Barbaric Punishment

[lvan's POV]

I reached for the hunter closest to me, drawing his attention away from Arissa and towards myself.

By this point, there were a good dozen hunters circling her, and I needed to work fast before she

was overpowered.

Reaching around, I grabbed the hunter's neck and pulled, ripping his skin entirely and leaving him

to bleed out. Throwing him aside, I jumped forward onto the back of my next target just as the

group erupted into calls for battle.

From the middle of the circle, Arissa let out a cackle of joy and jumped up, landing easily on the

back of one of the hunters who was about to shoot a silver arrow at her. Opening her mouth, she

prepared to bite her victim's throat. However, what struck me as odd in that moment was the fact

that her canines were elongated.

If she had had a wolf and could shift, then that wouldn't have been so weird, but given the fact she

was wolfless, it left me asking questions.

"Pay attention!" Arissa purred, pulling me from my daze. "Otherwise, you're going to get yourself

killed, idiot.”

"Who are you calling an idiot?" I asked, twisting the hunter I was fightings arm behind his back and

snapping it. "I'd say that is you."

Shaking her head, Arissa bit down on her target's throat and yanked, then lifted a bloody smirk

towards me.

"Only idiots get distracted during battle.” She responded, jumping back to the ground and kicking

the now bleeding hunter forward.

"Isn't arguing with me distracting?" I asked, grabbing another hunter and snapping his neck.

"Not really." Arissa shrugged, dodging an arrow that had managed to be shot towards her and

giving a sweeping kick on the ground.

I watched with appreciation as three hunters fell from her attack, leaving them open for her to

pounce.

She once again moved with inhuman speed, running her canines along their necks as if she was

kissing them. Only instead of leaving lipstick or kiss marks behind, she left long gashes that exposed

their veins and muscles.

I had to give it to her. Arissa was a killing machine and she was becoming more and more of a

mystery to me. That mystery alone drew me to her like a moth to the flame, and I couldn't stop the

need to know more.

Deciding that now wasn't the time to be distracted, I shook off my curiosity and continued to attack.

Together, Arissa and I killed all the hunters, leaving only a whimpering Gisele alive in the room.

"Now, since that is done.” Arissa announced, wiping the blood from her face. "We should get back

to the questioning.”

"I think that can wait." I said, reaching out and touching Arissa’s shoulder. "Instead, we should do

something about these bodies.”

Arissa seemed to just realize that the area around us was riddled with mangled corpses, and a smile

begin to spread across her face.

"Can I cut them up and feed them to the fishes?"

"Fishes?" I repeated.

"Yeah, I saw a pond a little ways from here. There were some huge carps in there as well. Wouldn't it

be fun to watch them eat human flesh?

For a moment, I remained silent, trying to process what she was saying. From the neutral look in her

eyes, I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. However, something told me that she was.

"Let me get this straight,” I said slowly. "You want to chop these men up and feed them to some

fish? Are you serious? *

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked, giving me a look of confusion. "What else do you suggest we do?"

"Burn them." I responded easily.

During my past expeditions and battles, that was the main way we got rid of the enemies bodies.

We burned them in piles and then let their ashes blow away in the wind. It seemed to be the most

humane way.

"That's no fun.” Arissa pouted, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, causing them to perk up as

she let out a huff. "These assholes snuck into your area and you just want to burn them? Shouldn't

you make an example of them at least? " As she spoke, her eyes seemed to light up, and I knew that

she had managed to come up with another idea of how to deal with the dead. "We could strip them

of their skin and hang them out on stakes in front of the estate!"

Again, I was reminded of just how unique and possibly deranged Arissa was.

"We aren't living in medieval times anymore." I pointed out with a sigh.

"Fine," she pouted, clearly defeated. "Then you do it your boring way, old man."

The words "old" and "man" together hit like a knife against my skin, sending both irritation and pain

through me. She never missed an opportunity to take a hit at my age, did she?

"What was that?" I asked, taking a step towards her. It seemed that I truly needed to teach her that I

wasn't one to trifle with.

"II said nothing." She said quickly, backing up so fast she slammed into Gisele.

I watched in amusement as both women toppled to the ground.

"Careful." I called as Arissa glared at me from her place on top of Gisele’s body. "Or are you wanting

to play with her?"

Frowning, Arissa looked at Gisele’s pale face and then back to me, before jumping to her feet.

"Sorry, I don't like playing with dirty bitches.” She responded, grimacing in disgust. "Who knows

how many men she has fucked to get her way? Hell, she may even have a venarial disease that is

slowly killing her. *

I had to bite back my laugh at the look of fury that crossed Gisele's face from Arissa’s words.

"Good point.” I agreed. "I'll call my men to come and take her to the dungeon so that we can both

go wash."

"W-what?" Arissa gasped as I lifted her into my arms. "I DIDN'T AGREE TO THAT!"

"Too bad!" I laughed, beginning to move out of the room. "Consider this your punishment for

calling me an old man."