The jungle around her was quiet. The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. Rixie Tam, former Imperator of the Archavian Empire narrowed her eyes as she searched the dense tangle of branches for any sign of her quarry.
Cautiously, she took a step forward, careful to keep her tread as light as she possibly could, she wouldn’t permit herself to do something as stupid as tread on an unseen twig and alert those she hunted to her presence.
Her heart rate increased as adrenaline flooded her system, but she managed to keep her breathing steady.
Then, just ahead, she saw signs that her prey had passed by recently. A handful of snapped branches and half of a booted footprint, just off the trail just ahead of where she was standing.
Perfect.
Effortlessly she slid further into the foliage, her keen eyes catching further signs of her targets.
Suddenly, she froze as a sound cut through the silence. It had come from the brush beside her. A trap! They surrounded her. Abandoning caution she pelted from the woods and into the clearing ahead. Three men in dark camouflage were waiting for her, and she didn’t need to turn around to know that two more had closed in behind her.
Cursing herself for falling into such an obvious trap, she drew her weapon. In her left hand she carried a one handed blade the length of her arm, and strapped to her right forearm was a heavy round shield.
Every muscle tensed and Rixie’s eyes scanned each of her opponents, looking for a muscle twitch or a shift in their weight, any opening that she could exploit.
Then, as if there had been a silent signal between them, they pounced on her, weapons drawn and harsh battle cries in their throats. She deflected the first attack with her gladius; the sound of metal scraping against metal rang through the glade. She pushed that attacker away just in time to catch a blow from a second man on her shield.
The force of the blow ran up her arm like a bolt of lightning, numbing her hand temporarily. She shoved that enemy away with her shield and used the momentum to slam it across the face of a third. Before she could recover, the remaining two men of the group jumped on her from behind, sending her to the ground.
She landed rough, momentarily knocking the wind from her lungs, with two men on top of her and the others moving to pile on as well. She was fairly certain that if all five managed to get on top of her, it was over.
So she had to get out. She push against the ground with all of her strength, bodily lifting the men on top of her and sending them tumbling down her back. Swiftly, she regained her footing and kicked one of the sprawled men in the chin as hard as she could. He passed into unconsciousness with a groan.
With a smirk Rixie bent and retrieved her sword, which had fallen from her grasp when she’d been tackled. The remaining four men circled her warily, keeping a respectable distance. They knew they could outnumber her and probably overwhelm her; but none of them wanted to be the guy that jumped the gun and found himself facing her alone.
Rixie wiped a trickle of blood that was leaking from the corner of her mouth and down her chin. They seemed to take that as a cue, because the men surrounding her chose that moment to rush in and attack.
Rixie lashed out at the first with her shield, there was a satisfying crunch and a spray of blood as it shattered the man’s lower jaw. He tumbled away from her howling in pain.
Thinking quickly, Rixie cut the leather straps that held the shield to her wrist and let it to fall to the ground, where she kicked it away. This allowed her to grasp the hilt of her weapon in both hands and swing it in a powerful upward thrust that drove it straight through the next attacker’s sternum.
Hot wet blood washed over her arms and chest as the man’s surprised look turned slack and his eyes grew dull.
Abandoning her sword in the dead man’s chest, she whirled to face the remaining two attackers unarmed. The lead man rushed at her, slicing down at her in a clumsy attempt to stab her in the chest. She ducked to the side, but a second too late as she felt the blade slice into the outside of her right arm, leaving behind a shallow, stinging laceration.
The attacker was thrown off balance by his swing, which Rixie was able to capitalize on. She grabbed the man by the back of his throat and slammed him as forcefully as she could into the ground.
Without warning there was a blinding pain in the back of her skull. Her eyesight went dark for a moment, and when it returned it was blurry for several seconds. The final enemy had taken advantage of her distraction and had struck her at the base of her skull with the pommel of his sword.
Her vision cleared, but she continued feigning disorientation. She waited until the man moved in closer for another attack before smashing each of her fists into his face, one after the other. The enemy staggered but then retaliated with a crack of his own across her jaw. His strength surprised her and she was sent sprawling onto the grass, where she lay for a moment, dazed.
The black clad assailant drew closer, slowly, cautiously. Rixie groped at the ground until her hand fell on something metallic. She gripped the edge of the object and decided to bide her time.
He drew closer; she could hear his footsteps on the grass. It wasn’t long before she could see his shadow fall over her through her closed eyelids.
Without any warning, she swung at him with the object in her hand. The shield made an audible clanging sound as it struck him in the shoulder. She swiftly pulled herself to her feet and dealt him a second blow across the side of his head.
He staggered, stunned and fell to the ground. Without even thinking about it, she gripped the outer edge in both hands and brought it down on the man’s windpipe, cleanly severing his head from the rest of his body with a rather sickening crunch.
She stood there a moment, breathing heavily, leaning on the edge of her shield for support; even as a pool of blood collected at her feet from the severed man’s neck.
After a moment she stood up again, letting the shield fall back to the ground. She looked around at the bodies, some living some not, which lay scattered around her.
She frowned, looking down at herself, at the massive red bloodstain that splattered on the front of her clothes and up her arms. She took a quick inventory of herself, checking for injuries. She didn’t find any, save for a few cuts, scrapes and bruises. That was fortunate, although she’d have to work on her evasion in the future.
After a second to catch her breath, Rixie turned and walked away from the scene of the battle. With a flash of light, all evidence of the fight she’d just endured vanished; including the blood stains on her clothes. She was left inside a large room with dull gray walls dotted with pinpricks of light.
Unfortunately; the cuts, scrapes, and bruises remained.
She turned towards a small window on the wall. It was covered in an opaque mirror that hid the room behind it. Beyond that wall was an observation area where people could watch the action within the holosuite, without interfering with the illusion.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Rixie entered the observation area to find a very irritated looking human set upon the table at the edge of the window.
“How did I do this time Alex?” Rixie asked cheerfully, taking a drink of water from a bottle set next to the small man.
“Your time improved by thirty seconds.” Alex’s voice was flat, and Rixie knew he was barely holding his anger in check. “You got a little something on your arm, there.”
Rixie glanced down at the crimson stain of her own blood. “Oh uh, yeah. I wasn’t quite fast enough. Have to work on that, I guess.”
Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “When did you turn the safeties off?” He asked, point blank.
Rixie chewed on her lower lip for a moment and resisted the urge to look down at her boots. “Um, when you weren’t looking.”
Alex’s eyebrow arched, although Rixie couldn’t see it. “And why did you do that?”
Despite every effort, Rixie looked down at her boots, scratching the back of her neck. “Because it isn’t any fun otherwise.”
“Rixie, can you imagine having to explain to someone how you got killed by a HOLOGRAM?” Alex snapped.
“Oh come on Alex, it was just a scratch.” Rixie just barely managed to resist stamping her foot like a petulant child.
“Yeah, it was just a scratch this time. But it was close; I saw how near you came to getting stabbed in the heart!”
“Alex!” Rixie felt a red hot flush in her cheeks. “I’m an elite level soldier, trained in multiple forms of combat and drilled in all sorts of different scenarios. I’ve actually faced that exact one before. I’m here, they aren’t.”
Alex’s brow arched. “You faced four men while armed with a sword and shield?”
Rixie blinked. “Well, um, no. technically it was a stun baton, kinetic armor and… That’s not the point! The point is I know what I’m doing!”
For a second the two of them glared at each other, locked in a contest of wills.
Alex blinked first.
“I know.” He sighed. “I just worry about you, okay?”
Rixie smiled softly and gathered him up in her hand. She raised him up to her face for a quick kiss. “I know you do, and I think it’s sweet.” With a mischievous smile, she slipped him underneath her shirt and into her cleavage. “Now come on, we have to hurry because I have a combat lesson with Pryvani soon. I’ll drop you off at the apartment.”
“I’m still mad at you, you know.” The muffled response came from under her clothes.
Rixie rolled her eyes. “Of course you are.”
*.*.*.*.*.*
Rixie squared off against her student and employer. She watched the younger woman’s form and posture critically, looking for flaws to exploit and then correct after she finished throwing Pryvani to the ground.
After a few tense seconds, Pryvani lost her patience and moved in to strike at Rixie.
Rixie ducked the glove covered fist that was aiming for her head. As it slid past her, she gripped the wrist it was attached to and used her opponent’s momentum to send her flying over her shoulder.
Pryvani landed on the red exercise mat with a gasp, the wind having been knocked out of her. The two of them were in the compound’s state of the art gymnasium. Around them on all sides was every type of exercise equipment that money could buy, but for the moment they were utilizing the very low-tech gym mat.
“Rixie… you’re fired.” The tabloid cover girl groaned and she pushed herself into a seated position.
The former soldier grinned. “Stop being a baby, I didn’t throw you that hard.” She lowered a hand and helped her erstwhile employer back to her feet. “Besides, you have to be ready for that kind of countermeasure if you ever hope to actually be able to defend yourself against someone who’s actually trying to hurt you.”
“Right.” Pryvani groaned. The young heiress had her hands on her knees and was gasping for air.
“Now come on, let’s try it again.”
“Oh one moment, Rixie.” Pryvani moaned. “I just need to catch my breath.”
Rixie rolled her eyes and swept the other woman’s legs out from underneath her, knocking her back to the floor. “Your attackers aren’t going to give you a time out, Pryvani.” She growled. “Now come on. Get up.”
Pryvani rolled back onto her feet, then without warning she dove at Rixie, catching the other unaware and knocking her to the ground instead.
Of course, she didn’t have a chance to gloat about this because the next thing Pryvani knew, Rixie had her gripped about the waist and had rolled the two of them over. This put the taller woman on top of her, pinning Pryvani to the ground.
“Neat trick.” Rixie said with a grin. “Too bad, in your case, it only works once and is fairly useless if you don’t know what to do with your opponent when you get them to the ground in the first place.”
Pryvani sighed. “All right, you’ve made your point. Let me up.”
Rixie hauled the younger woman back to her feet. “You seem a little distracted today, Boss.”
“It’s nothing.” Pryvani muttered evasively, mopping the sweat from her face with a towel. She looked up to see Rixie’s sardonic look. “Well, okay it’s not ‘nothing…’”
Rixie quirked an eyebrow.
“All right, fine! I’m just a bit stressed by what’s happening with the Avalonians.” She admitted. “By the Mountains, how do you do that?”
“Years of practice at interrogation.” Rixie replied with a grin. “Now, back to the issue at hand: What’s got you all worked up?”
Pryvani was silent for a moment and when she turned towards her, Rixie couldn’t help but be a bit shocked by the expression on the young heiress’ face. She didn’t look like the immortal Goddess responsible for an entire civilization. Nor did she look like the competent, business savvy corporation owner and heiress. For that matter, she didn’t even look like the scandal-causing tabloid princess.
She looked like a scared young woman.
“Did… did I do the right thing Rixie?” She wondered, twisting the towel in her hands pensively. “Would they have been better off if I’d just gone on pretending?”
Rixie was silent for a moment, as if she was considering. It was a rare thing for her normally flamboyant employer to be so open. So… raw.
“Well… let me ask you a question, how did you feel about the situation before you decided to reveal the truth. And I mean right before, not a few years ago.”
“Horrible.”
“Guilty?”
“Yes.”
Rixie nodded. “Now, think carefully; is what you’re feeling right now guilt?”
Pryvani was silent for a moment. “No… it’s not guilt. It’s different… more like I’m unsure.”
The former Imperial soldier smiled gently, and hesitantly put her hand on Pryvani’s shoulder. “Then that’s a pretty good indication that you’re on the right path, Pryvani. People rarely feel guilty for doing the right thing.”
Pryvani sighed, shifting her body nervously. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. And it… it scares me.”
“I’d be worried if it didn’t, Pryvani.” Rixie remarked archly.
The heiress smiled. “You know what I mean. I just hate the idea of being the one to… ruin everything my family has built over the generations.
Rixie shook her head, her arms crossed over her chest. “You haven’t ruined anything. You’ve freed those people, and freed future generations of your family from perpetuating a lie. This is a good thing, you’ll see.”
There was a moment of silence before Rixie spoke up again.
“How’s that human doing, what was his name again?”
“Zhan.” Pryvani sighed. “And as for how he’s doing, well, physically he’s getting better. Emotionally… I don’t know. He took it pretty hard when I told him I wasn’t a Goddess… I can understand his anger, especially after everything he’s gone through but…”
“His anger hurts.” Rixie suggested, nodding sympathetically.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m not sure I can help you much on this front, Pryvani. I’m a soldier. I don’t do the emotional… stuff.”
Pryvani sighed. “Sometimes I wish I really was divine. Then I’d just know what it is I’m supposed to do.”
Rixie chuckled drily. “Yeah well, welcome to being a mortal, oh ‘Goddess’.”
Next thing she knew, a towel hit her in the face.
Rixie pulled the towel away from her face and handed it back to Pryvani with a wry smirk. “I think that’s enough for today. After all we wouldn’t want you to chip a nail or anything.”
“Uh huh. Where are you off to then?” Pryvani asked.
“Well, I think I’m going to go pull Alex away from whatever horrible Earth entertainment he’s engrossed himself in and force him to take a bath with me.”
“I see.” Pryvani smirked knowingly. “Have fun darling.”
Rixie quickly gathered up her things and left the gym, crossing the compound and entering her apartment. Like she’d suspected Alex’s full attention was on another one of his “video games.” He didn’t even look up when she walk right up behind him, and he only became aware of her presence when she snatched him right off the table and dropped him down her shirt.
“Hey! I was literally just about to beat the final boss. Do you know how long this battle has been going on? You can’t just pick a man up in the middle of a boss battle, Rixie. What are you doing?” The little man spat indignantly.
“I’m taking you with me.” Rixie responded, as she leisurely made her way to the bathroom.
“And where are we going?” Alex was still struggling to free himself from her cleavage, but her sweat was hindering his progress.
“We are going to the bathroom, of course.”
“Why?”
“Well, I’m all sweaty, and now you are too. So that means we need to go take a bath.”
There was a long moment of silence as Alex seemed to consider, he’d even stopped struggling in between her breasts.
“I have judged that a suitable diversion from my videogame efforts.” The muffled sound came from underneath her shirt. “Therefore, I have decided to accept your proposal.”
Rixie rolled her eyes. “How very gracious of you.”