(Im going to release these in small chunks over time as after reviewing what I wrote it would be a massive post!) The Lady of the house
Fuku walked calmly into the Lord’s grounds, she did not have
her armour and wore only a peasant’s garb. As she closed on the main gate the
two yellow jacket guards stepped out to block her way. She moved without a word
breaking into a silent run, the guards readied their spears and she pirouetted
on her toes avoiding the men’s weapons to spin inside their guard. With a sure
strike she drove a dagger into each of the men, one took the blade through his
neck the other a chest strike bisecting his heart, and they slid soundlessly to
the ground.
Fuku slipped past the gate and pulled down her Oni mask, it
depicted a drowning girl. Moving through the grounds garden she kept to the
shadows, she was not thief trained but the night was dark and she had chosen
this particular night on purpose. The moon was in its new phase and gave little
to no light at all, unless someone looked directly at her she could move
freely.
Fuku waited under one of the large willow trees in this
garden, by this time her hireling water bender should be starting his work. The
air became colder and she felt the hairs on her neck prickle as the atmosphere
shifted. The willow’s long supple branches rustled as the rain started to fall,
the drops bouncing off leaves to land around Fuku’s feet.
She stepped out into the rain and let it soak her, the water
was cold and the colours on her mask started to run, her long hair usually tied
back was loose and it too become sodden. The peasants garb did little to keep
her dry and was soon wet through, she smiled grimly as she imagined what she
must look like.
She slipped up to the main house and saw that one of the
bedroom lights was on, she could not see any movement inside. Reaching into her
clothing she took out a crossbow and sighted it at the window ledge. The
crossbow was loaded with a unique and very expensive bolt, it had cost her four
months of wages to get alone but it would be worth it.
Fuku fired the bolt at the window ledge and it hit true,
digging into the ledge. Fuku closed her eyes and said the words she had been
instructed.
“Varitus mex, alvar caran!” She could not feel the spell
cast as it was contained within the bolt, the bolt glowed warmly for a moment
and then when dark. Fuku waited in the rain in silence. Minutes past and
nothing happened, she chewed her lip and considered. To assault the house
through the front door or even the servant’s entrance would be risky, she would
meet a lot of resistance and her targets would be alerted to her presence.
A soft dull pattering sounded into the night as she
considered what to do next, she was resolved to die here tonight but not to
some guard’s blade. The rain intensified and the pattering grew louder, she
frowned and sought the source of the noise.
In front of her she could see rain falling and then hitting
an unseen surface, the drops exploding in tiny splashes, squinting in the
darkness she could see the drops where marking out a staircase that led from
the ground and up to the window and her bolt. The spell had worked, she complete
ignorance of magic had blinded her to its activation.
Stepping onto the stairs she made her way up to the window,
the higher she got the more unsteady her legs felt. Closing on the window she
peered into the room, it was a modestly furnished bedroom. The bed was freshly
made and looked undisturbed, this was not surprising the Lord and Lady of the
house seldom slept in their room.
Pushing the window up she slipped into the room, the water
from her clothing making a soft pattering noise on the wooden floor. She slipped
over to the door and listened, there was the sound of a man speaking though she
could not make out what was being said. With a gentle push she opened the door
and stepped out into the hallway, it was dimly lit with tourches and shadows
seemed to dance across its walls. Fuku always remembered the house was well lit
at all times, strange that it should be so dark now.
She crept down the hallway and came to a stop outside the
Lord’s study, taking a breath to steady herself she placed her hand against the
door and pushed. It gave way and opened into the room, Fuku stepped into the
room reaching for her weapon.
The room was bathed in a dull red light the walls seemed to
seethe and move as though some kind of substance ran over them. The wooden
floor was cracked and in a state of disrepair but the most disturbing feature
was the table. Where once she remembered a fine oak polished table stood was a
table of a different sort. The legs were constructed of humanoid leg bones that
had been worked into ornate patterns, the table top itself was fashioned out of
human skin that had been pulled taught over countless ribcages. Fuku looked around
in horror and saw corpses adoring the walls hung as a hunter would display
trophy kills.
She reached to her mask and pulled it up to her forehead
wanting to rub her eyes, was this some kind of illusion?
“Well it seems I am not the only person to return from the
dead” The large backed chair behind the desk of bones spun around, it was also
constructed of body parts. The voice had a haughty tone and she recognised it immediately.
“Don’t you know it’s rude not to bow in the presence of your
betters?” The Lady of the house said, she smiled as she spoke her pale lips
drawing back to reveal a set of long fangs.
“What is this?” Fuku said in disbelief.
“This is the truth you stupid little girl” The Lady rose to
her feet in a fluid motion, her skin was pale and white as chalk. Fuku faltered
and took a step back and bumped into something hard, she spun her hand reaching
for her weapon. The door behind her had closed the normally wooden surface was
adorned with skulls from many races.
“When I kill something I expect it to stay dead, you are a
rude girl Fuku” She lady flexed her fingers like talons and Fuku could see she
had wicked looking long nails.
“I am going to shred you like ribbon, drowned girl” The lady
started to move around the bone table and Fuku pulled her mask down.
“That is not going to help you, becoming an Oni is not going
to change your fate.” The Lady ran her pale tongue across her lips.
“When I am done with you I shall seek out that bastard child”
the Lady made a sweeping motion across her own throat.
“And hang her corpse on my wall!” She started to laugh, a
horrible sickening laugh of depravity.
Fuku clenched her teeth so hard she heard a crack and broke
into a charge,raising her weapon to
strike this monster down.
Continued in next post. (The lady of the house!)
