The Scars of the Past

Ten years ago, Luna was living with her family. She lived with her mother, father and three siblings. They resided in Furkreath, a small village between the capital and the border of the human realm. The border was a dangerous area, as the humans did not respect the beast kingdom's sovereignty.

There were often poachers who would specialize in hunting inside the beast kingdom's forests. The forests were famed for their unique mana flow, which made them a prime breeding ground for all sorts of fabled monsters and animals. Collectors would willingly pay vast sums of gold for the skins, meat and organs of these creatures.

Yet, men hunting for the forest-dwelling creatures were not the most significant threat posed by encroaching humans. Slavers were a not-too-uncommon sight within the bounds of the beast kingdom. Over the last decade, it had been such an issue that the government had created a division to deal with. Those in charge pulled soldiers suited to stealth and reconnaissance from all parts of the current military to form the new Border Rangers.

Shortly after Luna was born, the higher-ups chose her father for his singular prowess to be the Ranger in charge of guarding near Furkreath. Her family had all expenses paid for their relocation. Luna's mother, Sarah, was able to quit her work at the castle and focus on being a mother to her newborn daughter, thanks to the increased pay afforded to a Ranger.

Their family was happy and healthy. They raised their newest member in the beautiful countryside, far away from the bustling city. Luna looked up to her father, a master of the spellrod, known across the beast kingdom for his prowess. From the time she was five, she spent every day practicing her father's lessons and techniques, which he had bestowed to her. She even once went and placed second at the regional children's sharpshooter contest at the closest trading town when she was seven years old. A season before her ninth birthday is when her world came crumbling down.

Her father's birthday was nearing soon, and she wanted to get him a fantastic gift. She had figured out exactly what to get him. Honey from the nearby Green Woods was the best thing she could get with her own strength. And it was a relatively safe forest. With her spellrod, Luna could efficiently dispatch most of the animals in there.

However, that morning she got a wrench thrown in her plans. Her dad mentioned that going into any of the forests was off-limits and that he would be busy today dealing with some trouble that had come up. Luna asked where he would be, and he said he would be in the Border Forest. The forest in question was to the south of the village, while the woods containing the honey lay west of Furkreath. Luna figured there was no chance of her dad catching her disobeying his orders while she got the honey.

She had the most formidable challenge though still ahead of her, her mom. Her mother knew of her plans to get the honey, so she was not likely to let her out of the house today. Luna asked her mom for a bit of money to go to the village shop, a small shop inside the tavern and buy a gift instead. Her mom, believing her to understand the danger of the woods today, allowed her to go out. Once outside, Luna made her way to the forest. She was not going to spend money that she had not made herself to buy her father's birthday gift. It is only a real gift if it is acquired with her own two hands.

She figured that it should only take thirty or so minutes to go into the forest, find honey and return as she had made the trip in the same amount of time with her dad before. However, Luna did not know that the threat believed to be in the Border Forest had made its way to the Green Woods, where it was more likely to encounter a non-Ranger beast person.

This threat was a mercenary troupe, The Hawksmiths, known across the human kingdom for their proficiency in acquiring whatever their client requests. This group was not the typical band of slavers who would look to find prey in the Beast Kingdom forests. They were on a whole different level. Mainly composed of X soldiers, they were on a different level strength-wise.

Luna made her way into the Forested area along the same path her father has shown her a few months before. She knew it was the right way, as her ability to learn and remember all of her father's lessons was on the level of a prodigy. If she were to continue on this path, by the age of sixteen, she would have an excellent chance to be made the youngest Ranger yet.

Within ten minutes of entering the Woods, she had noticed some honey bees and followed them to their hive. From her pack, she pulled out a chunk of what looked to be porous wood. Using the small fire rod she had on her, she ignited the wood. A cloud of thick green-tinted smoke poured out, and Luna was careful not to breathe it in. She watched as the smog climbed into the hive. As she heard the buzzing of the hundreds of bees slowly quiet, she rushed to climb the tree to get her sweet prize.

After climbing to the branch with the hive, she cut a small section out of the beehive. This section had more than enough honey to feed her and her parents. Unfortunately, Luna had not considered what would happen with the fumes contained inside the hive. The vapour gushed out of the now-cut portion of the beehive, slamming right into her enhanced olfactories. Before she could even think of a solution, her consciousness slipped, and she fell from the tree.

She awoke many hours later, the sky now darkened by night. She hurt all over, especially her broken left arm. But most worrying was that it was now late at night, and her mom was going yell at her for sure. She stood up and pulled from her pack some cloth, and grabbed a couple of sticks from nearby to make a splint to told her arm steady. Her dad had taught her the basics of first aid. She then started to make her way back to the village to face the music.

As she was heading back, she started to see a light coming through the forest. The orange flickering and overpowering smell of burning wood made it apparent it was a campfire. Figuring it must have been one of her parents, Luna rushed towards the warm glow, growing weary from the pain of her broken arm. Unbeknownst to Luna, her father was in the trees nearby, as he had just located the humans who had crossed the border.

As Luna broke through to the clearing, exhaustion nearly overwhelming her, she looked around in horror. Before her, rather than a friendly face of a beast-person, were twenty or so scary humans. The men were all glaring at the weak prey that had walked itself right into their laps. Luna had not noticed their scent due to the fire. She immediately felt a surge of adrenaline hit her body as she sensed the danger before her, she turned to run, but as Luna took the first step forward, she felt a white-hot pain across her back. She jerked at the pain, jarring her injury. Blacking out from the pain, she fell to the ground. When her consciousness returned, it seemed only a few seconds had passed. The humans had not yet captured her, though, and looking around to find out why, she saw something that both gave her hope and made her heart sink.

Her father was currently at the far side of the camp, stance low, he had two spell rods out, one in each hand. Seven of the twentyish men were already dispatched by his feet. Blackened holes burnt through their chests or heads from the lightning imbued spellrods her father oft carried. As he turned the tide in his favour, Luna watched him quickly dispatch four more men with expertly placed flick shots. Luna felt pride seeing her father take on so many bastard humans at once.

And then, Luna's world was torn apart as a blackened blade suddenly appeared. Jutting out through the front of her father's chest, he dropped to his knees. Behind him stood a man; he wore a strange ensemble. He had a hood and mask on his head, and strangely coloured form-fitting clothes covered his entire body. These clothes had a mottled set of dark grey blotches. If it were not for the fire burning nearby, he would be imperceptible in the night.

Luna screamed out, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. Her father used the last of his strength to raises his arm towards her and issue a final command. "Luna... ru-" His words were cut short by that blasted single-edged blade, which had been withdrawn from his chest and then slashed horizontally, bisecting his neck, all in a single, nearly imperceptible move. "Tsk. Look how many men have died. Someone's got to pay." The man looked at the beast-man's head that lay at his feet and then at the girl in front of him. The family resemblance was striking. His lips tightened in a grin as the outlet for his annoyance was at hand. Grabbing the whip from his underling, who had struck Luna with it earlier as she first entered the camp, he lashed out at the girl who had rocketed to her feet to attempt to escape. He struck again and again, shredding the back of her shirt and skin alike, transforming his grievance into her misery.

Luna says she does not remember much after this. She was stripped of her clothes and told that animals do not need clothes. She would be leashed and tied to a post whenever they made camp. The mercenaries treated her as an outlet for the darkness that lay in their hearts. They would spit on her as they passed, kick her in the gut or even worse; they would flick their finished, still lit cigarette butts at her, leaving little burn marks all over her body. The torture and abuse continued as the men made their way to the Capital city of the human empire, Lanagros.

Once they had arrived back at the city, the men took her to a shop. Inside the shop were numerous caged rooms. Most of the cages were filled with men and women of various races. Some examples were beautiful elf women, strong male minotaurs, human children, and many more races that Luna had never seen or heard of before. She was taken from the men by the old man who seemed to be the shop owner. He inspected her and ordered two slave human women to shower her. They brought her to a nearby room, where they scrubbed her until she was clean. The slaver merchant came into the room after they finished and inspected her body, every nook and cranny. Sneering at the scars on her back, she heard him return to the other room. Shortly after, she listened to the man who killed her father loudly say, "That's all you are gonna give me for the little bitch. Do you know how far we had to drag her?" Then after a brief pause, "Who cares about a few scars? She is still in functioning condition for some sick noble, isn't she? Bah, whatever, give me the money before I change my mind." After the door slammed, she was taken out to the main area, dressed in clothes and put in a sales cage.

A few months later, she was sold to Gene Igraff, A tailoring merchant. Upon her sale, the slave merchant used a magical paintbrush to inscribe the seal upon her lower stomach. Even more so than the whip, the seal setting into her flesh burnt and hurt far worse. The pain she experienced to be enslaved seemed to make her new master happy. He was a bastard; he treated her like a tool, barely feeding her, poorly clothing her. He would never praise her when she worked hard, only punish her for her mistakes. He would like to devise cruel things to do to her, typically without hitting her, like making her read the book on slave contracts. Though sometimes, he would get very drunk at night and come to her room, he would choke her slowly for hours on end, until he finally fell asleep. These times were the worst for Luna. Not the choking, no she could now tolerate that. It was that his unconscious form was right next to her, and yet the controlling magic from the crest on her stomach prevented her from slicing his throat open.

She lived in this waking hell for years, until the fateful day when some orcs cut down her master, and she met me.

Luna told me this story, occasionally elaborating when I would ask for clarifications. During the worst parts of remembering her past, her tears would flow, and she would tremble uncontrollably with anger, pain, sadness and rage. During these times, I would hold her, stroke her head, and tell her that I would never allow such things to befall her again. I swore we would get her vengeance, and we would try to find her mom once we got her seal undone.

After this emotionally draining evening, we fell asleep, holding each other, finding comfort in the warmth and the knowledge we had someone who would watch over us and who we could, in turn, watch over.