"How dare you mock our brothers?" The guards growled at her.
"Do you think you can defeat us as one?" Their supposed head snorted at Tym. "You are only but one person. There's no way you can—"
"Do you think your number makes you unbeatable?" Tym laughed at them. "You are nothing but a pathetic bunch of guards who couldn't even protect your master. If not, why will the prince enlist my help?" She smirked. "If you think you are men enough, let's see what you've got."
"What are you still waiting for, brothers? Get her!" Their leader shouted as he pointed at Tym.
Tym smirked as she watched them approach.
"Pathetic."
Tym jumped a bit as she kicked the first man who approached and sent him flying to the side. She punched there while she kicked the fourth on his stomach.
The guards fell to the ground, each grunting more than the other as they narrowed their eyes at Tym.
"What? Don't tell me you are tired, already?" She mocked them with a smirk.
"You—"
"What? I can't hear properly. What did you say?" She arched a brow at them, however, they couldn't see it because of the mask she covered her face with. "If you think you are men enough, rise and fight me."
"You dare mock us, you shameless man!" The leader rose from the ground and charged towards Tym with a battle cry.
Tym only needed to punch him once, to get him flying back.
"If you want to fight, Pick on—"
A roar cut her words short.
Startled, Tym turned to look at the place where the noise came from.
Standing by the forest was a monster. It looked like a Lion, with its mane. However, the stripes on his body made him seem like a leopard.
However, that wasn't caught their attention. The black wings on the back caused them to gasp.
"What's this?" Tym took a step back as she tried to know what the monster was.
The guards leapt up from the ground as they took retreating steps.
However, Tym didn't take another step back after the first one.
She stood her ground, with a challenging expression on her face.
The creature roared once more as it flew straight at Tym.
Tym blocked the attack, with the club the guards threw on the ground.
Once more, the monster tried to hurt her, but she deflected his attacks.
Tym stood her ground as she showed her prowess in battle.
When the guards saw what was happening, they took to their heels as each abandoned the club they picked up.
Their screams woke the prince, who was resting in his camp.
He raced outside immediately, only to see his guards racing back with frightened expressions on their faces.
Their screams were unmistakable as they ran for dear life.
"What's wrong?" The prince glanced around, hoping to see the masked Tym. However, there was no trace of him.
"What happened? Why are you running? Where is the Dark Masked Tym?" He stopped the Captain of his guards.
"He—" He panted, "He—" The guard panted in both exertion and fear.
"Tell me what the bloody hell happened!" The prince snapped at his guard.
"He's out there fighting with a strange creature." The guard collapsed to the floor, while the others kept on running, despite the calls of their prince.
The prince didn't wait to verify more. He took his sword from the sheath and hastened towards the place his guards ran out from.
"My prince!"
The guard tried to call the prince back, but his voice didn't reach past where he was lying.
And even if the prince heard his calls, it wouldn't have caused him to return.
Meanwhile, Tym was still fighting the strange creature. She dived just in time to escape being clawed by a Strange creature.
Tym hit the creature on the back with the club she picked from the floor. But it didn't touch him. The hard shells of his body prevented the club from touching him.
Tym jumped, intending to sit on the back of the creature. However, the creature slapped her off with his paws.
Tym fell to the ground with a thud.
"Argh." She cried out at the pain of the collision. However, it didn't stop her. She hastily rose from the floor just in time to prevent the creature from hitting her once more with his paws.
Tym huffed as she stood, ready to take the creature on.
The mystical creature growled at her as he advanced towards her. However, he was intercepted by the prince.
The prince thrust his sword towards the creature, but he wasn't fast enough. The creature hit him with his paws and sent the prince flying in the air until he hit the ground with a thud.
"Stay out of this, princey. This fight isn't for a baby like you." She mocked the fallen prince as she faced the creature. "Let's see what you've got." She said before she jumped.
The creature, who thought she was about to leap on his back, got ready to claw at her with his paws.
He didn't know that Tym has another plan. She flipped twice before she landed on the ground, next to the creature who wasn't fast enough to intercept her kicks this time.
Tym slipped under the creature, and thrust the club she was holding into the soft part of the creature's stomach.
The creature growled at the top of his lungs as he turned. With a claw, he got out and flung her.
She hit her back on a tree and dropped to the ground.
"You said this wasn't for kids?" The prince stood from the ground. "I will show you that this prince is capable of—" He didn't get to complete his words before the creature took him up by its claws, and hurled the prince.
He fell on the ground next to Tym who was smirking despite her pain.
"Of a truth, you are capable," Tym mocked the prince.