Salem could feel the presence of the unknown but civil beast even better than before. The wind at her feet surged as she jumped over a log. The motion reminded Salem of jumping over a hurdle. The familiar sense of wind whipping past her face so quickly thrilled the woman who long since thought she lost such emotions. She could see a bright light closing in.

Salem burst through the trees with renewed vigor. Similar to that feeling of finishing a race, she felt her arms lifting up in joy at the long-forgotten feeling. Her heart was beating rapidly not at the vigorous workout but these emotions. 

Of course, Salem came back to reality when she heard the unmistakable sound of a disgusted or maybe terrified gasp.

She didn’t look toward the person who made the noise though, but the beast before her. Her jaws dropped at the sight of it and her eyes widened significantly.

Oh yeah, this is definitely a fantasy world...

In all her time in this world, she had only seen humans(?) and basic forest animals. But this beast before her was far too large to call a regular forest creature. Salem took in the beast with slow and curious eyes. The beast in turn looked at Salem with nonchalance before nodding its head at the group it had just captured.

Salem felt a stupid grin crawling on her face before she pushed it down. She turned around to look at what the large wolf-like beast had captured and was not disappointed. The group looked to be human and except for the dying people at the edge of the group, most were wearing clothes fully intact. 

The grin Salem had pushed down had resurfaced in full bloom. 

She turned back to the beast with this same cheery disposition.

“Thank you.” She calmly said to the large wolf-like creature. The creature nodded to her before closing its eyes. 

Salem could tell the beast was waiting for her. 

With her back to the beast, the group of humans had a perfect view of the cheery smile on Salem’s face. 

Of course, to them, it came off as eerie and chilling.

***

She could not breathe. She thought her luck was already low when the fat bastard Edward had chosen her from the Queen’s Closet. She then thought it was non-existent when the terrifying beast laying on the ground mere meters from her had burst through the trees and dismembered the guards. 

But this…

This scenario could not get harder to believe. 

The being that stood before her was definitely a woman. But none like what she had ever seen before. Nothing like the priestesses she had seen from the temple of Dawne or the tanned girls who worked on family farms. 

This was a woman. Yes, a woman, who was night personified. She had deep brown skin, wine red eyes, and silver tight and curly hair. The tightest curls she had ever seen in fact. So much so, that it was a whole new hair texture altogether. She was sure no one in the world could copy this. 

Her body seemed to be recovering from malnutrition. This she could tell as it was something many in the slums and red-light district suffered from. The body this woman had resembled that of those who struggled to eat but became popular and could afford the luxury to eat. That’s what her body looked like to Claire, someone who had been in the same position. She knew this, yet she could tell this woman was naturally fit. Even from sitting on the cold damp ground, she could tell this mythical woman before her was taller than the average woman. Her lips were plump and muscles were on their way to being full. 

Claire could not breathe. She instantly felt small in front of this woman. She felt the 3 other girls with her flinch. Rightfully so. 

The woman had turned to look at them and she had a scowl on her face. A nasty chilling scowl.

Claire felt even smaller and the other girls shrank with her.

“Disgusting asshole…” She heard the woman whisper. 

Asshole. 

A singular term. She was not disgusted by the girls, but by the fat ass sitting in his own fecal matter. 

It was then Claire’s blue eyes took in her appearance. This woman wore practically nothing. She was literally in rags. Claire and her girls were wearing common girl dresses cut low in places. They were not brand new, but passable. 

But this woman wore rags tied in some places and still looked powerful. What this woman had been through living in the forest, she did not want to know. Even in the dark though, she could spot the unmistakable signs of abuse as her wary eyes took in the sight of the numerous scars across her body. Claire could not tell if this woman was beautiful but she could tell she was strong. And right now, that was enough for Claire to respect this woman.

“Hey. Where is the luggage?” 

Claire jumped. At the moment Claire had been gazing in the distance, the night woman had approached the group of cowering girls. 

Claire dumbly pointed to the tipped-over carriage a ways away from their current spot. 

The night woman’s eyes glinted mischievously before a smile graced her lips.

“Thanks.”

What Claire could only describe as a skip, she watched the mysterious woman skip over to the carriage. She easily set it upright and removed the luggage that had been reinforced to the back with magic. The spells Edward bragged about were said to be extremely hard to disable if you were not the owner of the luggage, carriage, or the spell caster. 

But this night-like woman removed the luggage with no trouble. She began to open each suitcase, including the men with child-like glee. 

***

CLOTHES! CLOTHES! CLOTHES! FINALLY, SOME SHOEEES!

Salem was ecstatic as she ransacked the suitcases. The largest suitcase most likely belonged to the fat pig on the ground that Salem still had not addressed. She could feel his trembling and piercing gaze on her bareback but, she had not a single fuck to give. 

Leather pants, dresses, baggie blouses, boots, heels, soap, essential oils, gold…

Item after item, Salem began to separate the items between what she liked and what she didn’t. 

Her quick sorting stopped though when she laid her eyes upon a large thick book. The material on the outside was leather hide and the pages were thick. Something about this book intrigued Salem. She could not read the language of this world but she would learn.

Salem began to pick up all the books within the suitcases and put them in her spatial storage. When she had gathered everything she liked, she dusted off her knees and thigh. The large beast was still lying down looking at the group he had attacked. 

Salem looked at the now dead bodies, the guards, and the still trembling pig who was probably the owner of this caravan. She ignored the women.

Salem tilted her head in contemplation at the man on the ground in front of her. She did not like him. There was the fact that she did not like any of the people in this world. The soldiers she had met at the temple she had let live because she could tell they were on a side against that terrible place. 

But here in this forest, there was no side. It was a matter of whimsy. And her whimsy was pointing in a direction this man would certainly not like.