Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Chapter 31: Long Is the Night for the Godless, part II Augi yawned. The sixteen-year-old wizard usually preferred to sleep until noon, but these days she was forced to get up early every morning. Augi clearly wasn't cut out to be a bounty hunter. It had only happened by chance that duchess Viora of Waran had asked her to take part in this mission. Well, it was no secret that Augi was constantly broke. She just loved shopping too much... Magical artifacts, pretty clothes and jewelry, she could never get enough of them. But with all the gold she would receive for this mission, she wouldn't have to hold back anymore. It was easily enough to grant her a whole life of reasonable luxury. She had been worried about the dangers of this job at first, but when duchess Viora had told her that Fel would be a part of it, Augi had been sure that nothing could go wrong. But ever since Fel had begun cracking up, Augi was concerned about her safety again. She took a curious look at Calys, the short-haired girl with the strangely oversized armor. Something seemed very wrong about the proportions of her body. The armor she wore would've suggested that she was a very tall woman, but her cute little head was that of a lithe girl. Calys raised an eyebrow when she noticed that she was being watched. "Something wrong with my armor?" Augi quickly shook her head. Calys was probably bugged a lot about her strange attire. Calys sighed. She had been rummaging the farmhouse for a while now, but it seemed like nothing of any worth could be found here. Augi sat down on a wooden footstool. At least it was better than standing outside in the rain and watching these cruel women raping little children. Their horrifying screams could still be heard inside the house. It made Augi's blood run cold. She wondered why humans always had to hurt each other. Calys seemed to be thinking a similar thing as she slammed down her big iron fist on the table. "These damn bastards! They're just using their gods as an excuse to murder, plunder and rape! If only it weren't for this bounty hunt, I would smash these cunts to pieces for what they did here!" Augi gulped. This girl sure was making enemies quickly. First she had gotten on bad terms with Fel and now she also talked about smashing the Vargranian warriors to pieces. Augi only hoped that these heterogeneous group of people would be able to finish this job without any fights breaking out between them. Just when she had thought that, she heard a bloodcurdling cry from outside that clearly didn't come from a little girl. After exchanging worried looks with Calys, they both rushed outside. The Vargranian warriors had stopped the raping by now and all stared in unison at the same thing that Calys and Augi were staring at. There was Fel, with a dagger in each of her clenched fists. Her hands and arms were completely covered in blood. On the ground lay Waran's axe... and the bloody heap of flesh next to it had to be Waran herself. Fel's daggers had ripped up Waran's face and torso to such a degree that the dead barbarian was almost impossible to recognize. "So she still can fight..." Calys grumbled. She didn't seem to particularly mind the loss of Waran. It was also more important to Augi to know that Fel was able to fight than whether they still had Waran or not. The warriors were all stunned by the breathtaking display of fighting skill they had just witnessed. It really hadn't been a fight. Fel had obliterated Waran before the barbarian had been able to swing her axe even once. Yrin mumbled. "That's the Meluthian Nightmare..." Fel barked at her furiously. "It's not! That was just me letting off some steam..." One of the black-haired warriors walked up to Fel and fell on her knees in front of her. "Please, let me be your disciple! I would do anything for you to teach me how to fight like that!" Fel snarled at her. "There's nothing I can teach you, girl... Except that you should never piss me off like this piece of shit here did!" She violently kicked against the remainders of Waran's smashed head. The girl on her knees gasped, then she excused herself and made haste to get out of Fel's sight. It took a while before Yrin remembered that there had been a reason why they had stopped at this farm. She proceeded with ordering her soldiers to destroy the heretic altar and hang the raped girls from the next tree. Then they looted the farm, but they didn't find anything of interest except for some food to fill up their supplies. They offered food to Fel, but she still felt way too sick to eat anything. Augi watched in amazement as Fel's servant girl Lau washed off the blood on Fel's body and even cleaned her daggers for her. If she was honest with herself, Augi had to admit that Lau really was just her kind of girl. But she had an idea that it might not've been the wisest thing to try to seduce this maniac's servant. When the group set out again, the rain had just stopped. But it started again soon after. Although Fel had just killed a woman in the most violent way, she was still furious enough to murder at least another dozen. Not even the constant rain was able to calm her down anymore. It was because the thing Waran had said was true. Fel's cock had been completely limp for days. She would've preferred her eyes falling out over her dick not being able to get hard anymore. It was so damn humiliating. For the first time, Fel really regretted what she had done to her body. She swore to herself again and again that she would never touch an opium pipe again... or any of these other weird drugs Mistel had offered her during her stay at the Zilia Ruins! Fel could've punched that damn sorceress' daughter's face. But in the end, she knew very well that it was her own fault. Even worse, she knew that she would probably do it all again as soon as the occasion would arise. Fel and Lau still walked a fair bit behind the other members of the group. But the warriors weren't ready to leave Fel behind anymore. Whenever Fel got slower, they walked slower as well. When she decided to stop to catch her breath, they stopped too. After seeing Fel fight, Yrin knew that her presence was absolutely essential for the success of this mission. At some point in the afternoon the rain stopped once, but it started all over again a little later. The sun had hardly been visible during the whole day. Everything was dark and gray, wet and cold. Combined with the bleak atmosphere of the highlands, it was really depressing. Fel thought back to her childhood in the Moovian rainforest, where the summers had been so hot that Fel and her sister only had been allowed to leave their hut at night. It seemed to her like it had been a heaven on earth. Compared to the rainforest, this region was an inhospitable shithole. Fel would've given quite a lot to be able to go back to the warm days of her childhood. She was getting delusional again. Fel heard her sister's voice talking to her. It was a child's voice, just like back then when they had been living in a thatched hut in the middle of the jungle. Hearing the little girl talking to her made Fel feel strangely sentimental. Fel had loved her so much back in these days... The fearless little girl with the pink golden hair. Fel still remembered that she had strictly refused to sleep anywhere else than under a blanket together with her beloved sister. "Shen..." Fel whispered absentmindedly. "Why couldn't we stay like that forever? Why did you have to grow up to be such a damn bitch..." Shen didn't answer her. She continued to talk to Fel just like when they were children. 'Get up, Fel! Let's go to the river and swim! Let's race and see who gets to the waterfall first.' Fel grinned. They always had been competing. And in nine out of ten cases, Shen had won against Fel. But she never had been sore for too long about losing to her sister. She had loved her way too much for that. The invisible little Shen continued. 'Let's train a lot so that mama is really proud of us when she comes back! You'll see, she'll be so proud that she'll stay here with us and never go away again. First thing, you gotta learn how to wipe your own ass, Fel. Mama will be really impressed if she sees that...' Fel sighed. She never had been able to make a lot of progress in that regard. The girl in her head kept blabbering. 'Let's play that we're married, Fel! Of course, I will make you my wife when we're old enough, so that will also be good training. What married couples do? Well, I'll show you, but we'll have to undress for that...' Fel shook her head and smiled. Shen had always been precocious, even more than herself. Fel couldn't see her sister, but that didn't mean a lot because Fel couldn't see anything right now. She reached out into the black nothingness in hope of reaching the little hand of her sister through space and time. "Why couldn't you stay like that, Shen? Even though I loved you so much..." Fel finally grabbed a hand in the darkness, but it wasn't that of a little girl. She opened her eyes. It was Lau's hand. Only now Fel realized that she had collapsed a while ago and had drifted into dream world for some time. It was still raining. The others had carried her to the edge of a forest where it was dry and lit the camp fire there. Lau was happy that Fel had opened her eyes again after being unconscious for over an hour, but she was still worried about her. Fel clearly had a high fever. "Who are you talking to, Fel? There is no one here called Shen..." Yrin, who stood a little further away, knew the answer. "She's sleep talking to her sister, the Lady Shenwynn. Even a harlot like you should know who that is." Of course, Lau knew. Although she had only appeared two years ago, Shenwynn was already legendary. Just like her mother Eluthya, she had achieved many heroic deeds and slain countless beasts and enemies of the Holy Empire. Not only was she one of the twelve Knights of the Highest Order, she had also been part of Aelon's legendary fellowship. Recently she had even formed her own fellowship of heroines and they had been able to make themselves renowned pretty quickly. The people loved and revered the Lady Shenwynn, but Fel's older sister was also known to be incredibly violent. Fel realized that she might've just had said something really embarrassing. It didn't happen often, but at this moment, Fel really blushed. Luckily, it was almost impossible to notice since her face was already hot from the fever. Fel gnashed her teeth. She had to regain her composure. "Who cares about that bitch anyway. I'm better off without her..." Lau never had seen Fel this cute. The way she was trying to negate the affectionate things she had just said about her sister was too obviously dishonest. Still, Lau was a little worried that Fel might've started killing everyone if her embarrassment became too big. But none of the people at the camp fire dared to pry too deeply into Fel's private life. Everyone knew that these two sisters were enemies and there were countless rumors about what had happened between them. To hear Fel say that she once had deeply loved Shenwynn was already amazing enough as it was. Lau wanted to put a cold towel on Fel's forehead to make her fever go down, but Fel refused. "Let the fever be. It's fine that way. At least I'm not freezing anymore." Calys sighed and shook her head at the sight of Fel. She sure was an unreliable comrade. Also Augi wasn't too pleased about Fel being in a weakened state again. Lau stuck close to her mistress. "Do you... miss your sister, Fel?" Fel raised an eyebrow. Then she put her right hand around Lau's small head. "You know, Lau. I like you more than anyone else here. But if you ever talk about her again, I'm gonna take this tangerine head and smash it to pieces. Understood?" Lau nodded. She would never again talk about Shenwynn in her whole life. Fel was weak and tired, but her fever kept her from falling asleep. Even when everyone else was already snoozing around the camp fire, she was still awake. Oh, how much she wished that she had some booze right now. Or some dope, maybe... Fel sighed. She had to piss. Even if she was sick, she didn't want to pee her panties. So she forced herself to stand up. Surprisingly, she felt pretty good on her feet, so she walked for a little bit. The night was so dark that she could hardly see her own hands in front of her. The rain kept falling relentlessly. Finally, she reached a tree that looked good to her to piss on. Fel pulled down her panties and let nature take its course. What a satisfyingly loud splashing sound... Since it was pitch-black, it took Fel a while to realize that there was a girl standing right next to her. Her scrubby clothes were all torn and they even cover her arms or legs. She didn't seem to be freezing though. Her thin limbs and hollow cheeks made it apparent that she was starved. The girl's face was pale, almost colorless, just like her ashen hair. Fel smirked. "Getting a good look at my cock?" The girl didn't seem to listen to what Fel said. "I'm hungry." she said. "I'm so terribly hungry..." Fel pulled up her panties and took a good look at the girl. "Hungry enough to eat up the inhabitants of more than a dozen villages?" The girl looked at Fel with blank eyes. "Hungrier than that. Hungry enough to swallow empires... to devour heaven and earth itself..." Fel's hands got ready to pull out her daggers, but before she could do so, the ashen girl began to howl. She made sure that no one would be able to find any sleep in this night.