Book 3, Chapter 35 - Stubbornness (1/2)
Barb pulled herself up off the floor. Wrong place, wrong time. She’d nearly had her ass handed to her as collateral damage.
Anyone put in this situation would have found it simply irritating, but Barb especially wasn’t known for her even temper. The whole thing made her hopping mad.
The Red-Faced Ghost had attacked her for no reason at all, holding no punches and ready to kill her without a second thought. If she’d been half a second slower the asshole’s hammer would have crippled or killed her.
“Cocksucker! Go to hell, you fucking nutbag!”
Barb rushed at her attacker with psychic energy pulsing through the exorcist staff. Just as she was preparing to release a blast of power something stopped her. It was like she smacked headfirst into a mountain, forcing her to stagger back a few steps. Her angry eyes shot up at the figure who’d suddenly blocked her path, ready to skewer them, but stopped when she met Bonobo’s deep and inscrutable gaze. She had to settle for shooting both men a menacing gaze.
“I’ll repeat myself. Again.” Bonobo said in a threatening growl to everyone. “No fighting in my fuckin’ hotel.”
“Are you blind?!” Barb knew Bonobo was a lot stronger than he looked, so she had no recourse. “He started it! He attacked me for so reason. Now get out of my way, this dickhead needs to have his attitude adjusted. Let him learn what happens when you piss off a demonhunter!”
Demonhunter? Red-Face paused. However, when the surprise passed, Barb did not receive the respect of worship she anticipated. While the men looked nervously at her exorcist weaponry, they seemed neither afraid nor apologetic.
Bonobo didn’t give a shit about right and wrong. There were only rules. “If you want to kill him then go outside.”
“The virtuous lady wishes to challenge the Red-Faced Ghost?” The bandit’s hideous red face split into a malicious grin. His unbridled, hungry gaze slithered over her body. “Your only advantage is a nice pair of tits. You should join us, let the boys take turns grabbin’ handfuls. We’ll make sure to keep our pretty girl protected in those cold wasteland nights.”
His henchmen smirked at the dark prospect.
Red-Face went on. “What? You don’t think it’s a good deal?”
Barb grew up a commoner in Skycloud. She got to where she was today through nothing but her own grit and determination. She had more pride and self-respect than any noble.
How could she show herself in a sea of people if she wasn’t relentless and stubborn? Now this shit-stain was insulting her, and she was just supposed to turn a blind eye?
Of course, pissing her off was exactly what Red-Face was aiming to do.
He could tell from her gear that Barb was a genuine demonhunter from the elysian lands. But this wasn’t the borderlands. They were in the northern barrens. People here knew Skycloud existed but its influence didn’t extend this far. There wasn’t much fear or respect for elysians in these parts.
What gave elysians the right to hoard all that food, water, and fertile soil for themselves? Why did wastelanders have to live and die in the dirt, just because they were unfortunate enough to be born on the other side of some fucking wall?
There was a deep and lasting enmity here for elysians. Every city, every tribe cursed the name Skycloud. But they knew they were outmatched. They didn’t have the gall of a group like the Dark Atom to fight back.
But this girl was alone, with nothing but a low-level relic to protect her. She definitely wasn’t someone important back where she came from.
Demonhunters from important families almost always had fancy relics given to them, even as novices. This one was in her twenties – tough and experienced, but still using exorcist gear. That could only mean she was scrub, and not much of a threat.
Red-Face’s plan had been just to provoke a guest, get rid of them, then take the vacant room. Now that he knew who Barb was, though, plans changed.
There weren’t a ton of demonhunters, and they were especially few and far between in these parts. Coming across one all the way out here was a rare opportunity. Besting one would definitely solidify his reputation, but more than that she was a prize herself. Young, reasonably attractive. A rare fruit to be tasted.
“So what do you think,” he pressed. “You think you can take me in a fight?”
“If we’re gonna fight then let’s get on with it! You think I’m scared?”
Red-Face knew demonhunters didn’t usually travel the wastelands on their own. If she had an entourage that was no problem, but if there were other demonhunters with her things could get dicey. “So,” he went on calmly, “call out your friends then. Let’s have at it.”
She hesitated. “This doesn’t concern anyone else, just you and me.”
“You got guts!”
If the girl was going to throw herself to the fire it would be rude to deny her.
What was Red-Face going to Fishmonger’s Borough for except to make some cash? If he could capture a demonhunter bitch he wouldn’t even need to bother with the city. With those delicate elysian features she was prime goods out here, and she'd be worth twice as much since she was a demonhunter.
For wastelanders, after a certain point it didn’t matter what women looked like. A hole was a hole. What really shot costs up were quality, and status. Like a demonhunter. She would fetch a pretty penny at any slave auction in the northern barrens.
Demonhunters were worshipped back in the elysian lands. Turning her into a slave would slate any man’s lust for conquest. After all, the pleasure of the spirit was much greater than pleasures of the flesh.
Oddball was still nearby, fluttering around Barb. It saw everything that was happening and knew Barb was in danger. It tried to stop her, doing whatever it could to stall for time until Cloudhawk could show up. It was true that Oddball shared a connection with its master, but it was one limited by distance at the Warden was too far. Oddball could do nothing but wait until Cloudhawk came within range.
Asking for Cloudhawk’s help had crossed her mind, but she abandoned the thought. This was her problem, she couldn’t stomach troubling his Excellency with it.