The tight, close quarters of the small carriage was certainly something more comfortable than Amelia was otherwise used too. Her thin, human body was pressed up against the heavy metal armour of her companion sat beside her, partly out of necessity, partly by desire. The carriage hadn’t been built for its occupants to be wearing full-plate armour. Sat opposite her, a man dressed in expensive clothing, tightly clutching a wooden box that rested on his knees. The man gave her a friendly smile as he noticed her sharp eyes examining him.

“I must say Ms Fox; I’m rather honoured you’d take such a request personally.” The man spoke. Clearly her presence was offering him plenty of comfort, and not just because of her looks. He was otherwise nervous, his grip on the box so tight as if his life depended on it never leaving his lap, but with a famous adventurer at his side, his worries were somewhat eased. The carriage shook slightly as it drove over a light bump in the road.

“Couldn’t exactly say no to the pay your employers offered.” Amelia sighed as she turned her head to the carriage door beside her, “They’re late.” She sighed again, clearly bored senseless. With her right hand, the hand not being squished up against the armoured figure beside her, she began to twirl her finger through her long, bloodred hair. The rather rare colour and her sharp eyes had earned her the nickname of Fox. A name known throughout the Gameworld. One of the top adventurers within the Avalonian kingdom. The well-dressed man glanced at the door.

“You don’t think someone is going to try anything, do you?” He nervously asked. Amelia raised her left eyebrow and looked at him as if he were a complete idiot.

“You’re transporting something highly valuable through the dark, unpatrolled backroads of the kingdom.” She listed, “Of course someone’s going to try something.” She scoffed. The man began to nervously fidget with his fingers. Amelia’s eyes watched this for a few moments before she finally caved in. Customer service wasn’t her strong suit, but keeping the client happy meant less of a headache when all was said and done, “Of course I’ll be sure to put them in their place when they do.” She reassured him. His fingers relaxed, before returning to a static, tight grip of his precious box. The man’s eyes then shifted to the third person within the small, tightly packed carriage. The armoured figure sharing a seat with Amelia.

“Forgive me, but I’m not familiar with your friend here.” The man spoke, trying to drown out the grinding noise of galloping horses and metal wheels against the uneven, muddy road. Amealia turned to her companion.

“Fiancée.” She corrected, “My sweet has only just started professionally adventuring.” She explained. She noticed the man raise his own eyebrow at the still, almost statue-like figure, “But as capable as me, rest assured.” She quickly added. He gave a slow, satisfied nod.

“Forgive me, Ms Fox. Certainly, any man able to catch your eye would be strong in his own right.” He apologized. He watched as, for some odd reason, his words seemed to hit a nerve hidden behind Amelia’s poor veil of politeness. He’d offended her somehow, but she turned and avoided his gaze instead of confronting him. An odd reaction considering her fiery reputation. She seemed unwilling to address it, and as someone certainly capable of making him regret such a slip up if she so wished, he simply counted himself lucky and dropped the matter.

Amelia’s slim, almost Elf-like figure certainly gave the impression she was an innocent, beautiful, almost princess like woman who’d never even glanced at a blade. Her sleek leather armour seemed more decorative than protective. Yet the man knew better. Her reputation preceded her. An expert assassin, a slaughterer of monsters. Those eyes had witnessed death beyond his imagination. It was so rare for someone as young as her to have such a bloody reputation even in this world. He couldn’t be sure, but she looked about twenty at most. Every other adventurer whose names even came close to hers were ancient veterans of the trade.

A sudden thunk. The carriage jolted as all three of them snapped their gaze to the bloody tipped arrow that had pierced the carriage above the well-dressed man. They’d taken out the driver. Amelia’s face lit up. A thud announced the arrival of someone new onto the carriage. The chaotic panic of the horses quickly became ordered and guided once again, but their speed began to slow. Someone new had taken the reigns.

The second the carriage became fully stationary; the door was quickly yanked open. A scar faced thug glanced inside only to find Amelia’s foot slamming against his jaw. He fell backwards into the mud with Amelia’s full weight landing on his skull for the finishing blow. The crunch of human bone under foot was a horrific sound that disturbed not just the well-dressed man, but the other two thugs who’d barely had the chance to react to Amelia’s sudden attack. They looked down at their already dead member in utter disbelief as Amelia casually dashed passed them both. A clean, deadly precise slice through both of their throats. They fell to the floor to join their friend in a now horrific mix of fresh blood and wet mud.

“Over already?” She sighed as she scanned her surroundings. The dark forest wasn’t easy to clear with a single glance, but no other threats were presenting themselves thus far. The thin edges of her two daggers quietly dripped the small few drops of blood that they’d gathered. The shadow of the trees was pierced here and there by beams of midday sunlight that somehow made it through the thick canopy of leaves overhead. The sight lines weren’t nice, but all seemed calm.

“Did you get them?” The well-dressed man nervously asked from within the carriage. Amelia gave another, rather unsatisfied sigh. She turned back to her employer and opened her mouth to answer.

A sudden movement of air. So quick, so subtle. Her two blades clashed with a dagger aimed for her own throat. They’d been almost as quick and precise as she’d been. Again, her face lit up. Someone interesting at last. He’d come from the direction of the carriage. The one who’d boarded to bring them to a stop. His dark hook and cloak, his quick and precise strike with a dagger. A rogue, and a good one. Amelia shoved her weight against his blade to get him clear of her neck. The rogue dashed a few steps backwards to get some distance. He’d seen how quickly she’d dispatched his brutish friends. He’d clearly intended to try and take her out quickly, but now that had failed, he intended to measure her up, try to figure out her fighting style. The rogue took quick note of her light armour and two daggers. Her speed and fitness suggested she too was a rogue. This mirror match would be won by skill alone.

The rogue dashed forwards at a blinding speed, daggers ready to strike. Amelia calmly smirked as the two daggers in her hands vanished. In their place, a shield suddenly blocked both of his strikes. She slammed her weight into a full counter, throwing him completely off balance and slamming him against the side of the carriage.

“Reflect Damage!” She chanted before he could even catch his breath from being winded by the sudden impact. The rogue’s eyes widened as a magical surge slashed through his body, taking a large chunk of his health despite no physical injuries. He quickly got his balance and darted upwards onto the roof of the carriage to avoid the strike of a short sword. Once again, the rogue examined his opponent. Amelia was now wielding a sharp, high quality short sword, and a shield that quickly drew his eye. A warped and beaten metallic shield with the pattern of a biting wolf front and centre. The wolf pattern was somewhat damaged by a clear slice that had at some point damaged the shield. The mark of a legendary weapon that had permanently scarred it, but that made it unmistakably recognisable. Broken Fang. A legendary shield able to reflect damage in the form of a magical attack. Such a powerful item was itself a danger, but Amelia had also somehow pulled it out at lightning speed.

Normally pulling out a weapon from the inventory took ten seconds. An eternity in the heat of combat, but she’d done it in the blink of an eye. She couldn’t have had both the sword and shield equipped as well as the two daggers she’d put away, not without him noticing. His eyes then shifted to the blade in Amelia’s other hand. The metal gave a slight shimmer of magic as well. A blade of high quality, and given the legendary shield, it was likely her blade was just as renown. His eyes narrowed with distain. This wasn’t a fight he was going to win.

He launched himself from the roof of the carriage, away from Amelia to vanish into the trees using the cover of the carriage, but he quickly found her blade coming his way despite his attempt to disengage, “Too slow.” She mocked as his dual daggers blocked her strike. He backed up again to find his back up against the carriage once more. He hadn’t sensed any magic or the use of a skill. Her speed was purely natural, which was perhaps even more terrifying. She moved to strike once more with the same blinding speed, only for her to suddenly find herself caught off guard. A reaction speed so fast the rogue could barely even perceive her movement, her blade blocked an incoming strike from her side. A two-handed claymore barely shifted her weight as she’d somehow found her footing to effectively block despite being caught completely off guard. Amelia gritted her teeth as she turned her gaze to the medium sized man pushing his blade against her own. Dressed in chainmail and wielding a regular claymore, his two-handed strike seemed to break even with her own one-handed block.

Amelia quickly pounced backwards like a startled cat. This time it was her turn to measure up her now two foes. The warrior dressed in chainmail gave a supportive nod to his rogue friend as he levelled his blade against Amelia, ready to strike once more.

“Avoid hitting the shield.” The rogue quickly instructed as he readied his two daggers again and stood beside his armoured companion, “And don’t hold back.” He added for good measure. They both watched as Amelia purposefully repositioned into one of the sunlight beams piercing the thick canopy above. She readied her shield, and smirked, goading her opponents to make their next move.

“Below.” The warrior boomed as he charged her at full speed. His eyes watched as Amelia raised her shield to block his downward blow. He brought his own blade to an unnatural stop before it struck the shield itself. Like the wind, the lightning-fast rogue struck with both daggers underneath her raised guard. The tips of both blades pierced the thin leather of Amelia’s armour, only to suddenly bounce off her bare skin as if he’d struck thick metal. The rogue again lost balance from the unexpected recoil of his strike. He pulled back before Amelia could counter strike, as did the warrior, “The fuck happened?” The warrior quickly asked, keeping his eyes expertly trained on Amelia despite her lack of counter. She gave him an unnerving smile in response.

“Of course.” The rogue sighed as he eyed the blade in Amelia’s grip. Her shield was deceptively offensive in capability, and at last the image of the blade clicked in his mind, “The legendary blade Galatine.” He realised, “She’s completely invulnerable to physical damage while in the sunlight.” He revealed.

“Well shit.” The warrior cursed as he glanced at the rogue’s daggers and then his own blade. Neither of them had a means of doing anything but physical damage.

“Give me another opening.” The rogue quickly muttered. The warrior raised a sceptical eyebrow as he glanced at his companion to check that he was serious.

“Lost your focus!” Amelia’s voice boomed as she was suddenly launching a strike towards the warrior. He quickly lost his footing from panic but deflected her strike with expert precision. He took one hand off his weapon grip and aimed for a gut punch. She brought the edge of her shield down onto his arm, bruising his forearm and countering his blow before he could land it, she then planted her shield against his open chest and shoved, knocking him off his feet. As the warrior found himself winded on the muddy floor, the rogue launched a strike of his own. He came from behind her, with his daggers now shimmering with hints of magic. She’d launched a reckless attack and moved out of the sunlight, but even with her protection, this time he’d find his mark.

“Heavy Peirce!” He exclaimed as his daggers suddenly struck a thick metal plate. A blow of magical power shot through the thick armour to strike true. The rogue looked up to suddenly realise it hadn’t been Amelia that had taken the blow. A heavily armoured figure had taken the blow in her place. Despite the change of target, he had in fact inflicted damage despite the protective armour of the new foe. The full-plate figure grappled the rogue before he could pounce backwards, but the rogue expertly threw a kick into the same spot he’d hit with his last strike. The armour itself remained undamaged, but the impact clearly caused the armoured figure pain as the shock of pain from their fresh wound underneath caught them off guard. Their fierce grip wavered just in time for the rogue to break free and dart backwards to better measure the new foe.

The warrior was the next to make his move. He combat-rolled through the thick mud to skilfully return to his feet behind the armoured figure and slammed the pommel of his blade against their helmet. A ring of vibrating metal staggered the armoured figure, but Amelia was quick to respond. Her blade sliced against the warrior’s back chainmail. Her sharp blade barely cut through the chains but left only a shallow cut. The warrior winced but turned to face her head on. The armoured figure regained their composure and began to turn to surround the warrior. Seeing this, the rogue launched a measured attack. The armoured figure was forced to take notice of him as his daggers again shimmered with the faint glint of magic, “Heavy Peirce!” He exclaimed again, but this time his daggers met a blade instead of armour. The magic faded, only for the two-handed blade of the armoured figure to ignite. The punishing flames unleashed a fierce heat that forced the rogue to retreat immediately before getting burned to a crisp.

Another blade of renown. Dyrnwyn. A flaming sword often overlooked due to its gimmick being shared with blades of even greater fame, but it wasn’t exactly a slouch itself. A legendary blade was a legendary blade after all. What fresh hell had they awakened by choosing this carriage in particular to raid? The rogue backed off another few steps. The armoured figure was obviously a lot slower than Amelia, who was now trading blows with the warrior. With her distracted, he now had a chance to run. His eyes watched as the warrior struggled to hold steady against Amelia’s flurry of attacks. Despite the light weight of her one-handed weapon her strength was slowly breaking his defensive guard as the warrior’s endurance faltered more with every strike.

The armoured figure seemed to notice the rogue’s hesitation. Their helmet turned to glance at the warrior’s struggle against Amelia’s onslaught but shifted back to the rogue before he had the chance to capitalise on the opening. The rogue bit his lip. He didn’t want to leave his friend behind, he’d saved his life after all, but facing these two skilled and terrifyingly well-equipped foes was certain death even together. With deep pain, the rogue turned and sprinted into the shadows of the forest. Tears began to flow as he fully committed to the sprint, leaving his friend to face certain death alone.

Just as he seemed in the clear, a flaming blade suddenly slashed at him from ahead. The rogue ducked mid sprint, causing him to trip but avoid the unexpected blade as a burst of wind further knocked him completely off balance. The rogue got to his feet to find the flaming blade hurtling towards him through the thick, pitch-black forest. He dashed to the side, this time with control and balance. The blade sliced the trunk of a tree that had been behind him, scorching the thick wood as it planted itself deep. The rogue gave himself a second to breath. Somehow the armoured figure had caught up to him, but the fool had gotten their weapon stuck by recklessly swinging it in this thick forest. The flames of the legendary weapon finally began to illuminate the figure as they attempted to yank the blade free, to no avail. The rogue found himself not looking upon the same armoured figure. Instead, before him was a beautiful woman built just like Amelia. Thin, fare, almost princess-like in appearance. Her hair was however ash coloured, distinctly different to Amelia’s, and her eyes had an unnervingly serpent-like look to them. Instead of heavy armour, she was wearing thin black robes styled like the robes of a mage but made of a black leather instead of fine silk. The whole outfit was skintight from chest to tight skirt. A slit either side allowed for leg movement while revealing her thighs from the side, and her shoulders were uncovered too. Such a woman with such an appearance looked completely unnatural with her hands on the two-handed flaming blade still stuck in the tree despite her efforts. She gave a quiet sigh as she let go of her weapon and turned her attention to him. His eyes caught the sight of blood. The injury he’d inflicted before on her gut. The slice in her robes confirmed it, she’d been wearing this under her armour, but why? It was only then that the rogue’s eyes caught the movement of the two infernal wings protruding from her back. The realisation hit him like a brick wall. She was a powerful shapeshifting Demon, using the armour to hide her demonic heat and features. She must have used her wings to catch up to him.

“Fine.” She muttered as she aimed her hand his way, as if she were a mage wielding magic, “You’re a little too good for me to play pretend with a sword anyway.” She added as flames began to surge from her body. The unmistakable red aura of a Demon surged and glowed brightly as the flames collected in her aimed palm, “Flame Ball!” She chanted as magic erupted from her body. A ball of fire shot from her hand and slammed into the rogue’s protective cloak. He’d blocked with his black cloak because of its slight resistance to magic, but the intense heat still lashed his skin, the flames were just the beginning, however. The ball of fire was no Elven Fire Magic. It exploded, flinging liquid magma as it did. The molten rock made quick work of rogue. His human flesh no match for the overwhelming heat of Demon Flame Magic. All that remained of him was a puddle of magma that still bubbled with intense heat and began to set the surrounding forest shrubs ablaze. The ash-haired woman snapped her fingers, commanding the flames to disperse. The fire obeyed, returning the forest to pitch-black darkness. She turned back to her now extinguished sword. She gripped it with a single hand that twisted and contorted. Her hand took a new, larger and scaly red form. A single light yank, and the blade came free. It vanished into her inventory as she straightened herself out. She gave the two wings spanning from her back a quick stretch before folding them up. She reequipped her heavy armour to hide them but left her helmet off as she heard a single set of approaching footsteps.

“You alright?” Amelia asked Jess as she emerged from the shadows, her eyes already trained on where Jess had been wounded.

“I’ll survive.” Jess sighed as she turned to her fiancée. Amelia quickly pulled her in tight and affectionately nuzzled her face against Jess’ warm cheeks.

Throughout the long history of the Gameworld, many factors came into play concerning societies view on same sex relationships. The reaction was highly variable from simple uneasiness to full on lynching attempts, normally depending on how peaceful the four nations of the world were playing. War and unrest at first would cause society to expect the strong men to take up arms to defend their nation, and once the ordeal was over, society would turn to the women to bring forth a new generation of both strong men and fertile women. Same sex relationships by nature spat in the face of these expectations, and so when war and unrest was most prevalent, distain and hatred of such things would skyrocket. In times of peace and stability, the general populous were less likely to hold strong feelings about such things, but the chance of backlash was never zero no matter the political climate. This was however not Amelia and Jess’ biggest problem concerning their relationship. The kingdom of Avalon and Gehenna were sworn enemies, a rivalry between nation and race dating all the way back to the early years of the Gameworld. Humanity’s distrust and hatred of Demon kind was strong enough for blades to be drawn even upon the slightest suspicion. Many innocent lives had been claimed from false accusations of being a demonic spy. For this reason, Amelia’s relationship with Jess had to remain a complete secret to the wider world.

“Told you playing knight wasn’t a good idea.” Amelia muttered as she eventually pulled away from the heat of Jess’ skin. Jess had learnt through practice how to manage the level of heat she put out when her love drew close, but she had her limits, as did Amelia.

“Can’t exactly pose as a Human mage.” Jess sighed. She could see deep down in Amelia’s eyes that she craved far more contact than she’d gotten out of that little exchange, but the slight burn on her cheek wasn’t something she could ignore forever. Her heat had been trapped inside the stuffy metal armour; her body was practically a walking furnace right now. It would be a while before she’d be able to properly cool off, even if she didn’t have to again wrap herself in thick metal, “I should cover up.” She muttered as she re-equipped her helmet, “Don’t want our employer catching a glimpse.”

“Right.” Amelia sighed. She turned towards the direction of the carriage, but her hand gently took hold of Jess’ gauntlet. The two silently walked through the pitch-black woods holding hands the entire way. Stood in the open door of the carriage, the well-dressed man impatiently stood, his eyes nervously scanning his surroundings. When his gaze finally caught sight of the two of them, he gave a slight sigh of relief.

“Is it over?” He pleaded.

“All dead.” Amelia reassured him, “You’re lucky your employer had the sense to pick us for this, those lot would have killed your average adventurer for certain.” She lightly boasted, “Perhaps you could convince them to loosen their pockets a tad more once your safe and sound?” She then pressed. The well-dressed man glanced down at the dead bodies between him and the two highly capable adventurers. From his eyes, the fight had been a complete massacre in their favour. He gave a firm nod.

“You get me safely to Branch, consider your commission doubled Ms Fox.” He confirmed.

“Is the package alright?” Amelia then asked as she and Jess drew closer, “Didn’t get damaged in all the fuss?” The well-dressed man’s eyes widened with slight panic as he realised the box wasn’t in his hands. He turned with urgency only to find relief in the sight of the box resting on a seat in the carriage. He picked it up, and turned, but as he did so his foot caught a small pool of blood that had splattered into the carriage. He slipped. The box left his grip and dropped to the floor with its lid flung wide open for Jess and Amelia to see its contents clear as day.

The two of them stood in complete silence. The well-dressed man quickly scurried back onto his feet and reached for the box in panic once more, but this time Amelia’s Galatine nipped his hand before its tip pressed against his throat, “Drugs, dirty money, even a collection of heads, I would have been fine with.” She calmly spoke, yet her eyes were filled with a fiery anger that terrified him to his core.

“I’ll pay you double.” He quickly spat out, but that did nothing to her intense stare, “Triple.” He quickly corrected, once more, no change, “Anything.”

“You must think me a fool to consider such an offer.” She spat back.

“But you’re Amelia Thomson. The deadly Fox. The whole of Virki wants your head, you care not for the enemies you make.”

“You really think me stupid enough to make an enemy of the admins?” She boomed.

“No one has to know you two were involved in this.” The man pleaded. He watched as Jess gave a sigh before her helmet vanished, revealing her face.

“We really have to call them, don’t we?” She asked Amelia, ignoring the man’s confusion from her appearance. His eyes quickly narrowed as he caught a glimpse of the faint red aura.

“Demon spy!” He exclaimed as he backed up into the carriage slightly.

“Can’t exactly ignore it.” Amelia sighed. She made sure to keep her blade pointed towards the man, but her attention was now on Jess.

“Care to do the honour? Still not on speaking terms with mine.” Jess added.