Chef in the Apocalypse

Within a cabin on the outskirts of a forest, the sun shone down upon the wooden floor boards, reflecting a bright light throughout the room. A woman who was dressed in ragged clothes held a mop in her hands, rhythmically moving it to and fro.

Her brown hair which looked as if it had not been washed in months cascaded over her face, hiding her bruised and swollen face. Her eyes were a deep green which seemed to burn with an undying hatred.

She heard the sound of a door opening, causing her to quickly fall to her knees in response. The sound of muddy footsteps walking over the wooden floor boards got louder as she was approached.

"Oops. Looks like I’ve given you some more work to do wench." A deep voice sounded from above her, yet she did not look up at his face. She clenched her fist in anger, her nails drawing blood from her palm from the pressure.

Seeing no reaction from the woman at his feet, Amon scoffed, grabbing her head with both of his hands and sending a knee straight into her face. The woman felt her vision go dark as she was suddenly attacked, falling on her back after the strike.

"Man this bitch pisses me off." He murmured before walking back out of the cabin, leaving his dirty footprints all over the place.

Some time later, the woman regained her consciousness and felt a sharp throbbing pain in her nose. Fighting back tears, she held her hands up to her nose, sending a warm green glow onto the broken bones.

Soon enough the pain began to subside as the broken nose was healed slowly. Once she had finished, she fell back down to the floor and gasped for breath, wiping the blood from her face on her dirty clothes.

"Tony... Lianna... Jayce. You’re coming to get me right?" she said in a teary voice, curling up on the floor in pain.

This woman was Leah who had been a prisoner of Amon’s for the past 6 months, impersonating her twin sister. She feared that her life would be forfeit should they ever find out her true identity.

The moment she had gained consciousness, her immediate reaction was to fight her way out, using all her cultivation and comprehension of the Law of Nature. However that was a huge mistake.

Not only was she easily taken care of, the beatings she had received afterwards had put her an inch away from death. When she had finally awoken, Leah had found herself within a makeshift prison.

That’s where she had spent another 7 days in captivity before she had tried to escape. Thanks to the healing properties of the Law of Nature, she was able to heal her body fully, using all of her abilities to run away.

She had made it as far as the forest before she was ambushed by a group of men. This time the beatings were so severe that she had been forced into unconsciousness for almost 2 days.

This time when Leah woke up, she realized that she could not utilize her cultivation anymore. It was as if the link to her Qi had been sealed, making her feel utterly hopeless and filled with despair. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She had eventually found out that she was able to call on the Law of Nature for minor healing, however it heavily taxed her stamina to do so without the use of Qi.

Eventually she had been able to leave the prison, now that her captors had confirmed she was no longer a threat. Without access to her Qi, she was nothing more than a normal woman with average strength.

They made her cook and clean and wait on them every day. Leah became their personal maid most days, and punching bag on other days depending on their moods.

The only thing that she could be thankful for was that they had not tried to force themselves on her. If such a thing would have happened, Leah wouldn’t have hesitated to end her own life.

Perhaps the leader of these bandits knew this and therefore knew where to draw the line.

During her duties, she had heard the short man who was the leader talk many times about their plans to lure Jayce and the others with her as bait. Of course they had mistaken her identity.

Therefore, Leah began to hold out hope that Jayce would come to save her. Yet as each week passed by, she began to feel that fleeting hope wash away, turning more and more into despair.

Too many times she had cried herself to sleep, hoping that everything was just a dream. Yet reality was too cruel. She would be woken up at all hours, either by a kick or even a bucket of cold water to make things worse.

All she could do was hope and pray that Jayce and Lianna would come and save her soon. Leah was not sure how much longer she could last, if at all.

Leah who was on the floor curled up into a ball and holding her mop handle suddenly felt the ground tremble beneath her, jolting her awake.

"Earthquake?" She mumbled, tasting the blood from her split lips.

BOOM!

Leah flinched, feeling the house shake once more. She quickly got to her feet and inched closer to the front door, deciding to take a peak outside and see what was going on.

As she pried open the door her eyes widened. She blinked a few times as if she could not believe what was happening in front of her.

The loud sounds were from a grand battle which sent dust and bodies flying into the air. Screams and shrieks were heard as men and women were cut down by flying swords and flattened by large palms which seemed to descend from the sky.

When the dust cleared, she saw a man with spiky black hair wearing a pure white jacket and white cap. He was holding a dark purple sword which he had stabbed into the ground beside him.

"Jayce..." Leah’s eyes quickly filled with tears, blurring her vision. All of her grievances came pouring out as she saw the figure she had been dreaming about for so long appear like a lone hero.