Wandering Hearts

A woman raised in cruelty. An unwanted child. A curse left to torture her family. Those were the words she grew up hearing.

But with time, the words changed, to the woman with no heart. No one dared to utter those words in her presence. Heads would roll at the slightest provocation. The cruelty turned to fear. And her pain turned to remorse. She became the most feared woman in the small village of Gatria. She was a woman like no other.

She used to be a walking mistake but she turned to a walking corpse. She used to feel pain and remorse but eventually, she became numb. Her heart turned black and she turned into a beast. A haunted beast. Her childhood haunted her in daylight and even in her sleep. No one dared approach her. Only those in search of a hunter. She was the one everyone would recommend.

Delaney! The bounty hunter.

Her fate changed the day she showed up at the building of guild of hunters.

"I want to join the guild of hunters," she had said and they had all laughed at her in disdain. She challenged the hunters who had mocked her and chased her away. But she didn't leave, she had randomly picked one hunter and fought him.

She had fought with all the fighters until none was left and they had no choice but to let her join them. She earned their respect from then on, and with time, she became the best.

But that didn't stop the villagers from talking. They said she used witchcraft against her competitors. But Delaney paid them no mind. She would accept every challenge and prove herself with a victory, everytime.

The pain, torture, cruelty and betrayal that she had experienced turned her to the woman she was.

The only person she could never prove herself to was the woman who raised her. Angela. The root of all her pain and misery. The woman she wished to kill with her bare hands but she couldn't do it for years.

——

"Mother I did not do it." The little girl begged as tears stained her delicate face.

"Shut up!" The woman yelled, making the girl tremble in fear. "Do you even know how much that plate costs? Do you?" Her chest was heaving up and down in anger and her eyes blazed under the moonlight. "Kneel down!" She commanded, pointing the whip on her hand at the child.

"I didn't. I swear." The girl cried in desperation. Her little body swayed a little as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"Shush! Shut your filthy mouth and kneel down. If you didn't break it then who did?" The girl turned her head to look at her younger sister who was standing at the door but she screamed as the whip landed on her back sending her to the ground.

"How dare you! how dare you accuse my daughter for your mistake?" She bellowed as she landed another whip and another, and another until her dress was torn and blood smeared her back.

"You little witch!" She cursed as she pulled the half dead seven years old girl by the ear. She screamed in pain as she wiggled her legs in the air.

"Don't you dare open your mouth about this to anyone. You hear me? If your father finds out about this, I will kill you!"

She released her ear and as soon as her little legs touched the ground, she took off.

"Delaney! Delaney come back here!" The woman shouted but the girl didn't stop, despite her weak state. She pushed the wooden gate open and ran as fast as she could into the dark night.

She had no idea where she was going but she knew she could not get caught. She only stopped when she felt her body couldn't take it. She scanned her sorroundings and she could spot a source of light a few steps ahead. She dragged her weak self to the source of light and found a fire burning. She looked

around only to realize it was a cave.

"Hello," she called, since she couldn't sense anyone's presence.

"Hello, is anyone there?" She called again but she was only answered by her echo. She didn't move for a few seconds, trying to listen for any sound and she heard it. A low growl coming from the deeper part of the cave.

She picked one of the burning piece of wood and started walking. She barely made any sound with her bare feet. She heard a movement and when she turned around, she was met by a pair of wild blue eyes that sent shivers down her spine. The piece of wood dropped from her hand and her soul almost left her body. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the ground.