Danger

We started working on setting up the camp. The two adventurers with us were Luka and Sim. They were E rank adventures and were experienced. Because of this, guild master had decided only 2 people to guard the camp would be enough.

Luka and Sim decided that they will scout around the camp while we set up the tents and supplies. It was not likely for us to return to the city tonight, so we had to make the sleeping arrangements. We would also need to tend to the injured people that the raiding party brought back. Sheila, Turek and me started working on this as Luka and Sim left the camp.

As we were setting up a tent, I heard a weird noise behind me. Since were deep in the forest, I was on the edge and quickly decided to check it out. Since it was dark, I couldn't see much. We had started a campfire which made it difficult to see very far. Sheila and Turek continued to work on the tent and didn't seem to have noticed the noise.

I continued looking around to find the source of the noise but the noise didn't seem to be happening anymore. It had sounded like something being dragged on the surface. But I didn't see any sign of it. Thinking it might be my overactive imagination, I returned back to helping Sheila and Turek.

The noise returned after a few minutes. I quickly looked back and the noise didn't stop either. It was coming closer and I could hear someone's footsteps as well. Is that Luka and Sim coming back? I continued staring but an unknown fear had gripped my heart. My chest started beating loudly and my instincts were telling me to run! I knew something bad was about to happen. When I was about to warn Sheila and Turek, I finally saw a silhouette of a person. It was still very difficult for me to see but I could tell that the person was dragging something by the left had and was holding something else in the right hand. This person continued to advance towards us at a leisurely pace.

I wanted to warn the others but my voice was caught in my throat. I felt like I was being watched by a predator. It was a feeling that I had experienced recently during my encounter with the direwolf. But the feeling was much stronger this time.

Suddenly I realized that Sheila had stopped moving. I could hear Turek continue to work while being completely oblivious to the danger. After a few seconds, the person coming towards us finally become visible.

It was a woman. She had a tall and shapely body. The clothes she was wearing seemed to be tight, as if they were too small for her. She was quite beautiful but the most distinguishing feature was her eyes. They were red, like blood. I felt myself start shivering as soon as I looked into those eyes.

As the woman came closer I realized what the dragging noise had been. The woman was holding Luka and Sim by their throats and was dragging them as she walked towards us. Luka, who was in her left had was lying limp while Sim was struggling, trying to free himself. It seemed like she was holding his throat tightly as he couldn't say anything.

It looked like even Turek had realized what was happening and had stopped moving. I was too busy looking at the woman to pay attention to anything else. The woman had a faint smile on her face and seemed to be looking fixedly at Sheila. She didn't pay any attention to me or Turek.

She stopped almost 10 meters away from us on the other side of the campfire. All of a sudden I felt a deep sense of familiarity with her. Where had I seen this woman before? While I was trying to figure this out, the woman looked down at the struggling Sim and said

"Ohh? You still can still struggle? You are stronger than than I thought!"

Her words sounded like a praise but I could hear the derision in her voice.

She had been holding Sim by his throat. Now she tightened her grip even more and raised him up. As she lifted him up, I realized just how tall she was. Sim was around the same height as Sheila but when the woman raised him to her level, his feet had left the ground and were up by at least a feet! That meant this woman was at least 7 feet tall! Because of how well proportioned she was for her height, I had not realized how big this woman was. She made a 6 foot tall man look like a child! She reminded me of Guild master Annette in her adult form. If this woman was as strong as her, we were in huge trouble. None of us would survive tonight.

The woman smiled as Sim struggled in her grip. I wanted to help but I was frozen in place. As I watched, she brought Sim closer to her and started kissing him deeply. Sim grabbed her wrist and started struggling more fiercely but after a few seconds his struggles died down. Soon he let go of her wrist and his hand hung limply by his sides. The woman stopped kissing after a few more seconds.

"That's better. Now…"

She brought Sim down and he stayed limply on the ground just like Luka.