Death…
Death was a concept the people of her land knew very well. After all, they lived in a hellish land that was unforgiving and cruel. And so, at an early age, children would be told stories to teach them.
They were all taught about it at an early age and told tales of the King of Hell or the manifestation of the Shinigami, Lord Death.
Growing up, her mother also told her about death. She had been told that the Grim Reaper was a person. A wandering man who carried a scythe that they'd use to reap the souls of those who ran out of time. They say that he was a mighty being forgotten by time, and yet he would eventually return and usher in a new age.
He would arrive, carried high on a pair of wings the color of red, and with his mighty scythe he'd split apart the world and bring about the end of this age and usher in the next.
Yes. Indeed. She was told stories of death. And today she was experiencing it.
So, so much death.
The bandits had arrived in the middle of the night.
They attacked like starving animals, slaughtering the men, the women, and the children. They set the homes on fire, stole anything they could, and even devoured the dead, for in the harsh land they resided in, they didn't know when they'd get the chance to eat a good meal again.
Nearly everyone in that village died. Those who didn't were the lucky few who managed to escape.
No…
There was nothing lucky about that either.
Mordheim was cold. Outside of the village was a frozen wasteland filled with wandering monsters, other bandits, and a freezing blizzard that would kill any grown person in a matter of seconds.
She wasn't lucky at all.
She didn't escape the fate of the others. Maybe she wouldn't be killed by a bandit and eaten, but she'd most certainly freeze to death, and then a monster would eventually pick her bones clean and devour all that she was.
A fate like this was one plenty of people in her land experienced.
But still… She desperately clung to life. Her feet were swollen, and her toes had snapped off. She didn't have any winter clothes, and the pathetic cloak she wore was stained with snow. Her flesh was a mix of blue and purple, and every breath she took caused shards of sharp ice to shred her lungs. Frostbite was devouring her flesh, and the only thing that was keeping the scythe of death at bay was her pathetic steps as she marched forward.
Soon, however, her efforts reached their limits. There was only so much her broken body could pour out, and she collapsed in the snow.
Through the cold, she felt the scythe of death press to her neck. Yet that was not her fate.
"Oh my." Weakly, she gazed up and found a man standing over her. He was dressed in dark robes and carried a katana at his side. Covering his face was a wooden wolf mask. "Hmm? Should I save you?"
And thus, a young girl who should have died in the snow met the monster known simply as Wolf.
***
A sword is an extension of one's own arm. When wielding a blade, it should only be held with the intent to kill. It is a tool. One created to take a life.
Likewise, the one who holds the sword is also a tool. A soldier is a weapon meant to be pointed at the enemy and fired like a bullet.
Soldiers are born and raised knowing that they will meet their end on the battlefield, and yet they carry out this duty. Sometimes it is for love. Love for their nation, their people, their family. Other times, however, it is a choice they themselves are not allowed to make. Someone else makes it for them.
Just as a sword starts off as a hunk of metal and is shaped into a fine blade, a person can also be changed and morphed.
It only took a few years for that young girl who had been fated to die to become something great.
Wolf swung his katana as hard as he could, and he screamed, unleashing a wave of kinetic energy that split the training room in half. Dog narrowly blocked the energy with her own sword, threads rolling off the blade and forming a weak dome, which puttered out when his attack slammed into her.
She cried out as she was thrown back and sent smashing into the wall hard enough to crack it. Her body slowly slid to the ground, and she felt blood fill her mouth as she spat several globs of red out, staining the inside of her mask.
"Pathetic," Wolf called out. "Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic! Is that seriously the best you can do?" He marched over to his student and looked down at her in anger. "Well? Are you going to answer me?"
Dog lowered her head submissively. "This lowly creature apologizes for her incompetence-"
Wolf kicked out, shattering her ribs and sending her rolling across the room. "All you have are excuses." He sheathed his katana and folded his arms. "Perhaps you'd be better as a zombie? I know Thorn is eagerly looking to make more."
Dog felt a shiver run down her spine, and she quickly got to her knees and bowed her head. "I will do better."
"You will."
"Yes."
"Good." Wolf nodded. "Perhaps you're not a useless mutt after all." He gazed at his student, taking in her appearance.
Dog was only around fourteen. He had been training her for nearly six years now, and this left her body muscular and coated in dozens of crisscrossing scars. Her white robes were stained red, and her blonde hair was messy and dripping with sweat. Most of the blood wasn't her own. It belonged to the other students. Unlike Dog, they hadn't survived his swings, and over the course of nine hours, he had slaughtered all of them.
Despite his taunts, he had to admit he was impressed. She had blocked all his strikes and only failed now after hours of fighting. Of course, he hadn't even begun to go all out yet and still had plenty of power to show, so Dog still wasn't as impressive as he'd have wanted. A polished turd she may be, but she was still just a turd.
"No more swords." Wolf suddenly flicked his hand forward, and from beneath his cloak a chain blasted out with a kunai on the end. "Use your other weapons. Show me the great hidden weapon style that I have forced into your body!"
Dog barely dodged the strike and reached into her cloak, producing a throwing axe, which she tossed as hard as she could!
***
Baoshi ran as if his life depended on it.
It did.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I-I never meant to offend the Emperor! I would never dare disgrace his honor by failing to pay my taxes!"
As Baoshi ran, he let out squeals when he saw his village on fire and all his people slaughtered. His wife, his kids, his brother, his parents, his friends, and everyone else. They were all dead. Sliced apart by a blade.
He collapsed and watched the fire spread.
"Baoshi Gu." Dog walked forward, a mountain of corpses behind her, as she coldly stared at the fat man whom she had been sent to kill. "You're charged with aiding rebels and attempting to go against the wishes of the supreme Emperor who stands equal to heaven. How do you plead?"
Boashi screamed and drew his katana. "If I'm dying, then I'll take you with me-"
Dog sheathed her sword, appearing behind Boashi. "You've been found guilty. The punishment has been fulfilled. May your soul rot in the reaper's belly for a thousand years to come."
Boashi fell apart, sliced into a thousand chunks faster than he could even blink. This was all thanks to Dog's greatest technique, which Wolf had drilled into her.
One Thousand Sudden Strikes Style was a powerful skill that did exactly as the name implied. The user could unleash one thousand strikes in a single instant, reducing their target to a state that looked very similar to ground beef.
It was her favorite skill because it not only ended the battle in an instant, but it also killed the target so quickly they didn't even have time to process that they were already dead. They died so fast they felt no pain.
This was something that couldn't be said about the others. Numbly, Dog looked to the other bodies. They had been hacked apart slowly, starting with the feet. Some had their stomachs split open, others had been crushed with a hammer, and some were lit on fire.
Wolf and his men stood in the middle of the village, plundering it of all the food they could find as well as drinking all the alcohol. And while that happened, they got ready to feast…
Dog stared in silence as one of the men threw a body onto the fire and began to slice into it.
They had attacked like wild beasts and slaughtered a village because one person inside had been deemed guilty. She was sure that if a child had seen these people, they'd think they were bandits. She could safely say that this was true because she had once thought these very same men were bandits long ago when they came to her village…
Dog's hand grew tighter around the handle of her sword. She nearly jumped when suddenly an arm dropped over her shoulder, and Wolf leaned on her.
"There's my favorite student!" He held a sake bottle in one hand and raised it to the sky, already drunk.
"I'm your only student…" Dog said flatly.
"That's just because I don't need any more hounds. You did such a good job taking the target out!"
"Thank you, sir." Dog felt disgust and anger in place of pride.
This had been her fifth target. She had gone on five missions now and was nearly seventeen. How many people had she watched die? How much human flesh had she been forced to consume…
"I have a new mission for you." Wolf suddenly grew serious and leaned in closer. "The Emperor wants someone dead. Someone you'll be personally slaughtering. Think you can handle it?"
Dog nodded her head. "Yes, sir."
"Good doggy."
Disgust flooded through her.
"Thank you, sir."
***
Sora Helios quietly stood in the forest in a snowy clearing. His tongue poked out as he used a paintbrush and began to put an image onto his empty canvas.
He was a young man, only seventeen years of age, and he had messy snow-white hair and pale skin. A black cloak covered his form, and with every wave of his brush, he'd use his mana to draw out various colors.
On his canvas was the forest that stood before him, but it lacked snow, and a shining sun hung above, basking it all in warmth. "Amazing. This place would look so pretty if it wasn't all white. Don't you agree?"
Dog flinched when she heard the voice. Hesitantly, she stepped out from behind the tree she had been hiding behind. "How did you know I was there? I was masking my mana." Wolf would not be happy about her being spotted…
Sora grinned and twirled his paintbrush. "I'm an artist. The entire world is filled with so many details, and it is up to me to study them all and find a way to use them. Nothing is too small. In short, I could feel a very faint and subtle shift in the air as additional molecules appeared."
"...What?"
Sora only smiled even wider. "So why are you here, lovely lady-"
Dog flashed forward and sheathed her blade. "You've been deemed-"
Her slashes failed to meet Sora as a swirling mass of color morphed around him, blocking all her strikes. He cocked his head and then winked. His paintbrush slashed through the air, and paint spilled out. "Row Paint Blade!" Black ink took the form of various swords, which launched at Dog.
Dog grunted and entered a stance. She began to parry the blades away as more and more came at her. "Row Thread Cutter!" String wrapped around her katana, and when she slashed it down, a sharp pillar of slicing force was launched out toward her enemy, but Sora countered it just as easily as he had blocked her first attack.
"Row Paint Scissors!" Silver paint formed into a pair of giant scissors, which cut the thread down before it reached him; then he flashed forward and appeared in front of her using a mana step. Green paint splashed out of his brush, and he pointed it at her. "Row Paint Venom."
A wave of gas erupted out of the brush, and it hit Dog head-on. Her vision began to blur, and her knees buckled.
She had heard the Helios family were not to be trifled with. Most of them had magic that could produce hundreds of effects. Sora was a halfbreed. A member who should never have been born, whom both sides of the world wanted dead, but even with half the blood of a Helios, he was powerful.
Dog felt her vision fade, and she collapsed onto the ground. Well, at least it was over so fast she didn't feel any pain.
***
Dog's eyes snapped awake, and she found herself sitting in a dirty cell. "W-What?" Chains were around her wrist, and she thrashed for a moment but couldn't break them. "Where am I?"
"I'm disappointed in you." Dog's head jerked up, and she saw her teacher. Wolf sat on a chair and gazed down at her, his expression hidden beneath his mask. "You failed, hound. Bad girl. Time to get punished."
"What? What happened?"
"You lost." Wolf hummed. "Sora got away. Made me look worthless in front of the Emperor." He hummed and stood up. "I'll keep you in here for a bit. Maybe a few months until we can locate slippery Sora. After that we'll send you out again. They say a starved and beaten mutt is much scarier than a well-cared-for hound. I guess I was too soft on you. Enjoy your time in here."
"No!"
Wolf ignored her and left. The wall sealed up behind him, and she was left alone, stuck in a cramped room with only one thing to keep her company.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
She didn't know how long she spent in that cramped room. She was barely fed, with only scraps being magically transported to her. No one came to visit; she wasn't allowed to bathe or exit the room, and she remained chained to the wall, sitting in her own filth when her body eventually couldn't hold anything in anymore.
Sleep was almost impossible. Water would drip onto her head, soaking her slowly, falling into her eye. Her mind wasn't able to settle, and the smell and the hunger all dug their way into her.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
When enough time had seemingly passed and Wolf did return, she practically threw herself at him. She'd do whatever he wanted. Behave even like an actual dog if he demanded it, she just wanted out of that awful room. And what did he do?
He laughed and sent her after Sora once more.
This time, when she battled the painter, she didn't talk or try to hold back. She struck hard and fast, but it still wasn't enough. Sora deflected all her attacks, blocked her mad slices, and once again knocked her out, unleashing a sharp chop to the back of her neck.
She woke up once more in that terrible room.
"No!"
Wolf clicked his tongue. "You failed again. I guess you hadn't been starved enough. Let's try this once more. A bit longer."
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
More time passed, and she was sent out again. Sora beat her by nearly drowning her with a wave of conjured water.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
This time when she left the room, she threw everything she had at Sora. All her weapons, all her skills, and all her despair. She sliced into her own body and took as many drugs as she could, doping up and going into an insane frenzy of blades and attacks.
Sora still beat her.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
Again and again and again and-
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
Attempts blurred by. She didn't know how many times she had fought Sora or how long she had spent in that cursed place. Days turned to weeks, which turned to months, which turned to years. Her last visit was the longest one yet. She'd sit in there, stained in piss and shit, her flesh reduced down to her bones, and she sat there and stared off into empty space until Wolf and the Emperor himself arrived.
She knew what this meant right away.
There would be no more chances. Wolf had been giving her as many attempts as he could, but even he had reached his limit. The next time she failed she'd be a zombie.
***
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
The snow rained upon her face as she collapsed back and stared up at the sky above. Sora breathed heavily and rubbed his injured shoulder. She had managed to leave a single mark on him. Just one. But he had beaten her once more.
"Damn! You've gotten really strong!" Sora said excitedly. "I had to paint so much stuff just to keep up. You're amazing."
"Kill me."
"What?"
"Kill me." Dog reached up and slowly pulled her mask off. It was shattered and cracked from the countless battles, and it crumbled to pieces in her hands. She closed her eyes. "Please. Just kill me."
Sora frowned and stared down at her. "Sorry, but I don't kill."
"If you don't, I'll face a fate worse than death."
Sora's frown only grew. "Then why don't you leave?"
"What?"
He walked over to her and held a hand out. "Why don't you just leave? Why return if you know you'll face such a fate? I don't get why you don't just run off?"
"Run off?"
"Yeah. You can do whatever you want, don't you know?"
Dog blinked and stared at the hand that was outstretched before her. "I… can do whatever I want?"
"Yeah! Never let others decide your fate. As humans, we are free. Free to walk whatever path we want. That is our right."
Slowly, she reached out and took the hand. "I-I don't know what to do." She admitted.
She had spent her whole life following orders. She could barely even recall a time before all of this. Was she really a human? Did she even deserve the right to live? She didn't think so.
"Well, let's start simple. What is your name?"
"My name?"
"Yeah! What can I call you?"
She nodded. "My name is…"
Sora smiled once more. "Oh. That's such a lovely name."
***
Rain began to pour.
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
Sora stared up at the sky above, a sword rammed through his chest. Her horrified face met his, and he just smiled.
"It's okay. You're free now."
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
'Drip.'
"You're free now." Sora closed his eyes for a final time.
Laerton began to cry.