The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 13: Silver Fox

Thoughts of the slap filled Levi's mind, but inevitably, the cold drove him towards Yoro's tavern step by step. He just didn't have any choice. He told himself it was just for one night, that he would leave tomorrow, but he knew it was all just excuses. I won't leave. I can't. Without a Reincarnation I'm useless. Elder Shisshion, I'm sorry, it's been two years but all I've accomplished is washing dishes and baking bread. I'm useless!

"Do you really think you'll get away this time?" Someone's voice interrupted Levi's thoughts. The sophisticated foreign accent which was not native to Neida or Eastrain caused his ears to perk up. I know that accent. Who spoke like that? Anton...! He whipped his head around, staring down the dark side alley across from Yoro's tavern. It was a favorite spot for those who had had too many drinks and needed to relieve themselves away from the general populace. He crept closer, his feet gaining speed. For some reason, perhaps it was the aggressive, unfriendly tone of the voice, he felt the need to step softly, concealing the crunch of his boots on the road. He came upon the turn, and stealthily flattened himself against the wall. Then he peered around the corner.

"No." He heard a voice which struck through him like lightning. It's her!

"Then why are you still trying to run, Princess Yujeon?" A tall man, clad in hardened leathers, leveled his sword at the girl who had haunted Levi's dreams for the last two years. She still wore a white fox mask, though it was no longer gleaming, marred by travel and the elements. Three men stood between the girl and the man, with their backs turned to Levi, watching. On the men's breasts was a metal emblem, three raindrops falling from a crying woman's face. Levi realized in that moment that the reason he recognized their accents was because they were from the capital. However, he was struck dumb by the man's next words. "Princess, you will return with us. Tonight."

She's a Princess? Anton...Anton said his lady came from a noble house, but he didn't say she was a Princess! Levi stood there shocked as the men started to close in on her. He struggled to understand what was happening. Why doesn't she want to go with them?

"Who sent you? Was it Daeja? Or Nari? You know my father won't stand for this. Sending men for me while he's still alive? The succession process shouldn't begin until after his death! When he finds out who it was, he'll have their head!" The princess declared boldly, backing deeper into the alley. Her fox mask swiveled from side to side, searching for an exit. Unfortunately, it was a dead end, and no matter how deep she headed into the shadows, she could never escape. The men looked at each other, smirking before following her, spreading out to cut off any openings.

"Your father won't be able to save you anymore. Now, you're going to need to come with us. Or we won't be able to ensure your safety." The lead man strode in boldly, sword pointed down. Levi shivered, remembering a different time. Another man coming at him on the beach. Anton telling him to run. The fear holding his legs down in the sand. I need to do something. She the only one who can prove what happened at Eastrain! He wanted to take a step forward, take one of the men's swords and save the princess. Just like one of those fantasies he had loved as a child. But he wasn't a warrior. He didn't have any magic spells at his fingertips. I have to think of something! Levi, think, THINK!

"Ok. I'm coming. But you won't be able to talk so big when my father sees what you've done!" Jasmine, no, it's Princess Yujeon, started to walk towards the lead man. Levi was frozen at the entrance of the alleyway. The moonlight and lanterns just barely illuminated the abduction happening right in front of him. I'm so much bigger now. But I'm still just a nobody. I can't do anything. He breathed heavily, so heavily he was scared that the men might hear him. Cords bulged in his neck as he clenched his fists and tried to move, to act, to do anything.

"Your father won't be saying anything. Because no one will know you died here tonight!" The lead man raised his sword and dashed in just mere feet away from the princess. Levi opened his mouth to shout. His voice barely left his lips when Princess Yujeon's face turned up. He glimpsed her cold eyes over the man's shoulder. The lack of expression on them, the almost bored look, devoid of terror, made him feel insignificant. When the first man crumpled, no one could believe it. Not Levi, not the other three men watching. Princess Yujeon was just a silver flash, her blade dripping blood as she ran down the next man, impossibly fast. What...what's happening?

It all happened in a split second. One second the man was alive, the next, he was dead. Then another went down. The other two men raised their swords, tried to ready themselves. The third even managed to swing, but the silver fox mask simply tilted sideways, strands of black hair swaying out of the way. Then the third man too fell, a hole in his chest bleeding out as he tried to gasp for air. The last man was aware that something had gone horribly wrong. Levi gaped as he watched the slaughter, for that was what it was, a completely one-sided slaughter.

"Y-you, a Warrior Reincarnation! You're not supposed to be this strong. No one told us-" He was forced to shut up as the silver fox lunged at him, a deadly silver fang stabbing towards his throat. The man twisted his sword, his wrists straining to bring his weapon up to defend. It was a mistake. The princess whirled around, her small blade turning into a glimmering wheel in the moonlight as she ended up behind him. She's too fast! That's not possible!

When the man crumpled a fresh hole bleeding in the back of his neck, Levi was still unable to move. From start to finish it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. I thought I needed to save her...but she's...she's a monster. He felt fear at that moment, terrible fear. But then a thought occurred to him. He stepped out of the shadows, fully around the corner until she could see him. She jerked up when she noticed him. He wasn't even sure if she recognized him after two years. But he asked anyway, he had to.

"Why...why didn't you help me? If you could do that! Back at Eastrain, you could have killed those men! Then none of this would have happened!" Levi didn't know what he was doing. He had just watched this girl, no this princess, kill four fully grown men in as many moments. And yet, here he was spitting accusations like she owed him an explanation. "WHY!?"

She stared at him, the painted expression on the fox mask curious, her eyes behind, impassive.

"So...you lived."