Look The Part

"Where is Louren?"

Kayda's voice was frosty and biting. It made the others who weren't initially paying attention to her turn their heads.

"The mage? She left a couple of minutes ago. Why?"

Trave looked at her with a tilt to his head and a rase in his brow. He looked nothing like the boy who had earlier gutted the deer for their supper.

Kayda's eyes narrowed. "Which direction."

Trave felt a chill down his spine. Like someone had taken the tip of a cold knife and traced it down his back.

He never expected to see this kind of side in Silas.

The entire time they were on this trip, she seemed like such a silent pushover. She stuck to Louran like a tick and was wary of any guy who came her way.

He initially thought that she was just a young girl who clung on to the closest girl because she was afraid of men. So he didn't try to talk to her, as he didn't want to get involved with such a weak and helpless newbie.

But the way he felt now, like a blade would ruthlessly plunge into the depths of his back, he felt that everything he had felt from before was a lie.

How could such a young girl hold such immense pressure that he could feel it physically pin him down?

And he wasn't the only one.

The two other guys in the group also turned wary when they felt the deepening pressure way upon them like smoke in the air.

Trave raised a hand, unknown to him, it was shaking, and pointed in a certain direction.

Silas didn't wait a second more before disappearing from their sights.

When they were relieved of the pressure that sat upon them, an audible sigh rang out around the campfire.

"Trave, you alright?" Ottan, Trave's cousin, looked at him. His face remained impassive but there was a slight gleem of concern in his eyes.

Trave nodded his head. But he still felt bewildered.

Did that really just happen?

As he looked off into the distance that Silas had disappeared in, his eyes narrowed.

What kind of person was Silas?

Unknown to Kayda, she had caught the attention from a bothersome group that would cause her to become quite vexed in the near future.

Kayda ran through the trees. She quickly made use of the darkness to exhibit her skills that she was hiding.

As she looked around, her ears were on alert.

Louran couldn't have gotten that far, but she still kept finding herself going deeper and deeper into the night until she lost sight of the light that the fire produced at the main camp.

When she had realized how far she went, she stood still, resembling another tree in the crowd of the forest.

All was quiet.

The insects and their incessant chatter seemed to cease.

Something felt off. Like, the forest had gone still.

Kayda felt her head buzzing. Something was definitely off.

To the left of her, in the distance, she heard murmurs.

She didn't waste a second before rushing in that direction.

When she arrived, she was surprised to see that not only was Louran and Jacksan there, but Mr. Gerad was present as well, helping Jacksan.

Jacksan had Louran pinned to the ground. Her body occasionally twitching in distress but no noise escaped from her.

Mr. Gerad stood over both of them. A shadowed expression covered his face like a veil.

"Do you think she'll be worth much?"

Jacksan sat excitedly upon her while pinning her down. He was staring up at Mr. Gerad with a twisted grin, waiting for his response.

"Of course. I have no doubt that such a young and precious good would be highly received by my clients." He said while turning over a glance in Louran's direction but then looking away. "So make sure not to damage her."

Jacksan snickered. "Of course. Knowing how to treat a lady is one of my specialties."

Jacksan then looked at Louran, his expression remained expectant. "What about the other girl?"

Mr. Gerad was quiet for only a second, before raising a brow. "Be patient. If they both went missing, that would only breed suspicion among the group.

Wait until tomorrow. We'll be passing through the Silent forest. There will be a monster attack and then, you can act."

Turning away, Mr. Gerad had prepared to leave. "Make sure to make it look like monsters did it." And then he left.

Jackson sneered before looking down at Louran, who was still pinned to the ground beneath him.

He licked his lips before leaning down next to her ear. "I'll play with you later, but for now," the next second, he reached for her clothes and tore them from her body.

"I need to make this look like an accident." He continued to tear her clothes from her body and then spread them around the area. Afterwards, he took a large veil from his pocket and spilled it upon the clothes.

It was blood.

Louran sat there, her eyes wide and her skin drained of blood while exposed to nature. Her entire body was breaking out in tremors.

Like a fish out of water, her mouth gaped open and closed. Small muffled noises were released from her lips, and if one looked closely through the darkness, they could see the bruised and misshapen area of her throat.

When Kayda saw her injury, she could only narrow her eyes in familiarity. Louran's larynx was crushed. Or, in other words, they destroyed her voice box.

And the reason why this was such a familiar seen was that Kayda had saw it many times before. She had seen human traffickers do it to their victims, only to keep them quiet.

Kayda only watched as Jackson dragged her through the woods, arriving at one of the carriages covered in drapes, before shoving her in with a thud.

Jacksan then left, letting the forest fall back into an eerie silence.

The night was still young, but Kayda made no move. She neither went to help Louran or went back to the main camp.

She found a tree that was at a halfway point between the place Louran was being held and the main camp before settling down on a sturdy branch.

All seemed to be peaceful, but if one got to close, they could feel the turbulent air swirling around Kayda like an angry whirlwind.

Her expression and body looked relaxed and calm, but her eyes were glowing like green hell fire.

Humans disgusted her. They were lustful, greedy, lazy and stupidly prideful. They killed each other to fulfill their desires and trampled on others just for the joy of it.

And yes, they helped create her. They helped shape her into who she was today and how everyone would see her in the future. As a beast.

But if she was going to be a monster, then she was going to be a monster on her own terms. And that didn't include lazily watching on the side lines.

What she felt earlier, the weary silence of the forest and the strange and expectant air that flooded it, she knew that something was going to happen.

And instead of acting now, she would prefer to wait and see. Who knows, maybe it would benefit her.

And so, she waited.

When the darkness started to seep deeper into the night, a sudden commotion shattered the silence.

The sounds of shouts and the clanging of metal filled their air suddenly like a storm.

And within that storm, one could hear the deadly snarls and growls of beasts as they ferociously wreaked havoc upon the camp.

Kayda stayed on her branch. Her gaze was cold and ruthless while her body laid languidly within the tree. With the way she laid relaxed within the sounds of chaos, one would say she looked exactly like a dark nymph that thrived on chaos.

Only minutes passed before she finally decided to step in.

Silently gliding down from the tree, she made her way to the camp.

With each step, her hands worked around her.

Removing her outer clothes, leaving a trail in her wake.

Grabbing mud and herbs as she strategically placed them around her body and face.

And lastly, grabbing the circular gem hanging around her neck before sucking it dry of her mana.

If she was going to play the monster, she might as well look the part.

With a sway of her tail, she dashed her way towards the fray.