Realm Drifter: Cruel King

~Chapter Eleven~

Chapter Eleven; Nila

-

"You need to work harder!" Her spit hitting my face as she tackled me to the ground, her long black hair whipping around in the wind as it sat in a high ponytail on her head. 

"Faster!" She demanded, my leg swinging as I knocked her body to the ground. As quickly as I could, I launched myself at her body, pinning her to the ground before she even had time to stabilize herself. 

Nila's head suddenly whipped forward, cracking my nose as I howled in pain, my hands letting go of her arms, giving her just the chance to escape from under me.  

"Be ready at a moments notice for anything." Nila continued, flipping me on my back as I clutched my nose. I started to groan, my heads rolling back as I closed my eyes. However, my groan was cut short by Nila grasping my throat in her calloused hands. Her steel grey eyes staring deep into mine with a wicked grin.

"Dead." 

~

Nila was my mentor. She had taught me everything I knew, from stealth, combat to even tying ropes. She said- only once- that she saw herself in me. That she wished she had someone to teach her combat and defence before it happened. She never elaborated on what 'it' was, but I had heard rumours.

~

Nila, at the sweet, innocent age of mere sixteen, suffered the worst tragedy anyone could suffer. She lost her family and her best friend. 

She was home, late at night tucked in her bed. Her best friend curled next to her. Nila had woken up from a night terror, the constant dream replaying in her mind every night for a week. She was used to it, and by now, she had stopped screaming herself awake. 

Nila's one fear was the dark- or more rather, what could be in the dark. So, when she awoke at 2 am in the dark, she was scared. She laid under her sheet, her eyes held tightly together in fear that if she opened them, she would see someone or something staring right at her. She knew it wasn't rational, but she couldn't help it. She didn't even want to wake her friend in fear of being teased, so she laid, attempting to gather the courage to climb out of bed, and by the time she finally did, the clock had struck 2:30 am. Her mouth was as dry as a desert, she could feel her tongue shrivelling up in her mouth and could practically taste her bad breath. 

So, with a sigh, she slowly climbed out of bed, her eyes still held tightly together. It was as if she had thought 'If I can't see them, they can't see me.' It was silly to hold her eyes closed, but it gave her the courage to slowly climb to her feet. 

She hadn't even made it two steps when she tripped over an object, her hands quickly flying out and grasping the end of the bed to steady her body. 

'Dang it' She thought, and slowly opened her eyes, keeping them peered at her feet as she quickly bolted to the hallway, closing the door behind her before finally flicking the on the light. Nila let out a tense sigh, exhaling as she finally was 'safe' again. If only she knew that there were more things to be afraid of than monsters in her closet and demons who live near her bed. Unfortunately, as Nila closed her bedroom door, she sealed her fate best friends fate, her parent's fate and even her own. Because as Nila slipped into the kitchen to grab a drink, someone was slipping into her bedroom to enact revenge on Nila. 

Nila had broken up with her boyfriend, her possessive, controlling boyfriend for good. Earlier in the week, Nila and her boyfriend had gotten into a fight. Leroy- Nila's boyfriend- had gotten extremely jealous of Nila talking to another boy, so jealous in fact that he attacked the boy. When Nila had found her, she confronted Leroy... and he hit her. Nila instantly ended the relationship, and with that, Leroy got deadly. He threatened to hurt her and her family, he swore he would hurt everyone she loved and he even threatened to kill himself unless she stayed with him. Nila- her sweet soul- denied him, assuming his threats to be nothing but empty promises. 

But they weren't, and as Nila reached up for a glass, Leroy lifted his axe and swung down on the unsuspecting victim who laid in Nila's bed. Leroy had missed, his axe swinging and slicing into Hannah's arm, nearly severing the arm in half. Nila dropped the glass she held in her hand as an ear piercing scream rang out, she bolted to her room to find Leroy swing his axe, just in time for Nila to rushed into the room, watching in horror as Hannah's arm fell limp, her eyes staring dead into Nila's as the axe sliced through her head, blood pouring out of the gory wound. 

With a scream, Nila rushed from the room, banging on her parent's door as Leroy chased after her. One after the other, Leroy took down her parents as they opened their bedroom door. Leaving Nila screaming on the floor as police vehicles raced down the street. Leroy stood over Nila, his heart aching at the terrified look on his beloved's face. He couldn't kill her, but he wanted her to feel his pain. With that, he raised his axe and swung, the blade ripping pieces of skin off Nila's face.

When Nila awoke from the hospital weeks later, the trauma she had experienced putting her in an immediate coma, she discovered a thick, jagged scar that went from her jaw to the top of her forehead and down. Nila swore that day she would never let that happen again, she would learn and train for the rest of her days, and when she is ready, she will hunt Leroy down and make him pay. Make him suffer like he did to her, and worse.