#maira

Robber flies in the genus Maira

Found in Southeast Asia and down into Australia and the Pacific Islands

I’m doing ArtFight! All signed up with 5 OCs (3 LOTRO, 2 from my original fiction story)! Can’t wait to see how this goes!

Character reference cards below the cut

Daily Writing Challenge February 2025 Day 2 - Power

TW: Abuse, Violence, Eye Horror

A soft knock rapped on the door before the youthful face of Zynia peeked through the crack, keeping her voice low: “Maira, that asshole is back. Smells like the back alley of Murder Row too. You want me to get rid of him?” 

Maira paused the gentle glide of her paintbrush over top of the canvas and glanced over towards ten year old Veilos, and then towards the door. “No, I’ll get rid of him this time. Can you take Veil into your room? I’ll make it quick.”

“Course! I got no clients coming in tonight. I can keep him as long as you need.” Zynia pushed the door open and extended a hand towards Maira’s young son, beckoning him over, “C’mon cutie, I’ve got a stash of that candy your mom doesn’t want me giving you.” She gave a playful wink towards Maira, who rolled her eyes in response.

“Go on with Miss Zynia, hun. We’ll get back to painting in a few.” She wiped her hands on her artist apron before pulling it off over her head and setting it, and their still wet canvases, aside.

“Thanks mom!” Veilos bounced onto his feet and hurried to the door, eagerly taking Zynia’s hand. She was his favorite at the bordello, always spoiling him with treats and never afraid to swear in front of him. She had been with Rose Manor for about a year and a half now after she had left her abusive husband. Maira and she became fast friends during that time, although later in life Veil would realize that they had always been a little more than just friends.

Zynia and Veilos scooted down the hallway to her room, catching a glimpse of that stumbling asshole downstairs. Veil knew a drunk when he saw one these days, and the pang of worry sat heavily in the pit of his stomach. He was much larger than his mom and could easily overpower her - and he was pretty sure he had in the past. She always had a few extra bruises after his visits but she would tell him that was normal. Veil disliked him, but he knew they needed the gold and that’s why mom did what she did.

Zynia shut the door behind them and immediately rewarded him with a few of the sugary cinnamon candies he loved. She tried to distract him with conversation as the muffled voice of his mother called out to the man and his heavy boots thudded up the stairs. The yelling started almost immediately as the door slammed shut behind them, Veilos couldn’t quite make out what was being said, so he pressed his ear against the shared wall in an attempt to better hear their conversation.

“Veilos. It’s her business, leave them alone.” Zynia motioned for him to come join her at the small table in the center of her room. Although a loud *THUMP*, followed by the sound of glass breaking caused her to shoot to her feet as the two shared a worried look. Maybe it wasn’t just her business anymore.

“I have to make sure she’s okay.” Veil reached for the door, only to have his hand swatted away by Zynia.

“No, I’ll go. You stay here.” Fingers curled around the wooden bat she kept next to her bed and slipped out of the door, walking on tiptoes until she stood just outside of Maira’s room. Zynia was the brave one, she always said that someone needed to stand up to these jerks and things had improved vastly at the bordello since her arrival.

Veil watched her from the doorway, and they both startled when another loud *THUD* rattled the closed door. He ran from the room and gave his mother’s door a try, only to discover it had been locked. “MOM!! MOM, ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT’S HAPPENING!?”

Zynia pulled him back and gently pushed him off to the side as she pointed towards her room and made a shooing motion while giving him an exasperated look.

There was a moment of silence before boots stomped towards the door and Zynia white-knuckled her bat in both hands. It flung open, the husky man now occupying the entire doorway as he glared down at the much smaller Zynia. “What? We’re in the middle of something, fuck off. The both of ya.”

Veil’s gaze darted in the small gaps between the man and the doorway, trying to catch a glimpse of his mother. “MOM!” He could see her cowering at the back of the room, clutching an arm against her chest, hair disheveled, and what looked like blood trickling down her face. He immediately darted for the room, only to be met with a grimy hand to the face shoving him backwards. He landed on his rear and was about to jump up and try again when Zynia quickly waved him off.

She mustered up as much courage as she could manage and stood her ground, “You have to leave. NOW! Guards are on their way. You’re not welcome here anymore!” Guards were definitely not on their way, staffing had been low for a while now and neither had time to call in any city guards.

“And what are you gonna do if I say no?”

Zynia raised the bat, gritting her teeth, “You’ll be arrested an–” She didn’t have a chance to finish that statement as the drunken man grabbed the bat and yanked it out of her grip before she even had a chance to use it. Before he could do anything, she delivered a swift kick to his crotch, and then another to his knee. He howled in pain and stumbled backwards into the room, and Zynia followed him inside.

Veilos stood off to the side, unable to see what was happening and almost afraid to look. A cacophony of fighting sounds echoed through the small space for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only a matter of seconds: Breaking glass, cracking furniture, feminine screams, and masculine growls and yelps.  Eventually his mother bounced the side of her skull against the door frame and fell partially into the hallway, attempting to crawl out to safety.

“Mom!” Before he had much time to think about what he was doing, Veil rushed over and crouched next to her to see if she was still conscious. 

“Veil, please, go get help.” Her voice was raspy, weak.

It was too late at that point, the large man was already looming over them with dagger in hand and before it could be driven down into his mother, Veilos blocked the blow with his left arm. Not even the adrenaline could dampen the excruciating pain as the blade lodged halfway into his forearm. It was such a surreal experience to stare at this weapon now stuck in his own flesh and bone, and the tidal wave of pain and nausea hit all at once as he tripped backwards over his mother’s outstretched arm.

This was it. He was going to watch his mother and Zynia get killed, and then he was going to die. They had put up a good fight, but that man was just too strong and there was nothing he could do to stop this from happening. He watched in horror as the man clamped his meaty fingers around his mother’s neck, and time almost seemed to slow as Veilos clambered over, beating his small fists against him only to be shoved away repeatedly.

The frustration in him swelled.  He hated being so small and so helpless.  He hated seeing these women and men taken advantage of repeatedly. He hated seeing them brush off bruises and pain and suffering they didn’t deserve. He HATED this man with a fiery, burning passion he had never felt before. And with all of that anger boiling up within, it eventually spilled over into one echoing, bellowing shriek of rage:

“S̷̛̗͎̝͕̔͊̋̎͘T̷͖̰̑̃̓̓̏̚O̷̰͓̥̍͂̓͠P̵̨̻͉̰̰̭̈̄͆͗̊!”

The man immediately stopped what he had been doing and looked over towards Veilos with a bewildered expression.

Veilos stood up and wiped the tears clouding his eyes, and pointed to a shard from a nearby window.

“P̵̧̮̆́͝I̵͉͛C̶͚̺͚̟̲̩̏́̎̋K̸̬̟̩͚̂̃̌̅̑͝ ̵̖̺̯̱̼́͆̀̅̕Ụ̸̡̫̲͚̾̊̄̉͑̚ͅP̵͇̖̙̻̆̌͊͘͠ ̸̟̼͙̩̞̝̊͌̓̅̕Ṭ̴̬̗̞͇͊̊̅̏H̶̯̚̚͜A̴͚̒̔T̵͕̦͌̅̈̄͘ ̷̛̞͖͚̯P̴̡͚̀̃̔I̶̢̩̗̰͈͈̓͊̕E̷̝̩̐̍̓̄͋̕C̷͉̭͔̣̥̞̄̐͑͝Ë̶͖̳͚́̎͑͌̈͑͜ ̵̱̯̂͠Ő̴̟̎̋͌͝F̴͇̦̘̦͉̙͆̈ ̴̯̆̊̀̈́̾͘G̵̠͇͌L̴͚̈́̊A̷̢̜̦̯͌̇̎͋͝͝S̸̭͋͝S̷͙͉̖̱͛͝.̴̗̽̅”

The man removed himself from atop Maira and picked up the shard of glass as requested. His movements suggested he was doing this of free will, but his expression did not.

“S̴̬͈͂̓̀Ṭ̸̨̛̛̼̌̑Ǎ̸̡͕̈́̅́̕͝B̷̢͓̯͍͌̃́̒͒̓ ̴̱̈́͒O̴̟̱͕̺̣͌̎̔̿̈́͝U̷̩̾̏̈́͑̓͛Ṫ̷̝̦̮̣͊̍ ̷̢̨̺̼̬̂̒̅́͋̇Ỳ̸̡̡͙̬̝͊͑͠O̷̬͔͕͆͋̋̚U̶̩̰̗̟̱͂́̔͐̚R̸̨̦̱͔͕̤̈́ ̸̺̲͓͑̂̓̃̏͗Ḙ̸̡̥̊̊̒̉Y̸̥͙̹̩̼̘̒̓̀͝͝È̶̘̟́͝͝͠S̴̛͓̖͖̙͒͜.̶̯̮̆̋͋͘”

Maira gasped and covered her mouth, turning to look towards her son as the drunk man did just that. Veilos never once looked away, nor did he even blink until the man’s cries of pain and racking sobs had ceased and he lay dead on the ground. 

Eventually whatever trance he had been in faded and he looked to his mother, who briefly shared a look with Zynia before scooting herself over to her son and taking him into her arms, “Ohhh my boy. My sweet boy. You did so good, I’m so proud of you.” She eyed him over, tenderly touching his face and neck, lip quivering as she saw the dagger still protruding from his arm, “Come on, let's get ourselves fixed up.” She waved Zynia over to join them, “Someone else can take care of all this.” 

The bordello was family and they always looked out for their own.

Denouement.