Dirty Deeds (18+)

There was a heavy, wet ‘slap’ as the head of the werewolf connected with the muddy ground, which was slippery and moist due to the recent rainfall that had been falling over the village. All around ponies stood, slack jawed and eyes wide as they stared down at the severed beasts head and the little stump of neck that hung from it, which was drained of and dried completely of blood. Then, their gaze shifted upwards towards the witcher, brave and bold, who slaughtered this vile creature. Not a word was muttered, until the studded gauntlet was shoved forward, beckoning for his reward. “Cough up the coin.” He ordered calmly, yet sternly, as if warning the one who had hired him not to pull any funny business. Getting cheated out of pay was one of the quickest ways to really piss off the witcher, and it had happened one too many times already throughout his decades of life. Thankfully, he got his coin. He was paid in full, no problems. He slipped the coin away into a pouch at his side and bid farewell to the one who hired him, before he turned to walk away, but was suddenly stopped by a blonde named mare stepping in front of him. The mare bit her lip, staring up at the stallion that towered over her, before she’d lean in, her face inches from his as she quietly whispered to him. “Come with me...” She stepped away from the witcher and off the muddy main path that slithered through the village. She stepped up the creaking wooden steps of her porch and walked towards her front door, stopping just before she entered to cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure the monster hunter was following. Hesitantly, he did so, not quite sure what this was all about. Surely something, judging by the distressed look in the mares eyes. He followed her inside her home, where she shut the door behind him with a soft click. He was greeted by quite the little place. Not very big or luxurious, but he didn’t expect such a thing. Judging by her old, tattered clothing, she wasn’t a very wealthy mare with extra coin to spend on things like that. There was little paintings setup within the house, along with plants and flowers. One painting in particular caught the Witcher’s attention. It was a poorly done picture of a two ponies. A mare and a child, and the mare just so happened to look exactly like the one standing in front of him. The page was old and somewhat wrinkled, and had likely been hung up on that wall for years... “I need your help.” The witcher shifted his gaze back towards the mare, straightening himself up a bit as he spoke. “With what? Need another monster killed?” She shook her head, tears beginning to fill her eyes as she quickly lifted a hoof to wipe her eyes. Doing so, the sleeve of her top rolled down a bit, revealing just the slightest glimpse of a purple bruise. “The guards in this village... They aren’t what they seem. They may seem like decent ponies, but I promise you, they’re not. They’re anything but!” She swallowed hard, doing her best to compose herself as the witcher stood in silence, watching her closely as she let out a shaky sigh and forced back any tears that threatened to fall. “I.... I was caught trying to steal. There was a necklace being sold in the market, and my daughter had said how pretty it was when she saw it.” A weak little smile forced itself onto her face, a lump in her throat choking her and rendering her unable to speak for a few seconds before she finally swallowed hard and continued. “She’s growing up. Haven’t been able to get her a damn gift her whole life, so I thought... I thought I’d get it for her, and when I could, pay it all back. I was caught by the guard, and they beat me senseless.” Her voice trailed off into a whisper, but quickly rose when she noticed the witcher becoming visibly uninterested in the thief’s sob story. “They said they had to teach me a lesson, so.. They took my precious little girl from me to their barracks. I went for a knife to stop them, and they just... Beat me all over again.” A single tear quickly fell down her cheek, but she was just as quick to wipe it away and mutter out her next words as she presented the witcher with a sack of coin. “I want you to kill them all...” The witcher stared down at the coin she offered, while the words she said echoed within his head. He was the perfect choice. Why hire some shoddy assassin, when you could hire a witcher, who was professionally trained to kill far greater creatures than ponies? This wasn’t his first offer to work as an assassin, and it likely wouldn’t be his last. Regardless, not once had he accepted one of those jobs. Shaking his head, Loki stepped away, moving for the door. “I’m not an assassin. Find someone else.” He reached for the door, but was quickly rugged away by the mare, who reached up and gripped his collar tightly, hissing out in his face in a toxic combination of rage, sadness and despair. “Please! I need my daughter back! If this isn’t dealt with soon, she might...” The witcher gripped her hooves firmly, yanking them away from him before he’d pull open the door, a harsh and cold look within his golden eyes. “I said to keep looking.” He pressed her sack of coin to her chest before he turned and began down the few little wooden steps and away from the house, with the mare screaming out and punching him as many times as she could before he got out of reach. “I need you, you son of a bitch! I need you to get her back!” The witcher didn’t even look back at the mare. A crowd was staring at both him and the mare in confusion, watching as the monster slayer stormed off while the mare had a breakdown on her porch. He didn’t stop or slow down, but what she said couldn’t escape his mind, no matter how hard he tried to force the guilt down. These thoughts built and built, and before he knew it, he was heading straight towards the guards barracks. The barracks were positioned on the edge of one side of town, and were surrounded by tall fencing and a little tower beside the main gate. Up in the tower stood a guard, crossbow in his hooves as he stared down at the witcher who approached. “Hey! Freak! What’re you doing here? The brothel is that way!” The guard hollered down, confused as to why the witcher was coming here of all places. Loki said nothing, at least not for a few seconds as he stopped just below the guard, staring up towards him. Lifting a hoof, he did a gesture and cast Axii to infiltrate the soldiers mind. “You’re going to open this gate. Then, you’re going to turn that crossbow on yourself and put a bolt through your eyes.” The guards eyes became clouded, his facial expression becoming dull and blank as he began to mindlessly climb down the ladder towards the ground after acknowledging the Witcher’s orders. Loki could hear the sound of the gate being unlocked, and once it was, he shoved past the guard and approached the building where the guards were housed. Behind him, he heard the ‘snap’ of a crossbow string, then the heavy metallic thud of an armoured body hitting the floor. He approached the door and lifted his hoof, giving it a firm knock. Then, he listened. He listened and waited, focusing his senses as he listened in on the various heartbeats of those inside, getting a headcount and noting their positions. One was approaching the door to open it, but as he got close, Loki lifted a hoof and thrust it forward aggressively, casting Aard. A strong telekinetic blast was shot from his hoof, strong enough to shatter the wooden door into numerous chunks and splinters, which acted like shrapnel and embedded themselves into the exposed flesh of the guard closest to the door, primarily the face and throat. The moment the door was off its hinges, Loki stormed the room with speed, aggression and brilliant precision. He drew a dagger from his hip and launched it across the room, where it found its mark in the side of a guards neck who sat at a table playing cards with a few others. Utilizing his speed, Loki had drawn his steel blade and sliced down two more of the nearest guards before the knife even connected. All three bodies hit the floor at the same time, and the rest scrambled to fetch their weapons to fight off the witcher, who moved so fast he appeared as a blur as he ran towards them. The loud screech of steel was heard as weapons clashed, followed up by the yelps and hollers of agony as they were butchered, the Witcher’s steel piercing organs or arteries. Within a matter of seconds, the room was filled with bleeding corpses missing limbs and heads. The final one stood, sword in hand and eyes wide as he stared Loki down. “Why?!” Loki aimed a vicious overhead strike downwards, which the guard responded to by lifting his blade horizontally to block. The witcher overpowered him with ease, their blades biting into one another and locking as the mutant shoved him backwards towards the wall. The guard cried out as his back hit the wall, then again as the witcher began to push the guards very own blade down towards his throat, overpowering his block completely. With one more firm push, the guards blade pressed into his own throat and spilled blood. Loki pulled away and let the guard slide down to the floor, where a fountain of crimson began to flow down his torso and form a pool beneath him. He stared up at the witcher in shock, unable to mutter our anymore words as his life slipped away, leaving just the witcher alive in the room. The stench of death and blood was overwhelming, but not to Loki. That stench was something he had gotten used to by now. Slowly, he’d wipe off his steel blade and sheath it before he’d approach a door leading towards another room. He opened it and stepped inside, where he found a young adult mare huddled in a corner, sobbing softly. He instantly sniffed the air and was relieved when he didn’t smell anything... Off. He stepped inside and moved towards the young mare, who shook in fear. Ever so gently, Loki pulled her into his chest and hugged her tightly. It took a few long seconds before she’d begin to ease and realize he wasn’t there to hurt her. “They were going to hurt me..” A soft whisper came from her, and Loki’s only immediate response was to gently squeeze her. He let out a sigh and shook his head slowly, before he’d finally speak up. “Come on. Keep your eyes shut.” Fearing what she’d see, she followed the Witcher’s instructions and did so, clenching her eyes shut as he took her hoof and guided her through the chaos in the other room, and out of the building and onto the streets. He escorted her back to her home, stopping just outside. Loki would reach into his pocket and pull out a bag of coin. All the coin he had earned on his previous hunt. He offered it to the young mare before he said. “Take it, and give it to your mother.” The young mare took the coin, glancing up at the witcher before quickly nodding her head and running off. She pounded on the front door, and when it finally open, she flung herself into her mothers arms. Immediately, tears were falling. The mother clutched her child to her chest and peered past her to see the witcher turning his back to her and walking off to continue his journey on the path.