Longfoot flailed back, crying out in pain.

“RUN!! I’ll hold them off!” she yelled. The little girl nodded, wide-eyed, and scampered off. Then Kaya put up her fists. She could do it! She could see it clearly in her mind. She’d beat them up, and help the poor girl find her daddy, and they’d all hug and go off to a bonfire dinner—

“Oh,” he snarled, rubbing at his cheek, turning his lightless eyes on her. “It’s you.”

He hit her so hard it felt like the world was ending.

Her eyes went blinding white. Her head snapped back. There was a rush of shrill air. She was vaguely aware her body had gone slack; she was falling, faster and faster. Her eyes rolled back. She didn’t even hear her limp body thump against the ground. She blacked out.

Then her head hit the sands, jolting her back awake.

For a few seconds she heard only a high-pitched whine. Her head throbbed something awful. She whimpered. Then spurts of conversation broke through.

“—can’t, boss! Pebble said not to mess with—“

“The bitch slapped me!” Longfoot screamed. “Fuck what Pebble said!”

She tried to prop herself up on her elbows. Why wouldn’t the world stop spinning? “Euuuurgh,” she gurgled. Then her stomach blossomed in pain.

She was lifted off the ground, crashed back down, rolled over herself thrice before she lay splayed out on the sands. Dimly she knew she’d been kicked. It almost hurt too much to think. She dragged in a few harsh breaths, shuddering.

In all her nightmares of her nasty first encounter with Longfoot, this was her deepest fear—being hit so hard she couldn’t get back up.

“Stupid godsdamned bitch,” snarled Longfoot. Through blurry eyes she saw his boots stalking closer and closer.

She building up to all fours with a trembling, all-out effort. She was going to puke.

Then his boot stomped on her back and she collapsed again, crushed flat to the ground. The world swam before her eyes, blurring. Black splotches dotted her vision.

Silks in the far distance. A small figure sprinting down the street, fading into a tiny silhouette. It was the Zhaopai girl! She’d made it—she’d ran off! Kaya was flooded with relief. She groaned softly, but her heart was swelling with warmth; her eyes were wet with happy tears. Whatever happens, it was worth it after all…

At least she’d gone down fighting, she thought glumly. She’d gotten one good hit on the big bastard.

“AHH!” She was suddenly jerked up by her hair; she stumbled to unsteady feet. Tears trickled down, unbidden.

“Let’s finish what we started, eh?” Longfoot’s breath was awfully close, and she gagged at a whiff of it. He smelled of shit and rotten fish. One big hand groped at her waist. The spasm of revulsion that went through her was so strong she almost blacked out again.

“Nab the girlie, Threetails. She can’t have gone far.” Kaya’s heart stopped. What?! No. No!

“Aye, brother!”

A rush of fresh terror animated her. Kaya threw herself at Longfoot, screaming, but she bounced off like she’d struck a sandstone wall. Fuzzy stars floated before her eyes; her legs could barely hold her up.

She had to stop him. She had to! Her fingers weren’t strong enough to curl into a fist; they made a misshapen claw. She thrust it at him, saw the contempt in his eyes as it glanced off his chest.

That Zhaopai girl stood out like a beacon in this crowd. How could Kaya have been so dumb, running in like that? Now her tears were flowing in earnest as she sniveled. Had she given herself for nothing?

Then Longfoot’s hand reached for her neck.

She couldn’t go out like this! She bit at his wrist and earned herself a hiss of pain. She flailed, kicked, clawed, punched. Despair crashed over her but still she kept fighting, tears dripping down her cheeks. She wasn’t about to sputter out. He’d have to stamp out ever last damned bit of her!

Longfoot’s voice warbled over to her. “Don’t you worry, wench. I’ll take my sweet time with you…”

Pitch-black, burning away at her edges, swarming all over her, stifling her. She felt herself growing more and more distant from her body. The hand’s iron grip tightened against her neck, and she felt her arms float away from her. Her punches got softer and softer. Her vision dimmed.

It’s not fair…

She was choking up. I screwed up, Io. I let you down… I’m sorry…

Then she stilled, and all was black. A yawning, gaping void. She sank into it. It tore at her, unspooling her, dissolving her. Soon Kaya Rust would be nothing.

***

A spark of gold, a tiny pinprick at the center of a universe of blackness. An accident of light.

Then it flared brighter. The pinprick swelled, like liquid gold pouring through a hole in the world. Soon it was a star, shining proudly in the inky firmament.

It grew. Its tendrils of light raced out, flooding into the blackness, swallowing it whole. It gushed faster and faster. Pinprick, to dot, to blot, until it was an unstoppable force, a conquering tide of gold which swept across the whole of the world. All Kaya saw was that wonderful gold.

Kaya’s eyes snapped open, breathing deeply in and out. There was a startling absence of pain. Her head was more clear than it’d ever been. She was alive! She was fucking alive!

Longfoot’s hands were still clasped over her neck. Tiny sausages, so weak, so small! How dare this awful shithead touch her? She snatched at the wrist and yanked him off her, frowning at him, her blood singing in her ears.

“ARGH!” Longfoot’s face was flushed red. Every muscle in his neck was tensed with effort. His eyes bulged at her as she twisted his wrist back; he cried out, falling to his knees. She licked her lips. Yes, yes, yes! She jerked it all the way back and was delighted by the crunch of snapping bone. She soaked in his ear-piercing scream. Oh, this feels GOOD!

What’s happened to me? She hadn’t a clue, but she felt so good! Her skin was burning up all over; her heart was beating so fast it was bouncing off the walls of her chest.

“Boss?!”

She frowned. The two cronies had returned, gaping at her, the Zhaopai girl in tow. The girl hung limp in their arms, a fresh bruise on her temple.

Rage surged through Kaya. “Bastards!” She screamed, and leapt at them. They reacted instantly. Their eyes went wide. They dropped the girl and put up their fists, Techniques flashing to life, but they were so slow! She ducked a swipe of black qi and struck him once to the chin; his head whipped back, spittle and teeth cascading from his mouth, and in that frozen moment, seeing those flecks of blood-stained bone arching away from his face filled her with an incredible pleasure. She moaned. Then he crumpled to the sands, tongue lolling out.

His partner tried thrusting a fist Technique straight at her. Snarling, she shot back a [Flash Palm]. It was a blinding euphoria of light; the man was sent spiraling through the air, landing in a twisted-up, smoking heap. The sight was mouth-watering.

Kaya laughed, exhilarated. She was invincible. She was a godsdamned goddess!

Longfoot had scrambled up. She saw naked fear in his eyes and felt a thrill of sick joy.

“What the hells are you?!” he screeched.

She blinked. Oh. Every inch of her was glowing with golden light; she was steaming gold. When had that happened?

Then she remembered who just spoke. “YOU!” She stomped up to him. The fat man scrambled back, the jowls under his chin trembling. There was a time when Kaya thought it was impossible for her to hate anyone—to truly wish to see them dead, to want them roasted over hot coals for the rest of their miserable lives. But now she knew with smoldering certainty that she could hate. She hated this fucking Longfoot bastard. She wanted more than anything in the world to tear out his heart and stuff it down his throat.

“Stay back!” he screeched,

“FUCK YOU!” She screamed at the top of her voice. “FUUUUCK YOUUU!!” She was laughing hysterically as she advanced on him.

She felt like ten thousand pounds had been lifted off her in an instant. The air was delicious to breathe.

“You’ve g-gone mad!” Longfoot was pissing himself. His lips blubbered against each other as he pointed a shaky finger at her. How had she possibly been scared of this soft, feckless man? “Y-you’ve consorted with devils! Witch! WITCH!”

He threw a punch at her, his fist coated in turgid red qi. She slipped it with ease. Then she cracked him to the liver. No Technique, just simply, pure, brutal force, and she felt something soft give way under her knuckles. He hunched over, collapsing, and made a sound like a dying wyrm. She giggled as she saw the spittle spray from his mouth.

She was the happiest she’d ever been as she descended on him. He was whimpering, curled upon himself, utterly unable to move. Having several internal organs rupture at once would do that to you. He was at her mercy. She relished the feeling. She was not inclined to be very merciful at all.

What to do, what to do? She looked him in the eyes. Ooh, good idea! He wouldn’t lie still as she did it. He thrashed. He screamed his throat hoarse. It was so annoying that she slid her knee up, crushing his vocal cords so all he could do was writhe. One hand held down his face. The other did the extracting. As she yanked those squishy orbs out of the socket, she was struck by a vicious spikes of pleasure which had her weak at the knees. She was laughing uncontrollably all the while. His face looked much better with those two bloody voids staring up at her.

What else, what else? She frowned. It wasn’t enough. She wasn’t sated. There was still so much energy coursing through her! It had to go somewhere.

What else did she hate about this man? Then it hit her. The hand—of course, the hand!

She put one foot on the man’s elbow, pinning it down. Then she thought of Pebble. Would she twist? No, that didn’t seem right; she didn’t want the hand damaged. Damaged goods made for poor souvenirs.

So she grabbed hold of the hand and pulled. Longfoot’s eyes were turning white. A strange white foam started leaking out of his mouth.

A few seconds in, she realized this wasn’t efficient. There were so many tendons there, and the wrist was so stretchy! The skin was stretching, tearing at the seams, she could feel the muscles rip-rip-ripping, but the whole hand was stubbornly stuck on. But it did do a splendid job exhausting that flood of buzzing energy crackling through her. She put all of herself into it, thrusting with her whole body. “ARGH!”

The limb stretched, and stretched, and stretched, and she felt the tension building within her—

Then that chubby hand came off the wrist. Blood poured out like a fountain; she shuddered, overcome with pleasure. For a second she went blind in one eye. Then, panting, she cut off the dangling strings of flesh with her nails.

She knelt there, cackling madly, soaked to the neck in blood. She was almighty, immortal, the most powerful creature to ever prowl the Izod Desert—

—…and very, very sleepy. All of her thoughts were drifting through mud. It was like a thick gauze had been wrapped around her brain. She stood upright, her body suddenly weighing as much as a dragon’s. Her eyelids were drooping shut of their own accords. The rush had passed, and all of a sudden she jerked into a sudden clarity. She looked down at her bloodied arms, horrified. Was—was that really me?!

Her heart sank. Her breaths were labored. Something was wrong with her. Really wrong. She had to get out of here. The sounds of the outside world were leaking through to her at last; she heard screams, shouts. The crowd of robed-up people staring at her all blurred into a faceless black mass. Everything tilted on its axis.

She took a step and her whole body shut off all at once. She collapsed facefirst into the sands.

***

“Sir, I bring good news.”

“Do tell.”

“The girl’s taken to Jez’s Blessing very well. Shocking well, in fact—almost too well…” Father Zacharius paused. “Do you think this may be a mistake?”

Through the scrying-glass, he heard Nijo’s soft laughter. “I think our friend Io will be delighted. It shall mark the start of a wonderful partnership.”

“Very good, sir,” said the Father. “I only mean that she seems to be a deviant. It’s awakened a… peculiar side to her. A side our Lord would surely disapprove of. Jez is a kind deity, yet she revels in pain.”

“Whose pain?”

“Certain… depraved folk of the Oasis Outskirts. She has wrecked them quite savagely.”

Nijo hummed. “It is true that Jez is a kind Godking. But Jez is also wise. Jez knows there is no kindness in letting savage beasts run wild. It is far kinder to put them down, and to forgive them once their dusts have scattered on the wind.”

Father Zacharius swallowed. “As you say, sir. Speaking of—what of the war situation?”

Nijo chuckled softly. “I daresay a major development will soon reach your ears. Stay alert.”

The Father frowned. “General Blackflame has been making great gains. His string of victories against your wyrmrider corps have morale in the Oasis at a peak. You must be careful, sire. These Oasis folk are entertaining the possibility that they might win this war.”

“Yes, the great Blackflame, the stalwart shield of Azcan—so they say,” said Nijo with a wan smile. “He has been quite impressive. A skilled tactician with a preternatural sense of timing, a worthy foe. But his victories have been against our lesser armies. It is I who will meet him on the battlefield next.”

“Ah.” Zacharius smacked his lips.. “And what of Io? Shall I contact him?”

“Not yet. Let us first make certain our grasp on his sister is firm. We are in no hurry.”

Zacharius bowed his head. “I shall do as you say.”

“Oh—one more thing…” Nijo paused. “Please do keep her on a tight leash, Zacharius. Jez does not distribute his Blessings cheaply. Kaya Rust is now an investment of both the Ugoc Tribe and the Church of Jez. Make sure she sees Jez’s light.”