Blood Maiden

She knew they would come, she couldn't explain it but she just knew. Even though her parents told her they were safe in their home in the mountains, she knew it was only a matter of time before they would find her family. Milena felt a bead of sweat trickle down her neck. The hot July sun couldn't reach her beneath the shelter of the ancient maple where she crouched, but the mid-summer heat was enough to make anyone sweat. That wasn't the reason she was sweating though.

As she scoured the county-side from her favorite vantage point, something caught her eye. It was hard to make out anything in the distance with the heat, but she thought it resembled the glint of metal in the sun. She squinted her eyes trying to catch another glimpse, but the ripples of heat dancing off the valley below concealed all but the hazy shapes of trees that dotted the landscape. She relaxed a little, maybe it was just a mirage. Suddenly, she saw something moving. There it was again. This time there was no doubt in her mind: they had come at last. Even though she always told herself they would come, she was never really prepared for the icy dread that came with them. She knew what they did to those in their path. Suddenly she was racing down the familiar footpath as fast as her legs would carry her. The familiar, comforting woodland sounds she grew up with only seemed to mock her as she raced by.

~

Something changed in her the day Milena saw her parents and younger brother massacred by the invading barbarian hordes. As the brutes held her down to have their way with her, something hidden deep within broke free. Her world went black and when she awoke, the remains of her captives coated the small cabin room. It has been 11 years since that fateful day, though the lands still suffer from the dark rule of the hordes. Milena still hunts the heart of the plague that brought death to her and countless others. She is known and feared by her foes as The Blood Maiden.

Comments and critiques welcome.