THE LAY OF THE LAND

 "Let them hate you as long as they fear you" CALIGULA 

 When I finally came out of my hiding place the scene that greeted me would have made a lesser woman cried.

Half the houses was burnt to the ground, the other half was standing at half their height and the street was littered with corpses. 

The corpses were mostly those of the elderly and the injured but i noticed the body of a healthy looking woman who had been raped to death by those men. 

 "Being a woman and an orphan would get you killed or worse"

I shook my head to drive the dread that thought gave me and I began to do what any reasonable soldier would do when faced with a situation like this. 

I quickly looked for a shovel, began to dig a mass grave outside the village and dragged the bodies that my little strength could carry for their burial. 

I was so focused on the task that I did not notice when the young men and women who had ran away because of the bandits returned. 

When I did, I was a little bit afraid that they were going to start crying and wailing like all civilians do when they confront death.

Much to my surprise instead of crying the men grabbed a few tools and joined me in burying the dead, while the women began arranging temporary shelters. 

 They are already used to this?

How long has this been going on?

"Olivia?" A voice called beside me 

I turned to see a ten year old boy with black hair and black eyes who quickly began to run towards me. Before I could react he threw his arms around me in a very tight hug. 

"Rah be praised " he cried "do you know how worried I was"

"Take your hands off me mister. I am not a kid."

I countered as I tried and failed to broke free from his hold 

"You are not a kid?" He echoed with a laugh "you are just seven Olivia"

Wait was my name here also Olivia?

"Well well well look what the dog picked up" a voice said menacingly 

I turned to see two teenagers who could not be older than fourteen walking towards us, 

with the look on their faces making it clear that they did not come peacefully. 

"See what I told you Aegon?" The first one said to the second 

"Not even the bandits will find her pretty enough for humping."

"Stay away from her Rameses" the ten years old cried and stood between me and the boys 

I got to admit even though I admired the kid's bravery, I knew from the start that it was useless. He could not take on one of these boys in a fair fight and they had numbers on their sides. 

"Look like little Taurus wants to defend his little sister" the second one quibbed 

"Isn't that adorable?"

Okay if this is what passes for bullying around here, then this people really need some work. 

Besides with the list of shit I went through in my previous life, bullying was never one of them. This was because one look in my eyes and the bullies knew instantly that it was far safer to stay away from me.

"It's alright Taurus." I whispered to the boy in front of me "I can take care of myself"

The boy turned to look at me in horror 

"Does this look like a joke to you?" He whispered fiercely "Do you want them to hurt you?"

He then turned back to the boys 

"When I count the third, run and get the village elder."

Seeing that the ten years old boy in front of me could barely stand (Because he was shaking so badly) I simply rolled my eyes and pushed him out of my way with all the strength I could muster.

Whereas I had never dealt with bullies before, I was really good at disciplining over zealous recruits who forgot their place in my unit.

It was simply a matter of making them so scared that they would never dare step out of line again. 

The bullies were initially surprised by my pushing Taurus but they both quickly recovered and burst into laughter. 

"Look like the little lady wants to fight eh Rameses" the second one jeered 

"Of course brother " the first replied and his tone turned sly

"Let's show her what fighting really is"

He then threw a punch at me but the fist was too slow so I easily sidestepped his punch and caught his wrist. When I twisted it, the delicious sound of broken bones was quickly followed by a fourteen year old screaming. 

"Ahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"If you dare move another step forward" I said to his brother in a voice full of authority "I will twist this arm with so much force that it will come clean off his shoulder."

That seemed to work as his brother stopped dead in his tracks and began pleading for his brother. 

As for the fool in my arm, the pain had forced him to one knee and he was on the verge of tears. 

"You know what your problem is?" I asked in mock pity. 

He did not answer me so I twisted his arm and he screamed again. 

"ANSWER ME BOY" I yelled 

"Noooo, no no no" he cried, with tears in his eyes 

"Pain is your problem. " I stated casually 

"A true soldier must be able to withstand pain. He must fight through it, think through it and plan his next move despite it. But then again you are not even a soldier are you?"

My tone then changed to one of pure menace 

"Now listen well because I will only say this once. If any of you dare try to even think of bullying me and Taurus ever again, I will cut you into a million pieces and bury you so deep in the ground that even the worms can not get to your dead body understand?"

The two boys nodded as though their lives depended on it (It very well might) and scurried away like rats to a hole. 

One look at Taurus's face and I was sure that the only question on the poor guy's mind was 

What the hell just happened?

.....................

 Taurus could hardly breathe as he watched the brutal scene unfolding before him. 

He had known Olivia all her life, yet not once had he seen her speak or act in the cold ruthless manner that she just did today. 

"What in the name of amon rah happened to her?" He thought 

"I don't think they will be bothering us anymore " Olivia said casually and resumed her digging 

"Does it not hurt anymore?" Taurus asked as he suddenly remembered something 

"Does what not hurt?" The girl echoed while still digging 

"This morning when we were about to leave for the mountain, you could not join us because your body was in severe pains due to being gouged by zabdi's bull yesterday." He explained carefully 

"Does it not hurt anymore?"

"It does " she replied "but I am not one to allow such a little pain stop me "

A little pain? She calls being gouged by a bull a little pain? 

Okay Who is this woman? 

And where is the Olivia that I know?

"Taurus" she called after a brief silence

"who rules this village?"

"The village elder" he replied and then looked at her in suspicion "I thought you knew this"

"And is this what he always does about the bandit raids" she asked again 

"What else can he do?" 

"Can't he go to the city and ask for help?"

"Do you know how many times he has tried?" The boy replied with a bit annoyance 

"Those fools in Alexandria don't care about a common colony like us. All they care about is whether we pay the labour tax or not."

"And what happens if we don't pay?"

He looked at her as though she was running mad and said gently 

"If you think what the bandits did to this place was cruel then you should see what the army did to the last colony that refused to pay "

She simply gripped her shovel tighter, plunged its tip into the ground and said in a surprisingly strong voice 

"Then somethings need to change around here "