"I mean the killing intent. I can feel it from up here and it's twisting my guts. How the f*ck can a twelve-years old be so ferocious?"
The whole unit sneered.
"Captain, what if that was your daughter?" Asked his second in command.
"I wouldn't give a f*ck if it was Garth Renkin, a prince or the f*cking King himself. I would rip him to pieces and no one would ever know." The Captain's killing intent burst over the street, making even more people faint.
"That's how." Replied the second in command. "Now shut up, this is getting good."
Gurid Renkin, Garth's father had just joined the fray.
"Please, don't kill him! He is my firstborn and my heir. He will never bother you again." Gurid kneeled down, banging his head on the ground.
"That's a given." Lith sneered, while ice started to cover Garth's face, turning each breath into an agony.
"I beg you! It's all my fault. I told him that rebellious women like to be tamed. Take it out on me, not him."
Lith's right kick crushed Gurid's ribcage, puncturing his lungs at the same time. Yet it was also infused with light magic, healing the injuries as soon as they formed. Lith didn't want for him to die so fast.
"Tamed? My sister… You…" Gurid's words almost drove Lith mad, making it impossible for him to speak coherently. Lith shattered Garth's legs, all three of them, before dropping him on the ground.
The women of the corps giggled, while the men instinctively covered their crotch.
"There are only two ways this story can end." Lith's eyes were burning red, like fire pits.
"Number one, I kill him here and now, you step aside and maybe, just maybe, I will not kill each and every one of your family for your crimes." Gurid was crying out of fear and desperation.
"Number two, you stand in my way. In such a case I will still kill him. Then it will be your turn, and I will call the Count, the Association and every single person that owes me to make sure your whole bloodline is wiped out."
Gurid had two more sons and as many daughters. The thought of even his brothers, sisters and nephews getting killed because of his foolishness was too much. He inwardly cursed at himself.
How could he forget that Tista wasn't just another farm girl that Garth could use and throw away once he was tired of her? This wasn't a problem that money could solve. He was about to step away when a second kick sent him sprawling away coughing blood.
"Stand up again and it will be the last time."
Lith grabbed Garth by the neck, lifting him in mid air before burning him alive, for everyone to hear.
"I shouldn't have saved your life years ago (*), you piece of trash. This is partially my fault too. I gave you your life and now I'm taking it back with interest."
Only after the body turned to ashes did the screams stopped.
"And now, it's your turn." Lith said to the bystanders still pinned from the beginning. Or at least, to those still conscious.
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. That's what you did, and now you shall pay the price!"
Lith started to manipulate the thunderstorm's energies to kill all of them in one fell swoop.
Inside Nana's house, Elina was still hugging and kissing Tista, to soothe her nerves. She didn't give a damn about what Lith would do. If it depended on her, she would have killed all those that had allowed harm to come to her baby.
Tista was trying to calm her mother, trying not to think why there was so much silence. Nana had watched everything from behind a shutter, and after a good shrug, she closed the window for good.
- "I don't give a f*ck about them. I just live here." –
On the rooftops, the Queen's corps gave a small round of applause to Lith's display of magic mastery.
"All in favour of saving them?" Asked the Captain.
Not a single hand was raised.
"It's unanimous then." The whole unit shrugged, returning to their initial positions.
Lith was about to unleash the fury of the elements on the whole village when a big and strong hand grabbed his wrist.
"Being weak is not a fault and neither is being stupid. No matter how aggravating it is, rabbits will run away and fawns will dumbly stare until it's too late." The voice was strong and wise, but more importantly, it was a familiar one.
"You already killed the one that attempted to harm your cub. You can kill his pack, if you want, but that's cruel and unnecessary, just like killing other innocent cubs. Brother Scourge, do not ruin our reunion by forcing me to pray for so many souls."
The man in front of him was a barbarian, at least 2.1 meters (7') high, wearing a hunter set made of deer skin with boots bigger than a bucket. His face was rough and savage with a square jaw and a cleft chin.
His long hair and his stubble were flaming red having never been groomed. Despite his brutish appearance, his emerald eyes were calm and wise. There was no way Lith wouldn't recognize those colours and his smell.
"Protector? Is that you?"