5

Tie?

Greed was well respected on the Island of Ulaou, and Carrion could see why. Every time someone asked for help, she would help without question, spread the food they grew to the rest, save even more women from harm. And in return, all she let them do was call her ‘Lady’ Greed. It was kinda funny to watch. Kinda like how being called ‘Wrath’ irritated him, being called ‘Lady’ embarrassed the strong Russian woman. It was one thing that made him smile while she kicked his ass in training.

   Greed’s dagger scratched off the side of Carrion’s right black metal gauntlet, but instead of slicing his throat she just jabbed it, making him gag.

   “Fifth death,” Greed remarked, before marching over to the table of food and water.

   When Carrion recovered he went over as well. Greed had helped make the hut they were training in, it’s where she sleeps, trains, and kicks Carrion’s ass. All before lunch. It was a nice wooden hut though, the training room was sizable and there were even extra rooms, though he hadn’t seen any but the front room and training room.

   “You can be very slow,” Greed spoke, “You also pay too much attention to my weapon, and not me. You must look for openings anywhere you can get them. Understand?” She finished.

   “Yes,” Carrion replied, thinking back on what she said and the fight she just beat him in, trying to apply that thinking. This was how she trained him. Fight him, tell him what he did wrong, and fight again to see if he learned it. It was though, but effective he felt.

   “Damn, I could have bumped your dagger off course at the end there couldn’t I?” He asked.

   “You are learning, good. But that was just one opening, and again, focused on my weapon.”

   When Greed was ready she went back to the centre of the room. “Ready for round six, little cub?” She said brandishing her dagger. She was dressed in her all black with a brown belt around her waist with the daggers sheath attached.

   Carrion sighed, “I think I preferred it when you called me Wrath.”

   She chuckled, for once. “But you fight like a little bear cub.”

   “And you fight like you know every possible way to fight, seriously how do you do it?!” He exclaimed.

   Greed shrugged. “I must fight, so I must be good at fighting. No exception.”

   Carrion frowned. “Sounds rough.”

   She flipped her dagger around in her hand. “Are you ready or not?”

   Carrion readied himself, both physically and mentally, and nodded.

   Greed wasted no time, she rushed in with a left hook, just missing Carrion’s cheek as he went through with a punch straight to the gut. It connected, lifting her off her feet for a second before she staggered back. Only the second hit he had managed to get in over the last three days.

   She vanished - teleported.

   Carrion spun around with a kick and almost hit Greed as she reappeared, but she vanished again and Carrion felt his other leg being kicked out from under him.

   He hit the ground with a hard thud. As soon as he got his bearings back, he rolled to avoid Greed’s dagger going for his face.

  Coming up to one knee, Carrion punched at the air sending a quick but forceful blast of fire that knocked Greed down.

  Carrion rushed to Greed, almost falling over himself. He pinned her down before she could get up or teleport again.

   He smiled, about to announce his first win over Greed since they started training, before feeling something pointy against his lower abdomen. He looked down and saw Greed’s dagger pointing against it, his smile faded a bit. 

   “Tie?” He said through panting breathes.

   For the first time since they met, she smiled. “Deal.”

As Carrion went back to Kaya’s hut, he was stared at by all the women he went by, both young and old, warriors and farmers. It wasn’t because of his clothes this time though, he traded his jeans and band shirt in for a blue shirt, black bottoms and tough leather boots much like a lot of their own clothes. No, they didn’t like him, didn’t trust him. Years of abuse had made some weary of men and others just weary of strangers. But Carrion couldn’t blame them, he understood what it was like to be on the bad end of a belt. He understood some of their pain, but felt there was more to theirs than he could understand, no matter how hard he tried.

Carrion walked into the hut and was hit by the smell of fish instantly, he had grown accustomed to the smell a little bit over the past week but it still put him off.

   Kaya met him with a smile. “Good evening, Carrion,” She spoke in her foregin language, foregin to Carrion at least, but he was allowed to understand nonetheless.

   She wore the same clothes as when they first met, but left her dagger on the table in her front of her. She had her dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail, showing off her pointed tanned ears with one black stud pierced near the tip of each. 

   “Hello, Kaya,” He replied, “How are you doing?”

   “I’m doing dinner, it’s cooking right now. Fried fish and vegetables.” She said, missing the real point of the question. Carrion had noticed that some things didn’t get translated too well.

   He smiled. “That’s great. Need any help?”

   She shook her head. “No, thank you but you are a guest. Please rest, you must be tired after training with Lady Greed. I shall check on the food, please sit.”

   “Thank you so much, Kaya, I don’t know how I can ever repay you.” He replied as he sat.

   She blushed a bit. “Your gratitude is enough for me.”

   Carrion waited happily as he heard the busy work of Kaya in the kitchen. Despite the general mistrust the women had towards him, Kaya treated him the best he had been in a long time. Only his sister came close to being as nice but she hasn’t been around for a while. 

   Before his thoughts could wander to the past, Kaya came back with two plates of delicious cooking.

   They spoke as they ate, talking of their worlds again where Carrion learned that the pointy eared people of this world who used magic as naturally as breathing called themselves Elves. That the nearby country they fled from, named Massfal after its founder, was a dictatorial monarchy led by Eldor Massfal the second. A terrible but powerful man who led a strong army and treated women and conquered people of other countries as nothing but items, to be used and discarded. She told of a strange warrior who appeared some months ago that he held close by, who used a long, guardless sword that was more like a needle than a blade. The warrior has apparently never lost a fight.

   This made Carrion nervous, he felt it was a lot to go up against, like the odds were stacked against them, but Kaya’s smile melted all that away. If she could smile while talking about all these terrible things, then so could he.