Unfortunately, even caught off guard, The Starving One was still one fast bitch with good reflexes so Priscilla didn't get the knockout hit that she wanted to take the cannibal out of the fight entirely before it even began.

But that didn't mean that Priscilla missed.

One of the spikes sank into The Starving One's eye before cutting through the woman's eyelid and leaving a bloody tear through the woman's face. Asha's spikes went through The Starving One's skin like warm butter, leaving four jagged scars down the length of her face, carving into the side of her nose as blood ran down in red rivers over the torn flesh that had peeled back from muscle, revealing the white bone beneath.

As The Starving One screamed in pain and outrage, clutching at her ruined face as tears mixed with blood, Priscilla was already moving, shaking off the gore on her hand as she rushed the Raven, who was frozen as she stared at The Starving One's wound in shock.

Priscilla grabbed the woman by her feathered cape and heaved, utilizing one of the few proper martial arts moves she had learned alongside Mr. –– to toss the woman over her shoulder into the roaring fire that was a few feet away, which Priscilla had made larger a few minutes earlier at The Starving One's request. The Raven fell into the flames back first, shrieking as her cape caught alight and feathers and ash rose through the air. Her mask, which had been pushed up so she could glare at Priscilla, was knocked askew into the coals as the woman flailed while trying to pull herself out of the fire.

That's when everything erupted into true chaos around the camp, but Priscilla couldn't spare any focus for her friends' struggles, trusting that they'd survive while she kept these two distracted.

The Starving One's hands were bloody as she tried in vain to stop the bleeding, her sharp but delicate beauty now turned monstrous from the mess Priscilla made of her face. Only half of her injured eye was covered by the upper eyelid, as blood mixed with whatever an eye was made of flowed over the edge of the torn eyelid. You could now see a few of The Starving One's sharp teeth through the gap in the cheek as the woman wheezed in pain, each breath sending more droplets of blood spraying. The blood had stained the front of the beautiful blue dress in a way that reminded Priscilla of a bleeding heart pigeon.

The Starving One locked one furious lavender eye on Priscilla and opened her mouth so wide it tore at some of the fragile pieces of skin.

A torrent of flame erupted from the cannibal's mouth right at Priscilla.

Priscilla had been expecting that attack since she watched the cannibal eat the Firebog Wolf and threw herself to the side as she ducked, the heat of the flame rushing overhead. She rushed forward, unhooking the bat from her side to try to sweep The Starving One's legs out from underneath her, hopefully breaking a bone or two in the process and keep the woman down.

But the stupid Raven had rolled out of the fire, abandoning her cape and tossed two darts from her pocket with a ragged cry.

Priscilla dodged the one aimed at her head by ducking, but the one aimed at Priscilla's left arm connected because Priscilla had committed to the swing. It sank into her bicep where the fucking wolf had burned her earlier, though the dart itself didn't hurt that much.

However, an immediate, tingling numbness swept through Priscilla's arm, so when the bat came near The Starving One's leg with far less power than originally planned, the woman caught it easily.

The Starving One wrenched the bat out of Priscilla's grip and tossed it aside as Priscilla stumbled away, putting some distance between her and the cannibal and her crony, who had picked herself up out of the fire and was shaking ash from her hair.

Priscilla raised her fists in a protective stance even though she couldn't feel her left fingers, mind racing to figure out how the fuck she was going to survive.

…

The stupid wolf-man's jaw was hanging open as he stared at where the cannibal leader was screaming, clutching her face after Priscilla had successfully attacked her, and Sulaiman would be a fool to not take advantage of that.

Sulaiman threw Rudy to the side, the man collapsing with a groan as his broken jaw thudded into the ground. Anger had taken over Sulaiman when he watched Illnyea suffer, and then this stupid waste of oxygen tried to blow their cover, taunting Priscilla and trying to get a reaction out of her.

Shutting him up had provided an easy outlet for Sulaiman's rage. It was so easy to break his jaw, so easy to listen to the way Rudy groaned in pain. The way the man looked up with fear in his eyes, struggling and failing to get away, made Sulaiman feel powerful in a way that could become addictive.

Rudy had been one of the folks who never let Sulaiman forget that he was a Muloian orphan who Illnyea had taken pity on, reminding Sulaiman constantly that his place in the world was below Rudy's. The merchant had reveled in holding power over Sulaiman, reveled in the way that Sulaiman couldn't react to the insults without risking his job or housing.

But that didn't matter now.

Sulaiman drew his sword and readied his shield as he sprinted at the wolf-man's unprotected back. Two steps away, Sulaiman murmured the phrase that would coat his sword in flames and then he thrust forward towards the spine to sever it.

Unfortunately, the wolf-man's instincts had him cocking his head when Sulaiman's foot brushed against the ground. He reflexively lurched forward so Sulaiman only landed a shallow cut along the man's back and side, though half of the stinking wolf's pelt fell away, burning on the ground.

The wolf-man whirled around with a snarl. Night had fully fallen now, and the only light in the camp came from the campfire and the burning braziers around the perimeter, so the wolf-man's face was cast in deep shadows as he bared his teeth like a filthy animal.

"I never liked you, Lala," the wolf-man spat as he pulled forth his massive club menacingly and a crackle of electricity ran down it. "I should have killed you the moment you dared to glare at me."

To that, Sulaiman had nothing to say.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Speaking during a battle was just a waste of energy, especially when your opponent was so obviously an imbecile.

Sulaiman watched the wolf-man carefully. The man was talented with lightning magic, was both taller and heavier than Sulaiman, and was stronger than an average human due to those bloody runes on his chest, so even if the wolf-man was lacking in the brains department, he was still a deadly opponent. If Sulaiman didn't fight smart, he could end up in an unfavorable position and end up dead, leaving Illnyea, Priscilla, and Kavil to fend for themselves, which was a future that Sulaiman found unacceptable.

Sparring with Priscilla had shown Sulaiman he ought to be watching the musculature of his opponents to predict their actions. The wolf-man helpfully didn't wear a shirt, so Sulaiman saw the man's muscles ripple before he even attacked.

The wolf-man raised his club, seemingly intent on bashing Sulaiman's head, but Sulaiman angled his body and his shield so that the club slid down the metal surface with a screech and slammed into the ground. Even though it was just redirecting the momentum, the impact was painful and would leave large bruises blooming on Sulaiman's arm, which now tingled from the electricity running through the shield.

Taking a blow like that head on would likely break Sulaiman's shield and arm both, so Sulaiman would have to avoid that as much as he could.

Sulaiman thrust forward as the club hit the ground as a counter-attack, aiming for the wolf-man's thigh, hoping to cripple him or at least cut through the femoral artery so he'd bleed out.

But the wolf-man grunted, and used his arm to knock Sulaiman's blow off course. His arm was burned for the maneuver, but he pushed against the flat of the blade so he was not nearly as damaged as Sulaiman would have hoped.

How vexing.

Sulaiman was considering the next avenue of attack when the wolf-man threw his head back and howled, the sound momentarily throwing Sulaiman off-balance from how stunningly loud it was. It must have been magically enhanced because it left Sulaiman's ears ringing.

The wolf-man then threw his head forward, his forehead smacking painfully against Sulaiman's.

Sulaiman blinked a few times to chase away the stars as he stumbled back, but he didn't lose his footing, keeping his shield up as he was taught.

That was a good thing, considering the wolf-man slammed his club into it a moment later, hitting it so hard the metal rung as it was dented, and forced Sulaiman to take a few steps backwards.

"Fuck," Sulaiman hissed in pain as he tried to put space between him and the wolf-man. His arm wasn't broken, but it throbbed painfully and his fingers were twitching from the electricity.

The wolf-man just grinned savagely. "Ready or not, here I come, Lala."

…

Kavil had been trying his best to distance himself from those he had poisoned and edge closer to where Illnyea had been left on the ground. Sulaiman had gone off to deal with one of the prisoners who apparently knew Priscilla and wanted to expose her, and Kavil's instincts told him it'd be only a matter of moments before everything went to, as Priscilla would eloquently put it, absolute shit.

Kavil ignored the way the cannibal's followers collapsed, clutching at their failing heart as they gasped with lungs that no longer sucked in life-giving air and their brain would soon cease working altogether as their organs shut down one by one. He tried not to focus on the fact that he was the one who killed them.

When Priscilla launched her surprise attack against the cannibal's leader, Kavil took the opportunity to kneel next to Illnyea.

"You don't know me, Illnyea, but I'm here to help," Kavil whispered as he reached for the blindfold tied at the back of Illnyea's head. The girl jerked as Kavil touched her but she didn't struggle or lash out as he tugged the knot free.

Illnyea blinked up at Kavil, her gold eyes wide with confusion. Despite what Sulaiman had said, Kavil did think Illnyea looked like her sister – it was in the cheekbones and the stubborn curve of their jaws. But there were more important things to focus on than familial similarity.

"I'm Kavil and I'm here with Sulaiman and Priscilla," Kavil whispered just loud enough for Illnyea to hear as he glanced over Illnyea for any more obvious injuries. "We're going to get you out of here."

The shield on her restrained arm had an odd melted quality to it, warped around Illnyea's forearm so tightly that Kavil feared they may have to cut it off her before he could heal any wound underneath it completely. Besides that, it seemed that the other scrapes were just superficial, but Kavil wouldn't know about any internal injuries until he had the chance to do a thorough examination.

The girl's eyes went wide. "Holly too?"

Kavil went to nod but Illnyea's gaze went unfocused, looking over his shoulder.

"Watch out!" Illnyea said, lurching her entire body forward to shove Kavil to the side despite being restrained.

Just in time too, as a sword thudded into the dirt where Kavil had just been.

It was one of the followers who had only recently drank the tea Kavil had given them, her angry gaze locked on Kavil.

"You…" the woman said accusingly. "You did this!"

Kavil pushed himself away from Illnyea, putting the injured girl behind him as his mind raced. His heart was in his throat as Kavil tried to think – what would Priscilla do?

Protect Illnyea, which Kavil had already done, and then take out the enemy.

There wasn't time to consider what would be the smartest or safest option like Sulaiman would have, so Kavil just did the first thing that came to mind.

He jumped at the woman's hips, tackling her to the ground. She hadn't been expecting that and fell onto her back hard, the sword falling from her hands.

Kavil scrambled and placed his palm against the woman's stomach as magic coated his hand. It sank into his enemy and Kavil forced it to find the poison that was already in the woman's body to do the reverse of what he had done during Priscilla's experiment.

The woman struggled and hit Kavil with her fist, but it was from an awkward angle so Kavil was able to ignore the pain. The only thing that existed to Kavil right now was the poison within the woman's bloodstream and Kavil's magic, coaxing the poison to spread further and faster, infusing into every vein and organ it passed until it finally made it to her heart to deprive it of oxygen.

The woman rained down blows, but the woman began to shake under Kavil's palm, clutching at her heart and gasping, leaving long red scratches in her skin as she tried to stop the pain in vain. Soon her eyes went wide and glassy, staring at the muddled sky above, and her body went limp, the arm that had been wailing on Kavil falling to the ground with finality.

Kavil scrambled back, breathing hard.

It had felt like an eternity, but only five seconds had passed since he tackled the woman.

He had killed someone in that short time, had felt the life drain from her beneath his hands.

It was different than just offering poisoned tea knowing that it sealed their fate, this felt real and personal in a way that was sure to haunt his nightmare and Kavil felt like he had to vomit. He wanted to drag himself before a tree and confess his sins to Gaelea so that he might be able to earn Her forgiveness and learn how he may repent as he wept against the bark.

But there was no time for any of that.

Kavil turned to Illnyea, who was staring at him with wide eyes as she struggled to right herself.

What a wonderful first impression I've made, Kavil thought bitterly as he pushed himself up.

"Let's–" Kavil's voice cracked and he took a deep breath in to feel more steady before helping Illnyea sit up. "Let's get you untied, alright?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.