Chapter 24: Katana Woman I
GOT: The Dangerous Traveler 24
Lyn Corbray
Year 2010 AD – Georgia
The road continued quietly, with the crunch of dry leaves under the horses' hooves. Maggie kept her distance, staring at the horizon with her lips pressed together, while Lyn and Ciri chatted with apparent indifference to the tension around them.
"You know what the only good thing about this apocalypse is?" Lyn commented, breaking the silence.
"Let me guess," Ciri replied sarcastically, "that you can be the most annoying narcissist in the world without anyone calling you out on it?"
Lyn let out a laugh. "That too. But no, I was thinking about how humanity finally had to face its own mistakes. No more castles, thrones, or wars over territory. Now it's just survival. It doesn't matter if you were a king or a peasant—those things go after your flesh with equal interest."
Ciri raised an eyebrow, her tone tinged with irony. "How profound, Lyn. And weren't you part of that system of castles and thrones? If I recall correctly, you used to wear silks and attend banquets."
"Ah, but I was always different," Lyn replied with a smile. "A rebel among aristocrats. While they argued about alliances and marriages, I dedicated myself to perfecting my sword skills. And see? Now that training is useful."
Ciri scoffed but couldn't help smiling slightly. "Sure, the great Lyn Corbray, the savior of the world with two magical swords. How convenient."
"Magical? They're not magical, darling. They're legendary. There's a difference," Lyn corrected, feigning indignation.
Maggie shot a fleeting glance but said nothing.
"And speaking of differences," Lyn continued, ignoring Maggie's silence, "what about you, Ciri? Always so serious, so full of morality. Doesn't it tire you?"
"Someone has to compensate for you," Ciri shot back quickly.
Lyn pretended to be wounded. "That hurts. But I admit we make a good team. I'm the charm and wit, and you... well, you're there to balance the scales."
"Thanks for the compliment, I guess," Ciri said with a light laugh.
Silence settled briefly between them, broken only by the wind and the rhythmic steps of the horses. Finally, Lyn looked at Maggie. "And you? What do you think of all this? Don't you have anything to say?"
Maggie didn't even turn her head, simply replying with a cold, "No."
"Charming as always," Lyn murmured with a smile as Ciri shot him a warning look.
Suddenly, a guttural sound broke the tranquility of the surroundings. A group of ten walkers emerged from the woods, staggering toward them with arms outstretched.
"What a surprise," Lyn commented as he calmly dismounted. "Looks like we've got company. It's those things again."
"Lyn, don't do anything stupid," Ciri said, keeping control of the horses.
"Me? Do something stupid? Never," Lyn replied, drawing Dawn and Blackfyre from their sheaths with fluid movements.
Maggie frowned, confused by Lyn's calmness.
Lyn advanced toward the walkers with alarming confidence. The first one lunged at him with its jaws open, but Lyn met it with a clean slash across the torso. The creature fell to the ground, motionless.
The second walker tried to pounce from the side. Lyn pivoted on his heel, decapitating it with Dawn in one flawless motion.
"Shouldn't you aim for the brain?" Ciri asked from her position, puzzled.
"Ah, but that would be too predictable, don't you think?" Lyn replied as he impaled another walker with Blackfyre straight through the heart. The creature dropped instantly.
Maggie watched with wide eyes. "That's not possible. He didn't hit the head!" she exclaimed. The severed walkers didn't seem to get back up.
Lyn's movements were elegant, almost artistic. Every slash seemed calculated, every strike precise. No matter where the swords cut, the walkers fell instantly.
One after another, the undead dropped. Lyn drove Dawn into the chest of a walker approaching from behind and then spun to impale another with Blackfyre.
When the last walker fell, Lyn turned to the group with a satisfied smile.
Maggie couldn't contain her disbelief. "That doesn't make sense. Everyone knows they only die if you destroy the brain. What are those swords?"
Lyn examined the blades with a thoughtful expression. "Legendary swords, as I said before. Though now that I think about it... I've read about something similar. Valyrian steel swords can kill White Walkers. And if White Walkers fall to them, why not these simpler creatures?"
Ciri looked at him skeptically. "And you only remember that now?"
Lyn shrugged. "What can I say? Useful knowledge sometimes takes a while to surface. But it's good to know they're more practical than I thought."
As he remounted his horse, Maggie continued to watch him with a mix of fear and awe. Ciri simply shook her head, muttering something inaudible as the group resumed their journey.
Within minutes, the forest ended, and they arrived at a small town. The flow of walkers grew increasingly dense, but the group either ignored them or Lyn dispatched them with Dawn from his mount. His skills allowed him to keep the horse controlled and calm.
After advancing a bit further, both Lyn and Ciri felt eyes on their backs. After a shared glance, they decided to stop at a nearby supermarket.
Lyn dismounted with fluid movements, gesturing for Ciri and Maggie to stay behind. The swords Dawn and Blackfyre glowed faintly under the dim light filtering through the dusty windows of the abandoned supermarket.
"Five walkers," Lyn murmured, observing the interior from the doorway. "This'll be quick."
"Be careful," Ciri said with a warning tone.
Lyn turned and winked at her. "Always."
He entered stealthily, his boots barely making a sound on the dust- and debris-covered floor—in fact, they made no sound at all. The first creature was at the end of an aisle, stumbling as it bumped into an overturned shopping cart. Lyn advanced, calculating each step. When he was a meter away, he swung Dawn horizontally, severing the walker's head from its body with surgical precision.
The second walker appeared from a corner to his right, its deformed mouth emitting a guttural growl. Lyn pivoted on his heels, dodging a clumsy swipe before driving Blackfyre straight into its chest. The creature collapsed as if its soul had been disconnected.
"Do you always have to make it so theatrical?" Ciri murmured from the entrance, watching with her arms crossed. "They're not experienced knights who'll dodge your strikes—they're masses of flesh."
"It's an art, darling," Lyn replied with a smile as he wiped Blackfyre's blade on a rag hanging from a shelf.
He continued toward the checkout area, where two more walkers were stumbling among fallen products. Lyn drew both swords this time, facing them with a fluid motion.
With a low sweep of Dawn, he cut the legs out from under one, sending it crashing heavily to the ground. Before it could react, he spun and drove Blackfyre through the skull of the other. The first walker tried to crawl toward him, but a quick downward strike from Dawn silenced it forever.
The fifth walker was at the back, behind a counter. Lyn paused for a moment, assessing the situation. "Should I let you live?" he asked the walker, as if it could respond. "No, you're too ugly."
He leaped onto the counter with an agile jump and descended on the other side, driving Dawn into the skull of the last walker before it could turn around.
"All clear," Lyn announced as he returned to the entrance.
When the group entered, Lyn stood by the horses. The second son of Lord Corbray closed both eyes and raised a hand to his face. When he reopened his right eye, white had replaced the iris.
Ciri watched the change with a slight shiver but said nothing. She had seen Lyn use this ability before. Her job was to distract Maggie by asking if she wanted anything special to eat from the supermarket.
From the eagle's perspective, Lyn quickly flew over the town, searching for any signs of movement among the buildings. Then he saw her: a hooded figure with dark skin, moving with unsettling calm among a group of walkers. Stains of blood and walker guts covered her body.
"Curious," Lyn murmured to himself, watching as the woman led two walkers tied with chains, both jawless and disarmed. The figure was cautious, carefully observing her surroundings while staying on the outskirts of the walker groups.
He returned to himself, closing his right eye before reopening it normally.
"What did you see?" Ciri asked.
"A woman. Black, hooded, and... peculiar, to say the least. She's leading two walkers on chains like pets."
Ciri frowned. "What kind of person would do that?"
Lyn shrugged. "Someone fun. It's a creative idea, at least."
Maggie, who had remained silent until then, couldn't help but interject. "Are you saying someone's following us? And she's leading walkers?"
"Exactly," Lyn replied calmly. "But she doesn't seem hostile. At least, not for now."
"What do we do, then?" Maggie pressed, her voice tense.
"We rest," Lyn said as he sheathed his swords. "If she wants something, she'll approach eventually. If she's hostile, you already know how I end my problems."
Ciri sighed, clearly frustrated with Lyn's carefree attitude. However, she decided not to push further and began organizing the space for the night.
Meanwhile, Lyn sat on an empty wooden crate, his mind still replaying the image of the hooded woman. 'This is going to be interesting,' he thought, a lopsided smile forming on his face.
Lyn began imagining what it would be like to travel the world with his pair of swords and two chained women, naked or close to it, their breasts bouncing every time a walker approached.
'Well, I already have one woman chained. I'd just need to undress her, but Ciri wouldn't want that,' Lyn reflected. For a moment, he considered a plan: staining Maggie's clothes with blood while they were in the middle of nowhere, then pulling a bikini from his bag—what they called it in this world. 'That would be too suspicious,' Lyn concluded, dismissing that train of thought.