Zero
Lord of Altera
'Creators of dust and ash. Claws and teeth made only to limit the number of man, to claim the wilds and keep humanity locked in its little cage. This was what we face in the wilds. Beasts with no minds meant only to kill us.'
Howls filled the night as Six sat atop the roof and watched the fires of the street lamps sway in the oncoming wind. Her brown hair blowing into her face and making her keep one eye shut. Her crimson gaze watched the city watch below. The ones sworn to protect all from both threats inside the city as well as out in the wilds, should they ever attack.
Standing silently and looking down the four story drop she sighed. Her favorite place up high. The highest place in the city minus the church was the city inn. A place she had called home since she was but a small child. A child lost without a home or family. Parents that she had learned were killed by the dust...
Climbing down to the third story window she slipped into the small room she had been working for every day. She worked down below in the tavern during the day but stayed out of it at night. She didn't like having people look at her with those hungry eyes... those eyes that matched the beasts outside.
Looking over at the desk she walked over and set her hand against the cold metal that lay atop it. A single sheathed blade that she had gotten with some of her extra pay. It rested outside of its sheath at the time, her fingers running over its green tinted metal making her finger tips tingle with the slight nerve toxin forged into the blade.
She had never really understood the forging process to inlay the blade with the toxin, but soon it wasn’t going to matter. Either she would be dead before the dawn or she would haunt the woods till that was the end to her story.
Revenge... Wrath... It flowed through her veins since the day she had found out the fate of her family. The fate of so many families that didn’t have the coin to live further inside the city. The edges... the skirts of the city were invaded... invaded so often that it wasn’t news anymore to people... just more housing that would be burned then rebuilt... More souls lost to an enemy that wasn't going to leave unless it was made to leave.
Taking a deep breath she lifted the blade and held it with both hands. Its weight had been so much at first... but now it seemed light as a feather. A feather that would be stained soon enough she thought sheathing the blade before fixing it to her side. Dawning a light set of hardened leather armor and a cloak already ripped and shredded in places she climbed out of the window once more before dropping into the street and starting to the place where her family had been killed.
The number of guardsmen grew smaller the more she headed to the skirt of the city. A place filled with the smell of dead and the smell of decay. Walking the streets at night here was almost a death wish, yet sometimes that was all someone wanted. Was a death wish.
Feeling the snow start to crunch under her feet, Six kept a hand on her sword as she rounded the corner. Down the road from her were two of the large hunters. Human like husks that were covered in scales and had razor claws almost like a hawks talons on their fingers. Their black and blank eyes turned to look at her as their growled and started running toward her ready to have their first meal of the night.
Drawing the blade with a small ring the first outstretched claw hand met the first bite of both blade and toxin. Its hand flying skyward without an arm to be attached to. The second found the point of the blade digging into its left lung before being ripped to the side. Each one let out a cry of pain that was quickly silenced as the toxin bit into the back of their necks before the blade removed their heads from their necks.
Their death cries quickly drawing more and more of the husks from the woodwork that surrounded her. Houses with blood covered glass or bashed in doors. Their surrounded Six and looked at her with those hungry eyes she had come to hate.
Yet, rather than fear, she only felt a fire inside. A fire of hate and wrath toward the beasts. A hate toward their mindlessness... hate for their corrupted forms of humanity. A blackness. One that she wasn’t going to step out of now.
Cries of beasts echoed in the air as they started their attack. Their claws ripping the cloak away and digging deep into the leather as they flung themselves at the girl and her anger. An anger that only grew with each one that she killed. Each limb, each heart that she made stop its rhythmic beat.
With the rise of the sun, Six leaned on her blood soaked blade. Its blade now a deep crimson as it stayed within the chest of another husk. The last one she had killed in the night. Her breathing coming in gasps and drown out panting. Falling forward onto the ground, she drawing what she thought would be her final breath. Her final breath before seeing her family at long last. One where she felt the blood filling her lungs. Yet even in the blackness she felt her limp body being picked up by someone with a slow and stead heartbeat.
Howls filled the night as Six sat atop the roof and watched the fires of the street lamps sway in the oncoming wind. Her brown hair blowing into her face and making her keep one eye shut. Her crimson gaze watched the city watch below. The ones sworn to protect all from both threats inside the city as well as out in the wilds, should they ever attack.
Standing silently and looking down the four story drop she sighed. Her favorite place up high. The highest place in the city minus the church was the city inn. A place she had called home since she was but a small child. A child lost without a home or family. Parents that she had learned were killed by the dust...
Climbing down to the third story window she slipped into the small room she had been working for every day. She worked down below in the tavern during the day but stayed out of it at night. She didn't like having people look at her with those hungry eyes... those eyes that matched the beasts outside.
Looking over at the desk she walked over and set her hand against the cold metal that lay atop it. A single sheathed blade that she had gotten with some of her extra pay. It rested outside of its sheath at the time, her fingers running over its green tinted metal making her finger tips tingle with the slight nerve toxin forged into the blade.
She had never really understood the forging process to inlay the blade with the toxin, but soon it wasn’t going to matter. Either she would be dead before the dawn or she would haunt the woods till that was the end to her story.
Revenge... Wrath... It flowed through her veins since the day she had found out the fate of her family. The fate of so many families that didn’t have the coin to live further inside the city. The edges... the skirts of the city were invaded... invaded so often that it wasn’t news anymore to people... just more housing that would be burned then rebuilt... More souls lost to an enemy that wasn't going to leave unless it was made to leave.
Taking a deep breath she lifted the blade and held it with both hands. Its weight had been so much at first... but now it seemed light as a feather. A feather that would be stained soon enough she thought sheathing the blade before fixing it to her side. Dawning a light set of hardened leather armor and a cloak already ripped and shredded in places she climbed out of the window once more before dropping into the street and starting to the place where her family had been killed.
The number of guardsmen grew smaller the more she headed to the skirt of the city. A place filled with the smell of dead and the smell of decay. Walking the streets at night here was almost a death wish, yet sometimes that was all someone wanted. Was a death wish.
Feeling the snow start to crunch under her feet, Six kept a hand on her sword as she rounded the corner. Down the road from her were two of the large hunters. Human like husks that were covered in scales and had razor claws almost like a hawks talons on their fingers. Their black and blank eyes turned to look at her as their growled and started running toward her ready to have their first meal of the night.
Drawing the blade with a small ring the first outstretched claw hand met the first bite of both blade and toxin. Its hand flying skyward without an arm to be attached to. The second found the point of the blade digging into its left lung before being ripped to the side. Each one let out a cry of pain that was quickly silenced as the toxin bit into the back of their necks before the blade removed their heads from their necks.
Their death cries quickly drawing more and more of the husks from the woodwork that surrounded her. Houses with blood covered glass or bashed in doors. Their surrounded Six and looked at her with those hungry eyes she had come to hate.
Yet, rather than fear, she only felt a fire inside. A fire of hate and wrath toward the beasts. A hate toward their mindlessness... hate for their corrupted forms of humanity. A blackness. One that she wasn’t going to step out of now.
Cries of beasts echoed in the air as they started their attack. Their claws ripping the cloak away and digging deep into the leather as they flung themselves at the girl and her anger. An anger that only grew with each one that she killed. Each limb, each heart that she made stop its rhythmic beat.
With the rise of the sun, Six leaned on her blood soaked blade. Its blade now a deep crimson as it stayed within the chest of another husk. The last one she had killed in the night. Her breathing coming in gasps and drown out panting. Falling forward onto the ground, she drawing what she thought would be her final breath. Her final breath before seeing her family at long last. One where she felt the blood filling her lungs. Yet even in the blackness she felt her limp body being picked up by someone with a slow and stead heartbeat.
