Diantha felt the girl tremble in her arms as her sobbing rang in her ears. With only the firelight to illuminate them Diantha did her best to wipe Mikayla's tears away. She wrapped her cloak around the child and slowly rubbed her back. But the girl still seemed inconsolable in the end, nothing she could do seemed to calm down the child. Diantha did not blame the girl, anybody would cry after they had just accidentally killed a person even if justified. The trail of blood below her neck showed Diantha that the man had attempted to murder the child. It wasn't soon after Diantha had wrapped her cloak around the child that one of her men came up to her asking for orders.

  “Clean up here then return to our camp with the wayfarers. I'll head back early.” Diantha barked the orders to her subordinate before she realized that the girl in her arms had flinched at the noise.

  “Is it alright if I carry you?” Diantha asked Mikayla who looked up and gave a hesitant nod.

  Diantha reached down for the child's legs and easily lifted her into her arms. If she had to guess she would assume the child was eleven years of age, although a short one at that. The girl would only reach Diantha's bosom if both of them stood side-by-side by side and Diantha herself was just as tall as Kael. However in her armor and boots Diantha towered over Mikayla, at least she would be if the girl hadn't been in her arms.

  As Diantha moved with the girl through the forest she began to feel the fresh blood from Mikayla seep into her clothing. The poor girl had been through an intense night, she could feel her leaning on her shoulder with her eyes closed. Mikayla's tiny breaths and heartbeats were reminders to Diantha that the girl wasn't a monster no matter how much she called herself one. Diantha knew that others had seen what Mikayla had done to that man, even if they were further away from the other prisoners there were people bound to see.

  To an outside observer it was obvious to see that Mikayla is a Steilae, a rare race for a wayfarer to become but not unheard of. Mikayla is not a Steilae, it's obvious to Diantha that she is something more, something primal. That cage did not tear itself off and that man was not killed by an animal, no there's only a single explanation for everything and Diantha shuddered at the prospect. If only Diantha and her party had arrived sooner than she could have preserved the girl's innocence at least a little while longer.

  By the time Diantha reached her camp the child in her arms had fallen asleep. She made her way through the myriad of white tents until she reached her own which she now recognized as being just large enough for the two of them. The two of them? Diantha just realized that she almost instinctively believed that the girl would share a tent with her. Although it was already dark out and she hadn't spotted any children around Mikayla’s age… It was decided then, she would take care of the girl, at least for the night.

  As the Diantha carried the girl into her tent she placed her onto her cot. It was surprisingly comfortable for something meant to be used in the wilderness. Diantha lit a few candles using a red gem she had in her pocket before turning back to the matter at hand. She began first by undressing the girl out of her bloody clothes, those would have to be burnt later with how badly they were stained.

  As she undressed the girl she began to see more and more dark green scales on her, a clear sign of being a Steilae if the tail wasn't obvious enough. There was only one other creature that roamed Ennath and could do the things that the girl in front of Diantha had done so easily and she shuddered at the thought. If Diantha was right and she so desperately hoped that she wasn't, then the child before her would never lead a normal life.

  With a sigh at the girl's situation Diantha tapped her index fingers together and produced a glowing blue thread from them. From the corner of her tent Diantha pulled out a twelve-sided wooden loom, she could have used her fingers but using a proper loom is always a good habit. Using the strings Diantha formed the constellation of the salmon, a basic constellation yet it is most likely the most commonly used one.

  Forming at her hands were two bubbles of safe drinking water, although her use of them would likely make anyone unused to blood squeamish. Diantha placed her hands around the girl's neck and sealed the wound. Next she put her hands upon the girl and herself where the blood had dried up and began absorbing them into the water until none remained. Walking outside the tent she dispelled the constellation's effects and let the blood fall onto the dirt beneath her.

  Next was the matter of dressing the girl in proper attire which was an ordeal in itself. Diantha hadn't expected to find such a small girl in their expedition to fend off the Network. She was lucky they had brought children's clothes just in such a case. Diantha looked around the empty camp and found a dress perfect for the girl along with appropriate undergarments. At first Diantha believed that all the movement she was doing to Mikayla would wake the child up but even after completely dressing her she was still fast asleep. The child looked surprisingly calm after what she had done, Diantha hoped she wasn't having any nightmares.

  Sitting next to the resting Mikayla, Diantha spotted two particularly strange nubs on the girl's forehead. They were small and almost imperceptible but Diantha could see them in the dim firelight. Two blackish green horns were piercing through the girl's skull. Diantha had heard of Steilae growing horns before in her studies, those that had lived in ancient times and lived closer to the beings that created them. More credence to Diantha's theory, more credence to the fact that the girl was more than meets the eye. It wasn't fair that a child should be so special. In her eyes it would have been better if the girl had only been a Steilae.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Diantha sat next to the cot with a weary expression on her face. Sitting next to the girl gave her a strange sense of comfort, as if just being by the girl made her a better person.

  —

  The girl woke up with a start from a terrible nightmare. She had been a monster with dragonlike claws and she nearly ate a person. Immediately she looked down at her hands with relief at the fact that they were her normal and not those monstrous talons. Then she realized she wasn't in her cage anymore. Instead she was in a white tent and on some kind of cot instead of the cold metal of her prison.

  “You're awake!” The girl swiveled her head to her left to see a woman with dark brown hair, the same woman from her nightmare now with a bright smile.

  Then it all came flooding back to her, the vomiting, the blood, and worst of all how much she enjoyed it. If she had anything in her stomach to throw up then she would have but all its contents had been vacated the night prior. Next came the tears, she truly is a monster and nobody can deny it anymore. She killed and ate a person just because her instincts told her to and she's terrified it could happen again. The girl felt arms wrap around her as Diantha hugged her tightly even though she didn't deserve it. She wondered why this woman who she had just met was so clingy to her.

  “I'm a monster…” She murmured the same way she had the earlier.

  “Don't say that. You're just a child, none of what happened is your fault.” Diantha tried to comfort her but she knew the words had to be false.

  “But I- I hurt someone.” She couldn't get her mind off of what she'd done, the memory wouldn't go away as her thoughts kept going back to the man's arms.

  “He was going to kill you!” Diantha shouted at the girl with anger, making her flinch out of the hug.

  The woman seemed to realize her mistake almost immediately and reached out for the girl but she wouldn't let her. Even good people like Diantha would yell at the girl because of what she did. She tried to reach for the girl but the girl pulled back from her hand in fear that the woman would do something to her. It was preposterous to run away as Diantha should just dispose of the monster in front of her.

  “You may not understand what's happening but that man tried to hurt you. You did well to defend yourself.” The woman still didn't seem to understand what the beast before her truly was.

  “I had claws, I turned into a monster when I killed him. An- and I couldn't control myself, it took over and made me eat him!” The girl emphasized how horrible she was and how helpless she was to control herself.

  “Mikayla, listen to me, you're just a child. Nothing you've done is your fault.” Diantha was able to put a hand on the girl's shoulder this time but the shaking coming from her made it lose any sense of comfort.

  Then there were the lies, all three of them. Her name isn't Mikayla, she only said so because she was too stupid to think of anything else. She wasn't Mikayla or Michael or any other name, she's just a monster hiding in a child's body which led to the next lie. The second lie being her true age, she's nearly twenty and all this body does is lure people into a false sense of security. Third and worst of all the lies was her innocence, the tugging at her heart to kill just so that she could consume disgusted her to the core.

  “Can I show you something?” Diantha asked the girl who only nodded in response, she didn't want to think about being a monster any longer.

  Diantha offered her hand to the girl which she accepted, it was warm and soft like a pillow. Together the two of them left the tent and the girl was blinded by the bright morning day. As her eyes adjusted she saw a few dozen propped up around Diantha's which was noticeably the largest of them all. She was led through the camp as they passed by both the once prisoners now in cleaner clothes and their liberators. Most took no notice of the girl as the two of them passed instead speaking to Diantha who gently avoided their approaches as she was set in her destination.

  Then she saw Poinsettia staring at her with fear in her eyes. For a moment the girl was confused why someone would look at her with such fear then she remembered the previous night. Poinsettia would have been the closest prisoner to the girl's cage on that night, she would have seen the aftermath of the girl's carnage. It didn't surprise the girl that Poinsettia ran away as quickly as possible from her and blended into the crowd. The girl didn't even attempt to chase after her, that would only make things worse. Diantha didn't seem to notice Poinsettia and just focused on leading her forward.

  She let herself get led by Diantha when the quality in the air took a dramatic turn for the worse. Suddenly she was engulfed in the smell of rotten meat which thankfully didn't trigger her urges. Then she saw them, dozens of corpses all shoved into a single carriage as if it was some grotesque way of transporting dead people.

  “Do you know how many people are in there?” Diantha asked a morbid question to the girl whose grip only grew tighter around Diantha's hand due to it.

  The girl tried to count but every time she tried to she couldn't help but avert her eyes away. Through mere glances the girl counted the grotesque mound and came to a horrifying number of around thirty dead men.

  “Thirty…” The girl answered the question then immediately went to look at the dirt beneath her.

  “Thirty-three and I killed a quarter of them.” Diantha said the same words with the same cadence you would when talking about your day.

  The girl looked up to see that Diantha's face was almost expressionless, not that she had no emotion, just that she had none to this situation. It was as if she lacked empathy but the girl knew how kind of a woman Diantha was to her. Then the girl realized how large a number a quarter of thirty-three was, Diantha had likely killed eight or nine people during the battle yesterday and she showed no remorse.

  “Do you know why I killed them?” The girl could only shake her head at Diantha, she had no idea what was going on. “Well you see I heard that a certain group was kidnapping wayfarers to sell them. I killed nine men so that all of you could live happy lives.”

  Diantha spoke to the girl with a bright smile while talking about killing those men as if it was supposed to be comforting to the girl. “Do you understand now Mikayla?”

  “Understand what?” The girl felt like she hadn't learned anything from looking at a bunch of corpses.

  “That sometimes people have to die so that others can live. You did what you had to to survive.” The dissonance between Diantha's words and the comforting tone she held were confusing the girl.

  “I don't want to hurt people…” The girl mumbled the words as they accidentally came out of her mouth.

  “You don't have to understand now but this world isn't a kind one, especially not for someone as special as you Mikayla.” Special? The girl was a horrible person at best and a monster at her worst, how could she be special.

  “I'm not special.” The girl plainly stated her view on herself.

  “I wish you weren't, your life would be so much easier that way.” There was a strangely somber tone to Diantha's words.

  Before the girl could respond Diantha tugged on her hand and led her through the crowd once again.

  “Are you hungry yet, child?” The mere thought of food made the girl want to puke but she realized she hadn't eaten anything since the day before yesterday so she nodded.

  “My men should have set up a pavilion for food by now. I'm sure we'll be able to find something suitable for your palate.” Diantha looked at the girl with another smile as she led her through the camp.