Cries and screams of a child echoed through the hall. The auction house for the first time had a situation like that where almost a person was killed by a slave. A pool of dark blood grew bigger and bigger as it poured out from Navia’s injured shoulder.
Mirabell gathered courage to run up to unconscious Navia, crying over her body. She pushed her, she shook her arm, begging for Navia to wake up. There was no response from Navia, not even a single movement.
Godan swung his long sword to the side to clean it off. Navia’s dark blood splattered on the ground. “She will live… We’re almost impossible to kill.” Godan placed his longsword back into the sheath as he watched the blood run from Navia’s wound. He was impressed because he hadn't fought another stranded. It was unusual for him not to cut his opponent in half.
Mirabell watched Godan’s cold stare in terror. “How could a person behave like that?” She thought before she got pulled away from Navia’s body. She coughed as the collar pressed to her throat. A massive man in a red coat had her chains in his grasp. He spared her only a glance and threw the chain toward Belver Markiz, who was barely on his knees, still shaking.
“You can take the girl. I’m only interested in buying the woman.” Lucius nodded his head toward Navia. Godan understood the signal and picked up her body.
Once Markiz grabbed the chain, his arm stopped shaking. He looked at the girl, anger boiling up inside him. “I’ll have to take my frustration out on someone else.” He suddenly stood up and pulled the chain, dragging the girl behind him. She was barely able to keep up with the man, especially when he pulled the chain, making her almost stumble.
She was too focused on not falling; she didn’t notice when Navia disappeared from the auction house. There was only this feeling accompanying her that something was missing. She felt vulnerable… Unsafe.
Once outside, Markiz handed over Mirabell to one of his servants while he went to his chariot. The servant didn’t say a word and placed Mira inside a cargo cart, tying her chains to the end of the cart while he himself sat near the exit. Once he finished, he clapped the wood to signal the driver.
Mira didn’t know where they were taking her, nor did she see the road as her eyes were covered in tears. No one was there to comfort her, no one to give her a warm hug. Just an empty and cold stare of a servant who was checking on her from time to time.
Once the cart had stopped, the servant dragged her out of the vehicle. She was at the front yard of some mansion, brick walls separating the whole place from the outside streets.
The mansion was far away from the entrance gate. The nearest building to it was some kind of massive storage room where many people moved crates and barrels. There were two men with daggers near their belts watching the slaves work. Near the entrance, hidden by the shrubs, was a small ruined building without any windows, only wooden shutters. It was clear that whoever designed this building didn’t care much about it or didn’t know how to make one in the first place. It was the home of all those slaves. Crowded together in one small building.
The mansion itself looked massive. The right side of the building had the biggest room that stretched for almost half of the property with a high ceiling and tall windows. Even from afar, it was easy to tell that it was a banquet hall. It was almost two-thirds of the whole mansion, while the rest were the living quarters for the Markiz family.
The slaves either were empty, already feeling like they were dead, or they worked with their envious eyes toward the mansion. Those were the two kinds of slaves. The one thrown into slavery by force and the other who lost their money and ended up as slaves.
The servant began to drag the girl toward the storage house, leaving her no more time to take a look at her surroundings. The man didn’t move her there so she could start working. The man came to the other servants to chit-chat with them. That allowed Mirabell to take a closer look at the Mansion, but she was quick to notice a person standing by the window. It was a young girl in an elegant dark purple dress and a dark wide-brimmed hat with a purple ribbon. The girl’s pinkish hair stood out from her dark clothing as well as her pale complexion. The girl seemed to watch Mira with a slightly opened mouth.
As soon as Mira was being dragged toward the mansion, the girl ran away from the window. Right by the entrance doors to the mansion stood Belver Markiz with a sly smile. “Take her to the room.” The man said and opened the doors for them to enter, except the girl from the window ran through them. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of Mira.
The servant looked at the boss, waiting for the orders. The man himself seemed stunned as he didn’t expect his daughter to run out of the house like that. What worried him the most was her eyes; they ran in the family, the eyes that desired something.
“Charl… Do you need something?” Awkwardly asked Belver as he massaged his hands.
“I want her to be my friend.” The girl answered and pointed a finger right at Mira, who seemed surprised and disoriented.
“Well… You see. I recently bought her for quite a sum…” The father tried to talk her out of it, but the girl didn’t budge, nor was she listening to his arguments.
“Either she or I’m telling mam about the-” Before Charl could finish it, Belver grabbed her mouth so she wouldn’t speak those words out loud.
“Fine! Fine… You can take her…” Once the man let her go, Charl let out a happy squeak and grabbed Mira’s hand, dragging her into the mansion.
“Let’s go! We need to get you new clothes! Ew… And a bath…” Charl closed her nose, but it wasn’t an insult toward the girl. No, it was as if she treated her like a baby who needed some care.
***
The two women stared at each other, neither of them making any sudden movements until Belver moved the chair to move away from Navia. The black knife was sent flying toward his head, but it wouldn’t reach its target as it suddenly hit the map on the wall. Matilda had her arm with a saber extended to the side.
“From what I heard, you have inhuman strength from a gate, a fast recovery gate, and a gate that allows you to create weapons out of your own blood…” The woman talked as she stepped to the side to block Navia’s path to Markiz. She snapped her head to the side, making it crack. “I should be able to handle you.” Suddenly, Matilda dashed forward, surprising Navia with her speed as they crossed blades.
Navia had to quickly make the weapon to block the attack, so it wasn’t sturdy. After the first connection, cracks spread across its surface, making Navia focus more on her gate so it wouldn’t fall apart. Almost instantly, the woman bent to the side with an extended leg. Before Navia could even react, she felt the pain in her side as the leg sank into it. She was thrown into the map where her knife was stuck.
She grunted in pain as the attempt to stand back up reminded her of the kick she just received. “Does she have a gate that makes her stronger and faster?”
Matilda didn’t leave Navia much time as she appeared right in front of her as if she teleported, if not for the shadow that followed her movement. Navia grabbed the knife and parried the saber to the side, leaving Matilda wide open for an attack. Except the woman didn’t seem bothered by it. Once Navia thrusted her knife forward to stab the woman, her arm got locked by Matilda’s free arm. The woman pulled her closer and pressed her arm down, dislocating Navia’s shoulder in the process.
Once Matilda was sure she had delivered some damage with that move, she pushed Navia into the wall and followed with a swing that sliced Navia’s upper torso. Matilda was precise with her movement, and each attack was like a perfect soldier. At first, she thought it would be enough to kill Navia, but she was quickly reminded of the quick recovery as Navia used the blood from her wound to create a gauntlet and throw a straight jab. Matilda brought her saber in an instant to block the attack. Her legs touched the ground as she was pushed a couple of feet away. There was no scratch on the sword, but it was clear that her whole arm felt the force of this punch.
“That’s one sturdy sword you got there…” Grunted Navia as she moved her fingers across the wound on her chest, sealing it with hardened blood.
“It’s a saber. You’re right. It is sturdy. It was made by a grand forger, one of the best there is.” The woman seemed glad to brag about her weapon as she took a look at her weapon with a warm smile, remembering the day she got that saber.
Now Navia had all the pieces put together. Matilda was able to match her strength because of the saber made by a grand forger, a blacksmith with a gate that allowed him to make special and unique weapons that grant the user new powers and boost their physical capabilities.
“I've only seen one weapon made by a grand forger… The grand master has one. This weapon seems weaker than his, although it was made by a grand forger.” Thought Navia as she turned most of her blood into two daggers and bits of armor around her forearms and chest.
Navia dashed forward at the woman with both daggers ready to strike at her legs. Matilda was within reach, and Navia swung her blades, watching as they were about to wound the baroness, yet in a blink, Matilda suddenly stood beside her. Navia was in no position to defend herself and had to brace herself for the upcoming kick. As she hit the table, she flipped it over, and the glass cups broke into shards. Belver jumped back, his back against the wall, watching the two of them fight.