15 January 2024

Six months after the seal over the demon king shattered

“...after six months, the police are still no closer to cracking the case, and they are calling it closed until new evidence shows up. Meanwhile, across the country…”

Kyra rolled her eyes and flipped the television off. The TV was one of the few “modern” conveniences she’d actually gotten used to. It wasn’t so different from the town criers, or the theater performances Fera used to drag everyone to. “Okay, kiddos, time to clean up.”

There was a chorus of groans from the orphanage kids, but they obediently began putting their toys and things away. At least, until one of the younger ones, Lacey, looked out the window. “It’s Mela! Mela’s back!”

13 January 2024

This was a strange exercise trying to figure out if I could capture emotional snapshots of key scenes, and use that to tell a short story. I’m not super happy with how that succeeded, but I think it was good practice all the same.

1) It was an ordinary sort of town, the type you might find anywhere. Rural, quiet. The kind of place were things never really happened. The books loved these sorts of places; they could make things happen there, leave the audience wondering if it could happen to them, too. Of course, it never does.

Kids go to school. Parents go to work. The biggest threats in anyone’s lives are their ever-looming debts, but for the most part, even those feel far off and distant. Tomorrow’s problem. And only for adults. For a teenager, the scariest problem is if the guy or girl they like would ever like them back.

2) Then, an explosion. A burst of light and sound. Maybe distant, perhaps the classroom next door. Screams and panic. People rushing, shouting, pushing into each other. You have to get out. There has to be a way out!

Outside isn’t better. Rivers of people flood the streets. The current pushes everyone; young, old, small, large. No one can fight it. A little girl cowers in the corner; a hand reaches out, but the current pulls it away before it can reach her. More explosions ring out from behind.

3) Stunned silence fills the room. It’s plain, with cheap flooring and beige walls. A table and a handful of chairs are scattered around, occupied by a group of worn and weary fighters. All looking to you.

12 January 2024

Lena felt quite pleased with herself. She and Frieda had managed to score an invitation to one of the western countries, announcing the birth of the new crown princess. If things went well, they might even gain recognition as the fairies who opened the door to the west for the fae. And considering how tense the east has been after that fiasco with Maleficent… Well, even if things didn’t pan out, it should still be safer here than back there.

And things were going well, too. Standard gifts, health, beauty, what have you.

11 January 2024

Wow, this was short.

Then the tower rocked her chair, and Rapunzel jumped up. It took her a second to process what was happening, but as soon as she had, she squeaked and threw the sheet back over the painting.

Not a moment later, Mother’s voice called through the door. “Rapunzel, [honey], are you in here?” The door opened, and a rather mousy-looking women in a white dress with a blue apron came in. Rapunzel was surprised; that was the look Mother wore when she planned to head outside.

10 January 2024

As you can see, though, I decided to have a very different sort of Rapunzel. I couldn’t convince myself that the more badass version wouldn’t have left on her own years ago, no matter what excuses I made. Even if such excuses would work in real life, if I can’t believe it, how will I convince my readers to buy into it

Yes, Rapunzel had figured out the truth of her real family several years ago, now. She’d thought about leaving the Tower to go and meet them. Once, she’d even snuck out and gotten as far as the nearby village.

As soon as she’d arrived at the fringes, however, she froze up. There were so many people. Each of them had their own dreams, feelings, hurts, worries, goals. How was Rapunzel supposed to talk to any of them? What was she supposed to say? Mother Gathel, as well-meaning as she was, could be a lot all by herself. How was Rapunzel supposed to handle a whole town’s worth of people?

So she ran back. And any time Rapunzel so much as thought about leaving, she’d panic and decide it wasn’t so bad staying in the Tower, anyway.

Not that it would matter much at this point. She only had a [few weeks] left to live, anyway. It seemed almost cruel to go meet them now, when she’d just be taken away again so soon.

Rapunzel shook the morose thoughts from her head and focused on her painting. Queen Hannah always seemed to have a kind and gentle face; it soothed Rapunzel’s soul as she got lost trying to recreate it. She was so focused, in fact, that at first she didn’t notice the Tower’s warning.

9 January 2024

Once I got back, I realized I wanted to see if I could actually finish draft 2 of Rapunzel. So I was writing that. I also decided I am perfectly okay posting that here. …Not that I did much at first. It was hard to get back into the swing of things, I guess.

Rapunzel stretched her arms high as she made her way out of bed. It felt like a good day. “Good morning, Tower!”

The Tower clacked a few floor tiles in reply, then helped lift Rapunzel’s hair out of the way while she got dressed. Then she wound her way downstairs to the kitchen, where a breakfast of bacon and eggs waited for her. Rapunzel beamed. “Thanks!”

She ate quickly, then wove through several rooms and passageways to her paint studio, where her current project lay hidden under a sheet. Rapunzel didn’t want to upset Mother, after all.

She looked around, and just to be safe, she asked, “Is Mother awake yet?”

Several bricks in the far wall spun around to make a red “x”, and Rapunzel heaved a sigh of relief. She removed the blanket and stared at her latest work in progress; a portrait of her mother. Her real mother, not the fairy pretending to be. The queen of Lowenveil.

9 November 2023

The scene at the bottom, where she gets drunk, feels like one of the best I’ve written for this story. It’s become one of the anchor points; the ways I can tell if my ideas are drifting too far from the point of the story. It should be about Kyra, and how she handles her whole world shifting around her.

And sadly, it seems to be the last thing I wrote all year.

…one of her axes.

Brinja’s eyes went wide. “It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s supposed to do that! That’s how the car moves!”

Kyra forced herself to relax. “So you have some manner of beast or demon caged to move the vehicle forward?”

“No, not exactly… Well, kinda? I guess you could see it that way…” Brinja pondered for a moment and shrugged. “Close enough.”

More confused than ever, Kyra settled into her seat. Brinja pulled a strap across herself and shifted a lever. Then the car started to move. At first, Kyra focused on what Brinja was doing. Knowing how to control one of these strange carriages might be important later. Once they exited the gorge, however, Kyra couldn’t focus on anything other than the city before her. It was well past dusk, and it looked to Kyra as if the stars themselves had climbed down from the skies to light up the city. “Is… is that…?”

Brinja grinned widely. “Welcome to New Naothair. You probably knew it as Krotlin, though.”

Kyra set her jaw. Of course the sight was incredible. Awe-inspiring, even, especially when from her perspective, just the other day it was a festering camp with few, if any, permanent structures beyond the demon king’s castle. But at the same time… No, exactly because of that, it served as a stark reminder that Kyra didn’t belong here. That this entire world was foreign to her.

It took another twenty minutes or so to reach Brinja’s apartment. Kyra had to admit, the trip was far smoother than riding would have been, or any carriage she’d ever been on before.

[Later scene, written later in the day]

Kyra knew she’d had too much to drink. She couldn’t bring herself to care, though; at least her memories had finally stopped hurting her for the moment. Had stopped trying to pry their way into her brain, to torment her with what would never be.

She stumbled out of the bar and managed to keep herself mostly upright as she headed back towards Brinja’s apartment. Kyra felt a twinge of guilt when she realized the girl was probably worried about her right now. Maybe she should get one of those infernal phone things. Even if it was a hassle, at least she’d be able to reach Brinja and let her know she was fine.

By the time Kyra noticed the men following her, she was already pretty much surrounded. She groaned to herself and fumbled for her axes, before she remembered she’d left them at the apartment at Brinja’s insistence.

One of the men, a blonde boy with a leering smile, reached out toward her face. “Hey, pretty lady! Why don’t you come with us? We’ll show–”

Before he could actually touch her, Kyra grabbed his arm and bent it back the wrong direction. While he screamed, she grabbed him by the lapel and tossed him into his cronies off to the side. “Buzz off, assholes. I’m not in the mood.”

With tears in his eyes, the blonde screamed, “Get her!”

Kyra had trouble remembering the details of that fight. She did remember it was brutal, though. Between the alcohol and her exhaustion, she was running on instinct… and before she’d entered the seal, she’d trained to kill, not spare, her enemies.

At some point, a couple of them pulled out some strange new weapon that launched powerful projectiles. But they were generally meant to be used at range, and it was all too easy for Kyra to dart in too close and take their weapons.

Once everything was said and done, she stood alone, hands bloody, amid a pile of corpses. She was pretty sure two or three of them had gotten away, but she didn’t feel particularly worried. In fact, if anything, she felt weirdly energized right then, even smiling a bit.

At least, until she heard Brinja’s voice behind her.

“Kyra?”

8 November 2023

Mela’s expression was inscrutable while she looked Kyra up and down. “So it is true, then. You really are the next demon king.”

Kyra narrowed her eyes. “Is that going to be a problem?”

With a harsh bark of laughter, Mela waved out across the city below them. “You see this? They don’t need us anymore. Saintesses? Demon kings? As far as they’re concerned, it’s all just stories.” She snorted and shook her head. “Not that those old fools at the church realize that.”

For several moments, the two women just watched the hustle and bustle of the city below them. Finally, Kyra asked, “So, what now? What are you going to do?”

Rather than answer, Mera simply smiled. For some reason, that expression made Kyra’s stomach churn.

(Afternoon writing below)

Brinja offered to let Kyra stay the night in her apartment, and without anywhere else to go, Kyra accepted. The girl led her to a small vehicle; Kyra assumed it was a carriage of some sort, but she saw now place to tether animals, and the whole contraption sat quite low to the ground.

The interior was no less strange. The seats were covered in some kind of carpet, and they all faced one direction, rather than facing each other. Kyra sat down and discovered the seats were soft enough they would not have been out of place in a nobleman’s carriage. “How important is your family to own carriage’s like this?”

Brinja blinked, then started laughing. “This? This is just a [Honda Civic]. The expensive cars are much nicer, trust me.” Then she inserted a key of some kind, and the carriage itself roared.

Kyra jumped in her seat, reaching down for one of her axes. “What sort of sorcery is this?”

6 November 2024

Brinja knew she should have already left. All the other researchers had already gone back home, and it was getting late. A mere intern like her really had no business studying the old demon king seal this late; anything she could figure out, someone else had already researched in depth.

And yet, here she was. She couldn’t help herself. Brinja had grown up on stories of the saintess Fera and her epic battle with the demon king, of the sacrifice of the great warrior Kyra, and all the legends surrounding them. The seal was the greatest evidence those old heroes had actually lived.

With a sigh, she stopped poking and prodding. It really was getting late, and as safe as the city was, it still wasn’t the best idea for a college-aged woman to go walking around by herself in the dark.

While she gathered her things, however, the seal lit up with an eerie, purple glow. Brinja froze, unable to do anything but watch as glowing cracks creeped along the face of the seal. In a bright burst of light, the seal collapsed, revealing a three-meter tall figure. A crown of horns curled around his head, and wicked claws tipped the fingers on his hands.

Brinja let out a squeak of terror, but the figure only tipped forward and collapsed into dust. Behind it stood a woman, roughly in her late 30s, wearing a well-worn set of armor from around three or four hundred years ago.

It took a moment for Brinja’s thoughts to catch up to what she was seeing. Once they did, though, they exploded out from there. This couldn’t be… She wasn’t…

The woman noticed Brinja and flashed her a weary smile. “Hello there. I’m Kyra.” She collapsed against the wall and took a deep breath. “Sorry if this seems strange, but could you tell me what year it is?”

Kyra didn’t know what to make of the series of expressions that flashed across the young woman’s face, before she finally settled into a grin so wide it unnerved Kyra a bit. “Oh, wow. It really is, you really are…! Ah ha! This is amazing!” The girl froze and coughed once. “Erm. Sorry about that. It is 329 PDK, or Post Demon King.” She scooted closer. “Are you really the Kyra? The one that traveled with the saintess Fera and fought the demon king?”

For a moment, Kyra couldn’t respond. Three hundred years? Already? Though it did make a strange sort of sense. “Yeah. That’s me.”

Once again, the girl’s eyes lit up, and Kyra half expected her to jump up and do a jig or something. She managed to contain herself, though, and stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Brinja!”

5 November 2023

Their little campfire burned low, barely enough to cook on. Considering how deep they were into demon territory, it would probably have been better to do without completely, but none of them really pushed the issue.

Caldwell was telling them about some yearly festival they had back in his hometown, but Kyra was only half listening. Instead, she watched Gavin and Fera carefully. There was an odd tension between the two. Gavin’s jaw had been clenched all evening, and he didn’t sit next to Fera like he’d been doing. For her part, Fera shrank into herself, and she couldn’t stop fiddling with the engagement ring Gavin had given her. It was the exact opposite of how Kyra expected them to react after Gavin finally popped the question.

She knew Caldwell had been trying to ease the tension in his own way but it didn’t seem to make a significant difference. So as soon as there was a lull, she interrupted his story. “So what the hell is going on with the two of you? You’re acting like someone died, not like you just got engaged.”

“Actually, I… I turned him down.”

Kyra blinked slowly. She looked down at the ring Fera was fiddling with, then back up to her face. “What.”

Fera’s shoulders curled in even tighter. With no small trace of bitterness in his voice, Gavin said, “Tell them. They’re your friends. They have a right to know.”

At his words, Fera’s hands clenched tight. Kyra’s own stomach twisted,, but she never took her eyes off of Fera. For several long moments, no one spoke.

When Fera finally did speak, her voice cracked. “I… Even if everything goes well, I… I won’t be coming back. Even if the demon king dies, he’ll just come back. We have to seal him up, and to do that, I… I have to seal myself in with him.”

By the time she finished speaking, tears dripped down her cheeks. Despite that, still, she smiled, small and soft.

Kyra couldn’t tell if her thoughts had frozen in place, or if she was thinking so many things at once it all bled into nothingness. Once she’d started to calm down, her thoughts flickered to a desolate homestead, long ago. To the bloodied face her her dear husband, Roylan. To the immobile bodies of her two sons.

It was happening again. She’d finally healed enough to reach out to other people, to care about other people again, and she was going to lose them. And once more, there was nothing she could do about it.

She barely noticed the roar of anguish that tore through her throat, or the crack as she hurled one of her prized axes into the nearest tree. By the time her mind cleared, her own cheeks were wet, and she collapsed to her knees.

Kyra thought back to the bastards at the church, the ones sitting pretty on their thrones, while they sent a young girl–barely even nineteen–to give up her life for them. “Damn them. Damn them all.”

3 November 2023

I really struggled when I tried to participate in Nanowrimo for 2023. It didn’t go well, as you will see.

Three hundred years.

Three hundred years.

Kyra shouldn’t have been surprised; she’d known the seal was supposed to last a long time. She’d known all her friends would likely be dead if she ever got out. But then again… she hadn’t actually thought she’d ever get out, had she?

But she hadn’t died like she was supposed to. Instead, here she was, alone, again. And this time, the world itself felt foreign.

Kyra felt this keenly when Brinja pulled out a small, black tablet with shaking hands. She tapped on it a few times, then held it up to her ear. Considering everything the girl must have been through, she was holding herself together fairly well; Kyra was impressed.

The tablet produced a ringing sound, and then a woman’s voice emerged. “This is the Krotlin City Police Department. What is your emergency?”

Kyra jumped at the voice, but before she could react, Brinja replied, “H-hi, yes. My name’s Brinja Sonorak. I… I was kidnapped by some demon cultists, but I… They… they’re all dead now.”

There was a pause. “I see. Do you know your location, Miss Sonorak?”

“I-I’m not sure, but I think they took me to the demon king’s seal.”

“Okay, we have people on their way. Are you alright? Are you injured in any way?”

“N-no, I’m not injured. The person who rescued me stopped them before they could hurt me.”

“Is that person with you now?”

“Is that person with you still?”

“Yes. U-um…” Brinja shot a glance at Kyra. “She said her name is Kyra. And… and I think she’s probably the Kyra.”

There was a long moment of silence. “Could you tell me exactly what happened, Miss Sonorak?”

So she did. The more Kyra heard, the less she regretted killing the lot. Seriously, had nothing changed in that three hundred years she’d been sealed?

Then, she heard a series of roars and squeals, accompanied by blaring red and blue lights racing toward them. Kyra stepped protectively in front of Brinja and readied her axe, right as three white beasts raced around the corner. Then they opened, and Kyra realized these were some manner of carriage. Men and women in dark uniforms poured out, pointing some sort of metal object her direction. One of them, a tall, burly man, called out, “Lower your weapons and put your hands on your head!”

1 October 2023

When the templar captain stopped Fera and Kyra on their way out, Kyra groaned internally. Logically, she’d known she’d had it easy so far. The [x]’s weeks travel from Naothair to Cathwain may have been uneventful, other than a rare bandit or five, but she’d always known traveling with the saintess would come with complications.

Still, Fera was the saintess, right? Didn’t that mean her word was supposed to be law or something for these churchy types? What was the point of getting stuck with the job if the girl got all the responsibilities with none of the perks?

“I appreciate your concern, Captain Neumann, but Kyra has proven herself perfectly capable of defending both my person and my honor.”

“And I am grateful for her efforts in escorting you here to Cathwain. But now, surely we can pay her what she’s due, and assign someone more capable to stand at your side?”

Kyra growled and rested one hand on the head of her ax. Before either she or Fera could respond to the templar, though, a bark of laughter sounded from the gate. The three turned to find a hooded man reclined against the doorway, flipping a knife between his fingers. “Capable? Like the way you lot handled the [] invasion? Or how the [slums] are an absolute icon of honor and civility?”

The templar’s hands tightened into fists. “At the very least, we should be more capable of defending the saintess than some drunkard off the street.”

Kyra opened her mouth to protest, then cocked her head. He kind of had a point. At least about the “drunkard off the street” bit. From what she’d seen, though, she figured she could take any of these “knight in shining armor” types.

Based on the shake of his head, the hooded man agreed. “You’ve not even seen the woman in action. Don’t you trust your little saintess’s judgment at all?” Fera protested, but the man ignored her. “Look at the way the woman carries herself. Ten gold says she’d be able to take any one of your people.”

A familiar feral grin spread across Kyra’s face. “Sounds fun. Care to test me, Captain?”

Fera muttered, “Oh, pickles.” Kyra pretended she hadn’t heard her.

30 September 2023

When Hanako woke up, she found herself in a lavish bedroom. The blankets covering her were of the highest quality, including silken sheets, and she’d been changed into a comfortable white kimono.

She sat up carefully and winced. Even with her unusually high regeneration, burn scars crawled up both her arms, and she had to push off a mild headache.

“The doctor informed me you are quite lucky to be alive; the burns alone would have debilitated most people, red oni or not.” A tall, full-figured woman stepped out from a corner of the room. Nine fluffy golden tails waved behind her, matching her long golden hair. Hanako realized this must be the woman who had helped her from the wall.

Hanako took a few deep breaths to center herself, then looked up at the woman. “How long have I been out? And how is the village? Was anyone hurt?”

The woman shook her head. “Fortunately, you arrived before my shield could shatter, and none of the oni who fled have returned.” She bowed to Hanako. “Thank you. It is because of your actions that Nanmoku is safe.”

With a nod, Hanako leaned back into her pillows. Then her eyebrows scrunched together. “What about their prisoners? They… took people from Tsurui. Are any of them…?”

The kitsune grimaced and looked away. “We’ve… done what we can. They’re still alive–the ones we found, at least–but even the ones without visible scars will not heal quickly from something like that.”

Hanako grimaced but nodded. She stared at the kitsune for a moment or two, then forced herself to sit back up and offer her hand. “My name’s Hanako.”

A smile appeared on the kitsune’s face as she accepted. “Mikuzume. It’s a pleasure.”

26 September 2023

After a moment or two, I stepped up next to the guard. For a while, neither of us spoke; we jest watched Elsenaia as she made plans with the rest of her guard. Then I said, “You know, I wasn’t in her head for very long. I could only get a general feel for things.”

Tairsi turned to me. I continued, “Even then, there was one memory that seemed to be the root of her entire worldview now. One small statement. ‘I guess princesses aren’t allowed to have friends.’”

Tairsi’s face paled. “But… but that was…”

“I know.” There was a bit more steel in my voice than I’d intended. “You were just kids. The situation wasn’t your fault. You were probably just repeating what the adults told you.” I leaned back to look at the treetops above us. “Still. When she needed a friend, someone who saw her for herself instead of her title… you turned away. After that… well, ‘Elsenaia’ has been locked away, in the depths of her mind, ever since. All to make room so she could become 'the Princess'”

By the set of her jaw, I could tell that Tairsi grit her teeth, but I had a hard time reading her beyond that. “Why are you telling me this?”

I paused. That was a good question. Was I trying to help them reconcile? It’d probably been too long for that. Even if it’s possible, there are better ways to go about it. Vindictiveness, maybe? That’s probably it. I wanted Tairsi to understand at least part of the pain she’s heaped on Elsenaia, to feel some of it for herself. “You’re right. I’m sorry; that wasn’t my place to say. I’m just… frustrated, I guess?”

“Yeah.” Tairsi looked down at her hands. “Do you have any ideas what we could do?”

I shrugged. “Not really. Ideally, I’d get her out of that damned castle and away from her family and duties and all that, but… I don’t think that’s possible.”

Tairsi frowned. A moment later, she stepped into the discussion.

23 September 2023

… no magic circle…”

As I got ready to respond, I noticed one of the other guards chanting under her breath, her eyes locked on Robin. I whipped my pistol out and point it at her right when Elsenaia stepped between everyone, arms outstretched. “Stop! Just, stop.”

Her eyes focused on the chanting guard, whose cheeks burned bright red before she averted her eyes from Elsenaia. I cautiously lowered my gun, but I didn’t return it to my holster.

Another of the guards, a man with forest-green hair, moved next to the blushing guard. “With all due respect, Your Highness, the humans attacked us. Shouldn’t we–”

“As I recall, Goodman Rivlett, it was Captain Darrett attacked first. And provoked or not, for a decorated captain of the guard to lose his composure so easily…” Elsenaia’s smile turned vindictive. “Well, that is quite the embarrassment, isn’t it, Captain Darrett?”

Darrett’s expression was as dark as a power outage on a moonless night, but he said nothing. Adam sidled up next to me, hands on his weapon. “Uh, by any chance, would you mind telling us what the heck is going on?”

“Well, basically, the guards are all freaking out because Robin took out their captain so easily. Especially since she wasn’t using any magic. So Elsenaia–that’s the princess, there–is telling them to knock it off, especially since her captain attacked us first. I think she wants to make peace with us.”

Elsenaia started a bit when I said “without magic”, but she recovered quickly. She turned to us and bowed her head. “That’s correct. I apologize for my rudeness earlier; we… didn’t really know what to expect.”

Adam and Robin remained wary, but I shrugged and waved it off. “It’s fine. I think.”

Adam gestured to Darrett. “I’m not so certain. If you don’t mind me asking, why did he try to attack my brother anyway?”

“Ah, that was probably my fault.” I flashed Adam a cheeky grin. “He was being an asshole, and I called him out on it.”

Robin chuckled while Adam sighed and shook his head. To all of our surprise, Elsenaia let out a loud burst of laughter, before she promptly clapped her hands over her mouth and her cheeks turned scarlet. All eyes, both elven and human, focused on her.

She focused for a moment or two, and then coughed and straightened her outfit. “Right. Well. Back to business.”

Most of the guards snapped themselves out of it, and they began discussing options. Tairsi, however, just watched Elsenaia in shock.

21 September 2023 part 2

Kyra had always figured traveling with the saintess was bound to come with complications. But this… this was something else. The [x] weeks’ travel from the holy city of Naothair to Cathwain had been uneventful, other than a rare bandit or several, and the fact Fera felt the need to check in at the local cathedrals seemed to come with the job description.

Then the templar captain had stopped them on their way out, with “concerns about the company her holiness was keeping”. Which… fine. It was annoying, but, fair. Kyra knew she wasn’t the most respectable person around, especially when she got herself drunk. Which was often.

No, Kyra’s issue was that the dumbass reused to listen to anything Fera had to say on the subject. Wasn’t she the saintess? Wasn’t her word supposed to be like law or something for these folks? What was even the point of being stuck with the job if the girl got all of the responsibilities but none of the benefits?

“My lady, please, I implore you. Let one of my templars take over as your bodyguard, and let this… drunkard… back to drowning whatever demons plague her elsewhere.”

“I appreciate your concern, Captain [Neumann], but Kyra has proven herself perfectly capable of defending both my person and my honor, regardless of her degree of inebriation. There’s really no need for you to be concerned.”

The templar–[Neaumann], Fera said?–blinked. “If the issue is a matter of gender, my lady, there are a number of women under my command who would be honored to serve at your side.

VERSION 1

Surely they can serve you better than this mercenary? There’s a large difference between fighting bandits and fighting demons.”

Next to her, Kyra heard Fera mutter, “Oh pickles.” Kyra wasn’t sure if that was because of her or the captain, but she wasn’t going to worry about it. She took a deep breath and glared at the templar. “So your brats know what it feels like, then? They’ve seen demons murder their family? Friends? Watched their homes–their whole village–burn around them? Are they haunted by nightmares still, years, even decades later?”

Both Fera and captain stared at Kyra with wide eyes. She spit on the ground and growled, “Don’t talk sh** about things you don’t understand.”

She turned to leave.

VERSION 2

Surely one of them is more trustworthy than this mercenary?”

Kyra’s hands tightened on her belt, and she forced herself to breath slowly and keep calm. “Are you implying I am not as good as my word?”

The templar shrugged. “It is well known that a mercenary’s loyalties lie with the highest bidder. And while I doubt the demon king would be making any viable offers, there are some less-than-reputable nobles who might be willing to pay a veritable fortune to keep the saintess under their thumb. I’m just saying, a more trustworthy and reputable entourage–”

He was interrupted by a snort of laughter from the wall. The three turned to find a hooded man lounging atop it, a nihilistic smile across his face. “You only need to visit the [slums district name] to see the famous ‘honor of the templars’ at work. Half of them would sell out your ‘precious saintess’ before night fell.”

Based on the way the templar captain grimaced, there was at least some truth to that statement. His expression did a lot to relieve Kyra’s building temper.

The templar opened his mouth to reply, but the stranger cut him off. “Besides, your saintess is right. Look at the way the lady carries herself; she’s no green recruit in shining armor. No, she’s a fighter, and she’d be a more capable protector than any of your little knightlings. Probably better than you, even.”

The captain scowled and glanced at Kyra. She shrugged, then grinned as she suggested, “I know a way we could find out.”

From beside her, Fera muttered, “Oh, pickles.” Kyra decided to pretend like she hadn’t noticed.

21 September 2023

One shot with Mei from Hanako. I found her quite fascinating, so included this bonus chapter following the previous arc.

Mei sighed, ignoring the rumbling of her stomach. That young man really was a fine specimen; he really would have made a wonderful husband, and father for her brood. Not to mention a delightful snack. But there was no use bemoaning what could have been.

She tasted the air around her, looking for something to allay her ever-present hunger for a time. Maybe a deer; even a rabbit or two would do at this point.

To her surprise, she tasted several oni. Not the refined scent like the lovely girl she’d met yesterday, but the more typical bloody stench she associated with the wild ones. Only moments later and she could hear them, too, crashing through the forest as though the Great King Enma himself hounded their shadows.

Curious, she scurried through the treetops to investigate. While they wouldn’t be husband material, they should certainly make for a delectable meal. She found three of them; two blues and an ebony. She frowned at that last one; it was always a struggle to get her fangs into an ebony, and they always made such a fuss about it while she tried.

A minute or two later, the trio finally slowed down. “I think we should be far enough,” one of the blues said, a short, stocky fellow with a single horn. His hair had been pulled back into a topknot.

“I agree.” The other blue was female, with roughly cut black hair about jaw length. One of her two horns had been broken off at some point. “We should set up camp.” 

Mei would have to be careful hunting her; it was generally much harder to seduce women than men, and blues were already far more cautious than most oni. At least, when they were sober.

The ebony, a tall, muscular specimen with a notable underbite, nodded once and began setting up their campsite. Soon the trio had a fire going, and the stocky blue started to whine.

“Ah, dammit! I’m starving! Why couldn’t we have grabbed one or two of those leftover villagers on the way?”

The female snorted. “If you want to go back for them, be my guest. I’m not going anywhere near that devil girl.”

The stocky man shuddered. “Even if that girl is dead, there’s no way. Not with the commander dead, too. He was the only one who could keep those two monstrosities under control.”

“Yeah.” The female flumped backward. “Still, what the hell was with that chick? And how the f*** did a red get that f***ing powerful?”

So the girl did arrive in time. Mei wasn’t sure if she could do anything with that information, but it warmed her heart. The girl seemed to be quite the character.

The oni chatted amongst themselves for an hour or two–or the blues did, the ebony didn’t seem to be able to speak–then drew straws to determine who would take which watch. The stocky man cheered when he drew the first watch, and the other two went to bed, though the female grumbled under her breath.

Mei grinned. She couldn’t have set things up better for herself if she’d tried. She waited another two hours, then climbed out of the trees and moved a hundred yeards or so away and transformed to resemble a helpless young woman. She called out, just loud enough for the stocky blue oni to hear, “H-hello? Is someone there? I… I need help!”

She could taste the blue coming closer, and she turned so she wasn’t looking at him. Let him think he had the surprise, and he’d be far less wary of her trap. “Hello?”

The blue stepped into the clearing and chuckled. “Hello, little lady. Are you lost?”

Mei resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Instead, she squeaked and bolted deeper into the forest. Relative to human speeds, at least; for Mei, it felt like a brisk jog at best.

The blue didn’t rush her, however. Based on the smile on his face, he intended to enjoy the hunt a little. He must have eaten well before the girl had attacked his camp; if he was as hungry as he had claimed, there’s no way he’d be this casual about a potential meal.

Once Mei broke his line of sight, she jumped into a tree and returned to her natural form. She watched the blue saunter through the forest, with his tetsubo tapping against his shoulder.

“Come now, little lady, no need to fret. Come on out, and I’ll make it nice and painless.” He sniffed the air, and froze when he couldn’t smell his prey anymore. “What the–!? Where did she go!?”

Mei crept around behind him, then drove her fangs into his neck. He screamed and tried to smash her with his tetsubo, but she danced out of the way, a smile on her bloodied lips. He pushed his free hand to his neck and took a shaky step towards her, but he collapsed before he could do anything else.

With practiced efficiency, Mei webbed him up and hoisted him into the treetops. Then she darted over to see if the oni’s screams had woken either of the other two; to her delight, both still slept soundly. She webbed them up, too, and sighed contentedly to herself. She would eat well tonight. And if many other oni had fled the battle into her woods, well… She would probably eat quite well for weeks to come.

20 September 2023 part 2

Redoing the magical girl scene.

…become a magical girl?”

Sarah blinked twice and tipped her hand to the side. “Why would I want to do that?”

The rabbit-thing froze, eyes fixed on Sarah. “...I was under the impression most young women your age aspired to the position. Quite fervently, in fact. Is that not the case?”

With a shrug, Sarah answered, “I’m not them. I’m me.”

The silence stretched on long enough to get awkward before the rabbit-thing replied. “I see. And the fame and fortune that come with the station don’t appeal to you, I suppose?”

“WHo in their right mind wants to be famous? I’d never get any privacy anymore. And there’s other, probably safer ways to get rich if I decide I want that.”

“Hmm.” The rabbit-thing bobbed his head and sat quietly, apparently lost in thought.

After a moment or two, Sarah asked, “Would you mind moving over a bit? You’re sitting on my homework.”

“Ah, my apologies.” The rabbit-thing hopped to the floor, but before Sarah could get back to work, he asked, “So you enjoy learning, then?”

“Well, yeah. There’s so much to see and discover, and the more you understand, the more doors it opens for you, yeah?”

“Then would you have any interest in learning the lost secrets of Atlantis, or perhaps even the technologies of my people?”

Sarah paused and glanced back down at the rabbit-thing. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious, but this whole thing seemed more and more sketch the more he pushed.

20 September 2023

…cracked her ribs. Despite all that, she just grit her teeth, and carefully controlled her breathing to minimize the pain.

As Hanako brought her sword to bear, a small ball of blue flame flew past her head and struck the blue oni. He screamed as he burst aflame. Hanako glanced back to see a woman standing on the town’s wall, an array of nine fluffy tails fanned out behind her. A kitsune?

Before Hanako could acknowledge her, an obese female red charged at her with a massive cleaver raised over her head. With a grimace, Hanako angled her sword upwards, letting the oni impale herself, and sidestepped the oni’s attack by the narrowest of margins.

That wasn’t enough to put the other oni down, however; she was lost in her rampage. She roared in Hanko’s face, pelting her with spittle, while the closer ushi-oni turned around to stomp Hanako and anything nearby into paste.

Hanako pulled her sword out of the oni and dashed to the side, slicing through one of the ushi-oni’s foremost legs as she passed. The beast squealed as black, putrescent blood spurt from the wound. Hanako’s momentum safely carried her beyond the spray, but the red oni behind her wasn’t so lucky. She roared, and when Hanako glanced back, she saw that everywhere the blood landed burned the oni’s skin, and the wound Hanako had given her already festered. The oni only moved a step or two further before she collapsed.

Meanwhile, a few more oni fled for the trees, and another fell to the kitsune’s foxfire. Nearby, a rare three-horned oni with skin like obsidian roared out, “You fools! Never mind the shield! Destroy the intruder already!”

The second ushi-oni turned around, and the last two red oni whirled and began racing Hanako’s direction. Hanako  couldn’t afford to spare them more than a glance, though, as the ushi-oni before her tried to squash her flat again and again. It finally stopped and sucked in a deep breath. A purplish fog leaked out the corners of its mouth.

Hanako’s eyes went wide, and she dove underneath the beast. Not a moment later, the ushi-oni breathed out a cloud of noxious gas. One of the reds charging in got caught in it and collapsed onto the the now-decaying grass like a puppet with its strings cut.

Hanako didn’t stop moving; she sliced into the beast’s abdomen as she ran, then charged for the three-horned oni. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to cut him, given her injuries; ebony oni had notoriously durable skin, even stronger than steel. But maybe, with the ushi-oni around, she wouldn’t have to.

Before Hanako could reach him, though, the last red body-checked her. She gasped in pain as she rolled across the ground, only to land at the three-horned oni’s feet.

He smiled cruelly and swung his weapon; Hanako rolled out of the way and back onto her feet, only to find the second ushi-oni barrelling down on her.

Hanako dodged another blow from the three-horned oni and jumped up, using him as a springboard to get above the ushi-oni. She roared as she brought her sword down on the beast’s neck and cleaved its head off. The three-horned oni was caught in the ensuing spray of blood and screamed in pain.

Once she could approach him without contacting the ushi-oni’s blood herself, Hanko put him out of his misery. A careful glance around revealed she was alone on the battlefield; the last red oni had fallen to the kitsune’s foxfire while Hanako was distracted, and the other ushi-oni had collapsed from its wounds.

A wave of exhaustion swept over hanako, and she barely noticed the shield over Nanmoku drop, or when the kitsune dropped down and ran toward her. She only smiled to herself. “Hey. I actually made it this time.”

Then everything went black.

19 September 2023 part 2

Almost by instinct, Hanako drove the point of her sword into the ground, grounding out the ivory oni’s attack. Her rage burned through the pain, focused so intently on the ivory she barely noticed several of the other oni fleeing back into the forest.

The ivory’s eyes went wide, and he brought his hand up to strike her again. This time, Hanako redirected it into a charging red, barely noticing him collapse to the ground. She was so focused, in fact, she never noticed an female ebony oni swing her tetsubo into hanako’s side.

Hanako crashed to the ground and rolled, the pain in her ribs swallowed up by her rage. She tempered it a bit, enough to be aware of her surroundings, but her goal remained putting that ivory out of action.

For his part, the ivory was in a full-blown panic, and shouted something to one of the ushi-oni. The beast turned and began to charge their direction, even as the ivory raised his hand to blast Hanako again. Before he could, Hanako burst across the remaining distance and sliced off his arm, then pivoted and slashed his throat.

The female ebony caught up and swung her tetsubo at Hanako’s head, while a massive, one-eyed red tried to smash her to a pulp with his club. Hanako ducked around both attacks and cut the red’s feet out from under him. He roared and toppled into the ebony.

That was when the charging ushi-oni arrived and crushed both with its spider legs, each as large as Hanako herself. Hanako narrowly avoided its charge, and swung at a bearded blue oni that appeared beside her. He blocked the attack with his tetsubo and uppercut her with his offhand, jarring her out of her rage.

All at once, all the pain she’d been ignoring crashed down on her at once. Burns stretched down both arms and her sides, and by the pain she felt each time she drew breath, Hanako was fairly certain she’d at least cracked her ribs.