She opened her eyes, which in itself was weird to her. She was so sure that she’d have reverted to her original form. She felt a soft material that wasn’t the same as the ground she fell on. She had been laying on a bed. It wasn’t particularly too comfortable, the bed mostly consisted of wooden frames and woven together plant fibers. She sat up and looked at her hands to confirm her state. The same chitinous claws remained except further down she could see a trace of magic lingering above her armored arm. She gave it an inquisitive lick.

It was intense, powerful. Just a little taste felt like something she could quickly become addicted. She wanted to know where the source of it was. If there were more, she’d be more than capable of growing further. She looked around the room. It was small; there wasn’t much in the place. Just a bed, a small window across from that an empty shelf. She pulled herself off from the leaf woven bed. And she just noticed, she was now wearing clothes. Most of it was tanned black leather stitched together with string. Even her hair was braided and put into a low hanging ponytail.

She walked over to the window and looked out; She could only see the tops of trees she was probably not on the ground. The house was suspended into the air; instead, it was made onto the side of a tree. She could see several other buildings all around that were similar to the one she was in. Not many deviated in design from each other.

The curtain behind her was pushed open making a scratching noise as it was moved. She turned around. Recalling from memory, she recognized this as one of the dark-skinned individuals that had approached her on the side of the road. More importantly, she was caked in the same magic that she tasted on her fingers earlier. It was more than enough to make her want to salivate uncontrollably.

The dark-skinned creature was holding a bow and quiver, both in one hand. She placed them on the empty rack. Her apparel was almost a direct copy of her own. Even the gauntlets that were on the arms were similar to the chitin.

“Ah! You’re awake!” She paused looking at the now moving creature. “Your armor does it not remove? Is it cursed?”

Armor? The little girl looked at her arms again and looked back at the dark female. She cocked her head. The more she was around this creature, the hungrier she could feel herself becoming.

“Is your voice also cursed?” She joked at the little girl when she didn’t receive an answer.

Mimicking the woman she repeated the word. “C..ur..se..d?” It was hoarse, and she used her tongue incorrectly when speaking.

“When we found you, you were covered in blood. We tried to heal you, but that was ...pointless.” She looked up and down her body. Her lack of scarring was apparent.

The healing most likely was a form of indirect feeding for her, that small amount was probably enough to keep her this way. She’d need to eat soon or else she really might be in trouble being surrounded by this desert of a woman. Being a scavenger for magic made her quite aware of when she’d have to hide.This creature was smarter than a mere orc if she’d attack head-on, she’d most likely end up dying from her finding out her weaknesses; she’d have to play with smart. She’d have to get her isolated.

“Are you a half-breed elf?” She paused. “Not that we discriminate against them or anything!” She quickly added to the end of her question.

What is an elf? Is she an elf? Are all elfs, elvies? Elfons?... This full of magic? She cocked her head to the side. Her crystal-like eyes were staring, unblinking at the dark skinned elf.

She sighed. “Fine, I won’t pry.” She moved closer to the little girl; she could physically feel the magic permeating from her. The little girl had to backup lest she went berserk and attacked the elf. Noticing the untrust, she sighed once more. “What’s your name then?”

“N..ame?” she was just literally just repeating words, She might’ve been intelligent to a certain extent. But a lot of words had empty meanings. She could make the connection of a word to a race because it had something backing it up, which she usually learned from the dying creatures she ate. But as far as she knew she had no name, individual names had no meaning to her. As much as she knew her race didn’t even have ‘names.’ in fact, she hasn't had the chance to meet with another of her race.

“Yes, Mine is Ieca.” She put a hand on her chest to signify her uniqueness.

The little girl cocked her head to the side, the concept of individuality wasn’t exactly something that has ever come to her. She just ate and existed.

“Do you not have one?” She asked. She raised an eyebrow, her face becoming a little concerned. Most kids in the elven culture who had no names were typically exiled at birth due to some conflicts.

The little girl continued to stare blankly at the elf.

“Well, if you don’t have one, then I'll just call you Rina.”

“R...ina?” She repeated.

“Yeah, we’ll go with that name!”

~

“Nine Hells… This place is an absolute massacre!” The squire next to the female cavalrywoman exclaimed.

“Looks like a demon came through.” A holy knight stabbed his sword into the ground. He knelt down and prayed. Even if they were orcs praying for the souls of any creature was a duty of a holy knight.

This group of knights had gone into the forest to search for the orcs that had not returned for a retaliation. Sitting on the side of the gruesome battlefield revealed the answer they had been looking for.

“Nay, the structures are still standing. No demon is this particular about destruction.” She placed her hand on the hilt of her blade, a sense of unease waved through her body. Looking down at the ground she could see the viscera was done by hand, the creature that did this was far more dangerous than a raiding party of orcs. She turned her back to the gruesome scene.

“Then pray tell what did this.” The Knight scoffed at her.

“Come, our work is already done.” She rejected his request for an answer. Besides she wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of sitting around and waiting for whatever did it to come back.