Tearha: The Number 139

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Princess of Blood

Adelaide felt her hands tightening around the handle of her axe, which blade was held close to Luce's throat. She was seething, her muscles trembling with the pain that only unbridled anger could have created and she was not sure why. She looked to Miguel, who stood with an unreadable expression, then to the mayor and his guards.

The elf gave it a second of thought.

Then, she took a step backwards and teleported out of the room.

Reappearing at the town square within the puff of rust-smelling cloud, gasps immediately filled the air as men and women of all age and race stopped mid-action, pots crashing into the ground and crates tumbling off shelves. The busy marketplace stopped abruptly, all eyes on Adelaide who appeared in the centre of the intersection. The crowd dispersed around her, stepping away from the elf with green hair.

Mutters filled the air and slowly, the hushed whispers turned into frustrated grunts. Then, the frustration turned into an angry clattering.

Finally, a man shouted, "Demon Eyes!"

Adelaide turned to the voice and saw an old man, limping towards her with a cane in his hand and a fury in his eyes. He sped up his speed once he was close enough to confirm who she was. Despite her being sure she had not met an elderly human before, something about the man was familiar to her.

He growled, "You monster! How dare you show your face here?" When he was within throwing distance, a young woman ran out of the crowd to him, stopping his advance with gentle force. "You! You! After what you've done! You dare to show your face!"

Adelaide defended, "I've never met you before."

"Of course you haven't!" he yelled, voice cracking. "You don't have to meet the aftermath of your killings. My son, Kiril, you killed his best friend. He was so guilt-ridden with having survived he ran away from the town. I have not seen him in three decades!"

Unconsciously, she took a step back, her heart skipping a beat as a bead of sweat rolled down her temple.

The old man continued, breaking free of the hold of the woman, shakily pointing his cane at her. "You! You ruined our family! Get your geared face away from us!" He bent over to grab a rock from the ground, almost toppling over as he did so.

But he stood back straight with conviction and threw the rock at Adelle. The stone harmlessly fell to the side without strength, the old man falling to his knees in tears after the outburst. Then, a loaf of bread flew past her face. She turned, and the baker had her arms out in post throw. A stalk of vegetable followed, hitting her in the back of her head. Adelaide stumbled slightly from the impact, but otherwise unhurt. Next came a rotten fruit. Another small rock. A bucket that missed. The townspeople gathered in an uproar and soon, a barrage of random objects flew towards her general direction.

She saw the glimmer of the butcher's knife and stepped aside, the blade embedding cleanly into the ground where she once stood. She shot a dirty glare to the man who threw it, but the reply was not the one of fear she had gotten used to from her prey. It was a stare of fury.

"Adelaide!"

She turned towards the voice that called her to see Miguel jogging forward. She squinted in focus, took a step to the side and teleported to the northern edge of the town.

Behind her, the town continued in a loud frenzy at her appearance. Before her, just a short walk away, was the edge of Valendra Forest. She breathed in deep, clenched her fist tightly, and began her walk back to her home.

"So that's it?" She stopped in her tracks, turning to the familiar voice. Nadier was sitting on a bench against the edge-most building of the town. The dark elf lectured, "Run back to your forest and wait for the next person to kill?"