Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Chapter 24: Wild at Heart, part XVIII After bidding Senria farewell, Niu would have had the option of going back up into the city. But there were some people down here that she had to care for. So she started her journey through the underground tunnel system once again. Since all the torches had been destroyed during the battle against Cova, Niu could hardly see anything. It didn't take long for her to get lost. Niu really wanted to see Chii again as soon as possible, but after walking in complete darkness for some hours, she realized that this was pointless. Eventually, she broke down and fell asleep from exhaustion. Although the cold ground wasn't very comfortable, Niu slept for a long time. When she woke up, she began wandering the sewers again. While she had spent many hours here, they still felt like maze to her for the most part. From time to time, she could hear strange sounds from above. They sounded like muffled explosions. Niu wondered what was going on in Nargath right now. She hadn't been above ground for quite a while. The scary sounds got louder for a while and then there was one of them that made the whole tunnel shake. Niu was afraid that everything might just collapse, but in the end nothing happened and the strange sounds also stopped. A little later, Niu came to a place that she hadn't seen before. It didn't take her long to figure out that this was the spot where the last big explosion had taken place. A small portion of the tunnel really had collapsed and was now filled with a mass of debris. But it looked like the boulders also came from further above. Could it have been that a whole house had collapsed and had come down here? The strangest thing was that all this rubble seemed to be very hot. Smoke rose up from several places. Some parts of the debris were clearly smoldering. Niu really had to wonder what kinds of things happened in Nargath right now. After looking at the mess in awe for a while, Niu realized that there was an object sticking out of the rubble that didn't seem to belong here. It was a sword with a slightly curved blade and a plain hilt. It was made of some dark metal that Niu had never seen, but maybe it was just the soot on the blade which made it look that way. Niu looked around, but there was clearly no one who this sword could belong to. Well, Niu had known for a while now that owning a weapon could be a big advantage in this insane world. She had actually thought about buying some kind of weapon for herself before. Niu laid her hand on the hilt. It felt strangely warm. And there was also another sensation that Niu couldn't even begin to describe. Something inside this sword was alive and it was screaming at her, but it was screaming without a voice and without words, in a language that Niu couldn't understand. If she had known about the true nature of this sword, Niu might have hesitated to pull it out of the debris. That this sword had been forged from the body and soul of a fiery demon whose only desire it was to set the world aflame and who died with eternal hatred for everyone who wanted to stop her from doing so. Another component of this sword were the white arrows of a Syndicate Angel, projectiles that were designed to annihilate any wicked creature that roamed this world. Cold, deadly and emotionless. And the third component was the flesh of a human mother who had died with the brave thought that she wanted to protect her daughter, even if it meant her own death. These three conflicting parties were present in this otherworldly weapon and it made Niu's head spin when she tried to comprehend the feelings it struck her heart with. But she also knew immediately that she wouldn't let go of this sword. She had already bonded with the strange entity that resided inside this dark blade. Niu pulled out the sword. It was beautiful. It was awesome. Niu never had felt so strong before in her whole life. After leaving behind the mound of rubble, it took Niu about one more hour to reach the residence in which Senria had used to live in. But something was wrong. When Niu heard screams from inside, she started running. Then she heard a voice. "Kill them all! These are all devils like those who have brought ruin over our town!" When Niu entered the residence she saw a scene that she couldn't even have conceived in her worst nightmares. It were four young women of the rebels. From a very religious splinter group, to be exact. After the fire-demon had been unleashed on Nargath, they had gone underground to escape the destruction. And they weren't fond of demi-humans at all. Three of Keira's babies had already been killed. They had slit their throats with daggers and let them bleed to death. One of the rebels held another one of the tiny cat-girls by her neck. The baby wailed and cried miserably, but the rebels had no intention of showing any mercy. The woman drove her sword into the child's gut, killing it immediately. She looked over to the last kitten. It was Kia. "Now it's your time to die." Another woman was pulling the Azure Spirit into the room by her ear. "Look what I found here! This place is really overrun with demons..." "Stay away from them!" Niu's voice was so harsh and so bitter that all of the rebels turned around. Another demon? No, this one was a human. Only dressed in a buttoned shirt that didn't even cover her legs, but carrying a sword. The rebels got their weapons ready for a fight. "Why do you want to defend these creatures, girl? Are you a devil-worshiper too?" But Niu didn't intend to argue with them. Neither did the sword in her right hand. It was the first time that Niu ever used a sword, so Aras decided to help her out a little and compensate for her lack of skill. Niu's first slash came like a juggernaut. Not only did it sever the bodies of two of the rebels between their breasts and their waist, it also produced a fiery flash in mid-air that completely convinced the remaining rebels that they really were fighting a devil-worshiper. One of them came charging at Niu. She was armed with a hatchet, but she didn't even come close to Niu. Aras foresaw the attack and made Niu's arm perform a precise slash that cut through the rebel's neck and sent her head flying through the room. The last remaining rebel dropped her weapon. She fell on her knees. Piss trickled down over her legs. The sword in Niu's hand was literally burning. Demonic flames rose from the blade that was completely black now. Strangely enough, they didn't hurt Niu's hand. The rebel shook her head. "Please, no! Mercy!" Niu walked towards her. "Mercy? What the... fuck are you talking about?" She struck down on the woman, splitting her torso in two neat halves. The blade cut through flesh and armor as if they were thin air. It was so hot that it scorched the woman's body while it cut through it. Only when Niu had realized that all her enemies were dead, the flames on her sword slowly died down. And a moment later, Niu found two girls clinging to her, both crying and thanking her over and over again for saving them. Niu felt tears coming to her eyes when she looked at Kia. "Niuuu! Where is mama?" There was no use in hiding it from her. Niu choked down her tears. "I'm sorry, Kia. Your mama is dead." Then she put the crying girl on her arm and tried to console her as best as she could. This little girl had lost her whole family in a single day. Then Niu realized that Chii was screaming for her in the next room. With Kia on her arm and the Azure Spirit still clinging to her, she walked over to her. As it was to be expected, the helpless girl without any arms or legs had pissed and shat herself in Niu's absence. "Niu! I was so scared... You were gone for long!" Now Chii also cried. Niu gently caressed the little girl's head. "I'm sorry, Chii. I'm so sorry. I won't ever leave you alone like that again..." After lying in this room for hours and hours without the ability to see or move anywhere, Chii had ultimately started to fear that Niu would never come back and she would die here completely alone. When the rebels had entered the residence and started killing off Keira's children, she had been more scared than ever before in her life. But now that Niu held her in her arms, she felt like she was in heaven. "Niu... I love you so much... I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you! ..." Liry didn't look so good. The loss of her wife had really shattered her. Fel felt like slapping her. "Come on, pull yourself together! You said it yourself today. There's nothing left for you in this town. Fuck... There's nothing left here for anyone!" By now, most of the buildings in Nargath had completely burned town. Several parts of the town were completely depopulated. And still, the fires could be seen all around them. Fel actually felt that the burning city looked somewhat beautiful in the starry night, but she didn't dare to say so in front of Liry. She had literally lost everything. One bag with jewels and gold was everything that she took with her. Sure, it was still a lot of money- but what was it worth compared to being one of the mightiest councilors of Nargath? And even all the gold in this world couldn't have brought back her beloved wife. Finally, they left the mansion behind and headed for the town's gate. Fel, Liry and Alyn, who now wore clothes that once had belonged to Elza. They were surprised to see that someone was actually guarding the gate. It was the princess guard. They were preventing the town's inhabitants from leaving. Liry's face grew pale when she saw the renowned guards in their shiny armor. She immediately tried to hide her face, but the guards knew her too well. Within a few seconds, they had surrounded Liry and pointed their spears at her. "Don't move, councilor Liry! The princess has ordered to arrest you!" Fel stood a little further away, unsure whether she should take on these guards. Instead, she shouted at her friend. "What the fuck, Liry? Aren't these supposed to be on your side?" More princess guards appeared on the scene, among them their leader. This meant that another person probably wasn't too far away... Liry could hardly believe her eyes when the princess herself was walking towards her, heavily protected by her personal guards. Even if the people of Nargath had revolted a few hours ago, when they saw their princess in person, they all showed their respect by kneeling before her. Actually, some of them looked pretty conscience-stricken when their beautiful young princess walked past them. In contrast to Liry, who looked really worn down, Princess Endolefinia's appearance didn't seem to be affected at all by the chaos in her town. She still looked as graceful and noble as ever. Even her beautiful dress seemed to be immune to the dusty street she walked on. She really was a true princess. Liry was kneeling as well. When Princess Endolefinia's eyes fell on her, they were filled with righteous anger. "You know what you have done, Liry. Be ready to face the consequences for your actions." All the sympathies that the princess once had had for her were completely gone by now. In the contrary, when Endolefinia had heard that the demon who had laid waste to her town had came out of Liry's house, she really had felt like an idiot for trusting this person. Liry shook her head. "No... Not in this way..." She suddenly looked over to Fel. "Kill me, Fel! Don't let them torture me!" Princess Endolefinia took a look at the person that Liry was addressing. She had heard that name before. "Fel...?" Fel was one of the few people here who weren't kneeling right now- the others being the princess guards and Alyn, who had no idea what was going on. Fel grinned. What an exceptional cutie this little princess was. And the delicate girl with the dark-blond hair also had the perfect age for her. Fel walked over to Princess Endolefinia. "My, what a pretty princess you are... I don't think that we've met so far, because I surely would remember such a beauty. Endolefinia, right? Did you know that we are relatives?" The princess was completely staggered by this strange person's behavior. Not even her guards knew how to react. Endolefinia had to say something. "Relative? I don't think..." Fel smiled self-assuredly. "Sure we are! Your mother's sister was my mother's second wife. We're basically cousins!" Endolefinia was so struck by realization that she even forgot about Liry for the moment. "Mother's sister... you mean aunt Valatia? But then you're the daughter of..." Fel nodded smilingly. "Yes, my mom is Eluthya." The warrior of light. Slayer of the Black Queen, ending the age of despair. A living legend. And this was her daughter. A murmur went through the crowd. The princess guards were unsure whether they should kneel too now. Endolefinia was completely entranced by this unforeseen meeting. "Then you are... Felwynn?" Fel nodded. "That's my name. It really is a shame that no one introduced us yet. To have such a cute cousin and no one tells me about it..." Fel gently stroked Endolefinia's hair. The little princess wasn't too sure how to react. Sure, this person really was her cousin, but they weren't related by blood. And rumor had it that Eluthya's daughter Felwynn was mentally ill. Despite that, the tall woman with the huge tits and the long red ponytail who was petting her head right now was a mesmerizing person without peer. Fel smiled at her. "You know, the councilor that you've just captured is actually an old friend of mine. It hurts me to see that she would steep so low. I can really understand that you're angry with her, but let me still ask you a favor, princess..." She bent over and whispered into Endolefinia's ear. Months later, the people of Nargath would still try to guess what it was that Fel had said to their princess... A few hours later, Niu's party reached the town's gate. It was in the middle of the night, but Niu didn't want to spend any more time in this horrible city. The princess guards were instructed to let none of the townspeople leave Nargath, but Niu was able to convince them that none of them was from Nargath. Even if this wasn't the truth for Chii, none of the guards felt like digging to deep into these unusual people's back story. And so they left town. Niu carried Chii and her recently acquired sword. Kia either walked at the Azure Spirit's hand or was carried by her. Needless to say, they weren't moving very fast at all. They had walked on the road leading away from Nargath only for a few minutes when they heard a familiar voice from a camp fire. "Come over here, Niu." Next to the fire sat Fel and a dark-skinned girl who was introduced to Niu as Alyn. The Azure Spirit tried to run away as soon as she heard Fel's voice, but there was no way she stood any chance. Within a few heartbeats, Fel had captured her. "Hehehehe... Bwahahahaha! Karma's a bitch, don't you think so, Azu?" Niu had no idea on what Fel planned on doing to the Azure Spirit, but she also had no intent to stop her. For now, Azu had to return into her bottle and think about what she had done... Alyn, Chii and Kia quickly fell asleep around the camp fire and it were only Fel and Niu left who were talking until long after midnight. Fel got really angry when she found out that the demon who she had killed together with Iliv and Senria actually had been the gothic killer. "That fucking Liry! She owes me a ten-thousand in gold now!" Well, she had no hopes for receiving that money anytime soon. On the other hand, Fel really enjoyed hearing about Siria's fate. "That bitch... Serves her right." Niu had to agree. Their conversation was very different from any talk they had had before. Fel had realized and accepted that Niu wasn't a helpless little girl anymore. Niu had grown from someone who always had to be protected into someone who was able to protect others. This night, they talked to each other as if they were actual friends. But they didn't decide to continue traveling together on the next morning. Fel usually didn't mind a little company- but traveling with a baby cat and an amputee was too much for her. And Niu didn't want to see the bloodbath of Fel's daily life any longer. She also didn't want Kia to grow up at Fel's side. That left one person... Fel walked up to Alyn. "What about you, girlie? Want to join me?" It was only the second day of Alyn's life, but by now she could already talk pretty well. She thought about the question for a while and looked at all the people around the camp fire. Eventually, her eyes fell on Niu's sword. To everyone's surprise, she ran over to her and linked arms with Niu. "I'll go with this girl!" Alyn declared happily. Niu was fine with that. "You can carry the baby then." Alyn nodded eagerly. Niu had no idea that this girl was a baby herself. Fel watched Niu's party walking away for a while. She sighed. "Well, might just get going myself. I really need some place with strong booze, greasy food and cheap whores..." She opened the bottle and shook it. Azu fell out and landed on her face. She looked around uneasily. "Where... where is everyone?" Fel looked down on her coolly. She unbuckled her belt. "Doesn't matter to you. Take off your clothes." Azu complied with teary eyes. She knew that there was no way in which she could be talking herself out of this. Fel nonchalantly held the belt in her right hand. "You walk in front of me. Don't turn around. And don't forget to wiggle your little ass for me." That way they traveled. Every few seconds, the belt hit Chii's butt and left a painful red mark on her blue ass cheeks. "Owww!" Fel couldn't get enough of that sound. She would be hearing it a lot on her travels from now on. Liry was rudely awaken by a guard who entered her prison cell. She was completely naked and had slept on the cold stone floor. Liry didn't know what Fel had said to the princess, but except for stripping her and locking her up overnight, no one had done anything to her yet. Her heart was beating really fast when the guard lead her out of her cell and to a different part of the building. Eventually, they reached a small courtyard. Liry gulped. She didn't like what she saw there. In the middle of the yard stood a wooden beating rack. "Bend over that." Liry had no choice but follow that order. She lay over the wooden rack in the most humiliating position, with her ass up in the air. The guard tied Liry to the rack with a leather strap, restricting her every movement. This was the punishment that Fel had suggested to Princess Endolefinia. A long whipping on the bare ass. No doubt, Liry really came off well with that punishment. But right now, she would've preferred any place in this world over the one she was in right now. The guard picked up a fearsome bullwhip and assumed her position behind Liry's ass. The ex-councilor was crying softly. If only this could be over already... Then the whip hit her butt for the first time. Liry screamed on the top of her lungs. It hurt! It hurt really, really bad! "Stop it! Please!" The guard with the whip chuckled. Stop it? After one lash? This girl really had no idea what awaited her. Then she lashed Liry's ass again. And again and again and again and again... Wild at Heart. The end.