The origin of the voice was a winged entity descending from the front. She went through another metamorphosis drastically changing her appearance. The once frail looking being had been covered in more of the midnight colored chitin than she was. Her arms, her legs were all covered. Her body had a chitin bodice.

The actual difference was the faces. The original lacked just about anything on her face. It looked purely human, save for the lack of melanin the hair, and the coloration of the skin. The glassy eyes were still more akin to the undead than a human. The most important aspect of all was the regeneration of her arm.

“Ah!” the copy’s face twisted into a smile, putting her dangerous and purely carnivorous teeth display. Even with the lack of any visible eyes, her emotion for a predatory lust was apparent. She tossed the boy as far as she could, not even glancing in a specific distance for where he would land. He screamed in flight, for split second tears could be seen flowing.

“Sister!” The copy spoke. The way she focused on Rinae was obvious that she was looking at the flow of magic within her body. In fact, that was all she was looking, perhaps she was truly blind to physical attributes and only saw for what things were. “Why do you stop me?”

“Look at him again.” The copy did so. He was staggering against the wall trying to hold himself up. “Does that look like food?” The magic emanating from his pores was nothing more than a tiny stream, but to the former who was just born, it did. Rinae approached the copy she staggered a few steps. Compared to Rinae she was nothing more than a starved bug. The aura she released into the surrounding area was alluring, regal, strong lastly it was imposing.

“I will show you a meal that has worth.” She passed her clone, glancing at the reservoir of magic that is now nothing more than a puddle. The creation of literally two of the same entity must have used a lot more than she could have imagined. “There is a town. It has humans with powerful magic.”

Rinae walked to the mouth of the room. “Come.” The copy was seemingly a lot slower. Her heavily armored appearance came at a price, sacrificing mobility for defense. For Rinae she had less protection against penetration damage but more for slashes, the lessened thickness also gave her the ability ascend and glide. The two walked out into the night, the direction of the town that Rinae had scoped out during her stay on the farm.

The distance wasn’t far, but it still took longer just because of the more armored copy.

Approaching the town wasn’t a stealth hunt. They saw two men on the night watch. Their helmets and body armor were most likely made from steel and leather, maybe a few bits of brass and iron, the best the town could provide them. The weapons were pikes, the town had a constant problem of venomous creatures that were best to keep at a pole arm's length.

The men noticing the two practically nude women approach got into defensive stances. They brought the shields to their chests. And extended the pikes at a forty-five-degree angle. Not low enough to stab anything, but enough to do so if need be.

“Halt! Identify yourself!” The leftmost guard commanded.

The two girls did not stop their advance, The guards were not going to issue a second chance. The pikes were dropped into a full combat stance. The two huddled closer making any sort of middle progression impossible.

“These two have just as much as the other one.” The magic was barely coming from either one, at best maybe together they both had the same amount as Elrich.

She stopped walking. “They stand in your way.”

At this moment, being caught in front of hungry monster and its path to food only meant disaster. She stepped into range. The pikes were jutted into her. The guards tried to push further but found the blades properly stuck.

The look on their faces turned to pure horror. The female continued to walk forward. Their handling on the wooden pole was being moved closer and closer to the tip.

“What the hell!?” The right guard dropped his pike and brandished his sword, it was long, about 16 inches. The pommel had an engravement of vines, most likely the sigil of his family. The other guard kicked his handle into the dirt. The resistance of the ground forcing her to stop. The two came at her with both swords drawn.

They swung high and went for her neck. She raised her forearms making contact with the blades. They were just as effective as any shield. She pushed out causing the two to stagger. The two regained some distance and began shouting.

“Is this a hellspawn?!”

“Can’t be! This is blessed ground!”

One of the guards gritted his teeth. “Keep it busy, I’m going to alert everyone!” He sheathed his blade and ran off without the slightest intention of letting his comrade argue.

“You bastard! Coward!”

The fight, for now, was one on one. She broke the pikes at the closet wooden material and removed the steel.

He went into a lower stance, turtling up behind his shield.

This did not matter to his opponent. She walked just mere feet from him. He thrust his shield into her. This did not make her falter. She grabbed onto the guard, Her claws melted through the steel forming finger holes. She slowly started turning it clockwise. He screamed, she began breaking his wrist, his forearm, and finally dislocating his elbow and shoulder. He swung his free arm to stab her face. The blade glanced her mask and created a small slash in her facial skin.

“Hah.”

The last noise he was able to make before she grabbed his bottom jaw and crushed it.

~^~

The guard did not stop running, even if his breathing was haggard and his movements were sloppy. In the town, he could see another patrol in the distance.

“Monsters! At the gate!” He yelled swinging his arms frantically. The patrol of six or so other men pulled their blades yet didn’t move, this confused the man, that was until he felt the air pressure change behind him.

Rinae folded her four insect wings to her back. She emerged from behind the man, standing at his side holding his arm.

He couldn’t even feel the pain, just the sight of his dismemberment was enough to cause him to panic and scream.

Rinae threw his arm towards the patrolmen, they instinctively backed up in fear. The man gripped his missing arm and dropped to his knees.

His life was relinquished when the clone decided to smash his skull inward. Something she preferred was crushing her prey rather than the surgical precision of the original. His body slumped forward, the puddle of blood dying the ground a darker color.

The two girls stood in silence, blood dripping from their claws and chitin.

The massacre of Holden was about to begin.