Jerky and Onyxia

"Hey Paul, want a bite?" the female knight gestures toward one of her escorts.

In her hand is a jerky she was snacking on during her journey. Her bite marks are still visible on the dried meat, if one look closely enough a bit of saliva can be found glistening the meat, making the meat stick appear much more juicy.

"Sorry Madam Arsha, may I humbly reject? This will not sit well with my fiancée."

"Tch. You're no fun. Also, don't call me madam. I'm not that old yet."

Paul is the new recruit Arsha "took" under her wing. He has short wavy almond brown hair, a bit of baby face, build wise he is about 5 inches shorter than Arsha. Simply put it, he is Arsha's cup of tea. Romance does not come easily for knights who are always on the verge of death, not to mention for a tomboyish female like herself.

'Maybe I should just assault him during the night.'

"Madam Arsha, your thoughts are showing on your face."

"Ugh!?"

Paul sighs at the disgraceful act of his superior, this not the first time she attempted to try nabbing herself a man. Previously it was Robert, the one before that was Jake and there were many more, it seems like they cannot stand Arsha's relentless pursuit and switched to other divisions.

The only reason why Paul remains was due to rumors of other commanders also vent their pent up carnal desires on their subordinates, at least, just at least, he does not wish for his first partner to be a man. Just the thought of it sent shivers down his spine.

"This is quite a nice village huh~" stated Arsha.

"Yeah, they do not even bother to set up border defenses." Paul replied while surveying the surroundings.

Arsha and Paul's statement may come out stiff and out of place but it's the truth, there are not many villages that prospers within kingdom of Ingrasia.

Ever since the sudden appearance of demons around 10 years ago, small villages had been struggling to survive, not only are their militia poorly trained, they do not have time to set up defenses before the demons stampede.

The result is many villages are wiped out within a single night, the remaining villages are protected by personal army of nobles from nearby towns but it comes with a price, heavy taxes are levied from them leaving them barely surviving.

"Maybe demons around village of Orn are herbivores?" remarked Arsha while chewing on the last bit of jerky.

"Surely you jest." replied Paul.

Their idle chatter continued until they arrive at the local church within Orn.

*****

In front of the local church, Arsha and her escorts are greeted by Sarah and Her Holiness with their stagecoach parking nearby.

Arsha and her escorts straddle off their horses and marched onwards.

None of her previous playfulness can be found on the current Arsha. Standing before all eyes is the figure of a graceful valkyrie with ashen white hair, donning cloaked pauldron engraved with feathers and beneath it are chainmail, a shorten white one piece and a pair of horse riding pants. It is a simple yet majestic design.

"I am one of seven paladins of Ingrasia, Arsha ra Mornwalker. I would like to express appreciation for your cooperation in the pope's stead." said Arsha while performing a bow with her right gauntlet cross in front of her chest.

"The pleasure is ours. Let's continue our talk inside."

Sarah gestures for them to head to the courtyard behind the building. On the marble table, various baked confectionary are served and their conversation continues from there.

"Let's not beat around the bush, may I observe Her Holiness performing her miracles?" inquired Arsha.

"I am sorry to inform but without a wounded we cannot show Her miracles."

"Ah! I am sorry I did not think it thoroughly."

Arsha proceeds to take off her gauntlet and bit into her thumb, a small stream of blood trickle down from the punctured thumb.

"Here, can you heal my wound?" offering her thumb to Her Holiness.

Bewildered by the paladin's eagerness Her Holiness seeks Sarah's opinion. Knowing there is no way to reject the offer, Sarah simply nods.

With both of Her tiny hands, She brings Arsha's thumb under Her veil and sucks on it. The sensation of Her soft tongue pressing against wound can be felt, stroking the thumb gently, but it was surprisingly chilly, cold in fact.

A second become two, two become ten, ten seconds become thirty... as shadows of surrounding greenery slowly creeping east, the tiny teeth inside the mouth starts to tighten slightly.

"Ahem!"

Her Holiness quickly let go the thumb and sits up, back straighten with her hand on her knees.

"Ho... this indeed is a miracle." Arsha comments, marvel by her healed thumb. There was no trace, not even a scar was left behind.

"May I take it that Her Holiness is proven of Her holy origins?" now it's Sarah's turn to pressure the paladin.

"Mhm. She definitely proven herself in possession of a wonderful gift."

"I will put good word for uh... may I know your name?" Arsha asks while putting her gauntlet back on.

"My apologies. We do not refer Her Holiness with Her true name. Her name is only to be spoken by our One True Lord." Sarah denies Arsha's inquiry.

"Ah... its kind of hard to address her without a name though..."

'Holy Maiden... Her Holiness... Lilies... Black hair...'

"How about Onyxia? Ok from now on your nickname will be Onyxia!" Arsha puffs her non existent chest, impressed by her own naming sense.

*****

"Madam Arsha really has no naming sense huh, I bet you just call her that name because of her black hair."

"Hey! Onyxia is a good name!" Arsha retorts towards Paul's snark remark.

"There is no way that's a good name! Did you not see the priestess Sarah's face? It looks like she is ready to kill." Paul shudders reminded of Sarah's face.

Arsha and Paul are currently patrolling the streets of the Orn. They splitted into teams of two, a total of six teams. They will depart for the Vatican after a night of camping.

"So this is where she lives huh..."

In front of Arsha is the dormitory where Onyxia resides.

'Why is she so fixate on Onyxia... it can't be Madam actually swings that way!? Wait, but that explains why she has not hookup with anyone...' it finally clicks! Paul is having an epiphany.

"I don't know what are you thinking but it felt like you were dissing at me."

"By the way, did the villagers said anything about a large boar appearing in this vicinity? Maybe around three meters in height?"

Annoyed by Paul, Arsha changes the topic of their conversation.

"I don't think they mentioning anything of that stature around this area."

As the sun slowly sets beyond the horizon, the darkness rules once again.