Mercenary Little Death Bringer (18 page)

He laughed. “Touché. Yes, I am an assassin,
but you need not fear me, yet.”

“What is your name?”

“Lawrence.”

“Well Lawrence, if you’re going to kill me
then just do it now,” I said bitterly. “I have no information I can
give you that I will reveal in torture.”

“You are so ignorant, which is understandable
since you are so young.” He scooted forward and stared into my
eyes. “You see my dear I can learn whatever I want by torturing
you. Truly I could learn the very blueprint of the Elven kingdom if
I wanted to, but that is not why I have you.”

“Why then? Why did you go through all of this
trouble to kidnap me?” I asked feeling slightly more fearful.

“What do you remember about your life before
the elves found you?” he asked me as he played with the medallion,
turning it over and over again.

“I remember I had a mother and father and we
lived in a small town where I played with the headman’s son often.
I remember the ogres attacked and I watched as my family was
murdered. Then I remember being carried by Cesar as he took me to
the Elven Kingdom. Why? What does any of this have to do with why
you kidnapped me?”

“You are the first girl to be allowed to
attend the Academy, do you remember what you did to impress them
enough to let you in?” he asked as he set the medallion on his lap
and folded his arms across his chest, looking like he was chatting
with his friend. He was dressed well and had a beautifully crafted
pommel on his sword. None of it impressed me though.

“I fought against some of the students and
won,” I said nonchalantly, “I had been training privately with the
male elves since I came to their realm. I was not suited for the
arts of women. Really it wasn’t a fair battle since I’d been
training with elves and the students I fought were human.”

“You fought fifth years and won in sword and
hand to hand combat, correct?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And you hold back when you fight the other
students so you don’t make them feel bad that they were beat by a
girl, right?”

“Not all the time,” I said honestly I never
held back against Favian, “Mainly when I fight against the first or
second years,” I lied

“Isn’t it true that you defeated over one
hundred ogres by yourself at the Elven Kingdom?”

“How did you know about that?” I asked in
shock.

“Is it also true that you have no
recollection of the event?” he asked.

This guy knew what too much. I shut my mouth
and stared blankly at him, refusing to confirm or deny his
question. Just who was he?

“Playing mute will do you no good since I
already know the answers,” he said in a cheery voice, “Who do you
think ordered the ogres to attack the Elves? I did.”

“What is that medallion?” I asked him to
change the subject.

“This is an ancient artifact that was found
in a tomb of the god and goddess, one that had been unvisited in
several decades.”

“What does it say?”

“It says, ‘sent to protect the innocent, but
reverting to the dark, use this to steal their light’.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked
angrily, “I’m not using evilness. I’m a mercenary who protects
everyone. I have never killed an innocent. I have never…”

“Do you take pleasure in killing ogres?” he
asked me, cutting me off.

“Yes, but I have never killed an ogre who did
not attack me first,” I said defensively.

“But you wish you could, don’t you? You wish
you could obliterate every single ogre off of the face of the
planet, right?”

How could I respond to that? “I’m not evil,”
I said softly.

He smiled. “Of course you’re not. I never
suspected you were. I’m just trying to get you to understand
yourself.”

“What is your end goal?” I asked him.

“To help you unlock your true destiny and for
you to realize that you cannot continue as a mercenary.”

“I
am
a mercenary,” I said angrily, “I
will complete the training. I will become one.”

He stood up, flinging his chair backwards and
stood in front of my face. “You are not capable of being a
mercenary. Mercenaries are
men
. You are a woman.”

“Is that the real reason you kidnapped me?
Because you don’t want a woman to become a mercenary?”

“Once the other women hear of this there will
be more and they will want to train to be a mercenary like you.
Then the world will be overrun by second rate mercenaries who
constantly fail their missions and end up getting others killed
simply because they didn’t know when to stop playing dress up and
keep their dresses and corsets on!”

“I am aware that the life of a mercenary is
not for women in general, but I am not an average woman. I am just
as capable as any man.”

“You are an abomination!” he screamed and
then walked to his chair, righted it and sat down. He took several
deep breaths to calm himself and then met my eyes. “You don’t even
know what you are, do you?”

“I’m abnormal, I’m aware of that,” I said
sadly, “I am much more skilled in manly arts than I am womanly
arts. I’m faster than a lot of other humans, but I believe that is
simply because I train extremely hard and force myself to keep up
with the elves. I am strong, but not abnormally strong.”

“Lie,” he said, “You are abnormally strong.
You just fail to understand how to unleash it.”

“I have troubles lifting the feed sacks. How
can you define that as abnormally strong?”

“You simply fail to understand how to unleash
your true powers.”

“You’re crazy,” I said seriously.

“I witnessed your attack on the ogres at the
Elven Kingdom. You sliced through them like they were made of
butter. No human is that strong.”

“Are you trying to tell me that I’m not
human?” I asked disbelievingly. This guy must be crazy.

“Not fully human,” he said with a smirk.

“I bleed red. I faint when choked. I have
stupid girly emotions. I trip and fall and scrap my knees. It took
practice and training for me to gain muscle and be able to lift
feed sacks. I can barely swing a mace. My parents were both human.
I am human,” I said through gritted teeth.

“You are part human,” he agreed, “And those
weren’t your real parents.” I couldn’t think of anything to say
that wouldn’t piss him off so I just held my tongue. “If you were
human this medallion wouldn’t work on you,” he said as he wiggled
it.

“If you know so much then why don’t you tell
me what I am?” I asked mockingly.

“I will not educate you so that you can
unlock your true powers. I only want you to understand what you are
and that you cannot be a mercenary and you most certainly cannot
become a Protector. Helping you unlock your true powers would be
suicide on my part.”

“Kidnapping me was suicide on your part. The
Elves will hunt you down and slice you up into little tiny bits for
kidnapping me. Unless I don’t do it first that is.”

He smiled. “I like your spunk, but your anger
is misguided. I will release you as soon as you make a blood oath
to stop pursuing the life of a mercenary and agree to live as a
lady in the Elven Kingdom.”

I leapt to my feet and jerked on the chains,
stretching to the end of them and pulling as hard as I could.
“Never,” I said as my blood began to boil. “I am a mercenary and I
always will be.”

He shook his head and pushed the medallion
against my arm. “Maybe after a few days without water or food
you’ll change your mind.”

I wanted to curse at him. I wanted to slit
his throat, but the damn medallion only forced me unconscious
again.

* * *

“How are you today?” Lawrence asked, “Any
change of heart?”

“Screw you,” I mumbled as I woke up. “You
might as well kill me.”

“I have no intention of killing you, but if
you refuse to see things my way I may be forced to.”

“I’ll never see things your way. Just kill me
or put the medallion against my skin. I
am
a mercenary.”

“See this is part of the problem. Could you
imagine if every woman thought it was okay to talk to men like
this?”

“You aren’t a man. You are a slimy, cold
hearted snake.”

“I think more time unconscious will cure
you.”

“I think cutting off your head is the only
way to cure you,” I said angrily.

He pushed the medallion against my skin. “You
have spirit, but I will break that soon.”

* * *

“Feel like being a lady today?” he asked as I
woke up again.

“What day is it?” I asked him.

“You sleep for one day every time the
medallion touches you. This is your fourth day at my castle. Plus
the medallion saps your strength.” No wonder my throat was on fire
for water and my stomach felt so empty. “So, do you feel like
changing jobs yet?”

“I am a mercenary,” I whispered, “And once I
get free I will kill you.”

“You sadden me, Marin. Truly you sadden me.
If you go more than another day like this you will die.”

“Then slit my throat now and put me out of my
misery. My answer will not change.”

“We shall see tomorrow,” he said and tied the
medallion around my neck. “Sweet dreams.”

He left the cell and headed out of the
dungeon area. I waited as long as I could and then whispered,
“Fira.”

The necklace Maddock had given me flared and
the strap holding the medallion around my neck began sizzling. I
took deep breaths and kept my eyes open to keep myself from passing
out and finally the medallion fell to the ground and I was
conscious. I was going to owe Maddock for his gift. I moved
backwards to get away from the medallion and took inventory of my
body. Half of my strength had been sapped by the medallion’s
contact, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t come back until the next
day since he’d put the medallion on.

I had to escape. There had to be someway to
get out. I leaned against the wall and looked around the cell. The
only thing in the cell was the chair and that couldn’t help me get
out of the chains. I rubbed my neck and then a crazy idea crossed
my mind. Could the necklace burn through the chains? There was only
one way to find out so I held the chain up to my neck, leaned
forward in case it got so hot it melted and the metal dripped and
whispered, “Fira.”

Bright light blinded me and I was forced to
close my eyes and endure the heat as the necklace went to work. I
dropped to my knees due to my weakness and when the metal shackle
dropped to the floor I bit my lip to keep from screaming in joy. I
put the second one up and it too melted off. I relaxed against the
wall a moment to conserve my strength and then went to the cell
door and pushed it, sadly it was locked. I wondered if my necklace
had a limit to how much it could be used and prayed silently that
it would work at least long enough to get me out of the cell.

I pressed my neck against the side of the
lock and whispered, “Fira,” and then smiled when I heard it begin
to sizzle. Footsteps clopped down the hallway above me and I knew
my time was running out. The door swung open to my cell and I ran
out to the side of the wall, which would hide me when Lawrence came
downstairs. Why was he here already? Didn’t he say I was out for an
entire day each time he used the medallion? Why would he be back so
soon?

The dungeon door opened and his boots clopped
down the stairs in a giddy-like step. He walked down the steps and
took four steps into the dungeon when he realized that my cell door
was open and I wasn’t in my restraints anymore. He ran into the
cell, grabbing the medallion off of the floor and I ran up the
stairs as fast as I could, shutting the dungeon door and trying to
lock it.

“Get back here!” he screamed. I ignored him,
stop trying to lock the door since I couldn’t and ran out the way
the mercenaries had brought me in, taking two steps out into the
sunlight when Lawrence tackled me. I head butted him and rolled
away, trying to run again with what little energy I had left.

He had the medallion in his hand and I knew
if he used that I would be done for and he would probably kill me.
I ran out of the castle courtyard only to come up against a wall I
didn’t remember coming through. Why was my memory fragmented when
I’d been awake?

“You have no where to run to and no one to
help you,” he said as he faced me. “I am very impressed that you
got out. How did you do it?”

I ignored him as I surveyed my surroundings
and searched for an escape option. I darted left, but apparently he
had been prepared for that and snatched me up, trying to place the
medallion against my chest. I bit into his arm as hard as I could,
piercing the skin and tasting blood. I ground my teeth together and
he yelled in pain, dropping the medallion on the ground and losing
his grip on the right side of my body. I tried to run, but he still
had a hold of my left arm. I kicked him in the stomach as hard as I
could, but he was prepared for that and flexed his stomach to take
the impact.

He punched me in the face before I could
block him and I dropped to my knees from the pain. It wasn’t as
hard as Favian’s had been, but it was still a hell of a punch. I
knew it was cruel and if my life hadn’t been on the line I never
would have done it, but I punched him in his family jewels and ran
like hell. I made it to the gate and had just started to pull it
open when he grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the iron
gate. “That hurt,” he said angrily as he smashed my face against
the gate again.

I elbowed him in the side, but it seemed I
had pissed him off so much that pain wasn’t an issue at the moment.
He threw me to the ground and kicked me in the ribs. “You are a
woman and it seems you need to be reminded of your place in the
world of men.” He grabbed my shirt and ripped it open, exposing my
upper body and stomach. I tried to get away from him, but I barely
had any strength and I couldn’t escape him. He pulled down my pants
and I kicked him in the nose as hard as I could when he let up on
my legs. He growled angrily and punched me in the face, making me
gasp in pain and making my head spin. He pulled his twig out and
started to move towards me and I did the only thing I could think
of in the situation. I brought my knees together, trapping his twig
between my knee caps and squeezed and moved them side to side as
hard as I could.