Silver's Mercy, Annie's Vengence

On the outskirts of Greenwater, an armed squadron on horseback where hidden in the tree line as a few scots reported that Greenwater was not flying their flag as had been instructed. A banner bearing the mark of Irenfell indicated who they worked for as they prepared for their march toward the town; their numbers were around three hundred.

"Hmm," One of the several leaders noted; he was a lean man with only one eye, he had chestnut scruffy brown hair that fell just past his shoulders, and was wearing plate mail adorned with the Irenfell seal on his chest, he had a shield on his back with the same seal and a sheathed sword on his belt. Next to him was a larger, muscular man dressed in the same armor but with a large zweihänder greatsword on his back; the third in line was a muscular woman with two kukri knives on her belt. 

"The town is still full of monsters walking about like their people," The lean man noted. "I thought maybe he was just defecting and trying to take full control of the area for himself, but it's safe to assume Doren has failed in his task entirely,"

"Of course he did," the larger man said, "That idiot was always too big for his britches, he probably got all his men killed while he was at it," The Man turned to the troops and began speaking; he raised his hand and formed a fist with it as he talked, "I told them sending a scout to infiltrate was pointless, but these Kings never listen to the church," He motioned his hand towards Greenwater as he continued speaking,

"Surround the town, we'll enslave any monsters with strength and kill those who are weak along with any traitors who would dare call themselves human after defending these creatons, once clear we'll have a solid foothold as we wait for the holy church to send some of of the seven heavenly saints to put an end to the Demon Lord Argit," 

The man turned his horse and looked at his men. "Remember this day, for it is the last day that monsters will be allowed to desecrate our lands. Soon, all monsters will either perish or bow beneath us as we Humans will claim our rightful place as the superior race." There was a cheer, and the horses moved out.

"8th battalion, ride with me," the lean man declared as he and his men rode towards the town on horseback. The larger man rode towards the side of the town without several others, and the woman rode towards the Lake alone, eyeing the mansion specifically. The army split around them and surrounded the entire town to prevent anyone from escaping.

As the residents of Greenwater followed protocol and began barding themselves in their homes and businesses since running for the tree-line had high possibility of ending with being shot by archers.

Billie decided to stay as Billie in the hopes she might be able to defuse the situation as a human, with the added bonus of hopefully getting through a conversation without having her eyes mocked, she stood in silence as she watched the large number of horses riding towards the town.

"Attention everyone," she declared, "An army has come to lay siege to my town, with the exceptions of Winnie, Minerva, and Sheepy; everyone is to drop everything. Don't let them kill a single person; This is my town, and there for everyone here is mine,"

The man leading the 8th battalion rode into the rapidly clearing streets as most people ran for shelter; Bree and Inky stood alone on the roads.

"An old lady," The man noted in a bored tone, "Holding some sort of revolting slime creature," The man held his hand out and declared loudly, "I am your master now; kneel before me, and kill the slime to prove your loyalty to Irenfell, failure to comply will result in your death,"

"No," Billie replied, " As the current representative of this town, I must warn you that if you don't leave, you will all die; of course, we are not evil, so we will graciously spare your horses, but you and your men will die slowly for daring to go around trying to conquer my town,"

"Kill her," The Man said simply. Two archers on horseback knocked their arrows; Billie fully prepared to stand her ground before realizing she was carrying Inky.

"Anti-artillery," She declared as she put a barrier around Inky to keep him safe before snatching the fired arrows out of the air with one hand. Inky laughed as Billie set him down and smacked the protective barrier with glee.

"A defense spell?" The man questioned as Billie turned back to him, "Clearly you've spent your long life well, your skills have impressed me, yes you will make a fine servant once I've burned the holy teachings of the church into your skin, lay down and surrender or be forced into submission,"

"Okay, you no longer get the option of not dying," Billie decided, mildly irritated at being called long-lived even though her face looked more tiered than old. "The same goes for you two archery boys back there who aimed those arrows at Inky. The rest of you, leave now or die." After a moment, the Man got off his horse and pulled out his sword.

"Guess I'll have to force you down," the man said as he equipped his shield. Men start kicking down the doors of all the buildings." The Man took one step when a voice screamed out.

"Orion is best mount of all!" As the giant cat slid into view with Silver riding on his back.

"By order of my Mistress, you are all to be slain," Silver proudly declared. "Rejoice, as I am sure Orion will find you all delicious." Orion bore his fangs and hissed at their foes.

"Soul-bind," a female voice responded confidently; the spell hit Orion and shattered, making her falter.

"A Volunteer," Silver cheered as he jumped off Orion's back and withdrew his great sword. Come and face your death with honor. For your bravery, I will grant you the luxury of being dead before I feed you to Orion." The woman held up her hand again and failed to Soul-bing Silver.

"Attack him as a group," the leader said. His soldiers proceeded to draw their assorted arms, and Silver nodded.

"Obeying your leader even to your death, I must give you more respect," Silver held out his hand and pointed directly at the women who had tried to soul bind him, "I shall leave you for last," Silver took his great sword in both hands and took a defensive state, "Now come at me with all your heart and soul," 

Billie had been looking at Silver when she felt death approaching her. Swiftly, she dodged a strike from the leader's sword.

"Well now," She said as she looked at the blade, "That is no ordinary sword,"

"This divine blade can cut through all," The man replied. "Now give in to me or die,"

"My, how horrible, it would seem you can kill me," Billie decided, taking care to say her peace while activating the message spell. Instantly, she felt the earth begin to rumble as something shot out of her mansion like a cottony bullet, "Sadly, I can't fight you without instantly killing you, and you have proven that you need to suffer for your words; I grow tired of everyone insulting my face upon meeting me,"

"Funny that you think you can escape," The man said as he raised his sword to swipe, only for something to slam into his side. Suddenly, he slid across the ground and, after picking himself up, found what looked to be a woman made of plush holding a needle and a button.

"Hello," Annie said as she held her needle at the ready, "You will pay greatly for your attempt on Mistress Billie's life,"

Annie waited as the group group leader picked himself up. Silver was still silently waiting for the armed soldiers to finish surrounding him and Orion.

"Somewhat cowardly trying to bring my cat into this," Silver noted. "But this is a battle for survival, so feel free to be as cheap as you would like; it will not save you,"

"Split," The leader commanded his forces, "and kill this doll," Billie responded faster as she raised her right index finger and trapped the twelve soldiers in a giant bubble with Silver and Orion.

"I will allow no such thing," Billie declared, "They have already challenged Silver, and I'm sure he's itching to try and see how well he can perform while trying to save that one girl for last," 

"You coward," The man shot back, "Too afraid to fight in a fair match?"

"That's stupid," Billie noted. "You have an enchanted sword that can cut through everything; what kind of a fair fight involves a seven-on-one fight, and why should I care if you call me a coward when you're an invading force who did not announce their plan declaration of war before attacking? Not to mention you waited to attack me with your sword until I wasn't looking at you,"

Billie just shook her head before turning to her maid, "Annie, do your best to make it slow," Billie turned and picked up Inky, "I'll just have to take Inky here to Boris and Manfred for lunch,"

"That's Inky?" Annie chuckled as Inky again began playing with Billie's shawl, "How cute; I bet Minerva is having a fit," Annie turned sharp as a dime and blocked the sword with her button.

"Impossible," The man said as he jumped back with panic in his eye "This sword can cut through anything,"

"My Shield can block anything," Annie countered "When an unstoppable object meets an immovable force, they will be stuck in a deadlock, and since nothing will happen, my shield will always beat you, even if only on a technicality,"

"So all I have to do is get past your little button," The man replied before running at Annie, Who held her needle in a downward position, doing as her mistress had said and making sure to draw the battle out.

The same could not be said for Silver, as he had already incapacitated six of the thirteen armed soldiers; an assortment of men and women lay upon death's door before him, and the remaining six all stood back in fear as their comrades pleaded for aid.

"How interesting," Silver muttered, directing his words to the seventh living person in the group. The woman whom he had sworn to kill last was the most active of her peers; while the rest tried to escape, she was actively using his vow to get in the way of his attacks.

"I almost don't want to kill you," Silver turned to one of those still standing and ran at her with a swing, only to back off just before it hit as the Woman ran in his way and blasted another spell at him, much to his utter delight, "Wonderful, willing to die for your fellow followers, you should be proud of your dedication, I'm wanting to kill you less and less to be honest, but am I allowed to is the real question," Upon hearing his words the Woman was grabbed by the solder she had just protected and shoved to the front.

"Let me go," She demanded as her comrades used her like a meat shield.

"Shut up, "another woman said as she held her lance to the woman's throat. Let's see you try and get me now without breaking your little prom—-"Before either of them could react, Silver slashed his sword at an angle, avoiding the first and splitting the other in half. She fell to the ground, barely alive; the one Silver had sworn to leave for last stood without a scratch on her armor.

"Never have I seen such cowards; truly, you deserve better comrades," Silver growled before noticing the remaining soldiers had all turned their weapons to her.

"If I die, you're going down with me," A man screamed, having realized Silver was talking himself into sparing her; he lunged and Silver jumped in front of her, and, with a single slash, took down the remaining soldiers before turning to the woman, Under Silvers gaze, she simply fell to her knees, and hung her head down, clearly waiting for him to fulfill his promise to kill her before feeding her to Orion.

 Silver raised his sword and stuck it downwards. After a moment, the woman opened her eyes. The sword had been implanted into the ground inches away from her face. She looked up and found Silver holding his hand out for her to take.

"Take my hand and swear your fealty to Mistress Bree," Silver demanded, "Swear on your soul to serve her, and I will offer you the chance to beg for her mercy, and should you grant you that honor, know you will serve with comrades who deserve your willingness to die to protect them, and that they will grant you that same honor," 

The Woman looked at him momentarily before crying, taking his hand, and doing as he asked. "Wonderful," He declared before picking her and his sword up effortlessly, sheeting his sword and holding the woman like one would hold a princess, "I shall hold on to you, and once your former allies have all been dealt with, Mistress Bree shall decide what is to be done with you. Until then, Orion and I will keep an eye on you, so do behave," Silver began walking away before calling back, 

"Oh, I almost forgot! Orion, dinner," Orion cheered and began haphazardly eating the half-dead soldiers as Silver effortlessly dispelled the barrier.

The Leader gritted his teeth. His battle with Annie had gone nowhere as she moved around him without swinging her needle. He ran past her and aimed his weapon forward, aiming to rush down Silver and the traitor, only for Annie to raise her needle and surgically remove his fingers from the hand holding the shield. The man let out a howl of agony and dropped his sword and shield as he tumbled to the ground while grabbing at his bleeding stump of a hand.

"Pick up your weapon," Annie snarled, "I hold a hallowed belief that one can not claim a weapon without winning it in fair combat,"

"Do you know who I am?" the man demanded. I am Barney Razzor, brother to Arlow Razzor, captain of King Odren's guard; you will regret ever…" Annie moved her hand, and Barney flinched. After a moment, he looked at his hand and found his fingers reattached, blood staining his hands where they had been severed.

"That was just to get your attention," Annie informed him, "Now pick up your sword and Fight me, or I will take you apart and put your back together until you're too damaged to fix," Barney took his sword, rage evident in his face as he swung his blade at Annie, who blocked it with her shield, he then attempted to punch her in the face while she was blocking. She proceeded to slice his arm off. He screamed, and she just looked at him before reattaching his limb at speeds too fast to see.

"I will give you one more chance," Annie said. Fight me, and your death will be honorable. Run again, and it shall be as a coward you are sent to your gods." Barney grasped and swung his sword, slashing magic at Annie, who just sidestepped it. Instead of dissipating the magic condensed into a ball behind her, he smiled and began slashing at her wildly.

Annie dodged every attack, the ball of magic growing in size. When it became clear her patience was running low, Barney swung his sword away from her, and the magic shot at her; Annie looked back at it and failed to move.

Annie watched as her arm holding her shield fell to the ground.

"Now," Barney cried as he pulled his sword back, "Die!" He slashed down, only to find Annie had already reattached her arm. She slammed into his sword with her button shield, having been going as hard as he could. Hitting the button caused the sword to slip from his grasp. Annie used her shield to smack it to the side. It turned to light and vanished from the field. Barney took a step back in fear as Annie slowly approached.

"No, I…I surrender," He cried out, "Stay away; I'll do whatever you want," He got on his hands and knees as he begged, "Kill the rest, but spare me; I'm worth more alive than dead!" Annie raised her needle and pointed it at him; without warning, he threw dirt at her before turning and running to his horse; he made it only a few steps when Annie appeared in his path and slashed her needle sword, lobbing off his feet.

"No!" He screamed out as he tumbled across the ground and attempted to crawl away from her, "No! No, go away, I'm too important to die here, go away, you'll regret this if you…" Annie slashed once more, and his head fell to the ground.

"That should be sufficient; I believe that was very drawn out," She decided before gathering the horses.