Horseshoe's Tall Tale

"Ursula, Queen of the Mire Beasts."

Chapter four: Ursula, Queen of the Mire Beasts.

  Ursula remained knelt down in the snow for some time, the sight of her father’s last few moments alive continued to flash repeatedly inside of her head. All she could do at that moment was cry the intense pain away. She clenched her fists in the snow, which turned red from her blood stained hands. Her head felt dizzy, and her stomach churned around in uneasy mixture of anxiety and pain.
“You there, you are the blacksmith’s daughter are you not?” Asked Leonard Andrews, the lead officer of the village. “Ursula is it? Are you alright, are you hurt?" He walked up to the young girl who was at the moment enveloped by her tremendous emotional hurt. Leonard stood over her, at seven feet tall he was an intimidating sight. An accomplished fighter in his own right, he was the brawn of the village officials, and the elder’s right hand man. Leonard’s words brought Ursula’s mind back to the cold reality of the present situation. The village Ironwill lay in ruins, many buildings and dwellings were burned, or still burning, down to their foundations. It’s residents' lives torn and strewn like debris over the snow covered ground. The village elder, Marshall Hallows lay dead, all due to the mire beast’s sudden and brutal attack on the village. Ursula sniffed, and wiped her eyes of tears, she did not wish to let Leonard see her crying. Once again, she put up her brave confident exterior. The weak scared girl that had been crying her eyes out in the snow, retreated back behind the barrier that was her fortress. Her inner armor that shielded her heart from the emotional daggers of life in this harsh environment.
“I’m fine sir. I feel fine.” She said in a stoic and almost emotionless tone. Ursula began to rise back to her feet, but the painful struggle to move her muscles was obvious. She winced ever so slightly as she attempted to place weight onto her left leg. The bones blow her knee had obviously taken damage from her fights against the mire beasts. Ursula stumbled just a bit, but Leonard quickly moved in to keep her from falling.
“You are hurt, let me take you to Doctor Feller. We are taking all injured people to a safe place to administer treatments.” Ursula pulled away from his grasp, she didn’t want his help.
“I told you, I’m fine. I don’t have time to sit around being stitched up anyways.” The brave young girl began walking away, she dragged her sword behind her as she went.
“Where are you going?” Leonard asked her as she marched slowly away from him.
“I’m going to bury my father.” She replied.
  In the cold chill of the bleak wintry night, Ursula stood alone by the makeshift tombstone she had crafted to mark her father’s final resting place. It was here, in the village graveyard of fallen loved ones, Ursula said her final goodbyes to the man she loved so much. She thought back on her life and regretted not telling her father how much he meant to her. It wasn’t the warrior’s way she had felt, to show the weakness that was telling someone you loved them. She was always so stubborn, never willing to let down her defenses enough to show affection towards him. But, it wasn’t because she didn’t care, quite the contrary, she cared very much for him. He was her father, and the only person she had truly loved. She knelt down by his grave and bowed her head.
“Goodbye father.” She began slowly. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I tried, but I failed you. I’m sorry for being such a disobedient daughter. For not listening to you and always making you worry about me. But most of all, I’m sorry that I never told you how I felt about you till it was too late, until I was faced with the prospect of losing you forever. I love you father, I always did and I always will. I promise to honor your memory, and to live my live in such a way as to always make you proud of me. May you rest in peace forever under the beautiful stars of the heavens.” With these finals words she leaned forward and kissed her father’s tombstone. She then stood up and saluted in true warrior fashion.
“What now?” A voice came from behind her. She didn’t turn around, she recognized the voice as Leonard Andrews‘.
“Now I make them pay, Mr. Andrews. Now I return to them what they did to me.” She replied.
“You know I can not allow you to go out into the forest right now, it’s far too dangerous.” Leonard said. Ursula turned around and began walking towards him.
“The only danger I see, is too those disgusting monsters when I find them. And as far as you not allowing me to go, Id just like to see you try and stop me.” She said confidently. Ursula walked up and stood right in front of Leonard. The sight of the three and a half foot tall warrior standing toe to toe with the seven foot tall Leonard Andrews, was an odd one to say the least. Despite the difference in their height, Ursula was not the least bit intimidated. On the contrary, the girl stood her ground and was not about to let anyone get in her way. Leonard saw her eyes, and the determination behind them.
“I see, well I have no desire to fight with you over this matter. If you wish so much to do this, then I wont stand in your way. But I ask that you go along with me, and together we will bring justice to the ones responsible for this.” Ursula turned away from Leonard, and began to walk back towards the village.
“No, I’m going alone.” She said to him as she walked away.
“That’s crazy. you cannot do this by yourself, it’s suicide.” He yelled at her, but she kept on walking. “This wont bring your father back!” When she heard this, Ursula stopped in her tracks. She turned back towards Leonard.
“No, it wont.” She said. “But, it’s all I can do. They have come to our home and terrorized our people, now I will go and show them what true fear feels like. And I must go alone, because I don’t wish to have anyone else hurt by these things. Besides, you are needed here to ensure the safety of the survivors. Please don‘t worry about me, I promise you I will be fine.” With that said, Ursula marched off.
  Ursula traveled through the forest on foot, following the tracks left by the wounded mire beast as it fled. It’s blood sprinkled over the snowy ground like a trail of bread crumbs leading her right back towards the beast’s camp. But on top of the visual evidence left by the mire beast, it’s smell was also present wherever it had been. Occasionally, Ursula would stop and sniff the air. From the smell she could tell not only if the beast had been there, but how long ago. The night was slowly turning into early morning, but Ursula had no plans on stopping to rest. Her resolve was absolute, she would not rest until she had completed her mission. The pain in her leg continued to keep her senses keen and aware of her surroundings. The pain was also a constant reminder of what had happened, and why she must keep going. After some time of walking, Ursula spotted something out of the ordinary. A vague shape moving about under the eerie glow of the moon and stars. Ursula approached it, to find it was Commander White’s horse wandering alone out in the forest. The horse seemed to recognize Ursula, and whined out to her. But as she began to get closer to it, the horse turned and began walking away from her. She followed after it, and soon Ursula found what the horse was leading her too. There in the snow, lay Commander White. His body torn and bloodied by a savage attack. Though she could see where scavengers had began to devour the corpse, she knew this wasn’t an attack of some hungry animal. The tell tale signs of huge claw marks around the soldier’s neck and chest, told Ursula all she needed to know about what killed him. Ursula remembered that Commander White did not leave with the raiding party, but instead followed after them later that day. His handicap from his hangover no doubt left him vulnerable to a surprise attack by a mire beast.
“You fool…” Ursula spoke to the remains of the commander. “Your arrogance was your undoing. You ventured into a fight with no respect towards what you were fighting, and under the influence of you own poor judgment.” As she stood over the body, the commander’s horse approached her. It bowed it’s head and nudged it’s snout against her arm.
“There, there girl, I’m sorry for your loss.” Ursula said, as she stroked the horse’s nose. “But don’t you worry, I’m going to take care of you.” She looked up at the sky, and could tell dawn would soon come. “We have to hurry along before we lose the cover of night. Are you ready to go girl?” Ursula grabbed hold of the reigns of the horse, and then placed her foot on the stirrup. With a mighty bound, she managed to launch herself up and unto the saddle of the horse.
“Whew! I think I’m going to have to attach a ladder to you.” She joked. “Now, lets see if I do better this time around eh, girl.” Ursula gently pulled on the horse’s reigns, which started it in a steady stride. With some practice, she managed to guide the horse in the direction she wished to go. Again she snapped gently on the reigns to start the horse to galloping. With much haste, Ursula rode through the forest in pursuit of her prey. Once she had reacquired the mire beast’s scent, she quickly followed it until she could see an obvious clearing in the trees ahead. She came to a hill and looked down with satisfaction at the sight of a large camp recessed along side a mountain cliff. Also positioned on the cliff wall, was a cave, which rested higher above the ground connected by a makeshift set of stairs descending into the camp. From this vantage point, Ursula could see most every part of the camp, there were numerous huts of different sizes, and campfires surrounded by mire beasts devouring meals. She witnessed patrols of mire beasts roaming the exterior and interior of the camp. But by far the most disturbing sight was inside a large cage constructed of wood and rope. There, within the confines of that crudely built prison, was the members of the ill-fated raiding party. This discovery complicated things quite considerably. This was no longer a mission of simply destroying the mire beast’s camp. This was now a rescue mission, and required a great deal more subtlety then Ursula wished to have used. She now had to worry about the safety of the prisoners. She could not simply barge in, or they might execute them before she could intervene. Quickly, she attempted to come up with a plan to sneak in without being noticed. Then she could release the raiding party members so they would not be defenseless against their captors. One thing she knew was that she not only had to fool her enemies eyes, but also their noses. If she entered into their camp, they’d surely smell an intruder and be alerted to her presence. Somehow she had to cloak her scent, or mask it with one of their own. Her eyes darted over the scenery, until she found something that might aid her. There along side one of the massive camp walls constructed of thick tree trunks, Ursula saw a canal cut into the ground leading under the camp. The canal deposited into a sort of ravine that led away from the camp. It was a sewer pipe. Ursula couldn’t believe her eyes. How these animals had evolved and organized into something resembling an early civilization was quite beyond her. But, despite the many questions about how these creatures came so far in so little time, Ursula had no doubts about what had to be done. From this point on, Ursula decided she had to go on foot. She hopped off of the commander’s horse and led it over to a nearby tree.
“I’m sorry I can’t bring you with me, but It’s going to be much too dangerous in there.” She tied the reigns to the tree before giving the horse a reassuring pat on the nose. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Ursula then proceeded down the side of the hill and on towards the mire camp. She successfully traversed the grounds to the camp undetected, and then over to the sewer canal she had seen before. The smell coming from inside the canal was atrocious. One sniff and Ursula’s stomach turned.
“Ugh.. That’s awful.” She proclaimed as she stared into the darkness of the canal. But despite the disgusting prospect of what she was about to do, Ursula knew it was the only way.
“Father was sure right when he said that being a warrior wouldn’t be glamorous.” She took a deep breath, and then crawled inside the canal. Once again, her small size was to her advantage. The circumference of the canal was quite minimal, and she barely had enough room to squeeze through. She continued to crawl through this tunnel of hell, in complete darkness. Her body scraped along the sides of the crudely built shaft for what seemed to her like an eternity. Soon she saw a welcome sight, a ray of light cutting through the pitch black. It came from a hole in the top of the canal. She peeked her head out of the canal, and found she was now inside the camp. She released her breath and gagged from the smell around her. The hole to the surface was smaller than the canal itself, so in order for her to get out she had to squeeze herself through the small opening. Once out of the hole, she retreated behind a nearby hut and collapsed unto the ground. She was covered in all kinds of filth, and as she had planned, smelled just as awful as the mire beasts. From behind the hut, Ursula was well concealed from the major activity of the camp. She peeked her head out from around the corner, and watched as the monsters continued on about their business’s with no idea she was there. She looked on ahead and saw her next objective, the cage containing her allies. There was quite a distance between where she was and where the raid members were being held captive. She would have to move fast and carefully if she was to get there undetected. She saw a hut close by that was raised off the ground by supports due to an uneven foundation. Ursula recognized this as opportune cover for her approach. Her timing had to be perfect though, she wouldn’t get a second chance. When she saw her window, Ursula made a mad dash towards the hut, and at the last moment slid feet first under it. She then realized her sword had come lose from under her belt. Looking back, she saw it laying incriminatingly atop the snow out in the open. Without hesitation, she reached out and grabbed it, pulling it back under the hut just moments before a patrol of mire beasts turned the corner towards her. Ursula remained perfectly still as the patrol came close to where she was hiding. One of them stopped and sniffed the air, and for a moment it looked as though her cover had been blown. But the mire beast turned towards it’s partner and pushed it away. It waved it’s hand in front of it’s snout and growled unhappily. The other beast growled back before walking away in a different direction. The remaining beast stood and sniffed the air again. It then turned it’s nose on itself, smelling under its arms. After a moment of inspection, the lone mire beast wandered away and Ursula was once again safe in her hiding spot. She now turned her attention back towards the cage. It wasn’t that far away now, but that wasn’t the problem. Alongside the cage, were two mire beasts standing guard over it. She mulled over her options, and came to the conclusion that her best bet at this point was a full frontal attack on these two guards. If she could take them down fast enough, she could free the men before help arrived. It wasn’t going to be easy, but Ursula enjoyed the challenge. Besides, she hated all this sneaking around, it wasn’t her style. She readied her sword in her hand, and was just about to charge in when a loud noise stopped her cold. The sound was of a horn being trumpeted in the camp. She turned to see where it had came from, and saw a gathering of beasts along the base of stairs leading up into the cave in the cliff side. One of which she recognized as the injured beast she had followed here. It was being held up on either side by two large mire beasts covered in bone jewelry. Ursula looked back at the two guards at the cage, and saw that they too took notice of this summoning. Both of them left their post and began walking towards the crowd that was forming. Once both of the lumbering behemoths had moved away, Ursula dashed out from under her hiding space. In a flash, she arrived at the cage. The bars of the prison were spaced close enough that the men inside could not fit through, but Ursula’s slim figure easily maneuvered through them. So quiet was her approach and entrance into the cage, that the men inside were not even aware of her presence. The whole camp was dark, save for torches that were sparingly placed in various locations. The inside of the cage was in shadows except for tiny dim strips of light that managed to shine in through the bars. All of the men inside of the cage were stripped of their weapons and armor, they sat in their underclothes with their arms and legs bound by rope. It seemed to Ursula that they were all very weak, possibly from malnourishment or injuries they had sustained fighting their captors. Ursula moved quietly towards Ace Talon, who rested up against one side of the prison. As she approached, his eyes shot open, and his enormous nose twitched on his broad face.
“Bloody hell, where is that smell coming from!” He growled. Ace looked over at Lieutenant Williamson, who was sleeping nearby him. With a quick kick from Ace’s foot, the lieutenant woke up.
“Wh… What happened?” Williamson said in his groggy state.
“This place is bad enough without you stinking it up with your foul odors.” Ace barked his disgust.
“You should talk, you flea riddled old codger. When was the last time you took a bath?” Williamson replied. Ace sneered.
“Why you… if I could get out of these blasted ropes…” He stammered.
“Now now, if you boys don’t play nice I won’t untie you.” Ursula’s voice emanated from the darkness.
“What in blazes! Who said that?” Ace said as he looked around to try and find the source of the voice. Ursula slapped her hand over Ace’s mouth to quiet his loud voice.
“Be quiet, it’s me Ursula. I’m here to rescue you all.” Lieutenant Williamson’s face perked up, his mouth arched up in a relieved smile.
“Ursula, what a magnificent sight.” He chuckled. “You continue to surprise me, well played my friend.”
“Thank you lieutenant, but we are far from out of the woods so to speak.” Ursula whispered. Ace muttered loudly in protest, his voice muted slightly by Ursula’s hand.
“Be quiet, or I will shut you up myself.” She threatened. “We have a chance to catch these beast’s off guard while their attention is focused away from us. But that will be shot, if your loud mouth alerts them to my presence. Begrudgingly, Ace quieted down allowing Ursula to remove her hand from his mouth.
“Now, I’m going to untie you all, but we don’t attack until I say so. Do you know where they took your weapons and armor?”
“From what I saw, they took most of the stuff into that large eastern hut on the far side.” Williamson said softly, gesturing the direction with his head.
“Okay, Here’s the plan. Once I untie you, I will charge into that group of beasts to get their attention. You guys should rush that hut and equip whatever you need to protect yourselves.” Ursula pulled her sword out and began to cut through the thick rope holding Ace’s arms.
“That’s ridiculous, those things will eat you alive in seconds without us there to help you.” Ace scoffed. Ursula looked up at him with a stone cold gaze of resoluteness.
“It’s time you saw what I’m capable of, when you do you’ll be eating those words.” She said. Ursula returned to trying to undo Ace’s restraints. She was suddenly interrupted by Williamson calling her name.
“Ursula, look.” He motioned for her to look to the north, in the direction of the beast gathering. She turned and saw what he was referring to. From out of the cave, perched atop the staircase, came a large figure. It was a humongous mire beast adorned with bone armor over it’s mangy light gray fur. Ursula guessed it’s size to be over ten feet tall. It’s size and seemingly higher status among the other mire beasts, led Ursula to conclude that this might be the alpha-male of the camp. It’s face, though striped with two rows of razor sharp teeth, looked more reserved and intelligent. A patch of black fur covered it’s left eye giving it the look of a bruised black-eye. The monstrous figure stood atop the staircase leading down into the camp and surveyed the surroundings. What happened next shocked Ursula, and the rest of the men in the cage. The mire beast alpha-male began to speak.
“Hello my sons, for what reason have I been risen from my slumber?” It asked. Ursula looked on in disbelief. The beast spoke effortlessly, and in such an intellectual manner. One of the beasts at the bottom of the stairs grunted out a line of senseless noises as he pointed towards the injured beast. The alpha-male reacted to this grunting with a knowing nod of it’s mighty head.
“So, am I to believe that the humans fought off our attack, and killed all but one of our warriors?”
The injured mire beast grunted weakly as if to reply to what the alpha-male had said. The gathering of mire beasts all reacted in shock and disbelief to whatever it was that this beast had said. The alpha-male raised it’s arms in the air.
“Silence.” It demanded. It then gazed it’s eyes down at the injured mire beast. “You mean to tell me it was one human that did this, and this human was just a mere child?” It raised it’s voice on the last part. The injured beast lowered it’s head as if to be ashamed of itself. The alpha-male motioned to the two mire beasts holding up the incapacitated beast warrior.
“Bring him to me!” It bellowed. The two beasts began to ascend up the staircase carrying the injured mire beast with them. The silence was almost deafening, as they made their way up. A feeling off tension hung in the air like a breath waiting to be released. Once the two had reached the top, the alpha-male motioned for them to drop him. They did as they were told and they dropped the wounded beast to the ground in front of the alpha-male’s feet. It then held it’s hand out to one of the mire beasts, which handed it’s weapon to it. The weapon consisted of a long stick of wood sharpened on both ends to a lethal point. It was decorated on both ends with ribbons in a tribal style.
“We are warriors and fighters!” The enormous alpha-male spoke. “Our fighting is without equal, we will not be stopped by puny humans. Especially not children of humans. ”We will not be weakened by inferior warriors such as this one. We are like a single body, and as such we are only as strong as our weakest part.” it raised the weapon high in the air, and plunged it down into the injured beast’s back. The stick pierced through it’s torso and erupted out of the poor monster’s chest. The mire beast coughed and gagged out blood before finally falling limp impaled on the weapon. The alpha-male removed the stick viciously from out of the dead beast’s body, and it landed with a thud on the ground.
“With this kill, I strengthen our army. I extinguish the unworthy part and discard it.” The alpha-male yelled as he held the double bladed staff in the air. The gathering of mire beasts down below cheered their approval of their leaders words.
“Savages.” Ursula muttered to herself, having witnessed this disturbing sight. She turned back towards her fellow soldiers still held captive by ropes in the cage. “It’s time, we have to stop this now.” Ursula returned back to Ace’s restraints, and quickly removed the layers of ropes. Once he was free, Ursula turned to face Williamson. But before she could do anything, she was struck by a quick blow to the face. The strike came so sudden and without warning, it gave Ursula no chance to prepare herself. She stumbled forward a few steps, before falling to the ground unconscious.
“That’ll teach ya’. You little brat.” Ace snarled.
“What the hell is wrong with you Ace?” Williamson said as he reacted to what had just happened.
“The girl had it coming. She will be safe here in the cell while we dispense of these damn animals. If I had let her attack those things she would have died, so you should be thanking me for saving her pitiful life.” Ace got himself up, and moved to undue the lieutenant’s restraints.
“You’ll regret doing that, wait and see.” Williamson said angrily. “That girl is much stronger than you think.” Ace laughed.
“She is just a child with a mouth two times as big as herself. She is going to get herself seriously hurt if she keeps pretending to be a warrior.” In short order, Ace had released all of the men in the cage, and soon stood readied to cut the rope holding the prison door shut. With Ursula’s sword in his hand, Ace cut through the layers of rope, and the door swung free. The cheering mire beasts were too preoccupied to notice the men in the cage pouring out and running towards the hut where their weapons were confiscated to. But the alpha-male high above saw this and shouted out.
“The prisoners, you fools left them unguarded. Quickly capture them, they are to be sacrificed!” The mire beasts down below headed their leader’s instructions, they moved to surround the hut that the men were rapidly raiding for their weapons and armor. Ace tossed on his chest guard and gauntlets, wielding Ursula’s sword he came out of the hut to meet the battle head on. Ace was followed swiftly by Lieutenant Williamson and the other six militia defenders. The two forces clashed right outside the hut, with the militia attempting to drive back the waves of mire beasts. They were massively out numbered though, and the fighting was fierce. Very soon, two of the defenders had been struck down by the sheer magnitude of the beasts attacks. Ace and Lieutenant Williamson were able to hold their ground, but not by much. With every beast they managed to fall, two more would charge in to replace it. It was only a matter of time before the men would be worn down, the tide of the battle had to turn and it had to turn now. Williamson made a lunging effort to break through a group of beasts that were surrounding him. Once free of them, he began to rush towards the alpha-male itself. The way he figured it, if he could down the armies leader, it would give them the edge they needed to overcome the odds against them. The alpha-male watched from up top the stairs and laughed.
“So, little human warrior, you wish to challenge me?” It erupted in laughter, mocking the lieutenants efforts. The two mire beast champions that stood guard over the staircase thrust their weapons at the charging lieutenant. He slid in between them sweeping his sword in front of himself. His sweeping strike struck both of the beasts ankles and sent them to the ground roaring in agony. He stood up behind them and stuck his sword through one of the beast’s backs. The other managed to get to it’s feet and staggered towards Williamson. He swung his sword out of his victim and stabbed it forward towards the approaching champion. The beast parried the lieutenant’s attack, countering by swinging the other end of it’s staff across Williamson’s face. He fell sideways and rolled along the ground, losing his sword in the process. Quickly, he recovered his footing, and stood up weaponless to the champion. The beast roared and began to charge, Williamson had to think fast. He lunged forward to his sword and stuck it up in the air at the last moment. The champion impaled itself onto the lieutenant’s sword before it could stop it’s momentum. It sunk in deeper, as the mire beast tried to get closer to Williamson. In a last ditch effort to attack him, it thrust it’s sword in a long winding sweep. Williamson dodged the attack, and in the process yanked the sword violently out of the beast, tearing a gash out of it’s chest down through it’s side. The champion collapsed into the snow, in a giant pool of it’s own blood. Williamson turned towards the alpha-male, which smiled back at him.
“Come to me insect, I will do away with you myself.” It shouted. In the meantime, Ace had his hands full trying to fight off the endless groups of mire beasts. He was knocked to his feet by a powerful uppercut to the face. Ace lay stunned for a moment, but rolled to safety before the mire beast could stab it’s staff into him.
“Good one my friend, but not good enough!” He laughed. Ace swung his sword in a mighty arc, and chopped off the monster’s hands that were still holding it’s weapon stuck in the ground. It roared a massive shout directed to the burly soldier.
“Oh, did I hurt you? Here, let me stop the pain!” He swept his sword through the monster’s neck, decapitating it. Both body and head fell to the ground in two sudden thumps. Ace cheered, pumping himself up for more monster’s that were descending on him. Lieutenant Williamson charged up the staircase and met the alpha-male at the top. The huge beast swung it’s mighty fist and knocked the lieutenant back down a few steps. He slowly recovered and shook his head, while the beast stood laughing.
“You have no chance against me fool! But if you wish to die, I will accommodate you.” Williamson yelled as he charged again, sweeping his sword down towards the alpha-male. It blocked the attack with its double edged staff, the sword merely cutting a few inches into the lumber. The beast kicked it’s massive leg into Williamson, knocking him once again backwards, but this time losing his sword which was still stuck in the body of the monster’s weapon. It grabbed the sword out of it’s staff and tossed it back towards Williamson.
“You forgot this.” It bellowed, highly entertained by the lieutenant’s vain attempts to attack it. Ace, down below was still being surrounded by mire beast attackers. While he fought bravely, he could only watch as another of his soldiers succumb to the brutal attacks. The battle was now going poorly, and as the soldiers began dropping the odds kept raising up against the ones still standing. Back in the prison cell, Ursula slowly began to come to. Her face was reddened by Ace’s cheap sucker punch. She got to her feet and sneered with anger. Ursula looked towards the battlefield and saw what was happening. She saw Ace being swarmed by beasts, as he continued to retreat to fight them off. She saw numerous dead soldiers in the snow, and Lieutenant Williamson facing off against the alpha-male atop the staircase.
“I told you to leave them to me!” She screamed. “They are mine!” Ursula yelled at the top of her voice, a enormous bellowing that caused the mire beasts to stop and take notice. Ursula burst out of the cage, sending broken pieces of wood flying in all directions. Ace turned to see what had happened, and while his back was turned a mire beast leaped on top of him. Ace desperately tried to push the monster off of himself. In full throttle, Ursula charged forward towards Ace. In one leaping kick, she knocked the beast of off him, and it flew backwards into two more, knocking them all to the ground. Ace looked up at her in disbelief. For the first time in a long while, Ace Talon was speechless.
“You took my sword.” She said to him. She reached down and yanked it from his hands. “And you punched me.” Ursula raised her hand and punched Ace square in the face. He fell onto his back, bringing his hands up to hold his bruised face.
“I guess that makes us even.” She said. Ursula turned towards the huge mass of mire beasts.
“You all will die, but first I will kill your leader!” She charged forward ramming her sword into anything that got in her way. In rapid steady motions, she sliced through them one by one. She thrust her sword into one, and yanked it out to sweep at another severing it’s neck which erupted with a maroon waterfall. The lightening quick warrior, leaped from beast to beast on her way towards the staircase. As it became apparent to them that they could no stop this ferocious whirlwind of fury, the beasts began to retreat as she came to them. Ursula did not spare them, and she continued killing  as they fled her wrath. Ace sat up, and watched her as she went. His face pulsed from the punch she had given him.
“What is she? How is it possible she can fight like that?” He muttered to himself. Ursula now stood at the base of the stairs, all remaining mire beasts had fled to a safe distance and merely watched her. She screamed up at the alpha-male, who was still toying with the lieutenant.
'Hey you, Black-eye!” The massive beast looked up and saw the girl standing there, it looked around to see it’s warriors scattered about, most dead, the rest cowering.
“What did you call me, runt?!” It roared. Ursula laughed.
“You heard me. Black-Eye, that’s what I will call you. You disgusting, lumbering buffoon!” At this point, the alpha-male’s face sneered with it’s mighty teeth bared for all to see.
“You dare insult me! I will eat you alive.” It swung it’s weapon into the lieutenant, knocking him from the staircase. He fell down towards certain death, but Ursula wasn’t about to let him hit the ground. She dashed forward, and leapt into the air. At the top of her jump, she caught Williamson. Ursula landed back down and lay the lieutenant on the ground. Dazed from the attack, Williamson looked up at Ursula and smiled that same familiar smile back to her.
“I guess I warmed him up for you.” He chuckled. Ursula rubbed her hands over the lieutenant’s cheek.
“It’s all going be okay, just rest here.” She said. Williamson nodded his head and fell onto his back. Ursula directed her stare back up to the massive monster she had named Black-Eye. It stared back at her, it’s anger was easily apparent. In an effortless leap, Black-Eye traversed the distance between it and Ursula, landing with a earth shaking stomp onto the ground. It roared it’s gigantic lungs out.
“I will teach you some manners, tiny, insignificant human.” It walked towards Ursula, wielding it’s weapon in both of claws.
“Well, it is true that a lesson will be taught here. But it will be to you Black-Eye, on not underestimating something just because it is smaller than you.” Black-Eye roared once again.
“Don’t call me that!” It screamed. It swung it’s weapon in a scorching arch towards Ursula, who merely dodged safely away from it.
“What was that, Black-Eye? I couldn’t hear you, speak up next time you are so under spoken.” She joked. Again, Black-eye bellowed and swung it’s staff back at Ursula. And again, the quick girl dashed away from it.
“You are so slow Black-Eye. I’m just going see if you can hit me. Go on try.” Ursula mocked the towering beast. It raised it’s weapon in the air and struck in down in an attempt to impale the young warrior. But to it’s dismay, Ursula jumped and ran up the length of it’s weapon. Before Black-Eye could react, she leapt and stomped on his head. She bounced off of it and landed behind the confused and now highly irritated monster.
“Nope, I guess not.” Black-Eye gnarled it’s teeth in ferocious rage. It stood up and swung it’s staff around in a circle. Ursula braced herself, and as the weapon bore down on her, she caught it with her hands. The girl slid along the ground ever so slightly, trying to counter the incredible force being used by the monster in it’s swing. Ursula closed her eyes, as if to summon some strength inside. She ground her feet into the ground and held the monster’s weapon at a stalemate. Ursula reached and grabbed the staff to hold it in place. Black-Eye tried to pull the weapon away from her, but he could not.
“Let go, you little bug!” It yelled. “You are nothing but a small child, you can not beat me!” Ursula’s face turned red and her eyes squinted in anger.
“I am no child!” She said as she snapped the weapon in two, sending Black-Eye backwards. It rolled head over feet, before settling down on it’s back.
“If you can not see that, maybe I need to do something about your vision.” Ursula scoffed. Black-Eye jumped to his feet. By now it was furious, and in it’s fury it acted before it thought. Ursula had made it so angry that the monster charged forward clumsily in blind rage. She saw him coming, it was such an ugly and blundering attack. Black-Eye swung it’s weapon back and forth, screaming as it ran. When it got close enough, Ursula jumped in the air to avoid the chopping weapon. In a aimed thrust, she shoved the sharp end of her stick right into it’s left eye. The lumbering beast came to a halt, with the staff buried into it’s eye socket. It fell to it’s knees and cried such a blood churning scream.
“This game is over, Black-Eye.” Ursula said as she hopped onto the monster’s back. She wrapped her arms around it’s necked and began to squeeze. Black-Eye reached up and scratched at her hands, but it could not release her grip. Ursula squeezed and squeezed until no more sounds came from the beast but faint gasps. It fell forward and braced itself with it’s arm, while the other continued to claw away in vain.
“You will bring no more pain to my people, I end this now with your death.” She jerked Black-Eye’s head to the side, and there was a loud crack heard throughout the camp. With a mighty thump, Black-Eye fell forward motionless. Ursula sighed with relief on the back on the humongous beast. It was so strong, it could have killed her if it had been able to maintain it’s cool and not get consumed by frustration. The air was hushed, but for the sounds of Ursula breathing heavily from the extreme strength used to down her mighty foe. Slowly, she rose off of the now dead alpha-male, and leapt to the ground. The mire beasts watching, backed away ever so slowly. Ace Talon lay in the snow having just witnessed this incredible fight. He was dumbfounded, unable to mouth a word besides…
“Amazing.” It was all he could muster. Ursula marched forward, obviously weakened by the fight.
“And now I will finish the rest of you off, so you can join your leader in the fiery pits of damnation.” But instead of running or attacking, the mire beasts did something totally unexpected. They all, in unison, dropped to their knees and lowered their heads to her. She stopped in her tracks, a look of confusion spread over her freckled face. Lieutenant Williamson lifted himself off the ground, and managed to walk over to Ursula.
“Well, if I even have to say such an obvious thing, bravo. Bravo, my dear lady!” He cheered. Ursula looked back at Williamson.
“What are they doing lieutenant? Why do they lay on the ground, are they playing dead?” She pondered. Williamson laughed as he slapped his hand down on her shoulder.
“They are surrendering I believe, my dear Ursula.” He said. Ace Talon, who himself had gotten to his feet and began walking towards the confused warrior, clapped his hands.
“All hail Ursula! Queen of the mire beasts!” He yelled.
“Hail!” Williamson joined in with a cheerful shout. Ursula squinted her eyes in disbelief. She had wanted to eliminate all of their kind, erase them from existence. But now they bowed to her, they did not fight back.
“I don’t want to be their queen, I want them to die. They destroyed our village, they killed our people. They took my father away from me!” She yelled the final part. Williamson’s grip on Ursula’s shoulder grew firmer.
“Ursula, I watched you fight here, and I saw you demonstrate many of the aspects that make up a great warrior. You showed great power and strength as you tore through those vicious monsters with surprising ease. You showed unwavering bravery, as you stood up to the most powerful mire beast of them all and did not flinch. And your dedication is also evident, as you came all this way and are determined to finish what you started. Now it is time, I think, for you to demonstrate another of a great warrior’s virtues, mercy.” Williamson said. Ursula looked up at him with wide eyes. “Let the pain go, Ursula. The fight is over, the criminals lay at your feet. Show them your heart and not your blade.” Ursula lowered her head, and the tension in her body went away. All this time, the only thing she could think about, the only thought that burned in her head was that of vengeance against the monsters that had killed her father in cold blood. But now, she was faced with a most difficult task, to forgive her enemies and show them compassion. She looked up at the beasts cowering at her, she knew what she had to do. Ursula walked away from the lieutenant, towards the beasts bowing to her. She raised her sword in the air.
“All of you should die for what you have done to me and my people. But… I shall spare your lives.” She slid her sword back behind her and underneath her belt.
“This is your queen speaking, all of you will drop your weapons now.” As she said this, all of the beasts threw their weapons to the ground in front of them in obedience. Ursula nodded. “My first decree is that all fighting with humans will stop, now will begin a time of peace for both of our races.” The mire beasts lowered their heads, and grunted collectively. Ursula turned towards Ace and Lieutenant Williamson.
“Both of you will leave and return to Ironwill immediately. I will remain here with the mire beasts.”
“What? But why…” Williamson began to protest, but Ursula interrupted him.
“Because I say so. This is the way it has to be, I will remain here and teach them how to live in peace. Now that their leader is dead, someone has to guide them.” Williamson nodded his head, he knew he could not change the determined girl’s mind now. And so it was that Ursula had brought her vengeance to the mire beasts, and dispensed justice upon them. She had killed the beast‘s king, and took it‘s place as their queen. It was a time of rebuilding, for both the beasts and villagers of Ironwill. Thanks to Ursula, a new era of peace between humans and the mire beasts was now possible. But, the story doesn’t end there. It is only just beginning. There are many new challenges awaiting the young warrior, challenges that will take her to the limit of her abilities and beyond.

End of Chapter four.