Against tides
Some hours before the raid.
A few meters from the village, a troop of forty men was spotted preparing to enter.
"Are you sure about this?" the male guardian asked his partner.
"Come on, what's the big deal? This is a small village. Even if we kill a few, word won't reach the capital. Besides, we can always kill them all," the female guardian replied with a smile.
The male guardian looked worried. "We should talk to them first. They might be reasonable."
"These insects can never be reasonable..."
"Let's just try first."
"Hmmm, fine. But if they don't comply, I'll kill every single one of them," the female guardian said as she returned to the troop.
Alone, the male guardian looked up at the dark sky. "If only I wasn't a guardian..." he sighed.
The cries of men and women echoed through the village, fading as the body count rose. Those who fought back were killed, those who begged for their lives were killed, and those who ran were also killed.
"Who caused the rain?" the female guardian asked, swinging her sword to send an elderly man to his grave. She seemed to be having so much fun that even if the storm's cause was found, she wouldn't stop her killing spree.
"What are you standing there for?" she questioned the soldiers behind her. "Go around and kill them all," she ordered with a sinister smile.
Cold chills ran down the soldiers' spines as they thanked their gods they weren't in the villagers' shoes.
"Killing them won't solve anything," the male guardian said.
"Hmm, you have a point," she replied, holding her chin. "But we can't stop. Half of the villagers are dead. We need to silence the village itself." She smiled.
Ana hurried to the cliff but couldn't find Dan. She was worried, wondering where the troublesome brat had gone at this hour. Worst case scenario: he was already dead. Shaking off the thought, she hurried back to their little hut, which was already halfway burnt.
"Oh god, where is this boy?" Unsure of where to go next, Ana decided to run around the village.
"I see one of them!" a soldier alerted the rest.
"Shit, this is bad," Ana cursed as she ran for her life.
The soldiers didn't quit, chasing after her and killing anyone in their path.
Ana ran into an alley and turned to face them. She pulled a rubber band and a small knife from her pocket, tied her hair back, and took a fighting stance.
"There she is," one of the soldiers spotted her. One by one, all five soldiers entered the alley.
"Stupid, she has some nerve facing us head-on," they laughed.
One soldier rushed at her, swinging sideways, but his sword was too long and hit the wall.
"Shit!" he cursed, realizing they were played.
Ana smirked and dashed at the first soldier. Leaping into the air, she slammed his head against the wall with a single kick. He fell to his knees, then flat on the floor. He was dead.
"What's that? Are you scared?" Ana taunted them.
"Shut up, you whore," the next man cursed and rushed at her.
Ana slid under his legs, sliced his knee, making him kneel and scream in pain. She swiftly stood up, sliced the neck of the next man, and then went for the nape of the kneeling man. She didn't stop there, throwing the knife into the eyes of the next soldier before going for his throat.
The last man was so scared he fell on his ass. Seeing the cold glint in Ana's eyes, he tried to crawl away, but Ana's knife found his neck.
"That was rough," Ana commented.
She removed the knife from the soldier's neck and was about to leave when she noticed one of them fighting for life. She looked at him with pity.
"The poison will take effect soon," Ana said and continued her search.
At the village square, soldiers crafted a small bench and table for the guardians to relax. The male guardian sat patiently, busy with a cup of tea. Even after many sips, he couldn't hide his distressed look.
"What's the situation?" he asked one of the soldiers on standby.
"As it stands, my lord, the mission is going smoothly. Two-thirds of the villagers have been executed," the soldier answered.
The male guardian sighed exasperatedly and continued sipping his tea. As he was about to take another sip, a soldier came in dragging an elderly woman on the ground.
Her clothes were bloodied and torn apart, with marks of beatings and cuts all over her body. The woman jolted in fear as she was dragged like a ragdoll towards the female guardian.
With a sharp and cold gaze, the female guardian asked, "And what's the meaning of this?"
The soldier trembled in fear but managed to strengthen his resolve. "She knows something about the Ryo cluster."
"Is that so?" Her expression changed into a smile.
"Yes, ma'am."
The female guardian slowly approached the woman and squatted in front of her. "So you know something about the storm?"
"Y–Yes," the old woman said, tears flowing down her eyes. It was clear that no matter her age, she wasn't ready to die.
"Speak."
"Th–There are these children, a boy and a g–girl. The boy is always playing with this huge staff, saying he wants to summon t–the rain," the woman's voice was vague, but the female guardian understood.
"Where is the cliff you speak of?" the female guardian asked.
"Th–There!" she pointed towards the cliff.
The female guardian turned her gaze towards the cliff and nodded in confirmation. "There's definitely a huge amount of Ryo there," she stated, then turned back to the old woman.
"You've done well, but before I let you go, tell me something else…" She leaned closer to the old woman. "Where are the boy and girl?"
"Here I am…" Ana emerged from the flames, her dress cut at knee-length for flexibility. Her knife was tied with a chain, with another knife at the other end. "…and unfortunately, my brother is nowhere to be found."
The female guardian was utterly shocked; she never expected this. No one did.
"You have some nerve facing me with that," the female guardian chuckled, pointing at Ana's little knife.
"Oh, this? I'm so sorry it doesn't suit your taste, bitch," Ana smirked.
"Tsk, you've gone and said it, whore," the female guardian rushed at Ana.
Meanwhile, Dan, already close to the village, was out of breath and gasping for air. Running back, he wondered how he had gotten so far away in the first place.
"That's sis…" Dan exclaimed. The closer he got, the more vividly he could sense Ana's Ryo.
Suddenly, Dan came to an immediate stop. His eyes shook as he stared at the scorching flames devouring the villagers and buildings. But that wasn't the source of Dan's fear. He was afraid because, for some reason, he couldn't sense Ana's Ryo anymore.