Michalina was a party girl. Party elf, in her case, but everyone in town was an elf, so the distinction was unnecessary.
“Michalina, don’t screw this up,” her lieutenant said, shoving a protector’s blade in her hands.
Michelina looked down at it, receiving the magic sword. It hummed softly, like a string brimming with tension in a constant note. “What does it do?”
“It can call up a shield. A big one. Nothing will be able to get in or out of it for ten hours if you activate it, so don’t mess around with it unnecessarily,” he said, wagging a finger at her.
Michalina’s eyes glowed. No, they literally glowed, it was typical for magic-enabled elves in this part of the country. She had no idea what happened to other parts, for she had never visited them, despite that being her one dream in life.
“Michalina!” her lieutenant demanded.
“Yes sir!” she said, raising her eyes up at him, snapping at attention. Michalina liked standing at attention, it made her modest titties perk up and show through her dress, drawing the attention of males in the area.
And some females.
“Nothing gets through?” she repeated, trying to prove that she was paying attention, and that she was not, in fact, hung over from all the partying last night.
“Magical, spiritual, physical, everything is blocked. But beware, if you decide to trap something inside with you, we will not be able to come to your aid until the shield drops.”
Michelina nodded, her long ears bobbing up and down.
The lieutenant winced. “Just don’t mess it up.”
“B-But why appoint me, sir?”
“You’re the only magic user I can spare, alright?”
“Oh,” she said with a small voice, her lips staying in an ‘o.’ It hurt a bit, being chosen just for her natural attributes. Being the last to be chosen for her magic-use ability was like being chosen simply because she was pretty. In the end, it wasn’t something she had earned.
Just a fluke of her genetic material.
That always bugged her.
The lieutenant received a magical message and turned his attention away, and started to walk towards his multitude of duties.
It was a gathering of the big-shots, and that meant anyone who had vast magical power in the country. They needed security, and that’s why the lieutenant needed all hands on deck, even someone as worthless as Michalina.
She groaned, rubbing her eye with her clenched fist, the protector blade in her other hand. She felt like shit. Her breath smelled like vomit, her legs hurt from all the dancing last night, her throat was scratchy from all the shouting and her knees…
Well, let’s just say that the carpets in Dimosthenes’ room weren’t all that easy on her skin.
A little twinkle showed up and entered her ear. It felt weird every single time, and she shook her head instinctively, as if trying to get water out after bathing naked in the lake. The orders buzzed inside her ear, ‘You are to patrol the northern walls, report upon any disturbance, and remain alert throughout the night.’
Michalina sighed. She let her shoulders hang and shuffled her feet to the northern walls. She was alone out there, of course they wouldn’t give her a proper spot with some people to talk to, nooo, they had to send her far to the corner where it was dark and cold and lonely.
She made a face, that of being fed something bitter and nasty, like broccoli.
She waved her protector’s blade around, slashing the air for a few minutes, and she made funny fart sounds with her mouth. That went old very quickly.
She looked at the sunset, it would soon be pitch dark. There were some torches around, but the moon was already up and it would be a silver night. Easy to spot someone coming a kilometre away.
She could hear the indistinct talking of a bunch of people inside. There was music in there, drinks, food.
Drinks.
Dammit.
She had a serious case of FOMO.
But, she had her orders. And goddess be her witness, she could follow a simple order for a few hours.
The sun dipped below the mountains and stopped painting the sky in warm hues. She looked around, pretending to do her job for a whole minute. Yup, she could see the roads, the fields at the back, even all the way to the lake.
Michalina sighed, holding her sword upside down, the way you’re not supposed to. Goddess, this ordeal would be much easier to swallow if she had booze to wash it down.
She licked her lips. Yeah, what harm could it possibly do? She was in a non-important part of the security forces. The action was at the western gate, she knew that. The lieutenant would never assign her to a guard that was actually vital, she was just there to fill in the gap.
That meant…
That she could bail for a teensy-weensy moment to pop inside for a drink, right?
Right?
Michalina asked around at the empty walls. “Anyone here would mind if I popped inside to get a drink?”
No answer.
She chuckled. “I mean, a girl needs her drink, right?” She pressed her chin on her neck. “Right?”
No answer.
“No complaints, then. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Michalina went inside, made sure not to be spotted by any of the other guards and slipped to the side, behind the kitchen. She hit the cupboards, rifled around the stored stuff and…
A-ha!
This booze would do nicely. You know, keep her warm, help her finish her guard duty.
Damn right!
Michalina tiptoed outside, away from the party and the music and the people. “Northern walls, here I come,” she smiled to herself, the booze gurgling inside the bottle. It had a nice, green glow to it, like any strong stuff should.
Away from prying eyes she popped the cork open and took a long swig.
Ahh!
Good one, felt tingly down her throat and all the way into her loins. She shuddered for a moment, it was strong stuff indeed.
Excellent.
She hopped outside, following the stone corridors and finally turned to the top of the northern walls, where her post was. It had taken her what, five minutes? Six, at most.
What could possibly had happened in the most useless guard post of the night in those six minutes?
Okay, seven, tops.
She turned happily around the corner and immediately froze.
Booze in one hand, the protector’s blade in the other, the moonlight illuminating the scene and her glowing eyes locked upon the two men.
The very armed, very evil-looking, very human men.
End of part 1.
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