The Kikimora

I coughed and fought the pain as I sputtered out what I could. "Hahah... Well she follows my orders and she's long gone now. I'm not letting you get close to her." I didn't even bother to question how Payne knew about Marian being a Kiki-Taro. I already had a vague sense of Marian's illustrious past, so what he said about that didn't surprise me either. I was far too pained to even care at this point.

"That's not true. A Kikimora can't go too far when we have ahold of her vessel. And I even know what it looks like."

Payne's sudden declaration made me jolt life into my body despite the excessive pain from my missing arm. (The mirror!)

"Ah, your reaction tells me much. That mirror is inside the mansion, isn't it? Probably with the other artifacts I bet. Max, finish the kid off, he loses the game in the end." Payne, with the majority of his entourage, began walking towards the grand door.

However, I still had life left in me. I stood up and grabbed onto Payne's shoulder. "Not so fast bastard..." Blood dripped from my open cavity in the absence of my left arm. With every movement, my senses were assaulted by a fresh wave of agony. However, I couldn't just lie down and die like a dog, I had to do something to help Marian.

"Max, isn't there something you should be doing?" Payne acted like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Sorry, Boss. I'll take care of him now." Quickly apologizing, Max stepped up next to me and grabbed on to my shoulder. He threw me to the ground where I hit my head on a soft tree root. Max's large muscled body looked intimidating when I was forced to look him from the ground. "I wanted to kill the girl for what she did to Lu and Jorgen, but I guess you'll have to do." Max raised his foot and applied a bit of his power to it, just enough to smash my head like a melon.

Max's foot came crashing down. I managed to roll on the ground and evade, but Max simply brought his foot back up. His other foot pinned the loose bit of my clothing to the ground, so I couldn't roll away. "Well, I guess this is the end for you."

(Shit! I don't want to die!) My words before was just brave talk, of course I didn't want to die so young. My life relied on one person right now, and I was just selfish enough to take back what I said before just to live. "MARIAN! HELP ME!" I cried into the air with all my might.

The foot that could kill me in a single second never hit me. Opening my eyes just wide enough to peer upwards, I saw three sewing needles stuck in Max's body. Next to the both of us stood a familiar figure that pushed down Max with a lithe hand.

"I believe I have told you before: Harm Master and I will deal with you appropriately." Marian appeared out of nowhere and floored Max without even taking more than a second.

"Marian... I'm so sorry for saying what I said awhile back." I coughed through the pain and what little blood I had left that didn't seep out of my mouth and severed limb.

"Master, I am sorry for being a failure to you. I allowed you to lose an arm and suffer great pain. Rectifying that and bringing back your arm is possible, but that should wait until after I deal with the intruders." Marian was bawling her eyes out, but her voice remained as strong as ever.

Marian's eyes changed from black to beige as she cradled my tired body in her arms.

"Hey Marian, I was wrong before. I really do want to stay with you for a long time. And in order to do that, please remove the intruders." Although it was indiscriminate at this point, I had to add in a little more. "If you have to kill anyone, do it quickly." I suppose I was now accustomed to death and violence, as much I loathed admitting it. "And promise me one thing... Stay safe."

Marian smiled warmly and nodded. "I have applied pain relief with these needles, it is akin to acupuncture. Please keep still and do nothing that may cause more pain or harm and I will do the same, I promise."

The commotion over here must have caught the attention of Payne and the rest of his posse as he calmly walked back through the grand door.

Including Payne, there was about ten other men with him, could Marian really handle that many people?

With smirk brimming with snide curiosity, Payne stood still with his hands in his pockets. "Hey, all of you take her out."

The ten Boneyard members hesitated not a second in following through with his orders and flung themselves into battle frenzy. I was worried if Marian could actually survive, but my concerns were soon suppressed.

Marian dodged the attack of the first man who tried to stab her with some sort of weapon, probably made of this damn magic. After she dodged she thrust her open palm into his chest and out of her sleeve flew a knife than pierced the man's heart. Reading ahead of time, Marian grabbed a man and rolled him into a human shield. A second later two handguns went off and the men who fired them accidentally hit their comrade in the chest and shoulder. Marian pulled the handgun out of her shield's holster and fired once at a person who snuck behind her in a sneak attack. The maid pushed the dead body she was holding into the two men who previously fired their guns, knocking them to the ground. She found guns useful but uncouth, so Marian tossed the weapon at someone who rushed at her with a... (Is that a fricken' katana???)

It was indeed a katana at least a meter long from handle to point. The man must have quite the skill to slash it and force Marian to withdraw. The maid observed the danger and jumped back. Another man behind her tried to attack with a sort of fire magic (I think), though Marian struck him in the head with an elbow. The katana wielder managed to close in and perform a downwards slash, ripping through Marian's clothes, though he didn't reach skin. The one who was elbowed recovered and grappled onto Marian, holding her in place. The katana found its way slashing upwards across Marian, this time cutting through cloth and skin. A small splash of blood came from the sword and landed on the ground. Before the katana wielder could attack again, Marian jumped in the air and kicked with both of her legs into the man's face. The sheer force of the attack sent the man flying and smashing his head against a tree trunk, he was now out of commission. Marian whipped her arms around and grabbed onto the head of the man who held her still and twisted it around.

At this point, there were five left of the ten. Each of the five, including the two gunners from before, launched a combined attack from the multiple trees surround the group. They used the trunks as a sort of jump pad and attacked Marian who observed her strange predicament... And disappeared into thin air.

The five men landed and kept a watchful eye out. One fell, his neck sliced in half from the back. A second fell, two stab wounds appeared on his back and stomach. A third fell, his own gun flipped around in his hand and shot his forehead. A fourth fell, shot by the same gun from the third. A fifth, fearful for his life, frantically spun while searching for his enemy. He was ultimately downed by a sharp karate chop on the back of his neck.

A loud clapping sound came from a captivated and entertained Payne. I really despised that guy's attitude and thoughtless regard for life. Unfortunately, I was too weak physically at the moment to do anything. I could only rely on Marian, a girl. I felt more than pathetic, but there was nothing I could do no matter how hard I tried to move my body.

"Really impressive, I want you more and more as my personal spirit. Why don't I just kill him quickly and get over your little contract with him." Payne raised his arm and gestured towards me. He activated his power and sent a wave of disintegration towards me (not that I could see it).

Marian stepped in front and dispelled the wave. "I will not allow you to harm Master. He has given me permission to remove all intruders, so please leave or I will make you do so by force."

"Hahaha, you're quite the comedian, spirit. Unfortunately for me, disintegration won't work on a spirit like you; you knew that so you blocked my wave. However, I also have methods on dealing with many different enemies from humans to spirits." Payne knelt down and looked at this target, Marian, after gathering his concentration he sprinted towards the beautiful maid.

Marian went into a stance that allowed her to receive multiple types of attacks. Payne rushed towards Marian like some sort of hellhound. Both of his hands were flailing behind his back with his fingers arched. He took a giant leap forward and landed three meters away. Obviously any normal person couldn't attack from that sort of distance, but Payne and Marian were beyond normal.

The moment Payne landed he thrust his fist forward into the air and unleashed a gout of hellfire. In the abnormal world of spirits and magic, few substances were strong enough to harm spirits as powerful as Marian. Intense fire was one of them.

In retaliation Marian swept her leg around, forming an arc of opposing ice. Marian froze the water particles in the air as she swept her leg which blocked the incoming fire and sped forward aimed for Payne's neck.

Payne saw and ducked, he slammed his palm into the air and a burst of fire erupted from the ground beneath Marian's body. Marian kicked the ground with her foot, freezing the air above the ground and covering the air in a thin layer of frost.

Marian pulled out a sewing needle and poked several points of the air between her and Payne. What was created were several bullets made of dry ice that appeared and raced towards the Boneyard leader. Payne smirked and flipped his fingers upwards, and an inferno surged from the ground up, catching the dry ice in an upwards draft and melted in the serious heat.

(Am I watching a mage battle from some videogame? This is awesome and incredibly dangerous as the same time.) I could only watch in awe as the scene unfolded. "Kick his ass, Marian!" The least I could do was act as a cheerleader.

Marian, emboldened by my cheer, curled her arm before her and froze the vapor along it. She formed a sort of ice sculpture of a bladed gauntlet that should only belong in a fantasy along her arm. Marian resembled some sort of grim reaper with her scythe like arm of ghostly ice.

"Fighting with a corporeal weapon of your ice, hm? I might as well match efforts." I watched as Payne created a thin long sword of blazing red hellfire in his outstretched arm. The flames should be burning his skin, but it seems he has some sort of flame retardant on his skin and clothes.

Payne thrust his sword forward, imitating the art of the French musketeer. Marian parried the blow and riposted, spinning around and slashing through the middle. The white shirt was ripped in half, revealing a chest that didn't go a day with some sort of muscle training. I didn't care about that, what I did care about was that it seemed like the fight was tipping in Marian's favor.

(It's like she's from some sort of Chinese martial arts movie. Marian... You're really cool.)

The two opposing forces, which consisted of a humorous combo of a maid and criminal boss, fought it out with a scythe of ice attached to an arm and a blazing flame sword. I wondered how much this would cost using CGI

Marian swept her arm in the air as she moved about like an ice skater, cleaving the air in half. She glowered vehemently at her foe, never letting up her attack. Payne either blocked each of her attacks or jumped backwards, he was unable to gain the upper hand no matter how many times he attacked with his sword. If he had a gun right now, he would use it, but that kind of defeated the purpose of showing his superiority, which was what he thought.

"Grinning and gritting his teeth at the same time, Payne swept his sword around in the air like a berserker. He gained some room to work the moment Marian was forced to defend herself. "Damn lowly maid! Spirits like you should stay in the ground where the dead belong!" The criminal threw his sword into the air with all his might where it dissipated among the clouds.

Not caring, Marian rushed at Payne and performed a cross-slash with her scythe and a long knife she pulled from god knows where. However, an explosion stopped her in her tracks. A giant sword made from ethereal flame pierced the ground where she would have been if she kept moving.

"This is an exorcist's flames. They are particularly useful against spirits, no matter how powerful they are... And that means you, Kikimora. Of course house spirits like you are far different from normal spirits, but exorcist's flame works on them all." Then Payne released a mocking laugh. "HAHAHAHAHA! I don't really give a shit about you and your vessel! I'll purify you and take all the artifacts in the house and fulfill my goal: Taking a country over from its underground roots!"

(Just what kind of dastardly plot is that? He's bonafide insane!)

Several more massive swords of fire parted the clouds and seared the sky before striking the ground where Marian stood. Each time Marian jumped around and dodged, though it was obvious she was struggling to keep up.

"Ah, just a warning, they don't only come from the sky." And as Payne said those startling words, the ground exploded like a volcano, sending a spout of fire from under Marian's position.

I was leaning against an apple tree, clutching the stump that used to be my left arm when I saw it. "MARIAN!"

Red flame raged around Marian like a fountain. The beautiful maid's extravagant looks seemed amplified by the light from the fire that surrounded her. Her clothes and feathers remained unburnt as Marian watched at the ice scythe melt around her arm. Then beginning with that arm, a spark caught fire on her body and spread along her body. She was burning; she was being consumed by flames.

Marian's eyes changed from black to a radiant pink.

"Ah, I am sorry, Master. It seems I cannot remove this intruder yet." Marian spoke apologetically and smiled with all her heart as the rest of her body disappeared into a faint apparition of her body which faded away with the flames.

"No... No way!" I cried desperately.

"Ah, and she was such a neat spirit too. She was powerful enough to assist your grandfather in beating my dad and his subordinates in a fight. I guess in the end she didn't amount to much. Now those artifacts are mine, as they should've been when I bought them." Payne walked back towards the grand front doors of the mansion, ignoring my presence.

I quickly swallowed up the despair that flooded my brain. Marian isn't dead, I refused to believe it. Part of me thought scientifically about the deal, I figured if Marian's vessel was fine, then so was she. The other part of me though emotionally about the deal, I knew that Marian would never leave me alone even if I ran to the other side of the world. She would refuse to leave my side no matter how many times she died. I believed in her no matter what.

However, the crux of the situation was that I had to stop Payne. If he destroyed Marian's mirror, I don't know what would happen. Despite only having one arm, I toughed through the pain and staggered towards the entrance after him. I didn't know or care if Payne knew I was heading into the mansion, my one track mind had me be a little suicidal.

Somehow, my stump had had clotted up and ceased bleeding profusely... One less thing for Marian to clean up I guess, that is if I live through this.

Payne was sitting down on the first few steps of the stairwell in the first floor common room. "A guy like you, even without his arm, is still coming after me. I'll give you credit for your guts, but wouldn't it be best to run away and seek medical attention for that wound I gave you?" His fake compassion didn't fool me, I could hear annoyed derision from his words.

"Hey, a bastard like you should trip on the steps and break his neck." All I could really say was a sarcastic reply, but it made me feel slightly better to mock Payne.

The criminal mind launched himself from the stairs and kicked me under the chin with the tip of his shoe. Normally one would be knocked out by a hit like this, but I fought to stay conscious. My body went flying into the wall besides the entrance to the common room, knocking the decorations off the wall with the force from the impact. Adrenaline dulled my sense of pain and put my mind in fervor.

"There's not much you can do. You're just a normal human with no power, socially or physically." Payne looked around for reasons unknown to me. "I got an idea. You want me to trip on the stairs and break my neck, hmm? Well, since it will never happen by accident, why don't you try making me fall? Here, c'mon, just try it... TRY IT!" Payne taunted me like he had some sort of sadistic streak.

I meekly stood up, breathing and dripping blood from my mouth and nose. My entire body was dirty and scratched from my numerous falls. I had very little ways to attack, a single arm and two legs. I had barely fought in the past, even in school. The amount of knowledge I had about martial arts was exactly what I imitated from movies. (Well, trying doesn't hurt I suppose... No, it will hurt no matter what. I'm going to make you eat the floor, Payne.)

I was determined. I had a really crazy idea in my head which would most likely fail, but if it succeeded, I may actually be able to knock out Payne, depending on how hard his fall is. I was determined.

I knelt down to the ground, gathering much needed air for my lungs. And I kicked the ground with both of my feet. I put every ounce of energy I had left in my legs and ran towards Payne who still had his arms out like an arrogant Christ the Redeemer statue. Before I was several meters away from Payne, I slammed my legs into the ground and jumped with all my might. I flipped my body sideways and pulled my legs up into a double dropkick. I tensed up my legs, as if I was flicking my fingers and launched them at Payne's head.

Perhaps he was too cocky or arrogant to think I could pull off a move like this. Perhaps he thought that I would fall and flail like a salmon out of water. Or perhaps he thought he could withstand my kick. Either way, both my feet connected with Payne's face and kicked him with enough force to slam the back of his head into the stairs. His head hit the outwards ninety degree angle of the stair, caving in his skull. As I had no way of recovering, I fell to the ground and knocked my head against the ground, putting me into a forced sleep at last.

In my sleep, I murmured over and over again Marian's name. There was nothing I wanted more than for her to be safe and once again make me a delicious meal.

...

Marian didn't understand how she survived. Perhaps it was due to her nature as a Kikimora, perhaps her own will helped her revive. Marian found herself stepping out of her vessel, the ornate full size mirror in the attic of her master's mansion.

It would be accurate to say that Marian's spirit... Or perhaps her soul, if she had one, regenerated from the exorcist's flame in her vessel. There was no need to question such good fortune, all she had to do was be thankful and rush to her master's aid.

Appearing before the 1st floor common room, she saw two bodies laid down on the ground. One belonged to her master, and to her delight, wasn't dead but asleep. The other was sputtering out unintelligible profanities and spitting blood from its orifices, the body of the detestable leader of the intruders she fought against.

The body of Boneyard's leader, Payne was relatively clean, but around his head was a complete bloody mess. She doubted he would survive much longer, but there was something she wished to do before his death... She would make him feel hell.

After moving her master's body to a more comfortable surface, Marian solemnly walked back to Payne with several needles in hand. "I had asked you to leave, yet you refused despite knowing the consequences. Trash like you needs to be disposed of, that is a job I have taken upon since I began my life as a maid."