Flowers with torn petals guide the path as a tall, muscular woman walks from the bright and emerald fields into the dusty village where she would find her next target. Her body was hidden in a long black cloak that could barely poke the ground she walked on.

The village chatter froze in stunned silence as they stared with petrified eyes at the cloaked woman. She soaked in their fear as she continued walking through the run-down village. Cobbleston Village lived up to its dirty and dingy exterior with its high rate of crime, but the woman in the cloak was used to walking through hellholes.

She found a pub with a wooden sign outside of the building. The sign was a bear claw with its name scrawled above it: “The Bear’s Den.” The woman walked up the creaky wooden steps and entered the pub. 

The pub was dark, only illuminated by small yellow lights on strings that aligned the wall. The bar itself had two bright lights hanging over the stools that stood in front of the bar. Questionable-looking patrons crowded each table and were hollering about. They drank their hard ale and beer as they boasted about their most recent crimes. The cloaked woman scanned the place and found an empty stool at the bar. She sat on a stool that wasn’t directly in the light but next to a peach-skinned man with long ears. 

The bartender walked over to the cloaked woman, rubbing a glass. “What can I get for you?” He chirped. 

The cloaked woman took her hood off, revealing her red skin and horns. She grumbled, “Whiskey.” 

The man’s cheery expression molded into fright as he shook his head rapidly. “R-right away,” he stammered. 

The bartender grabbed a small glass as the male elf sitting next to her turned his eyes to her. She didn’t look back as she knew who he was.

“You’re here to kill me, yeah? For stealing your coins after your last job,” the elf said. 

The demon woman chugged her drink in one gulp, wiped her mouth with her arm, and replied, “Sure am.” 

She slammed the glass over the elf’s head. The crowd silenced as they watched the fight in awe. The elf’s head began to bleed as he groaned in pain. He fell on his back from the stool as the crowd began to cheer for the demon woman. She dragged the elf out the door as he squirmed in her tight, muscular grip.

She opened the door with one hand and dragged him down the steps. His head kept knocking against the stairs and onto the gravel where she took him to the back of the building. She shoved him onto the gravel and punched him right on the nose. Blood spouted out of his nose as she brought her boot down onto his stomach. He screamed in pain and coughed up a nasty mix of blood and vomit. 

“Lady Hellbringer please, give me mercy!” he begged as he choked back blood. 

She grabbed him by his gray jacket collar and spat, “I bring no mercy for petty criminals like you.” 

She thrusted her hand into the air, a circle of fire emerged above her hand and began to summon a sword with a red and orange handle. She grabbed the sword, brought it up to her face and blew fire from her lungs onto the sword. With the sword now sporting flames, Lady Hellbringer stepped forward to the elf and was about to give the finishing blow until she heard a little girl shriek from the front of the bar. 

“HELP ME SOMEBODY! PLEASE!” the little girl screamed. 

Lady Hellbringer turned her head to where the little girl was screaming and back to the elf sprawled out on the ground. She didn’t know whether or not the girl would have a chance to ever scream for help again, but she knew she could catch the thieving elf again. She walked away from the elf and began running to the front of the bar.

There was a white carriage by the front entrance of the bar and two human men struggling to hold down a small, green, ogre girl. She couldn’t be more than eight years old. Lady Hellbringer grinded her teeth as she walked up to the men. 

“You’re not taking her,” Lady Hellbringer stated, coldly. 

One of the men scoffed at her, “What are you going to do about it, sweetheart?”