Sequel: Conquer Me. ›
Underestimate Me
Remember Who You Are.
Trees scratched her legs and arms as they grabbed onto her in her flight. Blurs of green passed her and she did barely feel her feet touching the ground before pulling up again. She had never ran this fast but it was a matter of life and death. Josselyn hoped that the alarm she had sounded as soon as she saw what kind of trouble was heading their way had reached her sisters and awoken them from their dreamless slumber. The owl’s hooting was indistinguishable from a real owl and she waited until she had put some distance between them before starting the real sprint. The fear of being discovered, alone with just her arrows and her knife was something that had kept her silent until the thickness of the forest had swallowed her whole. Almost stumbling over her feet, she reached the camp, her sisters already awakened by her alarm.
The camp was swarming with women, donning veils around their face and putting knives in all places they could hide them. Fires were put out and the glowing embers disappeared in the brightness of day. Joss quickly scanned the place before running up to Meredith. Her second in command was putting her sword in the scabbard at her hip and looked up with a troubled look as soon as Joss approached. Still panting from her run she tried to speak. “Men… swords… war.” The words were few but they were enough.
“Looking for us?” Meredith said. She was the best person to have beside you when terror struck. Her icy long hair was as cold as her demeanor and she was fatal with a sword. She had been the first person Josselyn had called her sister after she was banished into the woods. She had saved Josselyn’s life more than once as Josselyn had done for her too.
“Yes, I do think they are. The last raids must have put them over the edge.” Josselyn caught her breath and looked around the campsite once again. It was still busy with women walking around and preparing for battle. Women swarming around getting ready to kill. Most of them were already veiled and ready to die for a moral cause. Ready to die for justice and equality. The raids they had staged had not just been on travelers. Every raid had its meaning, innocence was left alone. However, innocence was sparse in these woods... Every raid was vengeance and every raid was calculated. Every single one of them; except for this one.
Her women were not just hard cold killers. They were damaged. They were broken so badly that they could only dream of vengeance, just as herself. The raids had been on men. Men who had been terrorizing her sisters for years before they joined her. Men who had diminished their lives to nothing more than a blackness. If not for her banishment, if not for her infidelity, Josselyn would have started a life like that two years ago. Her own foolishness saved her from it and pushed her towards a life with meaning. A hard life of killing or being killed, but one with purpose.
“Travel light!” She raised her voice. As the eyes of her sisters were upon her she stood up straight. They stopped their work and focused solely on her. She looked them in the eye one for one. She was not veiled yet. Her scars were showing and she knew it. She was a walking affirmation of their battle, a justification each of them needed. “They are heavily armed and heavily donned as well. We can only win this if we do the opposite. We need to be swift and quick, like water running through a stream. One drop cannot make much difference, but a current can be mighty strong.”
She turned to Meredith and put her hand on her shoulder, guiding her sister slightly away from the mass of deadly women.
“They were on the main road, just surpassing the stream. Falcon found them, and they are indeed heavily armed,” she whispered to her confidant. Picking up a little stick she broke it and put the sharp end into the ground. Quickly she drew the layout of the forest area. “If we strike them up here, from the trees, they will not know what hit them, but we need to get there ahead. We need to hurry.” Meredith crouched down next to the drawing and a little crease formed between her eyes.
“I can take the south passage; I can take half of the sisters, meet them from the other side. We can drop upon them together. You take north I take the south. The only fleeing road will be through deep dark woods. The cowards who do not stand and fight, let Maa get them. They are not worth our trouble.” Softly she swung her long blond hair backwards and started braiding it in a rope-like braid, readying herself for war. Josselyn had already fastened her hair and was donning her own veil now. The veil around her face only displayed her cold blue eyes and one last scar. A deep and still redden scar that ran from her left eyebrow to down on her cheekbone. She did not get a good view of the men involved in this foolish attack of theirs, but she did surely hope that some she would recognize. She hoped that maybe today she would get part of her revenge. The revenge she hoped for and dreamt of for so long now.
“Move out!” Josselyn’s strong voice filled the air as her sisters stood up to follow her. The trees that provided the shelter they needed seemed to understand the gravity of this moment. It was like Maa knew what was about to happen, showing her support by darkening the woods slightly. Some clouds covered the upcoming sun and for a moment the forest was dark. The woods were lovely, dark and deep. The day had promised to be a smoldering hot one, but a summer’s storm was coming.
Treading through the thick vegetation she felt the hearts of her sisters beating in her chest. She felt how again she was leading them towards pain and maybe for some, even death. They breathed as one as the journey north continued. Each stepping on the footsteps of the one before, leaving no excessive marks of the group they really were. She felt the blood in her veins race up and down her body as she sensed them getting closer. Just before the road she raised her fist and her party of sisters stood as still as the trees around them. It was time to start climbing. They were already nearing the road, and in a distance heard the clattering of attire. The sisters only wore some light mail and boiled leather. Thick, but no match to a pointy sword. They needed to be quick and they needed to have that element of surprise.
Josselyn pointed up and started the climb. Her sisters moved to trees beside her. Swift as squirrels they traveled the trees, accustomed to the branches and firm places for grip. Motioning to a few of her raid party to stay in the trees, they responded by drawing their bows which would be used as an attack from the heavens.
“Remember who you are Josselyn, nothing more than a woman. Perverted by nature.” The words whispered in her ear, his foul breath upon her.
She rested her hand on her sword. Putting her fingers around the hilt, the cold iron soothed against her skin. She felt the throwing knives against her hips and another knife at her ankle. Silently she prayed to Maa, knowing it was futile, knowing it was wasted breath. Maa did not deal with human affairs. She was one to protect her creation, not meddle in small things as life or death. These two common phenomena were regular to her. She did not mind who was taken and who was spared, only concerned with the balance of her being.
Already drawing her sword so the sound would not reveal them, she heard how the sound of hooves and clatter neared their trees. Her muscles tensed, and she got ready for the immense drop. Her mind cleared and her eyes filled with bloodlust. It was time for death. It was time for vengeance.
The camp was swarming with women, donning veils around their face and putting knives in all places they could hide them. Fires were put out and the glowing embers disappeared in the brightness of day. Joss quickly scanned the place before running up to Meredith. Her second in command was putting her sword in the scabbard at her hip and looked up with a troubled look as soon as Joss approached. Still panting from her run she tried to speak. “Men… swords… war.” The words were few but they were enough.
“Looking for us?” Meredith said. She was the best person to have beside you when terror struck. Her icy long hair was as cold as her demeanor and she was fatal with a sword. She had been the first person Josselyn had called her sister after she was banished into the woods. She had saved Josselyn’s life more than once as Josselyn had done for her too.
“Yes, I do think they are. The last raids must have put them over the edge.” Josselyn caught her breath and looked around the campsite once again. It was still busy with women walking around and preparing for battle. Women swarming around getting ready to kill. Most of them were already veiled and ready to die for a moral cause. Ready to die for justice and equality. The raids they had staged had not just been on travelers. Every raid had its meaning, innocence was left alone. However, innocence was sparse in these woods... Every raid was vengeance and every raid was calculated. Every single one of them; except for this one.
Her women were not just hard cold killers. They were damaged. They were broken so badly that they could only dream of vengeance, just as herself. The raids had been on men. Men who had been terrorizing her sisters for years before they joined her. Men who had diminished their lives to nothing more than a blackness. If not for her banishment, if not for her infidelity, Josselyn would have started a life like that two years ago. Her own foolishness saved her from it and pushed her towards a life with meaning. A hard life of killing or being killed, but one with purpose.
“Travel light!” She raised her voice. As the eyes of her sisters were upon her she stood up straight. They stopped their work and focused solely on her. She looked them in the eye one for one. She was not veiled yet. Her scars were showing and she knew it. She was a walking affirmation of their battle, a justification each of them needed. “They are heavily armed and heavily donned as well. We can only win this if we do the opposite. We need to be swift and quick, like water running through a stream. One drop cannot make much difference, but a current can be mighty strong.”
She turned to Meredith and put her hand on her shoulder, guiding her sister slightly away from the mass of deadly women.
“They were on the main road, just surpassing the stream. Falcon found them, and they are indeed heavily armed,” she whispered to her confidant. Picking up a little stick she broke it and put the sharp end into the ground. Quickly she drew the layout of the forest area. “If we strike them up here, from the trees, they will not know what hit them, but we need to get there ahead. We need to hurry.” Meredith crouched down next to the drawing and a little crease formed between her eyes.
“I can take the south passage; I can take half of the sisters, meet them from the other side. We can drop upon them together. You take north I take the south. The only fleeing road will be through deep dark woods. The cowards who do not stand and fight, let Maa get them. They are not worth our trouble.” Softly she swung her long blond hair backwards and started braiding it in a rope-like braid, readying herself for war. Josselyn had already fastened her hair and was donning her own veil now. The veil around her face only displayed her cold blue eyes and one last scar. A deep and still redden scar that ran from her left eyebrow to down on her cheekbone. She did not get a good view of the men involved in this foolish attack of theirs, but she did surely hope that some she would recognize. She hoped that maybe today she would get part of her revenge. The revenge she hoped for and dreamt of for so long now.
“Move out!” Josselyn’s strong voice filled the air as her sisters stood up to follow her. The trees that provided the shelter they needed seemed to understand the gravity of this moment. It was like Maa knew what was about to happen, showing her support by darkening the woods slightly. Some clouds covered the upcoming sun and for a moment the forest was dark. The woods were lovely, dark and deep. The day had promised to be a smoldering hot one, but a summer’s storm was coming.
Treading through the thick vegetation she felt the hearts of her sisters beating in her chest. She felt how again she was leading them towards pain and maybe for some, even death. They breathed as one as the journey north continued. Each stepping on the footsteps of the one before, leaving no excessive marks of the group they really were. She felt the blood in her veins race up and down her body as she sensed them getting closer. Just before the road she raised her fist and her party of sisters stood as still as the trees around them. It was time to start climbing. They were already nearing the road, and in a distance heard the clattering of attire. The sisters only wore some light mail and boiled leather. Thick, but no match to a pointy sword. They needed to be quick and they needed to have that element of surprise.
Josselyn pointed up and started the climb. Her sisters moved to trees beside her. Swift as squirrels they traveled the trees, accustomed to the branches and firm places for grip. Motioning to a few of her raid party to stay in the trees, they responded by drawing their bows which would be used as an attack from the heavens.
“Remember who you are Josselyn, nothing more than a woman. Perverted by nature.” The words whispered in her ear, his foul breath upon her.
She rested her hand on her sword. Putting her fingers around the hilt, the cold iron soothed against her skin. She felt the throwing knives against her hips and another knife at her ankle. Silently she prayed to Maa, knowing it was futile, knowing it was wasted breath. Maa did not deal with human affairs. She was one to protect her creation, not meddle in small things as life or death. These two common phenomena were regular to her. She did not mind who was taken and who was spared, only concerned with the balance of her being.
Already drawing her sword so the sound would not reveal them, she heard how the sound of hooves and clatter neared their trees. Her muscles tensed, and she got ready for the immense drop. Her mind cleared and her eyes filled with bloodlust. It was time for death. It was time for vengeance.
