The Tale of the Huntress

12. The Whisperer

Nova's heart thudded in her chest loud enough to make her chest hurt. The blood rushing through her head was beginning to echo in her ears as the area around her vision darkened. "Run back to Mathilda's Hall. I'll find him love," she tried to keep a brave face but the little one was not so easily convinced.

"Are you afraid momma?" Lilium asked and tears came to her eyes. She had never seen this side of the huntress and it frightened her but with a sigh and a small push, Nova cleared the fear from her expression.

"Only for you. Now go," she said and the elven child took off. It wouldn't take her much time at all to return to the house and once that happened, Mathilda would be on her trail with several questions. Nova sprinted off in the direction of the guard's main station hoping that she was right in her assumption that he would go straight to his captain. Her heart raced with every step that she took hoping she wasn't too late to stop him from spreading news of her child. Everyone stared as she passed in a panic, having never seen their beloved jeweler and town huntress in such a state.

Nova slowed as she saw the same guard glance behind himself and upon catching her gaze, he began ripping through the crowded marketplace. Her green eyes sharpened to slits as the influence of her Ivud leg began to take effect. This only really happened when she was hunting so the fact that the deceased creature's soul also wanted her to catch the guard was a new phenomenon to her. Nova caught up with him easily with this added strength and she tackled him from behind. He landed with a grunt and whipped out a blade, wildly slashing at her.

The deep recesses of her mind attempted to shift her into a dark memory of the day she had lost her husband and child but she held strong to the present, determined to kill the man who threatened her newfound peace in the town. "She's the Whisperer. You can't hide it from me!" He screeched like a wild animal. Nova could see the terror in his eyes at the magic he had witnessed but nothing would deter her from her mission. Their hands met and Nova's nails dug into the flesh of his wrists like claws.

"If she was, you would be dead by now coward," Nova growled as she snatched his blade and then plunged it into his neck, effectively ending his ramblings. Blood sputtered from his mouth as he tried to hold onto what little life he had left. The soldier attempted to say something else but the woman pinning him down would have none of it. She pulled the blade back again and sliced it cleanly through his neck. Her vision reverted back to normal as her pupils shrank back to ovals and the clutter of her mind was silenced. A crowd had gathered around at some point and her mind reeled to what kind of explanation she could give to those who saw her mercilessly kill a guard thought to protect them.

"I'm sorry you all had to witness his punishment so violently. I do not tolerate kidnappers or rapists in the slightest but this was not supposed to happen. Please forgive Nova for what you saw here today was purely a mother's instincts. We are looking into the matter and promise that it will be sorted out."

Her voice rang out like a true leader and all Nova could do was watch from her spot on the ground at her blood stained hands as her Queen bravely pardoned her actions. A few people looked suspiciously at the huntress but not a soul argued with Lady Mathilda as she smiled comfortingly to all who passed the scene. When she looked down at her friend though, rage hid behind her pupils. At the situation Nova had caused or the dead guard, she did not yet know.

"Oh Lilium," Nova collapsed on the floor when she spotted her daughter in the hall, embracing Bertram as she cried and shook uncontrollably. The next thing that she noticed was an agitated Armageddon that was pacing the room until he heard his friend's voice. He bounded to her and purred as his tail wrapped around her body carefully. It was his way of bringing her comfort as well as the golden glow that spread from his eyes to her cheek that he was pressed against, warming her skin gently.