She had the most of the house for herself. Her father was out, preparing for a concert with the band, and had taken two of the bodyguards with him. She had made it clear numerous times that she wanted to be alone when she was tending her precious garden. Anaxandria pushed the glass doors and gladly received the gentle warmth of the midday sun, even when she was wearing only black clothes. She took off her leather jacket, showing a black tank-top with a steel eagle, Vengeance Song’s logo, accompanied by a matching pair of trousers, and left her shoes and socks behind, lying on the stairs. She enjoyed the feeling of the grass touching her feet and the wind caressing her skin and passing through her long black hair, collected in a triple braided bun. Afterwards, she walked towards a garden table to leave her beloved violin, Beast, and proceeded to get her tools and a white hat to begin to work.

Anaxandria gained her love from gardening from her father, Malastrachia’s Metal Priest, and turned into one of her ways to escape reality and relax, her own private Eden, whose beauty was the product of her work and care. On the very centre a proud tree stood, providing a recomforting shadow, and different plants with varied flowers that soon would give their fruits.

“What a nice garden”

The priest’s daughter quickly turned her back and stood up, pointing her scissors to the origin of the voice, a demon with reptilian skin in a well-tailored suit, pulling out his forked tongue to catch the young woman’s smell once more.

“Who the bloody hell you are and how did you get here!?”

“My name is Snais, and I want to make a bet with you”- Said the creature with arrogance as he opened a case in front of the woman, showing a golden violin- “You see, I’m a violin player too, and I’m willing to give you this beauty if you win me at a duel. But if you lose I’ll get your power ¿What do you say?

Anaxandria could easily call for security to deal with the demon, but she had a great amount of repressed anger inside her, and she felt that beating that cocky bastard was a perfect way to let it all out. Either way, she wasn’t foolish, and she was going to make sure that she got a better deal.

“It seems that I’m in the losing end of this. Why the fuck would I want a faggy shiny violin when I’m happy with mine?”

“What do you want? You won’t get it either way”- Said Snais as he showed his teeth while smiling.

“How about you give me that necklace you’ve got?”- Said Anaxandria pointing with her scissors to the object, which was shining with a captivating light.

“This?”- Asked the demon as he took the object with three fingers- “This is nothing but a trinket, it doesn’t have any value”

“Then you won’t mind if I take it”

“It’s important to me”

“So is my ability to play”

“Smart girl”

“Of course I am, arsehole”

Anaxandria suspected that the necklace contained the power of rock that Snais had taken away from those he had meet before, since it couldn’t be stored inside someone’s body, and now she knew it for sure.

“Guess that I’ll start this show”- Said Snais as he opened his case and took the instrument and the bow, resining the later.

When he pulled the bow across the strings, a soul wrenching sound was born and the green under his feet began to die, enraging the woman.

“Hey, those are my plants, you shithead!”

The serpent demon showed his tongue as he smiled, bringing more death to his surroundings and using the carcasses to create rotten creatures that would play other instruments he brought with his music. The putrid band would continue to play their sinister sounds and twist Anaxandria’s work, spawning more nauseous monsters that began to dance under the command of Snais’ violin, until at the end of the song, they began to devour each other. They teared their roots and used their tongues to trap the lesser ones, stopping when only a single wounded one remained, returning to the soil that spawn it as the last chords were played and the demon bowed.

“Now you’ve made it, wanker. I’m going to show you how it’s done”- Said the priest’s daughter as she went for Beast and her bow.

Her instrument was as black as the night, with two white skulls on each side in an asymmetric way, and her bow shared the same colour, but had a short and light extendible blade added. She adopted a comfortable position as she held the object on her hands, showing the red inverted pentagrams tattooed on the back, showcasing her status as the next Metal Priestess.

The bow began to move, and she didn’t hold anything back, transmitting her emotions in an intense cascade of unstoppable might, emitting sparks as the combined result of the speed and the music. She span graciously over the dead terrains of her garden, bringing it back to life and sprouting flowers over the remains of the hellish abominations, focused on her performance. She stopped dancing and a giant stone hand came from the ground, holding her on her palm as it ascended to the skies and the tree’s branches surrounded it and new leaves were born. Anaxandria continued playing on the top with increasing passion, making the hand close all the fingers except the middle and index ones, sending a not so subtle message to the demon, who struggled against the fact that he was being defeated in such an overwhelming manner.

The woman descended and used her music to move the fingers in a way they made a ramp she used to get to the ground, ending her song and delighting in Snais’ disbelief.

“Shit, I can’t believe it!”

“Told you”

“Well, shit happens”- The demon reluctantly took off his necklace and threw it to the woman, who caught it in the air.

Anaxandria looked the object for a moment and, when she raised her eyes, the demon had disappeared and the place where he was just a second ago now was occupied by a snake that run away into the plants. The woman looked again at the necklace and threw it to the ground, amashing it to pieces and freeing the power contained within it, which immediately flew away in search of their respectful owners. Anaxandria watched the lights until she realized the big mistake she had just made.

“Oh, bugger”

She moved her eyes to the ground and walked to the stairs avoiding any piece of glass that could be hiding in the grass, entering the house to search for the things she needed to clean the mess.