17—Dictionary Definition

[Open up a dictionary to a random word. Define what that word means to you.]

Didn’t feel like opening a dictionary, so I pulled up a random word generator. The word is “hour”. Oh, I’m also not going to “define what it means to me”, instead I’ll write a fantasy scenario.

[EDIT: LOL, I completely forgot that the topic was “hour” and didn’t put anything time-related xD It was just so fun writing this piece!]

……

“Give it up, Nary. You’re outnumbered, even when adjusting for you.”

“That may very well be the case, but do you know me to surrender?”

A lithe woman wrapped head to toe in strange, seemingly living black fabric stood with her back to a wide tree in a dark forest, surrounded by countless figures with their weapons facing her.

“I have memorized your faces.” Nary paused, looking side to side. “At least, of the thirty-eight of you I can see. If you continue this meaningless hunt, I’ll be forced to flee, at which point I’ll go for each of your families and friends before returning to mount your heads on my wall.”

The large man who spoke to her first audibly gulped before tightening his grip on the spear in his hands.

“Nary, this is the last warning I can afford you before one of the many here lose their patience and rush you. Please, don’t make this hard on us or yourself. I know you’re not really guilty of those crimes, which is why we’re only turning you over to the Cascading Torrents Sect for the bounty. Yes, they’ll pay us less, but they really only want to recruit you, unlike the scum from the Temple.”

One of the large man’s colleagues whispered something in his ear, causing him to growl at the one who spoke to him.

“Quiet! We all here know that Nary is not only innocent, but could likely have escaped her fate and let someone else become the Temple’s target. We’re after her for her sake as much as ours!”

The tense atmosphere was suddenly stirred when clapping resounded throughout the forest, followed by a chilly laugh.

“Ha ha ha ha… BRAVO! I almost want to believe you, Kaug. That’s some pretty splendid acting.”

Unphased by her sarcasm, the man said, “It’s no ruse, Nary. Even if my only option was to kill you, I would not. I remember all that you did for the battalion those years ago. Your selfless righteousness is why I’m alive today. Please, just put your hands up and allow us to turn you over to the Cascading Torrents Sect…before the bounty is raised any more and people out of our league take interest in you.”

Kaug’s pleading was filled with such sincerity that, despite the situation, Nary smiled to herself behind her black veil, remembering the very days Kaug referred to. How could she forget? Those were the greatest battles of her life!

Mere tens of seconds passed, but time slowed to a crawl, making them feel like an eternity. Some warriors in the encirclement grew anxious by how much Nary was stalling. No one really thought she’d give herself up, so the very fact that she hadn’t made a move yet was making them paranoid.

Finally, she said, “Kaug, I really do want to believe you, but even if I did, I don’t wish to be tied up by an organization.” Then, she put her hands in the air. The very instant she moved, all over fifty warriors surrounding her released their auras and prepared their techniques, unwilling to underestimate Nary in the slightest. Yet, when they realized she’d raised her hands rather than brandished her trademark daggers, they stopped, hesitating, wondering if the impossible had become reality.

But the impossible will always remain impossible.

Hands in the air, Nary uttered a single word, “Flash.” Before a brilliant light exploded from her palms, making the dark forest a place as bright as the sun for a few moments, blinding most of her pursuers.

It was enough.

Utilizing the momentary distraction, Nary activated her bizarre cloak, causing tortured faces in the midst of suffering eternal agony to surface around her before they engulfed her body.

When Kaug’s senses recovered, he was met with the sight of carnage as nearly twenty bodies were strewn about the forest floor with various limbs severed, but each corpse with a hole in the forehead.

Numbly, Kaug came to the realization that Nary told a half-truth, as she might have only seen thirty-eight of them, but she was aware of all their positions and who their allegiance lied with. The men and women she slayed were from a separate group which was only after the bounty, completely apathetic toward Nary’s obvious innocence. The only reason they’d joined Kaug’s hunt and agreed to capture her alive, or at least try to, was because none from the other group stood even the slightest chance of facing Nary. Even their leader, the one who whispered his complaints, lied dead on the ground beside Kaug with various cuts and slices covering him.

Seeing that Nary left his own team untouched, Kaug muttered to himself, “Curse my lack of a backbone all those years ago, for even though I stood no chance, it’s a shame I didn’t even let her know how I felt. Such a gracious and powerful woman…I’m honored just having known her at one point.”

Kaug released a heavy sigh before announcing to his men, “She’s gone, and evidently, more powerful than she’s let on. We will forget the matter. Seeing as she could kill all these warriors so quickly, even with the assistance of that sneaky spell, she’ll be fine on her own. Pressure from various organizations prevents the Temple from sending any elders after her, so she can effectively live unchallenged as before.”