Moon Glaive

Chapter 1: Indu

"Father, are the rumors of the mountain monster true?" Indu asked, playing with her mushroom stew.

"Mountain monster? Please, those are nothing but rumors. And quit playing with your food." Her father scolded.

She pretended not to hear him as her gaze landed out the window, over the dreary, ten-meter-high walls. A magnificent mountain range - the one said to hold the monster - stretched farther than she could see, covering the northern face of the town in its entirety. The tallest of the mountains had snowy caps that glowed like a beacon under the afternoon sun.

A guard patrolled atop the walls, holding a bow with a quiver tied to his back. He walked out of Indu's vision, but curiosity overtook her. She leaned her chair back, craning her neck to peer out the edge of the window.

"Kya!"

The simple, wooden chair fell with a thud. A spike of pain shot down her spine, tears pricking the edge of her amber eye. The soup-filled spoon she had been holding stained her white chemise brown. The spoon itself had gone off to who knows where.

"Oh no!" Indu pouted. She liked this chemise - it was simple and easy to wear, but now it was ruined.

"I'll have it washed; go change and come back." Her father shook his head with a slight smile as if used to Indu's antics. But she couldn't help it; her curiosity always got the better of her.

"Yes, father." Indu winced as she stood up, using the mahogany table as support. She limped out of the room when her father called behind her.

"...Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Indu sarcastically replied without looking back.

"I figured you would build some pain tolerance from the times you've hurt yourself, but it isn't the case. Oh, how is my fragile daughter going to survive without her father? Will her future husband be able to care for her as I do?" Her father dramatically sighed.

"Father!" She yelled in embarrassment as she ran up the stairs and into her room. She could hear his husky, booming laughter and blushed, choosing to ignore his teasing.

A dark brown bed frame rested in the top right corner of her room's entrance. A wool mattress topped with a bright orange, feathered blanket rested atop the frame. Opposite the bed was a portable closet engraved with flowery patterns. A window illuminated the gray, cobblestone walls.

Gently opening the closet, Indu shuffled through her many clothes and randomly pulled one out - a dark green chemise. As she tossed her current chemise and donned the new one, she couldn't help but dwell on her father's words.

But she stopped as she was about to see herself in the mirror next to her closet. Subconsciously, she began trembling and touched her left eye.

I can't even look at my disgusting appearance in the mirror. But...I need to.

Mustering up her courage, Indu took a step forward. Despite the countless times she had seen herself, each was no less painful than the last. She didn't realize she had been staring at the thick, wooden planks making up the floor and looked straight at the mirror.

Her most noticeable  was her honey-toned skin and bangs covering her left eye. She brushed the shoulder-length hair away from her left eye, revealing a vertical scar stretching from her forehead, over her eye, and to

I'm hideous.

Marriage? Someone like her? It would be a miracle if a man looked at her without showing blatant discomfort, disgust, or pity. As for marriage? It was a pipe dream. No man wanted a broken, deformed woman like her. She would remain single for the rest of her life, damned to die alone in a desolate corner of the world.