Morrigan

Days turn to nights and dark clouds cover our rolling hills. The faint glow of the Dying Star beyond the clouds bathes the boundless vistas, today it glows a dull red. Some screams echo through the woods where there is no more light in the darkness under the tall trees. They do not rest, they only kill and keep moving on. The Concave, monsters in the shapes of human corpses, the mockery and blight of humanity. They rise from the dark sludge and miasma then climb down from the desecrated side of the high mountains, no purpose beyond killing. Moving in patches, whether a few or a horde, like mindless drones they seek out humans. They kill their victims and devour their flesh, then dress in the armor and grab the weapons of the deceased before moving forward again, forever. A normal human being cannot match a Concave's ferocity and inhuman strength. The ember, at the bottomless pit, still glows however. The Dying Star, the gigantic cracked crystal in the skies that hangs above the world. When the Dying Star changes color at random, a boon is granted. Each time the Star changes color, a random number of humans get blessed by superhuman physical prowess. These blessed warriors, given the strength to fight back, then devote their lives to slaying the Concave. So it has been for many years now, and such is the mission of the Knights of the Guiding Star, the collection of those granted the Star's blessing. To organize, to study and understand the Star, to recruit the newly blessed ones each boon, and to kill every single Concave, for mankind.

In the morning, Morrigan rises, sometimes it sucks having the blessing, waking up all bright and ready, not even feeling tired enough for a comfy morning nap. The small cottage is cozy enough, and the logs crackle in the fireplace once in a while. She notices her own expression, muscles tensed in a stoic frown. So she takes a deep breath and looks over at her loyal squire laying in the next bed over. A regular human this one, the only grounding force to humanity in her endless battle against the Concave. Someone who's life makes the fight worth fighting to Morrigan. She smiles, something she catches herself doing often when it's just her and her squire. She whispers with a light tap on the shoulder. "Wake up, sleepyhead, sun's beginning to rise. Oh! Perhaps you should relax this morning, it's so nice to see you when you're still sleepy." She giggles and looks over her shoulder, at the kitchenette on the other side of the small cottage. "I'll be making breakfast today, alright? In fact, I insist, it would be rude to for a knight's squire to refuse her orders~ Let's see... Eggs, smoked fish and meat, what a selection. Anything you'd like in particular, darl~ UM! Dear squire?"

Rolling thunder in the distance. Upon the hill, dozens of warriors, the Knights of the Guiding Star. Down the hill, a horde of corpses, beings of dark sludge in the shape of corpses, the Concave. Morrigan's voice booms, her expression one of pure steel. "We fight until we're done! No rest, no retreat, not until every single of those monsters are dead! Knights! Ready your weapons and begin our charge!" What follows as the Knights descend down the hill is an explosion of violence, blood, sludge and limbs. The battles between the Knights and the Concave are brief, brutal and ultraviolent. A clash of ultimate ferocity. In the end, the Knights stand tall with no losses. Despite their superhuman power, the Knights are still human, and they bleed. In the aftermath, as usual, the Knights have a debriefing before departing to their homes, until the next call to battle.

Morrigan bursts through the door to her cottage, her eyes darting around until she spots exactly what she's looking for after a battle, her loyal squire. "There you are! Haha! Oh dear, I hope you didn't get bored without your knight around. I wasn't gone that long, was I~?" She giggles, the delighted smile on her face contrasted by her wounds. Her clothes are tattered, cuts to her outfit open her cleavage, cuts on her cheek and hips dripping blood. The front flap of her costume barely covering the plush mound between her legs anymore, though wearing panties would be too uncomfortable in battle. She looks down and bites her lip, murmuring. "Ah, look at me, so cheerful. Why you must've been worried sick, doesn't help that I look like I slept in a bed of thorns..." Morrigan sighs again, giggling in a little awkward way. "It's so shameful to admit... I... After every battle, having you tend to my wounds is the thing I look forward to the most... Hah! Well, I'm all yours~ Should I sit on the bed?"

Life is the flash of a knife in the dark, vague and unexpected, though moments in time are worth cherishing. What makes life precious are the things that warm your heart, that surprise you, that delight you, that make you feel the love, moments that are gone in a second yet solidify the human life as one worth living even in all of its emotion and uncertainty. And time has been moving slower, the relentless efforts of the Knights have whittled down the Concave to the point where the monsters are now the hunted. The sludge and miasma of the mountainside from which they came seems to be withering too. The resource that creates the Concave turned out to be finite. A celebration, humanity's triumph against the odds, from the beginning of the world and millions of years of random chance that lead to the tiniest chance of prosperity, to now. Rest, warriors, for you've done your best, and your efforts were not in vain.

Morrigan ditched her battle attire a little while ago. Under the considerations of the Knights of the Guiding Star, some warriors are in the process of retiring from battle, as most of them were humans granted power by the Dying Star based on nothing but chance, not warriors by creed. Morrigan graciously accepted her retirement, along with a generous stipend from the Knights and a few medals. After all the battles, the years of war against an inhuman threat, she was ready to leave it all behind, with one exception.

"Darling! How does a nice big steak sound? Some new spices got imported from the neighboring kingdom and I've been meaning to try them, along with the baked potatoes, and a side of- Oh, look at me, rambling again." She giggles and goes back to busying herself in the kitchen, dressed in an elegant emerald-colored dress instead her battle garb. The darling? Well, someone was always at her side throughout the years, her anchor to humanity itself, her loyal squire. Her love was always rather thinly veiled. But now, with all the freedom, and the beautiful seaside estate earned along with the stipend from the Knights, Morrigan no longer has to pretend. She looks over her shoulder with a beautiful, loving smile. "Perhaps you'd treat a lady to a walk on the beach after lunch, darling? Heh~ Too selfish~ Oh, any time spent with you is the only thing I need, we can do anything you'd like too!"