As I dropped down from the hill, I used my clawed hands to slow my fall and land without making too much noise.
I landed near a large rock and looked around for anyone close.
After I made sure it was clear, I looked for a safe place to hide Maylin's family after I had saved them.
Looking around, I found a small shed full of tools and with enough empty space to hide.
I nodded to myself and began planning a way to save them without alerting their captors.
I scouted the area and found that there were at least three dozen imp guards making sure no one interfered, and two of them were making sure that Maylin's family was done to the bone.
I looked up and saw that Maylin was watching very closely, so I gestured for her to create a distraction.
This took a while, but she was able to understand what I wanted her to do, and she started running toward the left side of the farm.
She then made lots of noise, causing at least half the guards to investigate what was causing it.
I took the chance and sneaked past the remaining guards and silently took out a few with my blade/nail.
Each kill would quickly turn into a black sludge that sank into the ground.
This made my job a lot easier since I didn't have to hide the bodies.
After clearing out a few of them, I finally made it to the field where her family was.
They looked similar to Maylin, though with very different features: one had their horn missing, and the tallest one—most likely her mother—had an extremely large pair of horns on her head.
"Keep working, you slut!" the imp forcing them to work began whipping them intensely.
Maylin's mother tried to block the whip from hitting her face, but as she did that she saw a pair of white horns sticking out of the grass.
"I know you're into these types of things, but try not to ki—" Before the other imp could finish his sentence, my blade/nail flew straight into his head, killing him instantly.
The other imp momentarily stopped whipping, and before he could process what was happening I jumped on his back and snapped his neck in one fell swoop.
This caused the prisoners to be shocked for a second before composing themselves once they realized I was saving them.
I looked at their faces full of gratitude and quickly broke the chains and gestured for them to follow me.
They looked a bit hesitant but quickly followed, knowing that it couldn't be worse than this.
As they crouched in the grass, we finally reached the shed and I motioned for them to enter.
They quickly did so and Maylin's mother spoke.
"What now?" she asked, her voice shaking from exhaustion and fear.
My mouth then began to open, this time with a softer creak that once again revealed my needle-like teeth.
"Hide," I said to them to make sure there was no confusion.
This, however, had a different effect: all five of them proceeded to pass out from shock.
I quickly closed my mouth in mild annoyance.
I hope this doesn't become a recurring thing.
I quickly closed the door and headed towards the main farmhouse, looking to finish the job.
There I saw a wooden bench and decided to sit and wait for the rest of the guards to come back.
After a while, the guards came back to the farm with annoyed looks on their faces.
Some were covered in dirt while others were covered in scratches.
They seemed to notice me and approached.
"Hey pipsqueak! What the hell are you doing here? This is private property!" the guard said, pissed off.
I stared at him, examining his features—he kind of resembled a snake... an imp snake.
I guess that I don't have to wonder if I'm right or not... this is hell.
"Hey, stop ignoring me you litt—" Before the guard could finish, I slit his throat using my blade/nail, causing him to try and grip his throat to no avail.
He bled out quickly and with a loud thud he fell toward the ground.
This caused the others to ready themselves and attack me, but as they took a step closer the body began to turn into black sludge and sink into the earth.
This made the guards take a step back, wondering what had just happened.
"What in the name of Satan was that!" one guard screamed in confusion and fear.
Taking this advantage, I stepped off the bench and started to walk toward them.
This made them instinctively step back, but it was either stubbornness or fear that made them charge toward me.
One tried to stab my head with a small knife; this was quickly followed by his friend, who had a butcher's knife.
Not feeling particularly threatened by the small knife, I didn't counterattack, letting him stab my forehead.
Surprisingly—or not surprisingly—his knife shattered the moment it made contact.
I used my blade/nail to stab him in the head; I guess his head wasn't as strong as mine.
This caused his friend to stop his charge, but that moment of hesitation quickly cost him.
I quickly threw my nail at him, piercing his head and my blade/nail getting stuck inside it.
I ran toward him to retrieve my nail and charged the rest of the guards.
Seeing their comrades so easily killed, they decided to keep a distance, making sure not to let me get closer.
The rest, who had bows and crossbows, started shooting at me, hoping to wear me down over time.
And to no one's surprise, the arrows bounced off harmlessly toward the ground, not even leaving a scratch on my hard exoskeleton.
Though I was quite annoyed by how they're able to keep their distance from me.
And as if on cue, I seemed to dash forward a short distance without any form of leverage.
I then looked behind and saw a pair of wings... huh... that useful.
Using my newly discovered wings, I used them to great effect and quickly closed the distance between me and the guards.
Each strike was a fatal blow, each strike making sure that they didn't have to suffer—though they deserved it, I wasn't a psychopath who enjoyed the suffering of others.
This continued for a few minutes until there were only two left, both looking completely scared out of their wits.
They both looked at each other and, with silent agreement,they ran in different directions.
I quickly ran after one of them, closing the distance and ending them.
I quickly turned to try and reach the other one, but to my surprise he was already down.
I looked closer and noticed an arrow in the back of his head. I looked in the direction where the shot had been fired and saw Maylin with a bow.
She noticed me and smiled; she then proceeded to give me two thumbs up.
I looked at her for a second and gave her a thumbs up of my own.
Mission accomplished.