章 20: Chapter 16: Eyes Of A Monster
Princess Isalene and Sharia The Warmonger were more...distant today, though Sharia didn't notice or, if she did, she didn't care. Isalene is well aware of it. Despite what she told Grillant, his words laid heavy on her heart. The worse part is that she can't ask Sharia if she thinks that way nor about the incident that supposedly changed her. One is because she had a feeling Sharia wouldn't tell her, and two is because of the breach of privacy. Plus, how does one talk about such matters openly when they are not close?
The two were making their way down to the private arena in the palace. Isalene had begged Sharia to fight and, after a while, she agreed. The King was even attending, though Sharia did not care about that. Isalene did, however. She doesn't want to bother Sharia's fights but, if her father sees her flinching and having a hard time coping with the violence and death that was sure to happen, then he might change the rules.
While deep in her thoughts, Isalene tripped on her own feet. Before she could even let out a sound she fell to the floor, or would have if it wasn't for Sharia catching her by her dress. She lifted Isalene up and set her down before turning away.
"Don't get hurt because of a stupid reason like that. If you took that fall, it'd be harder for you to run away from assassins."
Isalene dusted herself off and gave a sheepish smile. Even though she was wearing a helmet, Isalene could tell that Sharia wasn't amused by her antics. They continued walking until they reached the arena. It was a small sandy pit with a big glass dome on top, allowing light to filter through. Sharia looked up at the roof of the dome for a couple of seconds. Isalene did too, even though she has seen it before. To their right was the place where the royals sit. Sitting on a small throne was Isalene's father, the King of the Kingdom. Isalene instantly took off running, Sharia close behind her despite walking.
"Hello Father!" Isalene greeted the King, tackling him with a hug.
"Daughter!" The King shouted with joy, sweeping Isalene off her feet and setting her down on his lap.
Sharia watched this embrace silently, trying to understand the connection the two have, and wondering if she herself would ever have something like that in the future.
'Probably not.'
Sharia walked up to the throne but did not get any closer, not wanting to disturb whatever moment the two were having. Sharia badly wants to tell the King that he should have raised his daughter better. From what Sharia gathered from her time with Isalene, she wasn't well educated on how to be a ruler. In fact, she wants to tell the King that his daughter can never rule a faction if she hates violence. Violence happens all the time in Nostalisk. It doesn't matter if Isalene never marries into another faction or marries someone here, the cruel harsh reality of this world will never change and will catch up.
After the father and daughter had a small conversation, the King turned to look at Sharia. The only difference to Sharia was the two red flags adorning her cape, which the King knew she got from Ai. He was the one to order Grillant to give Sharia the package after all. He also knew what they represent. For Sharia, who either has close to or over a million in kills, depending on who you believe, the red flags were a little longer than the cape she had on.
"Sharia, it is good to see that my daughter is treating you well. How do you like your master's gift?" The King asked, trying to start up a conversation like they use to have in the past. Before Sharia's voice was damaged.
"I like them. Fits perfectly on my cape. Not getting in the way and not too big to ruin my dark color scheme."
The two laughed at that, but did it inwardly. It was an inside joke as some would say. The King wears brown, golden yellow, and green outfits that match his green eyes and red-brown hair. Sharia, on the other hand, wears black, red, and gold colors, with some grey and most of the colors on her outfits being mostly black. Then, there was Grillant, Typhlin, and even Cheng and Sarah, the people Sharia hanged out with the most, were dressed more colorfully than her. Grillant and his bright silver armor, Typhlin with his orange, silver, and black armor, Cheng with his blue, yellow gold, orange, and silver outfits, and Sarah with her blue and silver armor. In fact, the Tearacloth Army wore silver and gold colors, sometimes mixed in with orange and red. Sharia really stood out with her dark color scheme. In fact, the name Black Reaper, the name suppose to be given to those leading the army, was named after her dark color scheme.
"Well, I would love to chat some more but, that will have to wait," The King stood up and gently put Isalene down on a smaller throne besides his before walking over to the railing and looking down into the arena below, where an announcer was entering and heading towards the center of the ring.
"I'm afraid the matches will be starting soon. So please do be careful, miss Reaper Of Many."
Sharia raised an eyebrow before she snorted and started walking towards the stairs leading to the Clark of this arena.
"Thanks," Sharia called out, albeit a little awkwardly, before her figure disappeared down the stairs.
The King looked at the stairs where Sharia disappeared into a little longer, a sadden look on his face, before he sighed and went back to his throne.
"Father, were you and Sharia close?" Isalene asked when her father sat down. The King thought about the answer for a second.
"Yeah, you could say we were. Sharia, the old old Sharia, was friendly outside of battle. Sure her morals are looked down upon by many and she has committed treason on more than one occasions, and came plenty close other times as well, but, you could say I thought of her as one of my relatives daughter. She also proved herself many times over in battle...and was a difficult person to understand. It took Grillant a long time to understand her but, I understood her after four days of working with her. She was someone who seeked attention without evening knowing it. In that way, back then she was like a child. Of course, now she is completely different...and...."
The King went silent, lost in his own thoughts.
"If you were alive when Sharia first came to fight for me, you would be...Well, Sharia was on trial for two years after the Aclomite War, which you were born two years after, and since she in the arena for twelve years, stopping every now and then for another trial or when the arena was on hold years. Maybe you would be around thirty-six?"
"Who knows? I can't figure out the math," The King broke off, shrugging.
"How old is Sharia?" Isalene ask, keeping up.
"I thought thirty nine but, I am positive she is around forty six."
"That old? She sounds young," Isalene said, remembering what her voice sounds like.
"That's just how she is. I'm not sure myself," The King chuckled, "But I do know that she has been fighting since she was eleven. That was also the year she was taken in by Ai. I can correctly say that Sharia has been fighting most of her life."
The conversation went silent as the announcer started announcing the events of today's match, and two knights entered the ring. Sharia wasn't due for another three rounds.
"Father, both you and Grillant talk about how Sharia had an incident. That something happened to her. Can you give me more on that?"
The King let out a sigh and leaned further into his throne.
"Normally, people don't get scarred from battle. If you ever went into battle, you would. That doesn't mean you are weak, Isalene. It just means your mind is different. Sharia, despite her mind having some childish...aspects to it, wasn't scarred by battle or killing. Even the magical attack done to Sharia would not have done anything to Sharia. So, can you guess why Sharia changed?"
Isalene shook her head, almost caught off guard by the question.
"Well," The King told Isalene with a sigh, "the battle lasted for four days, and no relief army arrived. Dust covered the sun, covering it in an endless night with no concept of time. When Kingdom soldiers arrived, they were too few to even make a difference if they went in. So, instead they put helmets on rocks and fired arrows, making it seem like a relief army has arrived. The enemy retreated upon seeing it and...almost all of the Tearacloth army lay dead. And it was all thanks to one corrupt advisor who gave the orders in the first place."
"I don't know for sure what happened that day, but Sharia changed. I have seen her without her helmet on many times, yet I have only seen her with it off once after that battle, and I never wanted to see her with it off again," The King finished. Down below, the fight was over and the next one was beginning.
"But I will see it once again," The King muttered to himself, though Isalene still heard it.
"Really!?" Isalene asked. The King met her sparkling eyes and sighed. It seemed the whole story and the point of it flew over her head.
"Yes, but you won't be there to see it," The King informed his daughter, who started pouting.
"F-fine," Isalene said, crossing her arms. The King would not give in this time. After all, Sharia likes her own privacy, and the King wasn't sure her daughter wouldn't be scarred from the execution coming up.
.....
Sharia watched as the knight slid off her blade, un-impaling himself and staring at his open gut. He took one step back before his eyes rolled over and he fell down, dead. Sharia swung her blade sharply, getting the blood off it, before holding it in her right hand by her side. She looked up at the royals above her. The King was watching her with silent approvement while Isalene was covering her eyes. Before the announcer came in or the King clapped her victory, a magical small green bird flew in from the doorway and went into Isalene. Out of it came a white note. Isalene read it and jumped up. She looked at her father and the royal guards before "stealthy" sneaking away.
Sharia looked back at the King and he shook his head, well aware of what just happened. He stood up and clapped his hands once, giving a signal to the announcer.
"Alright! Show's over. Leave now unless the King told you to stay!"
With those words, the royal guards and few nobles/commanders left. In the private arena, only those the King gives invites to can enter, so this arena is a lot less crowded then the public arena.
Once everyone left, including the announcer, a few royal guards entered the ring and opened a big metal gate situated under the throne. That was where the prisoners are kept. They went in and Sharia realized what was going on. She looked up at the King and he gave her a small nod. Even if Sharia was wearing a helmet, the King could tell that she smiled.
Six nobles were brought in, though they could only be called prisoners now. They were locked up in chains. Sharia recognized one of them belonging to Marcus's family. One of his brothers, perphapes? They looked to young to be the current leader of the house and they were clearly male.
"L-let go of us!" The young count yelled out, but to no avail. The royal guards formed a line on both sides of the prisoners leading up to Sharia, who started stretching before she stabbed her sword in the ground.
"Can we do this old style?" The King asked Sharia, who cocked her head at him
"I thought you didn't like me with my helmet off?" Sharia asked him, remembering his look when he saw her face after one failure of a battle.
"While I may not like it, I still have to live with it. Besides, the sooner I get used to yer childish mug, the better."
Sharia and the King both laughed at that, causing many of the people here to ponder about their relationship. Most of the nobles and royal guards here recognized Sharia as Cruel Knight and, because her voice is female, realize that she is a criminal. A few nobles even knew this beforehand as, if any noble tries to recruit Cruel Knight, the royal guards would deny them saying they were a "guest of honor", or, in other words, a prisoner who has value to the King.
"Though, I don't think we can quite do this old style. We don't have the monks here chanting," Sharia pointed out, pointing towards two ramparts which seemed to have not been used in a long time. Even though Sharia hasn't been to this arena herself, the King has used her monks on multiple occasions for executions done here.
"Atlas, the monks are located with the rest of the Tearacloth Army, which is currently located in the back of the Kingdom. And, don't tell the other monks this but, I don't like them that much to try and hire some of them."
When Sharia hired the buddhist monks, the small majority of them didn't and called the monks who went to join Sharia traitors and fake buddhists. Of course, the majority of the monks didn't care what the others said and still continued to join Sharia. While it is true that their belief originally said to not kill, Sharia's own morals and "teachings" reached many of the monks, changing them. During Sharia's golden time, her monks were present with execution and trials as well as the blessings for the dead. Of course, they stopped showing up shortly before Sharia was captured.
"Heh. I don't blame you. I don't think even the monks who used to work for me liked them."
Sharia looked down at the ground, perhaps remembering old memories, before she sighed and looked up at the King.
"Alright then. Let's get started, shall we?"
With those words, Sharia put her left hand underneath her helmet, her claws struggling to get underneath. When they did, with some effort, the helmet popped off, Sharia slowly took it off, her head lowered, and put her helmet on the ground to her right. With another sigh, though this one sounding more of thrill, Sharia looked back up at the King. The King wanted to shudder but he kept his cool and showed not a hint of fear, even though he knew Sharia still knew he was afraid of her face. It wasn't really her face really that the King was afraid of though.
Sharia had what one would call youthful beauty, the one normally seen in children between the age of fifteen to nineteen. She has somewhat thick wavy black hair that stopped shortly after going past her shoulders. Many would find her as a growing beauty, who would look even more beautiful when she grows up, even though she never will. Over her left eye was a faded scar mark made from when she nearly clawed her own eye out. The last detail about Sharia, the one the King finds frightening, is her eyes. They were red and sometimes glowed despite her not being a wartorn but that is not what scares the King.
Sharia's eyes were dead. They weren't emotionless per se, but they were cold and hard to the point where one thinks Sharia feels nothing. In fact, if it wasn't for how long he has known Sharia for, the King would indeed think Sharia felt nothing. These were not the eyes of a warrior or of even a Warmonger. They were the eyes of something else. The only word to describe the dead look and chilling presence they brought was monster.
Sharia put her hands to her chest and lowered her head once again.
"Jaga śāntī hai."
With those words, a red symbol appeared on Sharia's chest plate. Her started to fold in on itself before Sharia was covered by a bright red flash. When the flash of red light faded, Sharia was still standing where she was, only she was wearing different armor. The armor she wore before wasn't what she normally wore for battle. When the palace was attacked, she was wearing it but, normally she would wear this armor.
Gone were her cape and full body armor. Her armor was pitch black with a glowing red symbol on her chest, The armor did not cover most of her arms though her metal gloves were mostly the same, ending her fingers in claws. The only difference would be the red pattern on them now. Her armor had the texture of scales and, on her back were the two red flags her master gave her. Sharia reached behind her and gently touched one of them, bringing it close to her face with a small smile on her face. For a moment, her eyes seemed to soften. Then, Sharia let go of the flag and looked at the prisoners. Her eyes shone with a twisted excitement and, matching the twisted look in her eyes, a toothy smile was on her face, showing sharp teeth. While Sharia may be human, she sure isn't a normal one.
Sharia pulled her sword out of the ground and slowly walked towards the prisoners. Sharia was...shorter now without her helmet and armor. One would think she was at least five point nine with her helmet on but, without her helmet and armor, she was closer to five point five or four. Though, right now, her height fails to take away from the fear in her image. Red eyes that shone with no merit or warmth. Dead eyes. Her armor was black like that of a reaper.
Sharia stopped about fifteen feet from the prisoners and nodded. Two royal guards stepped forward and freed the prisoners before stepping back and throwing them their weapons. The others did the same, giving the prisoners enough weapons and shields to defend themselves before stepping back, creating a wide berth between them and Sharia and the now armed prisoners. Sharia did a bow, her flags flying in the air briefly before settling down.
"What is this!?" One prisoner called out to the King. The King only shook his head and pointed at Sharia. What was happening was pretty clear. It was a fight to the death between one scary girl and six prisoners who were once nobles.
The outcome was clear.
Sharia made the first move. She got out of the bow and lunged forward, impaling one prisoner with her sword and ramming them into the wall, pinning them. She quickly finished him off by stabbing him through the head with her clawed hand. She freed her sword, flicked it clean of blood, and turned to face the rest of the prisoners who couldn't even react to the three seconds it took for Sharia to pin one of them to the wall. It finally set in to them then that they were facing no ordinary soldier. This was someone on the level of a High Commander, or possibly even better.
Before the prisoners could get ready, Sharia's varasikara transform, the halberd catching the throat of one prisoner, slicing it open. He fell, grabbing at his throat. Sharia then swung to her left, flipping her weapon over so the scythe end caught another prisoner in his gut. She turned it again so her scythe was pointing upwards before lifting her weapon up in the air, cutting open the prisoner's chest and even lifting him in the air for a few feet. Sharia swung her weapon back again, catching one prisoner on her cheek with her scythe before the prisoner could jump back in time. With her varasikara at her side, she transformed her weapon once again, the halberd and scythe disappearing into the hilt.
The prisoner who was cut on her cheek hissed, touching the wound tenderly, before glaring at Sharia. She opened her hand and a glowing purple sphere formed in it. The magic sphere shot out of her hand and towards Sharia at an impressive speed. Now that the cuffs were off, this noble could use magic again, and she saw no reason why she wouldn't use it. It is her one clear advantage in this fight.
Unfortunately, for her, Sharia was faster. She put her sword right in front of her. The magic attack hit the blade and dispersed. The prisoner stared at the sword with a blank expression. That expression never left her face. Sharia threw the dagger she had gotten from the butcher shop and cut her head clean off. The last prisoner left was Marcus's brother, Urgal, though Sharia doesn't know that is his name, nor would she care.
"So, shall we fight?" Sharia asked Urgal, putting her sword over her shoulder blades.
Urgal was scared, trembling, but he knew that if he wanted to be let go, he would have to fight. The only prisoner who actually fought back before was Renia, the magic-wielding noble. Maybe he has an actual chance in close combat with Sharia?
....
....Even he knew that was a stretch. Still, with a yell, he charged forward, his sword at the ready. He is the best fighter other than his father in his family. He was sure he was at least on par with a Commander, and even a Commander can kill a High Commander one on one.
Sharia did not change into a fighting stance. She waited until Urgal was near and, when he swung his sword, quickly snatched it with her right hand while leaning forward. Urgal watched in slow motion as Sharia's varasikara slid off her shoulder, the blade pointed towards his chest, and fell. It went through his chest with ease and Urgal fell to one knee, not because of the pain but from the weight. The varasikara slid further in before it stopped. Sharia was grabbing the hilt of the blade with one hand. She threw away his sword with her right hand and pulled her sword out of Urgal with the other before she started walking around Urgal, eyeing him
"Do you know why you rarely see someone using a varasikara?" Sharia asked after an uncomfortable silence.
"The most common varasikara weighs to three hundred to four hundred and eighty pounds. I was trained by Ai in something she calls Genetic Training or whatnot. She learned it from one of those ruins from the ancient ones."
Sharia stopped in front of Urgal and dropped her sword on the ground. The whole arena shook from the impact and the cold hard sandy and stone ground cracked like a cannon ball hit it.
"My varasikara, named Pahilāṁ, weighs two to eight tons if I don't use magic to keep its weight in check. While I may not be a wartorn, I sure have muscles like one. Name one other warrior who doesn't use magic to swing around a eight ton weapon with ease."
Sharia was still for a moment before she started giggling. When she giggled, Urgal noticed something. When Sharia took off her helmet, her voice no longer sounded like she inhaled smoke. It was normal, but had a manic glee to it...no, not manic. A sadistic glee in it.
"It's all in the muscles, baby!" Sharia said randomly, flexing her left arm while pointing at it with her right hand.
"Ah, you won't get that joke. Master said it a lot."
Sharia kicked the handle of her weapon, sending it out of the ground where she caught it with her arm, the hilt catching on her arm like a hook, and she spun her weapon around a few times before she grabbed the hilt, the blade of her weapon facing backwards, and met his eyes. Urgal found himself shivering uncontrollably underneath her gaze. She was assessing him and he knew she was seeing him as nothing more than thrash. It was like a void, and he was being sucked in. He needed to do something to avoid this. Anything!
...Then, an idea came to him.
"D-did you r-really think that message, was just a message?" Urgal got out, a twisted smile on his face.
"The King has royal magic. If that magic were to harm the Princess in any way, he would have not allowed it to even get within a mile radius of Isalene," Sharia explained to Urgal in a calm and dead tone, her eyes still examining every fiber of his being.
"Oh I know. T-that is why I-I and my b-brother ordered troops to kidnap t-the both of them!"
Sharia's smile went off her face in an instant and her eyes started to glow. She leaned forward until her face was inches away from his.
"You're a fool," Sharia told him, her voice ending in a growl.
She spun around, walking a couple of feet away from Urgal, before turning around. Black chains started coming out of a gauntlet on Sharia's left hand. When Urgal first saw it, he thought nothing of it. It was so blended in that it did not stand out. Sharia spun around and the next thing Urgal knew, eight black arrow-like blades attached to black chains flew towards him. He closed his eyes and felt them pierce his skin. He felt weird yet...he wasn't dead? He opened his eyes and saw that Sharia's chains had stabbed him but didn't dig in deep enough to actually kill him.
"Hah. HAHAHAHAHA! You Fai-"
Urgal was cut off by Sharia throwing her varasikara right past his head, cutting off his left ear. Her weapon crashed into the heavy stone brick wall behind him, causing a small crater to form. Sharia walked up closer to Urgal and leaned forward once again.
"You don't think I planned ahead? I got the King's permission to hire a ninja. So, I did. Right in the arena. He may not be the best fighter but, against what you can pull out, he'll do a pretty good job protecting Marcus and Isalene."
Sharia leaned in closer until all Urgal could see were the red glow of her eyes.
"And, did you know the body has these points where muscles and bones connect? I studied up on the body and, since you weren't wearing any armor and swung a fast yet full body swing, I was able to locate your points instantly."
Sharia got up and walked away just as Urgal let out a "Huh?". She stopped and waited for a couple of seconds before turning back to Urgal, a sadistic expression on her face. Urgal didn't have time to think one more though before Sharia pulled on her chains. The blades in Urgal's body ripped free at an angle, crushing tendons and slicing through bones, ripping his body to pieces which splattered everywhere. Sharia pulled her chains in closer, giving them a shake to clear off some of the bloody bits caught on them, before wrapping them around her arm. When she was done, Sharia opened her mouth and sucked on the claws of her left glove, which were dripping with blood. When she was done, she walked over and picked up her weapons before standing once more besides her helmet.
"I'm surprised, Sharia. You only use your chains in war or those who annoy you. Did Urgal really annoy you that much?" The King asked, walking down towards the arena floor.
"....I don't know why it did but, when he threatened Isalene, I suddenly grew very annoyed. You should take better care to make sure Isalene isn't someone who can be used as a weak spot in the Kingdom, King Robert."
Robert let out a chuckle before sighing, putting one hand on Sharia's shoulder. Her back was turned to him but he could tell her mind was fuming. If there was one thing Sharia hates more than cowardly warriors, it would be corruption and weakness.
"I know, but this world isn't just about peace and war. Understand that someone may be cruel when they need to be and effective in battle, getting rid of corruption in their faction, but that might not be what the majority flocks to."
Sharia leaned down and picked up her helmet. The moment she put it on, she disappeared in a red flash. When the red light faded, Sharia was back in the armor she wore before.
"Cheng told me the same thing, and I still agree. But that makes that faction weak if the leader isn't ready for the wars peace must be obtained through," Sharia told Robert, her voice back to how it was before.
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