Chapter 13

Arya slipped out of the alleyway and spotted Myna in a crowd of people. Arya raced up to Myna and Myna nearly died with relief that Arya was alright-and she was also very vivid that Arya ran off like that and gave her the biggest scare of her life.

Arya knew she was in big trouble and she was right as Myna started scolding her and telling her that she had been scared shitless when she couldn't find Arya anywhere near the book stall and she thought Arya had been kidnapped(Well, she was right about that-Arya was almost kidnapped by some shady people but she managed to kick their asses).

Arya just took the scolding right there in the public market as people shook their heads or whispered about Arya being scolded. Arya knew that she kinda deserved it as she made Myna worry so much and Myna was just very concerned about her. 

Arya decided to keep the whole "shady street thugs and meeting the Malva sibling's older brother" thing to herself for now. No need to make Myna even more worried about her.

Myna finally stopped her rant and she pulled Arya into a tight hug.

"Sorry about yelling at you, little princess, but I was just worried that something bad might have happened to you."

Arya hugged her back. She buried herself into Myna and let Myna stroke her hair.

"Yeah, it's okay. You're just looking after me and I know it was from good intentions."

Myna broke free from the hug and she smiled before grabbing Arya's hand.

"Let's go home, princess. I already got everything we need now and it's also getting dark outside."

Arya looked up and saw the sky darkening.

Probably a good idea to get back home before it got too dark outside.

….

Arya slipped out of the mansion and into the royal gardens.

Everyone told her to never leave the entrance of the front gates to the mansion.

While the royal mansion was located in a more isolated and far-off corner of the royal grounds, they were still on royal property and there was a risk that someone might poke around the place.

Arya wasn't ready to debut yet. She was still a secret.

Nobody used this royal mansion-a more smaller and simpler one by comparison to the other more lavish and richer mansions-anymore and this was the perfect place to keep Arya hidden.

Arya waited until Myna left and she was sure Myna was asleep before she slipped out.

She decided to use the balcony as going through the front doors was going to alert Myna right away since those doors were really squeaky and loud. Whether Myna was a light sleeper or not, Arya wasn't sure. But she wasn't taking chances of waking Myna up.

After that big scare she got today, sleep didn't come easy for her at all.

Her senses were alert and alive and energy coursed through her veins.

Thankfully, it was still warm as it was summer as Arya wore nothing but a pale green nightgown.

The jump off the balcony was high,maybe 10 feet- but Arya quickly floated down gently and softly as if she was a bird. She had been experimenting and playing around with her powers and she had always wondered what would happen if she used her powers on herself rather than on someone else or an object.

The results? She could make herself "fly", floating inches or a few feet off the grounds.

She gave Catalina and Elijah a heart attack that day before they smiled and congratulated her for coming up with a new skill.

The green grass felt warm and soft like silk under her bare feet and she breathed in the perfume of the night air scented by the roses and other flowers in the garden.

The moon was bright and full and lit up the night sky like a giant lantern.

She slowly walked around the gardens of the mansion.

Funny, she thought, that I go from being a nobody on the streets to a princess in a palace overnight.

Her uncle. Arya hadn't seen him for quite some time now. She wondered if he was too busy with kingly duties to come and visit her or if he would rather push her aside until he could figure out what to do with her.

Arya thought he didn't just push her aside and forget all about her.

After all, he gave her a place to stay and people who taught her, cared for her and looked after her.

Maybe he's been buried underneath a pile of work that he couldn't afford to visit her.

Catalina and Elijah were off on their secret mission from her uncle and it had been a day since they left now. According to Myna, they could be gone for weeks or even months at a time depending on the mission they were given.

Baron Pax would be returning soon as a letter from him confirmed that he was coming back and that he missed Arya.

Some training might look good right now as she had all this extra energy to burn off. Maybe it'll make her feel sleepy and she'll be able to sleep.

Arya lifted up the dagger she got from that bald man earlier in the day. Positioned on the training court were thick and tough wooden boards with red bull-eyes painted onto them positioned randomly around the area. She had been practicing knife throwing earlier that day and didn't bother putting the boards back where she found them.

 The handle was made of silver and was decorated with elaborate carvings and designs with a figure of a woman taking up center stage of the design. The sheath looked to be decorated with the same silver designs and cravings. She unsheathed the little dagger and found a sharp blade that was only six inches long but it looked to be of good craftsmanship and quality. 

She tested the blade by running a finger along the metal blade to find that it threw a little bit of blood. Good, the old owner either took good care of this dagger or it was brand new.

Arya's eyes flickered towards a target and she positioned the blade properly in her hand and, with a flick of her wrist and with lots of force and practice behind her throw, the blade flew through the air and into the trunk of the tree, all six inches inside the wooden target.

Arya went to retrieve the dagger and she yanked it out and walked towards the training shed.

Knife throwing was a skill that Catalina taught her and she spent hours honing her aiming and the force she put behind each throw, knives zipping through the air until their blades sinked into their targets.

She missed a lot during practice but she got better day after day as she continued to chuck and throw sharp objects at wooden boards that had red bull-eyes painted onto them. A dozen knives could easily be found in the training shed and Arya retrieved them to use for practice.

Again. A knife flew out of her hand and sank itself into a target on the right.

Again. A knife flew out of her hand and sank itself into a target on the left.

Knives went flying left and right as Arya threw them at her targets, the moon light lighting up her view very well.

Arya stood back a bit and was just about to throw her last remaining knife when she heard a rustling noise coming from the bushes nearby. A loud growling noise told her it wasn't some little bunny rabbit or squirrel.

Alert and poised, Arya threw her knife in the direction from where she thought the growling was coming from.

Her knife hit its target and Arya heard a roar of pain and a sound of something large and heavy hitting the ground.

Was it dead? 

Arya waited a few minutes before she went to check, cautiously and alert and ready to run if she had to, she pushed back the bushes to find-

A deer. Arya had never seen a real deer before but she read about them in a book. Seen pictures of them.

This one had no antlers-a female deer-but it looked abnormal and nightmarish.

Deer weren't supposed to have sharp teeth like those of a wolf.

They definitely didn't have scorpion tails as far as Arya knew nor did their eyes look so snake-like and monstrous, all silted and unblinking. Or did they have patches of scales like those of a snake or fish covering their entire bodies. 

But the most horrifying part of this monster deer was that instead of hooves, she had human feet. It looked so…monstrous and evil to see such an innocent and lovely creature from the books she read twisted and turned into something not right and terrifying to look at.

Arya let out a scream and she backed away in horror, the throwing knife still stuck in the side of the deer, piercing its heart and killing it in an instance, as Arya raced back in horror to the mansion.

….

In the little village, people were already forgetting about the recent murder of the innkeeper of the Red Rose. He had been found brutally murdered in the alleyway of his inn; His entire body were ripped to pieces and it looked as if a wild animal-no, pack of wild animals-had eaten and devoured him alive as pieces of his flesh were ripped out and missing from his body and he was mauled so badly that nobody could recognize him if it weren't for his gold ring that he wore on his index finger.

The people thought he might have been killed by those he owed debt to: It was an open secret that the innkeeper of Red Rose was a gambler and that he wasted away his money faster than he could earn it. He had borrowed money from shady people and maybe it was the karma he was getting.

His inn was auctioned off to the highest bidder. It appeared that the murderer had only targeted him and there hadn't been any murders since then. The murder soon began to fade away from their minds.

As darkness fell over the little town, people were now starting to retire to their homes and beds. Life was coming to a slow in the little village and a deceptive peace and calmness settled over the town. Shops closed. Taverns and restaurants gently ushered their few remaining customers out the doors as they began to close up shop. Families gathered around the table for dinner.

A drunk man was stumbling around in the streets. He was the village drunk and he was dead wasted tonight. His clothes were covered in vomit and ruined like he got into a bad fight at the bar. His blonde hair was messy and disheveled and his purple eyes were unfocused. His face was bright red and a bottle of alcohol was in one hand. He leaned himself against a lamp post and vomited. 

"Man…th..wa…s…nice.'. His voice was slurred as he tried to regain control over his body only to fall down in a puddle as he tripped and fell.

Dazed and disoriented, he got back up to see something standing before him.

A freakish, bird-like humanoid monster slowly materialized from thin air. Its body structure was long, thin and skeletal in appearance and it stood at about 7 feet tall, and its limbs taper off into long, sharp blades from its forearms down. A thick and hardened scaly armor covered the entirety of its body, including its sharp, bird-like beak. It's feet were clawed like those of a hawk or falcon and it's neck was like a giraffe's: Tall and long. 

He did a double take. He was pretty sure that it was the influence of the alcohol and he must be seeing things.

"Man, I need to take it easy with the alcohol."

That was the last thing he ever said before the monster stabbed him straight through the chest with one of its sword-like arms.

As he was dying, the beast ripped through his body and devoured his flesh and drank his blood. 

A woman and her young son screamed as three red zombie-like creatures that were fully naked with glowing red eyes and needle-like teeth attacked them in their bed.

A father tried to defend his wife and three children from a monstrous, wolf-like creature with glowing red eyes and fur as black as night.

All around the town, homes were being broken into and the inhabitants were attacked, killed and eaten by their killers.

The screams echoed in the night as the monsters attacked yet no one heard their screams and cries for help. 

…..

Arya didn't sleep well last night and Myna knew it.

As if the large circles under her eyes weren't any indication, then the fact that Arya was stumbling around and had zero energy to do anything but curl up on the sofa and stare up at the ceiling was.

Myna prepared a smoothing mug of hot chocolate with cookies to give to her little master.

Arya weakly turned her head towards Myna and gave her a weak smile.

"I had a bad dream last night…at least I think it was just a bad dream. I was in the courtyard training and this monster deer with sharp teeth and snake scales appeared and..I killed it with a throwing knife."

Myna set the cookies and hot chocolate on the coffee table and she pulled Arya into a hug.

"Sweet girl. It's just a nightmare."

But Myna didn't sound so sure when she said that

…..

Strange things had been happening recently and it was not good news.

Rumors of wild animals and freak monsters were spreading like crazy among the masses and people would show up dead or go missing.

An entire village was gone. There were signs of a struggle and violence with houses that were broken in and blood everywhere. Strangely, the residents could not be found anywhere at all.

Something strange and evil was going on and Elijah and Catalina-the king's most trusted investigators-were trying to find out what was going on.

Catalina and Elijah scanned through what was left of an active and thriving village just the night before.

Puddles of blood pooled around their ankles and soaked through their boots and the scent of blood and death filled the air.

"This is the second one now."

Catalina's eyes scanned the rubble and ruins of what remained of a village filled with life.

Elijah lifted up some debris-what remained of a door- and was examining it.

"Catty, take a look at this. This wasn't the work of some bandits or rag-tag thugs."

Catalina knelt down next to her brother and saw what he saw on the ruins of a door.

Claw marks. Long and deep-almost three inches deep-and it looked fatal and nasty.

Catalina nodded.

"No, it was the work of some animal. But what kind of animal is so large and huge? Take a look at the claw marks. That beast would have to be huge."

Elijah nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it would have to be."