Lady of Nyv

Thankfully, Ona’s patience wasn’t needed. Her men collapsed as if they hadn’t slept in months. She made sure to count their heads before she left, making sure that they had all been accounted for. As she passed Kol, who was lying in the middle of their encampment, she gently pried his bow from his grip and pocketed an arrow.

She quietly crept from the sleeping men and disappeared into the forest. She trailed one hand along the trees as she walked, attempting to memorize the way through texture.

She had no problem seeing, as she often saw better in the dark than she did in the day. T’was one of her reasons for hunting at night.

As Ona walked, she hummed softly to herself. She didn’t often do this, for fear of attracting attention, but she wanted the kill. She almost felt like calling out to the Wild People; taunting them. She doubted they would be able to take her down. T`would take a thousand armies to even slow her down.

The journey was faster than she had expected. As she caught the strong, intoxicating scent of the Winter Bush, she drew her dagger.

Ona climbed into a tree that was on the border of the Winter Bushes. She gently poked her head through the trees and caught sight of at least six Wild People. She watched them intently.

Ona needed to know where they kept their food. She knew that with a mass of people living in one area, there must be a mass food storage somewhere nearby.

She watched intently from her hidden area in the tree as the people below made their way to a mound of snow and ice in the east. She watched as they reached inside this mound and removed small parcels of meat and herbs. She admired their creativity greatly, and nodded slightly in approval.

As the Wild People sat around the fire to eat, Ona descended from the tree. She slunk onto her stomach, crawling beneath the Winter Bushes as she had in her days in the North.

As she peeked through the twigs and leaves of the Winter Bushes, she spotted a man who she assumed was the leader. He was eating a large bird and seemed as though he was usually allotted twice the rations of the others. Ona pulled the bow and arrow from her back and aimed.

Ona knew that if she struck and killed their leader, the others would be forced into a chaotic frenzy, making them even easier targets.

She pulled the string back as far as she could, lined up the arrow with the center of the leaders back, and fired.

The arrow flew through the air, but at that moment, the leader bent down toward the fire. Ona cursed loudly as the arrow overshot the leader and stuck firmly into a man’s left eyeball. He screamed in pain, drowning out Ona’s curse. The others ran to the man, trying to help ease the immense pain.

Ona rushed toward the crowd, eyes locked on the man who was writhing on the ground. Blood and some form of white goo leaked through his hands which were pressed to the wound. The shaft of the arrow stuck out from between his fingers, and someone was pulling on the end, clearly trying to remove the arrow.

Ona slid onto her knees behind the leader, who was holding the wounded man’s hand and saying prayers. She grabbed his head and turned it sharply to the east, hearing the bones in his neck snap one by one.

As Ona dropped the carcass to the frozen ground, the other people turned to look at her with shock. Ona smiled widely from ear to ear before standing.

The others remained frozen, a reaction which surprised Ona. She studied each of them, deciding who to kill next. They still did not move.

T’wasn’t until Ona put her dagger to the wounded man’s neck that a man charged at her.

As the man pushed her to the ground, she clawed at his face, ripping large chunks of skin from his cheeks and nose. While the man was incapacitated with pain, she grabbed her dagger from where it had fallen in the snow, and stabbed him in the stomach. She forced her entire body weight onto the blade until some of the hilt was inside his wound.

She watched the breath leave his lungs, and as she pulled the knife out of his thin body, she watched the life leave his eyes.

She shoved the corpse from her body and plunged her bloody dagger into the previous wounded man’s chest.

Ona stood once again, placed her foot onto the man’s chest, and removed her dagger from between his ribs.

She crouched, placing the dagger between her teeth, and faced the remaining three people. Their faces were full of terror, yet they did not run.

Ona pounced before they had the chance to realize that they could escape, and slashed wildly in all directions with her axe in one hand, and dagger in the other.

When Ona was finished, all that remained was a pile of bloody, mangled body parts. They weren’t even recognizable as human.

As she stood over the pile panting, a man emerged from the forest. The last Wild Person, it seemed. He seemed terrified, but looked her boldly in the eyes.

“What are you?” He stammered.

“I am your god.” She replied, crouching slowly.

Before the man had a chance to run, she threw her axe at him and split his head in two. He fell to his knees, blood dripping from the newly-created trench, and managed one last word:

“M’Lady.”

Ona stood in shock for a moment, worried she had killed one of her own men.

After she carefully checked the body, she was sure she had not, and must have misheard what the man had said.

Ona looked toward the food storage, the only reason she had come, and devised a plan.

She removed the clothes from the dead and tied them together, forming a rough bag. She then raided their storage, throwing everything into her make-shift bag. She slung the bag over her shoulder and prepared to leave.

Lastly, she returned to the first man she had maimed, and pulled the arrow from his skull. She needed to return it to Kol. She wiped the blood and goo onto the snow, and placed it back into her pocket.

Then, she departed.

Ona left the piles of mangled corpses for any creatures that may inhabit these lands, and took a sprig of Winter Bush for herself. T’was her reward for all of her hard work.

As Ona made her way back to her encampment, she was aware of the weight of all of the food she had gathered. She was extremely happy with the amount- if it weighed this much, hopefully t’would last until they reached the Southern side of the mountains.

She needn’t trail her hands along the bark this time, as the sun was rising, and it provided enough light for Ona to see her footprints from only a few hours ago.

When she reached the encampment, she was surprised to see Kol awake. He sat carving something by the fire, allowing the chips of wood to flick into the flames, igniting them immediately.

As Ona entered the encampment, Kol turned to her. Their eyes met and Ona’s knees became weak, in spite of herself.

Kol rushed toward her, a look of concern on his face.

“Ona!” He screamed, “Are you hurt?”

He came to a stop in front of her. He cradled her face and looked deep into her eyes.

“I’m fine.” She replied, with a slight smile.

She dropped the make-shift bag and her spoils poured out. Kol’s face light up with surprise.

“Is this why you stole my bow?” He asked mischievously.

“I merely borrowed it,” Ona retorted. “Stop overreacting!”

“Well, you won’t need to do that anymore.” He said with a smile.

Kol held out a perfectly crafted bow to her. Ona took it cautiously.

“We just need to add the string, and it’s ready for use.”

“What if I still want to use yours?”

“You’re welcome to it anytime.” He said with a warm smile.

“I’m really glad you’re alright, Ona. You scared me walking in here with all of that blood!”

Ona embraced Kol tightly.

“You should learn not to worry about me.” She whispered to him.

“I always worry about those for whom I care.” He whispered back.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Kol murmured.

He picked Ona up and carried her to a small clearing behind some trees and dropped her roughly.

She glared up at him. “What was that for?”

“I slipped.” Kol said with an impish smile.

Ona kicked him behind the knees and he fell onto the ground beside her.

“That’s better.” Ona said, leaning toward him.

Their lips met and Ona felt as though her heart could explode at any second. Their bodies collided in a passionate embrace. Kol’s fingers entwined themselves into her hair and her hands found their home on the gentle curve of his buttocks.

Kol used his strength to roll them so that Ona was now on the bottom and he supported himself above her. His kisses trailed down her chin and onto the exposed portion of her neck. Ona smiled slightly, biting her tongue to keep from ripping his clothes from his body as his tongue teased the sensitive skin between her neck and shoulder.

Ona pushed Kol over so she was on top and just as she was about to tease him as he had her when they heard the men awakening from their slumber on the other side of the trees.

Ona stood first. Blushing noticeably, she dusted the snow from her clothing and emerged from the trees.

“Good morning.” She said loudly.

Her men stood in a circle around the bag and its contents that Ona had brought from the other encampment.

“I hope you are all hungry.” Ona announced as she gestured to the food.

“Where did this come from?” Nix inquired.

“Yes, Ona,” Kol began, “Where did this come from?”

Ona could feel his eyes burning into her even before she looked at him. She had hoped to have distracted him from the fact that she murdered seven people.

“I found it.” Ona said, dismissing the conversation.

The men glared at her suspiciously.

“Do you really think we’re going to believe that?” Cas retorted.

Just then, Kel walked over to the group.

“I see Lady Ona has been hunting again.” He said with a smirk

Ona blushed and lowered her head.

“You are right as always, Kel.” She admitted.

Ona watched the range of emotions that flashed through each of her men’s eyes. Some were fear, others judgement, some shame, and lastly, in the eyes of Kol and Dom, she saw fear. But, t’wasn’t fear of her, t’was fear for her.

“Alone?” Dom demanded.

“Yes.” Ona replied without remourse.

“You went hunting alone?” Dom repeated.

“Yes and I am fine.”

Dom and Ona exchanged glares for a few seconds before Kol intervened.

“I made sure she was alright.” He said.

“Where were you when she was attacking villages alone?” Dom exclaimed.

“Where were you?” Kol retorted.

“That is enough!” Ona screamed. “All of you, be quiet and eat your food!”

The clamour stopped abruptly and the men began gorging themselves on food. Ona, however; was not hungry. Not even in the slightest.

She sat back and watched as her men feasted on her spoils of battle. She thought mostly of Kol and how she wished they had not been interrupted. She longed to feel his strong arms hold her once more.

“When will we leave, M’Lady?” Kel asked, his mouth full of some form of meat.

“Very soon.” Ona replied, her voice distant.

She felt an arm encircle her thin waist gently.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Dom asked, his lips against her ear.

“Yes. I am fine.” Ona replied, emotionless.

“Please tell me what’s wrong.” Dom begged.

“Leave me be. I’m fine.” Ona said, moving away from his embrace.

Ona could feel the eyes of every one of her men focused on her. She knew that they were worried and she could feel them making silent judgments about her sanity. She knew that they doubted her. She also knew that her men losing faith in her scared her almost as much as the thought of losing Kol.