violent, skilled in taking human lives. They were rough, unruly thugs who bent low to all sorts of measures in order to get what they wanted. Her mother had gone far to protect her from them. Now, here she was, face to face with one of them.
Fear began to fill the girl's heart. Her conviction to live, was being threatened severely. She slowly got up, drops of water falling from her lower body, ringing in the pool. She had to expect anything; those mercenaries were simply unpredictable.
Looking at the supposed mercenary, however, Nhea began to doubt her earlier judgement.
For one, the person she was facing, was a woman.
She had short dark brown hair, with a line of dark red sprouting from the left side of her hair. The woman was tall, with a slender figure, and a shapely frame. She had a prominent scar across the right side of her face, which had rendered one of her eyes a pale grey. The other eye shone a somewhat menacing, powerful dark crimson. She wore leather on her bosom, her arms covered to her wrists, a dark tunic, all underneath a black cloak that hid her perfectly the night's darkness. On her lower body, she wore dark, leather leggings paired with muddy boots. A large talisman hung from her neck, with inscriptions Nhea couldn't decipher.
Nhea had never seen, or heard of, any warrior, soldier, mercenary, assassin or expert in combat, who was female.
Throughout her life in Rhea-Nori, commonfolk women had only two options; prostitution, or servitude to a husband.
For another, the stranger didn't give off any bloodlust. Any one could feel, when someone else desired to kill them. There was always a deep, uncomfortable feeling that pulsed, especially at the last moment.
Nhea was especially sensitive to these feelings. She could tell instantly, what was going on in the hearts of those around her. However, for the particular entity standing on the edge of the pool, Nhea felt nothing.
The stranger eyes were locked on Quantum's body. She stood where she was, unmoving. Nhea, being pushed by her uncertainty and the strangeness of the situation, began looking around her, keeping wary of the stranger's movements.
Looking back, she saw the glint of the blade, within its scabbard upon the leg of the dead mercenary. She turned to look at the stranger again. It almost seemed she was waiting for whatever Nhea was thinking of. Almost as though, she knew Nhea's thoughts.
Nhea quickly drew back, her legs sloshing though the bloodied pool, and drew the dagger from its scabbard. Pointing its sharp edge towards the stranger, she retook her previous position.
The stranger looked into Nhea's scared eyes. It was as though she didn't even consider the danger of the dagger pointed at her. Nhea's hand began to shake, as she held the dagger, and she grabbed it with her free hand, trying her best to keep the dagger straight.
The stranger simply scratched the back of her head, sighing. She took a bold step forward, drawing towards Nhea.
No fear.
No threat to her life.
The stranger drew towards Nhea, her mud-stained boots splashing with every rise and fall, her cloak swaying about her. Nhea's blade followed her as she moved, unstable within her hands.
She slowly passed Nhea, and went to where the mercenary's body lay. Her hands on her waist, she shook her head, and turned to face Nhea. She dropped her hands, and spoke, her voice firm and reassuring.
"Maybe you haven't noticed…but I mean you no harm.", she said.
Almost instantly, Nhea's grip on the dagger's handle slowly weakened, and the strength she used to point the dagger towards the stranger simply disappeared. Nhea looked at the stranger wide-eyed, her strength sapped at the words that came out of her mouth. The stranger approached her, and looked down at Quantum's body.
Turning her gaze to Nhea, she spoke.
"I'm only here for this body…and nothing more than that."
Her long index finger pointed at Quantum's body.
Nhea's veracity grew once more, breaking out of its vessel within her heart. She pointed the sword once more at the stranger.
The look on the stranger's face spelt disappointment with a mild frustration.
The stranger sighed.
"No!", Nhea yelled, a hard determination written on her face.
"I won't let you take him away!"
The stranger looked closely at the girl. She could see that Nhea had been through much emotional stress. It was written all over her face. The stranger paused for a while, looking at the little girl who wasn't even holding the dagger right.
The girl was just too innocent.
A little smile popped out at the corner of her mouth. There was something intriguing about her discovery; a little girl mourning a fallen man.
The stranger asked, "He's someone important to you, isn't he?"
Nhea nodded, hesitantly, still glaring.
The stranger had never come across such a situation before. Usually, it was always her, and the dead in the forest. Now however, there was a living child facing her.
She touched her talisman and spoke softly, "How did you go wrong?".
Confusion spurred in Nhea's mind, but her resolve stood strong.
She wouldn't let anyone desecrate Quantum's body.
The woman looked carefully at the body, and then at Nhea. It seemed she wanted to say something but was hesitant.
A crow jumped from the tree it was perched on, and landed on the dead steed that lay in the water. The flapping of its wings cut through the silence between the two females.
She finally spoke.
"You think he's gone...but trust me, he isn't."
"I am Roe'nika…", she continued, introducing herself, "…and I can help you get back what you have lost."
She gestured towards Quantum's body.
Nhea was intrigued. The missing hope had somehow, rekindled. Her heart began to race, as she envisioned what she believed the woman meant.
Nhea looked carefully at the woman and asked, "Wh-what do you mean, 'get back what I have lost'?".
"I mean exactly what I said. However, I need you to trust me first."
Roe'nika placed her hand on her bosom. Her crimson eye, now less menacing, and brimming with a strange certainty and sincerity.
Nhea was uncertain. The woman looked extremely certain, contrasting her uncertainty. She slowly released her hold on the dagger, pointing it away from Roe'nika.
'No', she said to herself. The woman was clearly trying to deceive her. It didn't matter whether she felt any bloodlust from her or not. She needed to defend Quantum.
She raised the dagger once more.
"I don't trust you.", she said, conviction burning in her heart.
Now, Roe'nika was annoyed.
She begun to glare at the hard-hearted girl, her crimson eyes burning wildly.
"Honestly, I should have just dealt with you from the start. I don't know what possessed me to play nice with you."
The crow cawed loudly, its voice tearing through the environs.
Nhea lost focus for a second, alarmed by the bird's cry.
Before she knew it, the blade she once gripped tightly in her hand, was in the air in a sharp blur of a dark boot and bloodied water.
The dagger landed in the pond, far from Nhea, with a splash and a clatter. Nhea looked at where her weapon had fallen, fear filling her heart once more. This time, however, it was a constant surge of darkness that covered her heart like a sphere.
Simply irrevocable.
With the speed at which she had lost her only weapon, Nhea's heart sank. Every possibility of escape she had envisioned simply faded into thin air. All that was left was emptiness.
Nhea slowly turned to her attacker, Roe'nika. Her crimson eye was unfluctuating with a definite resolve, much more solid than what Nhea believed to be unbreakable.
"You're not going to be an obstacle, little girl.", Roe'nika announced, menacingly.
"I am taking the body. Whether it lies in your will or not…".
The crow stared at the two, the entrails of the dead horse hanging on its beak.
"What you will do, little girl, is my concern."
The menacing tone had disappeared in her voice, being replaced with a more gentle, friendly one.
Nhea stared wide-eyed at the woman, her mouth hanging open in shock. 'What would she do?', she wondered.
Roe'nika looked into the girl's eyes. Of course, she didn't know. Considering where the girl was, family didn't seem an option for her any longer. Her eyes spoke volumes of loss. But Roe'nika had to be sure.
"Where is your family?"
Nhea looked up at her, her mouth quivering and her chest tightened, and looked back down in silence.
"Hm, I thought as much...", Roe'nika muttered, commenting on the girl's silence.
Roe'nika looked at the girl's hands upon the fallen man. They were shaking uncontrollably.
Nhea suddenly broke her long silence, her little voice mixing with the crow's busy feasting.
"I…I won't let him go."
A slight relief filled Roe'nika's heart, upon hearing the girl's answer.
"Then its decided then,", she said, her voice uplifting.
"Follow me."
Nhea stared at the now gentle crimson glow that emanated from Roe'nika's countenance. She knew. It was far from advisable to trust her. However, she was willing to take the risk. She had to live, after all.
Nhea slowly raised herself, and looked into Roe'nika's eyes.
She slowly nodded.
Roe'nika smiled at her. Her earnestness and purity could be a source of a great power in the future. She was clumsy, but she had clear potential.
Roe'nika crouched, bending herself, and slowly carried Quantum's body, lifting it from the water. The stench of a peculiar ichor filled the air. Water poured from his frame, as his broken body was raised to the moonlight once more. Nhea looked at his body, and a pain tore at her heart. It was not as strong as when she had first seen him, but it was still enough to hurt. She clenched her teeth, and turned away.
As Roe'nika carried him towards the horse, it suddenly occurred to Nhea. Was Quantum's body that light, that a woman could carry him so easily? She pondered on this, but never asked Roe'nika.
Roe'nika gently placed Quantum's body upon the steed, and a let out a slight grunt. She patted its snout and rubbed its back. The horse snorted loudly, clearly at peace with its rider. Nhea looked in awe at the horse. It was a giant, compared to her. She had never stood so close to one before.
Roe'nika grabbed the reins of the horse and directed it towards the deeper forest. The horse followed her direction, its hooves sounding as it moved alongside her, Quantum's body swaying lightly on its back.
Nhea watched as the two went on ahead. She looked back at the bloodied pool, and met the gaze of the crow that had perched on the horses' body. It looked deep into her eyes, and suddenly flew away, its feathers fluttering in the wind.
Nhea turned around, and looked towards the horse moving onwards ahead of her. She wondered what fate awaited her within Roe'nika. She run to catch up, as they headed deeper into the forest.