Nesting 73 more sins upon her soul, Sako pulled her mask up to the bridge of her nose as the villagers trudged past their smoldering village and stood in a line behind her. Before they could show their gratitude, the princess halted them with her hand. She began to walk away without ever meeting their gaze. Every last one of them had an inkling of who she was, and it was for that reason that they said nothing more. With her pride on the line, they dared not insult the princess's wish to remain aloof from her people. It was a desire that was well known among the towns she protected.
To the left of the still-burning village, a small group of Westland soldiers from a nearby settlement arrived to escort the survivors to safety, almost certainly by Sako's order.
Giving their savior one last look, the villagers slowly turned away as they shivered and began to leave their home for good. Their thanks would never have reached Sako's ears had a voice not spoken up and broken the rules by which they were to abide.
"T-thank you! Princess!" someone said through the howling Northern winds.
Sako peered back and saw the same little girl she had saved. The kid stood on her sprained ankle, rosy-cheeked and beaming, as she clasped her teddy bear with one hand and waved with the other. Unburdened by the perplexing concept of pride, the kid audaciously broke the rules to thank her hero, her savior.
The other adults and children all looked at each other in hesitation at first, but as the gratitude of the single naive kid infected them, they too began to cheer and thank the one who had saved them at the top of their lungs. The unspoken rule of not thanking her had already been broken, so they figured, in tandem, that they had nothing to lose. After all, they had their own pride on the line and desired nothing more than to express the feelings welling up in their souls.
As Sako's figure trudged into the blizzard northward across the border, she raised her hand. She gave a swift wave to her people and then faded in a flurry of snow. Though no one could see the expression hidden by the mask covering her face, one could tell by her eyes that she was content.
…
On top of a high hill not tall enough to be a mountain, Sako sat before a fire surrounded by pine trees and thorny brush. The cones of prickly needles bent and blew all around, wailing as their frosty wood creaked at the winds' beckoned call. She knew the harsh blizzard would conceal the smoke from the fire, and she could rest easy, despite running headfirst into the Northland's hostile territory only several hours after their declaration of war.
She pulled some rock-hard bread from her pocket and carefully broke pieces of its crust off with her molars, swallowing each bit with snow melted over the fire. After eating half of the small loaf, she then took out a small packet of sugar and mixed it in a metal mug of hot water. She drank it all, ensuring not to spill an ounce of precious fuel. In such an environment, every crumb mattered because it took an immense amount of energy just to keep the body warm enough to survive.
Very few Westlanders could survive in such climates, but Sako was different. Her body was strong, and she had a duty to fulfill: protect her land from all that could harm it. Even if it meant felling the entire Northland kingdom, she would follow through on the one-sided promise she made to her mother until she met her in heaven, or fell all the way to hell from the weight of her sins.
Sako sat there silently, waiting for the storm to pass. She was tracking someone, but didn't have a chance to move far in such conditions. When one's footprints were erased every second, following unseen was impossible, even for her. But she had to do something. She knew when she saw that man crossing the border, nothing good would follow. She began scouting the line between North and West when she caught sight of the Jotnar battalion with warriors intent on war. It was then that her fears were confirmed, and she realized the North would remain neutral no longer. In turn, she could only infiltrate the Northlands by herself and hope to find the one she was looking for amidst the chaos. She needed more information, and she needed it fast.
Of course, now that she had made her presence known to Beowulf's armies by slaying a battalion of Jotnar, she knew that she would soon be targeted. Leaving none of them alive would give her some time, but it wouldn't be long before a reconnaissance squad of sorts would find the giant bodies and attribute it back to her. After that, she could expect assassins to attack her relentlessly, as well as everyone she held dear. Lucky for her, the only one she truly cared for was her father, Arthur, and she knew well that he wouldn't die so easily.
Wooshhh. With her keen ears, she heard the slight rustling of bushes behind. Rustling not caused by the wind. It was a subtle difference in tonality, but something she had been trained to recognize. Before even a second passed, Sako already had her rifle drawn and flew in front of the sound's cause. Sako pressed it to the assailant's head, finger ready to pull the trigger in less than a second.
"Don't shoot! It's Me! Red!" a voice shouted as the woman emerged, raising her arms to the sky. Realizing who it was, Sako lowered her weapon and walked back to the fire without a word. The young woman shivered in her aviator jacket and thick trousers as she also ran up to the warmth of the fire.
She was Red, Sako's appointed knight, and she hailed straight from the capital. With a standard shortsword sheathed in the hilt on her hip, the woman was much taller than the short-statured princess, and held brown hair that was much longer as well.
"Sako, you can't just go running off like that," Red said, putting her hands to the fire and rubbing them together. Sako ignored her and kept staring at her reflection in the bubbling pot of water.
"You've got to return to Titania in the fairy village," Red continued. Sako shook her head and pointed North. Jötunheimr, the Northland capital, was where his enemies lay.
"I understand that Lionel's passage north is concerning, but we've got an even bigger issue now," Red said. "A strange man arrived in the village the other day, screaming some nonsense. We quickly captured him, and when he finally calmed down, he told us a shocking bit of news. We didn't believe him at first, so we looked into it, and it turned out to be true. It would also explain that dream we all had."
Sako continued looking into the flames without a reaction.
"A god was killed," Red said. As soon as those words left her mouth, Sako grabbed her by her collar and threw her to the ground. Only by a hair's breadth did a poison-tipped arrow shot at Red miss as it whizzed by, silenced by the wind.
Whipping her rifle from her back in one swift movement, Sako had already shot, and a body fell from one of the trees. When Sako walked up to inspect the body, she realized it wasn't of Northland origin, but instead held a familiar tattoo on the neck: a crescent moon. This moon was always small and often covered, so few knew what it was or that it even existed. Those who did know recognized it as the crest of the Agents of Darkness. Sako glanced around precariously, looking for any other assassins lurking in the trees. She then looked back at Red with anticipatory eyes.
"Not long after the god fell, the capital began to rebel," Red said. "Arthur is losing support fast. If you head North now, Beowulf's armies could march across the border and take the Westlands. We can't make any rash decisions until we have a plan. We must return ot Titania immediately."
Sako nodded, then threw snow on the fire, quickly packing up her things. Though she knew answers likely existed further north, they would be useless if the kingdom fell in her absence. She beckoned Red with her hand as she began to walk once more through the blizzard towards the fabled village hidden from humanity, the gods, and time itself. To the village of the fairies, a race that shouldn't have existed anymore.