***
Hanibal had returned from collecting his share of the equipment. Assorted weapons and armor made from bone and leather, with no uniform patterns, were all bloodied and dulled from combat. Most of what he held wouldn't even fit him and was too worn for ware to even fetch a decent selling price. He haphazardly dropped his collection into a pile on the ground, causing a racket of bone and rock which clanged obtrusively through the otherwise silent air.
"Are you fucking stupid?" Adama whispered angrily. "What if there's more of them? You want to get their attention?"
Hanibal waved it off. "Ah, we already looked around and found nothing."
"Yeah? And all the guards and all the tieflings just died together at the same time?"
Anna watched the bickering between Adama and Hanibal carry on. While annoying, it kept eyes off of her while she continued cutting the rope. Baal joined in, trying to break up the argument, but only served to increase the noise. Ultimately, the arguing ended with a dull thump. Anna saw the arrow before anyone else realized what was happening. Hanibal seized and screamed in pain as the arrow pierced his shoulder from above. His body tensed as he fell to the ground, clutching his wound.
Baal and Adama instinctively yelled and scattered in panic. Hanibal rolled over the equipment pile, flailing, and only managing to hurt himself in the confusion of the moment. He quickly tried to stand, only to be met by his assailant. A tiefling, as red as the blood pouring from his wound, landed atop him, and sunk a serrated blade into his back. Anna could see only a blur as it stabbed repeatedly until Hanibal stopped screaming altogether.
Anna's arousal was quickly replaced by intense panic at witnessing the plumes of blood that rose from each fresh stab wound. The tiefling smiled as it rose to its feet, reveling in the slaughter. It towered over Hanibal's corpse. Its eyes glowed orange like sunlight, and its tail whipped like an excited rasclinn. Anna locked eyes with it for a moment, and fortunately, it turned towards Adama and Baal. It seemed the tiefling cared only for the able-bodied victims and not for the one already tied up. She redoubled her efforts to free herself and hoped that the others would take their time dying.
Anna could only watch as Adama and Baal looked at each other, neither knowing what to do in their panic. Baal picked up a rock and threw it at the tiefling, missing wildly. Sadly, Adama's aim wasn't much better. The tiefling only had one arrow left; otherwise, the two would be dead in short order. The tiefling inched closer, pointing a bloody dagger towards them as it stepped forward. The blade twisted menacingly, like the horns atop its head.
Baal and Adama continued to throw rocks, stones, and anything else that could be lifted from the ground. Still, it moved forward, undeterred by their efforts. Baal lost his nerve and turned to run. But while Baal could barely move through the sand, the tiefling moved with preternatural swiftness. It charged and jumped, latching onto his back. It quickly took a hand and pierced its clawed nails through Hanibal's throat and squeezed. He wasn't even able to scream before his body spasmed, then slumped, and finally found its resting place in the sand.
Adama rushed towards the equipment pile and grabbed a sword just as the tiefling caught up to him. He pointed his blade straight out and squared off with it one-on-one. The tiefling showed more caution now that Adama was armed with a real weapon, but didn't show any signs of fear. If anything, it appeared excited. It smiled fiercely, with eyes wide in a frenzy, seemingly eager to make kill number three.
Anna had managed to cut a good portion of the rope. She mustered all the strength she could and managed to snap the remaining rope. With her hands free, she shimmied and squirmed, trying to pull the rest of the rope off her. She looked for something, anything, to fight with.
Meanwhile, Adama was swinging wildly to keep the tiefling at bay. They stared each other down, the tiefling studying Adama for an opening to strike, while Adama focused on just surviving. They continued in a deadlock, both ultimately knowing that one of them would die imminently.
Adama thought he saw movement behind the tiefling. It saw his eyes look away and knew it was time. It muttered something unintelligible and began to lunge, but then it heard a wail from behind. A fierce and booming bellow threw off its focus as it tried to turn around, only to catch a quick glimpse of Anna bringing down a large chunk of limestone upon its head. Pieces of rock scattered across the ground like rain, and one of the tiefling's horns broke in half as it crumpled from the impact. It dropped unconscious where it once stood, confident in its victory. With the tiefling subdued, Anna turned to Adama, her eyes full of fury.
"Your turn to die," she said, seething.
Adama struggled to keep his nerve. His hands quaked and squirmed, causing the sword to shake like his voice. "Y-you can't be serious. I have a weapon!"
Anna didn't care, nor did she show fear as she closed the distance between them. She was focused now. Lust, fear, and especially grief were pushed aside by the unbridled rage that now consumed her.
Adama stepped back only to realize that he was still standing over the weapon pile. Retreating would just allow her to arm herself, so he resolved to stand his ground. She was fierce, but he was armed. The look in Anna's eyes was no worse than the tiefling's. He thought for a moment that he was overthinking things. He knew he had to be the one to be in command; to make the first strike. He was the competent one in the group. He had survived everything up to this point. He was right. Adama felt a trickle of courage welling up from deep inside and he managed to steel himself.
"Die, whore!" he yelled as he readied his weapon.
With a final step forward, Adama raised his sword and swung with all his might. But years of combat had allowed Anna to react by rote. With his arm so high it telegraphed where he was going to swing and in a flash their fates were decided. Anna sidestepped towards Adama and grabbed his wrist before he could complete his swing. She placed her front foot between his legs and twisted forward, pulling him off-balance. He fell forward towards the ground as she stole the sword from his grip. He rushed to try to get back onto his feet, only to be pummeled in the head.
His senses of sight and hearing briefly left him. For a moment, he didn't know where he was or which way was up. The next thing he knew, a wave of pressure came over him as he felt Anna straddle his chest and arms. She towered over him, smiling angrily, sword in hand. Adama tried to grab her but couldn't unpin his arms. She was victorious but she didn't feel satisfied with ending him quickly. Instead, she tossed the sword away and cracked her knuckles. Adama turned away expecting to be beaten but felt Anna slam her hands down on his neck, squeezing with all her might. He sputtered and gasped as his thrashing intensified.
"Having trouble breathing!?" she yelled mockingly. "At least you're not buried alive!"
Anna held him down, staring at him as his face turned red. She felt her heart start to race as the adrenaline really started kicking in. For a brief moment, she took a hand away from his neck but only to land several swift punches in his face. Blood trickled from his nose and lips, staining her knuckles. His eyes were shut and starting to swell. He coughed and tried to breathe again, but Anna secured his windpipe with both hands once more. As she felt the realization that nothing would be able to stop her at this point, her fury reached fever pitch. Everything she had felt today--anger, lust, fear, dread, grief and now unbridled rage--brought her full circle. She was emotionally exhausted and too drained to feel anything at this point. Her demeanor changed to calm and unfeeling as white-hot, seething anger consumed her from the inside. The cathartic joy she felt at extracting vengeance was now replaced with cold rationale. Adama simply had to die.
She spoke softly, staring into his bloodshot eyes as she held his life in her hands. "I've watched my friends and family be broken by this curse; good people who wanted to make this shithole of a world marginally better. I can't even think of how much I've lost up until this point. And a fucking nobody like you managed to take even more from me."
Adama's face was beginning to turn a deep shade of purple, and his flailing had all but waned. Realizing his resistance was nearly gone, she pulled off of him. He inhaled sharply and coughed violently, struggling to catch his breath.
She stared dispassionately at him as she allowed him to relax and breathe. He tried to form words but couldn't, hampered by all the coughing and heavy breathing. Slowly, apathetically, she gripped his neck once more and continued to choke him. He tensed up but was ultimately too lightheaded to maintain consciousness for much longer.
"Shh. I said I was going to kill you, and I keep my promises. But did you feel that hope? You thought you were going to be free of the pain, and then it just comes back. In your last moments I want you to feel exactly as I do: no hope, no friends, dreams crushed. Stranded alone in the desert where nobody will even find your body. Your entire life: pointless."
Anna silently glared down, reveling in her dominance as she simply held his life in her grip. Adama stopped moving and yet her hands clung to his neck with all her strength. She continued to strangle him until her forearms felt like they would break. Then, when she was too tired to hold on, she stood up without so much as a thought. Her aching hands were clenched as she silently stared off into the desert wastes again. The sand swept up in gales, as it always did, as the sun began to set, seemingly content with today's events. She merely watched the horizon as her rage ebbed. She had neither thoughts nor regrets for her actions. The deed was done, and her friends were avenged. All that was left to do was find a way to survive, and she wasn't sure she wanted to.
Her moment of Zen was interrupted by a sudden sharp pain that ripped through her entire body. She stumbled before falling to her knees, suddenly feeling too weak to stand. The all-too-familiar feeling of wanton lust shattered her remaining resistance. Mentally spent from the rage and panic, she could do nothing as she rapidly lost control. Her pulse quickened, her body became flushed, and she felt an intense heat and tightness in her now moistening folds. Her vision blurred, and her thoughts turned foggy. Her heart pounded as if trying to escape her chest. Unable to resist, her hand raced between her legs as she began to pleasure herself in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. She knew it wouldn't help, but she couldn't stop herself.
She struggled to focus and barely caught sight of the tiefling stirring from unconsciousness. Her body was now at its limit and would simply not allow her to say no to its demands any longer. The thought of Elani jokingly talking about blowing a tiefling was the last coherent thought she had. And like a suggestion to her body, she crawled towards the tiefling like a predator, eyes wide with hunger. Then, everything went blank.
***
