Chapter One.

She was an atrocious witch. 'A bloody bastard!', others might even say. The darkness in other's soul, ignited her like a cinder coal. No one dared journeyed to her presence. The people of Anahita had not the slightest effrontery to even approach her. She looked like a typical villager, but with an attire accustomed with weaponries of different kinds for adornment. A hood always fell on her head, covering her blonde goddess hair that would sweep off her back, if let loose.

Chantara did not bother. She had no business with these mortals. Fourteen days on Mundus felt like eternity, but she would not be moved. She had a purpose and had been chosen. She would not let the Orb down.

"What say you maiden, harbouring in the dominions of us warriors?" Barked a drunkard as Chantara advanced for a seat at the local bar. The place was crowded with all kinds of people, most especially, the insolent idled men of the city. The light at the fire place burned, but only created the reflection of a dim light across the room. Other torches were lite at the corners of the room to aid it's brightness. Windows revealing out benefited from the moon's light that glowed remarkably well. Reeking odours of liquor filled the air, loud chittering and chattering of people roaring from all areas. Tables were arranged in a disorganized manner, with chairs around them. People laughed, cheered, fought in corners and argued like barbarians, but that didn't scare Chantara off.

She did not reply.

"You there! Have you no ears?" He rose up from his table, ignoring the warnings of his brothers as they cautioned him not to start any trouble. Still, he became stone deaf. "I said, what brings a maiden of your kind into Lola's tavern at this time of the night?" He bellowed, anger flustering at his eyes.

Again, she did not reply.

Rage filled his eyes and he erupted like an infuriated volcano. He was the Captain of the armies at bay. Shadrack's men were everywhere at all corners of Earth like water surrounded the globe. He was feared by all villagers of Varantaa. The disrespect of a strange young girl was frantic to him.

"Let her be, mate." Said another man, supposedly belonging to the same folk of the Captain.

"Garrett, you will mind your business, or I mind it for you." The Captain warned, grunting in disbelief. "You!" He was advancing forward to her now, getting more furious by the moment.

"Servant girl?" Chantara waved to the bar attendant, ignoring the Captain's calls.

"Yes?" Replied the bar attendant. "The name's Itzel by the way." She corrected.

"Whatever." Chantara muttered under her breath. "Bring me some good ale."

"I need to see your good gold coin first." She replied with a quick smile before it disappeared from her face.

"Are you all mad!" The furious Captain fumed as he stood beside Chantara.

"There will be no trouble, Captain Spade." Itzel warned, walking down to their table. More of a plea than a command. "And kind miss, your gold coin please." She turned to Chantara.

She was a goddess, of course she could chant some magic and let a whole treasure box appear at her site. Instead, she was determined to keep her identity a secret for the time being. She would draw no attention to her side.

"This fine lad will pay." She said, pointing towards Captain Spade. His mouth fell open, as well as some other people at the bar. They hardly had some entertainment and were loving the sight of that one. No one dared faced any of the soldiers, much more, Shadrack's men.

"I beg your pardon?" Puzzled Captain asked with a furrowed brow.

"You look like a rich human. Pay." She repeated her request like it was a normal thing to say. As if one could just walk up to a Shadrack's army and order him to do something.

Two important events happened. Captain Shade was fuming already, so Chantara's final comment drove him mad. He yelled in anger, gripping the table tight, then with all his might, lifted it with great power next with a dash throw, causing the poor table to clash with another empty table. Leaving just a vast space between he and Chantara who was still calmly seated on the chair, he drew out his mighty sword in combat, ready for action. Then, in the blink of an eye, with one punch, Captain Shade was catapulted to the air, landing two seconds later with his face smacked hard on the rough floor.

Roars of laughter filled the bar, as some people hailed Chantara here and there. The battle was far from over. With weapons unleashed, more men with hard stare of disdain, rose up from their tables and strode towards Chantara. She cracked her knuckles and was ready for more fun, till a hand held on to hers from behind. When she turned back, a pale stranger with a stern look nodded at disapproval. He was taller than she was, with smooth fine face. Better than the ones she'd being seeing so far, she thought. His posture stood firmly straight and Chantara could not deny the bit of charm that attracted him to her. Dressed almost like any other man, his bright tunic and dark trouser stood out amongst the crowd, not because the material could be expensive, but they were cleaner and neater. She could perceive a hint of lavender as he stood quite close to her.

"You have just three seconds to let go, else I'm chopping off those hands of yours like I would do a log of wood."

"You don't want to do this." He said, maintaining a balanced eye contact.

"Dare me."

"No, uh, I meant start a fight with them." He quickly corrected.

"Three."

"Believe me, these men are animals." He replied, his eyes already shifting. One minute his gaze was fixed on her, next, they diverted to about half a dozen of men closing in on them with all kinds of dangerous weapons. "We need to leave!" He yelled, more than he intended to, cursing his voice for shrilling like an angry bird.

"Two?!"

One man already drew his sword at close length, and would strike any moment soon. "Listen to me, you can't win this BATTLE!"

Clang!

The sword of an army clashed into another blade. The stranger could not watch. He yelled out, wrapping both hands around his head. Swords began to clang, grown men howling in pain. He slowly lifted his head up, then he saw Chantara fought fearless in battle.

Chantara was fast and quick witted. Who would think otherwise? She was born in the hands of godly warriors, dined, wined and trained with them. She heard and saw Shadrack's men approaching. The strange young man was in her front, the men appeared behind her. In the blink of an eye, she turned to wade off the sword that would had slit through her head assuming she hadn't been quicker. The man was caught off guard, so it was easier for Chantara to unleash her surprise attack. With just the right swiftness, she spanked the tip of her sword hard on the man's head, then sent a sharp kick down his manhood with her boots. He grunted in agonizing pain and the audience of the bar people sympathize with him. Other men yelled a battle cry before charging. She was calm and steady on her feet, yet swift and agile so she saved herself from all kinds of surprise attacks. Before the call of her name, all seven men were groaning in pain, whimpering on the floor.

The crowd yet again bursted in a loud cheer, clapping hands in approval. It was her first time of visiting the town, and she could have sworn she hadn't had more fun since her arrival to Earth. You wouldn't see much of her in her disguise — her blonde hair covering half of her eyes, and the hood over her head contouring her face with depths of shadows. So it would be hard to see her smile, but she did. A smirk that partially raised her lips making it to arch just a little.

"You would regret this. You-" One of the guards managed to coughed out before he was smacked hard on the head by one of the drunkards. Dressed in tattered rags, reviewed an unkempt appearance of a haggard old man. He laughed out loud revealing set of incomplete coloured teeth.

"Rot in hell." He spat. More applaud filled the room with thunderous laughter of all kinds.

Humans!

Chantara grunted in detest.

"He was serious." The young lad approached her again. "Shadrack's men would never-"

"One!"

"AHH!" He screamed out as soon as Chantara's blade swung few inches past him, and slashed through the table beside him.

"Hmm. You've got fast moves." She complimented, removing her already stuck sword from the table.

"Ahh???" He cried out dramatically, waving his hands out in an investigative manner. Pleased her sword was out, she only smiled in reply. "You are... such a... Uh, I'm short of words actually." He stammered, conversing the words more to himself more.

"Then why try to speak then?" She asked in a sarcastic tone. "You mortals are all dense."

"We.. Well you could have killed me!" He protested.

"But then, I didn't." She pointed out. "You should give thanks to the gods for-" She was sent in a rapid hush as his hands firmly covered her mouth from making further comment. People gasped in awe and exchange glances and some bit of remarks, then all face turned towards her.

"Uh, no no." The young man began with a big smile on his face. He yelped as Chantara bit his hands. He pretended as though he didn't see her frowning face. "You heard, nothing. What you, uh, what you heard... It- it was," he struggled as he tried constructing his words to make sense, but failed woefully. He stammered unintentionally whenever he was in the slightest way tensed. "No need to bother about... Hehe! — RUN!" He gripped her hands tight and together, with a lot of curses and ominous disturbing threats from Chantara, they sauntered out for entrance.

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