Birthplace

© 2019 Samurai, all rights reserved. Do not edit. This is a short for my science fiction/fantasy series, Path of Legends, which is about samurai and ninja on the planet of Samurath. It is also intended for new adult readers. So that being said, there are some warnings for this:
 * -The gore is pretty light for this story, but the main character has some blood on her and there are mentions of death and capital punishment.
 * -The main character is haunted by an abusive relationship.

__________________________________ The chains weighed her down, the shackles rough and cold against her wrists, and the forest floor on which she was forced to kneel boasted its rich emeralds like the pompous samurai who had left her here. The golden sun smiled cruelly through the trees, setting the grass aglow with its ridiculing light, and the songbirds mocked her, their chirps malicious and cold. The two trees she was chained between towered over her like sentinels, ensuring that she stayed right where she was until the samurai came.

Blood running from the corner of her mouth, she looked into the jade darkness of the forest before her, wondering how long she had. The samurai were likely coming from the city, and since it was a glorious day for the Ancient Kingdom, they would be marching rather than on horseback. They wanted to drag out her last day as long as they could, to humiliate her as much as possible before she died, to prove to her one last time how powerful they were and how little she really was.

Fern wasn't having it.

She gritted her teeth, casting a dark glance at the shackle on her right wrist, and pulled as hard as she could. But the shackle would not come off, and it glared back at her, determined to make her face Death today.

Fern tried again, and again, and again, but the shackle stayed where it was, and it made no difference when she tried her left wrist. It didn't matter what she tried - the samurai had known what he was doing when he chained her up.

You will wait for the Victory March, he had said. They will take you to the mountain.

And that, clever shinobi, is where you shall finally be put to death.

Fern hated him for not being more specific - she wanted to know what death they thought they could throw at her. Beheading? How original. Burning at the stake? It had already been tried twice - good luck. Poison? Not nearly dramatic enough for the Ancient Kingdom, and she was immune to most of it anyway.

Whatever it was, she was already thoroughly unimpressed. But something told her she wouldn't have such an easy escape this time, and if she was going to live, she had to get out of these chains before the Victory March came.

She tried again, but she couldn't break free. She'd escaped from countless situations like this. Countless! Why couldn't she break herself out of these chains? Why was this time any different? Why was-

Because you're weak, a voice inside her whispered. Because you're not strong enough and you never will be.

Because you amount to nothing.

And nothing's all you'll ever be.

The voice was familiar, and it was a voice she wanted to forget - it was branded into her memory forever, imprisoning her like the chains, and she couldn't get away. He was still here.

''Nothing. . .'' the daimyo's voice said smugly. ''You're nothing. . .''

''Worthless. . .''

''You're worthless. . . powerless. . . you're nothing. . . I can use you however I want. . .''

The years of manipulation came surging back, and Fern sank to the ground, fighting tears.

''Without me, you have nothing. What are you going to run away to? You'll just come right back. . . right back where you belong.''

''Killing all my enemies for me. . . doing as you're told. . . because otherwise, you're nothing. No one else is going to love you, Natsu. . .''

She could almost see him standing here in the shadows of the trees, smiling his deceptively charming smile and laughing at her as she faced her last day. Her last day, the last of many, none of which had been days where she'd been free or truly loved. She had known nothing but his control and possessiveness for so long, and now she was going to die without ever having truly lived, because she was always so afraid. ..

You're worthless.

Nothing.

She lived in fear, and now she was going to die in it.

You're powerless.

Nothing.

She could hear the samurai coming.

You're mine.

''But even then. . .''

You're still nothing.

The first of the Ancient samurai stepped out of the trees.

You'll be mine until you die.

The leader of the samurai indicated Fern with his sword. "Unlock her chains."

Unlock her chains, a new voice inside her repeated.'' Free her. . .''

The shackles came off, and then something deep inside of Fern snapped.

The samurai didn't have so much as a millisecond to think about putting the new shackles on - Fern exploded to her feet, throwing a kick into his chin that sent him flying back. The other samurai rushed forward, but Fern was already halfway up the tree, flashing to the top with grace no one had ever told her she had. The Ancients were quick to follow, but she had snapped the bands off her wings and prepared to take flight.

You'll be mine until you die, the daimyo's voice said again.

And that's what happened here today, Fern said. The woman you controlled for so long is dead, and a new woman is born today.

These free mountains were her birthplace, the place she rose anew a mighty warrior. Her own warrior. There was no one to control her, and she was never going back.

She took a lungful of beautiful, free air, and then she leaped into the sky, leaving her old life, painful past, and the samurai in a shower of snow white feathers.