3 The Red Knigh

"Another one." She blurted out as the bartender moved in her direction. Her blood-like crimson red hair fell over her shoulder.

"Done." The young man replied, handing her a tin cup filled with a black liquid, that foamed at the rim. She didn't say thanks. She didn't look in his direction. She simply grasped the cups oval-shaped handle and lifted it to her lips. With one desperate tilt, she downed its contents in less than a second.

"Another one." She said once more.

This process continued until her vision started to blur. Finally. She thought. It had been taking much longer for this to happen recently. Had she developed a resistance to alcohol? She hoped not. She didn't want to have to find another means by which to pass the time. Especially any that potentially involved associating with the rest of the village. She'd discovered the escapist effect of alcohol not too long ago, she wanted more time with her newfound friend. Eventually, she got up and stumbled out of the area. The nighttime cold followed her as she awkwardly paced through the village, searching for one house in particular. Hers.

A two-story structure appeared in front of her before she could even recognize it. She forgot she was even walking. Had she arrived here due to muscle memory? Good. Less thinking she'd have to do. Thinking was always a terrible prospect, all it served was to remind her of how she found herself in this position to begin with, and less of that was undoubtedly a great thing.

She opened the wooden door, and her nostrils were assaulted by the impactful smell of dust. She hadn't cleaned this place in… Ever. She wasn't about to start today either. Her feet left prints indistinguishable in the dark. She stumbled and fell onto a nearby wall. Her hand gravitated towards her mouth as she attempted to hold herself back from tainting the floor further. She clumsily walked up the stairs to the back of the room. One bedroom awaited her at the end of this hallway.

When she got to the bed, she flopped onto it face-first, and her eyes seemed to close themselves automatically. That was a mistake.

Immediately, she saw a familiar scene. She was battling someone in a vast field that lie beside a paved road, some distance outside of Nova. Somewhere beside her was the object of her current despair, the woman she had loved. Near her, was the heathen responsible for her death. She saw, with a disturbing clarity, how his sword went through her chest. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't prevent this from happening. No matter what she did, this was always the end result.

She gasped. A flame like tinge covered the room as the sun had ascended already. She sat up and clutched her head. She thought she could get used to the hangovers, but it never seemed to happen. This nightmare though, how many nights in a row had she seen it? She felt humidity at her eyes and realized she'd just started crying again. I… I need to eat something. She thought, but honestly, she just wanted a distraction. That was all her days consisted of, distractions. Momentary draws to keep herself from reimagining that scene.

She walked down the stairs and paced towards the kitchen. This was the least dusty part of the home, as it was the part that saw the most water. She turned a faucet and absentmindedly held a ceramic plate underneath the running water. A minute later, she was sitting at her living room dining table, with a simple sandwich in front of her. She grabbed a knife in her left hand and a fork in her right. But, she couldn't start.

The scene, for the first time, had persisted beyond her nightmares. Even now, sitting at this table with something to do, she couldn't stop imagining it. Her lover, the murderer responsible for her death, the sword going through her chest. Again, and again, and again that scene played in her mind. Finally, as her frustration built, she grabbed the plate in front of her and threw it at the wall to her left. The plate exploded, and a ruined sandwich now became another inhabitant of this home, as it slid down and fell on the floor.

Stop. She thought. Stop! She got off the chair and stomped out of the house. She needed to walk for a while. Where, she didn't know, but she knew she couldn't remain in this house. She felt like the walls were closing in on her, judging her for her failure. As she stepped outside, she lifted her pale hand to stop the sun's instant assault. When was the last time she left her house in the daytime? She wasn't used to it. At all. Still, she needed to move.

She began wandering down the dirt road that made up all of the village's streets. Children were playing out in the open. Merchants were hassling different bystanders to inspect their wares. She wondered why this felt so familiar to her. And then it dawned on her. It was just like the city. Just like Nova, just smaller, had less people, and instead of stone buildings and streets, everything was made of wood and the streets were simple dirt. It was just like Nova, the city she'd been exiled from.

"Decena?" She heard a high-pitched voice ask from her right. Her heart sank. She turned to her right and saw a demon with dark blue skin and purple hair, with eyes that changed colors every few seconds.

"Ayami?" Decena asked. She was angry. She had left her home to distract herself from the past, and casually standing here was one of her best friends from those distant days. It had been three years since she had last seen this girl. As much as she wanted to leave, to escape, to run away, something held her in place. Was it the demon's familiar smile? She couldn't say.

"It's good to see you." Ayami said, in a calm, pleasant tone. Decena realized how the demon had grown over the years. When she had last seen this girl, she was a full head shorter than her. Now, her body had grown taller, and a distinct, white horn appeared on the right side of her head. "I can't stay, my family is travelling to Farrah Valor, not to mention that if they saw me with you…" Ayami recoiled. She seemed to realize how rude that sounded. Of course, considering the fact that in Ayami's eyes, Decena was probably a criminal, it was a well-deserved rudeness. "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"It's…" It's nothing. That's what she wanted to say, but her words caught in her throat. She clenched her fists. Why? Why did she have to encounter this girl here and now?

"I heard about what happened." Ayami said. "I… I think the king's ruling was unfair. You didn't do anything wrong as far as I'm concerned." She held a stern look, trying to reassure Decena, but the redhead simply grit her teeth. "I have to go," Ayami continued, "but, if you ever find yourself in Farrah Valor, I'll help you in any way I can."

Just like that, she was gone. Decena was left standing alone, in the middle of a dirt road. Her head hung low. She turned and resumed her walk.

She still didn't know where to go, but she still needed movement. Distraction.

As she was walking past a few merchants, a sound rung out that caused her, and everyone around her, to stiffen. It was a screech, like a mixture between that of a phoenix and a drake. Decena's eyes narrowed. She turned in the direction she thought the sound came from. It was just beyond the village's southern entrance. Something about the anomaly spoke to her. Her mind told her to investigate.

She walked down the dirt street with an urgency in her step she hadn't exhibited in years. What was this? How far away was this creature? She had to know. For the first time in months, her curiosity had been piqued. She eventually arrived at the southern gate, and found the guards equally concerned. It landed at that moment.

Just up ahead, a beast with the head of a snake, and a neck that was as long as a snake's body, an orange torso, feather-covered wings that extended far beyond what seemed appropriate for its body, two large, thick black legs, and four tentacles that acted as living tails, appeared. Decena felt her jaw drop. What was this thing? Why was it here? Its purpose became clear when she saw its giant maw open and attack a guard that had drawn his sword and approached. It was here to hunt.

Something inside of Decena snapped as she watched the guard's body be torn in half as the beast ripped into him. Other guards nearby took a few steps back. Villagers were running away or cowering frozen in fear. However, Decena actually approached it. The nightmares she had, suddenly flooded her mind. She was angry. Well, "angry" was an understatement. She was enraged. In this beast, she planted the face of the man who killed her beloved.

Instinctively, she grabbed a nearby guard's sword, and unsheathed it in a motion so practiced, it took no effort on her part. She got in a stance that had served useful to her in the past, when dueling was a common occurrence in her life. Those times, so distant, so much brighter, acted as the fuel she needed to combat this monster. She didn't think she'd succeed, but she wanted to be rid of the rage inside of her, and here was the perfect chance.

The beast tilted its head, almost as if it were surprised that such a thin, young woman had stepped out to challenge it, but it quickly reared its snake-like head back, and lunged forwards. Decena was surprised by how slow this beast was. Or was she just that fast? She couldn't remember. She still knew she was good, but it had been so long since she held a sword in her hands… She thought she'd be rusty.

Instead, the moment the beast lunged, Decena took a step to the side, and brought the blade down on its exposed neck. The beast screeched, this time a sound that indicated shock and sudden pain.It flew back, putting some distance between it and Decena, but she was not willing to grant it.

For the first time since that fateful day, when she killed the murderer who ended her lover's life, she felt that distinct sensation of blade sinking into flesh. When she did, all those times she fought, every battle she had in her life, replayed before her. She smirked as she remembered who she used to be. But, that smirk turned into a scowl when she remembered how it was taken away, and she focused back on the task at hand.

The beast looked to be surprised, but that surprise turned into feral anger, and it spun, trying to swat at Decena with its tentacles. She ducked, as she was not fast enough to counter this attack, but she had done enough countering. She didn't want to defend herself. She wanted to destroy this thing. Maybe, in doing so, she could find at least a temporary peace.

She bobbed and weaved as the beast launched attack after attack. It swung its tentacles at her, it swiped at her with its wings, but Decena was unperturbed. She dodged past each attack, nearly effortlessly, were it not for the clothing she wore. A simply white shirt and some pink pajamas. If she weren't fighting right now, she'd probably laugh at how she must have looked.

Still, she finally got just close enough to pull her arm back and sink the blade inside of its torso. Green blood erupted from its body, and suddenly, the beast was trying to fly back, not to reposition itself, but to fly away. A murderous glint appeared in Decena's eyes, and she jumped up, trying to close the distance between her and the flying beast. She jumped about five feet into the air, not high enough to attack its upper torso, but she did jump high enough to strike its foot. She stabbed into it and pulled the beast down as she descended. Her old strength made itself apparent, it was a strength you'd never expect to see in such a basic-looking eighteen-year-old girl. But still, she had trained enough in the past to where she knew she could perform this act.

The beast plummeted with her, and Decena wasted no time. She scurried up its large body and ended up mounting its long neck. It tried to shake her off, but before it could, Decena lifted her blade and brought it down with a ferocity she didn't know she had inside of her. Over and over again, she stabbed the thing, even as its dying gasp diminished into silence. Her grunts and soft growl must have sounded more animalistic than the beast to the people watching.

And there were in fact, plenty of people watching. She raised the blade up once more but stopped to see that a circle of villagers had formed around her. A guard approached.

"T-The things probably dead." He said. He was a middle-aged man, scared to talk to a young girl. How amusing.

"Yes. It is." Decena replied as she got off the thing. She had gone into this battle not knowing what it was. Now she knew. It was "dead". She looked down at herself. Her hands were shaking. Her white shirt was covered in green blood.

"Wait." A villager said as she turned to walk away. "I-I know you!"

What? Decena stopped. She turned towards him and squinted her eyes. He didn't seem familiar, just an average old man.

"I saw you in the Fighting Pits once." Decena's eyes widened. Of course. Those days when she competed for fame and glory. Days long gone. "They called you… What was it again? Oh, the Red Kn-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Decena screamed. Her breath came out in a threatening tremble as she turned away from him. "Don't ever call me that."