(Amaia)
(70 years after the apocalypse)
Pinning me against the rough tree, he whispers in my ear.
"I love you, Amaia…" He watches me with those intense baby blues while his hard body presses into me, but that tenderness a mate should carry is missing in his gaze.
The goosebumps that should have followed these three words were missing, but then this was a dead world we lived in, and it came down to only two "S" in the end.
Sex and survival. Even though he is my mate, something has always been missing between us.
My lips stretch in a cute smile. He is handsome and his eyes are such vibrant blue, which reminds one of vast oceans, before they were polluted by the inhabitants of this world.
"I l…." The rest of my words drown in my throat as the flapping of enormous wings thunders above us.
Tarian's lust-filled eyes instantly prick with fear, all that warmth evaporating as his gaze climbs up and he lets me go.
I know perfectly well what needs to be done. My right hand shifts behind my back, where my weapon is carefully strapped to a back holster.
A double-bladed sword, a double-bladed nignata as we call it.
Pushing the hidden button with my thumb, I let the sharp blades whoosh out. They gleam under the silvery moonlight. I take my position, using foliage as cover while my eyes scan the skies for the creature.
Tarian extracts his mace, but his hands shake. He is not much of a fighter, and that doesn't help your case in our world. He mostly relies on his wolf form, but against such enormous creatures, even being a werewolf doesn't count much.
You either need to be a magic wielder or a skilled fighter.
The fear becomes a ruthless monster as the creature plunges from the sky. Tarian's limbs are shackled to his sides as he simply watches—terrified, nope, slash that, petrified would be more exact.
Screeching, the creature is a grotesque mixture of a bald eagle and a centipede; a Barzaker. Instead of only two claws, there are tens of swirling black legs with sharp pincers at the ends.
"Bloody hell!" I raise my sword above my head ready to gut this asshole into two.
Tarian waves his mace so pathetically that he misses even such a gigantic creature as it descends on us like a floating island. It's larger than the size of an elephant.
The whole lower body is nothing but wriggling black legs.
Tarian grabs me, and I flail as he uses me like a human shield.
I shake my head and attack. The blade scratches the tough exterior of creatures' chitin-coated legs as I slice off quite a few.
The creature shrieks in pain and all its focus returns to me. Its deadly red eyes, should have invoked fear deep into my heart, but I have killed too many of such fuckers to give a damn.
I swing my sword and attack again, ensuring my body is well protected by the foliage so the creature can't attack me directly.
It opens its mouth and spits out what seems like blue acid.
I dodge but some of it catches my shoulder, making me hiss out in pain.
The smell of my burning flesh fills the air, and it just makes me even madder.
Tarian is now beginning to backtrack.
"I am sorry, I can't, I reject you, Amaia. I always wanted a werewolf as a mate, not some orphaned human, my father took pity on…" He runs away, not looking back.
So much for the I love you. So much for being mates.
A sting of pain begins in my heart and, for a few seconds, locks all my limbs in place.
It stings, it hurts too, the betrayal of a man. His words. The very first chance he gets after his father's passing, he just discards me.
The tears sting the back of my eyes, but I don't let any fall, just watch his receding figure.
Men usually disappoint and right now I don't have the time to mourn that loss.
I have a monster to kill.
It's a dead world. There is no love left, even between mates, only mutated creatures and survival.
The Barzaker is now only inches away, exposing its weakness between the legs and the chest.
With a heavy heart, I rotate my sword rapidly, letting a scream out as I pierce the sword in the juncture between the legs and the thorax.
Ear-splitting screeches erupt as a few of its legs reach out, the stinging claws grabbing my hair and left shoulder.
The pain erupts in my body as a few hairs and a small part of flesh from my shoulder are torn away.
That's it.
Now that Tarian is gone, I no longer need to hide my magic away. I know it's a risk but I need it. By the time Enforcers would arrive, I would be long gone.
The Enforcers are like celebrities. The peacekeepers of the world ensure that no one overuses magic and that all magic wielders are registered.
Breathing out, I let my wild magic pulse under my skin. It travels through me like waves of mild current mingling with the blood of my veins.
Like the cackling electricity I let it out and into my weapon, charging it, the silverish blue streaks coat the upper blade of my sword.
"Arggghh!"
I thrust it harder, piercing the hard chitin skin, shocking the bastard.
It screeches, its body spasms from the shock I had just given it, its eyes bulge out, and its limbs stiffen before slowly going limp.
The black smoke rises from it, the head tilts to the side and its heavy body comes crashing down.
~Thud~
I roll over to the side and finally drag my sword out. Standing up, I straighten my clothes, dusting them off.
The creature lies dead at my feet, and I only have a very limited time before this place will be crawling with Enforcers.
I need to leave but not without the head. It will sell for a few gold coins in the black market.
The girl is gotta eat now that I am left to fend for myself. Hunger pushes your boundaries, and you end up doing the impossible.
Digging out the scent-absorbing dust from my satchel, I sprinkle it all around the monster so my scent won't be detected by the Enforcers.
Living in the post-apocalyptic world, I am the last of my kind, a fae. Fae kind was wiped out during and after the war that was waged between monsters, supernatural creatures and humans, it ended with the explosion of nuclear bombs, which resulted in the wiping away of one-third of the population and turning large chunks of continents into wastelands.
Survival has become difficult and monsters roam most of the world. No one knew the radiation would end up mutating the creatures and insects.
I cut off its head with one clean sweep and dumped it into my satchel. The blood and gore cling to me, making me want to retch.
If I had to kill these fuckers, why not make a living out of it? Why not become a trained Monster Hunter? Enforcers and Hunters are revered above all, worshipped like celebrities because they keep the common people safe. Now that we don't have regular celebrities, they are idolised by people.
In this way, I can also get a step closer to exacting my revenge against the forces who killed my family.
Technically, I am already a hunter, but I don't count because I am not trained or registered by the State of Orion.
So why not join the Academy and become one? At least I would get free meals, clothes and a place to sleep in.
Warm water to bathe…a girl's biggest dream.
I was still daydreaming and slowly walking away when the moon blotted out. Darkness so rich crept up like the tendrils of a choking mist.
They were here, I needed to go. Leaving the beheaded creature, I ran and ran not wanting to be caught. My soft shoes, crafted from the leather of a bull made no noise against the hard ground.
My heart thudded in my chest—I didn't want to be caught or that would be a disaster.
Unregistered magic is forbidden, and every time someone uses it, Enforcers appear, somehow, able to track the magic.
A great distance I put between myself and them, and when I look back, they are hunched around the monster I had killed.
They are so far away that I can hardly make out their shapes. The only thing I can make out is a golden halo around one.
What in the hell was that? My heart thuds so loudly in my chest that it squeezes with pain. My feet wish to move in the direction and investigate but I don't want to get caught.
Quietly, I retreat.
Next destination, the black market and City of Thousand Wives. The doorway to the State of Orion.
The City of Thousand Wives is ruled by the most obnoxious/despicable human alive. He has more wives than he can count or as they say.
Every woman he casts his gaze on, if he likes her, he takes her as his wife. It's a risk to approach him. But humans need his assistance if they wish to enter Orion, and in the eyes of the world, I am a human.
So, it is time to pay the devil a visit and negotiate my passing into Orion.
And maybe, if I am lucky, I will find my mate. The thought brings a smile to my face. Unlike Tarian the loser, maybe my second mate won't betray me.