Viridian Ninja

"Just get the job done," the man replied, clearly exasperated.

"Want to draw lots on who gets to stay?" One of the mercenaries, this one sounding younger than the others, asked.

"Don't bother," replied another, his silent companion nodding in agreement. "You three can have this one Theron. Frankly going this deep into mamono-controlled territory is dangerous enough for me. Neither of us has any desire to stay here longer than we have to. We'll take him back and break camp immediately."

The scarred man, Theron, grinned as he handed the chain binding Carter to his peer. "Suit yourself Mahir. I for one wouldn't want to get accused of half-assing this job." He addressed the two who apparently made up his group. "You up for a special hunt, Jarvis, rookie?"

"You bet your ass!" Jarvis replied with obvious bloodlust, removing his cloak and revealing a shaved, tattooed head and a muscular body wrapped with chains. A single large dagger was sheathed at his side.

The other more calmly removed his cloak, revealing a small crossbow hidden on his back. He was young and handsome, but with a disturbingly cruel look in his eyes. "More target practice is always a good thing."

"That's right," Theron agreed, removing his own cloak to reveal two swords strapped to his back in sheaths. "Kill this one and I might stop calling you 'rookie.'"

Carter was sweating. This was bad. Everything was going to hell and he was helpless to do anything about it. All his worse fears were coming true, even Taki was going to suffer for this. "No... no!"

His breakdown was halted by a hard punch in the belly that left him coughing and hacking on his knees. "Now shut your trap, nobody likes a hysterical man," Theron admonished in an almost good-natured tone. "Besides, judging by your health it seems you had a good time out here, and we all know nothing good lasts forever."

He bent down and picked up one of the dropped apples, taking a bite out of it and smirking as he spoke.

"Jiro will be so happy to see you."

The handle of Jarvis's dagger impacted with his skull and everything went black.

---

To Be Continued

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Part 3: Clash

---

It was nothing, Taki reassured herself. Carter must have simply gotten overconfident in his navigational skills and gotten himself lost... again. No monsters would try to kidnap him now, right? He knew enough about the forest to not get himself killed, right?

All the same he should have been back hours ago. And if he had gotten lost earlier in the day then he could have been wondering around most of the day.

Still, no sense in getting upset. No need to seriously track him. That would be overreacting. She'd just head over to where he had planned to pick fruit first. Perhaps he had simply gotten tired and decided to sleep there, letting the time get away from him. She had tried riding him quite a bit harder than usual the night before, it'd be understandable if he was still worn out...

Yes, that had to be it. That was what was most likely. She'd find him napping under the fruit trees, she thought to herself as she raced down the path. Then she'd kick him in the side for worrying her, and then deny that she was worried. Then they'd have several rounds of makeup sex and everything would be fine. She keyed in on what she had come to recognize as Carter's residual spirit energy in the air along the path. He had definitely used this path not too long ago.

'Everything will be fine, stop worrying,' she repeated in her thoughts, only to stop in her tracks. She felt this new emotion, worry, grip her heart tenfold at what she saw. Something had happened here, the basket of apples Carter must have so proudly picked were strewn over the ground.

Further, three cloaks lay on the path, as if dropped there. Why?

She knelt down, her antennae twitching to pick up the scent on the cloaks. It was the scent of men... but why would they leave their cloaks here?

Her heightened senses warned her just in time. 'A trap?!'

On reflex she leaped straight up, just as a chain shot at her from either side of the surrounding undergrowth. To her shock the chains followed her up, wrapping around her of their own accord and tightening, trapping her arms at her sides even as she extended her scythes. She just managed to land on her feet, glaring as the men who ambushed her came out of hiding.

One man stood to the left of her, the other at her right, each holding their end of the chains taut to keep her from moving toward them. Excess chain was wrapped around that hand's arm.

The taller of the two holding the chains was a frightening-looking man with a number of scars on his face and a pair of large swords in sheaths on his back. The other's head was shaven and bore the tattoo of a skull on his forehead. His weapons appeared to consist of more chains wrapped around his arms, plus a dagger at his side.

A third, looking to be in his early twenties, remained silent and tense behind them, a crossbow in his hand.

"Looks like we were right to stay behind. A mantis tailing us would be plenty of trouble." Theron said.

Jarvis nodded. "I'm surprised we caught her like this, normally these damned things try to dodge sooner than that and the chains get themselves a workout chasing them."

"A grief-ridden monster girl can be vulnerable," Theron replied, "but she's also much more dangerous. Remember that sahuagin a few years back? When that fool she was with got killed trying to protect her she went crazy, screaming and hissing like a rabid beast. She managed to kill one of our rookies and slashed my face open before I could put her down," he said, indicating to the four large claw scars on the right side of his face.

Jarvis rolled his eyes. "Yeah I remember, it's only about the hundredth time you've told me about it."

Taki strained her blades against the chains, grunting with the effort, all the while giving the men murderous glares.

"Not that we managed much of a surprise this time either," Theron continued, unperturbed. "She still would have dodged us if it weren't for these chains. They were worth every gold piece." He then smirked at Taki. "Yeah, I can tell you want to kill me, but your bindings are enchanted. You won't be able to cut through them and they won't release their grip."

Jarvis grimaced as he and Theron continued to brace themselves in opposite directions to keep Taki from moving toward either of them. "Damn bitch isn't passing out Theron!"

"Course she isn't!" Theron snapped back. "Those scythes can't cut her free but she did manage to wedge them against the chains so we can't tighten them against her neck or rib cage."

Taki stilled herself and concentrated. Before anything else she had to confirm Carter was alive. All monsters could sense the spirit energy of their husband at any distance, but having never tried to do more than detect his residual energy before it could take a while to track him properly. Still she could at least tell he still lived.

With that knowledge she now addressed her captors while scanning for possible escape options. "Who has taken Carter?"

"The errand boy?" the youngest-looking of the trio now spoke, still tensely holding his crossbow but trying his hand at the banter. "Oh I'd say he's well on his way back to Jiro by now, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes."

"Don't answer her questions rookie!" Theron admonished. "Enough talking, let's just finish the job. If the chains don't work then arrows are best for taking down a mantis. Even with her arms bound those legs can ruin your day, so killing at a distance is safest. Aim for her neck."

"If I wanted to be safe then I wouldn't have become a monster hunter," the younger man replied in an irritated tone.

"Yeah I know, it's always about the money with you," Theron remarked, a disturbing smile coming to his lips. "Some of us do this for the love of it."

"Whatever," the rookie dismissed, readying his crossbow and aiming.

Taki acted first, scooping one of the apples on the ground up with her left foot and kicking it into Theron's face. He reeled back in pain, letting go of his chain just as the rookie loosed his arrow. Now semi-free to dodge, Taki bent and moved to the side just enough to avoid the projectile as it shot past her and embedded itself in a tree trunk. She then leaped to headbutt Jarvis in his stomach, in the process wrenching free the rest of Theron's chain that had been wrapped around his arm.

As Jarvis stumbled back with his breath knocked out, Taki could feel the chains loosening. As she had hoped, the magical chains were controlled by the minds of the wielders, it was how they had directed the chains to bind her in the first place, but this also meant the spell lost focus if the mind of the user was seriously jolted, in this case through pain. It was slight and she still couldn't cut through them, but after all her flexibility training it was all she needed. Retracting her blades into her arms, she managed to make enough room to slip her left arm free. As she did so she re-extended that arm's blade, impaling the stunned bald hunter through the throat before he could react. Gasping and gurgling, he slumped to the floor dying as she pulled the blade out of his neck and slid the loosened chains off of herself.

"Damn it Jarvis!" Theron cursed, drawing the swords on his back. Without touching the chains he couldn't make them move on their own again and he knew not to risk making a grab for them. The rookie didn't know how to use them either. So he faced her down, "guess we have to do this the hard way."

Taki didn't hesitate, taking a running leap at the tree nearest to her and rebounding off of it, her blades meeting his in a mighty clash. They proceeded to parry several of each other's strikes in a deadly dance that had the rookie scrambling to get out of the way.

Taki was shocked at his skill. Theron was as fast as her, and his dual-wielded blades made her feel almost as if she was fighting another mantis. Except instead of the cool, steely look of a mantis in combat, this man displayed a bloodthirsty pleasure in his eyes.

"It's too bad you're not human," he taunted. "We're a lot alike, you'd make a better partner than that idiot Jarvis ever did."

When Taki failed to respond he pressed her harder, locking his blades against hers and drawing close. "We both kill to survive, you can understand that can't you?"

He was trying to distract her, Taki knew this. However, her awakened emotions still compelled her to give an answer this time. It was true that in some respects this man was the ideal mate she had often imagined for herself, but his bloodlust was a real deal breaker, and with Carter's safety to consider all she could feel toward this man was hatred. Further, there was something she wanted to confirm. "I kill animals to survive, you will kill anyone for profit and pleasure. Weak men like you disgust me."

At this Theron lost his own cool. Their blades still locked, he slammed her against a tree. "Self righteous bitch! All you monsters really care about is cock and you know it!"

Taki suppressed a smile at turning the man's taunt back at him. She could tell that calling him weak had hit a nerve. It seemed her hunch was right. "She rejected you, didn't she?"

Theron's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. "What- What do you think you know about me?"

Taki remained impassive, even as she strained to hold him back. "Many of the lizardman race seek out my kind during their journeys in order to learn from our skills. I've come to recognize their energy. It is very faint, but still present in you, and there is only one thing those prideful warriors do when they find themselves bound to men with weak hearts unfitting of being warriors."

Theron trembled in rage, his arrogant and mocking tone surrendering to a hidden madness and bloodlust. "Weak... she dared to call ME WEAK?! I DEFEATED HER! SHE CAME ONTO ME! PROPOSED TO ME! THEN DARED TO CALL ME WEAK!"

Flashback

"Good work as usual Theron," the aristocratic-looking man in the doorway remarked as he handed a jingling bag of gold to the mercenary.

"A pleasure doing business with you as well, sir," he replied as he closed the door, only to turn and come face to face with a lizardman, a pair of swords in sheaths behind her much like the ones he carried.

"Lacerta," he remarked casually, "trying to sneak up on me? Figured you'd stop that now that we're mates."

Her arms were crossed over her chest, her expression far from happy. "That was the slaver Maki."

"So it was," Theron said with disinterest as he walked across the room and sat the bag of gold on the dining table.

Lacerta's glare followed him. "You said you wouldn't take any more jobs like this."

Theron chuckled. "Yeah, refusing was a good idea too. It made him up my pay."

"That's not what I meant!" she snapped back, her scaly tail thrashing in emphasis.

"Here we go..." he remarked with a frustrated groan. "Another lecture."

Her expression grew from disappointed to outright angry. "Lecture? Try interrogation and ultimatum. You killed for him, again. I can see the pleasure you still feel from it, I can smell their blood on you."

Theron leaned against the table. "And what of it? It's not like they were anyone special. Just a couple of runaway slaves who got the penalty for escaping."

"You really believe that makes their lives worthless?" she asked, turning more livid by the second. "The way humans use slavery is far worse than anything even dark elves do! You should be out fighting against men like him, not accepting their money!"

Now Theron was angry. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm no hero, I never was! Why should I stick my neck out?!"

She stared at him for a moment, then sighed, her anger dissipating. "You don't need to be a hero, just stop taking these jobs. That would be enough for me..."

He folded his arms over his chest. "I guess that is your ultimatum? Well here's my answer. I make good money doing this, and I'm good at it. I'm not stopping."

"It's more than that," she looked away, her expression forlorn, "you enjoy killing."

"And what if I do?"

Her tone grew more worried. "It's wrong. Your warrior spirit will suffer from it, it already has! You'll become ever more twisted and damaged by this bloodlust."

"There's nothing wrong with me!" he shot back. "It's you and your naïve drivel about honor and warrior pride that's wrong. The strong serve the weak, and if they step out of line then they deserve what they get. If I get some pleasure out of punishing them then so what? Nobody around here but you cares about what happens to slaves."

"Society can change," she argued back, "it is changing! You can change with it, for the better! If you would just admit you have a problem-"

"Enough of this!" he interrupted, turning as if to walk away. "Let's just get to bed, a good fuck will help you forget this."

"No."

Theron froze, then turned to look back at her. Shock had registered on his face for the first time since the conversation started. "What?"

Lacerta didn't budge. "I said no. I won't have sex with you like this, not when your body is stained with the blood of innocents."

He regained his composure and chuckled. "Well there's a surprise, a monster girl who isn't up for sex," he mocked before his expression turned serious. "You really want to pursue this Lacerta? You want me to admit it? Fine. Yeah, I enjoy it. Erasing life is a thrill like nothing else, and taking these jobs lets me indulge that thrill without worrying about the authorities. What do you say to that?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I always knew you were like this... I thought I could change you... I know there have been others who were changed..."

Theron laughed again. "You're a great lay Lacerta, the best I've ever had for that matter. That doesn't mean you're worth giving up what makes me feel most alive."

"Yes, it seems I was wrong about you. If anything the stain of evil in you has only worsened. I should never have challenged you back then... now it's come to this." Her expression turned resolute, even as her voice remained mournful.

"What are you prattling about? You want to fight me or something? Quit joking around. I beat you once before, and besides that you know you couldn't kill me even if you wanted to."

"Yes, my instincts do constrain me. I chose you as my mate. I cannot simply leave you, nor will my instincts allow me to kill you. In spite of everything you've done, I still love you... yet your actions have caused a horrible rift inside me. You have no idea the pain I'm feeling, the very fiber of my being is warring with itself."

Theron grew even more exasperated. "Is this more of your philosophical crap? I've heard enough!"

"No, not mere philosophy, but the truth of what I am. It is true my instincts compel me to remain with you, to mate with you, to be yours forever... but those are not our only instincts, there is another one, one rooted in the very cause for which our race became female and capable of reproducing with humans."

"And what is that?"

She smiled wishfully. "Peace. The instinct that regardless of what fighting we may find ourselves in, our kind cannot kill humans save for in self defense or the defense of those we love. By extension, those who live by honor like myself cannot ignore those who break this instinctual law when we are in a position to intervene. I am compelled to stop you, yet I know I cannot, nor could I subdue you if I tried. You are my mate, I chose you, now I cannot help but love you and yet... to continue to live like this..." She drew out one of her blades and held it to her throat.

Theron stepped toward her, now concerned. "What are you doing?"

"This is my ultimatum. Please Theron," she pleaded, her eyes moistening. It was the first time he had ever seen anything close to tears from her. "My kind were once slaves to bloodlust on a level deeper than you can imagine. Our whole purpose was to kill humans. It is no way to live. Let me help you overcome this."

"That is for me to decide!" he roared back. "Now stop this ridiculous suicide threat, apologize to me and get in bed!"

Her expression softened further as she realized the futility of convincing him. "How can you be so strong, and yet so weak..."

Theron's eyes widened. "What did you say?!"

She gave him a pitying look. "There is no greater weakness than letting the desire to kill rule your heart. I cannot accept such weakness, I will not accept such weakness."

"You're mine!" Theron yelled desperately. "You said so! You don't get a choice!"

Tears welled anew in her eyes. "I gave you my everything, now you force me to take it back. I only hope that this will wake you up. I love you Theron."

"Stop!"

He ran toward her, raising a hand futilely even as Lacerta cut smoothly through artery and windpipe alike. Blood sprayed out upon the floor and Theron, the lizard woman collapsing in his arms, her life rapidly draining away. He couldn't believe she could die so quickly even from such a wound, it was as if her body itself had given up on living.

The look of peace in her eyes as her life faded, so different from the anguish she had shown speaking to him, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Lacerta! Lacerta!" he shook her, hot tears streaming down his face as he struggled to accept the truth. "You can't! You can't leave me! You're mine! You're..."

His voice left him, it felt as if his heart had stopped. The realization sank in. Lacerta had really been the only truly good thing in his life, the only one who offered him love. Now all that was left was his bloodlust. It was not a good thing but...

His lips curled into a manic smile.

"Nothing good lasts forever."