WARNING:

This chapter has strong and/or disturbing images. Cruelty, etc. Reader beware.

Putting it here because some people go into reader mode and don't see the pre-chapter message.

I paused to think. I didn't check but I think I killed a man back there. He was wearing a helmet so let's hope he just fell unconscious. But this was it. If I did what I intended to do and take the supply train, I would probably kill people. The caretakers of the supplies should be around, shouldn't they? I checked with the binoculars for half an hour. I still had at least seven hours of darkness.

I dug a small cave for Penny and Dime. I couldn't take them with me. I did my best to camouflage the entrance with hollowed-out rocks. It was easy, I just had to make a hole in the bottom and carve it from the inside. It took another hour but my animals would be safe until I returned and if I didn't they could get out by knocking out the rocks.

I needed to make sure I would hit the supplies. I took the measuring tape and triangulated the distance, I estimated the height.

Then I made a hole. I went inside and moved some hollow rocks over a lattice of silicon. If someone stumbled over it, they couldn't break it and fall. I made it thick enough, I think. I dug down until the estimated depth. the hole was smooth, with no handholds. Tight too. A large man would be stuck. I turned around to face the right direction by aligning myself with a mark I made at the top of the shaft. Now, forward. I would take one and a half hours to reach the supply train. That left me with five hours to do my stunt.

I left aluminum markers behind me to reflect the flashlight and show me the distance and also serve to make sure my tunnel went straight. the worst now would be to miss my target. I used the measuring tape to keep track of the distance, keeping the whole thirty meters of plastic tape out. In the first thirty meters, I had a problem. The supplies and pavilion were at the top of a hill, so I hit the low valley between the hills and hit the surface. A lot of debris fell in my tunnel and I shut down my flashlight immediately. I moved next to the opening and got a glimpse of what was around.

A soldier on patrol looked my way. I quickly shut the hole with silicon from the walls and shifted the roof up to see if more debris would slide to cover the smooth material. I could sense the footsteps approaching. I took lumps of silicon from the ground and walls to reinforce the roof. Then I felt something hitting the spot where the hole opened.

I changed my strategy. I created a pillar where the hole was. Moving more silicon from the sides and into the pillar. The thumping stopped and my heart was beating like crazy. I had to move. I skirted the pillar and tunneled for a few more meters. Then I checked the straightness of the tunnel. I had a meter of silicon on that section and I hoped it would be enough. I moved forward, nervous.

I reached the proper distance. If nothing went wrong, I should be underneath the supply wagons. I started to dig up, making a ladder as I went. But I learned my lesson and cut the light before moving. I would poke an arm up at a time first making a hole with a finger's width, then an arm, and after I sensed more soil above me, opened up the rest of the tunnel. It took another fifteen minutes but my finger finally poked air. I moved it down immediately. Then I looked up. I could see lights and a tarp overhead. And hear voices.

I think I was underneath the pavilion. I moved up and solidified a platform of silicon thirty centimeters thick with a five-centimeter layer of dirt above it. Then I widened around until I could move. I arched the roof of this small chamber to give better support.

I heard a woman moaning in pleasure and then it suddenly stopped. A slap and a haughty tenor voice.

"Get away from here, bitch. I told you to keep it silent but you had to open your mouth!"

A woman whimpered and some fabric rustled. Then several sets of heavy footsteps.

"Your Highness!" An authoritarian bass voice shouted. "The scouts returned. They reported a fight with a woman riding bareback in a horse and throwing fireballs at them."

"Women?" The tenor, probably Prince rapeYourDamsels scoffed. The sound of liquid being poured. "Has Es-Kina gone so mad he is sending women to fight us?"

"No, sir. They said it was a single woman. Wearing strange clothes. Shrugging arrows as if it were nothing. Melting saddles and swords. Honestly, I think these scouts smoked too many flowers. I recommend execution to shut them up. We can't let the moral fall anymore."

"Why? Do you think they are crazy? Do you think they aren't speaking the truth? Well, general, I do. Because that is exactly what she would do."

My spine shivered when he dropped the last statement. I took the phone from my pocket and held it next to the hole, recording the audio.

"Your Highness, with all due respect, you are insane. Stop this quest. Es-Kina is burning. You will conquer a graveyard. Our scouts report great troves of refugees fleeing in all directions. Even south."

The prince giggled, "And are they letting the refugees go?"

"No, sir. They killed the men and are bringing the women back. Along with their possessions. The scouts that returned with the report were quite happy."

"Make sure to share the wealth along. It will help with those moral issues."

More liquids pouring. A burst of laughter from the prince.

"But the majority should've fled north, through the sea of grass. I don't think the city will mount any resistance."

"I don't care about the city. I need her. General, general. Wipe that scowl off. You have no idea, do you?"

"I think you have enough women already, your Highness. With all due respect," The general said mockingly.

Prince MockUrMomma34 scoffed and had a fit of laughter. His chortling and snorting were disgusting. It was as if he was insane.

"That woman is blessed by Tarhun. She is the most powerful ever. She has the power to become a second Harbinger, general! Can you imagine that? No, you cant!"

He broke into another fit of mirth. When he paused, the general spoke. "The Harbinger is a myth. Some old widow's tale."

The prince scoffed. "Hah! If the high priest of Nergal heard you now, he would have you beheaded for blasphemy. The Harbinger is real, he's the champion of Nergal. You have seen the snow, haven't you?"

"Yes, I was there when the snow engulfed En-Shalla. I saw it devour and kill the city in one hour. I fled for my life."

"The snow is the Harbinger magnum opus! His greatest achievement! And that woman, she is at least as powerful as he! The champion of Tarhun prophetized a century ago. She is here and she will be mine!"

The light coming in from the hole shut, some dust fell in. Then it lit again. Someone walked over it.

"Your father will kill you if you don't show results. You will become the Enshi of a ghost town, all for a woman?"

"A woman that can defeat this whole army if she wants to! I bet that fireball-tossing woman the scouts encountered is her! She is coming straight to me! I can feel it!"

Another round of disgusting chortling.

"How can your Highness be so sure of it?"

"The high priest of Nergal prophetized it. Nergal himself whispered to him, the secrets of that woman. That she would surface in Es-Kina! Then I hired a merchant and a magistrate from Es-Kina to catch her for me. Do you know what happened?"

"They failed, or we wouldn't be here. Marching through the wasteland with forty thousand men. Do you have any idea how much this adventure cost your father?"

A slap then the sound of glass breaking. "She can burn the world! I will conquer everything and become the supreme emperor with her by my side!"

"And what about the treasure chest you sent with a fast wagon northeast?"

"An olive branch. I bought their Enshi. I told him I wouldn't attack if he gave me the woman."

"You gave our gold and jewels to the enemy? I hope you were planning on getting it back!" The general roared.

"Maybe?" The prince replied, full of sarcasm. "But honestly, If I had the woman, I wouldn't mind making good on my promise and leaving him alone. I would rule the world with her anyway," He spoke with a slurry voice.

"Your Highness, you are out of your mind. Cease this madness. Let's loot this city, capture some slaves to pay for the troops' wages and return home."

Another slap. "General, you have your orders. You either fulfill them, or I will need to promote another general. Friend of my father or not. But I grow tired of you. Begone! And all of you, bitches. Go away and leave me alone."

I heard women mumbling and the shuffling of clothes. The general's heavy footsteps went away too. Soon all I could hear was the prince pouring more beverage for himself.

I was clenching my jaw to not titter from fright. Who was Nergal? Some enemy of Tarhun? Maybe that dark god that tempted me? And he gave this prince my entire rap-sheet? Damn, this is bad. Bad. Terrible. I moved to shut the hole and then shift silicon from below to reinforce the roof. If I was underneath the pavilion, I needed to go east to reach the supply train.

Now more than never I had to finish them. But I wasn't that powerful as he depicted me. I couldn't destroy half the world. What was he talking about? My powers were nice and I was glad I had them, but I couldn't defeat an army forty thousand strong.

I sat at the bottom of the chamber. I needed to think but my mind ran back to the conversation and the terror of that prince. He was worse than I thought. I fought to not cry. I trembled even though it wasn't cold.

I knew I would kill that man if I was ever anywhere near him. Alfred Nobel forgive me, I would use everything I had to take him down. The disgust, the hatred, the terror, the way my skin was clammy with cold sweat just from imagining him touching me.

No.

It was the 'would you kill baby Hitler' dilemma. Would you murder to prevent a greater evil? And if I knew that by destroying the supply train I would kill people, why not just go for the head. I would kill the guards stationed by the supplies, civilians sleeping next to the wagons, cooks. Assuming they were next to the supplies, and I couldn't think of a reason they wouldn't be.

The general wanted to turn the army around. I could solve everything by killing the prince. Everything. I would have my life back. I would be a murderer in cold blood.

Regicide.

All the other deaths were not on me. Maybe manslaughter, but I didn't murder them. This was different. This was war. I closed my eyes and the faces of the people waiting for me back home flashed in front of me.

I was just an undergrad college student that liked pretty rocks and trees and animals. Why did I have to do this? Why me?

It was so unfair.

My life would never be the same after this night.

I should've evacuated.

They killed the refugees.

I could kill them. They were monsters. Rapists. Pillagers. Barbarians.

Rationalize however you want, Sandra. They are people.

Es-Kina burned. He was the mastermind behind every single crap that was thrown my way. The river, the abyss.

Preemptive self-defense. Strike them before they strike you. Did I have a reasonable cause?

I wanted to go home. Take tests. Write papers. Live in peace.

That was it. I'm sorry, grandpa. Your girl is a murderer. Mass murderer.

I went back to the tunnel to muffle the noise. I took some titanium and made a hollow u-shaped dagger. Sharpened the tip. Filled it with sodium. Barbs to keep it stuck to the flesh. a hand long, thin like my pinky. I wrapped the dagger in a condom, The tip pierced it and I wrapped with another condom's rubber ring. Then I stretched the first one until I could wrap around and store it. The tip that was cut off was stored separately. It would dissolve once away from my hand and deliver the metallic sodium directly inside the body.

I reopened the hole, a bit to the side now. Since someone walked over the hole, it was near the middle of the room. I checked, it was darker but there was still light coming in from inside. I widened it enough and put my makeup mirror up.

I heard the sound of bodies slapping against each other before I saw what was happening. His Highness was at it again. I enlarged the hole enough for me to go through with room to spare. The plan was to go out, murder him, jump down and close it shut before someone could do something. Secrecy be damned.

I climb out and sneak across the room. Target in sight. I expected ninjas to jump up and grab me. None came. I moved to come from behind, to avoid being seen by the woman. Sorry, sister.

It was not the time to get cold feet. Kill him. Kill him.

Wait, how could I be sure this man was the prince?

Damn.

I needed to think, but the slapping of bodies kept distracting me. How would I recognize a prince's body? Well-groomed. Without scars. He wore nice shoes so his feet had no calluses. I took the time to study the man's body.

He moved his arm and I saw a slave mark. No.

It was a trap. I almost murdered the wrong person. I turned around to go back to my hole and then I saw him.

The tenor voice from before spoke to me.

こんにち光ちゃん」(Konnichiwa, Hikari-chan).

He said that in phonetically perfect Japanese. I froze. He laughed. I trembled.

"What does that phrase is supposed to mean? The high priest of Nergal taught it to me saying it was a spell to paralyze you. I see it worked. You are here, exactly when he told me you would." He embraced me. "My dear, I'm so glad you came to me! Saved me the trouble of going after you. I'm sorry for the deception with the slave. He told me you would try to murder me, so I had to take precautions.

"Soon, my dear, it will be you and me in that bed!"

He sniffed my cheek. Kissed my neck. I embraced him. I fought my disgust and spoke with the best sultry voice I could muster.

"Oh, you jest, your Highness," I told him. "I am not paralyzed, just in too much awe at seeing your beautiful face. Feeling your Royal hands caress me."

"YES! YES! YES! YES! This! Mine, finally! The world will be ours, my queen! My empress!"

I could tell how happy he was underneath his silk tunic. I summoned the condom-wrapped dagger to my hand behind his back.

Without allowing me to have second thoughts, I stabbed him over the kidney.

"Guh!" The prince gasped in pain. He didn't scream.

I moved, grabbed his arm and used a kaiten-nage throw to move him over me. I released the titanium dagger and the hissing and smoking started.

I jumped down my hole as the coupling slaves screamed and the last thing I saw was the dagger stuck on his back burst into flames. I heard shouts and people running around. I moved the silicon to shut the hole. A sword came down, sliced my cheek, and I trapped it in the silicon. More. More. Shut this thing. One meter was too little. More. Two meters.

The supplies. My hands were bloody. I dug. I dug. I had no idea where.

I killed a man. I killed with a heinous and cruel method. But I had to be sure. There's no kill like overkill. Damn.

He touched me.

It was self-defense.

It was murder.

It was a war.

It sucked.

There were so many people moving I could feel the thumping. I think this is enough. Dig up. Up. Open a hole. Look in the mirror. I was underneath a wagon. Large barrels. Damp barrels. Water. I crawled under the wagon, touched the barrel. I could feel. It was indeed a drinking water barrel. I used Decompose. Hydrolysis. Oxygen and Hydrogen. A lot of soldiers were running around. Torches everywhere.

"They killed the Prince!"

"Who?"

"A woman!"

"The fire sorceress!"

"She's here! Where?"

"Search everywhere!"

"Someone bring a pickaxe! She fled underground!"

"This thing is too hard! My dagger bent!"

Hydrolysis. The barrel started to hiss. Faster. More power. My head spun.

More hissing. Someone noticed.

"What is happening here? Is this barrel boiling?"

I moved back to my hole. I left my head and an arm out. I readied a lot of silicon to move fast.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

I toss an incendiary at the barrel and jump down, closing the silicon behind me and doing in desperation what one should never do. I dug straight down. The silicon would be removed from underneath my feet and pushed up around my body and closing in above me. A lot of air was trapped in the silicon above but I didn't care. All I needed to do was put the most material above me before...

*KA-THOOOM*

The tunnel collapsed over me. I focused on keeping the material from crushing myself. It still hit me like a sledgehammer.